The following is my opinion on the realism aspect of DE, why it's working and why it isn't, and it covers several "hot topics" on the thread currently. I'll link this to those threads, rather than posting this in any specific one because I don't want to get blamed for going "off topic".

If DE were a real place, 90% of us would be dead or have a life prison sentence. The fact is, DE is a role play sim that is fun and enjoyable because we get to do crazy, idiotic things we would NEVER do in rl (well most of us lol).

On the other hand, we all enjoy a somewhat "realistic" type feel...but this balance is, essentially, where most arguments in DE come into place.

Some things you just have to expect are just never going to be realistic in roleplay: Healing times are going to be faster, jail times are going to be much much shorter. Otherwise, we'd all be creating characters for a day because we want to PLAY. My opinion, just accept these facts as part of the fun of DE.

My opinion on the DEPD: In my opinion, the DEPD isn't, can't be, and shouldn't ever be the "baddest" gang in DE. Let me explain why. There's an etiquette in RP. When you take away all of someone's defenses, throw them in a corner, and allow them to be repeatedly ganged up on, raped, abused with no form of self defense....why would they ever want to go back? If this actually WERE to happen, that the DEPD were to be so "bad" and "scary"...DE will be a clean "hang out" town and no one will ever want to go to jail because it's no fun (unless maybe a few pain sluts....). There's no CHANCE for someone to come out on top in that situation. It's predetermined that if I go to jail, I'm going to get beaten...and half the time I'm already beat up and that's the reason I'm there in the first place. I think we like our police department being a "joke"...because that's what makes DE work. That's what makes it a shit hole of a town...sure, let there be crooked cops. The ones who already are are doing a great job at being jerks...but there definitely needs to be good cops, and cops who actually make you pay for your crimes. It makes it fun when I go to jail to wonder who will come down the steps, Roxy or Van? If it's Roxy, I might get a cheeseburger...if it's Van..well....shit.

Other things I think we should be able to realistically expect on sim, just because it's DE, relates to my other thread about people not being allowed to be in gangs and be in the FD/MH/PD, and why the enrollments in those areas are so low. I think one thing we have to turn our heads to is the "realistic" thought that someone who has been to jail for a certain offense wouldn't realistically be in the FD/MH/PD...in the real world, most of us would lose our jobs. But let's look at DE as what it is...a role play sim that portrays violence/rape/gangs....and then look at the role players that the sim is going to attract....it's not going to attract a large group of white hatters. Most people who come to DE come to it for the fantasy of these darker areas of life. They don't want to play a "clean firefighter," usually. So I think if we really want to see these areas grow, we're just going to have to accept, as we do with short jail times, that this is just a fact of the sim and we're going to have criminals in these roles.