Why the server has so few players - The perspective of an old player who's back after 5 years

[PizzaDaddy4]

Hey guys,

So I'm back on the server after 5 years, and I'm really glad to see SAMP as a whole really active, and the LSCNR (now LSRCR) server still up and running! I jumped into it with my friend who I would play with back in the day, and sure enough, the server is still hella fun!

However, our joy was short-lived, and this might also be the very reason the server fails to hold a decent amount of players. Keep in mind that I give this suggestion because I really want to see the server have more players.

So while we were playing, there were basically 4-5 swats (along with the cops already on the server), as far as I can remember it was Fade, Karthik, Snipaxx and someone else, who would roam around on one car, spam arresting everyone.

Now please don't get me wrong, I am not calling out anyone, I'm here just to give my perspective as a contextual "newbie" if you will, as to what turned me off, and what might be the reason newbies don't come back to the server.

5 swats, riding on a car, and when they come to you, you have literally NO defense (at least as a new player). They will spam shoot your car and its tires, car catches fire, you either blow up or you get out and get arrested. Now at first I did not think much of it, we went to another city and started robbing there. But these dudes fly all the way there and keep arresting us again.

Now again I did not think much of it, but pretty soon it became apparent that it was almost impossible becoming a robber without getting arrested every 2 mins. Every time we spawn as robbers we would get arrested within no time, and to top it all, there's barely any players on the servers, me and my friend are the only criminals, and these dudes are STILL after us, instead of atleast trying to balance the server out and become criminals maybe? It's the least you could do as veteran players.



MY SUGGESTION:
1. As veteran players, please make it easier for newbies, at least in these times when the server is struggling to hold even 20 players. Instead of being so spammy, use your common sense and judgment and be more friendly to newbies and help onboard them on the server. Sure, it's not against the rules, but it's also common sense that as veteran players, you don't scare new players away by teaming up and spam arresting everyone on a joker car. I love this server, and I really want to see more players on it. Maybe become a criminal if you see there's so many cops/swats, that's just basic common sense.

2. Create some sort of a team balancing system, where the server cant have more than x number of swats or cops depending on number of players. Like maybe a % of total no. of players. In that way, the server would be way more balanced, rather than old players just teaming up and jumping up on a joker car riding around spam arresting everyone.

Peace and warm regards. Hope to see ya'll in-game soon.

[Karu_Tepes]

You actually caught us in the dead zone. we get to 50+ around 5-10am my time. Still, you have a very valid point, sadly falling on deaf ears. I've explained this numerous times to the LSPD, but they refuse to listen. Their score is more important than the server, and all of them are selfish that way.

[PizzaDaddy4]

Oh, what's the "LSPD" in this context? Sorry I'm new.

Aren't the higher-ups doing anything about team balancing? I love this server man, hope we get more players soon.

Yeah it can go up to 50, but it's usually stuck at 20-30.

[Fady]

Oh, what's the "LSPD" in this context? Sorry I'm new.

Aren't the higher-ups doing anything about team balancing? I love this server man, hope we get more players soon.

Yeah it can go up to 50, but it's usually stuck at 20-30.

By "LSPD," she meant the cops in general. The cops usually outweigh the criminals, causing imbalance and everyone getting arrested. I really hope things can balance out, or we can implement a system where there # of cops online is based on how many players are in the server.

btw, it's "Fady" and not "Fade"

[Rally3]

The issue, both in criminals and LEO gameplay, is the car surfing itself. If the situation were such that people were forced to be inside of the same car, it'd mean that:
- only drive-by weapons to shoot others
- max of 3 shooters (or 1) per vehicle, according to type

Had an essay of this somewhere, maybe you can find it if you look for "car surfing accuracy" or something. Basically idea was that either people are allowed to car surf but the faster the vehicle goes, the less accurate the surfers' shots are. That proved to be cumbersome, as even without players being "smart" it was not a drag-and-drop feature. It would've impacted a very large aspect of the gamemode, and in the survey that was done for it it didn't receive much attention from players if I recall right, so situation is as is.

[Karu_Tepes]

Oh, what's the "LSPD" in this context? Sorry I'm new.

Aren't the higher-ups doing anything about team balancing? I love this server man, hope we get more players soon.

Yeah it can go up to 50, but it's usually stuck at 20-30.

