Map Discussion

[Holdem]

I feel like my message in another thread is also relevant here, so I'll leave it here:

Spoiler :

The main purpose of adding a small map was to offer other RP possibilities than that of a huge map, such as v4b1. Right now is exam season, meaning that a huge chunk of our playerbase spends most of their time studying and not playing much.

Was the map the right choice? Yes, because it was never meant to replace or out-do v4b1 in anyway shape or form. We wanted to offer players a new environment which is different to what they're used to and thus gauge the reaction from the community in order to know where to better focus our priorities. Replacing a dead v2d with Littletown has given us feedback from the community on what they like and don't like, thus helping us make better decisions in the future and, for this reason alone, I believe we made the right decision in trying something new.

As for letting users decide what new map they'd like, I'm personally against the idea. Reason being is that many people tend to vote in an un-informed way, such as simply seeing which one people seem to be talking about the most, which one has better looking pictures on it's steam page or which one suits their style of RP best. Sure, letting users decide may seem like a good idea and democratic, but most users would vote for a map that is very similar to v4b1 as they have done in the past when voting for a new map.

As mentioned before, we want to offer users new RP possibilities instead of the same old "Big city" map RP. V4b1 has everything you need to RP: Government building with jails, apartments in town, office buildings, shops, petrol stations, fire station, cafés, a public park, lake, a shady alleyway, several secluded villages/house areas, big villas for the wealthy, long roads for those who want to drive, an Industrial area, very large open grass areas where custom builds can easily be placed, etc. It offers the possibility to really do anything you want as there is enough space for everyone, even when the server is at full capacity. 

Now, if we let the community decide what other map they'd like, they would vote for another huge map, like "Rockford", which basically has the exact same RP opportunities than v4b1, so we wouldn't be adding anything new apart from a change of scenery. Also, our current playerbase isn't big enough for it to warrant a second big large city. This would only split the players into smaller groups, and instead of seeing 60-70 people in peak times on v4b1, you'd see 30-35 people on each server, which eliminates a lot of RP possibilities compared to having everyone in the one map, doesn't appeal to people who like to interact with a large number of people and may actually make us loose players. During our peak, FL could fill both servers with 75 players each, thus making it realistic that we switch onto another big map. However, for reasons previously stated, it is not the time for us to add another big map or, in my opinion, let the community choose a map that would actually hurt FL on the "long" run.

Know however, that this decision wasn't made in any way shape or form in a "quick" or "rushed" way. It was debated for long between us Staff members as we discussed all the pros and cons of adding different types of maps and the effect that these could have on the community in the long run. For all of the reasons that I stated above, we decided to give Little Town a try and see how the community reacted to it, which as said helps us focus our content to what players like in the development side of things.

Long story short, we appreciate and value your opinions as players a lot, we understand that you may believe that another map would be better and on paper other maps are definitely better. However, just like a business, we need to focus on the long run on how these decisions affect our community and at the same time offer new opportunities so that we do not become stagnant or "boring". Hopefully this has helped you guys/girls understand the decision making process behind all of this and that there is a very good reason for everything that is decided, which ultimately serves to help both FL and the players on the long run.

In an all, we cannot have 2 servers with 2 big maps, we either replace v4b1 with another big map and leave the other server as it is or we continue trying out different ideas while conserving v4b1 that most people seem to enjoy.