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11-28-2022, 01:35 AM
thought I'd chime in, as a long time player that's mostly been in the background.
I've been playing on fearless for over 11 years on and off. But after mostly leaving gmod in 2018, ever since I've looked back at the server listings fearless has been in at best single digit players ever since. It's a shame since I've recently returned to Gmod, and greatly miss those fearless days.
The primary issue is most likely simply people do not play weird custom gamemodes anymore. Like has been said previously, the main gamemodes are primarily quite basic ones like DarkRP and TTT. People do not just look further beyond that much more. We can talk about community issues, low hour player retention, or what needs to change to the CityRP gamemode till the cows come home. But if people are simply not looking at the server in the first place this is all pointless.
There's a lot of talk of absent owners, but honestly that makes no difference to 2/3rds of a player base in a lively server. I never cared about Soulripper back in the day, despite getting into quad digit hours, and I'm sure plenty of people who would never post on a forum would agree. What matters is getting players on the server in the first place, not an absent server owner behind a mostly hidden higher up management system.
I think genuinely the best way to bring life back in any way, would be to leave behind CityRP, and switch to DarkRP(Please hold your boos towards the end.). Many DarkRP servers can easily get regularly full servers on 128 player servers, and regularly have waves of new players coming in and out. I don't feel it's the better gamemode, but it's the one that will get players, and compromise will have to be made if the server's going to regain a playerbase anywhere near comparable to it's heyday.
Perhaps a total rethink of how proper roleplay is enforced, from more obvious stuff such as far lighter punishments for failure to follow proper roleplay(perhaps jailing for fearRP violations, damage bans, etc), as well as a rethink of how admins handle things. Not everything needs to be an admin sit. Perhaps have a much larger population moderators that handle obvious infractions with quick punishments, and guides specifically for them that can be offered on screen to those that break them(IE a link to a forum thread explaining the ins and outs of fearRP, and frequently asked questions.), rather than taking the time of an individual person to explain to them the errors every time with a long drawn out admin sit.
Not only that, but bring in mechanics that can passively enforce those. For example, make tazers have a lock on period after holding on someone for a while, so those that run and ignore can't get away. Or make it so pulling a weapon suddenly on someone that is holding one on you is far less likely to win a firefight, through reduction in damage, accuracy, or time to draw the weapon. Make it so rules and admin enforcement is less required for the basics to work. Or a levelling system that makes weapons more effective with time, so newer players who have purchased the first weapon they can are far more handicapped on their ability to ignore fearRP, or mass RDM.
Also perhaps look into more passive things for new players to enjoy. Let players with some playtime spawn media players for example, give a few toys that can make things a bit more interesting for someone looking for a chill time. Or make cars more accessible for new players, such as a car hire system. Reinvented inventory systems mean nothing to those new low hour players, but the ability to watch some videos in a social setting, play some music or have a light show of some variety in a club, or drive around some fun cars for a bit might just be the difference in keeping them.
Proper roleplay is achievable in DarkRP, just look at(and I have to hold back throwing up in my mouth a little) the 1942 germany roleplay servers. As long as the gamemode stays under that DarkRP server listing, I'm sure the gamemode, and the playerbase it could gain, can be moulded to bring around something similar to Fearless under it's heyday. Compromises may have to be made, but it's better to lose some of the older experience, than to lose all of it entirely.
I do miss the old fearless days, but sadly CityRP isn't viable today. Those days of Gmod are unfortunately gone.
I've been playing on fearless for over 11 years on and off. But after mostly leaving gmod in 2018, ever since I've looked back at the server listings fearless has been in at best single digit players ever since. It's a shame since I've recently returned to Gmod, and greatly miss those fearless days.
The primary issue is most likely simply people do not play weird custom gamemodes anymore. Like has been said previously, the main gamemodes are primarily quite basic ones like DarkRP and TTT. People do not just look further beyond that much more. We can talk about community issues, low hour player retention, or what needs to change to the CityRP gamemode till the cows come home. But if people are simply not looking at the server in the first place this is all pointless.
There's a lot of talk of absent owners, but honestly that makes no difference to 2/3rds of a player base in a lively server. I never cared about Soulripper back in the day, despite getting into quad digit hours, and I'm sure plenty of people who would never post on a forum would agree. What matters is getting players on the server in the first place, not an absent server owner behind a mostly hidden higher up management system.
I think genuinely the best way to bring life back in any way, would be to leave behind CityRP, and switch to DarkRP(Please hold your boos towards the end.). Many DarkRP servers can easily get regularly full servers on 128 player servers, and regularly have waves of new players coming in and out. I don't feel it's the better gamemode, but it's the one that will get players, and compromise will have to be made if the server's going to regain a playerbase anywhere near comparable to it's heyday.
Perhaps a total rethink of how proper roleplay is enforced, from more obvious stuff such as far lighter punishments for failure to follow proper roleplay(perhaps jailing for fearRP violations, damage bans, etc), as well as a rethink of how admins handle things. Not everything needs to be an admin sit. Perhaps have a much larger population moderators that handle obvious infractions with quick punishments, and guides specifically for them that can be offered on screen to those that break them(IE a link to a forum thread explaining the ins and outs of fearRP, and frequently asked questions.), rather than taking the time of an individual person to explain to them the errors every time with a long drawn out admin sit.
Not only that, but bring in mechanics that can passively enforce those. For example, make tazers have a lock on period after holding on someone for a while, so those that run and ignore can't get away. Or make it so pulling a weapon suddenly on someone that is holding one on you is far less likely to win a firefight, through reduction in damage, accuracy, or time to draw the weapon. Make it so rules and admin enforcement is less required for the basics to work. Or a levelling system that makes weapons more effective with time, so newer players who have purchased the first weapon they can are far more handicapped on their ability to ignore fearRP, or mass RDM.
Also perhaps look into more passive things for new players to enjoy. Let players with some playtime spawn media players for example, give a few toys that can make things a bit more interesting for someone looking for a chill time. Or make cars more accessible for new players, such as a car hire system. Reinvented inventory systems mean nothing to those new low hour players, but the ability to watch some videos in a social setting, play some music or have a light show of some variety in a club, or drive around some fun cars for a bit might just be the difference in keeping them.
Proper roleplay is achievable in DarkRP, just look at(and I have to hold back throwing up in my mouth a little) the 1942 germany roleplay servers. As long as the gamemode stays under that DarkRP server listing, I'm sure the gamemode, and the playerbase it could gain, can be moulded to bring around something similar to Fearless under it's heyday. Compromises may have to be made, but it's better to lose some of the older experience, than to lose all of it entirely.
I do miss the old fearless days, but sadly CityRP isn't viable today. Those days of Gmod are unfortunately gone.