Chosen Antagonists. (Terrible idea, new idea made.)

That's called extended, when administrators decide to create antagonists.

This is a recipe for accusations of favoritism and just general bad things. Good idea, bad implementation.

If it was good enough, people would be choosing it.

And the point of choosing antagonists as I hope i actually said was to pick people who show they enjoy RPing, not to cut inexperianced people out of the game. It wouldn't matter is namelessvox Mcgee is the best vox ever, if they are from a server that isnt an RP one and they are intending to stay here, I'd want them to atleast know how this server works. If I was an administrator, I would not pick a person for antagonist who has not played on the server long enough to be known.

Firstly, secret IS chosen by the people, for the people. I suspect the reason you don't see it being chosen is because of the extended master race.

Secondly, just about anyone on a heavy RP server is going to show enjoyment from RPing.

Third, if someone who comes from a Goon server or whatever wants to pick up on Aurora, and they understand the basic principle of heavy RP, then I have no problem with them being an antag. If namelessvox Mcgee is the best Vox ever, and displays some effort of RP, then they're just about perfect. A good antag requires some robustness, some knowledge of the game, and some skills at RP. But all of these things need to develop.

Fourth, well, that's sorta what we're trying to avoid. Not trusting someone to be antag just because they're new? No, everyone deserves a chance to shine.

Currently, I feel that the process of randomizing the gamemode and randomly selecting the antagonist for them is good enough. How many people would vote for what you're describing, knowing well that an admin is going to pick someone who they like? Face it, it's gonna happen. We can try to avoid that for so long, but it's gonna happen. It will result in admins picking favorites, no matter what we do.

Pony, your idea is in effect, and has been for months.

You know the, "Need a volunteer or two, ahelp if interested," type announcements I send out sometimes? Those are, usually, to select antags when I feel as if it is necessary. Other Admins execute the same idea in other fashions, some actually pick antags, others use the "Create-Antagonists" also known as the "One Click Antag" button (which is horribly arm-twisty and overly aggressive, but I like it) to acheive the effect you are speaking of.

They won't executing it during every Extended round, but as they feel it necessary.

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Secondly, on the actual topic. Here's the reason why this is a bda idea: when the only way to get antag is to be picked by an Admin, one issue will arise: people, who consider themselves good antags, will not be chosen. While I cannot speak for the rest of the staff, allow me to speak for myself on this subject: whenever I choose antags, I usually go for the faces who I do not see in antagonist roles (meaning I avoid people like yourself, Mirkoloio, and whoever). This may not be due to you, or them, being bad at being antag. But more due to the fact that because you are regulars in the role, you carry with you an MO that is known. Known MOs mean repeats, repeats mean lack of excitement. Lack of excitement means failure of the premise.

It is my personal opinion, that the current system which we have, a mixture of automated, arm-twisting antag picking, and staff assisted modifications/additions, works the best. And caters to the majority, if not everyone, on some level.

To be quite frank, it's a balancing act. We are unable to please everyone at every one time.

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EDIT: Point three to make.



I do this. I am horribly guilty of this, but I will keep doing this. And here's why: again, the MO argument. Yes, it does carry with it the chance of failure, fucking horrible failure, but I have a few barriers in place to leviate the issue. First, figure out of the individual in question shares our understanding of an antag's purpose. If he does, then great! Get him squared away, and see how he does! Second, I always take full responsibility for the actions of the individuals I chose. Meaning, if they fuck up, I will clean up my own mess.

But the potential for disaster aside, I've seen a number of amazing/unknown people be picked by staff to be antags, and execute amazingly. Purpleshirt, (I THINK that's the individual in question, might be wrong) for example. Doesn't play often, but I picked them out on a whim, and they executed flawlessly. Evilbrage, chose by the RNG to be a wizard as he started making his appearance here, an amazing end result.

The whole idea behind this is embracing something, or in this case, someone new to our understanding of the game. Giving them a chance to prove themselves, have fun, and provide entertainment for the rest. Bring fresh ideas to the table, etcetera. This place would get a hell of a lot more stale if this was not being done.