On the subject of Space Crime and RP

[Farcry11]

Hey, Aurora. Resident charismatic machoman Farcry11 here. Lately, I've been thinking about the concept of non-antag criminal RP. What I mean by this is things like drug dealing, bribery, blackmail, etc etc.

Personally, I think that as long as it's done well, it can really spice up a round. For example: the chemist making designer drugs, and selling them through a mildly incompetent assistant (science, bitch!) or a security guard taking bribes to ignore minor crimes or give information on security operations.

I feel that this sort of RP can make a round more complex than "crewmen vs antagonists". Wouldn't it be nice if, as a traitor, you could have the chance to bribe a security officer who caught you stealing rather than getting stunned and cuffed instantly? Or ICly augment your earnings by fencing stolen goods or selling drugs?

"Hey scrub," some of you might be asking, "why would NanoTrasen ever hire people who would commit such dastardly bastardly deeds?". To that, I say: why would they hire 90% of our characters in the first place? We've got a buttload of former criminals, people with questionable mental and emotional stability, religious nuts, and possible Symdie collaborators. Surely we have enough wiggle-room to work in some wholesome, crime based, story enriching (and probably non-canon) RP.

But those are just my opinions on the matter. I'd like to hear all of your guys' views on the idea of non-antag crime.

[Tenenza]

Science should extort people for prototypes more.

I know for a fact most people would die for a chameo suit, since those things are amazing.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

This sort of stuff isn't really prohibited - you can be a terrible person that takes bribes and blackmail. I just don't see a lot of it happening. Shame, since a few of my characters would totally take bribes...

[Farcry11]

See, I feel that the reason a lot of people refrain from being more morally questionable is because they're afraid that they'll be accused of self-antagging. Or at least, that seems to be the prevalent attitude in the community.

[Susan]

"Hey scrub," some of you might be asking, "why would NanoTrasen ever hire people who would commit such dastardly bastardly deeds?". To that, I say: why would they hire 90% of our characters in the first place? We've got a buttload of former criminals, people with questionable mental and emotional stability, religious nuts, and possible Symdie collaborators. Surely we have enough wiggle-room to work in some wholesome, crime based, story enriching (and probably non-canon) RP.

 

This is not a justification.

This is a player issue.

This is players taking stupid, unworkable character backstories and thrusting them into the universe under the presumption that 'lel NT is dumb they wouldn't care' when in reality a corporation just as large whose main competitors are consistently trying to fuck them over would indeed give a shit that your character is a convicted fucking space pirate and haul your colonist girl ass to the nearest station and dump you there like an unwanted child.

Rather than attempting to encourage this, we should be trying to curb it either through character policing or other means.

[Tenenza]

Crime ≠ Self-Antag

It very often does, but isn't necessarily.

Chemist McStupid can try and secretly sell mindbreaker without prescription. This is a crime. Not necessarily self-antaging. This is also not very creative, but I can imagine them slipping under Sec's radar.

[Farcry11]

"Hey scrub," some of you might be asking, "why would NanoTrasen ever hire people who would commit such dastardly bastardly deeds?". To that, I say: why would they hire 90% of our characters in the first place? We've got a buttload of former criminals, people with questionable mental and emotional stability, religious nuts, and possible Symdie collaborators. Surely we have enough wiggle-room to work in some wholesome, crime based, story enriching (and probably non-canon) RP.

 

Rather than attempting to encourage this, we should be trying to curb it either through character policing or other means.

 

Good luck with that. The fact of the matter is that it happens, and I doubt it'll stop anytime soon. So in this already implausible work situation, is there really that much harm in having some fun ?

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

"Hey scrub," some of you might be asking, "why would NanoTrasen ever hire people who would commit such dastardly bastardly deeds?". To that, I say: why would they hire 90% of our characters in the first place? We've got a buttload of former criminals, people with questionable mental and emotional stability, religious nuts, and possible Syndie collaborators. Surely we have enough wiggle-room to work in some wholesome, crime based, story enriching (and probably non-canon) RP.

 

Rather than attempting to encourage this, we should be trying to curb it either through character policing or other means.

 

Good luck with that. The fact of the matter is that it happens, and I doubt it'll stop anytime soon. So in this already implausible work situation, is there really that much harm in having some fun ?

 

Myself and some friends of mine make a habit of reading sec records when working sec, and hauling in people with "Convicted murderer" or "under investigation for [superedgy] crime" for questioning.

Being a Mary Sue is silly, but I think the gist of the OP is that doing things like bribes, drug trafficking, and some blackmail... (The last one is hard - I once implanted someone in the head with an explosive implant to blackmail them into stealing things for me, but as soon as it was out all blackmail material was gone.)