Denied Remove Site Command and ISD

This suggestion has been denied and will not receive development.
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Zen

Senior Moderator
Senior Moderator
SCP-RP Staff
Content Team
Sep 16, 2023
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What does this suggestion change/add/remove:

This suggestion changes the following;

[Removals]
- Remove the O5 Council, Alpha-1, and their Assistants (outside of events/SSL)

- Remove the Ethics Committee, Omega-1, and their Assistants (outside of events/SSL. Ethics could possibly be reintroduced in the future in a different form.)


[Department Expansions]
- Expansion of the Security Department to include a whitelisted security task force (Like an MTF, but under Security) dedicated to the protection of Site Administration, and executing their will, acting as their combative arm.

- Expansion of Internal Affairs to include more trusted jobs with more powerful arrest and investigative authority site-wide. This could possibly include a more combative job, like the “SWAT” of I.A.

- Possible expansion of Site Administration to include jobs such as Zone Managers or Deputy/Co-Site Director (Just an idea, somewhat questionable in use)

- IA and/or DEA pick up infoleak suppression as a duty, possibly some kind of shared thing to encourage RP between the two


Has something similar been suggested before? If so, why is your suggestion different?:
Site Command being removed has not been suggested before outside of mess hall, that I know of.


Possible Positives of the suggestion (At least 2):

> Significantly reduced drama and ego battles within the community

> Less potential rule breaks

> Improved roleplay environment

> Reduced amount of excess, unnecessary job bloat (Less of a player split, and two less MTFs)

> Removes the overlap issues and frustrations between Site Command, ISD, Site Administration, IA, and the rest of the community.

> Provides opportunities for other departments to expand or be created, such as Security, or Nu-7/E-11.

> Prevention of ISD wars, which go so bad when left unchecked that UK SC made an OOC agreement that heavily limits what can be done.

> Makes sense in RP - why would O5-1/2/3/4, three ECMs and the ECC all be stationed at a containment site [EDIT: Added later]


Possible Negatives of the suggestion:


> All of the work done regarding Ethics, O5, and Alpha/Omega-1 will be removed.

> Members in Site Command and Alpha/Omega-1 will lose their positions (Though can be transferred to other positions of their choosing at the discretion of the roleplay leaders)

> This is a major change, and can cause a temporary destabilization within the community as they adapt to it and figure out the new environment that would come as a result.

> Significant reduction in combative jobs, which may (or may not) cause an imbalance between the Foundation and GOIs/SCPs


Based on the Positives & Negatives, why should this suggestion be accepted:

(Note: Things mentioned here do not account for every single site command member who’s ever existed or does exist in the community. Some ISD/SC have done relatively well in their positions, but that does not account for the majority. This is not intended to be a disrespectful or personal jab at anyone.)

For one, Site Command simply does not contribute enough of value to the community to make up for the issues caused. While the idea of the O5 Council, Alpha-1, Ethics Committee and Omega-1 are all very cool ideas and work well within the SCP Wiki and have a lot of roleplay potential, that isn’t how things have worked out in this server. These groups contribute nearly nothing to the roleplay environment of the community and have only taken away from groups such as Site Administration. Not to mention the amount of drama, toxicity, and egos that come from and are often caused by all four of these groups who constantly fight for who’s right, wrong, and who has the most power/authority over others. Site Command and ISD have only caused frustration, community divide, and problems. Even certain past ISD commanding officers have stated they would rather have someone toxic who doesn’t roleplay over someone bad at combat. The priorities of these groups are not in line with the communities best interest, and this has been proven over the past two and a half years where players outside of Site Command and ISDs friend groups express their frustrations with their near limitless power and their nonsensical use of it. It doesn’t make sense in any lore, and it doesn’t make sense for the community to continue having Site Command in the way that they are implemented currently in the server to essentially be two major powers who do the same exact thing and fight each other on a daily basis.

Overall, having these groups have only caused toxicity and frustrations in the long run. The Site Command/Administration rework only helped in the short run until the point of that rework was forgotten, and Site Command still stepped on and overshadowed Site Administration on many subjects, involving themselves directly in site affairs more often than they ever should have.

There have been countless incidents relating to toxicity, power abuse, server rule breaking (often not addressed when staff are aware) and similar, that often significantly affect server health for other factions/departments/etc. These issues come naturally when you introduce two major powers with minimal restriction on what their expectations are. Even if Server Leadership manages to weed out every bad apple of Site Command/ISD, the mere nature of these groups will continue to encourage more unsavory individuals to work themselves into these positions again and again. [EDIT: Specific incidents have been removed as to not potentially cause drama, but there was previously an actual list of various incidents over time, so while I won't include them, rest assured that there are plenty.]


