My only experience with the phantoms was with gentle, and it was pretty decent. Helped us blow up a liberty dreadnought that had wondered into the scrap fields. His rp was quite interesting and really gave a sense of "dude is ****** ******* crazy!". After the ship was downed I skedadled due to him, freaky is all I can say.
I have my complaints with the phantoms though.
One I read the wiki and im still scratching my head at it.
Two I have beef with the phantoms taking some of the better freelancer usable ships when they barely seem to even use them...
Three I have problems with it being invite only. Hell nomads you get a nomad morph if you really wanted to rp it, but you guys have nothing of the sort. So if one even wanted to (I have no inkling so this is not even remotely a jealousy thing, just something I have seen) you'd have nothing to get it out there. Invite only and no trial screams elitist.
Four if Im understanding your lore correctly you really need to have had a bigger impact on sirius, because right now, for the most part, it happily ignores your existence.
Dont know some thoughts I would like you to respond to, also gentle is freaking scary.
the phantoms rarely "abuse" their freedom excessivly. they act according to the rules and according to the ID limitations.
the bad things:
much of the phantom roleplay is NOT felt or roleplayed inGame. they say "you must be scared for your life" - but that makes you as scared as a really cheap low budget horrorclip. - and there is the main problem with their roleplay ( or if you like - with that "kind" of roleplay in general. - you cannot dictate being godlike and scary... - you must live it, you must roleplay it... and that means that only those that CAN roleplay it should really be phantoms. ( not those that are good at the trigger finger )
over the last years - the phantoms have acted as some sort of "vigilantes" ( or so it seemed ! ) - not vigilantes within the server roleplay .... but vigilantes against ooc matters.
a really DARK day that illustrates that when phantoms focussed on the so called "ooRP" traders in sigma-13. - while the RP explanation was clear and sound... it was rather obvious that it was some sort of server police for a better roleplay ( a better roleplay from the point of view of other players )
[ you may say - that is only "your" perception and was not even thought of - it was never the intention etc. - but the fact is ... if i think it was that way - i am sure others thought so, too. - and even if only few think so.... something is wrong ]
phantoms are NO server police and acting even remotely like it sheds a very suspicious light on them as they are also labelled as a faction "in favour of the admins" ( no need to elaborate that you only have 2 out of 11 members being admins - the label is there )
sensibility is needed - a scalpel... when on some occasions in the past a blunt axe was used.
generally:
phantoms are a relic of discos past. - if THIS faction proposal was made today - i am 100% sure that it wouldn t even be denied but also put into flood and earned a few retarted images and much laughter.
they have freedom that no other faction would get "nowadays" and so they require a lot more responsibility than those that are forced to act "within the official server rules".
fact is - phantoms ARE double standards. - they adhere to different rules than the official ones as a whole faction - and they need to give something in return.
what they need to give in return is elaborated roleplay. - not on every occasion - everyone can have a bad day. but there should NEVER be a formula like "you give me rubbish RP, i give you rubbish RP in return" - when that formula is applied, we end up with rubbish RP all around.
i am not saying that this is actually the case - i just say that it is important to always keep that in mind. - think in character and not as a player, think what the other character ( not the player ) knows about you. - roleplay it seriously.
do NOT focus on pvp or a blue message. - a pvp death is not scary at all. - when someone is pvped, the tension drops. - the act of rising a tension - rising fear has something to do with being a menace - and a menace is not to be mistaken with a dead end road that ends with a kill.
think of it like that. - one single well RPed murder is MUCH more scary than the mass pointless mass murder of many. - you see it in movies. people are more scared by an "elaborated" single victim they can share feelings with - than with hundreds of nameless ones.
edit:
to add to that - PLEASE don t pick random ships / equipment you like. - you got your own ships and weapons now - stick to them or post a "special RP request" like common players.
Earlier today I met some Phantoms for the first time (or was it my second? well first time I RPed with you), and I loved it. I felt like I was speaking to Humans that had been taken to a different level. I particularly enjoyed discussing the Phantoms past, the art of telling a story thorough hints and use of language made it feel like I was teasing it out of you. Another thing was that at one point I was actually very scared, So scared my Slaver was tripping over himself to try and save himself from what he thought was the path down to destruction. Luckily you accepted my story and didn't murder him on the spot.
All in all I loved it and was unhappy when I had to leave due to RL.
Superintendent Benford Calvert (OBE)
Captain James Calvert of the Darrowby
Captain Libertas of the Hearts.Delight
Virus, I have one question and I hope it's appropriate here. I was told in game a few days ago that the Phantoms and you especially had declared some vendetta against the Junkers. I was not aware of this until then. I was told that you were upset about some kind of disrespect. I have been very adamant about tell the Junkers to back off and give the Phantoms a wide berth. Has something changed?
I saw a phantom undock from Kyoto... what is their relation with the Blood Dragons?
If I were to have it, it would be fully hostile... but...
That was probably me if the character was Tenshi.
This is the diplomacy listed in our faction status.
Quote:The Phantom web of diplomacies can be summed up thus:
War: All Houses
Hostile: All Corporations
Unfriendly: Gaians
Neutral: All Pirates not mentioned below
Friendly: Outcasts, Xenos
Allied: None
It needs one update to put Junkers in the hostile list, but no others currently. If you control the diplomacy of the Blood Dragons (which I think is still in the NovaPG's hands), then Im sure you can change that if you like.
