What happened to FL?

[Grape]

I know you have a lot on your plate already, development team, but there are many suggestions that can be added fairly quickly which will have a long-term positive effect for Fearless. 

Three of which I have recently 'bumped' to make it easier for you to find.

Those three suggestions shouldn't take anywhere near long to implement and will indirectly have a positive impact on FL.

[konsta]

Tranq disable medical items, increase the max tax and I'd say anything above 50% is raidable and remove unwanted suggestions in suggestions, they're good suggestions and important.

Basically listen to Ghostkiller, he knows his stuff and a wise player.

[Pollux]

I know you have a lot on your plate already, development team, but there are many suggestions that can be added fairly quickly which will have a long-term positive effect for Fearless. 

Three of which I have recently 'bumped' to make it easier for you to find.

Those three suggestions shouldn't take anywhere near long to implement and will indirectly have a positive impact on FL.

Oh trust me when I say anything that involves editing old(er) gamemode files is never easy. The problem with most AggRP suggestions is that they require discussion within the team. It's not as simple as me going "Hey can I work on this plz" and then someone approving it. Devs have also been told not to approve suggestions that they are not going to work on straight away or a contributor isn't going to work on straight away, so atm our priority has been cleaning up the backlog and only approving stuff we can do immediately. I have been trying to kinda speed up the "discussion" process as it currently usually results in threads sitting there with only one or two replies for a while. The development team has seen a massive boost in productivity recently, so just hold tight!

I have personally been prioritising updates that I know you lot want the most though. (eg, Associate/Radio change)

[Grape]

I know you have a lot on your plate already, development team, but there are many suggestions that can be added fairly quickly which will have a long-term positive effect for Fearless. 

Three of which I have recently 'bumped' to make it easier for you to find.

Those three suggestions shouldn't take anywhere near long to implement and will indirectly have a positive impact on FL.

Oh trust me when I say anything that involves editing old(er) gamemode files is never easy. The problem with most AggRP suggestions is that they require discussion within the team. It's not as simple as me going "Hey can I work on this plz" and then someone approving it. Devs have also been told not to approve suggestions that they are not going to work on straight away or a contributor isn't going to work on straight away, so atm our priority has been cleaning up the backlog and only approving stuff we can do immediately. I have been trying to kinda speed up the "discussion" process as it currently usually results in threads sitting there with only one or two replies for a while.

Fair enough. It's a shame that you all have to go back and implement unneeded suggestions that simply waste time and result in, well, literally nothing other than 10 minutes of people playing around with the new implementation.

Hopefully, developers and Head of Developers see these conversations and actually realize/think about the entire development system and how things that matter and will make a needed change will be a priority.

Let's just hope these much more needed and important suggestions that will permanently change FL for the better are implemented and prioritized than a, Rolex, for example.

[Pollux]

I know you have a lot on your plate already, development team, but there are many suggestions that can be added fairly quickly which will have a long-term positive effect for Fearless. 

Three of which I have recently 'bumped' to make it easier for you to find.

Those three suggestions shouldn't take anywhere near long to implement and will indirectly have a positive impact on FL.

Oh trust me when I say anything that involves editing old(er) gamemode files is never easy. The problem with most AggRP suggestions is that they require discussion within the team. It's not as simple as me going "Hey can I work on this plz" and then someone approving it. Devs have also been told not to approve suggestions that they are not going to work on straight away or a contributor isn't going to work on straight away, so atm our priority has been cleaning up the backlog and only approving stuff we can do immediately. I have been trying to kinda speed up the "discussion" process as it currently usually results in threads sitting there with only one or two replies for a while.

Fair enough. It's a shame that you all have to go back and implement unneeded suggestions that simply waste time and result in, well, literally nothing other than 10 minutes of people playing around with the new implementation.

Hopefully, developers and Head of Developers see these conversations and actually think about the whole developing system.

Let's just hope these much more needed and important suggestions that will permanently change FL for the better are implemented and prioritized than a, Rolex, for example.

I mean keep in mind it's more because contributors really aren't expected to make changes like these. As Divey stated before. our rank is just so we can prove our ability and build up trust by doing mostly small already approved suggestions that add content (we don't get FTP access, so if we want to edit gamemode files we have to request a ton of stuff). Development is going in a very good direction though so personally I am quite excited, I just hope we will be able to be more transparent about updates soon as currently it's a blanket ban on talking about current projects or updates in general.