Frequently (Predictably) Asked Questions:

“How would this be implemented in roleplay, and what would happen to these roles?”
Essentially, The Administrator would decide that leaving the O5 Council and Ethics Committee permanently assigned to a site such as 65 was far too dangerous to be reasonable, and went against the Foundations expectations of personnel of their class. So, they’re re-positioned to Site-01 with the rest of the council. These roles would then serve as a position for Game Masters to use for events, or for Server Leadership to use when assigning a new Site Director or intervening in roleplay situations when necessary.


“What are the main benefits of this suggestion besides whats mentioned in the reasoning?”
Besides what’s posted, removal of O5, Ethics, and everything associated opens up alot of room for opportunity. Floor 3 and Ethics Wing could be repurposed or removed entirely in favor of other sectors in the map that other groups could benefit from. There would also be a reduction in models for these roles unless NL decides to keep them for events. This would also remove many roles, including many combative roles, from the server which opens up room for other departments to expand or be created without bloating the server. (Such as expanding Security, Internal Affairs, giving room for E&TS, RAISA, etc.)


“Could these roles ever come back?”
Depending on what NL wants if they accepted this suggestion, I’m sure they could. But they would have to be much more strictly chosen based on their roleplay capabilities and how kind they are to others, and not who’s friend they are, their combat skills, or what documents they created. Other implementations of O5, for example, could include solely being a Forum/Discord role given to heavily trusted players who are excellent at roleplay and respect with maybe one O5 job slot that can only be used when authorized by Server Leadership for specific events/scenarios. The EC specifically has a lot of potential to be reworked into something else that wouldn't be nearly as susceptible to these sorts of issues.


“What about the people who hold these positions already?”
I definitely can understand that some of these people, especially those in Site Command or ISD COs, have worked long and hard for their positions. The prospect of that work being stripped from them like this wouldn’t feel good. One idea for this process is to allow all people in these positions to hold their roles until they choose where they want to go or resign, however the roles would be locked and unable to be obtained by anyone in the future. So if there’s four O5 now and two choose to resign or transfer, there would only be two O5 remaining until they resign. In return, O5 and Ethics would lose their power over site policy and would not be able to edit it further without permission from Site Administration once there’s less than three Site Command from each group remaining. They would continue to hold their power in roleplay to initiate different RP until their role dissolves. During this process, members of SC and ISD can transfer to other departments such as other MTFs, Junior CL4 roles (or Senior CL4 roles for ISD CO and SC+), DEA Senior Agent, IA, etc.
 
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Billy Boy

Active member
Sep 22, 2023
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The state of roleplay does not hinge on any one thing, many suggestions are made with the sentiment of "this will fix RP!!!!" but even when approved, things remain mostly the same. In my eyes, this suggestion fixes one problem and creates 3 new ones. Now im not saying it shouldnt be done because of this, i would consider a rework like this one an important part of any effort to restructure RP as a whole, but theres the issue. Part.

This wont magically fix RP, its a good step in the right direction, but its also 3 steps backwards. The role of site-Command also fulfils an aesthetic one even if they only rarely contribute to RP directly. the mere existence of Site-Command is a notable part of why people play on SCPRP Servers, the loft goal of one day being O5, or Ethics, and being the boogeyman in the suit. While i cant say how significant this is, the fact that this is a core part of SCP and the appeal for a lot of people is undeniable, and ultimatly the inflow of new players is this servers lifeblood.

This change, if done improperly could do a lot of harm, and i am not fully convinced this is "doing it properly".
I mean the same could be said about Site Administration were that to be the top of the hierarchy.
People want to be at the top, I don't reckon the name is all too important when they still get to make a large amount of decisions but actually have to go into the site and roleplay instead of hide away and send comms

imo use O5 for events, use site admin for actually doing things
 

Billy Boy

Active member
Sep 22, 2023
41
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-support
Will ruin hard work of people who have been managing ISD for long time, and keep in mind. ISD did stationed on site, same with O5 and EC in lore 100%.
Removing this jobs will frustrate many people. And it's good as it is right now.
whats good about it?
 
Whilst having scary men in black suits/coats and even scarier men guarding them can be amusing, there's too many downsides to it and it has proven to be more damaging than rewarding in my time with this community.

SC and O-1/A-1 should most defenitely be removed, ITD (Internal Tribunal Department) could take over Ethics duties regarding tribunals as a job within the Site Affairs category.

