I'm thinking it's time I re-write/revamp MRP?

[Lark 63]

3 hours ago, Garnet said:

erver the war system would be eliminated, and instead replaced with objectives that are always activated and are considered "Hostile Areas" in which firefight can take place.

the war system is the only thing thats seperating ggmrp from any other mrp, eliminating that factor will make gg as basic and generic as other servers

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by Lark

[Nutter 15,181]

3 minutes ago, Lark said:

the war system is the only thing thats seperating ggmrp from any other mrp, eliminating that factor will make gg as basic and generic as other servers

 

Yeah, but are we really doing all that well? We are the 4th largest server, but that is null when there's really only 8 longlasting servers in the category

[Lark 63]

1 minute ago, Garnet said:

Yeah, but are we really doing all that well? We are the 4th largest server, but that is null when there's really only 8 longlasting servers in the category

the only server i play on gmod as a whole is ggmrp. because its different than the other servers
u used to get 90 avg on chaharikar which shows that people love the war factor
making ggmrp a less populated icefuse will do nothing but kill the server even more imo

[Snapdragon 45]

add fortnite dances

[Kendal 450]

2 minutes ago, Lark said:

the war system is the only thing thats seperating ggmrp from any other mrp, eliminating that factor will make gg as basic and generic as other servers

the war system is the only thing thats seperating ggmrp from any other mrp, eliminating that factor will make gg as basic and generic as other servers

the war system is the only thing thats seperating ggmrp from any other mrp, eliminating that factor will make gg as basic and generic as other servers

Well standing out and being different than other servers isn't doing MRP a whole lot of good right now, is it? With the massive dip in player pop, it's clear that new players don't want to stick around for whatever reason. I remember when I'd train recruits to either US or RU one question I'd get is "what is there to do while peacetime is active?" The answer? Not much really.

Having a constant flow of objectives that need to be taken or fought over gives way for a lot more RP to be developed on the server by the players themselves. It gives Patrolling, Raids, Kidnaps, and Intel gathering some actual purpose.

Imagine a scenario where Vega decides to go on a patrol, they see hostile forces heading to an objective, they radio that in, and suddenly RU can prepare more people to push the hostiles back and off the OBJ. 

All the people who are saying "GG MRP is unique for our war system! DONT CHANGE" Need to be willing to compromise. Either GGMRP Dies being "Unique" or it remains intact with changed systems to emulate the gameplay that it's clear people want. Why is GG struggling so hard while IF is still hitting max pop DURING a period where gmod is dying and MRP is a dying genre in general? They have a gameplay loop that players want. Garnet emulating that loop is not destroying the server's uniqueness, it's giving the players new things to do and new scenarios the players can create together. It's up to the players, how we treat each other, how we treat newcomer's that decides how we are unique, not the type of war system we have.

Even the biggest AAA game developers bite off of other games, put their own unique twist on it because they know it's what the players want. Why do you think COD has a fucking Battle Royal now? Why do you think Halo 4 decided to take COD's multiplayer and essentially copy paste it with laser guns? Because people like it. 

In order to survive in any type of market, gaming or otherwise on some level you need to emulate what the competition is doing. It's up to us as the playerbase overall to create unique scenarios and oppurtunities that are specific to Garnet Gaming. The people, the community, and the way we play the server is unique to us. Not the war type.

So again, either GGMRP Dies "Unique", or it adapts to a competitive genre and seeks to emulate and outdo the competition.

[Lark 63]

2 minutes ago, Kendal said:

it's clear that new players don't want to stick around for whatever reason.

New players aren't leaving because of the war system. They are leaving because they have literally nothing to do in peacetime. 
 

 

2 minutes ago, Kendal said:

Having a constant flow of objectives that need to be taken or fought over gives way for a lot more RP to be developed on the server by the players themselves. It gives Patrolling, Raids, Kidnaps, and Intel gathering some actual purpose.

Thats literally obj wars. Just without the rp [Thats how it should be, PVP in War and RP in peacetime, not rp all around]
 

 

4 minutes ago, Kendal said:

Imagine a scenario where Vega decides to go on a patrol, they see hostile forces heading to an objective, they radio that in, and suddenly RU can prepare more people to push the hostiles back and off the OBJ. 