The Army and SWAT are specialty groups designed to eliminate high priority threats. The worst of the worst, so to speak. The usual LEOs who spawn in LSPD, Pershing Square, LS, are supposed to be new to decent players not yet ready for one group. However, many of them are career police who result to nasty tricks. Standing in checkpoints with /cuff (id) ready the moment you leave a shop you are robbing. Offering to hang out, then drive you into the bomb shop, FORCING you to buy C4 and then searching you to make you wanted so they can arrest you. Hopping on your vehicle and stomping on it until it's in flames, then cuffing you for a search. Drugs? Jail. No drugs, "lol sorry for car". I know one officer who has become the bane of the server because he has "High speed of command" and he simply arrests 3-10 people in a single minute, ruining gameplay. No one wants to play when users who only care about their score eliminate every criminal in under a minute. Why get wanted if you're predestined to lose to a user who cares NOTHING for the server and only about his own selfish score? And if you cannot get wanted, there is no profit. No profit, no reason to play. Even the black market is useless, as the taze reflector has a cooldown, the copbat lasts too short, and often cops camp the entrance. I brought this issue up once before. My idea: make it so cops face a punishment for shooting nonviolent orange players. A fine was introduced. The issue? They don't care. They will gladly pay the fine because they enjoy knowing they intentionally pissed another user off. The idea was to encourage pursuits, tactics. Don't shoot orange users, but instead chase them. Instead, the LSPD opens fire and destroys your car, then guns you down. If you shoot, it's legal. If you don't, they get a tiny 500 dollar fine they don't care about. Not even yellow users are safe. Many times I will have a wanted level of three. I pull over, comply, ready to pay my fine, only to have certain officers knowingly and maliciously abuse the /rp command to give an extra level, raising me to 4 (orange) so they can arrest/shoot me. It's a clear violation of the rules, but they are smart. They use "Evading leos" or "Weapons seen" without it being true. I've had many say "oh I saw you use that bribe star" without them being near me, a clear lie. But, unless you record 24/7 you cannot prove the abused the command, and so they get away with it. When faced with users who knowingly and willing break rules to gain score at the expense of not only the users, but the server as a whole, what can you expect?

[Realize]

I definitely agree with you.
I also want to add a suggestion on taze.

1. Have a time limt before a cop or swat can use a tazer again. 1 taze only before the next usage (15-20 seconds minimum). This would balance out and not be too overpowering, same applies for criminals to use shocks.

[AK33L]

add like a /su system where leo cant straight cuff/taze unless they are sued or idk something like that which surely not applicable for the most wanted or even the reds.

[Snipaxxyy]

Hey.

I & many of us appreciate your concerns but the gameplay itself doesn't have that much of an impact compared to how the game is getting older day by day and it has been 16 years since the game released. GTA playerbase is now mainly focusing on newer Multiplayer versions of GTA :V (FiveM, AltV, Rage), that had a massive affect on our playerbase.

Speaking on the gameplay, it was Blackmarket who brought the absolute imbalance to the server... it has come to the point where you will not be able to encounter a criminal when you're on your own due to the excessive amount of abilities & features he has to fight you back.
A criminal can shock a cop 3 times, one of cop's tazes will go to waste since it reflects back giving the criminal a 4th shock, a stun bat which can freeze the cop for a few seconds; all these are abilities you can get at The Blackmarket.

Now, from a cop's perspective.... he knows there is no choice other than having a team with him or going on his own hoping the criminal does an amateur mistake (which rarely happens). So teaming with other cops would be the most secure choice one can have therefor you see couple of cop teams during the time you play.

Cops and Robbers, means a Robber/criminal runs from the Cops but unfortunately, all criminals do nowadays is chase Cops. Yes, they do the opposite!

[Karu_Tepes]

Hey.

I & many of us appreciate your concerns but the gameplay itself doesn't have that much of an impact compared to how the game is getting older day by day and it has been 16 years since the game released. GTA playerbase is now mainly focusing on newer Multiplayer versions of GTA :V (FiveM, AltV, Rage), that had a massive affect on our playerbase.

Speaking on the gameplay, it was Blackmarket who brought the absolute imbalance to the server... it has come to the point where you will not be able to encounter a criminal when you're on your own due to the excessive amount of abilities & features he has to fight you back.
A criminal can shock a cop 3 times, one of cop's tazes will go to waste since it reflects back giving the criminal a 4th shock, a stun bat which can freeze the cop for a few seconds; all these are abilities you can get at The Blackmarket.

Now, from a cop's perspective.... he knows there is no choice other than having a team with him or going on his own hoping the criminal does an amateur mistake (which rarely happens). So teaming with other cops would be the most secure choice one can have therefor you see couple of cop teams during the time you play.

Cops and Robbers, means a Robber/criminal runs from the Cops but unfortunately, all criminals do nowadays is chase Cops. Yes, they do the opposite!

I feel like two rules could handle two issues on that...

1: remove cop hunting. A group of criminals doing jobs together is one thing, but yeah, 6+ people intentionally hunting cops is bad, save hitmen after a cop with a hit.
2: make it illegal/rule break for any cop to open fire on any criminal unless they shoot first. For example, unless a criminal has shot you, you CANNOT shot them. Could be a system for identifying these criminals too. Like "cop killer" on a list with a dark red marker, while other criminals are red, orange, and yellow. It would mean more dark red users, but it might also enforce the "chase them down" instead of "kill them!" attitude, and would make criminals more likely to run/escape and stay wanted. Army excluded from this rule btw, as they are intended to kill criminals.