What is your opinion/thoughts on illegal RP

[NickyW]

8 minutes ago, Ronnie two poles said:

Could be done a lot better. I feel like there's a heavy misconception of how illegal culture is here in America, esp. on the gang side. How we dress here, the lingo, the illegal economics. 

 

Yes, gang bangers sometimes work part time and collect other sources of income...EBT, cash assistance etc - while doing something else on the side, fraud, selling weed. Not every gang banger has an illegal source of income. Also, not every drug dealer has to sell hard drugs. Why don't some people do what the majority of drug dealers do IRL...sell weed and maybe pills. Not everyone should aspire  to be Pablo. 

 

Where are the people developing characters to just simply get by, pay the bills. Food in their mouth. Why does everyone want to be Chapo? Doesn't happen a lot IRL. People pushing big weight are so low key about it and sometimes don't even touch the drugs. But anyways, yes people involved in low income areas typically have normal, legal sources of income. 

 

There would be nothing wrong for an illegal character working at a bar, fast food. A lot of people here in America, esp. the youth 16-23, will work part time while selling weed or pills. Not everyone, even in SC sells hard work and has a gun lol. Just a misconception on this RP server.  

 

Edit: I'll reply to more of these later. This topic caught my attention. 

I'm sorry bro but this is a ridiculous point.

 

I hate using this argument because it seldom applies, but I really think it's important here:

 

It's a video game. Nobody wants to roleplay a twenty year old selling pills to pay their rent while they work at McDonalds. I'm sure a lot of characters would like to *start* out this way, before eventually branching into other forms of roleplay, which is both realistic and good development; but nobody wants to emulate a shitty life with no upside for 6+ IRL months without changing it.

[Ronnie two poles]

4 minutes ago, NickyW said:

I'm sorry bro but this is a ridiculous point.

 

I hate using this argument because it seldom applies, but I really think it's important here:

 

It's a video game. Nobody wants to roleplay a twenty year old selling pills to pay their rent while they work at McDonalds. I'm sure a lot of characters would like to *start* out this way, before eventually branching into other forms of roleplay, which is both realistic and good development; but nobody wants to emulate a shitty life with no upside for 6+ IRL months without changing it.

 

Then don't RP that. You simply cannot think it's normal to start off as Frank Matthews lol. Emulating a shitty life...that's kind of what the point of that RP is. You're poverty struck, living under poor conditions, in a bad neighborhood undergoing systemic racism. What's good about that. No you don't need to RP developing that for 6 months. A few weeks of starting from the bottom and slowly getting to a better spot, is fine. That's how that RP is, and that's how a lot of them start off. What do you think is a better start to that tier of RP? Because if you think it's starting off moving ounce after ounce, living well - everyone's laughing. 

 

Also,  there are tons of other crimes you can RP doing that's not selling drugs. 

Edited February 19, 2021 by Ronnie two poles

[EffPee]

7 minutes ago, NickyW said:

I'm sorry bro but this is a ridiculous point.

 

I hate using this argument because it seldom applies, but I really think it's important here:

 

It's a video game. Nobody wants to roleplay a twenty year old selling pills to pay their rent while they work at McDonalds. I'm sure a lot of characters would like to *start* out this way, before eventually branching into other forms of roleplay, which is both realistic and good development; but nobody wants to emulate a shitty life with no upside for 6+ IRL months without changing it.

You're probably right for the majority of people on the server, but there is definitely a niche that do enjoy RPing storylines like this, it's unique to a community of people that love to follow a similar template every next character they make. It's why in the gang community at least, people roleplay resident alts to do these storylines, sure they have a main character climbing the ranks in their local gang but it is definitely a lot of fun to slow it down and roleplay as a random resident in the area who just 'exists' alongside this gang.

 

This is part of the reason why I love illegal roleplay, sure it has it's issues (and I hate to generalise), but I do notice unique characters more often in the illegal roleplay scene than legal characters.

Edited February 19, 2021 by EffPee

[Edelweiss206]

Okay but...why do you need a character for slow stuff and gang gang stuff? Why can't that character be...developed to do both, what's stopping that? This is starting to go a little off topic but I HONESTLY think it's the main problem 'Illegal' RP. The framing of it makes it sound like you can only do one or the other. For a 'Legal' character it effects them less, they're more likely to not need to go out of their way to commit crimes, they have less of a reason realistically to dip into illegal activities.

 

But let's take an illegal character, the way some people talk about shit, and how (personally) you come across just then, that it's almost mindboggling to have to do 'Legal Acts' on your characters. You see it a lot in reports when an admin brings up "What is your characters backstory?" and 9/10 times it reads like they exist to just climb a gang's ranks like Call of Duty prestige levels. 

[NickyW]

9 minutes ago, Ronnie two poles said:

 

Then don't RP that. You simply cannot think it's normal to start off as Frank Matthews lol. Emulating a shitty life...that's kind of what the point of that RP is. You're poverty struck, living under poor conditions, in a bad neighborhood undergoing systemic racism. What's good about that. No you don't need to RP developing that for 6 months. A few weeks of starting from the bottom and slowly getting to a better spot, is fine. That's how that RP is, and that's how a lot of them start off. What do you think is a better start to that tier of RP? Because if you think it's starting off moving ounce after ounce, living well - everyone's laughing. 

 

Also,  there are tons of other crimes you can RP doing that's not selling drugs. 

 

I don't think that's normal. That's why I didn't say that it's normal. It's interesting that you find it necessary to dispute points I never tried to make. Do you have any answer to the things that I actually said?

 

No one's saying it isn't a bad start. In fact, I actually said it's a very good start. But what I'm saying, is that video games are a form of escapism, and encouraging someone to roleplay a certain way is much different than suggesting that they're doing something "wrong" or need to "improve" because they don't want to do what you want them to.