That doesnt need a war system change.  Vega can do that rn

 

4 minutes ago, Kendal said:

So again, either GGMRP Dies "Unique", or it adapts to a competitive genre and seeks to emulate and outdo the competition.

id rather see garnet die unique that it die just like all the other servers

[Aparh 383]

2 minutes ago, Lark said:

id rather see garnet die unique that it die just like all the other servers

or you know, garnet not die at all.

Also referring to kendal's post ( not just calling him), again the issues keep popping up. Officers, Management, and Peace time are the 3 main issues currently. But i feel we are focusing in too much on what the issues are and repeating ourselves than actually coming up with a solution. 

Officers can be fixed by management, this is simple, managers can step in and make sure factions are doing good. If not remove the person and replace them. Management can only be fixed from the inside over time.

Now, what if garnet implements these new ideas and extends the peace time allowing for them to take place while also keeping our traditional war system. 

Just some food for thought.

 

[Kendal 450]

Just now, Lark said:

New players aren't leaving because of the war system. They are leaving because they have literally nothing to do in peacetime. 

Yeah I hear you. Peacetime is pretty boring... What if there was no peacetime? At any point you could decide to take a group of new people, show them how to capture an objective, what the enemy looks like, show them the rules of engagement etc without needing to wait for war? Maybe if peacetime just straight up didn't exist, people would always have something they could do?

2 minutes ago, Lark said:

Thats literally obj wars. Just without the rp [Thats how it should be, PVP in War and RP in peacetime, not rp all around]

No, you're getting it twisted my guy. The genre of MRP is exactly that, a Military Role Play. You're assuming based on how the server currently handles RP that it was always meant to be RP only sometimes, and TDM most the time. When it's in reality supposed to be RP for a good portion of the time you play. So in a constant OBJ scenario, you could be a recon squad that's hanging around the objective another squad is taking to alert them of hostile forces. You could be a raid squad that is raiding the enemy base to buy the rest of your faction time to capture points while the enemy is dealing with chaos in their base. There's a lot more fun involved in anything when you yourself can create that fun. That's the whole point of gmod, it's a sandbox game. 

8 minutes ago, Lark said:

That doesnt need a war system change.  Vega can do that rn

But vega doing that right now with the current system we have doesn't really do much. What's the point of patrolling as of right now? To pretend we would get some useful information? Well if objectives were constantly up and for the taking, a patrol could actually give a lot of ACTUALLY useful info, such as enemy placement, objective prioritization and etc.

 

10 minutes ago, Lark said:

id rather see garnet die unique that it die just like all the other servers

The funny thing is, all the other servers aren't dying. Sure the small ones that never really stood a chance against IF and GGMRP are dying, but now GGMRP is dying, whereas the other popular servers are still hitting great population. And of course you'd be fine with it dying, you didn't put any actual work into the development or behind the scenes shit on the server. For you, you could just find another community to play in right? So long as you aren't wrong on a forums post at least.

[Nutter 15,181]

28 minutes ago, Snapdragon said:

add fortnite dances

Speaking of taking a stance and getting rid of people who are no good to the community. Good job you mingy scammer. 

[Lark 63]

2 minutes ago, Kendal said:

But vega doing that right now with the current system we have doesn't really do much. What's the point of patrolling as of right now? To pretend we would get some useful information? Well if objectives were constantly up and for the taking, a patrol could actually give a lot of ACTUALLY useful info, such as enemy placement, objective prioritization and etc.

theres 1 hour 15 mins worth of peacetime for vega to do that my nigga

 

5 minutes ago, Kendal said:

a patrol could actually give a lot of ACTUALLY useful info, such as enemy placement, objective prioritization and etc.

thats still doable in peacetime...

[Kendal 450]

2 minutes ago, Lark said:

theres 1 hour 15 mins worth of peacetime for vega to do that my nigga

You're clearly not getting my point.

CURRENTLY vega going out to patrol gives them ZERO in the way of intel. Infact, intel gathering in general on the current server state is useless. What kind of intel does Vega get for going on patrol right now? Maybe learning that you can climb a certain tree on the map? Or double jump onto a certain box? They don't know enemy troop placement because, there are no enemies on any objectives during peacetime (Which is the main reason to scout anyways...)

