[Poruku]

To the above, I think Korvara would heavily benefit from places that could harbor different Settings/RP styles, without the big four instantly claiming or "Fixing" them.
places that make sense in the lore, and people OOCly know "Don't go there unless you are alright with more darker themes and your character getting hurt" for example, if its a place that is known for high crimerates.

It would be so nice to have something like that. One of the biggest problems with Korvara is definitely the fact that everything is basically "solved", as in, any problems that crop up at this point are events or antagonists, which are promptly taken care of, then things return to a status quo of peace and nothing being wrong. I would LOVE to be able to play in an SL2 environment where there are things that aren't good about the setting itself, that aren't immediately being fixed. Where I can roleplay being affected by the world.

Hell, just making a simple bandit is pretty hard. Unless your character is crazy/bloodthirsty or has some sort of complex reason to do bad thing, there's no real reason to be a bandit. Just today someone said ICly they'd offer me anything I wanted if I decided to not be a bandit. Thankfully the character had solid reasons prepared but like... If I was going with what makes sense ICly for a bandit, that character would have ended there. Respect to the player though. It was good rp. But it really exemplifies the issue I'm pointing out here.

I would obviously LOVE something like meiaquar slums, but I just honestly don't think the SL2 playerbase is ready for something like that. Inevitably people would go into the slums and try fixing everything and get mad when their character gets attacked and/or things don't get fixed, and it would be a whole mess. In addition, people who are more well suited to normal roleplay would go there, believing it's the "real stuff", and force themselves to get involved with that more harsh roleplay and end up not liking it and get depressed/salty/etc about it.

It's honestly my dream for SL2 to have something like that, someday. I would love it to death even with all the issues mentioned. Just a place where life sucks so I don't need to make bad things happen for things to be interesting.

It became a bit rant-y there but that's definitely what's missing in my life tbh. SL2 has almost never scratched the itch. I guess it's a big part of the reason why I made the G6 punks eventline.

I mean it makes me think back on the war. I was so hyped for the war but it was so complicated to get things rolling that my energy for it really tanked. In the end it wasn't that enjoyable mostly because... So many people didn't want a war! And people reluctantly doing something because they have to, doesn't make for the best rp. And I realized that too late. I thought we were mostly on the same page, but in the end, it was kinda the same feeling as when I ganked someone who wasn't into ganking in the past. It's not a great feeling, which is why I haven't done that in forever. But what if we just took all the people who WANT to have wars, and put them together in their own special place, and let them fight wars and die? That would be the sickest thing ever.

I love SL2 so much, and yet, it's missing something... It's missing exactly that. A place that sucks where things are bad and they don't become good. Where the beauty is in the characters roleplaying amidst that badness. It sounds stupid but it really is just that simple. People's bonds develop through adversity. Events can do the job somewhat, but I just never could get fully into it myself. Sometimes you get that one event that strengthens the bonds between characters. But then you return to the status quo, to people just chilling in public places, to people just talking and mingling. Or sometimes doing something with the nation structure, trying to climb the ranks, or trying to prepare little events and things to do. But that rythm is just boring to me. I have recently gotten into public rp again on Jerry in Meiaquar because it's pretty active and Jerry is just fun to play. But I would honestly love it so much more if I could have that boy struggling. It feels like any sort of conflict, you need to really force, or pull out of the backstory. It really feels all the time like all the bad stuff is in the past, and we're all just a bunch of broken characters hanging out and forming friendships to fix each other. Like, we're in the chill epilogue of a tragic story where the character finally has it good.

Of course there's still plenty of bad shit, and I'd especially applaud people who make characters that cause trouble, non-antags included. Many great players naturally just have a knack for creating characters that get in conflict. But you have a greater number of characters who jump at the chance to fix those characters, fix the situations, make everything okay. Which you know, I also do. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I love doing that as well, and it feels good man. But it's hard to find those great moments of rp where you resolve something, get a character development, really put the characters through some stuff, test them, get a great moment. For example there's the romance stuff which is nice sometimes but so very inconsistent, don't get me started on relationship rp. It's nice, but...

If we lived in a place where things suck even a little bit, and there was official lore that is available in-game that enforces this, environmental cues and storytelling, locations that tell that story, with NPCs and even maybe mechanics that enforce that feeling, things would be so so different so quickly. Like, that's what draws me to the Cyberpunk genre, why I made that the theme of my G6 event line. Because the beauty of people is in the struggle, and in struggle and strife are bonds forged and people tested. A world where things suck and you can't really change that, means that people are able to make characters that struggle. Means that there's a good reason to do bad things! It means that everyone has things they want and they can't necessarily get them.

There's a reason people choose to have tragic backstories. It's entertaining! It's interesting, it makes the character grow and overcome bad things. Overcoming bad things is the fun part of roleplay. When you have a time of peace, it's only truly enjoyable if you've had strife beforehand. Otherwise... You're just kinda there, doing nothing. Of course, again, events can definitely help a lot. But 1: not everyone gets to go to events (you kinda have to be part of a group, and then be lucky enough for that group to have an event). 2: not all events have a lasting impact on characters. Also, sometimes people disagree on how much eventening is the right amount. Some people get tired when there's too much bad stuff happening, some people want more. So even if there's events, it might not scratch the itch.

That's why it would be fantastic if there was different parts of the world, with different vibes. I will make another post about it sometime. But Shujin's idea really sparked in me the words to explain this feeling...

I just want bad stuff to happen and be taken seriously! I want suffering, and then good times. But good times all the time sucks, that's why I play antags... And that's why I made this original post here. Because lack of scarcity is making it so there's basically no bad things unless you make them yourself, or you're lucky enough to get involved in someone's events or plot line.

And man, it's a lotta work making bad things happen...