The state of script fighting vs RP fighting

[CuttingRoomFloor]

I am making this topic to start a discussion as it seems everyone isn't on the same page regarding melee fighting in-game.

 

As you're quite aware, there's two types of melee fighting: script and RP.

The former involves spamming LMB and manipulating desync in order to down your opponent and in my experience is widespread, with small weapons being asspulled (legitimately, as per the rules) and used to run up on foes. /mes are used but the knocking out is done scriptwise.

The latter involves quite obviously /me and /do with time given to react and is used to create a scene rather than lay your opponents flat-out.

 

In my personal experience, I have RPed fighting among friends and faction where I know they won't aim to drop me, but in the vast majority of situations against other players I have been on the giving and receiving end of the LMB spam attack and have had no complaints until now. I had a situation with @Chey and another player last night which prompted me to start this discussion as I believe everyone is not on the same page, which they really should be in order for a fair environment to flourish.

 

I argued that script fighting is a valid route since it's scripted as a weapon just like a gun is - and that running away in itself is a roleplay reaction, and that literally everybody I've encountered engages in it judging from experiences derived from both my criminal character and gangster alt. Especially on my gangster alt where in Davis, Rancho, people frequently run up on you with ye olde spam! Chey argued that I should report whenever script fighting occurs in that sense as it's powergame. However, Chey's standard is visibly not in line with what I've predominantly encountered across the server.

 

I had in fact never heard a complaint about it up until that moment which suggests to me the SAMP-imported behavior of scriptfighting - as opposed to fully RPing it out with zero scriptfighting as I used to on OwlGaming MTA - is somehow wrong etiquette which I share with the majority of the players I've encountered.

 

Chey simply voided the situation on account of me knocking the other out via scriptfighting. I will attach the video here for reference to the type of fight that went down. No punishments were dished out. https://streamable.com/hoojlq

Keep in mind that this situation is strictly for reference and the discussion is a general one.

 

A few ideas to kickstart:

 

• Does the status quo of scriptfighting or perhaps other players' play to win mentalities necessitate scriptfighting as a legitimate means of attacking and defending from other players? It seems you're in a disadvantage if you get rushed on and don't attack defensively out of RP ideology.

 

• With regard to powergaming, "It is not allowed to force actions upon another player" - does the rushing of others with scripted weapons fall under this as the weapons are indeed scripted and they've even implemented a /helpup command and allowed the asspulling of melee weapons?

 

• The reason you don't have to /me pulling guns out is because the situation erupts too fast for you to realistically type out a /me to draw in comparison to the fraction of a second it would take you to draw said weapon, hence the exemption. Does the inclusion of melee weapons in this list imply that knives, knuckledusters are to be, or can be, used in a scriptwise manner?

 

• Is a 1v1, 2v1, different from say a group brawl in terms of rules? Should there be regulations to state this, for example the requirement of both parties agree OOCly in 1v1/2v1 to script fight in case one prefers RPly being beaten up?

 

• Is scriptfighting a legitimate attack or blatant PG?

 

 

As I initially stated, I just want the community to share their own experiences with melee fighting and perhaps come to mutual agreement on proper etiquette as to me it's blatantly obvious that hasn't been established. According to Chey, scriptfighting, in its current widespread, is against the rules. However, the majority of you can see that this supposed rule is not enforced whatsoever. Discuss.

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2020 by CuttingRoomFloor

[Senior White]

I have seen it before and yes almost everyone script fights unless it is between friends because Roleplay fighting with unknown people would just be a back and forth of people just dodging or blocking kicks and punches. I do not see why it should be punished now when it has never been punished before. A new system would be preferable but I can see how hard it would be. The rules are very unclear about script fighting also. Is it a good thing? No I do not believe it is but is the hard truth we face today and that truth is that everyone does it. We can't punish someone for doing one thing and not punishing someone for doing that exact same thing.

 

Edited August 3, 2020 by Senior White

[Daquan Kingston]

I do agree that the rules should be clearer and standard. I have had to force roleplaying that my bulky character got knocked out from a 16 year old girl, less than half his weight because she was clicking that mouse so damn fast I couldn't even roleplay or anything. People thought I was joking IC.

