Black & White versus a spectrum

[orca112]

Hi,

 

Black and white, in this case "legal" and "illegal". Being on the server for a while, it seems the majority of the playerbase is founded on the idea that your character (not) committing crimes or engaging in criminal activities is a simple black and white. Your character is either this or that, "legal" or "illegal". You create a law-abiding citizen, you do not even think about getting near any criminals. You create a character involved in crime, you exclusively do crime all day.

 

It seems easy to just categorize people and think in black and white. It is ever so present in todays discussion culture, especially when looking into politics (For/Against, Left/Right...). Legal and illegal. Them and us.

 

But what if you expand your horizon? Look at the topic of a law-abiding citizen and hardened criminal in a spectrum? You limit yourself with thinking black and white when realistically, there is a large spectrum. From your lawful good saint to occasional lies, pushing legal boundaries to achieve your goal, shady things in the so-called "gray area of the law", petty crime, corruption all the way down to severe crimes.

 

Because your character is a law-abiding citizen, it does not mean they will not stand at the risk of slipping down the spectrum. Troubles with the job, the wife leaving and looking for some extra cash? Getting hooked on alcohol and drugs to compensate for the struggles or stress on the day-to-day job, eventually eating up your money leading to acquisitive crime? Covering for your child that may or may not have committed a crime after hanging out with the wrong people? There are many reasons why your character might step into the "gray". They are still the same character and goals and ideals may remain the same.

 

Because your character is a tough gang-banger in their late teens, they are not exclusively limited to criminal activities. If crime does not pay off? Just like anyone else, they might need to look into getting a job to make ends meet. They grow older and plan to "get out" striving for a peaceful life? Their crippling addiction gets too much and they look into rehab? Their entire group ends up in prison and loses their power and influence leaving your character with little perspective to get back into the "old life"? Your character is in organized crime and does not get their hands dirty, keeping their focus on maintaining a respectable public image through interactions, charity and other events? Your character runs a legal front to cover their criminal activities? Just because you want your character to be a criminal, that does not mean they do crime 24/7 and are completely excluded from "becoming a good citizen".

 

Now when you create a new character, you usually have a plan - "I want my character to be / become XY" "I want to RP with faction ZX", etc. And that is fine, there is nothing wrong with it. But it should not fully determine your character's path like it is set in stone.

 

Your character arrives in town, gets to know some people and interacts with them. They may show the character around, introduce them to others...the usual things. But some things may go not as planned. Your supposedly "legal" character gets dragged into a questionable group, your supposed "illegal" character gets a good deal, job offer, opportunity to "get out" and live a decent life. Instead of denying these opportunities and eventually even breaking character, why not go with the flow? See where it leads to. Let things happen, may it be for the good or bad.

 

But to end this up - do not just look at things in black and white. There is a spectrum to look into, may it be your character's choices, their demeanor or even things that you come across in real life - the people you meet, discussions, politics...it often is not a simple black and white, good and bad, left and right, etc.

[born krazy]

1 minute ago, orca112 said:

Your character arrives in town,

This has always irked me. Just because you spawn at an airport doesn't mean you actually took a plane to Los Santos. EVERY single gang rp character is a Los Santos native. A lot of people should be Los Santos natives. 

[orca112]

7 minutes ago, born krazy said:

This has always irked me. Just because you spawn at an airport doesn't mean you actually took a plane to Los Santos. EVERY single gang rp character is a Los Santos native. A lot of people should be Los Santos natives. 

Congratulations, you missed the entire thread to stick up on one detail that has little impact in the actual topic that is being brought up. Considering a good amount of people roleplay their characters as (mainly European) foreigners, this scenario is not completely out of place or unrealistic, whilst not applicable for the entire playerbase, so lets stick on topic.

[Engelbert]

Path is never set in stone. All the people I met so far, all the characters you meet, they shape your own character bit by bit. Even if you don't notice it at first. 

[i dont wanna od in LA]

I'll allow myself to quote my previous posts which have quite explained my stance on this matter (and yes I was probably one of the first people to address the issue of fluidity when it comes to character development & not locking yourself in some weird limitations):
 

Quote

there's no such thing as civilian roleplay in the first place, because it would be the vast majority of the playerbase, including everyone who isn't a part of pd or sd.

Quote

Let me break it down this way. Gang members are civilians as well, mob members are civilians as well and so are MC members. That's where you guide loses any relevance. Let me give you another example; where would you put a corrupt cop category-wise? Are they a legal roleplayer? Are they an illegal roleplayer? Are they both? 

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by i dont wanna od in LA

[Sixty]

I wish more people thought this way. I hate the idea of being one or the other. My characters have had friends that were on both sides of the spectrum. My characters do not generally commit entry level crime and tend to stick with more legal sided jobs, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to scoff at someone who does commit crime or call the police on someone who’s doing some drugs in the bathroom. It doesn’t mean my characters won’t do drugs with them in the bathroom lmao. It’s all very subjective. I hate pegging my characters to one side or the other. Just walk the line and consider that your character is a human, not a robot. They have lives outside of their hustle lol. 

Edited May 12, 2021 by Sixty

[born krazy]

18 minutes ago, orca112 said:

Congratulations, you missed the entire thread to stick up on one detail that has little impact in the actual topic that is being brought up. Considering a good amount of people roleplay their characters as (mainly European) foreigners, this scenario is not completely out of place or unrealistic, whilst not applicable for the entire playerbase, so lets stick on topic.

nah i understood your post. most actually competent illegal roleplayers call themselves illegal roleplayers not because they ONLY do crime but because they do MORE crime than most. it's not some groundbreaking discovery. anybody that sees it as a black & white situation needs a whole lot of work.

[AlphaBatal]

Thing is, spectrum works to a point. When legal factions get involved, there's corruption rules which need reasoning and are always a nuclear option. The spectrum part mostly concerns civilians, qnd after numerous run-ins with factionless crimebots and unofficial group robbery roleplayers, the bias is understandable.

 

People want nothing to do with crime, especially concerning others. Not when a majority of the legal roleplayer demographic's been smacked with the non-character, nonsensical trash RP or outgoing hostility/aggression. Characters deviate towards safety. Either safety or carelessness. Legal roleplayers form cliques which exclude others. Illegal roleplayers form organizations that often exclude civilians.

 

 

That's why O'Neill is so good. It enables gray characters through forming an actual community, instead of trying to cannibalize it for the sake of script gains.

 

[Ronnie two poles]

Never understood the illegal/legal thing, unfortunately I've coined this term myself - but I've always felt like I viewed it as (and maybe others should too): everyone is a civilian, regardless if you commit crime or not. You're still a civilian, but you may be deemed a criminal to others. This doesn't mean your RP is entirely illegal, you just commit crime IC. A what would be called "illegal" character may commit crime IC - but have a 9-5 job too. Does that mean they are an illegal char. entirely now? No, they're just a civilian. Everyone is really just a civilian, we need to quit throwing the words illegal/legal RPer around. You're RPing a civilian, regardless if you're a cop, sell drugs full time, work a job and sell guns on the side, or whatever.

 

By the way, I agree - people need to stop using the airport spawn as a IC starting point. Majority should be native to LS.  

[eTaylor]

Just play the game and have fun, it’s not that serious. Sure you can take your roleplay seriously, but you’ll notice all that BS disappears the second you stay off the forums.