Extended vs secret? What do you like/dislike about both?

[Frances]

Debate I see happen often in OOC, so I figured it could be good to have a discussion about it on the forums.

Basically, do you prefer extended or secret/antag rounds? What are the benefits of both? What do you not like about either?

[Farcry11]

Extended: A chance to chill out and RP... Except when everyone forms up in to little RP groups and goes off in to corners to do their own thing, leaving you alone and bored as fuck. Damnit.

Secret: Oh, fuck! I've been shot in the back! By my friend! And now he's sucking my blood! And, oh my god, is that a proboscis?! SWEET CHRIST MY BODY FLUIDS AAAAAAAAHG!

I kinda like Secret more, to be honest.

[Demonofthefall]

Extended: A chance to chill out and RP... Except when everyone forms up in to little RP groups and goes off in to corners to do their own thing, leaving you alone and bored as fuck. Damnit.

Secret: Oh, fuck! I've been shot in the back! By my friend! And now he's sucking my blood! And, oh my god, is that a proboscis?! SWEET CHRIST MY BODY FLUIDS AAAAAAAAHG!

 

This pretty much sums it up; Extended is great for RP, something this server is based around but at times it leaves some characters at a disadvantage when others form their own little groups and they are left on the outside trying to make in roads with these groups or struggling for something to do depending on the job they have. Extended rounds are usually more suited to a small crew and last a lot longer which I like but can be duller depending on the RP going on.

Secret/antag rounds add some suspense knowing OOC that something will eventually go down but also causes some people to meta game and as an excuse to grief (both can be easily sorted through admin/mod intervention). I generally prefer extended over antag rounds unless it is a large crew and how well the antag can rp.

[Susan]

Considering my daily job as a security officer is to babysit the entire crew, I'm adverse to anything that isn't extended. Trying to handle Joe McSelfAntag every round is more than enough for me. I rarely ever have a chance to actually sit down on roleplay even during extended because some asshole somewhere is being a cock mongler so I have to drop everything I'm doing to arrest the janitor mopping the floor with welding fuel only to be continually verbally abused IC and in LOOC for being shitcurity or some other bullshit, and then have him go SSD when I put him in a cell.

This is an extrapolation of events, but you get the gist. Eighty percent of my time as security has involved arresting non-antags for outrageously breaking the law or scouring every inch of the station for an assistant that socked the HoP in the face. I like some specific antag rounds once in a while (rp-rev, cult, very rarely ninja) but the gamemode being anything but extended ends up being an annoyance to deal with rather than something to have fun with.

[Demonofthefall]

Seeing how it is a server based on heavy roleplay I would like to see a lot more extended rounds happen

[Tenenza]

I like extended.

It's probably my 2nd favorite gamemode, and the one where I get the most out of my Journalist Roleplay.

Secret is a wildcard.

It can either be something I like, or something I hate.

That's kinda the point actually.

[Dea Tacita]

Seeing how it is a server based on heavy roleplay I would like to see a lot more extended rounds happen

 

This.

While Secret is a valid game play mode with a plethora of opportunities to have fun and RP in exciting ways. I simply like extended more, due to actually being allowed to do the job I signed up for instead of being dragged into damage control on one murder or another, completely voiding the reason I selected that job.

As for benefits, Secret allows for (Generally) more exciting and random events that many players enjoy quite a bit, this can allow for amazing character development if done properly and can create beautiful situations of roleplaying.

Extended is predictable, and perhaps that's what I like about it. There's no-one going to murder us for no reason, our characters are allowed to be normal, to develop as a normal human (Or Alien) being. To show who and what they are outside of stressful situations that put their lives in danger, to show how they act normally instead of when their lives are threatened.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Guest

[Gollee]

Agreeing with Dea.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Extended is fun certain times while secret is fun most of the time. It's obviously extreeeeeemely dependent on who the antag is, and what the make-up of the crew is. I'm just one of the people that actually like some drama to spice up the round - security is extremely boring on most extended rounds. It's just... Sitting around and talking. And talking. Then stumbling on someone ERP'ing in maintenance. Then talking. That's a form of RP and I respect it, but it's not for me most of the time.

