Okay, you say that Outlands is better because there's more freedom and action. Great, perfectly understandable. No argument here. But you also state that City is boring because it holds none of these aspects and that cleaning/getting oppressed all the time is boring. Well, to be entirely honest that is the WHOLE THEME OF CITY. Oppression and misery.

Oppression and misery can be an atmospheric theme, but I don't think gameplay should ever hinge on being oppressed and bored. This reminds me of the classic Vanilla Canon vs. Progressive Canon arguments which pop up periodically. "Blah blah, it's like this in HL2 so therefore you're missing the point if you try to do it like X or Y. Stop whining, you whiner." Yes, CG generally aims to stay true to the "feel" of HL2. However, when it comes to gameplay mechanics, as in WHAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY DO on the server, I believe fun and engaging gameplay deserves top precedence.

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Also, you seem to be fairly miffed about people failing to proactively contribute positive suggestions of their own. If you really want to hear forward-thinking suggestions, maybe next time you could post a thread asking to gather that particular type of suggestion, instead of using the rather roundabout means of an accusatory rant to get your feedback.

It's easier and quicker to point out the flaws in something, as opposed to actively suggesting methods of improvement. If a particular sort of feedback is not specifically asked for, many people will just leave it up in the air. Don't be so quick to label it a sign of malicious intent or inferior personal character. Should people feel bad for failing to give feedback that wasn't asked for? No, perhaps they could use a simple nudge in the desired direction. Whatever the case may be, it's definitely not necessary to get angry and create an angrythread.php. You could've gotten the desired suggestions free of drama, simply by asking a few follow-up questions in a comment or even in a new thread if you wanted the visibility.

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Last year, I made a quick thread where I listed a few ideas that were on my mind regarding citizenRP improvements. You can see the thread here: http://www.catalyst-gaming.net/index.php?topic=4651.msg35895
The ideas are obviously a bit dated. A few, like the official resistance and the date/time suggestions, have since been decisively deemed impossible or undesirable. The point about more interactions with the City Administration appears to be coming into fruition, I'm happy to observe. Yet others, e.g. greater interaction with the CWU and official restaurants and businesses, have not been fully realized, if at all.

One thing I think is missing from Citizen RP is the presence of choices with persistent and long-term effects. For instance, the CCA is extremely fun partly because of the many choices a character can make that will majorly affect his/her career. And development that happens on the server often carries over to the next day and the next, with significant effects. I'm not exactly sure how the newest rendition of the CCA is organized, so forgive me if I misuse any terminology. But anyway, the fact is that players get a kick out of mentally debating which section the character wishes to enter, then going around collecting recommendations from section leaders, then get the transfer approved. It's fun and quite addicting to new players to gradually work their way up the ranks, slowly gaining more power, respect, and recognition as they go. Who knows, maybe one day the lowly Recruit will finally reach the top of the ladder, but that day is a long way off.

Every step of the way, CCA players have some sort of roleplay carrot dangling in front of their faces. A promotion coming up soon, a new training course scheduled for the afternoon, a section meeting tomorrow. That figurative carrot tends to be very effective in getting people involved in the roleplay and continuing to come back for more.

Now... if only this concept was readily applied to other factions. The trick is to preserve the unique feel of the faction in question. For example, it would be difficult to pull off a rank system for Citizens without it seeming overtly CCA-like. Luckily, there are many ways to implement persistent choices into city life.

Off the top of my head:

- Official and persistent businesses with various management and employment positions to be filled. Businesses aren't necessarily businesses per se, more like means of employment. Could be a factory, a cafe, and a repair shop. There just needs to be enough choices so that most player passiveRP interests are covered.

- Assignment into a certain starting district at start, that is character's "home" district. Character is free to roam inside said district, but if he wants to visit a different district, he has to meet certain requirements such as loyalist points, tokens earned from working, security clearances, etc. Districts could vary not only aesthetically but also in the quality of housing or types of officially-run shops or employment sources inside. For example, Joe is processed and allocated to D:3. Life's not bad, although the civil housing block has communal showers and bathrooms instead of individual ones like you see in the fancy D:1 housing. Joe works at the ration packaging plant in D:3, when he's able to scrap together enough tokens he enjoys paying his way to D:2 to eat at the noodle stand there. Inter-district travel is expensive, though, so Joe's considering volunteer janitorial service to eventually get enough loyalist points for a discount. He could also just work his ass off in the packaging plant so the supervising CCA units will eventually notice and reward him, but that could take months. Still, he'll do whatever it takes to save tokens for unexpected costs. Once, one of his mates got mangled in a machine at the plant, and since he'd spent all his tokens on beer at the in-district workers' bar, he didn't have enough money to pay for the semi-permanent transfer to the CWU hospital up in D:1. His coworkers chipped in with their daily wages, forgoing dinner for that night.

