Finding balance when roleplaying characters.

[Mistery14]

1. Introduction

 

Hi, hope you're having a good day. I'm posting this because of an observation of the recent albeit small surge in threads concerning the "clash" between Civilian roleplayers and Illegal roleplayers. This is not a name and shame thread about any individual or faction, nor is it here to defame or say that either roleplay choices are superior to one another. 

 

I might say things that some of you might not agree with, however that's only normal, everyone has their own opinions and have the right to voice them, me being the OP of this thread doesn't automatically make me right. But please, if comments are to be made, try to keep it civil, that'd be much appreciated.

 

2. So, what is this about, exactly?
 

Illegal & Civilian roleplay concerns everyone. From the well-off people in Vinewood, to the less fortunate in South Central, all the way to Paleto Bay and the point I am trying to make is that, there seems to be a clear dividing line between Civilian and Illegal roleplayers, however, I believe that people could approach both illegal and civilian RP in a way that doesn't exclude them from each other. In short, illegal RP to me is more circumstantial than a premeditation when making a character. 

 

Which is why character development is so fundemental when playing as a character in my opinion. (I understand that there are many, many OOC factors that come into play that prevent people from developing characters, such as time, jobs, education, etc. It all applies to us in a way or another). And the fact that roleplay itself is perceived differently through each individual and one might not find the time or need to develop their character as much as another would. 

 

Let's take an example among many others, of an average man, working at an LTD gas station, he is dealing small amounts of drugs on the side, let's say weed, to tie loose ends. That guy wouldn't be in much trouble if he was caught but to him it'd be a big deal, he doesn't want to go to jail. He wouldn't hurt a fly either. In what category exactly would you place this man? An illegal character, or a civilian character?
 

That's the problem I find in finding balance for characters on the server. I find categorizing characters as illegal or legal based on what they touch upon IC regardless of the degree in which they do somewhat logical for gameplay purposes, but not for character development. I wish a good middle ground between the two could be recognized and established. We would see much more diversity in character behavior. I'm sure these characters exist, but to what extent? 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2021 by Mistery14

[eTaylor]

Most people have that middle ground. Most people also don’t care about categories, nor should they. They just roleplay their character and that’s it. It’s a very small section of the community that has these conflated arguments about illegal/legal division. 

[Mistery14]

Just now, eTaylor said:

Most people have that middle ground. Most people also don’t care about categories, nor should they. They just roleplay their character and that’s it. It’s a very small section of the community that has these conflated arguments about illegal/legal division. 

 

Appreciate the reply!

 

It just seems that these arguments stick out the most sometimes on threads, probably because the majority, who do have that middle ground with their characters just don't express themselves on the topic and therefore it's not as prevalent. I just found it intriguing to delve into, see what other people's perspective is on the matter of this middle ground. 

[i dont wanna od in LA]

11 minutes ago, eTaylor said:

Most people have that middle ground. Most people also don’t care about categories, nor should they. They just roleplay their character and that’s it. It’s a very small section of the community that has these conflated arguments about illegal/legal division. 

 

[eTaylor]

1 minute ago, Mistery14 said:

 

Appreciate the reply!

 

It just seems that these arguments stick out the most sometimes on threads, probably because the majority, who do have that middle ground with their characters just don't express themselves on the topic and therefore it's not as prevalent. I just found it intriguing to delve into, see what other people's perspective is on the matter of this middle ground. 

Most of those arguments you see are literally just people having an argument for the sake of having an argument. The forum is an open podium for eristics to prowl about. I know I have plenty of times out of boredom, even now I’m just waiting for my shift to end. So are many others, and a lot of people just have argumentative personalities. Here’s a pointless excerpt from some psychology article:

 

They often have little insight into their own behavior and how it impacts others. Even if they’re not necessarily arguing with you, they probably have bigger, better, or more famous stories than you, to make themselves appear more knowledgeable or powerful. An often, if you call them out on their behavior, they’ll find a way to make the argument your fault or blame you for getting upset while they’re just “having a conversation” with you. Often, they’re defensive, especially when they interact with someone whose opinions differ from their own.

[Trupiano]

44 minutes ago, Mistery14 said:

 I'm posting this because of an observation of the recent albeit small surge in threads concerning the "clash" between Civilian roleplayers and Illegal roleplayers.

 

It's not recent nor is it small. Frankly, this thread just serves to rehash the same fight this community has had for two years. While you intentions are pure inevitably one side will begin attacking the other, the side being attack will respond and the thread will devolve into a 27 page dick slapping fight.

 

For the most part I think the majority of people find a good middle ground, however what I might see as a measured and decent balance someone who never commits crime on their character might see it as entirely outrageous and over the top portrayal which I'm only using to victimize civilians out of some IRL power fantasy (That's sarcasm but that's honestly what some people believe). There are some civilian characters who's balance makes no sense to me, what they see as perfectly balanced I see as a paper thin persona used to treat GTAW like some kind of second life where all they have to do is party with their friends and race around in sports cars.