If Garnet implements Objectives that are always active, on a bigger map, that means Vega could go patrol, and find out what objectives the enemies are attacking, alert other RU factions, and create a group to go push the enemy off of the objective. You can't really do that during peacetime in the current server since, nobody is capping objectives during peacetime.

[Bozee 202]

I don't know if this could work,  but i also don't know if mrp can keep going how its going,  personally doesn't seem like a bad idea, id welcome change, but either way it's a hard decision. I think in the end its better to go against the grain in this situation given the amount of players, always better to try something then not..... idk I just dont see the server working its self out without a massive change, whether it be this or another idea. but honestly I +1, server needs something to change 

13 hours ago, Kendal said:

You're clearly not getting my point.

CURRENTLY vega going out to patrol gives them ZERO in the way of intel. Infact, intel gathering in general on the current server state is useless. What kind of intel does Vega get for going on patrol right now? Maybe learning that you can climb a certain tree on the map? Or double jump onto a certain box? They don't know enemy troop placement because, there are no enemies on any objectives during peacetime (Which is the main reason to scout anyways...)

If Garnet implements Objectives that are always active, on a bigger map, that means Vega could go patrol, and find out what objectives the enemies are attacking, alert other RU factions, and create a group to go push the enemy off of the objective. You can't really do that during peacetime in the current server since, nobody is capping objectives during peacetime.

I honestly couldn't agree more with this, it finally gives rpers a means of actual rp, and also caters to war heads because combat is active non stop

 

ps. on my phone sorry can't cut down quotes

14 hours ago, Lark said:

the war system is the only thing thats seperating ggmrp from any other mrp, eliminating that factor will make gg as basic and generic as other servers

 

but lark clearly mrp formula isn't working, we may lose players, but player retention imo would shoot up from this

Edited July 9, 2020 by cbozee

[shrimp 764]

Unfortunately, I’ve been getting the play-by-play of the server since I left because some of you just don’t know how to leave me alone. That being said, fuck you, I am up to date.

Here’s what I would do to fix the server, now that I’ve been name-dropped and requested to comment:

Step I - Burn It.

For all you stubborn skids who are so attached to some ideal form of the server than any change in any direction other than what your own personal vision is that you’d rather push down any other attempt to change and take steps directly backwards, stop.

Take a second look at the situation the server is currently, and it might eventually occur to some of you that this is an opportunity to break free of all the old ways of the community and turn it into something way better, to learn from the mistakes we made in the past and finally put together something good, something that will persist on an uphill slope, as opposed to the long-running downward spiral that’s been prevalent over that past few years.

The natural (natural as in ‘without intervention’) state of the server has always been a shitshow. It needs constant maintenance and oversight to run properly and stay healthy, regardless of the core server mechanics being entirely automated. The openness of the server leaves much to be desired, when it’s the responsibility of the user to come up with the content, or lack of content therein.

Point is; the server isn’t sustainable, and never really was. Things naturally just go to shit, and they go to shit a lot faster as of late due to the general subconscious of the community being a lot more resistant to change.

That being said, it’s time to burn it all down and start fresh. The benefits of doing so are as follows:
 

• The arguments in favor of donor advantages will be a lot harder to back due to it being a different server, which presents an opportunity to get rid of a lot of unfavorable donor perks with minimal backlash.
   

• The server can be rebuilt without preconceived notions or god-forsaken nostalgia. The community will benefit from this because they won’t be able to argue for reimplementing silly old features that typically aren’t as good as they remember them. No more running in circles and not really getting anywhere.
   

• We can really and truly learn from our mistakes and have an opportunity to abandon systems that don’t or didn’t work in the past with little to no repercussions. I’d like to reiterate that it’s a new server, where none of the shit from “MRP” as we know it applies. 

 

Step II - Foundations.

If we even get this far, as in if Garnet decides he even wants to reopen a server after taking down MRP, let’s talk codebases.

