With no clear path forward for the implementation of player executed roleplay & stories, there has been a profound level of confusion and disconnect between the Discovery community and Development Team over story development praxis.
When the decision was made to allow faction leaders to impact tangible elements of the game world through their roleplay, it opened a Pandora's box of development requests across the community from faction leaders and regular members alike. This resulted in requests written without input from the development team, which were sometimes detrimental to the health of the mod. This created severe backlash when denied by the Development Team simply because the writing had already been done.
This is largely attributed to the lack of any clearly defined boundaries in what a player or group could reasonably request or hope to achieve, and the lack of any documented procedure for requesting such changes.
While the intent of Discovery Freelance RP 24/7 was never the canonization of player roleplay, we acknowledge and accept the fact that players wish to have an impact on the game world. We do not wholly believe that a degree of player influence is incompatible with Discovery's design ethos. However, in order to implement such requests into the mod seamlessly, a more refined method is necessary moving forward.
Attempted backroom deals and lobbying often resulted in poor communication. The RCR procedure will allow the community and Development Team to interface using a structured system with clear criteria and limitations in order to better facilitate the realization of player narratives.
The protocol for the RCR can be found here. This thread will remain open for questions, commentary, and feedback by the community.