Pspritechologist - ERP

[Pspritechologist]

SS14 account: Pspritechologist
Character name: Jaidain Burboise
Type of Ban: Game ban
Date of Ban and Duration: One month ago, and one month before appeal.
Reason for Ban: ERP
Server you were playing on when banned: Lizard
Your side of the story/Why you think you should be unbanned: I was given a ban with a month wait before appeal, and have sat it out. I never intended any ill will, and I understand the rules better now and will refrain from breaking them again. I enjoy this game a lot, and would be terribly sad about not being able to play it anymore.

[Pspritechologist]

I was rather brief with my original appeal, as I had expected it, whether denied or accepted, to be rather cut and dried. Since it's taking some time, I figure it might be a good idea to add some more information.

The issue, as far as I can gather, was really just a matter of misunderstanding/disagreement of wording. I, to this point, would still not consider what I did to be ERP, as it simply doesn't fit under any definition I would use to classify the phrase. There was nothing sexual intended, and I wouldn't consider it anything explicit. That's only offered of an explanation of my behavior, of course; I don't intend to start any arguments because the part that matters is I now understand what the Admins Would consider to be ERP. I have no intention of breaking the rules, certainly not for anything as silly as being pedantic about the wording of them, and if allowed back in I would be more careful to avoid causing any issues.

If anything's to be taken from this, perhaps a clarification in the ruling about what constitutes ERP? The rules as they stand are extremely vague, simply disallowing "ERP," which reads to me as anything explicit. A drop down beneath it listing some of the less explicit things not allowed on servers would possibly help clear up issues.

Edited May 22, 2022 by Pspritechologist

[Stealth16]

The subset of players who have had issues with our ERP rule is extremely small. It’s the rule that is broken the least. In all of the criticism we’ve seen about the rules I have never seen anyone take issue with the wording of our no ERP rule until now.

What exactly is unclear about this rule to you? Especially considering that your actions against the player you roleplayed toward were unwelcomed and unprompted. What is the difficulty that you are having?

[Pspritechologist]

I would like to preface this with saying that I don't care if I think the rules are unclear- or even unfair in any way, if let back into the game I'd make complete intent to follow them. I have no intention of arguing with Admins over the enforcement of the rules; it's their server and being there isn't a right anyone has, as hard as it might be to enjoy the game without it.

That being said, I understand there seems to be an extreme stigma against ERP in the community of these games, but as someone who knows multiple people who engage in actual ERP, and has considered trying it himself, there is a lot of stuff not allowed by players I would not consider ERP. I suppose the issue I find with the wording is that ERP itself isn't really a "thing," per se, it's just a concept in roleplaying. I could describe my character removing my shoes, claim it's not "erotic," and someone would argue right back otherwise, there's no one who makes the actual rules on what constitutes ERP. To me, ERP would be anything explicitly erotic, such as sexual acts or heavily intimate acts, or anything clearly intended to arouse. Even something like making out would be bordering, depending mostly on context and how "intimate" they are about it. Anything you wouldn't allow in a public park, really, even if you might gawk at it.

Like I said though, my definition is only my own; there's no dictionary to look this stuff up in. Past that, it's hard to specifically defend my own case, as I still haven't actually been explicitly told what it is that happened. I've attempted to ask, but it's been met with a rather cold reception. Would I be able to get a clarification on what exactly you're referring to with "Unwelcomed and unprompted?"

[mirrorcult]

As Stealth has said, no one has ever taken issue with the wording of our ERP rule or been unable to understand what qualifies as ERP. I don't think there's an issue here. If you don't see these actions as obviously constituting erotic roleplay, I would be worried for your conduct in the future.

The OOC messages here (taken after the round where the ERP took place, I believe? selululu was the other person involved, and the date and time both check out) seem to indicate that you understood that what you did could have constituted as ERP. Do you have any explanation for that?

[Pspritechologist]

That was with the Mime, right? So, the situation actually happened after me and Selululu were talking about something that happened to me previously. In hindsight, I'm sure it doesn't look good for my case, but I stand by what I said so I'll just lay out the events as they occurred (Or as best as my shaky memory can recall).

I was playing Mime on the server and just generally having fun with the roleplay, I think it was early on into trying the role, as I always loved playing with them. Some thing or another happened, I enjoy attempting to solve things as Mime wordlessly, and I ended up dying. I may have been attacked? I seem to remember there being danger. I was dragged to medical by a doctor, and I just know that whatever the situation was, it was clear to me that they had saved me from it, not simply done their job by cloning me, so I was very grateful when I came back, Mimeing around things like "excitedly" and what not to convey the message. Once I got out of the tube, I mimed something like "Kisses" or "Smooches" to them, as a show of gratitude. That got me yelled at, after which I was chased out of medical, got somewhere else in the station, and the one or two people chasing essentially yelled to everyone else that I had "ERPd" them. Me being a Mime and with no way to defend myself, I was promptly beaten and killed. After that whole thing, I could not believe how my actions had been taken. The idea that Miming "Smooches" would be taken as ERP was absurd to me, being a Mime I was imagining it in a stereotypical french manner, as the Mime itself is meant to be very cartoonishly french, and it's a common greeting over there. It didn't even cross my mind that their judgment of my actions would have actually fallen in line with the rules, it seemed silly to me at the time.

I was casually telling this to Selululu, just as a funny story. When we saw the Mime, I believe we asked them a vague question about it before the log you have pasted up there (Not as expecting an answer or anything). The messages after the fact were thus making light of the situation, we were poking fun at the idea that people might see that as ERP, because it genuinely did not occur to either of us that it might be.

That being said, looking back on it I can see how the actions would have been over the line, ERP or not, and why they might've made another player uncomfortable, especially outside of the conversation we were having. I apologize for that.

 

I would like to clarify that I don't necessarily "take issue" with the ERP rule.

[Pspritechologist]

I wasn't really sure where else to ask this, since I didn't want to DM an admin over it, would it be a possibility to get my characters exported off the Lizard server as I cannot access them? I'd just like to import them into other games, and I had made quite a few.

[mirrorcult]

Taking a risk with this one IMO but I will be lifting this ban. Any behavior related to ERP will result in a no-appeal permanent ban and full community ban.