To make things clear, the ITD is indeed a thing in lore.
Source: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/tribunal

- Jack Manning,
Shitposter/Troll and a general nuisance since November 28th, 2021

+SUPPORT
 
I would like to say on the defense of SC members, some comments here say that SC does nothing and provides nothing for the server. I will speak on my own private experience. Usually within the first five minutes I am poked by 6 different people for 6 different things, be that assistance with testing sign offs, ideas wanting to be ran through me about sub regiments. RP Opportunities that people want to explore, I then once actually able to play after doing all of that, usually am stopped for signatures from researchers for higher level tests and receive comms every so often asking me for things. I remain active with my assigned departments, get involved with their running (not in an active way as it isn’t my job and shouldn’t be), encourage RP at a site and departmental level (when applicable and makes sense) and explore my own RP ideas. I don’t think it’s entirely fair to make the blanket statement that SC does nothing when some members are doing their best.

Anyways, enough ranting from me, have a good day. 😊
 
Apr 13, 2024
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I mean sure, O5 and Ethics in lore are not in any of the site and only visit those if needed, but those 2 enhance RP, and give things to do, ISD is also supposed to be group of people who protect them, and do their orders/assist them etc.
Think about it, how would you feel if you was O5/EC or ISD COM and then your regiment is being removed after all hard work, and you are forced to join other regiment such as E-11 and sit at HCZ 24/7?
That be tragic, and most players may leave server as well!
It's like spitting in your face saying "We want to get rid off ISD and O5, join something else".

Another thing is, SCP lore is different in each source, why not make in this server their own SCP lore (keeping original lore roots) and keep O5 and ethics on site?
O5 are overseeing the foundation, while ethics make rules and stuff in foundation, while watching O5 and making sure they don't abuse their power and stuff, and ISD do O5/Ethics bidding, simple as that.
 
Mar 15, 2022
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All jokes aside.

Unfortunately, I find this particular topic the most pointless for people to even offer their perceived experiences. Because ultimately this is a question of “Can the playerbase be relied upon to organise themselves”. I think this point has been stated by players behind the flood of support comments. However, I do have a new take.

Originally, Site Command existed as the final authority. The O5 Council and the Ethics Committee. I think people forget that the original intent was that the playerbase managed themselves. Hell it's in Yeke’s Foundation’s Command Guide.

Why do we have Foundation Command?
The Foundation Command serves as a way to allow our player-base a reasonable level of control over the roleplay atmosphere on the server. Our O5 Council manages our Code of Conduct, an in-character ruleset that dictates basic laws which are enforced by certain departments. Our Ethics Committee manages our Code of Ethics, another in-character ruleset that dictates policy for ethical treatment of personnel and use of anomalies. Where a lot of communities vest these powers to staff, we give these powers to our most experienced, trustworthy players.

Let say, the Site Director decides to go off his rocker and he wants to marry the CI commander. As well as, let's suspend the fact that this would be violating a load of rules. Again, let say it is the duty of SC to stop this unholy union and staff call this an “IC matter”. Yet they don’t and now we have a happy couple. What then..? Most people would then say either staff approve of this or everyone is gonna get smacked for the travesty that has occurred.

Now let's replace.. The ridiculous situation of [Site Director x CI Commander] with something more sensible like the Site Director being involved in a grand conspiracy to massacre the anomalous community and the Ethic Committee does absolutely nothing, neglecting their duties (by being inactive).

Now you see.. Where does Staff draw the line? Is when the playerbase are screaming to heavens over “Bad RP'' or when physically the server becomes a mingefest and the player numbers are dropping. Don’t get me wrong, there were members of SC who fulfilled their duties to the fullest and tried their best.

If Site Command was removed tomorrow. They would still have the same question, one step down the chain of command. (Keep in mind, the Site Director has greater administrative power and responsibilities). Perhaps, this is a long-winded version of saying SC are supposed to take the burden off Staff with “IC actions and consequences”

But I think further comments about people's own differing experiences (i.e Everyone's Support+/Support-). In which they may be positive, negative or both at the same time. Ultimately, they are going to be “considered” and then immediately thrown out. As this topic is a design question. Do they strip away a layer of the chain of command? As well as, for a greater question, “Do staff finally accept that the player base cannot and will not organise themselves”

Either greenlighting a decision to appease the playerbase, but the playerbase themselves never addressing the root cause. Or what my money is on.. They are going to throw this out, expecting the playerbase to solve the problem themselves.

My last point and this might be far reaching. Military Roleplay. Now actual MRP players are free to correct me or add further context and info. But I believe they’ve suffered from a very similar problem like this in the past. So perhaps this may inform NL’s decision.
 
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