As with the previous Spawn Killing (On the KB) and Aliasing (Will add soon) Debates, this one will be held in the same way.
Disclaimer: This topic is a debate, you are entitled to your own opinion, but flamming or spamming will result in a topic clean and warnings applied.
The main topics of discussion are -
What is their role in the community, are they helpful or a hindrance?
The Pro and Contra relative to newbies - Does it help to integrate players into the community? Etc.
Do they distract players from 'fighting' gametypes?
Preferably use this posting template -
What is their role in the community, are they helpful or a hindrance?
I feel they have their place. Of course I enjoy fighting servers, but sometimes I just want to relax and chat with people while having fun. Of course there's instant messaging programes such as MSN, but I can't run around breaking into shops while doing that!
The Pro and Contra relative to newbies - Does it help to intergrate players into the community? Etc.
I feel it is both a good source of information for newbies and a good place to intergrate into the community. For example, Cath Terra, the most popular RPG server hosted by [A]lpha is often 7-Max players. It's good to provide a place to simply relax. Also the FL Ultimate (Previous TestZone)is a good development server too, quite often people like Baleout, who would be usually fighting will be seen on it making something etc.
Do they distract players from 'fighting' gametypes?
Perhaps, but those who want to fight will be on fighting servers, and those who aren't interested will be on a RPG server etc. Quite often people play on both gametypes. It's no secret I'm probably on RPG servers more than fighting ones though - However I Enjoy the odd game on RTKM etc.
Feel free to post your thoughts.