[Envy]

I know you have a lot on your plate already, development team, but there are many suggestions that can be added fairly quickly which will have a long-term positive effect for Fearless. 

Three of which I have recently 'bumped' to make it easier for you to find.

Those three suggestions shouldn't take anywhere near long to implement and will indirectly have a positive impact on FL.

The "Further Review" section is just full of simple workshop addons and other simple things and the dates speak for themselves going all the way back into 2017. How much reviewing do they need? It just shows lack of motivation

[Pollux]

I know you have a lot on your plate already, development team, but there are many suggestions that can be added fairly quickly which will have a long-term positive effect for Fearless. 

Three of which I have recently 'bumped' to make it easier for you to find.

Those three suggestions shouldn't take anywhere near long to implement and will indirectly have a positive impact on FL.

The "Further Review" section is just full of simple workshop addons and other simple things and the dates speak for themselves going all the way back into 2017. How much reviewing do they need? It just shows lack of motivation

This is another reason I really want more transparency, so I can tell you lot just how hard it is. We can't just add the addon to both the server and download list and go "Yep that should be good". Further Review also means that it very likely requires team discussion before it is even going to be considered. I myself was personally guilty of underestimating the amount of work the development team puts in for even the smallest of things before I became a contributor. 

Personally I really am going to push for changes, I really want to see a massive boost in development productivity. I myself have been dedicating a ton of time towards doing as much as I can as a contributor, as the last thing I want is to be is hypocritical.

You also have to realise it's really easy for developers to burn themselves out, working on the gamemode is very hard and sometimes it feels like people just take all of our work for granted.

[Envy]

I know you have a lot on your plate already, development team, but there are many suggestions that can be added fairly quickly which will have a long-term positive effect for Fearless. 

Three of which I have recently 'bumped' to make it easier for you to find.

Those three suggestions shouldn't take anywhere near long to implement and will indirectly have a positive impact on FL.

The "Further Review" section is just full of simple workshop addons and other simple things and the dates speak for themselves going all the way back into 2017. How much reviewing do they need? It just shows lack of motivation

This is another reason I really want more transparency, so I can tell you lot just how hard it is. We can't just add the addon to both the server and download list and go "Yep that should be good". Further Review also means that it very likely requires team discussion before it is even going to be considered. I myself was personally guilty of underestimating the amount of work the development team puts in for even the smallest of things before I became a contributor. 

Personally I really am going to push for changes, I really want to see a massive boost in development productivity. I myself have been dedicating a ton of time towards doing as much as I can as a contributor, as the last thing I want is to be is hypocritical.

You also have to realise it's really easy for developers to burn themselves out, working on the gamemode is very hard and sometimes it feels like people just take all of our work for granted.

I understand that and I'm thankful for everything but my point is why does it take over 8 months to decided whether you are going to approve or decline a suggestion? The Further Review section should be the team discussion then moved to approved or declined then obviously if its accepted it then gets worked on. Even something like Ability to own 2 properties was moved to further review on the 23-5-2017

[Awestruck]

In regards to Gamemode optimisation, it is incredibly difficult to do so. You must take into consideration the amount of developers who have worked on and with this gamemode. All with different styles of coding and different skillsets. Many developers have tried and many are stumped. Sadly, it is not a walk in the park and is something that is done over time.

[Falcon]

Okay, here we go:

  So I've been playing Fearless since August of 2013 and I've seen a lot of things happen, both good and bad. From 2013-2015 I was extremely active, accumulating most of my RP points, money, and hours. In those three years Fearless was at its peak, in my opinion. The maps were V2D and V33X, which were both awesome - a good amount of passive RP and a good amount of aggressive RP. I remember one day the servers were full the the brim and I was asking Enzyme to ban people so I could get on. It was a great time. Clans were full of excitement, engagement, and drama, events were happening every week. Staff participated and cared. Developmental changes were well-optimized and released quite often... 

  Then the split came. I don't have to explain it to you guys but Soul and most of the current LL staff disagreed about a lot of things, thus splitting the community in two. I left too, along with the majority of my friends. When LL started it was awesome: everyone had a fresh start, everyone devised crazy plans on how to make the most money the fastest, and everyone had a purpose to hop on the servers. The pure hope of LL members and staff drove the community to where it is now, though with some minor setbacks (i.e. DDOS attacks for months...). Anyway, while this was happening, FL went to shit. Soul brought in some new staff who weren't necessarily well-versed on their roles, etc. etc.. And with time and a more learned staff team, FL has reached this point. I'd say LL and FL are in an equal stance when it comes to playerbase. 

