Board Thread:Event Discussion/@comment-5722194-20140402005508/@comment-74.84.93.228-20140402032316

This post will be long - be forewarned!

To start, I'm new to SW Law, Courts, and the Wikia pages from whence they drew forth. But, with the title of Magistrate looming over my head, I felt that it was my duty as an RP'er of Moon Guard to actually come here and read everything available to me, and ask tons of questions when I needed to.

What I see started here, is beautiful. I have read RP reviews from other places that say Moon Guard has some of the most dedicated Roleplayers known to the MMO genre, and only above them are the nutjobs at LoTRO. (They're some seriously hardcore folks that FIGHT over whether or not Tolkien would allow BEER along with ALE.) While the Laws and System are very ambiguous in some cases, it still leaves a lot for RP to fill in!

I first read Laws of Stormwind, then that took me to the Laws of Stormwind: Index, and from there it just cascaded into page after page after page of STUFF! This gorgeous, interactive Court System sits here and BARELY anyone bothers to read it! How much work these folk have ALL put into it on an OOC basis is amazing and should be respected!

We cannot stop how people play their characters. People will fight the Law, kill, resist arrest, etc, so being a part of any Law Enforcement is terribly hard, as I've come to find out myself, but here's the thing...

How is it that a real government system wins over its people? An ideology is how. Alright, so not everyone can be a Marshal, Grand Marshal, Magistrate, or whatnot, BUT, they can aspire toward it! If the players on Moon Guard see the Guard guilds, and the Courts and the Marshals, and Magistrates, all doing what the Wikia says they are to be doing, other people will want to be part of it! (There will always be corruption, no one doubts that.)

Maxen, you stated above, "Guard and law enforcement guilds often do not have the time or resources to do the footwork needed for big inter-guild trials when they process dozens of criminal role-players a week as it is. I spoke with Eliorah of  and Adroby of  and came up with the idea of having the guild leaders of law-enforcement guilds be Magistrates of the court so that they do not have to wait to schedule trials when their guild RP gets backed up. They can host their own trials as needed."

What does that do for Barristers/Lawyers who would like to be involved with the Courts of Stormwind? What about Mediators, Secretaries and Clerks? I have had several people approach me over the last two weeks and ask me how they can be involved! People WANT to Roleplay as Detectives, and Agents of the Crown, but.... if the Guild Leaders are given Magistrate positions, it negates any and more importantly -all- of the Court System.

After reading the Judge Roleplaying Guide, and the responsibilities of a Magistrate on the server, what stops any of said Guild Leaders from just making up Law as they see fit, and using that to convict people they don't exactly care for OOC or IC? It kills RP not only for those involved with the direct incident, but it also kills RP for those above and below the Guard. It essentially makes the Guards : Judge, Jury and Executioner.

My suggestion here, is NOT to make the Guild Leaders Magistrates, but add in a new title. Allow that title to have less restriction, but still be forced to include the Court Officials for the major things like Credentials and Warrants for known offenders. Where.... Joetoon decided to pick a fight in the Cathedral district, is not a HUGE offence, and therefore doesn't need a Warrant for arrest, but the Warrant for say.... I mean this as entirely an example and not actually IC intentions .... Edgar von Steelmane, or Bisrad Mason has to be assigned by a Magistrate.

Essentially what I'm saying is that making the Guild Leaders Magistrates isn't a good idea. Many of them don't have a single clue about the Law set forth here, nor do they abide by the titles they carry. I've seen ICly over the last two weeks, guards attack and attempt to arrest a woman who was defending herself from an attacker; a very angry and upset citizen was told to commit suicide by a Title Wielding Guard in the Cathedral District; a casual conversation by the Guards discussing the sexual assault of one member on another member; credentials of Detective, and Agent of the Crown given to a 17 year old KID, who was admittedly part of the Westfall Rebellion  and continues to run about the city telling people he can do whatever he wants because he's an Agent of the Crown; wherefore he assaulted and almost killed an "established" Alliance Marshal whilst the Marshal was in the middle of -trying- to apprehend a Deserter from his Regiment, and she preceeded to run about the city causing damage and possibly harming other citizens as well as assaulting another member of this Regiment; blatant disregard for the Barristers attempting to defend Bisrad Mason, denying proof of crimes, refusing to allow Discovery of witnesses, or evidence regarding the Prosecutions accusations. I must add, that during a conversation a night ago, the Guard attempted to listen in while a Magistrate was taking an OATHED statement regarding an incident.

These are the reasons why the RP'ers on MG disregard the Guard guilds, and think they are corrupt, it's because they ACT that way. Whether or not the Leadership of these guilds are allowing these things to go on, is another matter. It is the Leadership that is called into question, not the regular members. Who in their right mind would be okay with one Guard sexually assaulting another Guard? Why is that not punishable? Why are these Guards allowed to escape prosecution? Because everyone stopped caring once they realized that they're -all- corrupt.

OKAY! ENOUGH, Right? Here's what I propose: The Horde has up Laws that regard -in game time- spent in prison or the stocks. I say we follow their lead. Minor offences like fighting and tavern brawls, are say... an hour in the Stocks and a blemish on the record. Which a Guard Guild Leader can enact, with "new title" over his/her head. An attempt to kill someone, one way or the other - 3 hours in the Stocks, -in game time.-   While things like Murder, Treason, High Treason, Conspiracy have to be brought to the Magistrates, and the Courts. This way, it still gives the BEAUTIFUL (have I said that already?) Court System and Laws a chance to be RP'ed and shows respect to those people who have spent SO MUCH of their time and effort creating it.

But this would also mean that the Guard guilds, Military Guilds Leaderships would have to start being the ones to quell people's fears on the corruption, and start following the Laws themselves. If -you- do it, they will do it too! LEAD BY EXAMPLE!

It's widely known that WoW subscriptions are down, and there just aren't nearly as many people playing as there used to be. Let's help each other overall, bring back the robust and respected community that IS Moon Guard. Let's set up a monthly Meeting of the Minds. Magistrates, Barristers, Guard Officials, Army Officials, and sit down IC and talk about these things. Let's stop putting up brick walls for people to slam into, but tear down the ones already there!

I would apologize for this being -so- long, but I feel like I've made my point.

Thanks!

Kalynia