[Lucie]

It'd be cool to have a fighting system with commands, mixing them with /me. Current script fight is silly for me. Someone could type a me then do /hit ID and it would fail or succeed based on the two players fighting skill. The more you fight in game, your skill will increase. This will encourage training rp, and add more realism. Your initial fighting skill would be set given your character age, gender and background story

Edited August 3, 2020 by Lucie

[Alyssa McCarthy]

45 minutes ago, Daquan Kingston said:

I do agree that the rules should be clearer and standard. I have had to force roleplaying that my bulky character got knocked out from a 16 year old girl, less than half his weight because she was clicking that mouse so damn fast I couldn't even roleplay or anything. People thought I was joking IC.

 

Script fighting unfortunately is terrible in GTA and allows for the most unlikely of scenarios. When I hear female characters boasting about beating up a guy who's twice their size, I cringe at the lack of IC realism. They certainly aren't RPing intimidation or fear.

 

Unless physical damage could be modified to take into consideration people's attributes such as height and weight, I really don't see a work around besides trusting people to RP their characters size & gender appropriately.

[dbdizk]

I personally think it should be agreed upon between the parties once the fight starts, and if one wants to RP and the other one to script fight, it'd be RP'd since it's a heavy RP server after all. Script fighting in my opinion can be powergaming in some cases, such as mentioned above, however it seems to be the norm on the server, probably due to players' play to win mentality. I however don't agree with Chey's decision in said situation. If the other party wasn't ready to script fight, they would've pulled away once it started and stated so in /b.

 

If I was to decide, all fights should be roleplayed, this is GTA World after all, not Eclipse Roleplay or any light RP FiveM server, but with the current state of fighting here, I don't think Chey should've taken any action.

 

We surely need some regulations about this, 100%.

[Pandy]

From all the fights I've seen first hand, they go exactly as you've described it. The only times I've seen emote fighting was in a ring or sparring with friends. There's gotta be more clarification on the subject if things are meant to be handled differently; at this point I'm a bit confused and now questioning everything I've seen and learned so far since it's been so widespread.

[Seaward]

It would be nice to have some clarification. If the GTA 5 fighting system was better or at all synced I wouldn't mind so much but at the moment it's pretty much based on whoever runs around and spams the most. Get tired of clicking and you lose. RP fights are preferred since this is supposed to be a heavy RP server but there are major issues with that too since it almost always will come down to OOC arguments about each other's training, size, strength, etc. So, unless by some miracle the fight you get into is with a character whose player is on the same page as far as RP ability, knowing their character and their abilities without powergaming some insane training, ex-Navy Seal shit, it's probably going to devolve into OOC bitching and reports about each character's supposed capabilities and that's just not fun.

 

As far as melee weapons go, what I've seen and heard is that if you run up on someone unexpectedly from behind, go ahead and smack them with it script-wise. If they could've seen it coming or you're right in front of them, RP it and give them a chance to react since doing otherwise would be PG. That's just what I remember hearing, I have not been in many fights involving melee weapons so I can't say how it's actually enforced in practice.

 

Adding some examples under the powergaming rule might help.

[Shekh]

not everyone enjoys typing out long /me's for a fight while standing completely still facing eachother. Sync will be fixed soon so u can dodge and such. I don't think it should ever be limited to rp fighting, it will just lead to longer rp for something that wouldnt even take long, and instead of the person winning being pretty much random, someone will have to willingly make their character lose through /me's (which majority of people wouldn't willingly do)

[Teddy Broosevelt]

I have seen a complex fighting system with dice rolls in previous renditions of GTA RP. The basis of the system was that if a player rolls a number within a very small, specific range (1-3), they could get a chance to hit. However, then the other player would get a chance to roll. If they roll a 1-3, then they get a chance to hit back. If they rolled 4-6, they could just RP the block. If they rolled 7-10, they would get damaged without hitting back. Then it would go back and forth. It was very complex, but it worked really well and it was fair. Sure it made fights longer, but it made them more interesting to watch especially if they were sanctioned fights.

Edited August 3, 2020 by Saidin