As discussed in a huge impromptu meeting yesterday people want to discuss jail times and the like involving the EISD.

One idea was to shorten jail times to make it more feasible for Erie Isle and roleplay purposes such as an hour equaling a week or two.

During this discussion please keep all discussion -civil- and polite.

Thanks,
Hawk Perway.

When I mean civil and polite that means NO cuss words and NO acronyms for cuss words!! Pretend your a senator or some ritzy person.

Thanks,
Hawk Perway

I was curious on how to get arrested by the local police,and I play a non-human. I would think alarms would be good, but that would be lag-heavy. Maybe drop a IM in the main group that a alarm sounded somewhere?

Hey Melody,

Thanks for taking an interest in this. I do not believe a post to the main group would be necessary. If you get arrested it would be most likely for a crime, unless their going to inspect you and figure out your purpose kind of rp.

-Hawk Peray

Hawk,

I believe jail time as a tool to help deter crime in Erie is very timely and I agree that it's probably not fun for anyone to spend in-character (IC) time equivalent to real jail time.

I do however question the effectiveness of jail time if someone does some time and when released immediately begins plotting their next crime. For those who do reconsider their ways that landed them in jail in the first place--and they attempt to lead a more responsible existence in Erie--then I'd say the simple jail time solution works. I also believe jail time is only effective for those willing to change. For those choosing to lead a life above the community law, it's my sincere belief stronger measures are needed when these characters are found guilty of repeat offenses.

For repeat offenders, based on the good judgement of the Erie leaders, I believe a more graduated penalty system might help in several ways.

My assumptions:
* Repeat offenders are those who seek attention and (my opinion) bask in faction family and peer recognition.
* Erie is in dire need in several areas for repairs, upkeep, and possible improvements to help make our island a more enjoyable place to live and RP.

As a suggested first graduated punishment for repeat offenders, I propose supervised community service, possibly for an amount of hours, equivalent to real world weeks-to months of community service. This way, the character gets their recognition and Erie gets a little touch up here and there, based on the needs of the community.

I also believe the community service should be co-supervised by some recognized leader of that person's faction to assure no harm comes to the community worker and that the character doing the community service is treated with respect by anyone passing by.

I understand and respect that some factions will balk at this recommendation, however it is my deeply held belief (OOC and IC) that we all role play in a balanced, symbiotic existence, here in Erie. It is a beautifully created place and home to many, many characters who come back again and again. Yes, evil and goodness, courage and cowardice may be found around any darkened street corner. We all call this home in some sense because of the friends and family who know us, guide us, and care for us.

Lawlessness if not countered in a fair manner, throws the balance of powers towards one side and if it continues, many characters may become incensed, tired, and throw up their hands (or paws) in frustration. It's like playing on the loosing team in an endless cycle.

The idea of responsibility and consequences to ones actions must not be lost either.

All this said, I agree and emphasize that jail time for a few hours is an excellent crime deterrent, however with the caveat that the person's previous record must be factored in and if it is the belief of the court that jail time will not be sufficient, then community service would be a fair alternative for repeat offenders.

Thank you so much for such a well-thought out suggestion, Kyle.

Community service is a great idea and we have attempted it in the past. For instance, when Ben was put on trial, one of the compromises we made in place of jail time was community service.

In the future, I will try to implement this more often and hope that repeat offenders are willing to compromise on the issue of jail time.

So far, we've arrested a few players that agreed to serve out a sentence (restricted, of course, to a few hours or a couple of days)and that has worked out rather well.

Lawlessness if not countered in a fair manner, throws the balance of powers towards one side and if it continues, many characters may become incensed, tired, and throw up their hands (or paws) in frustration. It's like playing on the loosing team in an endless cycle.

In this respect, you've really hit the nail on the head and I raised a similar question in a discussion we recently had with the GM/Staff. It is not fair to either the Erie populace or the players in the EISD to be essentially ineffective based on offending players' reluctance to pay for their crimes.

In pretty much every RP sim with established law enforcement, players are expected to pay for their crimes in reasonable ways and I sincerely believe Erie should be no different. It just makes things more realistic. (Well, as realistic as you can get on an island full of supernatural beings and things that go bump in the night. ;] )

What about fines? Not in $L, but one the player would have to go roleplay either earning, stealing or whatever in order to pay it?

At some point we will be adding an in-game currency to Osiris which will allow both individuals and groups to maintain a local in-game currency, so we will have something to deal with roleplaying shortages, etc. Maybe this would be a way to help deal with the law enforcement side as well.

Colleen, I like the idea of fines,and maybe we can have "community service" for the offenders.
I really don't much EISD. But Do they walk about the sim partolling the Sims?
I thought it would be a good idea.because
(a) It will give more oppuntries for EISD to get more RPs,and
(b) They can keep a eye out for griefers,and Anyone who needs help. a front of defense for the GMs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police

I think in-sim currency is an excellent idea, Colleen! I would love to implement fines. It might breathe life back into the Bail Bonds office (as well as the miscellaneous other businesses in Erie that don't currently get much use).

And Melody, we do patrol quite often. And I have encountered griefers in some of those situations and reported them. So, that's already being done, but great input. ;]

Its should be easy to have in-sim currency because I was part of a Sim called Dark Gothica, which used a DCS system, which kept track of how much everyone had.
It was fun because people work have job wages,and use the currency to pay off snitches,and offer bribes to public officals.

Yessie, Thanks for info:) I am working on starting a petty crime wave by stealing from Club Resticted,and Hospital. I leave notecards of what I have stolen,and the owners of the business are enjoying it, adding to the RPs inner turmoil in their circles.
Any tips or advice?