As of now, GG MRP runs on a modified DarkRP codebase, with D3A running as the administrative plug-in. Tally up the workshop content, sprinkle on the custom lua for good luck, and that’s effectively the server. In my opinion (Garnet will hate this), there’s not enough content on the server for it to be successful today. There’s (including the war system) not really much that makes GG special that the most basic of players can see at the surface level. I made this a huge point in the other massive document I made (was making) a while back, and the fact of the matter is the server has no depth. Once you log onto the server for the first time, it isn’t long before you’ve seen all the is to see, and it’s kind of always been like that, except once upon a time it was a bit more difficult to get to the top, but once you’ve been to the top, the server loses all its charm and you end up a forum lurker like me. The server’s depth now is in its politics, not its content. This is both bad and good for business. Drama keeps users engaged in the discussion, but it also is hyper non-conducive to the new player experience, hampering growth like you wouldn’t believe. Blame managers, blame staff, blame whoever, but that trend alone is single-handedly responsible for the situation we’re in now. Nobody wants to join a community where they’re immediately expected to pick a side, both literally and figuratively.

This raises the question; how are we supposed to detract from the pointless bickering about the state of the server?

Well, it’s actually quite easy in my experience. Improve the state of said server. Convolute and absolutely maximize the server itself so that 90% of players feel engaged enough to play and enjoy and be passionate about the server, but overwhelmed enough by it to not have the confidence to openly speak on it without looking like an idiot.

Okay, so where do we start? Easy. Nutscript (or Helix, which is way less janky). NS allows for a much more medium-high RP oriented framework that will allow for just that; RP. As it stands, the server peaks at low RP, and is otherwise entirely without it. Going from the ground up would really allow for roleplay in the server to be totally fleshed out and structured into an experience that is enjoyable for new and old players alike, one that is always rewarding players for their time and effort with quality roleplay. This is the kind of RP server that is able to sustain itself, as the players are always experiencing a unique scenario that isn’t carefully pieced together by a staff team. Right now, we’ve got TDM with extra steps, and, while automated, each war is not much unlike the one before or the one after. There are zero dynamics. The only changing element is the people, which is entirely OOC and the rapidly depleting playerbase really shouldn’t be a core “feature” of the server.

Step III - Building Blocks.

So we have nutscript, a very versatile framework that opens up a lot of options for how the server operates at a core level. The second step is to throw the idea of “war” out the window. It’s really, really bad to have an RP server that isn’t oriented around RP, but rather combat, especially if it’s on a shitty platform (ergo gMod). You’re not going to place very well in trying to recreate a high performance shooter in an engine less stable than Kendal’s mental state when you’re going up against literally any other game. Seriously, just pick one, and it’s probably better.

That being said, the reason people play these types of shitty outdated games (gMod, SS13, , GTAIV, etc) is for the unique experiences that can be had on these niche ass servers. Finding a niche to stand out in is how any gMod server becomes successful nowadays. In my time away from GG, I was able to take a look at a lot of smaller communities that had experienced rapid growth and were operating servers pushing 100 players on average over the course of a day. These servers were able to draw in crowds in gMod in the year 2020 not by doing anything better (fuck no), but by doing something different.

The common argument that I see (and one that I’ve even made) is that the timed war system is the thing that makes us unique, but at the end of the day, it’s really not that much of a difference from any of our direct competitors. In fact, it actually hampers us quite a bit. We really have to ask the question, how different is GG from, let’s say for the sake of argument, Icefuse? The answer; not much. Similar structure, similar faction operation, similar meandering gameplay, and identical circlejerking. With that, there’s no way we could just change the war system and expect to compete with another behemoth like IFN on their own turf. It’s just not viable, and we’ll probably just end up attracting a player base composed of (get this) Icefuse rejects.

So fuck all that, let’s actually do something different. Something that will really set us apart.

“Okay shrimp dick, where do we start?”

We start with the core features. The systems that are going to launch the server into the stratosphere. The things that are proven to work elsewhere, and keep players coming back, while creating an authentic and borderline addictive experience. Here’s what I have in mind, based on my experience and analysis of popular trends:
 

• Economy

  • WIth Nutscript, items and inventories and kind of a focus, where anything from weapons to armor to 7” dildos are traded among players for money or other items, and economies are typically established based on certain standards.
    
    With an economy, players are given a seemingly endless amount of options to pursue and avenues of gameplay to explore, as well as enjoy increased interactivity and (y’all ain’t gonna believe it) RP. For instance, taking full advantage of the CW system and creating weapons with retextured variants with different stats, attachments and rarity and using bodygroups to create armor types and so on. Players can be rewarded with a chance at rare loot for successfully completing an RP event (not fucking hide and seek or some shit), encouraging them to participate, and actually giving value to money. Donator perks would then be reoriented around the economy and items therein to make it more conducive to the system in play.
    
