Rule Suggestion Saint's Solution

[L.Saint]

What does this suggestion change/add/remove:
TL;DR Edit MTF/GoI activity, promotion and RP expectations/requirements to allow players to focus on the core gameplay loop departments.

Overview:
Activity on the server as well as RP as a whole has been on the decline [Uk], I specifically blame this on the fact the 3 Core Gameplay-Loop departments (GenSec, Research and Medical) are underplayed as well as having their duties assigned elsewhere.

But how does this affect anything!?
MTF Activity, on the server takes up about 20-40% (anywhere from 20-40 players) of all players at all times. This takes activity away from core departments depriving players of RP and damaging the servers Core Gameplay/RP loop which is testing.

But what do we do about this!?
Reduce activity expectations for MTFs. MTFs are not the main attraction of the server. If you are a member of an MTF, you are expected to flag on, do your related RP/job on the site then FLAG OFF to a core department.

Epsilon-11: You should combat breaches, and provide escorts for high risk tests. You should not be sat in HCZ doing the job of the General Security department.

Nu-7: You should be the Foundation's main fighting force on the surface, if CI act up respond and deal with it. If there is an event/RP on the surface secure the area and when it's done return to a core department.

Alpha-1 / Omega-1: We should only be on the job to provide escorts, assist in orders and engage in ISD/SC specific RP. Once it is over we should return to a core department.

CI/GOC: External GoIs should do their faction specific activity and then return to a core department, CI should raid, do any weaponization testing, then engage in any surface RP then flag off. The GOC should...

But I don't want to flag off!
Unfortunately, this is just how the jobs must be played to promote/create the most RP. I promise everyone that is reluctant to change their job there will be a minimal change to the content and RP you engage in on the server, and that which does change will be mostly positive.

Has something similar been suggested before? If so, why is your suggestion different?:
Probably, but it's more relevant now than ever

Possible Positives of the suggestion (At least 2):
+ More activity in core departments
+ More RP
+ More diverse activity
+ Better player retention
+ Less lag (Less entities like vehicles)

Possible Negatives of the suggestion:
- Less MTF presence
- Loss of certain players

Based on the Positives & Negatives, why should this suggestion be accepted:
This is a change I think can only benefit the frequency and quality of RP on the server, I'm not ignorant enough as to not understand that not everyone will support, agree with or even follow this change if it goes through. But, if the number of players on the server engaging with the Core Departments and Gameplay-Loop is increased enough it will improve server health as well as make the server more enjoyable.

 

['Corbin']

+ Support

With the remove ISD/SC support coming out this will allow more core RP to happen IE research, medical and GSD. This balances the server and could stop some of the unfair ideologies of ISD and SC. Having it like GOC where they are on for peak RP moments it could allow the site to function in a more RP based way.

Good idea to settle the changes of ISD/SC

 

[L.Saint]

+ Support

With the remove ISD/SC support coming out this will allow more core RP to happen IE research, medical and GSD. This balances the server and could stop some of the unfair ideologies of ISD and SC. Having it like GOC where they are on for peak RP moments it could allow the site to function in a more RP based way.

Good idea to settle the changes of ISD/SC

I completely agree! There would be no need to remove ISD/SC if it were not overplayed and abused!

 

['Juliet']

+support

Honestly agree with a lot of this, the core departments of the server need to be looked at much more and I feel like this could be one of the ways it could be done.

 

[FnordJ]

+Support
I'm in agreement with this, since most times ISD would take the job of gensec and just defend d block and other MTF doing the jobs that others should be doing. Not to mention gensec are supposed to also be patrolling the site when they are told to go to d block while other MTF's patrol and gensec are stuck with patrol kits.

Held	Holding
DEA Agent	CI DELCOM
Senior DEA Agent
Nu-7 CPL
UNGOC CPL

The Florida Man

 

[pinhead]

you WILL play your favorite regiment for 5 minutes and then you WILL play something you don't want to play after and you WILL like it!!! You've been on CI too long, its time to get on Foundation's research department!

Merely lowering activity reqs (which by the way dont really exist outside of ISD's vtime stuff, its just resetting your day timer on the regiments tab for everyone else) wont do anything because this provides no actual incentive to play the core roles. Most reqs are "play until your day timer resets" (which is usually less than an hour of play) once every 3-5 days. That's nothing already.

I don't disagree with the sentiment of the suggestion, the core roles need more love without a doubt, but this won't do anything I'm afraid. It's the player's choice to join those regiments in the first place, maybe the server should stop taking massive steps in the combative direction (chemicals, instakill reality benders everywhere, permaweapons, BIO WEAPONS?) and actually promote RP instead of level farming RP

 

[L.Saint]

you WILL play your favorite regiment for 5 minutes and then you WILL play something you don't want to play after and you WILL like it!!! You've been on CI too long, its time to get on Foundation's research department!

