Admin Notice: Community Rules Rewrite - Phase 3

Following the last two phases of the community rules rewrite, the following rules are updated:

Please note that even though the main intent behind these rewrites was to simply and update the existing guidelines, minor adjustments have been made, so please take the time to study the new guidelines.

To explain two of the main changes included in the new writeup:

Among other changes included in the SRP system, owners of approved SRPs now would have to report back with a summary of all the activities of the SRP character since the approval of the original request, once 1 month after the approval, and once 4 months after the approval. The new SRP template also includes a set of short-term and long-term goals for the character. Actually achieving these goals is not required to keep the SRP, but the player is required to actually work toward them and document it on the forums in order to keep the approved privileges. This does not apply to SRPs approved prior to these changes.

With the rewrite of the faction rules, the 30 hours activity requirement is removed, however, factions with less than 5 active members may still be stripped of their official status when necessary - That being when a new faction applies for official status on the same ID, or if a faction goes by for a considerable time with nearly no participation in the server gameplay.

Quote:
Edit - To avoid any confusions: The following is no longer valid as the changes were reverted on 12-12-2013

"But aerelm! What about IDs no longer being part of the RP?"

The current situation is quite simple if you ask me, and I honestly can't understand all the confusion about it. Still, I'm gonna throw a wall-o-text in here to make sure it's explained as thoroughly as possible, so let's first assume:

Each Pilot also has an identification card. This, in roleplay, is the pilot's, and not the ships.
Each Ship has an IFF transponder. This, in roleplay, shows the alignment of the pilot.
Each Ship has an ID item equipped. This, which does not exist within roleplay, only defines the ingame allowances of the player based on the faction that ID item belongs to.

Now, let's talk on a Pilot's ID card. This has been part of the vanilla Freelancer, and naturally also exists within roleplay boundaries of Discovery. Even when you walk into a bar for the first time, the NPCs ask for your "card" before actually talking to you. This, however, doesn't mean the pilot slaps it against the windshield of the ship every time he goes for a fly, so cannot be seen when scanning the ship. It means characters can still ask for a stranger's "ID" before deciding which way to take the interaction, and "IDs not being part of the roleplay" simply refers to the ID item mounted on the ship which appears in the scan screen, and not the pilot's actual set of identification papers.

So to put it simple: Every pilot still has an ID, you just can't see it by scanning their ship, and would have to actually ask for it. Now if they send you a falsified identification? Well, tough luck. Who says that's not roleplay?

Then, let's apply the whole thing to bounty boards:

You do not hire people you do not completely trust, so you'd naturally want to check their ID before hiring them, and make sure they're actually part of the faction you're hiring, and are not just affiliated with the group. It'd make sense to request to see the pilot's identifications before clearing them to hunt for your board, so the registration process goes on the same as before regardless of the rules update, now it just has a bit more RP flavor.

When you put a bounty on a whole faction, means they've done you wrong, and you want them dead, so your bounty applies to everyone affiliated to that faction and carrying their transponders. If someone's close enough to the group you hate to actually have their transponder installed, then what's the difference between them and any pilot of that faction? You of course can tell your hunters to ask for the hostile pilot's identifications before actually lighting him up, but even if they did so, why would the target provide his ID to a random stranger or a good-for-nothing bunter?

The community has been asking for an explanation on this, and I was holding back for a while to see if anyone would actually figure it out on their own and in the process come up with fresh ideas on how to utilize this new flexibility in the server roleplay. Since not only did that not happen, but it even turned into a good bit of headache for nearly everyone, here's your monthly doze of green provided by your friendly neighborhood conspirator to put your minds to rest. Crap. That totally came out wrong, but oh well.

Whether or not you can claim a bounty on someone and whether or not you can actively attack them are two different matters. If you're using a faction ID, the restrictions on whom you can actively attack is defined in your ID, but once the fella is dead, you can claim it regardless of whether it was an engagement by you or a mere case of self-defense.

To use the example in the thread you linked, Daumann ID allows attacking Hessians, so if you run into a Hessian you can start the engagement within your ZoI, and once you've got the kill, you can claim it on the boards you're registered to. On the other hand, if you run into a Unioner, since your ID does not allow you to initiate the engagement, you can only act in self-defense, but again, once you've got the kill you can claim it on the boards you're registered to no matter who shot first.

Who says that's not powerplay?

It's nice and cool to have this "Pilot ID" but what else do we have to back up our claims about a Pilot ID besides the roleplay, besides our word? What is the standard, what defines what is roleplaying and what is powergaming? You? Should we run to you everytime we have a debate in-game over eachother's roleplay/powerplay?

What do I do in my Council ship if I see a Gallic Junker IFF'd Collector with Gallic Junker ID claiming to be an undercover Council agent, and inRP "giving" me a Pilot ID to prove it? He says it's valid, I say it's fake, who's right now?

(And for god's sake, save us from "common sense" arguments. That one doesn't exist.)

PS: Oh, and in the meanwhile some could clarify which one of the IDs should be considered when dealing with Faction Rights. Thanks.