Quote:what they need to give in return is elaborated roleplay. - not on every occasion - everyone can have a bad day. but there should NEVER be a formula like "you give me rubbish RP, i give you rubbish RP in return" - when that formula is applied, we end up with rubbish RP all around.
i am not saying that this is actually the case - i just say that it is important to always keep that in mind. - think in character and not as a player, think what the other character ( not the player ) knows about you. - roleplay it seriously.
Most of us, if not all of us, do something like this. It is true that if we get a person who simply tries to rulelawyer us or be a little upstart, we'll punish them without a second thought, but to those who actually try to engage in RP with us, those get the interaction they're looking for. For example, there was a Percheron the other day, which we stopped and opened fire on us without a word. He got massacred, and said '//I hate Phantoms'. This kind of situation is not all that uncommon.
Quote:do NOT focus on pvp or a blue message. - a pvp death is not scary at all. - when someone is pvped, the tension drops. - the act of rising a tension - rising fear has something to do with being a menace - and a menace is not to be mistaken with a dead end road that ends with a kill.
Which is why sometimes I've been shadowing fights between two factions (Corsairs and Coalition, for example) just talking whilst they blow each other to bits. Im pretty sure that, if the occassion requires it, other Phantom players do the same.
Quote:to add to that - PLEASE don t pick random ships / equipment you like. - you got your own ships and weapons now - stick to them or post a "special RP request" like common players.
My character, Tenshi, has a Blood Dragon HF with 6 Lamia's and a mini. This setup is by the tech chart, absolutely fine, since I do have a forum story. Tenshi and Yasha's past havent been covered yet, but from reading it, you should be able to deduce that both were dragons in the past.
This is often the case with other characters, such as Pitchfork with her Corsair Praetorian or Ze'ev with any farmer tech he might've brought along.
These are one of the more questionable setups, since people often complain under their breath about such things. It should be noted that admin given IDs in general act like an acceptance of a special request, publicised or not. The Terrorist ID, Keeper ID, Special Operative ID, Phantom ID, and so on all act in the same way. For example, some special ID owners have a written and very deep biography and series of stories, none of which are published beyond a few people. The concern of the person giving out the IDs when they are considering who to give them to is as much following longwinded beaurocratic policies as well as making sure that those getting the ID that they would like wont excessively push the boundaries, massacring everything that they can see.
Quote: Virus, I have one question and I hope it's appropriate here. I was told in game a few days ago that the Phantoms and you especially had declared some vendetta against the Junkers. I was not aware of this until then. I was told that you were upset about some kind of disrespect. I have been very adamant about tell the Junkers to back off and give the Phantoms a wide berth. Has something changed?
Even though the question is not adressed to me, I will try to answer it. I was not there and I also found it a suprise when I found out, but my understanding of the situation is that some of our ships were attacked without provocation by some kind of Junker, and we decided to adjust our diplomacy to make an example, which will hopefully stop other faction members doing the same. I could be wrong, since I didn't ask very deeply.
If you think my responses are not neccessary/required/correct, then please remove them or amend them, Virus.
Quote:much of the phantom roleplay is NOT felt or roleplayed inGame. they say "you must be scared for your life" - but that makes you as scared as a really cheap low budget horrorclip. - and there is the main problem with their roleplay ( or if you like - with that "kind" of roleplay in general. - you cannot dictate being godlike and scary... - you must live it, you must roleplay it... and that means that only those that CAN roleplay it should really be phantoms. ( not those that are good at the trigger finger )
Uh, yeah about this.
How are people supposed to role play with trigger-happy people? Especially traders?
I really don't know how to roleplay with someone who is devoted to killing me. He calls me a kitten, asks me to beg for my life, I do a nervous and scared RP, then I get killed. I don't think I could have done anything in Role Play to escape that..
I dont like concept of Phantoms at all. You created another alien race as far as i could understand story, you used name C'Tan, which is god from Warhammer 40 000, which created Necrons. Most of you members acting weird. Example? I saw one flying in Alpha, shooting whatever he wants, hiding behind: "Hey I cant do much damage to you."
Sorry Virus, but i dont like Phantoms at all. Idea is really nice, but another alien race, and mostly PvP than RP. Though i know, that you guys mostly hear the same thing as we Keepers.
"Phantom! Engage!"
Carnage itself flying within void... Proud cardihead ever since 2008...
You all gonna eat cardi!
' Wrote:My last ... "interaction" with a Phantom (Ze'ev) has been some time ago but I still have a litle something to whine about:
You dont just rampage your way into a guard system (Namelly Rico) to kill someone and then jump out.
Not to mention the rest of the RP on said encounter was a tad dubious , but then again most that I experienced is.
First off Ze'ev is Ze'ev first and a Phantom second. He hates hates hates hates Junkers, so yes, he would chase you into whatever system you ran into it. For him to stop chasing you would have been oorp for him, especially considering he remembers very angrily how that .:J:. Rhineland battleship invaded Tau42, so Puerto Rico isnt much of a barrier to him. And if you hadnt ran right toward PR, you probably wouldn't have died there.
Edit: What should I have done? Killed you and then waited for the NPC's to kill me? Of course I left quick.