Romance and Goonstation RP

[jan.antilles]

4. Bigotry and sexual content is a non-negotiable hard 'no'. If you are unsure what sexual content includes: do not refer to sex acts, genitalia, or anything sexual in nature. This includes erotic roleplay, which encompasses all situations which are erotic or suggestive in nature (e.g. 'spooning', making out, etc.), and not only those which are sexually explicit. [...] If an admin tells you to knock something off because it breaks the no bigotry or sexual content rule, that is not an invitation for debate. Knock it off or go elsewhere. [...]

Hi there, RP server. We've had some questions and issues come up lately about the specifics around Rule 4 and sexual/erotic/romantic RP, so I want to lay things out and be as clear as possible about what exactly the issues are.

For starters: romance between characters is fine. The characters on the station are all 20+, and adults get feelings for one another. It happens. It can be funny, it can be heartwarming, it can be tragic. It makes for good stories. Romance is not forbidden on Goonstation. 

Now, some extremely important caveats.

1. We forbid more than just blatantly sexual content. Yes, people got in trouble for things that never included taking clothes off. We have warned/banned people for things like: referring to/implying active participation in sex work, pinning characters in blankets for forced "snuggling" without consent, sitting in another character's lap and facing them to emote making out and discussing wanting more, or locking the door, placing a "no" sticker on it, and climbing into bed together to silently roll and fart on one another. (Yes, those all happened.)

2. Not all players are adults. Even though all the characters are 20+, the players are 13+. You have no way of knowing who is on the other side of the screen. If you wouldn't say whatever you're about to say to a 13 year old, do not say it on Goonstation. If someone discloses to you that they are a minor, do not romantically roleplay with them. If you are a minor, do not romantically roleplay on Goonstation. This is for your benefit, their benefit, and our benefit.

3. Not all players, adult or not, are in a good place in life for romantic roleplay. Romantic roleplay can have a big impact on people. It can involve deep emotions in unexpected ways. It can affect relationships outside the game. It should be treated with care, handled maturely both IC and OOC, and stopped immediately if you suspect that someone (including you) is being affected by it outside the game.

4. Everything you do on this game is public. Ghosts can observe you. Admins can observe you while stealthed. We can pull logs a month and a half later. Your actions and behaviors are never truly private when you are playing on our servers. (Really they're not private anywhere on the internet, but that's for you and your internet service provider and three-letter agencies of choice to debate.)

All those being said, there's another issue at play here, and this is where things can get problematic in a way that seems innocent even when you're in the middle of doing it.

6. Be kind to other players. Be respectful and considerate of other players, as their experiences are just as important as your own. [...] Furthermore, do not advantage your friends in game or exclude others from roleplaying opportunities without good cause.

Even when your romance is the most innocent puppy love that ever was, if you are regularly and repeatedly isolating yourself from the rest of the server to quietly RP with your romantic partner/s, this is a problem. Not only are you not playing the job that you rolled, you're avoiding the actual round that's happening and all the other emergent RP with other people on the station. If you are going so far as to actively prevent/forbid other characters from interacting with you, this is a problem.

The Goonstation RP servers are public. If what you want to say or do with another player needs to be private, consider saying and doing it elsewhere.

Now, this is not a blanket ban or frown on privacy. Yes, antags can lure people away to kill them alone. That is playing your role and (hopefully) driving the round forward for everyone, not just the buddy you're with. Also, yes, you can go have private conversations, or explore in a small group, or adventure with pals. As I said before, the issue is when you regularly and repeatedly isolate yourself in order to quietly RP with a very selective group, isolating yourselves away from the round at large and excluding others from roleplay opportunities with you.

So to summarize and offer reference material:

Examples of what is fine:

• Giving someone a kiss
  
• Hugging someone
  
• Going to an isolated place to talk to someone and then giving them a hug at the end
  
• Holding hands
  
• Falling in love
  
• Going on a date in game
  
• Going on a date in game to an azone or the debris/mining field
  
• Holding a public wedding in game
  

Examples of what is not fine:

• Specifically going to an isolated place to repeatedly hug and grab someone a bunch while talking about how soft they are.
  
• Carrying one another around the station regardless of what is going on.
  
• Building walls/bolting doors in order to sit on laps and feed one another
  
• Threatening to harm/kill/maim people for interrupting a romantic conversation in order to ask you to do your job
  
• Leaving the station or isolating yourself to go on a date while being a head of staff or other important crew role
  

As a final note:

No, the admins are not prudes who hate people/sex/love/whatever. We are adults who are trying to maintain a safe and respectful environment where people can have fun with one another in the goofy space fart game. There are plenty of places in the greater SS13 space where you can do whatever you like with fellow consenting adults. This is not the appropriate space for those interactions.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the team, whether here in this thread, or on Discord by DMing @MedicalAssistant with a ]report, or in-game with F1 to adminhelp. We would rather clarify something for you before it happens in game than have to talk to you about it afterwards because it impacted other people.

Thank you for your time, and have good rounds. <3