DonatorINTRODUCTION
1. CG DarkRP first started in 2013-2014, Its first ever server was the DarkRP game mode. From there it lived on with an active community, players came and went, some stayed and others devoted themselves to contributing to the server be it moderating or coding or other ways to help the community grow by any other means, though. One would ask; why said devoted players decided to stay? why haven't they left off like some others that did? That depends on the time of the server and how it was back then, what I'm trying to convey here is that CivilGamers DarkRP was a unique server, it was different than its other servers even though they had the same game mode, the same concepts, and the same gameplay. (e.g., basing, earning off profit, and using the earned cash to buy goods. Or RolePlay as your character is it officer, a criminal, or a hobo.) these mechanics are not so different yet the community on its own was different enough to have established devoted players and staff members. 2. "If the CG DarkRP community was so different than its other servers with the same game mode then how come it died?" To answer that question, first, we need to conclude how CG came to be the community it was back then in 2014-2020 when it was most relevant and flourished with many players, Many CG DarkRP players in the recent years before its shutdown was long-term players, players who had joined years ago and continued playing. those long-term players were the bulk of CG's player base, they carried on playing the same game mode with the same content for years on, with different goals or they'd join occasionally with other friends to chase other achievements (e.g., creating banks, businesses, basing, completing contracts for the skill system, joining CGSF.. etc). Knowing that the 80% of CG's DarkRP player base were veteran players they surely would have completed a lot of progress, be it having collected rare weapons, or having earned millions of cash with the hard-earned banks that took days to create. Surely when they happen to lose all of their progress they would lose interest in joining the server and repeating the very same thing they did the moment they first joined, having to base again, chase after rare weapons again, collect rare knives... Again. Obviously, that would be no fun to be repeating the same things you started with from scratch.
3. I do not suggest that CG 1.0 economy reset was a bad thing, No. In fact, I do approve of it because CG 1.0 economy started in 2014. Sure *some* players might have left because of it but they weren't many compared to the bulk of playerbase that supported it. It also goes without saying the amount of content that was added after its economy wipe. That kind of economy wipe that adds content hypes its playerbase and delivers based on the player's opinion is something I do approve of. However.. when it comes CG 2.0 economy wipe, I don't approve of it, the wipe was rushed, and little to no content was added after it and it wasn't based on the community's opinion either.. not to mention the gap between CG 2.0 and CG 3.0, it only took from 2019 to 2021 to wipe its economy, compared to CG 1.0 from 2013 to 2019 (6 years) is merely too little to warrant an economy wipe. 1 economy wipe was alright, a second? and only after 2 years? who would want to sit on a base for hours a day farming or collecting rare weapons knowing all their belongings would simply wipe out again? Not to mention how slow the economy became, as printers were hard nerfed after the 1st economy wipe it might take a tremendous amount of days to earn cash, a boringly long process of repeating the same things, and not to mention the VCminers that required you to commit alot of time and invest heavily into it, as it is already a high-risk high reward (given that you do sacrifice half a day of your time into actively monitoring and defending), it's simply not as fun, therefore players would just give up and decide to take a break or to not bother joining again.
4. One might come to argue that; "CG died because it was an old gamemode! It will never be revived again!", If that statement was true, then how come other servers that are still running up-to-date with inferior content compared to CG DarkRP are still alive and running with an active community and a playerbase? One might conclude that their playerbase consists of long-term players which might also be very true, but also even newer players are still joining and willing to become long-term players which might be true as well. So having that in mind, I believe CG DarkRP will have its second chance either by it being played mostly by new players or the usual long-term players as it always had already been.
5. What am I about to address below are problems that recently (After CG 2.0 economy wipe) have been conflicting with older players and as well as unnecessary addition that shouldn't have been added, to begin with, and are considered as bloat. simply new content that nobody would use and are just a hindrance to the server and to the player. (I would also like to note out that these are not meant to have the server back and running immediately. No that isn't my goal, My goal is to send out the message and address the issues that felt more like a burden, but are meant to be considered in the foreseeable future whenever CG DarkRP will be revived. I also do not mean to insult the people behind the creation of the addition of the content, but in fact, I praise them for their hard work on making CG DarkRP more enjoyable, just as the same goes for Relman, cloak, ventz, and Kvarkar for they are quite talented people who take off time out of their day into adding breath into the server.)
