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+--- Thread: The next big step: we need your help (/thread-29105.html)
The next big step: we need your help - Joeri - 03-29-2012
Good evening!
As you all have noticed LVP's player counts have been dropping slowly over the last couple of months. At first we thought this was caused by sa-mp getting unpopular, but it turns out that sa-mp is more popular then ever. I have plotted a graph of the total amount of players for all the sa-mp servers combined. The data is coming from a reliable source. (more info in the attachement)
![[Image: snb1H.png]](http://i.imgur.com/snb1H.png)
After some research I found that more and more people are playing on Roleplay servers and shrinking amount is playing Deathmatch (like LVP). Stunt servers also seem to gain popularity.
I have been discussing a shift in strategy with one of our developers, Russel, and we have thought up 2 possible directions LVP could steer to become popular again.
My idea
My idea is to reinvent the GTA multiplayer. At this moment, as a new player, there are 3 types of servers you can join, Roleplay, Deathmatch and stunting. Weird thing about this is that none of those servers actually represent what GTA is all about; Trying to make it in a world full of evil. What I purpose is basically single player without the cut scenes in a multiplayer environment. I call it 'Empire Based Gameplay'. I you have played Vice City Stories most of the gameplay will be familiar.
The main challenge behind this game mode is to build your empire. A player or a gang can build an empire by gaining properties. A property is a building somewhere on the map. The map will be filled with buildings like this. Every building sits inside its own territory, whoever owns the most valuable territories should be making the most money and has the biggest influence in the city. The most interesting part is the missions, every property is of a certain business type that has a relation with GTA. There are Smugling, Carjacking, Drugs, Burglary, Transporter and other business types. Every player can start a mission at a business (get employed) on the completion of a mission that player gets paid and the value of the business goes up, increasing the payout to the owner. The player of gang that owns a business can start 'special' missions that have a bigger impact on the value, those mission could also contain a small storyline.
I have nog thought out how other player can take over a property owned by someone else or what happens if there are no missions played at a business, when it goes bankrupt etc. A more detailed description is in the attachment.
Russels Idea
Russels idea is to split up the map into 3 zones.
- LV: Deathmatch
- SF: Roleplay
- LS: Stunting
The player can choose what type of gameplay he likes most and gets tp'd tp the specific world.
I think the best possible strategy is to differentiate the server by doing something inovative and not try to be a lot of things at once. Its best to keep it as clear as possible to the player that the objective is on the server.
The downsides to Russels plan are mainly the scope, its very unclear to the player what they can expect when they join. You only have a few seconds to make a good impression and I don't think splitting the map into parts is the best way to do that.
His plan also requires a decent amount of players before it can be successful, you need a minimum of 20 players to make Roleplay interesting (since its mostly user driven), Same goes for Deathmatch. Dividing the server into parts also means that all those parts have to me administrated, not something we are able to do at this moment.
We want need your feedback and thoughts and ideas so we can develop the new LVP Otherwise known as 3.0
Re: The next big step: we need your help - LasTRace - 03-29-2012
Sounds cool.
I also recommend level system for players like mmporg games, may be interesting tthough.
Re: The next big step: we need your help - MoHiT[Dx] - 03-30-2012
it'll be kinda like RP no? ;o
Re: The next big step: we need your help - Kase - 03-30-2012
As I wrote in crew section:
A server can't hold roleplay, stunting and deathmatch. Reason is simple: we either do one thing, and we do it good, or we end trying to make every player satisfied, which is impossible, because each gamemode has different needings, and so players do.
Las Venturas Playground's been doing this for too long, and the results are obvious.
Even though I really appreciate your efforts, oost, I see different flaws in the Empire based gameplay. First of all, we need to make an easy-to-understand gamemode, and this one is pretty complicated imho. As you stated in your .pdf, it's going to need time and a very good understanding of english, which is absolutely NOT common in SA-MP newbies. We already tried to include a 'tutorial' system, or even a first-spawn room where people would see what they could do in LVP, and it failed horribly. People just got lost in the (obvious) spawn room, or left before the tutorial finished.
Also, I don't think it's going to hold both roleplayers and deathmatchers. Roleplayers are not good nor willing to learn fighting. A gang who wants to fight won't be satisfied, and roleplayers will get slayed in no time, causing both to leave the server.
We also can't make roleplayers defend their businesses without fighting because our server will simply become roleplay.
Now, new players want to join a server where they can chill, play around, fight, and if they want to, roleplay a bit to relax. The current Las Venturas Playground gamemode is holding all these features. The only problem is they're messy.
Each of Las Venturas Playground feature is not blended with the rest of the gamemode. We don't need a big revolution: we need to organize things, redesign our gamemode. THAT is the ONLY thing that will get more players in, and please the current ones. Currently there's no bait on the hook.
If you want, I could think and write about this 'reorganization' in a more insightful way, and we could discuss about that.
Besides this, WE SHOULD INVOLVE COMMUNITY, WE SHOULD INVOLVE COMMUNITY, and WE SHOULD INVOLVE COMMUNITY.
It's one of the most important thing. We're letting the community off. We've been ignoring suggestions and ideas for too long. We've been obsessed with this 'privacy' bullshit which doesn't let the community see what we're doing. LET PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WE'RE WORKING FOR THEM! I will never stress this enough.
Imo, we should start writing a blog where developers write what they've been working on, what are the plans for the future, and even ask suggestions about what to do in a certain situation (obviously I'm talking about ideas-wide, not technical's). Not like the current one, where we just put changelogs. It doesn't involve community at all.
We should think of ways of involving community in the development process, and get rid of all this privacy. It's not like we're FBI, what harm would it do to let people see we're actually trying to make LVP a better place?
Re: The next big step: we need your help - xBlueXFoxx - 04-01-2012
The idea of splitting each island into basically different gamemodes I don't see working, unless we had like 200 players.
Re: The next big step: we need your help - LE7ELS - 04-01-2012
hi there first of all..
I think what Kase has written is completely right:
LVP is good as it is now but every is a big mess - fixing all those "little" bugs would be completely fine in my opinion.
(1) buying houses/properties (e.g. "Almost Absolute Zero" cant be bought but the Symbol is there at the haystack near FiXeR's farm) should be fixed
(2) races (some collide with stunt-objects, in other the cars explode before even starting and so on..) should be debugged
(3) minigames (/waterfight, /delivery dont count as "won"-minigames) shouldt be debugged
i rly like the server as it is atm - if the bugs were fixed i'd love it.
Re: The next big step: we need your help - MoHiT[Dx] - 04-02-2012
can we get some random commands
/fart attaches fire/Sparks to characters Ass that lasts for like 10-15 seconds xD
Re: The next big step: we need your help - Matrix_Smith - 04-09-2012
I would hate to see LVP change into a different kind of server. I like things the way they are right now.
I think the key in getting more players lies into promoting the server somehow.
There are a lot of things which can be altered to improve the gameplay. I think the next big step should be about the following: Fixing bugs, removing unpopular features (e.g. some minigames, certain commands, etc.) and adding new minigames, races and other features to keep the crowd entertained.
Re: The next big step: we need your help - striker - 04-09-2012
(04-09-2012, 01:05 PM)Matrix_Smith link Wrote: I would hate to see LVP change into a different kind of server. I like things the way they are right now.
I think the key in getting more players lies into promoting the server somehow.
There are a lot of things which can be altered to improve the gameplay. I think the next big step should be about the following: Fixing bugs, removing unpopular features (e.g. some minigames, certain commands, etc.) and adding new minigames, races and other features to keep the crowd entertained.
+10 on this.