Player Count, your opinion.

[xBlueXFoxx]

Dude, i play WW and im good at it, i really don't care about my benefits, it'd benefit LVP.

I know, I'm just saying in the upcoming versions, expect a much different gaming style to LVP, DM will always be in LVP though.

The list of priorities I would say would be..
-Noob friendly
-Appeals to a large audience
-Better guidelines
-Getting LVP's name back out

[Kase]

Wall of text incoming.

This reminds me of a topic made a while ago in another section, although I hope this topic will bring some more interest, discussion and share of ideas.

First of all, the Las Venturas Playground's script is obviously not user-friendly. Let's say a player joins our server for the first time. He hopefully will read /commands— which doesn't give any information about our new features, as it's just a mix of obsolete and old commands— and then he will try to use /register, being awarded with a 'You should register on www.sa-mp.nl, so close your game and go for it!'.

But yeah, let's say this player's a role-player (the most common kind of SA-MP user): first of all, he will try to earn moneys, which is pretty much an hard task to achieve, since our economy has dropped down, after an attempt to solve the 'inflation' of our server. What if the player was a stunter? He'd go like /stunt, /v, /vehicle and then asking in the mainchat «How can I get a car?» he will just realize it isn't a stunt-based server, leaving as soon as possible (it happened enough times already). In both cases, they end up like 'Nah, let's find something else.

So yeah, the main problem is they don't get to know the many features our gamemode offers, since they're not helped by the User Interface nor by regulars, who're just chasing around, killing newbies.

Also, our server isn't (in my opinion) not involved in the SA-MP community, maybe because of the low player count, as new players tend to join servers with a big player count —that's why I found LVP— but meh, also because we're not advertising our server, nor our features. We have potential, but we can't demonstrate it with such a low player count. The common reply-argument 'SA-MP is getting old' is true, but I still wonder why there are servers with a stable 200 player count with peaks of 400, if not even 500. So yeah, I guess because their gamemodes are more user-friendly and many players there tend to stunt and generally chilling around on their own, without getting killed.

There's one more thing. We auto-define ourselves a 'Roleplay/Deathmatch server'. We obviously tried to keep this kind of gamemode, limitating and regulating (if not even removing) many San Andreas and San Andreas: Multiplayer main features. So yeah, we should choose between roleplay, stunting and deathmatch, and since 70% of SA-MP players are roleplayers and stunters, I'd say roleplay and stunting. Obviously I'm not saying we should hand out godmode and speed hacks to every player, but gang territories and gambling, properties, car exporting don't really get on well together. We should, instead, think of an intelligent way to show off our minigames and various roleplay features, keeping deathmatch as one of the server features.

Players should also understand rules: a few months ago even crewmembers (including me) didn't understand well the shiplaming systems. Ship and deathmatch don't get well together, as said above. So yeah, better guidelines.

I'm not going through other obvious points, as I'm tired of writing and tomorrow I have school once again, but yeah, I hope you get me, and sorry for occasional non-sense or grammar mistakes, if I wrote any. 

[Blackbean]

Well, people who join the server often complaint about money.
How about giving 2mil to newcomers for a little "support" to get them going(buying weps, props etc.)
But, it should only be given to the people that just registered, since it can be used to abuse.

[LilBoy]

Well, people who join the server often complaint about money.
How about giving 2mil to newcomers for a little "support" to get them going(buying weps, props etc.)
But, it should only be given to the people that just registered, since it can be used to abuse.

This is what I was telling to blue yesterday on IRC,to give to newcomers 2-3 mill,and if within 10 days after registering in-game they register on the site to they will be give those $.

[Tpimp]

Things we need to do is obviously advertise LVP at different places. Then players would be like "hey lets check this server out". IF we do that, then we got players for some time, but we need to change different things to make the gamemode simple. Yes, things aren't going to be 'that simple' it's going to be different so new players can read it better then what it is now.

[Jay]

Here's a message Pedro sent to me in PM:

Warning: Do not read it if you're almost falling asleep. (it's a little big )

Hi there,

The reason why I'm not posting it in CSI is because I'll mention other servers bellow and I don't to advertise them here.

The firsts minutes that the Player spends on the server is enough to decide if he’ll come back there again or not.

Today I was at this server and I really liked the way they receive their players. That's just one zone, they have more.

HostName: Impulse99 [0.3c - Euro] - Stunt/Race/DM/Drift
Address:  94.23.231.160:7777
Players:  243 / 492
Ping:    42
Mode:    Stunt/Race/DM/Freeroam
Map:      Stunt/Race/DM/Drift






Perhaps we (mappers) could build something interesting and attractive to receive the new players, not only, but mainly for them.


I don’t know exactly how you’ll add the new maps to LVP and, therefore improve the stunt zone on there, but I have some suggestions to do.

