It's hard to contribute anything majorly constructive given that I've been missing for a little while and I'm not as in touch with the community as I used to be. But these discussions are just too juicy for me to stay out of.
Is perp even dying?
I'd like to start by pointing out that when I started out the server's slots were significantly less then they are now and the player numbers were actually fairly similar to what we're seeing right now (or so I recall). In my honest opinion I really don't perp is 'dying', I think that roleplay and Garry's Mod as a whole became very popular around 2015, largely due to Youtubers playing TTT, DarkRP etc. With this momentum Perpheads and semi-serious / serious RP as a whole did really well.
Naturally any popularity like that is bound to fade away without proper maintenance and updates. Now obviously Fredy, Stephen and XQ have gone to great measures to keep rolling out updates, almost all of them being great and having a positive affect. But there always was going to be the bottleneck that is Garry's Mod's age and dated engine. Maintaining a server playerbase on a new and relevant game is hard enough, nevermind a 12 year old game that's barely still maintained.
As @ImperialWatch said, there are simply too many newer, more competitive alternatives around to keep that popularity. Again, call me an optimist but I don't think this means that Perp is dying, it just means that its popularity is experiencing an inevitable down-tick.
Is it the update's fault??
No. There has always and will always be controversy about certain updates or changes to the server, so people disliking the new drug system, player models or construction booklet is no different to people disliking the V2 office, or the new crafting system. The server didn't die back then because of it and it's not dying now because of it.
Is it because the community is toxic and gang wars are bad for OOC relationships?
No. Organisation and player rivalries have always been there and they have always leaked out into OOC relationships, I've been at the centre of so many. People have always made petty reports about people they don't like, or biased/spiteful Action Requests.
Is it because of zerg orgs?
The Belinsky Family
The Millionaires Club
Crecendo
Jarheads
Eddie Grey's Org (can't fukin remember)
MrLewis' Bowler Hat Org (can't fukin remember)
My point is that all these orgs at their height were organisations designed to powergrow as efficiently as possible and raid as many people as possible. But they were never
OP. I can't remember how many times I've been at glassco/parker with a huge 15 man org and been absolutely sat on by a group of 3-5 semi-new players. The danish (Feng and them) did it to Jarheads all the time early on. The bikers did it to big orgs all the time.
Admittedly bigger organisations can make it intimidating and maybe even disheartening to newer players, but for me personally and all the people I started off with it was just motivation. Either motivation to become cop and get a nice juicy bust or to make my own org and try to compete.
Is it because powergrowing discourages good RP?
It's no secret that powergrowing doesn't create the best environment for Roleplay, but its also an essential part to the server's economy and criminal roleplay as a whole. Some of my fondest memories on the server are from grinding for my first >1mil car, and defending a base when it actually meant something and I had a stake in the situation. There's always been a shortage of
good RPers especially good passive roleplayers, think the likes of Swiper, Prepper, XQ etc. Characters like this in the community encourage good RP from others but by design there's only so much passive roleplaying you can do on Perpheads.
Is it because of the PD?
Maybe. Although all these changes to the police department have definitely had a positive impact to those who enjoy Police RP and those who don't like losing raids, there needed to be a limit. Without this limit the balance of the gamemode changes and the entire dynamic changes too. Whether its a change for the better or for the worse is subjective, I'd like to think my opinion is fairly unbiased given that I enjoyed criminal RP and police RP way back when. I found it easy and enjoyable to alternate between police and criminal roleplay, this is not the impression I get right now, becoming a LEO seems far from easy and being able to dip in and out of the police roleplay seems straight up impossible. It used to be the norm that even leaders of big organisations would love a good bit of police RP as a break from powergrowing or raiding etc. It didn't used be so separated.
Although I feel that it is important that the PD have a high standard of entry as a police officer has a lot of power and can ruin a lot of roleplay experiences if executed improperly, its also important to have the role be as accessible as possible. I can say with absolute certainty that the only reason me, Swiper and Murtsley kept playing perp when we first started out was because of how accessible the PD was. It was also a great way to start out, given that by the time you wanted to explore the aspects of criminal RP you had a good amount of money and experience. I think it's undeniable that the police roleplay is one of the most appealing aspects of Perpheads, this should mean that it's as accessible as possible for new players wanting to learn the ropes etc.
The reformed PD had positive and agreeable goals, Jordan said it best
"I was tired of the Police Department being so 'throw away', everything you worked on just disappeared when you resigned from officer, I really wanted to change this and make things more permanent. " - https://perpheads.com/threads/police-whitelist.23687/
Roleplay having a lasting impact is never a bad thing, and will only increase gratification for players. However too much drastic change or focus on one aspect of the community can have a negative effect. More control over the PD has allowed for some really cool additions that undeniably make Police RP more fun, Dispatchers, TFU, New Patrol Vehicles, etc. But its important to note that although Police RP is a major part of this community it's not all of the community, and I believe that some of the aforementioned changes have had some drastic effects on the community dynamic. A big appeal of criminal RP for me personally used to be that it was actually an attainable goal to be able to commit a crime or two and get away with it. Likewise, a big appeal to Police RP used to be using intuition and trying to outsmart whoever was wanted. Now you can correct me if I'm wrong but the impression I get now is that it's just too easy for police, I realise that in real life this is the case also, but that doesn't necessarily translate to the best dynamic for the community.
Is it because of the server's Administration?
Probably not. It's not a new complaint that server rules and their enforcement are too strict or too overbearing. It's simply the nature of a serious-RP server, you need rules and proper enforcement to keep it fun. However, having said that there are certain areas of Administration that could be considered unnecessarily overbearing. Some rules seem just a little too aggressively worded and additions such as the construction booklet (although well intended) were simply too specific and strict in practice. Some examples of rules I feel are a little overbearing or even unnecessary:
I don't want anyone to think that this is an attack on the server's Administration team, I think they're doing a great job and from my POV the Admin team seems as strong and competent as ever. (Love u
@Bean Can). In reflection some rule additions (especially forum rules) that were made whilst I was Senior were perhaps too overbearing. I think it's easy to succumb to the micro-managing pitfall when making rules that address specific situations or trends and I did it several times myself.
Got any suggestions then dickhead?
As I said in the opening section I personally believe this dip in players is an unfortunate inevitability given the state of roleplay (specifically serious roleplay) on Gmod today. I think that as a community our best steps from here are to keep the spirit of Roleplay and competition as healthy as possible within the community and encourage newer members to persist with the gamemode and fall in love with it the same way that we all have. Some baby steps towards this:
- Make the best aspects of RP on the server more accessible and open to newer players.
- Ensure that the server's Administration is always acting in the best interest of the community and roleplay in general.
- Have a proper look into player statistics, see where things are going wrong. Are we losing too many old timers? are we not retaining enough new players? are we not attracting enough new players? Make this information public, tackle the problem with some hard data to back up the reasons.
- Maybe decrease the player slots? 57/60 simply looks more inciting than 57/80. Call it admitting defeat but I really think it could have a positive impact.
- Stop unbanning minges, although tempting to increase playerbase it simply makes the community look cheap and ruins the reputation of quality of roleplay. (#freegerkin tho)
- Sorry Furki I love you, but this isn't a good solution either:If we do want any hope of increasing playerbase again, we need to provide incentive and encouragement. Both to new players and to the upper administration team.