 

You know what? As a twenty year old who's sold pills to pay his bills while he works a shitty job, maybe I don't want to go home at night and pretend to be a twenty year old selling pills while working a shitty job. I don't think that makes me a poor roleplayer.

 

If someone wants to RP a 40 year old upper-middle class guy who has a midlife crisis and turns to crime, that's great. If someone wants to RP a 20 year old poverty-stricken kid from a gang neighborhood who's ambitious, and wants to build an empire, that's great.

 

My point was, and still is: Being ambitious in your character's aspirations is NEVER, I repeat, NEVER a bad thing. And it's ridiculous to criticize people or suggest that they're doing RP wrong because their characters have big goals.

 

 

[EffPee]

3 minutes ago, Edelweiss206 said:

Okay but...why do you need a character for slow stuff and gang gang stuff? Why can't that character be...developed to do both, what's stopping that? This is starting to go a little off topic but I HONESTLY think it's the main problem 'Illegal' RP. The framing of it makes it sound like you can only do one or the other. For a 'Legal' character it effects them less, they're more likely to not need to go out of their way to commit crimes, they have less of a reason realistically to dip into illegal activities.

 

But let's take an illegal character, the way some people talk about shit, and how (personally) you come across just then, that it's almost mindboggling to have to do 'Legal Acts' on your characters. You see it a lot in reports when an admin brings up "What is your characters backstory?" and 9/10 times it reads like they exist to just climb a gang's ranks like Call of Duty prestige levels. 

I don't think the labelling has anything to do with it. I could roleplay as a random kid who does nothing but studies and rides his bike, if I was interacting with a gang on a gang turf, I'd consider it an illegal character.

 

Nobody thinks it's far fetched to hold a job while you roleplay as a gang member, the issue is that we are constantly told to just 'get a job' when we complain about not making enough money. It completely diminishes the idea of having an actual character that ALSO does illegal activity for money. 

 

There is no incentive to even roleplay monetarily related crime, because it either ends in a report or the money we get out of it isn't worth the risk we take. What countless people have been arguing for months is that criminal roleplayers desperately need more development catering to them, more scriptwise ways to get an illegal income, stabilisation of the drug/gun market, and plenty more that I'm sure others could name.

[Ronnie two poles]

9 minutes ago, NickyW said:

 

I don't think that's normal. That's why I didn't say that it's normal. It's interesting that you find it necessary to dispute points I never tried to make. Do you have any answer to the things that I actually said?

 

No one's saying it isn't a bad start. In fact, I actually said it's a very good start. But what I'm saying, is that video games are a form of escapism, and encouraging someone to roleplay a certain way is much different than suggesting that they're doing something "wrong" or need to "improve" because they don't want to do what you want them to.

 

You know what? As a twenty year old who's sold pills to pay his bills while he works a shitty job, maybe I don't want to go home at night and pretend to be a twenty year old selling pills while working a shitty job. I don't think that makes me a poor roleplayer.

 

If someone wants to RP a 40 year old upper-middle class guy who has a midlife crisis and turns to crime, that's great. If someone wants to RP a 20 year old poverty-stricken kid from a gang neighborhood who's ambitious, and wants to build an empire, that's great.

 

My point was, and still is: Being ambitious in your character's aspirations is NEVER, I repeat, NEVER a bad thing. And it's ridiculous to criticize people or suggest that they're doing RP wrong because their characters have big goals.

 

 

 

Never said you had to limit your RP to anything, but my suggestion was based primarily off the point it's silly to start off as a drug lord lol. Of course you can be ambitious and get their in your development, but I also don't think everyone should have that similar goal. Just take the RP with the flow of things and see how it ends up. I do like the idea of being a 40 year old and having a crisis. Thought ab making a char like that myself. 

[eTaylor]

6 minutes ago, EffPee said:

I don't think the labelling has anything to do with it. I could roleplay as a random kid who does nothing but studies and rides his bike, if I was interacting with a gang on a gang turf, I'd consider it an illegal character.

 

Nobody thinks it's far fetched to hold a job while you roleplay as a gang member, the issue is that we are constantly told to just 'get a job' when we complain about not making enough money. It completely diminishes the idea of having an actual character that ALSO does illegal activity for money. 

 

There is no incentive to even roleplay monetarily related crime, because it either ends in a report or the money we get out of it isn't worth the risk we take. What countless people have been arguing for months is that criminal roleplayers desperately need more development catering to them, more scriptwise ways to get an illegal income, stabilisation of the drug/gun market, and plenty more that I'm sure others could name.

It just comes down to a group of people who roleplay a certain way, believing that their way of roleplay is the only way and that everyone should roleplay the same way. And that if you don't, then you're "wrong". Right now the incentive (IN MY OPINION) is more oriented towards the idea of "I have this character, this is what I want to do and the story I want to tell" and "I think this is realistic, this is what my character would do, and would make for a nice screenshot". People roleplay for different reasons, they have different motives and different styles. It's also worth mentioning that most people who play don't go on the forums, and especially don't participate in these discussions. 

[Alyssa McCarthy]

I think people should stop focusing on telling other players what is the right way to play and what is the wrong way to play.

 

If you wanna pay some ghetto kid on the streets struggling to make ends meat who jumps some stranger out of desperation for a few dollars, that seems as legitimate as playing a mafia crime boss with a drug empire that spans half the city.

 

Surely, this discussion is about broader issues than individual opinion on what is okay and not okay as character concepts for crime RP?

 

Edited February 19, 2021 by Alyssa McCarthy

[afrosamurai]

It's a bit stale to be honest. Start by fixing the drug economy and overhauling how drugs work. After all drugs are the bread and butter of illegal RP.