    With the below logistics systems, players could be rewarded for doing their chores on base, acting as medical staff, cooks, guards, etc. Passive RP roles that allow players to earn money for use in the economy
     

• Logistics

  • Part of any good military RP is the logistics at play during an operation, or just in general gameplay. A way to dramatically slow down the pace of gameplay and make it much, much more satisfying is by introducing mechanics that not only tell the player to value their life, but actually make the player suffer for acting recklessly. Systems we currently have in place that wouldn’t properly transfer to nutscript anyways, like medics spawning with medkits that they usually just use on themselves, or ammo crates that just sit in the base that are a source of infinite ammo, or the lives of the very troops that are fighting the battle. All of it, really, should be limited in a sense, so that players are more cognizant of what they’re doing, and more afraid to stand on top of a sand dune flailing around a .338 while twitching like a crack addict.
    
    A more complicated player experience is often more rewarding in the RP context, in fact, only in the RP context, which is what we’re trying to do here.
     

• Factions

  • Factions would really and truly need to be entirely restructured to be more complimentary to playing at the squad level (similar to how SWRP is done, but less gay and built for PvP). I’m not going to get into the specifics of even what countries would be on a server like this (another opportunity to get freaky) because we’re not there yet, so don’t even try to ask what factions would constitute factions here, but let me outline the basic premise.
    
    The core of the faction is the base or FOB. Each base, 2 or more, should be the primary hub for RP for a faction (on the country level).
    
    The way whitelists work in nutscript is a little bit different than DarkRP. In DarkRP, one player can play multiple jobs by opening the F4 menu and selecting one they have access to. In nutscript, there is no F4 menu. Each character (players can have multiple characters) can only have one whitelist. The whitelists themselves work differently, in that a faction doesn’t necessarily have multiple whitelists to give out (typically a member and officer whitelist). There aren’t classes, and any player can effectively have any loadout available to them so long as they are able to acquire what they need to fulfill a certain role. That being said, there’s actually a point to have a ton of different factions, that might have access to different things between them. For instance, a special forces group’s quartermaster will be able to distribute a higher grade of basic weapons and armor than the average infantry unit, and different special forces group’s may have “equipment” entirely unique to them that gives them a tactical advantage in certain situations, allowing for strategy and more RP.
    
    With our current system, it’s better to have less factions, and more people in each faction so that each faction is seen as active. In nutscript, it’s actually better to have more factions, so that when a rarely seen faction flags up, it intrigues even a regular player. This is called depth, and it’s something we need to maintain the longevity of a server. With nutscript, only Superadmins (typically) can even find a list of flags to indicate all the factions on the server, as there isn’t an F4 menu to scroll through. With that, nobody can really point fingers on activity, because everyone would be talking out of their ass. Having all these small factions popping in every now and then to compliment the larger bulk of the server allows for some really interesting cooperation, engagement, and RP. These factions have their quartermasters, which are vendor NPCs that distribute basic items in exchange for money (ammo, first aid kits, etc).
     

• Combat

  • Combat is last on this list for a reason. It should be there, of course, to compliment the economy and make a use for all the shiny toys players work for, but it shouldn’t be the primary focus, for reasons stated above. Combat should be regulated, and made to happen in scenarios that make sense, and should mostly be centered around the acquisition and control of supplies that bases would need to function properly (See: Logistics). Combat should not be frequent enough that players are able to get frustrated at all the flaws inherent to gMod, but enough to satisfy that bloodlust that landed most people on a military server. Let the RP happen, and let the GMs push it in a direction that makes it fun for everyone. Trust me when I say, the amount of effort that goes into making RP happen is proportional to the enjoyment everyone gets out. 

Step IV - Bureaucracy.

The chain of command in a present GG MRP is actually a joke. The O-11, the de facto leader of each country, is legitimately never treated like it. Most of the players on the server hardly acknowledge rank outside of their own subfaction, which really just promotes minging at the end of the day, but let's not go there.

