A Discussion on Metatrust

[jan.antilles]

And yeah, I don't think your anecdote is necessarily metatrust in my view either. I've just had experiences before where people specifically ask "Is X here? I need Y done", and when I'm playing a random name or lesser known character as the job as X would usually play/X is busy and I offer to sub in/Y is a job within my department and I offer to do that for the player, I've sometimes been met with a "I would really prefer X to do this" or "I guess you could do Y, but I'd prefer X to if possible", and that's more of my idea of metatrust. Rejecting or only allowing a player to do something as a last resort because you don't have someone you know and trust OOC around to do it.

This is blatantly metafriending and I hope it always gets ahelped, because I 100% have a problem with it. Is it backstory related? Cool, but your backstory is the least important thing in a round. Roleplay with the person who's roleplaying with you. Is it related to the fact that this is something important to you OOC and you want someone that you trust OOC to be there? No, that's not how the game works. Play the round.

Literally the only excuse for this is if the person is an antag, and X is someone they've already mindhacked.

Edit to add: if they are an antag and just want to make sure they mindhack X for lore reasons instead of someone else: mindhack someone else.

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I've had rounds where disguised antags where revealed by their actual name simply by players recalling a previously used agent card name and citing previous rounds as to what their next move would be. This has been done (frustratignly) succesfully and (comedically but still iritating) wrongly. Not only is it an unreliable way to determine what is happening, it is also blatant metagaming to make calls merely on what name you hear on the radio.

In the same vein, metatrust in regards to whitelisted names is absurd. For antags, it is nearly impossible to disguise themselves as a HoS without somebody almost verbatim invoking "I don't recall you getting that promotion" which is thinly disgusied code for "i didn't see you get approved on the forums". Using a fake name and an agent card to the same end is met equally with a total shutout based solely on OOC knowledge, which is then justified by miniscule things out of place. I've heard plenty of stories of HoS players random naming and being met with similar treatment while actually rolling the position.

On the flip side, if you are a known face among security, people will trust you IMMENSELY, real security or not. A few rounds ago as antag, a play to disguise as HoS to get close to the captain to assassinate them was foiled early the second i set foot onto station, the entire security department was called and i got escorted to security. Following this total brick wall of an RP response, i was left with the only choice but to go loud FAR sooner than i wanted, but it ended with me and another traitor killing all of sec almost twice over. Officers were dead and unclonable, their equipment and armory looted, a massive hole in sec and general mayhem. But by merely putting on a red uniform and being recognized by my usual character name, people not only let me be, i was even helped and approached to solve said mayhem that i caused. All while being covered head to toe in stolen, mismatched gear and the blood of my victims.

These are definitely huge issues and they grate on my soul.

Part of this - and I'm guilty of it too - is having characters ONLY work specific jobs, like security or Captain. The human habit brain will say "oh I know X, they are always a Safe Person" until things happen that force that perception to change. People want to make characters with steady and iterative stories, but the game isn't really designed to BE that. It's a round based social intrigue game where things go wrong.

As far as the "I don't remember hearing about YOU getting promoted" - ahelp this 10000%. It is blatantly OOC and blatantly shitty.