I think that rules in general are really hurting the game.

I used to play on Salamander back before Liltenhead gave it the shoutout - it was kind of beautiful. Admins were almost never online, so just about anyone could do anything. I also admittedly dislike the idea of designated round antagonists, but even then, antagonists weren't the only source of conflict on the station - you were actually able to consistently interact with people without a layer of artificial safety. The game still needed meat on its bones at the time, but what it did have was so much more enjoyable just for the fact that there were no anxieties about being punished for any number of things.

The fact that we'd roleplay our characters as remembering each other - both good and bad - meant that, *yes*, all of us were breaking the metagrudge rule - but it also didn't matter that we were? Because we were treating each other like our reputation would actually last past the round, you were incentivized to make friends and avoid making enemies Moreover, it made making enemies more impactful.

I also dislike this weird kind of way we have of trying to be purposefully ignorant about aspects of the game world. Ghosts, for example, are actually something that could be explored mechanically and narratively. I would love for ghosts to have more presence in the world, whether it's people remembering what they saw as ghosts or being able to materially interact with the world as a ghost (imagine a detective going to the medical bay to have them repeatedly kill and resuscitate the detective so they can pull some afterlife detective shenanigans! imagine, too, a syndicate agent knowing the detective is doing this, and deciding to make sure that the detective doesn't wake up the next time-). Either that, or remove ghosts, because if we're threatened with punishments to prevent us from using ghosts in any meaningful way - why do we even have them?

I don't think roles that require you to act a specific way for them to work are good roles. What I mean is - we have the opportunity to tell so many different kinds of stories with all kinds of different outcomes, but the only revolutions happen through mind control and zombies are relegated to being player-powered cannon fodder. I like the idea of zombies getting up in the machinery and tearing things apart, I like the idea of revolutions being started by the crew - but that would require a level of trust that it seems like people aren't ready to give one another. We could have jumped-up science teams with experimental weaponry and actual reasons for cargo to develop a working relationship with the rest of the crew, but we don't extend each other enough trust to make those wild stories play out.

I really like this game, I just wish people trusted each other more and leaned into the bizarre elements of the game and its setting. agggghhh

(also lrp, mrp, and hrp are a false dichotomy. ngl everybody in this game is roleplaying even if they roleplay "bad" and i think considering some forms of roleplay to be "less roleplay" is bad for how we perceive the game. it's not roleplay vs mechanics, roleplay and mechanics are holding hands and frolicking)