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Self Insert into RP - Screening Question


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29 minutes ago, oliviarav3n said:

A 1:1 mirror of someone from real life into the game world just isn't appropriate.

 

 

 

I disagree.

 

I hold the opinion that self-inserts are a crime, but they're a victimless crime.

 

Yes, self-insert characters are universally the hallmark of uncreative, unskilled, and frankly uninteresting roleplayers, and can easily be weeded out from your personal or faction's circle.

 

That being said, they don't really harm anyone. They don't, except in extreme cases where emotional attachment to your character overrides fairness or logic (which is a problem that exceeds just self-inserts) make anybody's experience worse.

 

It just seems like a really weird place to draw the line, especially when enforcing it to any effective degree would basically cut the playerbase in half. Because let's face it: most of the GTA World community aren't serious roleplayers. They come from Second Life or Habbo or Roblox or wherever looking to have avatars instead of characters, and they go to clubs and drive fancy cars and spam sidejobs. And you know what? As long as they're not bugging me? That's okay. I'll make fun of them, I'll look down on them, I won't let them in my faction (unless they wise up), but hey...like I said, bars need to be filled, dance floors need to be crowded, pizza needs to be bought; and for that, they'll do just fine.

 

"That'll do, mallrat, that'll do". - NickyW

 

 

Edited by NickyW
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45 minutes ago, NickyW said:

I hold the opinion that self-inserts are a crime, but they're a victimless crime.

I don't think it's victimless though. I know its anecdotal, but after a couple decades roleplaying and doing administration, I've found that the vast majority of people that mirror themselves 1:1 take adverse IC events much more personally. If their character is angry, the player gets upset OOC as if it happened to them. They treat their character like it's literally them and in doing so it brings a lot of ugliness for the ride; metagaming, powergaming, OOC harassment, play to win - these can derive from the desire to protect the character (themself).

 

I don't know if you intend to, but I feel as though you're also insinuating that only legal RPers self insert so therefore it's okay (since they only go to clubs, etc). I would argue it happens on all ends: legal, illegal and in between.

 

Again, not asking for a rule, asking for a simple screening question to help weed this out. Nevertheless, I appreciate you offering your opinion! 😀

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1 hour ago, oliviarav3n said:

I don't think it's victimless though. I know its anecdotal, but after a couple decades roleplaying and doing administration, I've found that the vast majority of people that mirror themselves 1:1 take adverse IC events much more personally. If their character is angry, the player gets upset OOC as if it happened to them. They treat their character like it's literally them and in doing so it brings a lot of ugliness for the ride; metagaming, powergaming, OOC harassment, play to win - these can derive from the desire to protect the character (themself).

 

I don't know if you intend to, but I feel as though you're also insinuating that only legal RPers self insert so therefore it's okay (since they only go to clubs, etc). I would argue it happens on all ends: legal, illegal and in between.

 

Again, not asking for a rule, asking for a simple screening question to help weed this out. Nevertheless, I appreciate you offering your opinion! 😀

Self inserts are everywhere. And I tend to agree with your opinion more than with NickyW's because of what you just brought up. What Nicky has described is your average self insert that just goes from social hub to social hub and provides no roleplay other than buying the occasional water bottle at the club (because of course they don't drink) but there is another type of self insert. The criminal self inser, that has infected the gang rp community but is prevalent in all other types of criminal rp, is a much more serious notion. These people will take any slight done to them ic as a personal attack and will target you, your faction and whoever you associate with. They will harass and attack you in-game then boast about it, clip it, make 10 videos out of it and generally be a nuisance.  These people aren't just drifting around in their Elegy Retros, they actively ruin other people's RP because their e-personality got offended.

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10 minutes ago, DeadPlaya said:

Self inserts are everywhere. And I tend to agree with your opinion more than with NickyW's because of what you just brought up. What Nicky has described is your average self insert that just goes from social hub to social hub and provides no roleplay other than buying the occasional water bottle at the club (because of course they don't drink) but there is another type of self insert. The criminal self inser, that has infected the gang rp community but is prevalent in all other types of criminal rp, is a much more serious notion. These people will take any slight done to them ic as a personal attack and will target you, your faction and whoever you associate with. They will harass and attack you in-game then boast about it, clip it, make 10 videos out of it and generally be a nuisance.  These people aren't just drifting around in their Elegy Retros, they actively ruin other people's RP because their e-personality got offended.

