Learning to play ss13 - HRP V LRP servers

[Randy]

Recently a player announced he was new to ss13 in ooc and I  who has always been a firm believer lrp is the best place to start when starting out gave him advice to do so because its a more lenient environment and players are more free to experiment.

Though another player made the point that hrp communities in general tend to be a lot more helpfuller and friendlier when a player starts a new job or doesn't understand a mechanic. Which to me also made a lot of sense

What are your thoughts? How did you learn starting out and do you think it would've been better if you started out in a hrp/lrp environment instead?

Edited October 31, 2019 by Randy

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Depends on whos online. In looc you can usually get someone to help step by step. Ooc is really crazy. I havent played lrp in forever.

It depends on if he wants to rp and stuff or play with mechanics. Hrp tends to be crazy with bureaucracy and you cant really do anything outside the mold. In lrp you can do what you want.

[Roostercat]

I started on yogstation. I am not even sure they know what RP stands for and I did fine. It is a good place to learn controls, robustitude, and a general feel for the game IMO. Has plenty of content and the community isn't completely vile.

[Xelnagahunter]

I've only ever played Aurora (I've made single round forays into other servers but usually didn't even finish the full round). With people who have such strong mastery of the mechanics here and the RP rules telling them not to just walk in and bust my head open, I feel like I'd have quit very early on in a lrp server and never would have come back.

[DeadLantern]

No matter what server someone goes on, you will learn to learn Space Station 13. I think learning mechanics is much easier on VG station or Goon rather than Aurora. But no matter where the player starts, they will brute force their way into understanding the game or quit.

 

[Doxxmedearly]

1 hour ago, DeadLantern said:

No matter what server someone goes on, you will learn to learn Space Station 13.

This is a great sentiment.

My intro to ss13 was like 6 years ago on Bay; a friend introduced me to the game, I loved it, but I only played maybe 3 rounds with her. Forgot about ss13 until last April, when I came here.

I was going to join an MRP station to get the feel of the game, but instead I jumped right on here. I think it was the right choice. Learning the game is not hard once you jump over the curve; if you're confident in your RP, a HRP server is a fine first choice, so long as you're smart about the job you jump into. Mechanics will come soon enough. I've found HRP is good for learning if RP is what you want, because it's WAY less chaotic than LRP, and players on the whole are helpful. 

[Skull132]

1 hour ago, DeadLantern said:

But no matter where the player starts, they will brute force their way into understanding the game or quit.

I was gonna write something which mentioned something very much like this.

The main difference IMO, comes from the person and not from the server he's trying out. If you're humble and have a good sense for surroundings (or ability to socially adapt), then going head first into HRP won't be an issue. Even if you don't read the rules, you'll instinctively keep your head down and it'll be fine. If you're forceful, and want to interject your own ideas into the game, then LRP servers are going to be more forgiving than HRP ones.

[Shenaanigans]

I poked around on Beestation for a few rounds before coming to Aurora and, while it was nice to not have the pressure of doing anything right because the station was advertised as a place for beginners, dear god I couldn't imagine trying to learn real jobs there. Good for getting a feel of general mechanics, terrifying otherwise because everyone wants to kill you including the mime. I didn't stick around long enough to see what the OOC culture was like in terms of getting help, but I'm a RPer at heart and the HRP environment just feels a lot less....... unpredictable.

[Brutishcrab51]

My introduction to SS13 was at some point in 2012. Noxstation, old TG, shown-in by a friend. We griefed and RDM'd using equipment from the server's "Elite Security Shuttle", since he had the role. Was fun. Low-RP, for certain. I learned the mechanics and moved on to Archangel IV (Warhammer40k) and then Lebensraum and Stalker, followed by Aurora. With bouts of Bay, Interbay, Luna, CM and Goosecode in-between.

[Carver]

13 hours ago, Shenaanigans said:

I poked around on Beestation for a few rounds before coming to Aurora and, while it was nice to not have the pressure of doing anything right because the station was advertised as a place for beginners, dear god I couldn't imagine trying to learn real jobs there. Good for getting a feel of general mechanics, terrifying otherwise because everyone wants to kill you including the mime. I didn't stick around long enough to see what the OOC culture was like in terms of getting help, but I'm a RPer at heart and the HRP environment just feels a lot less....... unpredictable.

Funnily, the 'on edge' factor is why I loved learning there. You learn the body language of someone who's about to kill you in SS13, and you get some good mechanical practice trying to out-click them.

[Skull132]

19 minutes ago, Carver said:

You learn the body language of someone who's about to kill you in SS13

Remember. If anyone pushes past the 1 empty tile of safety distance. They want to kill you. You should run.

[KingOfThePing]

skull man bad

[Skull132]

Skull man plays to win. A set of tactics learned after years of play on Goon.

[Carver]

2 hours ago, Skull132 said:

Remember. If anyone pushes past the 1 empty tile of safety distance. They want to kill you. You should run.

Positioning as a whole does tell you a lot about the intent.

[Nantei]

My first server was Goon, followed by TG. I didn't try HRP until a friend encouraged me to after hearing my gripes with CM's roleplay standards. A new player could learn on any codebase really. It just depends on the person and what they want out of the game.

[wowzewow]

For me, the reasons I joined SS13 was entirely to dick around like a lunatic and shitpost, but eventually I settled on it being my place to RP.

My first server was Paradise. I've only played ten minutes there, 1000ms ping in tow, and dropped SS13 entirely.

Now a series of completely unintended events lined up for me to eventually pick up SS13 again.

After the fallout of my neverending trek to find good RP (which was a long one, from Roblox RP, Minecraft RP, and Starbound RP) and also me looking for a new game to play, Space Station 13 was like, the perfect venn-diagram of what I wanted. So in the afternoon - basically deadhour, a baldie itching to help people was born. (Perfect enviroment to learn about the game in basically a private server) I'd read the wiki dutifully, and after levering tiles of the floor like a dimwit and getting told by an officer to put my ID card on (probably my first experience with RP here)

 

My first character was born. James Hanford, Chef.

Edited November 3, 2019 by wowzewow

[Mofo1995]

I started playing SS13 to roleplay since I learned about it from a roommate at the time who I played Dungeons and Dragons with, so I started straight off with HRP servers. I would get bored in my early months and run off and do LRP stuff and get in trouble, but for the most part everyone was pretty eager to show me the ropes when I played learning roles like lab assistant and asked to be taught ICly. Most of my learning of the game, beyond the basic controls, was done ICly at first and later through scrounging wikis.

[Carver]

On 02/11/2019 at 15:58, Nantei said:

My first server was Goon, followed by TG. I didn't try HRP until a friend encouraged me to after hearing my gripes with CM's roleplay standards. A new player could learn on any codebase really. It just depends on the person and what they want out of the game.

My only concern so far has been that you often get people who start on the more relaxed servers (i.e. Aurora/Polaris/degenerate ERP servers that I won't name), don't focus on improving their mechanic knowledge, then proceed to play various roles and complain about mechanics they never bothered to learn or improve in. In addition -- whilst I do love people who try to stay alive -- there are often people who feel that they should never lose (which is a different thing from dying, seeing as most situations outside of death are wholly escapable) leading to an odd sense of entitlement especially common amongst newer (or immature) unskilled players.

i.e: Timmy tries antag the first time, gets fucked up because he never practiced his clicking and wanted to go shooty shooty, then demands whatever he lost to is nerfed. Similarly; Johnny plays sec the first time, goes all gung-ho whilst underestimating whatever the threat of the day is, complains in d-say that the nuke ops shot him for acting like a complete jackass.