The O-11 position has been historically undesirable because it’s a lot of work, an entry faction, and pretty much a worthless position for anybody competent enough to do it. If the desirability of holding a position like “Leader of Half the Server”, players will strive for it, and that is accomplished by giving the position more power, jurisdiction, and responsibility. A faction’s (country level) leader in the nutscript mockup would have full control over the issuing and assignment of mission, handling of the budget where money actually matters (no need for that budget system I suggested with G4S in nutscript, by the way), and the highest paycheck. From there, the chain of command just goes downward. Subfaction commanders submit their requests and receive a portion of the budget to carry out their duties and are free to manage it as such (squandering it will obviously have consequences, stealing it will have more consequences). It’s important.

Now that I’m looking at this, I think this is a lot more similar to GG back when it was USvRUvAFGvUK than it is now. lol 

[Bozee 202]

33 minutes ago, shrimp said:

Unfortunately, I’ve been getting the play-by-play of the server since I left because some of you just don’t know how to leave me alone. That being said, fuck you, I am up to date.

Here’s what I would do to fix the server, now that I’ve been name-dropped and requested to comment:

Step I - Burn It.

For all you stubborn skids who are so attached to some ideal form of the server than any change in any direction other than what your own personal vision is that you’d rather push down any other attempt to change and take steps directly backwards, stop.

Take a second look at the situation the server is currently, and it might eventually occur to some of you that this is an opportunity to break free of all the old ways of the community and turn it into something way better, to learn from the mistakes we made in the past and finally put together something good, something that will persist on an uphill slope, as opposed to the long-running downward spiral that’s been prevalent over that past few years.

The natural (natural as in ‘without intervention’) state of the server has always been a shitshow. It needs constant maintenance and oversight to run properly and stay healthy, regardless of the core server mechanics being entirely automated. The openness of the server leaves much to be desired, when it’s the responsibility of the user to come up with the content, or lack of content therein.

Point is; the server isn’t sustainable, and never really was. Things naturally just go to shit, and they go to shit a lot faster as of late due to the general subconscious of the community being a lot more resistant to change.

That being said, it’s time to burn it all down and start fresh. The benefits of doing so are as follows:
 

• The arguments in favor of donor advantages will be a lot harder to back due to it being a different server, which presents an opportunity to get rid of a lot of unfavorable donor perks with minimal backlash.
   

• The server can be rebuilt without preconceived notions or god-forsaken nostalgia. The community will benefit from this because they won’t be able to argue for reimplementing silly old features that typically aren’t as good as they remember them. No more running in circles and not really getting anywhere.
   

• We can really and truly learn from our mistakes and have an opportunity to abandon systems that don’t or didn’t work in the past with little to no repercussions. I’d like to reiterate that it’s a new server, where none of the shit from “MRP” as we know it applies. 

 

Step II - Foundations.

If we even get this far, as in if Garnet decides he even wants to reopen a server after taking down MRP, let’s talk codebases.

As of now, GG MRP runs on a modified DarkRP codebase, with D3A running as the administrative plug-in. Tally up the workshop content, sprinkle on the custom lua for good luck, and that’s effectively the server. In my opinion (Garnet will hate this), there’s not enough content on the server for it to be successful today. There’s (including the war system) not really much that makes GG special that the most basic of players can see at the surface level. I made this a huge point in the other massive document I made (was making) a while back, and the fact of the matter is the server has no depth. Once you log onto the server for the first time, it isn’t long before you’ve seen all the is to see, and it’s kind of always been like that, except once upon a time it was a bit more difficult to get to the top, but once you’ve been to the top, the server loses all its charm and you end up a forum lurker like me. The server’s depth now is in its politics, not its content. This is both bad and good for business. Drama keeps users engaged in the discussion, but it also is hyper non-conducive to the new player experience, hampering growth like you wouldn’t believe. Blame managers, blame staff, blame whoever, but that trend alone is single-handedly responsible for the situation we’re in now. Nobody wants to join a community where they’re immediately expected to pick a side, both literally and figuratively.

This raises the question; how are we supposed to detract from the pointless bickering about the state of the server?

Well, it’s actually quite easy in my experience. Improve the state of said server. Convolute and absolutely maximize the server itself so that 90% of players feel engaged enough to play and enjoy and be passionate about the server, but overwhelmed enough by it to not have the confidence to openly speak on it without looking like an idiot.