Now from my knowledge and experiences, I’m going to supply a list of problems on FL and their possible solutions:

1. Map Changes.
2. Optimization.
3. Staff.
4. Clans.
5. Jobs and Interactions.
6. Aggressive RP.
7. Passive RP.
8. Events.
9. Development.
10. Playerbase. 
11. Branching Out.

Point 1: Map Changes.

There has been a lot of discussion on this topic recently, especially in this thread itself. Players have expressed a need for a more optimized, smaller map where everyone isn’t spread out thin and both aggressive RP and passive RP flourish. This is an easy one. With my experience, Evocity V33X should be the choice. 33X has all of our suggestions already written. 

-It’s a medium sized map, larger than V2D yet smaller than V5P and Pines, allowing players to actually play with each other rather than driving for two minutes and possibly crashing just to see someone. 

-It’s well optimized, for the most part, I think…

-It fits well with Atmos and players know it. It brings back memories for old players, possibly bringing them back.

-It offers an expansive array of opportunities for both passive players and aggressive players, such as Main Street for shops, etc. and the slums and the rest of the map for aggressive RP. Obviously this is all relative, both aggressive RP and passive RP can happen anywhere, yet it is much more concise and organized on 33X.

V2D is too old and we know it, it’s poorly optimized and too small for a playerbase that intends to grow.

Pines and V5P are too big for our playerbase. V5P isn’t even a circuit, and it offers nothing more to the table.

Point 2: Optimization.

Obviously the development team are always working on this. Like some players mentioned prior, optimization should be a number one priority. It allows all types of players to play flawlessly with a higher FPS, which is always a good thing. There’s nothing wrong with optimizing maps and interactions.

Point 3: Staff.

Alright now we get into the nitty gritty. Let’s start from the top: Soul. Soul has ran FL since the beginning and knows what he’s doing for the most part. He’s letting SAs handle HR problems, promotions, development, and everything else. Yes, some disagree with his motives but that’s what’s to be expected from people in his position. If I were him, I’d do the same thing, especially the way FL is now.

SAs are a different story. All of them currently are extremely well-read in their positions: they know what they’re doing and they’re doing it right for the most part, from what I can see. They seem to be mature in their decisions and their interactions, which is good for the community, and they handle their responsibilities well, for the most part (I’ll delve into this soon).

Administrators are where the problems start. Ever since the split, FL has had some edgy admins, some of which are gone, some of which are still here. Administrators are expected to be mature and respectable members of the community, and most of the admin team is doing that, some are not (I won’t name anyone). Admins are biased, as is every human being. We can’t get around that, but we can make it better. This is all up to the administrator, and can be influenced by SA involvement. SAs have to keep a tight grip on their administration team, admins can’t be let to goof around publicly, slander players, or just fuck up: that’s the reason they’re admins in the first place. I’ve been disheartened from recent posts on the forums from some admins, and that is not okay. Admins can goof around, but they can’t stray as far to be immature and just seem like they don’t care. It’s not okay. 

Moderators seem to do well as of now. They’re promoted for a reason and their moderation capabilities are limited to ensure chaos doesn’t occur. They’re an integral part of the team and they protect the servers from minges, etc. etc.. Nothing really wrong here.

Now in my opinion, this whole “trial admin” thing is dumb. Just revert back to moderator, there’s no difference, then again, reverting it doesn't change anything, just my thoughts.

Point 4: Clans.

Okay here we go. Clans are an extremely important part of the CityRP gamemode and the community itself. Some clans are passive, some are aggressive, that’s just the way things are. There’s nothing really right or wrong in the current “clan climate” as of now. There haven’t been any wars, there’s some drama, but it’s nothing like it used to be. There used to be hectic rivalries between clans, like FUMUKU and the SAA, back in the day. Of course there are rivalries now, but it’s nothing like it was. I’m unsure how to fix this. I think we just have to let it go down its own path and see what happens. Roleplay is also very important in clans. Proper clans have proper roleplayers: clans without any good roleplayers won’t succeed, it’s pretty much proven. Leaders of clans have to be extremely experienced and well-versed in their clan history, meaning, etc.. A good example of this is when Peaky Blinders was active, or more active than they currently are. I had been away from Garry’s Mod and I ended up watching the show and I immediately thought of the clan here. How awesome would it be to roleplay as gangster Cillian Murphy in 1920s Birmingham? Straightup badass. And the clan seemed to have lived up to it: from what I saw players were mature and pretty involved. Their thread is pretty damn good. This can be said about a lot of clans, like Camorro, FUMUKU, SAA, Estleback, etc. etc.. We need more of those types of clans: both aggressive and passive RP oriented. 

