Guided Discussion: Corporate Theme
Let's talk. But where do we start?

I'm Macabre, a game master and builder working behind the scenes. I take great pride in supporting players' stories and growth by providing them the platform and confidence to pursue their goals within the game's theme as best I can.

Recently, I've noticed a potential disconnect between thematic expectations around corporate roleplay and what is happening in practice. To address this, I plan to host a guided discussion where we can explore these issues together and figure out how best to assist players.

Please share any specific topics you'd like to see covered during this session. Leave your suggestions and requests here, and I'll keep you updated on the date and time on when we plan to hold the discussion.

How should corpies hustle? How is it different than mixers? How is it similar?

How open should corpies be with their relations with mixers?

Do you have to openly hate on mixers? Is there room for more than one kind of corpie?

How much room is there for cross corporation conflict? How open can it be?

Is the 'probation period' that one must endure before being in a position to engage in more corpie style hustles helpful or hurtful? Is there room for enhancement?

Playing a foul mouthed, blunt or less than stylish corpie? Do they really all have to be the same?

Am I just a wageslave? Do I have any real power? How high can I really rise?

Should I really be asking for permission or should I aim to learn enough to ask for forgiveness more?

How can I put service mixers in their place in themely ways?

Is it corpse first? How much room is there for me or do I need to be a cog?

- Corporate Play is a 'slow-burn' play style where cleverness, long-term planning & scheming, the creation of networks & connections, and cautious application of leverage is rewarded.

- Because the majority of the player-base consists of both long-term players and new players with very little midbie population, mistakes are bound to happen. Very little long-term effects due to the social nature of the play style when mistakes do happen.

- Corporate players are typically veteran players with years of experience and will be there to assist when the going gets tough.

- Corporations value productivity and will retain, support, and protect those who show value while taking steps to either value of non-productive employees. Long-term lack of engagement isn't rewarded.

OOC Reality:

-Corporate RP seems to reward a lack of engagement. Players who fail to provide value are kept in-place while those who do bring value do so by bullying & creating conflict.

- Schemes & long-term planning are devalued. Players are encouraged to 'do their jobs' and create content, but very little support is provided. Mistakes IC are punished severely and harshly.

- Corporations seem to value those who maintain the status-quo, even if that status quo is limited engagement outside of conflict.

There's also, in my opinion, a distinct lack of direction for a lot of Corporate players. Many are simply stuck in a job for months and/or years, and the severity enacted during punishments as well as when reputations are brought into question not only damage player morale but character morale. Very little support is given, being left to the other players to provide support and bring value to the game. Relationships and close connections with others are often left fractured, further leading to a loss of morale and a lack of desire to engage.

Feeling devalued as a player and a character lead to a lack of engagement and an unwillingness to take part in anything where one's success could be lost.

Finally, many of the 'Rules' of Topside Life are left entirely up to divination by making mistakes. New players topside, without the support of another character who has the information and is willing to share it, are left up to their own devices. Failing to follow these rules leads to severe, game-changing and potentially permanent consequences.

Would really be curious about how staff and the population feels about more open conflict, violent topside with opposing corporations. Topside players are often given a lot of tools but very rarely get the opportunity to use them. Making it so that it is okay, if not rewarded, to hurt or kill opposing corporate citizens would be very interesting.

I notice the personality shift is near instant, whether it's falling in line or being a sycophant. So an actual tangible, clear cut reason to hate mixers should be cultivated in the mix.

It also allows for faster access to corporate violence. "Junior! Go break JoeBaka's legs!" Which will of course feed mixer animosity against topsiders even better than sending a solo to solve small problems. If solos existed.

How do we address this thematic shift without just putting the few corporate players there are down to their deaths over and over again because some people won't care to change?

There was a time a four or five years ago when a mixer might be lynched repeatedly for being -suspected- of talking to a corporate citizen in any way other than aggressive. Among other things. The atmosphere is quite tame these days imo.

You can't touch old corp citz and so ...why fuck the juniors? Can we find a way to make them be less toxic?

What is missing in plots or interactions between individual corpies on a small scale? What is missing in plots between entire corps on a large scale? What is missing in plots and interactions taking place within the same corp (rivals and bosses in your own corp)?

Those mixers with all that chy sell date to everyone, they have no loyalty and the conflict created topples plots. So I've watched people avoid reaching out. OR those more accomplished mixers never leaver their homes.

Corporate and the Mix, on the other hand... I'll admit, I didn't see all parts of it, but I do distinctly remember a time where you *didn't* express even vague dissatisfaction with a corp, because that's how you get disappeared. Or, at least, that was the perception. Now, the cultural blending is definitely there, things are a bit calmer in that regard, and I'm not wholly sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

How can players provide flavor for each other to make the world feel more alive?

How should players view CPI? How can we balance conflict so that it doesn't feel forced but also ensure players have enough agency so its not just a limp hugfest?

It used to be that only high ranking PCs would have Xo3 or Xo5, or other very expensive/rare weaponry, and I thought that was pretty themely and cool. Now it seems like every other agent has a full end-game kit, which I think overstates corpsec theme somewhat.

Chalk it up to the corporation not wanting to be liable for more expensive gear or just jealousy from higher ranking security agents who don't want lower ranks showing them up with better, more expensive gear.

CPI vs. Lonely play with nobody to interact with?

I think it's important to not forget the reasons why CPI became a thing to start with. I am not a fan of it personally but I think we need to keep in mind the complaints and concerns that brought CPI about to start with so we don't keep swinging back and forth like a pendulum. I suspect there may be ways to both allow corpies to have friend circles outside of their corp and encourage conflict between corporations. It may already happen to some degree.

To me it's a question of how open something is. In the past the corp vs corp conflict was very open while inter-corp associations were kept discrete. Now corp vs corp conflict is likely kept more discrete while inter-corp associations are more open.

I think half of the concern over CPI is perception. We don't know what we don't know. It LOOKS far more unified than it is. I do think that there is very likely things that one could do to nudge the topside culture more in a direction a player might like though and that would be an awesome thing to discuss.

Can my corpie PC go after corpies of other corporations?

How open or discrete should my PC have to be when doing so?

Can my corpie PC go after members of their own corp?

How open or discrete should my PC have to be when doing so?

How openly friendly can my corpie be with mixers?

Can I find reasons for my PC to go to the mix or deal with mixers based on my job and the good of my corp?

Honestly, I think all of that is possible. I think just letting players know you CAN try to do all this and more is half the battle. The other half is IC. Your character learning:

How to do these things?

How loud can I be about it?

How can I twist things to support my bold moves?

How can I justify being the exception?

What are my bosses like (your real bosses, not the ones who act like your boss)?

There's a lot of corporations and megacorporations out there, several already in Withmore. Why not run a plot where there's one or two Staff-run, completely NPC-only corporations that become antagonistic? Maybe they make a bold, bold move that makes the PC-populated corporations antagonize them some how. Or this NPC corporation maybe found something (or a few things) that are really valuable, that the PC-populated corporations would want to get their hands on. Make it so that the focus of the enemy are Staff-led NPC corpies, while the PC corpies can either work together or maybe even scheme/politick against each other in pursuit of their objectives.

I would love to suggest the same thing for mixer ganger roleplay too, but I doubt this is the thread for it.