Okay, so where do we start? Easy. Nutscript (or Helix, which is way less janky). NS allows for a much more medium-high RP oriented framework that will allow for just that; RP. As it stands, the server peaks at low RP, and is otherwise entirely without it. Going from the ground up would really allow for roleplay in the server to be totally fleshed out and structured into an experience that is enjoyable for new and old players alike, one that is always rewarding players for their time and effort with quality roleplay. This is the kind of RP server that is able to sustain itself, as the players are always experiencing a unique scenario that isn’t carefully pieced together by a staff team. Right now, we’ve got TDM with extra steps, and, while automated, each war is not much unlike the one before or the one after. There are zero dynamics. The only changing element is the people, which is entirely OOC and the rapidly depleting playerbase really shouldn’t be a core “feature” of the server.

Step III - Building Blocks.

So we have nutscript, a very versatile framework that opens up a lot of options for how the server operates at a core level. The second step is to throw the idea of “war” out the window. It’s really, really bad to have an RP server that isn’t oriented around RP, but rather combat, especially if it’s on a shitty platform (ergo gMod). You’re not going to place very well in trying to recreate a high performance shooter in an engine less stable than Kendal’s mental state when you’re going up against literally any other game. Seriously, just pick one, and it’s probably better.

That being said, the reason people play these types of shitty outdated games (gMod, SS13, , GTAIV, etc) is for the unique experiences that can be had on these niche ass servers. Finding a niche to stand out in is how any gMod server becomes successful nowadays. In my time away from GG, I was able to take a look at a lot of smaller communities that had experienced rapid growth and were operating servers pushing 100 players on average over the course of a day. These servers were able to draw in crowds in gMod in the year 2020 not by doing anything better (fuck no), but by doing something different.

The common argument that I see (and one that I’ve even made) is that the timed war system is the thing that makes us unique, but at the end of the day, it’s really not that much of a difference from any of our direct competitors. In fact, it actually hampers us quite a bit. We really have to ask the question, how different is GG from, let’s say for the sake of argument, Icefuse? The answer; not much. Similar structure, similar faction operation, similar meandering gameplay, and identical circlejerking. With that, there’s no way we could just change the war system and expect to compete with another behemoth like IFN on their own turf. It’s just not viable, and we’ll probably just end up attracting a player base composed of (get this) Icefuse rejects.

So fuck all that, let’s actually do something different. Something that will really set us apart.

“Okay shrimp dick, where do we start?”

We start with the core features. The systems that are going to launch the server into the stratosphere. The things that are proven to work elsewhere, and keep players coming back, while creating an authentic and borderline addictive experience. Here’s what I have in mind, based on my experience and analysis of popular trends:
 

• Economy

  • WIth Nutscript, items and inventories and kind of a focus, where anything from weapons to armor to 7” dildos are traded among players for money or other items, and economies are typically established based on certain standards.
    
    With an economy, players are given a seemingly endless amount of options to pursue and avenues of gameplay to explore, as well as enjoy increased interactivity and (y’all ain’t gonna believe it) RP. For instance, taking full advantage of the CW system and creating weapons with retextured variants with different stats, attachments and rarity and using bodygroups to create armor types and so on. Players can be rewarded with a chance at rare loot for successfully completing an RP event (not fucking hide and seek or some shit), encouraging them to participate, and actually giving value to money. Donator perks would then be reoriented around the economy and items therein to make it more conducive to the system in play.
    
    With the below logistics systems, players could be rewarded for doing their chores on base, acting as medical staff, cooks, guards, etc. Passive RP roles that allow players to earn money for use in the economy
     

• Logistics

  • Part of any good military RP is the logistics at play during an operation, or just in general gameplay. A way to dramatically slow down the pace of gameplay and make it much, much more satisfying is by introducing mechanics that not only tell the player to value their life, but actually make the player suffer for acting recklessly. Systems we currently have in place that wouldn’t properly transfer to nutscript anyways, like medics spawning with medkits that they usually just use on themselves, or ammo crates that just sit in the base that are a source of infinite ammo, or the lives of the very troops that are fighting the battle. All of it, really, should be limited in a sense, so that players are more cognizant of what they’re doing, and more afraid to stand on top of a sand dune flailing around a .338 while twitching like a crack addict.
    
    A more complicated player experience is often more rewarding in the RP context, in fact, only in the RP context, which is what we’re trying to do here.
     

