Resign Room Echo

[b:o39igduv]On Resigning[/b:o39igduv]
For Government clans, you should not be able to just come and go as you please. For instance, when I signed up for the military, I had to go through mounds and mounds of paperwork. Put down so much information including SSN, past and present addresses. People I know, schools I’ve been too. Countries I’ve been too. Just a shit ton of information a lot of people don’t think twice about putting down. The reason governments do this though is for three reasons:

1. To authenticate your qualifications as to whether or not you meet bother physical and mental standeards
2. To verify your identity and ensure you are not lying about anything in your background.
3. To prevent you from just up and leaving.

Manly, number 3 has to do with the question at hand. When you join the Government, whether it be the Republic, The Empire or any other Government, you should not be able to just up and leave and remove all marks that you were ever affiliated with such an organization. Instead, since you HAVE to go through a certain individual to join (a recruiter), you should in turn, HAVE to go through someone else to get out (career counselor/HR Sponsor/etc). Someone has to do the ‘paperwork’ and no one in any government can process their own to get out. There is always someone that has to sign off on it.

[b:o39igduv]On Lookup[/b:o39igduv]
As for the lookup deal, I think something that automatically writes in what organization you’ve been apart of from this date to this date should be incorporated. As well as a skill identifier that levels up with your character. You should also be able to choose which skill identifiers you wan to use. So for instance, your lookup might look something like this:

::Current Employer::
Galactic Empire
Second Lieutenant
[u:o39igduv]Qualifying Skills[/u:o39igduv]
Combat – Expert
Leadership – Advanced
Medical – Novice
Espionage – Novice

::Previous Employer(s)::
New Republic
Second Lieutenant
[u:o39igduv]Qualifying Skills[/u:o39igduv]
Combat – Expert
Leadership – Advanced
Medical – Novice
Espionage – Novice
Reason for Departure: Dissolved into the Empire

The skill identifies would come from your current level in whatever class you list. Perhaps 0-25 Untrained. 26-50 Novice. 51-100 Advanced. 101-130 Expert. 131+ Veteran.

Each class doesn’t even need to use those adjectives as it stands. I or anyone else could come up with varying descriptors for each class and since I don’t do shit on the MUD anyways, I could easily do it in some down time (writing this at work as it stands <!– s:lol: –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!– s:lol: –>)

Something along this line anyways. Personally, lookup should be removed completely as an individual skill and be an empowerment to recruiters to check histories. Slicers, however, could have a high level skill, maybe 150, that allows them to tap into databases and lookup information, but they would need to be at certain terminals or something. IE. A Galactic Empire terminal to look up info on Empire soldiers. Just scanning someone with a datapad shouldn’t allow them to look up information.

You could even add jail system that allows you to post in there background check, what they were put in prison for, duration and why/if they were released. All of this, in my opion would make for better RP.

For the reason for departure, that would go hand in hand with the resign ability. Resign (reason) would add it to said individual leaving allowing for soldiers to leave with honorable discharges, dishonorable, etc. And for Senators to leave (term up/retirement/etc).

Lookup to me has been a bunch of baloney. What with the think log and what have you, lookup should be just straight up information about the game. Not everyone in the world is going to post a personal autobiography about parents, where they’ve been and what they’ve seen. Hell, I don’t know of any who would really. Lookup should be a strictly governmental power that simply allows for background checks to ensure they want to hire said person. Opens up new RP windows such as, the Galactic Empire dissolves, New Republic comes into power. Now an old Galactic Empire soldier wants in. You need to question his loyalties. Does he hold any regrets? Does he want revenge? Does he just need a job and all he’s ever known is soldiering?

Think can hold your characters personal information and motives, it’s what the RPC looks at for perms and shit anyways, not your background. Leave lookup to just checks and balances, and like others said, certain clans will probably use it more often than others. *shrugs*

Sorry for the long ass post. I tend to ramble when ideas pop in <!– s:lol: –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!– s:lol: –>

I already play Spreadsheets Online, why do we need to turn LotJ into &quot;Department of Defense Paperwork Online&quot;?

