Content team and server leadership can't really make 'RP updates'. They can try, but I beleive it is fundamentally impossible to just inject RP into the server. That falls on the
heads of the RP leads such as yourself. Where combat updates are just add a gun or the cringe ass JJ chemical. What you absolutely have a point on is the favoritism for CI. It is undeniable that they may technically have the same tools but they tend to play by their own rules. A good example being the recent rule change that fixed how CI and SCPs used to team up.
6.02(a) - Sentient SCPs can make instantaneous deals with non-combative roles, like for a person to open a door in return for their life.
6.02(b) - You are NOT allowed to make deals with an SCP for breaching them out. the SCP must make a reasonable attempt to kill all players nearby when manually breached, including the individuals that released them
Mfw this rule was primarily made because when CI die on a raid they'd flag on an SCP so another CI can breach them during said raid. Or so I've heard.
In my personal opinion US and UK should be different servers with different rulesets because trying to make both happy has ended up with neither being happy. Or at least UK being fucking miserable. However, I understand the resources this would take and the amount of organizing needed to run two diff servers with two diff rulesets would cause major headaches for everyone in moderation and content. That being said I think moderation and content (or whoever made the following decision) are absolutely loco for adding the CI grenadier. Supposedly this was because deep covers are no longer paywalled so they had to replace it with a different paywalled role? Someone explain that to me because I don't play CI so I'm generally just uninformed and could be wrong. Regardless it's been an awful decision for MTF to deal with. Yea, sure teargas on CI is too much but this is fine to happen on lowpop:
I will remain staunch that there is this weird preference towards giving CI what they want on the UK site and that CI take advantage of the rules whenever they can. All of the following is why the site feels so combat oriented: The fucking
chem doc that shows combat chem info that they gatekept to the best of their ability, the fact that they raid site mostly for warfunds to fund their next big breach raid, 'RP detected, CI deployed' being a known meme they champion, the amount of times CI calls sits vs everyone else (so much so that there's supposedly a soft rule about staff that are CI not being able to take CI sits), and more! That being said when it comes to the 'CI bad' or 'CI is overpowered' argument I cannot deny the fact that mayhaps the UK MTFs just need to git gud.
U.S SOP are exceptionally effective with the exact same gear as the UK and frequently quash raids either before they enter the facility or at the entrance
U.K SOP sadly do not have the same effectiveness with the same gear as CI is very much exceptionally co-ordinated and a lot of the combat focused players go to CI, as such introducing a issue with capability and teamwork that isn't seen on the other server.
This has nothing to do with their guns, weapons etc, its purely tactical and player informed as much as players hate it, otherwise we would see the exact same issue on the U.S, we cannot balance an entire faction just because one server struggles to be effective,
As an American who prefers the UK server sometimes I have no choice but to linger on the US server due to time zone differences, and when I did CI were barely present in site. I can attest that when I visited US site on peak hours the US boys had that shit locked down tight. If you guys want to be a problem for CI so CI stop being one of the main reasons RP ceases to exist then maybe buff up or incentivize the MTFs. That falls on the head of RP leads to do so unless you wanna try and make rule changes involving CI. Don't bother. Those will be denied. That said there is a second way I'm aware some MTFs have been handling CI. They just cease interacting, This god awful combat loop has caused people to
leave the server. And this is just one guy who actually bothered with a post. We have no idea how many dipped without so much as a goodbye.
I think half the issue is people just shut down and don't bother then they end up AFKing or larping on roblox way past the time the breach has been dealt with then go "UGH RP IS DEAD" then moan that a breach is out in 10 minutes but they've been larping on Roblox for an hour
Mfw I know combatives that flag off during certain codes because they find the current combat loop with CI/SCPs unbearable. Which only makes it worse because there's less guns to deal with them. : )))))))
It's not just the RSD that do this, but this is a huge issue for that dept in particular. When the SCPs are stopping people from testing and when CI is raiding F3 you have to keep your boys entertained. Ask them about their tests, try to engage them in silly banter, do *something* with them. Don't use breaches and raids as an excuse to work on your Pac3s, avoid holing up in your offices, and occasionally snub another CL4 (or even CL5) member to talk to your boys, ect! Gatekeeping RP to CL4s is real, even if you're not doing it on purpose. You actively need to try and do the following for your dept:
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Sniff out new players and interact with them. If there was a Jr on RSD I would locate them like a homing missile. Investing in these dweebs is what keeps RP alive, even if it's occasionally getting on their level and doing some goofy shit for the sake of it.
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Make as much polite conversation as possible with the CL3's and below. Investing in learning their names and remembering tidbits about them makes the whole experience feel more real. They aren't someone 'below you' and they aren't random steam ID and player level X, they are Dr. Blahblahblah from the top secret foundation. Unless you have interactions with them IC to have negative opinions you kinda have to approach it from the OOC perspective of 'I am the face of my dept as a CL4. What kind of attitude/interactions would keep ME playing if I was in their shoes?'. Of course this is within reason. Obvi don't just take them straight to 682 because they wanna go and try and play your character accordingly.
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There's more to do than testing. While testing is 100% the main thing RSD does we have a beautiful remodeled lecture hall just for RSD. Use it! Use it a lot! All the time! Make slides of shit RSD should know such as the rules! You could even make it a whole thing where it's like quizlet and RSD who answer questions correctly about rules and cool facts can be given money or credit. Granted you'll have to deal with the cringe of starting it and it's likely going to be just the execs at first engaging in these activities, but that's kinda the burden one takes as an RP lead? You lead it. Make it go somewhere if at all possible.