• Factions

  • Factions would really and truly need to be entirely restructured to be more complimentary to playing at the squad level (similar to how SWRP is done, but less gay and built for PvP). I’m not going to get into the specifics of even what countries would be on a server like this (another opportunity to get freaky) because we’re not there yet, so don’t even try to ask what factions would constitute factions here, but let me outline the basic premise.
    
    The core of the faction is the base or FOB. Each base, 2 or more, should be the primary hub for RP for a faction (on the country level).
    
    The way whitelists work in nutscript is a little bit different than DarkRP. In DarkRP, one player can play multiple jobs by opening the F4 menu and selecting one they have access to. In nutscript, there is no F4 menu. Each character (players can have multiple characters) can only have one whitelist. The whitelists themselves work differently, in that a faction doesn’t necessarily have multiple whitelists to give out (typically a member and officer whitelist). There aren’t classes, and any player can effectively have any loadout available to them so long as they are able to acquire what they need to fulfill a certain role. That being said, there’s actually a point to have a ton of different factions, that might have access to different things between them. For instance, a special forces group’s quartermaster will be able to distribute a higher grade of basic weapons and armor than the average infantry unit, and different special forces group’s may have “equipment” entirely unique to them that gives them a tactical advantage in certain situations, allowing for strategy and more RP.
    
    With our current system, it’s better to have less factions, and more people in each faction so that each faction is seen as active. In nutscript, it’s actually better to have more factions, so that when a rarely seen faction flags up, it intrigues even a regular player. This is called depth, and it’s something we need to maintain the longevity of a server. With nutscript, only Superadmins (typically) can even find a list of flags to indicate all the factions on the server, as there isn’t an F4 menu to scroll through. With that, nobody can really point fingers on activity, because everyone would be talking out of their ass. Having all these small factions popping in every now and then to compliment the larger bulk of the server allows for some really interesting cooperation, engagement, and RP. These factions have their quartermasters, which are vendor NPCs that distribute basic items in exchange for money (ammo, first aid kits, etc).
     

• Combat

  • Combat is last on this list for a reason. It should be there, of course, to compliment the economy and make a use for all the shiny toys players work for, but it shouldn’t be the primary focus, for reasons stated above. Combat should be regulated, and made to happen in scenarios that make sense, and should mostly be centered around the acquisition and control of supplies that bases would need to function properly (See: Logistics). Combat should not be frequent enough that players are able to get frustrated at all the flaws inherent to gMod, but enough to satisfy that bloodlust that landed most people on a military server. Let the RP happen, and let the GMs push it in a direction that makes it fun for everyone. Trust me when I say, the amount of effort that goes into making RP happen is proportional to the enjoyment everyone gets out. 

Step IV - Bureaucracy.

The chain of command in a present GG MRP is actually a joke. The O-11, the de facto leader of each country, is legitimately never treated like it. Most of the players on the server hardly acknowledge rank outside of their own subfaction, which really just promotes minging at the end of the day, but let's not go there.

The O-11 position has been historically undesirable because it’s a lot of work, an entry faction, and pretty much a worthless position for anybody competent enough to do it. If the desirability of holding a position like “Leader of Half the Server”, players will strive for it, and that is accomplished by giving the position more power, jurisdiction, and responsibility. A faction’s (country level) leader in the nutscript mockup would have full control over the issuing and assignment of mission, handling of the budget where money actually matters (no need for that budget system I suggested with G4S in nutscript, by the way), and the highest paycheck. From there, the chain of command just goes downward. Subfaction commanders submit their requests and receive a portion of the budget to carry out their duties and are free to manage it as such (squandering it will obviously have consequences, stealing it will have more consequences). It’s important.

Now that I’m looking at this, I think this is a lot more similar to GG back when it was USvRUvAFGvUK than it is now. lol 

I think this is very well thought out and described very well also... good job shrimp, I would totally +1 this idea. I think something like this is in need! people may be comfortable with how GG has always run it self, but as you said the way its always run it self has not been sustainable... to me this seems like a very good solution that shouldn't shy away older players! warheads may not like it, but currently war is so boring to play, does it even matter? very well put shrimps, thanks for taking the time to do this!

Edited July 9, 2020 by cbozee

[shrimp 764]

25 minutes ago, cbozee said:

warheads may not like it, but currently war is so boring to play, does it even matter?

1,000,000 IQ sentence.