 

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SIs are the showcase of an inexperienced RPer. The issue I'd say is that servers need a good population of inexperienced RPers to survive. People don't magically wake up and become good actors, they need practice and experience. Everyone here started off knowing nothing.

 

I'd say the effort to implement anti-SI measures could be better used guiding people who make SIs towards better players. At the end of the day the best whitelist servers don't have the acceptance standards of Harvard, they've got the standards of UMass Lowell.

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15 minutes ago, Barbary said:

SIs are the showcase of an inexperienced RPer. The issue I'd say is that servers need a good population of inexperienced RPers to survive. People don't magically wake up and become good actors, they need practice and experience. Everyone here started off knowing nothing.

 

I'd say the effort to implement anti-SI measures could be better used guiding people who make SIs towards better players. At the end of the day the best whitelist servers don't have the acceptance standards of Harvard, they've got the standards of UMass Lowell.

Isn't a screening question also a teaching tool though? If they see the question they'll (hopefully) think "this is probably something I shouldn't do."

 

There are a lot of new people that learn by our rules and screening questions I'm willing to bet!

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18 minutes ago, oliviarav3n said:

Isn't a screening question also a teaching tool though? If they see the question they'll (hopefully) think "this is probably something I shouldn't do."

 

A screening question, by it's very nature, is used to gatekeep certain elements. If someone sees that question and answers unfavorably you won't be able to teach them through the application process.

 

20 minutes ago, oliviarav3n said:

There are a lot of new people that learn by our rules and screening questions I'm willing to bet!

 

By this logical extension, there wouldn't be any rule breaks by new players because the (already sizable) whitelist application touches on said rule breaks. We know that isn't the case seeing as there's an average of... what, 10 ajails a night? Being conservative?

I'm gonna -1 this.

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There's a couple blatantly obvious self-inserts in the community and I am surprised that the staff team hasn't said anything about them.

I'd say it's definitely a fact that if you roleplay a self-insert, then if something happens to your character you take it personally.

 

I'm not sure if adding extra measures or what not would be productive or a good idea but they're definitely not good.

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16 minutes ago, Barbary said:

A screening question, by it's very nature, is used to gatekeep certain elements. If someone sees that question and answers unfavorably you won't be able to teach them through the application process.

If come across a screening question, or a concept I don't understand I research it. I learn by the experience. Staff also gives feedback if things get kicked back. Yes, it's a gatekeeping mechanism, but things can be learned and people can become more knowledgeable through the process.

 

57 minutes ago, Barbary said:

SIs are the showcase of an inexperienced RPer. The issue I'd say is that servers need a good population of inexperienced RPers to survive. People don't magically wake up and become good actors, they need practice and experience. Everyone here started off knowing nothing.

 

I'd say the effort to implement anti-SI measures could be better used guiding people who make SIs towards better players. At the end of the day the best whitelist servers don't have the acceptance standards of Harvard, they've got the standards of UMass Lowell.

Replace SIs with metagaming, powergaming or any other no-no. We gatekeep these (but teach about them) as well. People don't magically wake up and know these concepts either. "You are not your character" is a concept that every roleplayer should learn and understand.

 

I appreciate your opinion nonetheless! 😀

Edited by oliviarav3n
added a small point
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Some self inserts are better roleplayers than most people, because while they portray themselves - they encompass other elements of their lives they otherwise can't do. (Crime). A lot of the time, I meet self insert characters who have hilarious dialogue, are genuinely fun to be around and aren't boring. In fact, the people I find the most boring and awful to RP with are sometimes, the "too unique" characters, or the people who's entire niche is something incredulous and stupid. RPQM is non-existent because you can't keep track of a thousand plus players and be expected to dive into every single one's giant backstory. 

 

Self inserting isn't an example of bad roleplay, some people do it not because they are "unoriginal" or because they "lack creativity". People cling to the familiar in an unknown world. My first character was a self insert that I used to help me learn the server, and I ended up with some great friends even though it was a Mary Sue type and it paved the way for me to get some really memorable, fun characters under my mitts. 

 

This screening question is pointless, an un-needed step. People are going to do what they want whether they understand what they're doing is wrong or not. As long as they're having fun, that's all someone really should care about. We all started somewhere, and for a lot of people, this is their first server. Let 'em have fun.

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