 

Does seeing these types of characters and that lack of balance (in my eyes) frustrate me? A bit, but I accept that this is a video game and at the end of the day it really doesn't matter as long as the person isn't breaking server rules. Which lets be honest, rules aren't being broken and that's why the rules are being changed to fulfill the desire of the players crying. You can't convince me that crime and criminal portrayal is that bad, I play regularly as a criminal and I never experience it and rarely does anyone I encounter. While there is always room for improvement, it really feels like the issue isn't as bad as people are overdramatizing it to be.

[DasFroggy]

6 minutes ago, Trupiano said:

inevitably one side will begin attacking the other,

 

6 minutes ago, Trupiano said:

the rules are being changed to fulfill the desire of the players crying. You can't convince me that crime and criminal portrayal is that bad

 

That didn't take very long.

[Mistery14]

1 hour ago, eTaylor said:

Most of those arguments you see are literally just people having an argument for the sake of having an argument. The forum is an open podium for eristics to prowl about. I know I have plenty of times out of boredom, even now I’m just waiting for my shift to end. So are many others, and a lot of people just have argumentative personalities. Here’s a pointless excerpt from some psychology article:

 

They often have little insight into their own behavior and how it impacts others. Even if they’re not necessarily arguing with you, they probably have bigger, better, or more famous stories than you, to make themselves appear more knowledgeable or powerful. An often, if you call them out on their behavior, they’ll find a way to make the argument your fault or blame you for getting upset while they’re just “having a conversation” with you. Often, they’re defensive, especially when they interact with someone whose opinions differ from their own.

 

To be fair, this very thread was made out of boredom as well, I think it's good to argue sometimes and you should make your point across without shoving your opinions into people's faces. When threads get locked it's usually because said arguments turn into pure flaming or bashing, whatever one may call it. 

 

I think overall, it's tempting to fight fire with fire on the internet, because there's little to no consequence to it, that's why these personalities interlock and these loops of argument happen, oftentimes resulting in said flaming, for the sake of it.

[Trupiano]

41 minutes ago, DasFroggy said:

 

 

That didn't take very long.

 

That's not an attack, that's just a fact. Myself and hundreds of other players are not encountering this supposed crisis that people like yourself on the forums try to portray. We admit that there are problems and we try to share our experiences and have a sensible conversation about the issue and we get accused of attempting to promote some power fantasy involving victimizing civilians or that we just want civilians to be cattle for our slaughter. 

 

 

So yeah when someone is acting so hysterically that they don't want to have a logical productive conversation about the issue with all sides yes I'd refer to that as "crying" or having a "tantrum". 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2021 by Trupiano

[Mistery14]

39 minutes ago, Trupiano said:

 

It's not recent nor is it small. Frankly, this thread just serves to rehash the same fight this community has had for two years. While you intentions are pure inevitably one side will begin attacking the other, the side being attack will respond and the thread will devolve into a 27 page dick slapping fight.

 

For the most part I think the majority of people find a good middle ground, however what I might see as a measured and decent balance someone who never commits crime on their character might see it as entirely outrageous and over the top portrayal which I'm only using to victimize civilians out of some IRL power fantasy (That's sarcasm but that's honestly what some people believe). There are some civilian characters who's balance makes no sense to me, what they see as perfectly balanced I see as a paper thin persona used to treat GTAW like some kind of second life where all they have to do is party with their friends and race around in sports cars.

 

Does seeing these types of characters and that lack of balance (in my eyes) frustrate me? A bit, but I accept that this is a video game and at the end of the day it really doesn't matter as long as the person isn't breaking server rules. Which lets be honest, rules aren't being broken and that's why the rules are being changed to fulfill the desire of the players crying. You can't convince me that crime and criminal portrayal is that bad, I play regularly as a criminal and I never experience it and rarely does anyone I encounter. While there is always room for improvement, it really feels like the issue isn't as bad as people are overdramatizing it to be.

 

I think a good way to put it is that, when you have such a big community like GTA:W, you're going to obviously have different personalities meeting each other and they'll play differently as a result, no one can truly play in an uniform manner, that'd be extremely boring as well if you ask me.

 

Thing is, as you said, it's a game and you can't expect people to behave like you'd like to, not as a server owner, not as an admin, not as a regular player, or donator. Hell, even a small group of ten people roleplaying together are going to come across their own problems. No amount of rules nor guidelines will change that. 

 

I think what makes the process of it all easier is that, since it's a game and not real life, you're going to have predictability in what people do with their characters based on where they are, what people they hang out with in game, and other small factors like that. Of course in real life, that works differently. There's much more people with so many different  walks of life that, you just can't truly know, it's not even a good comparison from my part but it's still a somewhat good example, I believe. 

 

So yeah, that middle ground is here, but it's somewhat overshadowed because people tend to focus on one end of the spectrum due to the fact that it's a video game.