IGN: ThatBurningFox
DATE: 03/08/2023
WHAT YOU WANT TO SUGGEST OR MENTION:
A very simple proposition; I want to suggest for EMS and the recovery RP format that we currently have on server to be made less strict. Particularly for those who only have one character, but in general it could use a loosening up of standards that are, in my eyes, unreasonably high in contrast to the rest of the server.
Current State
In the current state of recovery RP, you are basically expected to have a secondary character. This in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is EXTREMELY inconsiderate of the different players and their various desires on the server. Some players do not want to go through the hassle of making an additional skin. People may even have multiple characters already and simply want to focus on a single character. That should not be a crime, it should not be a problem in any capacity as it is a literal roleplay server. As it stands, recovery RP is basically a PUNISHMENT as you are locking someone out of their character choices akin to prison. I myself have been in the same situation as no doubt countless others where I've went out of my way to detail an injury and the likes for the sake of development for IC friends and of course the hospital workers, only to be told that I am locked out of said character for 5 whole OOC days (or god forbid longer) unless an EMS is specifically there to watch like a hawk, which is in my eyes no small ask as EMS from what I have noticed are not particularly enthused to supervise injured patients. It's also complete whiplash compared to the school where supervision and the likes is insanely less strict, especially in the OOC sense where some teachers literally turn a blind eye to school rules being broken, etc. Consistency is sorely lacking.
What I Suggest
To fix the problem, IMO, any patients in recovery should have an area designated for them that they are able to log off within without fear of being reprimanded by hospital staff OOC. They should be allowed to vibe there, use their phone in-game to text friends, the likes. This effectively just means that players are allowed to simply EXIST IC AT ALL as their injured character, which in itself is a significant improvement to the state it currently sits at. Having a standardised area for recovery effectively takes a load off of the EMS players as they will no longer be OBLIGATED at threat of punishment to be there at all times watching people and can simply peek in and out of their room like ACTUAL hospital staff do to check how they're doing, etc. If they want to provide additional RP, they can, but otherwise patients are free to converse among each other and call their friends, the likes. This will not change that the place is SECURE; patients still cannot simply wander around the rest of the hospital or out of it** and EMS staff can still have a presence and go about their day to day activities. It may not be the most thrilling RP in the world, but it is a CHOICE and that is what is important. In my eyes, it is the best of both worlds.
**I still think that this is unnecessary as well; what stops people from wandering around the rest of the hospital/outside of it are the rules, not OOC building barriers, nothing stops them from doing /spawn after all
HOW WILL THIS BENEFIT THE SERVER/COMMUNITY?:
This would benefit the server/community because frankly, people are heavily discouraged from doing any kind of hospital RP due to the threat of losing a character, even if temporarily. You may say that "oh, but they'll get punished if they avoid RP" - but that holds no grounds because as far as I'm aware it isn't possible to keep an eye on every single player on server and how they behave. Even so - the fact of the matter is that there ARE people that avoid this type of RP. There are players that are so put off by this unreasonable system that they will simply not engage in this type of roleplay, which is honestly just sad. The focus should not be on the fact that they ARE breaking rules but more - WHY they feel like they have to do so - as it comes from an inherent problem in the system rather than a lack of interest in RP itself. Again, it is ESSENTIALLY a punishment.
In this case, I am among the players that feel like I would rather avoid having my character get injured due to the experience I had during it. Not only did I feel a bit disrespected by being told to make a new character or stay off server after I gave them RP, it is also EXTREMELY difficult to get an EMS on that is willing to exclusively recovery RP (from experience of myself and others I asked about it).
With this suggestion, it would not be a matter of them having to hop on JUST to recovery RP. As you are already in a recovery area and on server, you can get hold of any online EMS easier to briefly have them pop in. They would not feel as obligated and it would be much less of a headache for both the EMS and the player to have RP. It would also be straightforward to casually let visitors in.
Most importantly: It would be a much more relaxed environment in the OOC sense which I think is far healthier overall for everyone involved.
Possible Responses
"Oh no, but there might be nobody supervising sometimes! What if they FAIL RP?!??!?" - This argument is utterly pointless, as it applies everywhere on the server. It's down to the staff to punish fail RP as is always the case.
"You should just make another character lol" - Please read the rest of my suggestion and realise that not everyone wants to do this, for a variety of reasons.
"lol 5 OOC days is nothing go touch grass if you don't want to make another character then" - Actively telling people to stop playing on the server should not be an answer in any capacity. This comes down to respecting the player and the time they want to put in as opposed to the opposite.
"Characters in jail also have to stay off so it should be the same here" - A VERY good point, though I'm of the belief that the prison side of things should be treated somewhat differently: crime is a conscious choice that players choose to engage in. Injuries are not always a conscious choice and are imposed upon players often BY those people that engage in crime. In an ideal world, though I would say that prisoners should also be provided RP, but such is not really possible.
TL;DR:
Recovery/Hospital RP heavily discourages players from wanting to engage due to the unreasonable standards and disabling of their own character for extended periods. This is fixed by having an area in which players are able to hang around in as their recovering character without the need for intense supervision the ENTIRE time. This kills two birds with one stone as EMS do not have to feel heavily obligated to supervise them the entire time and can CHOOSE when they want to check on the recovering patients - while players will no longer feel as hesitant to RP out injuries since they are not locked out entirely from their character anymore. Nothing changes in regards to asking EMS to engage further in RP if desired: it simply means players are ALLOWED to exist as their injured character without as much stipulation, EMS are freed up and overall it promotes a less intense OOC environment. We are here to roleplay at the end of the day.
Should it come down to it regardless: this suggestion does not hurt in ANY capacity. It simply provides more OPTIONS.
Thanks for reading! Any input is welcome.
