Allow Certain Elements of the Court Process to Occur IG

[NickyW]

Short description: Allow certain, shorter elements of the Court Process (Arraignment, Sentencing, Perhaps even small claims cases) to occur in-game in a mapped courthouse.

 

Detailed description: So as of this moment, the Court role plays entirely on the forum. While in a perfect world, trials could take place in-game and could last hours, the world isn't perfect. I'm suggesting a compromise. Implement a system where shorter elements of the court process are performed in-game. Here's some examples:

 

Arraignments: Arraignments are short and simple. Essentially, all that occurs is that the judge reads the defendant the charges, the defendant makes their plea (guilty, not guilty, no contest, etc), and then they decide if there should be a bail for the defendant, and if so, how much. This gives an opportunity for lawyers to appear in-game and have short arguments with each other while actually being able to play as their character, in costume, pitted against the opposition. The entire process could be done in thirty minutes and the only people that need to be present are: an attorney, a prosecutor, the defendant, and a judge (and a member of LSPD/LSSD to act as a bailiff). 

 

People Required: 4, Attorney, Prosecutor, Defendant, Judge

Time Required: 45 minutes to an hour.

 

Sentencing:  Like arraignments, sentencing is a very short and simple procedure. It would occur after the verdict has been made on the forums. The defendant, attorney, state, and judge would appear in-game to sentence the defendant. The judge could hear pleas for leniency (or the opposite), and then could make the decision. Attorney's could bring up things like prior records, family needs, extenuating circumstances, etc.

 

Small Claims Cases: Small Claims cases could be done entirely in-game with only the defendant, plaintiff, and judge. This only requires three people to be online at once. The entire "litigation" process could occur ingame in less than an hour. This is a more hopeful suggestion, and if it's too ambitious, feel free to focus only on the other two.

 

Maybe indictments could occur too, but those take a bit longer so I don't know.

 

OF COURSE, if implemented, these could all be added as optional stages for immersion purposes. Defendants can feel free to opt for an entirely forum-based trial, should they not have the activity/interest in performing any of the actions in-game.

 

The trials themselves (the longest part of the process) would still occur on the forum, seeing as getting everyone together for the length of an entire trial would be nearly impossible.

 

 

Commands to add: None.

Items to add: A Courthouse Interior would need to be mapped.

How would your suggestion improve the server?  As of right now, Attorneys have no reason to ever be on their character ingame, besides passive RP and perhaps client meetings/depositions/etc. This would give attorneys something to do in-game. It would give them a reason to dress in nice suits and show up to court and be able to actively argue and practice their litigation skills. They'd have to think on their feet and would have a much more realistic, immersive, and fun court experience. 

 

This would also help out people who love role playing criminals in a realistic, long-term manner. Organized Crime members are the people who I think would benefit most from this suggestion (besides Lawyers). They'd actually be able to appear in court, speak to a judge, sit next to their lawyer, etc. It really just adds a new level of immersion.

 

Additional information: This requires almost no work to accomplish development wise. The only issue would be that a Courthouse interior would be mapped. Otherwise, this is an entirely community-based change. I'll be happy to answer any concerns/questions.

 

Edited August 7, 2020 by NickyW

[Matt.]

Supporting. I would love to see arraignments and sentencing for major cases (RICO, capital crimes, cop killings etc) done in game. Of course the actual arguing of the case would have to remain on the forums as it would take too long.

[Shekh]

supported

[DLimit]

Heavily supported, as it's much more immersive for players to be directly involved with the case, in real time, for certain aspects that are less tedious or complex.

[effion]

many times yes.

only if its feasible for all people involved within their timezone.

[Anselmi]

Nice idea in theory, but a logistical nightmare to arrange with all the different timezones - speaking from experience.

[Zayyy]

10 minutes ago, Anselmi said:

Nice idea in theory, but a logistical nightmare to arrange with all the different timezones - speaking from experience.

+

[eTaylor]

24 minutes ago, Anselmi said:

Nice idea in theory, but a logistical nightmare to arrange with all the different timezones - speaking from experience.

Not only that, you'd have to have interiors and in-game infrastructure that take a whole lot of effort to set up. Even if you manage to overcome the logistical nightmare and create something that works for people who are in the same timezone it would only really be used incidentally.  Either that or you'd have to dumb down the process significantly. 

[Shekh]

would agree for this but only to be used for death penalty cases or life sentences.

not practical to have every court case be ingame. But for death penalty or a life sentence you should get the courtesy of having that verdict actually passed ingame and not NPC'ed or done on forums. 

Edited August 7, 2020 by Shekh

[NickyW]

29 minutes ago, Anselmi said:

Nice idea in theory, but a logistical nightmare to arrange with all the different timezones - speaking from experience.

 

 

Just now, eTaylor said:

Not only that, you'd have to have interiors and in-game infrastructure that take a whole lot of effort to set up. Even if you manage to overcome the logistical nightmare and create something that works for people who are in the same timezone it would only really be used incidentally.  Either that or you'd have to dumb down the process significantly. 

 

I'd hardly call arranging a thirty minute meeting between four people a logistical nightmare.

 

It happens literally hundreds of times a week in other factions with no issues.

Edited August 7, 2020 by NickyW