Forgiatos

It's been repeated a few times that the quality of roleplay has declined because of leniency from the administration team. OK, cool. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's start looking at what the community can do. Being a decent roleplayer is more than just typing out flashy /mes. It’s about portraying a character of your own. A character with their own strengths, weaknesses, fears etc. It’s about learning to take a loss sometimes and turning it into something positive. Let’s be honest: nobody likes to lose. But people need to realize that even situations where you lose can lead to unique roleplay. Development of a character is a continuous cycle, as long as you roleplay properly and unique encounters take place. Lost that fight? Cool. Use it to develop your character. People seem to forget that at the end of the day you’re on this server to portray a character and have fun. This goes for both legal and illegal roleplayers. It just doesn’t make sense for every character in the slums to spawn in and be a die-hard gangbanger with no backstory or development. Is gangbanging on your character’s mind all day, every day of the week? How boring and lame is that? Roleplay going to school, playing sports, forming cliques with your peers from the neighborhood. Roleplay having a job, a situation at home; I don't wanna dictate anybody on how to roleplay, but just be creative. The opportunities for character development in illegal roleplay are endless. Even IC rivalry with people you’re cool with OOC is healthy for a faction. Don’t rely on the script for everything and use your imagination. (e.g. not sure if there’s an actual high school.) LEO roleplay characters can go off-duty and develop their character, too. It’s not always about chasing cars, shooting guns and roleplaying during police situations. Don't feel rushed to go from situation to situation when you're on-duty and just take your time to roleplay things out. Form off-duty friendships with people. Meet up and go do something. Go outside in something other than your uniform for once and see what new situations unfold. I should note, though, that it’s harder for a subpar roleplayer to pass through the cracks of LSPD/LSSD today because of the roleplay-standard check they have in their recruitment process, but obviously some people slip through the cracks. Take it upon yourself and report them to their leadership. I feel that this should be your go-to instead of a player report (common courtesy rule), as they represent the whole faction and leadership is quick to act when a bad roleplayer damages the reputation of their faction. I’d also advice people that have only ever done legal roleplay to give illegal roleplay a shot. I’m not sure what it is, but from my experience illegal roleplay offers the best opportunity to develop yourself as a roleplayer. I'm sure that many high-ranking members of legal roleplay will attest to this, so long as they started out as illegal roleplayers. I know that the roleplay standards in legal RP have increased tremendously in the years, but I’m speaking from what I witnessed in similar communities. (Early-Mid 2010s) At the end of the day, learn to take a loss and live with it. Use it to your advantage and turn it into something to develop your character with. Swallow your pride and quit being sour over things that happen in character. This play-to-win attitude is contagious as shit and has to go. I also feel as if the input of certain veteran roleplayers on this issue can be beneficial to the community, but maybe that's just me. Bottom line is, before you go in-game and create a character, think about your character & who they are, their background etc. Their traits and personality. Things that bother them and things that satisfy them. Where do you wanna go with this character? That's up to you, but don't discard any bad encounter that's a loss. Instead use that opportunity to develop your character and grow as a roleplayer.