DATE: 03/08/2023
WHAT YOU WANT TO SUGGEST OR MENTION:
A very simple proposition; I want to suggest for EMS and the recovery RP format that we currently have on server to be made less strict. Particularly for those who only have one character, but in general it could use a loosening up of standards that are, in my eyes, unreasonably high in contrast to the rest of the server.
Current State
In the current state of recovery RP, you are basically expected to have a secondary character. This in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is EXTREMELY inconsiderate of the different players and their various desires on the server. Some players do not want to go through the hassle of making an additional skin. People may even have multiple characters already and simply want to focus on a single character. That should not be a crime, it should not be a problem in any capacity as it is a literal roleplay server. As it stands, recovery RP is basically a PUNISHMENT as you are locking someone out of their character choices akin to prison. I myself have been in the same situation as no doubt countless others where I've went out of my way to detail an injury and the likes for the sake of development for IC friends and of course the hospital workers, only to be told that I am locked out of said character for 5 whole OOC days (or god forbid longer) unless an EMS is specifically there to watch like a hawk, which is in my eyes no small ask as EMS from what I have noticed are not particularly enthused to supervise injured patients. It's also complete whiplash compared to the school where supervision and the likes is insanely less strict, especially in the OOC sense where some teachers literally turn a blind eye to school rules being broken, etc. Consistency is sorely lacking.
What I Suggest
To fix the problem, IMO, any patients in recovery should have an area designated for them that they are able to log off within without fear of being reprimanded by hospital staff OOC. They should be allowed to vibe there, use their phone in-game to text friends, the likes. This effectively just means that players are allowed to simply EXIST IC AT ALL as their injured character, which in itself is a significant improvement to the state it currently sits at. Having a standardised area for recovery effectively takes a load off of the EMS players as they will no longer be OBLIGATED at threat of punishment to be there at all times watching people and can simply peek in and out of their room like ACTUAL hospital staff do to check how they're doing, etc. If they want to provide additional RP, they can, but otherwise patients are free to converse among each other and call their friends, the likes. This will not change that the place is SECURE; patients still cannot simply wander around the rest of the hospital or out of it** and EMS staff can still have a presence and go about their day to day activities. It may not be the most thrilling RP in the world, but it is a CHOICE and that is what is important. In my eyes, it is the best of both worlds.
**I still think that this is unnecessary as well; what stops people from wandering around the rest of the hospital/outside of it are the rules, not OOC building barriers, nothing stops them from doing /spawn after all
HOW WILL THIS BENEFIT THE SERVER/COMMUNITY?:
This would benefit the server/community because frankly, people are heavily discouraged from doing any kind of hospital RP due to the threat of losing a character, even if temporarily. You may say that "oh, but they'll get punished if they avoid RP" - but that holds no grounds because as far as I'm aware it isn't possible to keep an eye on every single player on server and how they behave. Even so - the fact of the matter is that there ARE people that avoid this type of RP. There are players that are so put off by this unreasonable system that they will simply not engage in this type of roleplay, which is honestly just sad. The focus should not be on the fact that they ARE breaking rules but more - WHY they feel like they have to do so - as it comes from an inherent problem in the system rather than a lack of interest in RP itself. Again, it is ESSENTIALLY a punishment.
In this case, I am among the players that feel like I would rather avoid having my character get injured due to the experience I had during it. Not only did I feel a bit disrespected by being told to make a new character or stay off server after I gave them RP, it is also EXTREMELY difficult to get an EMS on that is willing to exclusively recovery RP (from experience of myself and others I asked about it).
With this suggestion, it would not be a matter of them having to hop on JUST to recovery RP. As you are already in a recovery area and on server, you can get hold of any online EMS easier to briefly have them pop in. They would not feel as obligated and it would be much less of a headache for both the EMS and the player to have RP. It would also be straightforward to casually let visitors in.
Most importantly: It would be a much more relaxed environment in the OOC sense which I think is far healthier overall for everyone involved.
Possible Responses
"Oh no, but there might be nobody supervising sometimes! What if they FAIL RP?!??!?" - This argument is utterly pointless, as it applies everywhere on the server. It's down to the staff to punish fail RP as is always the case.
"You should just make another character lol" - Please read the rest of my suggestion and realise that not everyone wants to do this, for a variety of reasons.
"lol 5 OOC days is nothing go touch grass if you don't want to make another character then" - Actively telling people to stop playing on the server should not be an answer in any capacity. This comes down to respecting the player and the time they want to put in as opposed to the opposite.
"Characters in jail also have to stay off so it should be the same here" - A VERY good point, though I'm of the belief that the prison side of things should be treated somewhat differently: crime is a conscious choice that players choose to engage in. Injuries are not always a conscious choice and are imposed upon players often BY those people that engage in crime. In an ideal world, though I would say that prisoners should also be provided RP, but such is not really possible.
TL;DR:
Recovery/Hospital RP heavily discourages players from wanting to engage due to the unreasonable standards and disabling of their own character for extended periods. This is fixed by having an area in which players are able to hang around in as their recovering character without the need for intense supervision the ENTIRE time. This kills two birds with one stone as EMS do not have to feel heavily obligated to supervise them the entire time and can CHOOSE when they want to check on the recovering patients - while players will no longer feel as hesitant to RP out injuries since they are not locked out entirely from their character anymore. Nothing changes in regards to asking EMS to engage further in RP if desired: it simply means players are ALLOWED to exist as their injured character without as much stipulation, EMS are freed up and overall it promotes a less intense OOC environment. We are here to roleplay at the end of the day.
Should it come down to it regardless: this suggestion does not hurt in ANY capacity. It simply provides more OPTIONS.
Thanks for reading! Any input is welcome.