SECTION I
Addresses to various issues
Addresses to various issues
When it comes to CG DarkRP's recent unorthodox changes (After 2.0 economy wipe and also some other changes that were added after the CG 1.0 economy wipe), Almost every long-term player will agree that they were unnecessary, or even worsening the situation and contributed into the lack of players. I'll address almost every issue in effort to shine light upon them and have them reverted on the hopefully upcoming re-launch of the server.
1. Base Raiding
When it comes to raiding a base, it was as simple as throwing a hex shield into a fading door, crack the keypad or batter ram a fading door, repeat 2 times and you're inside the base. You were able to solo raid given you had enough hex shields, this has been always the way it was since 2018 but what makes it mysterious is why change the hex shield into 1 limit for each person? This does nothing but piss off and confuse the majority of the playerbase (which happen to be long-term / veterans used to the old ways of raiding).
There was simply no need for hex shields to be limited for each person, it just frustrates and forces raiders to be raiding in a group instead which is unnecessary, just as hex shields are a prime tool to balance out bases, in fact the basing rules were written having hex shields in mind. Planning a raid without a hex shield is meaningless, limiting the hex shield for each user with a time-out would be just as hideous.
2. Slow Economy
One of the common things that usually always gets overlooked is how slow the economy is compared to CG 1.0, printers back then could make a fortune with very minimum time as the same goes for Non-VIP printers. Although the VCminers happen to be also a good source of money making the only drawback is that it has to be heavily invested in and is used by hardened players who happen to have good bases, knowledge, and Superior defense and have already invest enough time into the server. Where as printers are cheap and it wouldn't be much of a big deal when they happen to be destroyed by a raider as it doesn't discourage the player, I believe a faster, somewhat-cheaper printers (like the exact ones from CG 1.0) would encourage new players to play more often as the economy would be more cheaper for them. I also believe that CG shouldn't be centered around basing 24/7 inside of a megabase but instead centered around player-interactions and Criminals VS PD such as bank raids and such.
3. Unnecessary Content
What seems to be one of the few and also a personal preference is that CG DarkRP was filled with bloat content, For example; Why would we need a map menu on a small DarkRP map? Why would there be a need for VCmod cars that is already known for causing instabilities and lag on the server on a small map? So is the same thing with other jobs such as the Chef's cook job that nobody would even use (and if they happen to they'll get bored of it minutes after) that's already took a skill job that none would seem to be interested in investing in?
I suggest that adding as few content and keeping the server minimum to what already had back in 2019 with more optimization would be much preferable as there is no need to make CG DarkRP look like a bootleg of GTA V, At that point I'd rather just launch up GTA V instead.
I also suggest reverting the UI back to its nostalgic look, and instead focus more on buffing/nerfing jobs, mechanics, or adding new jobs that lead to a better game design (e.g., covert thief, cloakcars, minor content that could change many aspects).
The same thing goes for the hunger system that nobody seems to be a fan of to begin with.
4. Power Meta
To infinitely stack one's HP, to be fighting against or being an OP job (skullbreaker, hunter, CGSF). Those things were what most would strive to grind for, the Power Meta CG back in CG 1.0 was quite ridiculous and also so much entertaining. I believe reverting back to the old Power Meta of CG 1.0 would be a good choice as they are already balanced by how long it takes for skills to grind or the chances and how much of a competent player you have to be to be a part of CGSF. And also balancing harpoon to deal a percentage damage based on one's HP and armor as they were mostly used to counter insanely armored jobs, or possibly introduce a new (rare) weapon for the matter.
CLOSING NOTES
I don't know about the odds but I'm quite confident that CG DarkRP can be revived with dedication and devotion, each server had its hard times but still survived on, in recent times DarkRP's empty playerbase was certainly not the first. I do wish to see its revival, I also wish to see this thread with discussions related to the server and how it came to be shutdown, everyone has their own side and reasoning as to how and why and I would like to hear them in an effort to fix the server's issues, whoever you may be your opinion is still valued.
Some of the stuff I wrote are from the back of my head, so please do correct me if I happen to be wrong,
Thank you.
TL;DR VERSION
CG DarkRP should have an easier economy to take it easy for the new and old players. Base raiding needs to be reverted to how it was before then (remove the hex limit). Remove bloat from the server to make it easier to join and to eliminate lag issues as well as revert UI to its nostalgic looks. Make jobs more powerful and hard to earn as they were back in CG 1.0, and remove the HP stack cap. Encourage player-to-player interactions and Cops VS criminals.
This wall of text isn't meant to demand an immediate re-launch but rather a series of issues I personally believe have affected DarkRP's playerbase, and should be considered when CG happens to be re-launched. For it is better to learn from its old mistakes than to repeat the whole process again.