Even having in the server’s name the ‘stunt’ word, when a new player joins LVP apparently he doesn’t have anything interesting to do.
LVP has a game mode much better than servers with over 100 players online. The big problem is that some people, particularly the new players cannot reach the good features that LVP offers to play. Most servers or at least the servers with a higher player count are using something like this.

I understand it might take a lot of work to change it, but I think it really should be done, at least for now only for the most important commands. (Every command is supposedly important, otherwise I believe you guys wouldn’t have lost your time scripting them, but the commands related to the stunt zones and minigames should be a priority. Even though about the /minigames when you type it, there’s already a menu.)

You told me you’re considering of moving the stunt zone to the main world and you have been discussing it with the rest of the crew/developments, however I think I have a better idea.

That’s the main positive aspect that I see about adding it to the main world:
- It’ll be easy for the new players because they have everything that is possible to do only in one world.

Negative aspects:
-If you really want to add the /vr command to repair the vehicles, it will take even more work since you’ll have to limit the zones which would allow people for it.
-It should not cause a huge lag, but yeah, LVP wouldn’t be as smoothly as it is at this moment and the DMers would “cry” about it.

The first one might be the big problem.



What I think that could be done is concentrate the whole stunt maps at another world. There would be 2 words:

One with the normal LVP game mode and another one only for stunt maps: when someone joins the server he/she could be teleported to one room (that room should be attractive since it might be for some people the first time they’re on LVP. ), with 2 doors and they would enter on the door they prefer.

- If he/she stands on the first door, it would show a table with the currently features of LVP (Gang system, properties, exportation, etc…) and it would have 2 options like: “Accept” and “Cancel”.

- If he/she stands on the other door, it would show another table with a simple text about stunt, or perhaps show one picture of the maps. They would “Accept” or “Cancel” as well.

- At the stunt, world non-english could be allowed in the main chat or if not, mix the main chat of both worlds.

- I suppose there will be different stunt zones, so imagine I join the SF airport. It should say in the main chat “eF.Pedro has been teleported to SF airport ( /Sf ).” (This information shouldn’t be showed in the “main LVP” since  the “main chat” could become way too spammed.

- It should be well visible in the screen how to come back to the previously room to be able to come back to the “main LVP”.

- Also, the commands should be as short as possible and easy of memorizing.

-When you’re at the “main LVP” there could be also on the ship a door or something to get access to that room.

-You should be able to join the /minigames from this world as well.

If you completely hate the “room idea” and/or think it would be possible but it’s too hard to do or would take too much work, then allow the /vr command everywhere except in LV and it would reduce a lot of work.


And finally thanks for reading,

Pedro.

^ I love it

[xBlueXFoxx]

-0.5 I like the idea of the cool looking server join shit, but the idea of 2 different worlds I would have to say is a no-go, mainly because DMers will protest against it, and it just separates everyone too much.

Also would just raise complications for crew, they would be in and out of each world and it would just get old too fast.

I would suggest the main world just being loaded up with stunt shit, if you truly want a fair DM or w/e, join a mini-game. As for the gang system, that raises even further complications.

The idea of non English... raise your hand if you understand Russian!

[LilBoy]

Love the idea!
I also started a map some days ago a big island with alot of cool stuff:
New players can be spawned directly there;

• Stunting places;
  
• Fight arenas - the fighter are between  4 walls maybe fences so the players who want to watch the fight can just stay near it;
  
• A chilling place - where players can chill and have vehicles,weapons,armour,health,and a lot of objects inside and outside to make it more Confortable and welcoming;
  
• A beach;
  
• Some building to take a aspect of a little town and some properties;
  
• Maybe when players enters the island to go through a forest;when they want to leave the island they can go on the road to the bridge and is connected to the main map
  
• And DM'ers when they are on the island area weapons can be diabled like on the ship,when they leave the area they'r weapons will apper bak!
  
• Maybe some sports places basketball,football
  
• A drifting track
  

[xBlueXFoxx]

Player selection (Oh and bring back that song from that one bee arcade game, I miss that and that song is just 1337 :<)

[Pedro]

-0.5 I like the idea of the cool looking server join shit, but the idea of 2 different worlds I would have to say is a no-go, mainly because DMers will protest against it, and it just separates everyone too much.

Also would just raise complications for crew, they would be in and out of each world and it would just get old too fast.

I would suggest the main world just being loaded up with stunt shit, if you truly want a fair DM or w/e, join a mini-game. As for the gang system, that raises even further complications.

The idea of non English... raise your hand if you understand Russian!

You're completely right, but the problem is someone will have to limit the zones which allow you or not to use the /vr command. You should be supposed to use it only at the stunt zones.

The new place where players stand during selection seems pretty cool.