Point 5: Jobs and Interactions.

This point brings us to jobs. Jobs are very important to the gamemode. I still remember joining FL for the first time, hearing Big Bang Cafe in the background and reading all about the jobs. That dragged me straight in. 

(Just for some memories!)

The jobs are still the same, yet different. There have been additions, which are for the most part good ones, and there have been some setbacks: such as having members of the government get weapons from lockers, etc.. This is a problem for aggressive RP. Revert back to the old days where cops would take out their M4s, thus giving an extra incentive to raiders. Other than that, there haven’t been many changes in the “job realm” of CityRP. 

Interactions haven’t changed either. Zakariyya is still there saying the same old thing. Having tasks for players, or at least a voice-over for NPCs would benefit the community. The small things help. I can’t say much for the rest, yet for aggressive RPers, I believe the “Hephaestus” update was a good one, bring detail to weapons and customization. That was truly awesome and there wasn’t really anything wrong with it. Props to Faustie.

Revert back to the old government idea where they equip their own weapons and add small things, like voice-overs for NPCs. Add more NPCs! There are unlimited possibilities.

Point 6: Aggressive RP.

Yeah, it’s true. Aggressive RP is an inherent element to CityRP. Why limit it? A good number of players are interested in Aggressive RP, so what’s the point in changing it, hoping to be “more passively oriented.” It was fine back in the day, and it can still be fine now. Again, have incentives for raids, like I said earlier, have the government equip their own weapons. Revert to the old crosshair, it changed nothing really. Allow “wallbanging.” It’s not that hard, you guys just have to think.

Point 7: Passive RP.

Obviously CityRP prioritizes a more passive roleplay style, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This brings us to map changes: use a map with a broad possibility for passive RP, like 33X. Give players incentives to passively roleplay: RP Points should be easier to earn. The easy stuff, small things. Updates, prop packs, etc. etc..

Point 8: Events.

Events again, are an inherent part of CityRP. I haven’t seen any events recently, though I can’t really have an opinion since I haven’t really been active. I remember there used to be events like every weekend, Vault RPs, Titanic RPs, NASA RPs, Survival RPs, anything! This is a great way to increase roleplay, both aggressive and passive. There’s nothing wrong with hosting events more often. They don’t have to be big, they don’t have to be small. The sky is the limit, just offer them more often.

This brings us to the teacher role. In my opinion the role was an awesome addition to the gamemode. The first thing I did when I saw it was apply and I’m proud to say I was FL’s first teacher and I enjoyed my time as one. That’s in the past though, in the present, teachers should offer impromptu events as well, why not? Start up the event server once in a while!

Point 9: Development.

Development is very important to our community. Both small updates and major ones are welcome and so far I’m impressed. Optimization is extremely important and developers and contributors should always be working on that. Content updates are also important, bring us some major updates every few months, make things interesting. Surprise the playerbase!

Point 10: Playerbase.

The playerbase is obviously what drives the community. There are good players and bad ones, and staff take care of the bad ones (for the most part). If FL wants to get larger, take the advice of others and myself in this thread. These are good ideas. You can’t really go wrong here.

Point 11: Branching Out.

In my opinion this is a bad idea. FL is naturally a Garry’s Mod community and should be one purely. The Minecraft “fiasco” was fun as hell, but it ended. Small extremities such as Minecraft should be fine, but limited. No major games. Just a side game to get players interested again. I know for a fact that when the Minecraft server was released I got back into Garry’s Mod after it ended. This could indirectly help the playerbase, but it also could alter it…

Conclusion.

So I know it was a lot, but it’s all very important, both for the community and myself. I haven’t even played ingame but I definitely plan to. I still care about this community and I have hope that it will once again thrive.

Thanks for reading,
  Falcon.