ti-legacy.com

May I ask, how do people feel about TI's support system?

I like it, but it needs improvement. I think rank playing a part in things would be nice. I think that IP should have more uses than ousting GL's. It feels like it's the part of a system that hasn't been fully implemented or realized yet.

I'm in the same boat as Tremere. I like it, I use it (when I'm playing) but would certainly like to see more use for the IP generated from it.

I do believe, however, that there currently is a bonus for rank.

I am on the neutral side. I believe that we could do without it and just let players go and literally force someone outside of the office, but at the same time this would be a scheduling mayhem (and would favor people who are online plenty, among other issues) so I see why we need coded solution.

Honestly? I never really much liked the support system to begin with. I've never been a fan of it, and the reason has mostly been that I feel like it's a way to codify and automate processes and attitudes that really should be taking place in a 100% IC way. Now, I know I'm in the minority on this, and now I mostly just kind of feel ambivalent towards it.

I don't really make the kind of characters that fully find the system useful, so I realize that I don't really have much of a dog in this fight one way or another.

Edit: For my own self, I agree with Dice and Pixie's general overviews of things.

No option for 'hopelessly ambivalent'.

The good: allows for a pretty reasonable way of tracking the general social opinion of someone and their social power.
The bad: incredibly awkward to ask for support in RP; I can't find a way to do so that doesn't feel weird and artificial. Limited support slots can make it hard to really politic with them because of pre-existing commitments tying them all up.

The more I think about it the more I tend to lean into the "RP it!" category. There is a significant disconnect between the amount of coded support you have and how much support you can actually get IC, because when it actually comes down to it the points don't mean much of anything in RP. My character has been the 3rd most influential person in the Knights on more than one occasion, for example, but has no tangible influence with the Knight PCs in RP. While Grand Magnate the Merchants all knew who I was and knew they answered to me, but for the majority of my time as GL I was codedly the 11th most influential in the guild. The RP relationships just don't really equate to the IP and support system.

With that said, I'm not sure how to make it so the support system -does- make a difference in play. I hate criticizing without at least providing an idea or two, but I'm a bit useless on this one.

I'm firmly outside the "RP it" group. Not to say I don't think it should be RP'd. It must be. But it also must have code support. Without a code-supported method to oust GLs, the only option is murder. And we really don't need that many assassination plots.

That said, while I'm largely okay with it as-is, I do think it needs improvement. And I kind of think the only way to improve it is scrap it and start over. It's a very flawed system, and I've felt that way since the beginning.

I mean, I could certainly use the IP. And I like getting invited to give/ask for support. But I feel like I am borderline metagaming when I get involved with it. It's like I know I'm doing it for the IP. If it can be kept to RP, I say leave it there.

I'm not sure what the 'RP it' and 'outside of the 'RP it' groups are about...?

TI is about RP. When you support or subvert someone, you have to provide an RP-backed reason that is recorded in the system, so I'd certainly hope that any support, etc, provided is being legitimately RPed and should reflect the RP going on. I'd be highly surprised if that wasn't true of anyone.