I detest the idea that action or drama makes for bad RP. That notion is misplaced - the quality of a secret round is determined by the antags and how chucklefucky the chucklefucks feel like being. A few secret rounds are glorious and can be talked about after the round ends because of how fun they were. Extended just... Everyone just sits around and talks for 2 hours then we get a crew transfer because everyone but the hardcore chair-RP'rs are extremely bored and we end up with a skeleton crew.

Extended can be fun if there are small, non-violent and voluntary events done by the admins to involve the rest of the crew with something to do outside sitting around and talking for 2 hours. A party in the bar, a distress call from the derelict, a mysterious theft from the vault...

[Farcry11]

What Jackboot said, pretty much.

[Vittorio Giurifiglio]

What Jackboot said, pretty much.

This.

[K0NFL1QT]

Considering my daily job as a security officer is to babysit the entire crew... Trying to handle Joe McSelfAntag every round is more than enough for me. I rarely ever have a chance to actually sit down on roleplay even during extended because some asshole somewhere is being a cock mongler so I have to drop everything I'm doing to arrest the janitor mopping the floor with welding fuel only to be continually verbally abused IC and in LOOC for being shitcurity or some other bullshit, and then have him go SSD when I put him in a cell.

Extended can be fun if there are small, non-violent and voluntary events done by the admins to involve the rest of the crew with something to do outside sitting around and talking for 2 hours. A party in the bar, a distress call from the derelict, a mysterious theft from the vault...

 

Quotes for truth. But, unless it's the dead hour, there's usually some OOC idiot doing stupid shit when they aren't an antag no matter what the round is. Secret just adds better motivation for people to be causing mayhem, instead of mere chucklefuckism. People who get antag slots are far less likely to SSD the moment they get caught.

The main conflict with the interest in different game modes is that different departments excel under different circumstances. On long extended rounds, there may be a lot of Security sitting around with no-one to bust. Which is, technically, good. Nobody causing explosions means there's nothing for Engineering to fix, but at least they can still decide to do some building somewhere. No-one getting attacked, or causing accidents means there's no-one for Medical to treat. Science does its' own thing no matter what. They might be Researching weapons, blowing up the Toxins Test Site and Arrivals, or they might be playing around in Telescience, looting the Vault exploring off station. On the other hand, quiet rounds usually means there's a lot of people in the bar, making work, and Roleplay, for the Bartender, Chef, Botanist, or perhaps even the Chaplain if someone wants to get into a moral, philosophical or theological debate.

Some characters are less social and are designed to keep the station safe in action situations, while other characters have deep personalities and back stories that have time to be slowly opened up during slow shifts. I like that the game-modes vary, giving each type of character chance to shine in their intended design. Just make sure you aren't useless to the station when shit goes down, and make sure you have a fleshed out back story and not a completely flat character just in case there's nothing that needs doing so you can interact with the other crew. All Extended, all the time, gets boring fast without frequent Admin shenanigans. Meanwhile, All-Action does severely hinder the depth of Personal Roleplay you can get into because you're supposed to have work to be doing, like busting cultists, or stitching Engineers back together after Singulo claimed their limbs.

[Frances]

All Extended, all the time, gets boring fast without frequent Admin shenanigans. Meanwhile, All-Action does severely hinder the depth of Personal Roleplay you can get into because you're supposed to have work to be doing, like busting cultists, or stitching Engineers back together after Singulo claimed their limbs.

I really like this viewpoint.

Extended doesn't necessarily get boring immediately, but I don't only come here to pretend to work a 9 to 5 job and develop mundane relationships, I also do to see my (mundane) characters being put in highly unusual and stressful situations. Which is why I like a balance of both - I think something that's really cool is getting to form relationships with other people on the station, and seeing how these bonds strengthen or crumble under stress, as the station is taken hostage by nuke ops or serial killers (even though it's all non-canon).

I should run more events.

[ZipZero]

I like secret the most because it can be anything else and most people won't know which one it is. This is great for preventing metagaming, such as patrolling certain areas that nuke ops like to bomb because you know what round type it is. And remember, secret can also be extended.

[Rusty Shackleford]

People who get antag slots are far less likely to SSD the moment they get caught.