I for one was disturbed by the 34% number, but sadly not too surprised. I like that you tied this to the setting integrity thread, because I think this voting issue is representative of a number of issues that range from clear rule breaks, to grey area activities, to technically permitted but nonetheless cringe and detrimental to server health. As stated, a lot of this stems from a must win mentality, which is going to be a reality regardless of what we do.
I understand the administrative load is insane here, and the team really has their hands full. I do think however that this is a particular area (enforcing setting integrity and continuity) that could really use a more consistent/involved/aggressive approach. Given that, I was super happy to hear someone ran the numbers and cracked down on the election issue.
At present, violating setting integrity isn't really a rule break. And frankly, I don't think it should be, because it's so vague. Not to mention, it's hard to discern intention. We also have a playerbase with varying levels of setting knowledge and RP experience, and there's a ton of source material. It would not be helpful to punish players making honest mistakes or simply "not RPing'' to some arbitrary standard.
That said, there are several GLARING issues on the server that have been rampant for years, and in my opinion far outstrip the importance of mechanical balance and other areas of focus given we should be a RP sever first and foremost (unless this goal has changed?). They are loosely as follows in my opinion:
1) Alignment & special race or class adherence:
This one is a doozy and a hard issue to tackle. There are certain aspects of it that can never be fixed. But egregious violations that are clearly driven by an OOC desire to get an edge mechanically or RP wise, need to be addressed. Here's two examples on opposite sides of the alignment spectrum that I feel degrade the server integrity.
- A paladin hanging out with their OOC Hemo/warlock buddy who uses canonically evil spells without any discretion.
- Shadovar betraying Thultanthar and/or Shar, yet retain access to the shadow weave, the shadovar tradepost etc.
2) OOC Election Fraud & Political Power Brokering:
OOC election fraud as addressed in the recent post is just the tip of the iceberg. Ever watch a new faction spring up and suddenly rise to power, granted RP cookies, titles, influence, power within an obscenely short period of time? It's not always the case, but I think we all know full well there are a lot of "legs up" happening due to OOC relationships rather than RP. This "gatekeeps" a lot of things from players unable or unwilling to play this OOC game, which can be discouraging and unfair.
3) Metagaming of Wiki Knowledge For Advantage:
Characters profess to know entirely too much, and oftentimes what they profess to know, is strategically selected to provide some special insight on another character or faction, that would otherwise need to be roleplayed. That could be Rakshasa related knowledge, Yuan-ti related knowledge, Shadovar related knowledge and so on. In the past we saw people testing mages' ability to cast "light" to see if they use the shadow weave, effectively metagaming spell lists. Today we see everyone somehow knowing that Shadovar use the shadow weave and worship shar. It's an ongoing issue that can cause real lasting impact on RP and character viability in certain settings.
I really hope Irongron and the team take a look at some of these issues and come up with "creative ways" beyond heavy handed OOC punishments to more effectively enforce the setting. To me the clear answer is IC punishments that range from debilitating to inconvenient (kind of like how MOD is sometimes used, but more options). Curious what others think...