A player in No Man’s Sky is currently receiving a lot of hate. The reason: From his perspective, he is simply playing an evil emperor who wants to destroy everything.
No Man’s Sky has a quite active role-playing community, where players build their own bases and entire civilizations, but also meet in cafes for a common exchange. One of the most popular bases was recently destroyed by a streamer with the justification: He is playing an evil emperor who must subjugate everyone.
What happened? The streamer SeriousGamerX (SGX) had “destroyed” the base of another player. This is possible in No Man’s Sky by simply building your own base on the same planet, thereby effectively “overwriting” the previous base. In the role-playing community, this is considered frowned upon, as it nullifies the work of many players. In this case, the base was the “NMS Café”, a hub for role-players. Here, hundreds of players met to exchange ideas and simply spend a few nice hours in RP.
SGX does not see himself as a troll. SGX justifies himself by saying that he did not want to personally step on anyone’s toes. In the stream, he is simply playing an “evil emperor” who has a “legitimate right to conquer the galaxy of No Man’s Sky”. The game gives him the options to overwrite bases, and he uses that to enforce his “legitimate claim”. It is simply part of the game mechanics, and an evil emperor must do evil things – that is part of his role.
What is the truth? When you watch SGX’s streams, it is definitely true that he repeatedly portrays the evil ruler who wants to subjugate the universe. He begins his streams with orchestral music and occasionally holds “glorious speeches” about his reign and his actions in No Man’s Sky.
Sexism was the icing on the cake. The mere act of overwriting the base was not the problem, but the sexist remarks made during the stream. There he stated that it was “a joke if a woman leads a community, and it is well known that women can lead nothing”. Since the community of nearly 400 players stands behind Lillihop, a shitstorm then descended upon SGX – including numerous “reports” for his channel on Twitch.
Whether the entire action truly reflected SGX’s role and his understanding of role-playing is disputed among the players. The truth about it will probably never come to light.
Cortyn says: Role-playing in MMOs almost always requires the consent of other players, even when playing an “evil” character. Anyone who disregards the fun of other players and simply destroys a base in a game that was considered a hub for many role-players is not a true part of a role-playing community.
However, it is quite possible that the two groups are simply speaking from very different definitions of RP. Namely, one from the experience as a member of an RP community that has shared enjoyable, interesting adventures and one as “actors” who take on a different role in the stream to keep their viewers entertained.
But this cannot work simultaneously in this case. In the end, it is what always causes problems for role-players: different interpretations of RP.
What do you think of this story? Which side do you agree with more? Or is this just the “typical RP drama” that always unfolds in role-playing communities?
