Dynamite!

It's not like this in other RP communities, though. If it is, it is nowhere, nowhere, nowhere near this bad. It seems to be just Epsilon, whether it's been happening for a long time or not. I've always been looking for shorter-term plays without making it about social fluff, and it still happens almost every time, so that doesn't help much. But hey, I feel your pain </3

I really don't go on Epsilon too much anymore, but I've been hearing plenty of disbelief from old friends about the new rules. Leaping over all the arguments about things like "maturity" not inherently meaning "sexual" (which it doesn't, in both theory and practice), the deliberate vagueness on the admins' part (the flag couldn't get any redder on this one), and general calls of blunt tone-deafness, I'm trying to work out what the actual purpose for these specific rules is, as imagined by their creators. It's difficult to actually work out the drive behind this. It's not trying to stop adult RP, as adult RP isn't banned. It's not trying to protect younger roleplayers, because it's actively stripping away the social preventions and protections that people put on profiles. It's not trying to prevent blowback with the MRP addon, as I'm pretty sure the makers don't care about profile misuse, even in Retail. It's not trying to prevent harassment and out-of-the-blue explicit messages, as this is about the furthest possible thing from impactful on that. It isn't trying to "make start more inclusive" because excluding some people doesn't inherently include other people. At this point, everybody seems to understand that these changes will be wholy negative, will not achieve any positive outcome, and will simply damage, divide, or alienate the community - As I'm sure it's been discussed ad nauseum on the Discord to no avail, perhaps this can be somewhere to vent about gross mishandling of Epsilon's social issues. Certainly not the first instance of that, if I may spitefully say. Of course, if anybody has an inkling as to how these rules could have possibly been dreamt up, I'd love to hear it.

As in, how do I? I cannot describe how many times this has happened. Fifty times or more. I know the server is sketchy, even these days; But I'm certain that most this is a player/culture problem, not a connection/technical one. Could also be my skill; But, well, nothing outside of these plays has ever given me that indication, and they always stick around for *a little while*... How can I deal with people who get their fill of RP, and then just ghost? Are there any tells that can hint towards a player who's just a user? I can no longer deal with the frequency at which poofing happens, it's insane. My only other thought is to start doing it to other people, since the amount of people who either stick through or vocalize their situation is beyond miniscule. Feels like shit. Also, should've used the words "Endemic epidemic" in the title instead ;p

This has been a problem for some time. The stories I've heard about inequal moderation on this server are quite puzzing, and very widespread - More than any other server for any other game I've been on. To watch people frequently talking openly about sexual topics, and using overt sexual language, in the discord and on the server... And then, to hear so many stories of people getting into trouble for things that are, comparatively and objectively, incredibly innocuous and routinely unfair. It's disheartening. The rules are understandable, but they are so blindly and subjectively and emotionally inforced, they effectively do not exist. I have heard and experienced multiple accounts of things that are blatantly allowed being the cause for punishment, muting, and bans - As well as the shocking rudeness I've seen in private messages that moderators have sent in these cases. Everybody knows it's going on. It's an open secret among the playerbase. Most players accept that the moderation has not gotten better and will only get worse. We all know what most people use this server for; If the moderation team cannot handle the most fundamental aspects of enforcing a code of PG-rated discourse in public, place an age restriction on the server. If you cannot consistently enforce the same rules for every player, and cannot even provide a consistent view on the rules between moderators, your moderation team is in an existential crisis; And the players are bearing the entirity of the negative outcome. Admins: Do not simply let your mod team take pot-shots at random players. Do not just grab high-visibility or high-status players and builders for your moderation team. Being a good builder does not make one a good moderator. This is day-one stuff. And no frail excuses about "Oh, we can't be everywhere at once", or, "We can't catch everyone". We all know this isn't true, and it excuses nothing. I've witnessed senior admins sitting alongside people talking openly about sexual topics, and never saw anything being done. With this being said... Players also need to understand that this is a fantasy space, and not every player who enjoys adult content is a harasser. This is a fantasy space, dealing with fantasy things. Epsilons have a very nasty habit of openly attacking and harassing those who play themes that they do not personally enjoy, and hugely inflate the severity/IRL implications, which is a very childish way to try to censor private content they do not like. Nobody should have an f-list link in their profile, or start communication with an explicit whisper, and that should be the end of it.