Merely lowering activity reqs (which by the way dont really exist outside of ISD's vtime stuff, its just resetting your day timer on the regiments tab for everyone else) wont do anything because this provides no actual incentive to play the core roles. Most reqs are "play until your day timer resets" (which is usually less than an hour of play) once every 3-5 days. That's nothing already.

I don't disagree with the sentiment of the suggestion, the core roles need more love without a doubt, but this won't do anything I'm afraid. It's the player's choice to join those regiments in the first place, maybe the server should stop taking massive steps in the combative direction (chemicals, instakill reality benders everywhere, permaweapons, BIO WEAPONS?) and actually promote RP instead of level farming RP

I honestly agree that this suggestion won't actually enforce much, I'm just hoping that enough RP Leaders agree to promote this idea to the players who just 'float' around on jobs like MTFs. However, I do hope by lowering maintenance/promotion requirements people who want to play on those core departments don't feel as pressured to stay on a job just to progress and gain access to new content.

 

[Glazzing]

-support let people play what they want to play

 

[Daszker]

+Support

 

[Ace/Nightcrawler]

+Support!
Arose from the dead and saw this banger, i 100% agree

 

[Mars]

-support i didnt join the server to be forced to play gensec research and medical

 

[Alpa]

-support only real groups with "high" activity requirements are the ISD regiments, and thats really only because theres 25 slots, you have to be active to keep the slot, let people play what they want lol

 

[SquirrellyJr]

-support

 

["Arachnid"]

-support
Standard "My department sucks so i need to force people to play it" suggestion

 

[Joris Kilotoviz/London]

I'm confused on what you mean about Ci/GOC not being their own departments.

"Oh you wanted to flag onto GOC to engage in some Roleplay on a Roleplay server? Sucks to be you because that isn't in your faction specific duties!"

 

[Jam]

-neutral
Roleplay is something that is highly dependant on the player, not the server.

An active problem is that, even if you shift all of these people away from what they're playing, then what should they do? There's already reasons why Research is only so small because it doesn't have much possibilities apart from you possibly organising things with GM's and ordinary people just /crediting whilst testing on the same SCP's 24/7. The other departments IA and DEA don't have any role play as interrogations are a pure joke. GSD is barely roleplay. SA is probably the main RP attraction and they aren't really that active with roleplay neither. I agree that ISD are purely unnecessary

Removing things wont solve roleplay issues, merely the idea to add more stuff for roleplay and gamemasters actively contributing to a storyline that includes everyone, which is almost impossible, will contribute to roleplay.

I kind of tolerate it at this point that this server won't reach the roleplay level I once expected of it.

 

[Jason M.]

+Support

I'm shocked to see how many people don't see a solid half of the suggestion being.. Purely common sense and the idea to revert the server back to the way it was around a year ago.

@Jam you make a good point on the topic of Research and the GM team however this is also not just an issue of adding new content. It's SL/CL4+ intervention with the department.
There have always been infinite ways to work with research. An old tactic employed by some Executive Researchers and Department Leads was creating a hypothesis and placing cash rewards for researchers to come forward with theories, new research supporting the hypothesis, disproving it etc.
There's much more that research could do than what occurs now or what I've seen occur.

The ISD topic is debated heavily, I always believed that O5 and the purpose they serve is pointless and should have always remained an event faction/group led by GMs and SL. However, new implementations in the changelogs disagree with the idea and so this won't change, I support the fact that, when no O5 are online, or no ethics for O-1, the MTFs don't really have to be used.

The MTF debate.
I have always regretted the first time I built a HCZ checkpoint, it started out as a PassiveRP thing which then devolved to E-11 becoming glorified GENSEC for half of the map, I fucking hate this idea and think it should have been scrapped millennia ago. Give back GENSEC their work.

I will say, for Nu-7/CI/GOC I have always thought the surface was under-developed and lacking features, the only real ones being either combat or infiltrating the foundation which kills the point of a surface even existing. I think with some dev, maybe a capture point feature like with MRP and occasional surface conflicts, the surface regiments/factions could work better together.
Though, overall, I still agree with the Nu-7/DEA merger, Nu-7 really should either remain the main fighting force, and receive buffs accordingly, or should be removed and DEA made more the official fighting force in the surface.

 

[Niox]

-support
Standard "My department sucks so i need to force people to play it" suggestion

hes a CI ._.

-support only real groups with "high" activity requirements are the ISD regiments, and thats really only because theres 25 slots, you have to be active to keep the slot

is that a good thing? ISD being one of the smaller bits of the server, yet requiring the most activity doesn't seem to healthy, especially when they could be contributing RP elsewhere.
+Support

 

["Arachnid"]

hes a CI ._.

Point still stands

 

[Glovano]

+/- support

I do agree that there is too much MTF taking other people's jobs like ISD arresting people than IA, Nu7 escorting Cl4 and others, going into D-block to shoot down armed D-class than GSD when designed to do. Indeed that they take up the most activity in both servers, however, you would need to go to current COs in the MTF regiments to talk about it to reduce MTF activity but they might just refuse to do so making it hard for this suggestion to be accepted.