It’s not really ‘paperwork’ per say. I don’t see why it would be hard to code a system that automatically incorporates all this into a simple thing that allows you to lookup all the history of a player. You make it sound like players are actually going to sit down and do this shit, when it would be all implied during the short interview and induction/resignation ‘ceremony’.

In any case! If my idea seems to radicial for you people, what I was basically getting at was, to eliminate ninjaresigns, just make it so you have to go through someone in order to leave. You can’t get in without proper authority, shouldn’t be able to get out without it either.

While I like the idea of having to go to somebody else to resign at face value, I say bad idea. Let me give a hypothetical situation to explain why. I have an engineer that I made to help out the Empire because I was bored, but no other alts in the clan. That character gets captured by the enemy and thrown in jail… is she ever getting out? I seriously doubt it. I log on her a bit for lack of anything better to do, but I don’t care about the her, so I’m not going to bother bitching and moaning about being imprisoned for so long. I can’t suicide in jail because no clan would lock up somebody up with a weapon, even if they are a relatively harmless engineer. If I needed to go to a recruiter to resign then I’d be limited to playing characters in the Empire pretty much until the end of the war just because I have this one character off somewhere who isn’t doing anything and can’t even see clantalk. BUT, since I can resign her from jail I can just let her rot quietly in a cell, not effecting me, and put my other characters in whatever clan I want.

Oh, and as for your lookup suggestions… including past clans? Maybe. I kind of agree with the people saying that current clan doesn’t always make sense, but I think if we’re keeping current clan having past clans makes just as much sense. ..As for including your class levels? No. Just… no. Dear god. No. That’s way more info than somebody should be able to get by looking at your file. Somebody who can say &quot;This is no bueno&quot; better than I can needs to step in. Fishy? I need Fishy.

BUT. Your point about including a mini-biography in your history is 100% valid. This. I would be completely okay with making character sheets mandatory (though I know I’m in the minority there) to force people to think out their characters that way instead of expecting random information that doesn’t make sense in a history file to be in a history file. I’d even be in favor of another hidden &quot;biography&quot; sheet to write up your character’s past instead of the misc. notes section. It’s not about having less work to make a new character, it’s about making a lookup file only contain information that ought to be there.

Could always just make it so that the person resign doesn’t necessarily need to be present. Much like the military, once you submit the paperwork, it’s out of your hands and you can go on ‘terminal leave’. So for your engineer that’s been caught and in the event they aren’t ever getting out, just have the jailing official pass along word or something or let RPC know to inform someone from you clan hey, this guy isn’t getting out, just let him go so he can roll another character.

*shrugs*

I suppose. That seems slightly convoluted, but I do object to being able to resign so easily, so maybe that’s a legitimate fix. I don’t really think a solution to this problem can be agreed upon until people agree a bit more on the history file.

You shouldn’t be able to resign from an organization so easily because it’s all official -&gt; If it’s official then there’s no way the RA would be dumb enough to submit the records to the Empire’s database -&gt; Since it [i:3386z4my]is[/i:3386z4my] in the history file this is clearly more about game play then realism -&gt; Therefore you should be able to resign instantly to protect yourself -&gt; No you shouldn’t, your file is all official records.

Rinse and repeat. Throw in a couple other arguments, but that’s the basics of it. We’re not going to reach a consensus on this. I don’t understand why the RA isn’t still a hidden clan, thus hiding your clan from your file (theoretically, though I’ve been told this doesn’t work), thus making this discussion far less of a hot-button issue.

Anyway, somebody comment on my generic echoes idea! Even if just to say it sucks.

Ah. The circle of life that is LotJ. This is why, while I’m all for a democratic approach on some issues on the MUD, every once in a while an immortal just needs to say look, this is the way it’s going to be. Suck it up and deal with it or leave. You can’t please everyone and someone will always be upset with the decisions, especially if everything is put to a vote and certain things barely edge out the others.