Why is LCN RP so stigmatized?

[eTaylor]

12 minutes ago, SweetDaffodil said:

I honestly don't know why LCN has been stigmatized recently because some of the best roleplay experiences I have had on this server stemmed from groups like Martorano and Conti - and I was predominantly a legal character who never ranked out in either faction.

Think this really hits it. Because for all the drama and arguing whether it has a place in Los Santos the RP is actually really good 

[Notbond]

I'd love to see a LCN roleplayed well, some of the best/most interesting interactions I had with factions before I joined GTAW was with LCN's. There are plenty examples of them being run badly but a faction run by some good leaders who are focused on the quality of RP, I'm sure would have a place on World despite the issues of East/West coast. 

[Zoinks]

38 minutes ago, SweetDaffodil said:

I honestly don't know why LCN has been stigmatized recently because some of the best roleplay experiences I have had on this server stemmed from groups like Martorano and Conti - and I was predominantly a legal character who never ranked out in either faction.

I second this. My interactions with LCN RPers, especially around 2020/2021, has always been a fun experience, and it wasn't exactly a good experience for my character so to make that enjoyable says a lot. We had broken into their DigitalDen store on our gang chars and instead of doing what most would do (DM us), they gave us a deadline for payment which provided all of us with RP and eventually a long-term contact was made. Those who experienced it with me still talk about it fondly now and we don't have a bad thing to say.

 

The stereotype that people create after playing mafia 2 for the first time is an issue, I agree, but they are few and far between, and shouldn't determine whether legitimate characters should exist or not. Also there are stereotypes of everything on GTA:W, because most people are RPing something that they are not, and have never experienced first-hand, meaning all their character building comes from internet research and what the already knowledgeable tell them. And the already knowledgeable, most of the time, have also gotten their research from the same place. If annoying stereotypes was a reason to shut down a concept then there wouldn't be any factions left. As for the realism of LA = LS, I agree with OP that bending reality a little bit and using Los Santos as a canvas for worldbuilding rather than set in stone based on reality is a better way for us all to have fun so long as the concept is grounded in realism.

[Gallagher]

don’t want to be a contrarian but it seems I’m going against the grain here…

 

as a criminal roleplayer I do not like roleplaying with mafia factions at all and my experiences are totally immersion breaking 95% of the time. i feel like I’m interacting with a stereotype and a character that is totally out of place in the LA criminal underworld. You can argue all you like about how LS is it’s own entity but the fact is that the vast majority of factions do roleplay like it is LA and their characters act accordingly. that is why the Italian mob and the Russian mob stick out like a sore thumb.

[Bolax]

1 hour ago, subway244 said:

Once again, even though Los Santos replaces Los Angeles in the lore, there's still creative freedom given by the fact that the location is fictionalized.

 

I personally think it's more of a technical limitation, too. Liberty City was a blessing to almost everyone in the LCN scene, because truthfully, we'd all rather RP in a New York setting. However, the LCN community existed long before Liberty City, and it will continue to exist for as long as it remains a popular subject in media such as television, books and games.

 

GTAW admins tried to change the map to accommodate concepts more suited for the east coast, and for whatever reason, it failed. However, I don't believe that should be justification enough to stigmatize and, in many ways, destroy our community just because we're limited to RPing on a map based on Los Angeles.

 

Once again, the ideology that accommodates everyone's tastes is to treat Los Santos as more like a blank-slate west coast city that's molded and shaped by IC actions, rather than a 1:1 recreation of Los Angeles. People who want to RP west coast concepts can continue doing so, and simply refuse to interact with people who wish to portray LCN - which is still a nationwide phenomenon outside of NYC, even today.

Truth is that 95% of the criminal roleplay community on this server model their factions after LA based criminal organizations and anything outside of that just ruins their immersion, including mine.

[denybosnia]

5 hours ago, subway244 said:

I honestly have no idea why there's such a stigma against LCN RP these days from the illegal community. Italian mob RP has been around since forever, it's probably the oldest RP'd concept since the earliest days of GTA Roleplay. It's one of the only established roleplay subcommunities that has stayed relatively the same since as far back as the mid-to-late 2000s. There's a lot, and I mean A LOT of people who'd still realistically RP the Italian mob and WANT to, but can't because there's apparently some kind of hatred toward it, by what appears to be only a minority within the illegal scene.

 

The biggest argument I see from people is how "IRL, the mob's presence on the west coast is super small."

 

I'm not arguing that we should turn Los Santos into New York, but there's a reason we RP in a fictional city/universe as opposed to real life Los Angeles. The fictional boundaries of the location enable you to pursue concepts like LCN without 100% adhering to how Los Angeles is IRL. The whole fun of roleplay is escapism, and it's kind of a shift away from good storytelling and more a shift toward Eclipse-ism when OOC considerations come before IC creativity. It's undemocratic and frankly authoritarian, and all it's gonna do is lead to shit-tier RP and further sink the illegal scene into mediocrity.

 

I've been part of servers where what happens IC is policed to the extent where the boundary between In Character and Out Of Character is blurred. It gets to the point where it stops feeling like RP storytelling, and starts feeling like some overly-realistic MMORPG, and it's not fun. It's not what GTAW should be, when we're supposed to be an example to people who's only "RP" experience comes from Eclipse/FiveM.

 

I might sound like a cranky old man, but it's the truth. If people really don't like LCN so much, let them fight it out ICly. In the meantime, if ICly the entirety of New York decides to flock west to set up shop in Los Santos, it should be allowed to happen within the fictional timeline we portray.

 

We're supposed to be creating a simulated fictional city/storyline, not a simulated Los Angeles. Me and a lot of other people view GTAW as really nothing more than meticulously detailed, collaborative worldbuilding. Los Santos is ours to mold and shape, and that extends to the people who find it fun to portray La Cosa Nostra - which like I said, is a big demographic.

 

The same people who claim LCN is unrealistic should also point their fingers at Sinaloan narcotrafficking cells with cowboy hats and body armor, or Russian mobs portrayed like a bratva from Brighton Beach in the 90s. I love all three, and I think they should all be given an equal opportunity to exist ICly - but if only one gets banned on the grounds of "realism", the other two should be as well.

 

 

Honestly this concept would be refreshing to see again, and preferred over 5'5 minors using the n word even if they're asian, latino or whatnot.

[Big Hitta]

5 hours ago, Smurf said:

The lore of the server, isn't fictional. 

Highest IQ GTA:W player

[BadassBaboon]

LCN is only stigmatized because of the players themselves, how many factions came along with the same pro-gabagooler East Coast style "I'm tryna do business ova hea" bullshit? countless, including Martorano and Conti. New concepts that portray proper West Coast mob come in once in a while like the late Masi Crew however that's the thing with them, they just die, people rather be Tony Soprano and tax fruit stands instead. I'm sure IFM and other players wouldn't mind a new LCN style and concept, but the stain left on the face on LCN will never be washed out.

[Invictus]

all im saying

 

 

[Wee Man]

LCN isn’t stigmatised, there’s nothing stopping you making your own little crew and doing your own thing, as was said on the IFM discord it just won’t have a presence like MCF used to have.

 

Bringing this up after you had your character kill reversed with the kill being completely legitimate, sounds like you’re attempting to have your cake and eat it.