I could go on and on about the possibilities of all factions interwoven with a cohesive system that makes use of district boundaries, tokens, and points.

- Suggestion for points and getting people to actually buy things from shops: in every business, what if each buyable item had a certain point value attached to it - you buy a blue sofa for 200 tokens, which in turn will prompt the store clerk to add 2 "Metroplex Welfare Points" to your record. The more valuable an item is, the more MWPs are added to your record if you buy it. MWPs are used to qualify for progressively better health-related benefits such as admission to clinics and hospitals, as well as progressively better quality-of-living benefits such as transferring from the ratty old housing block with no doors to the slightly nicer one with doors and a storage closet and a window overlooking the street. The more MWPs a citizen has, the more presumably well-to-do they are, as they were able to afford all the purchases to accumulate the MWPs. MWPs could possibly be used as a sign of social status and wealth, almost being a currency in itself - perhaps certain upscale clubs or bars could require varying MWP prices for admission.

- In contrast, there would an alternate type of point - the Metroplex Service Point. MSPs would generally be earned for excellence or achievement in a citizen's Union Sanctioned Vocation (official name for a job), or for outstanding volunteer work or some other sort of notable contribution to the Union's cause. MSPs could be used to expended for extra rations or token discounts, making it easier to obtain MWPs. Alternatively, they could be saved to qualify for promotion or assignment to a certain position within one's Union Sanctioned Vocation, or even a switch to a different vocation altogether.

- Some important things, such as healthcare provision, could be purchased using different currencies but at varying costs. For example, admission to the CWU hospital would require EITHER 500 credits, OR 200 MWPs, OR 100 MSPs.

- Certain high-status Union Sanctioned Vocations such as CA Embassy Aide might have an MWP requirement in addition to the MSP requirement.

There are so many possibilities to be discovered here. Anyway, I hope I've made my points clear.

When you first log in, what makes you want to join outlands in the first place? I play on outlands when I get the urge to become wrapped up in some great interpersonal roleplay with interesting characters in a relatively open environment.

What do you do for fun on outlands? Lately, I've been creating rather brutish characters who commit crimes. They are generally unpleasant ICly, but I try to make the OOC experience fun and different for other players and myself.

Is Ineu_Pass too hardware reliant for your current system? (too laggy) It runs slower than most maps, but it's still definitely playable. I'd estimate a framerate of around 35-45 outdoors.

What would you like to see more of on outlands? Dangerous / threatening situations or gameplay mechanics which emphasize outdoor survival skills.

What do you want to do on outlands? Eventually, I want to create a gang - one with a rather loose code of ethics, if any at all. We would mug isolated travelers, set up phony toll checkpoints on roads, vandalize property, and so on.

Is there anything about outlands that makes you not want to join or play it? Currently, it seems like the town is the only location where people congregate, because that's where all the roleplay happens, because people congregate there, because that's where all the roleplay happens. It's a Catch-22 that needs to be broken somehow.

What do you think should be done with Overwatch to improve RP? The threat of Combine forces needs to be ever-present, always hanging overhead. I think one way to convey that feeling on the server would be to do occasional events where Combine forces are seen and heard, but not necessarily encountered. For example, gunship squadrons zoom overhead in formation, or a column of striders can be seen moving through the forest nearby, or a dropship swoops down at some indeterminate location, gunshots are heard, and presently the dropship takes off again. The point is to create the impression that the Combine are always moving, always active, always operating even if not in the immediate area at that time. On the server, we should feel like we're living and surviving in just a tiny patch of the world, and although this isn't readily apparent, there are many hints that big things are constantly going on just outside of our view.

Extra comments. nope

EDIT: The summer version of the map looks better than the winter version. If we could get a switch, that'd be great...

In a cruel twist of fate, those who opt to relocate to an urban center are tortured for information and subsequently stalker-fied.

I'll gladly roleplay with anybody who's good at it, I don't care who they are or how long they've been around.
Conversely, I'll extremely reluctantly roleplay with anybody who's bad at it, I don't care who they are or how long they've been around.

All right fine, I suppose it's my obligation as a member of CG to educate bad roleplayers, but let's be honest here: it's a drag, I'd rather be actually having fun in the limited time in which I am online, and I'm not an admin or a faction leader so technically the education of novice players isn't my responsibility.

I hate to be a shitbag about it, but I have a hunch it's similar to the sentiment of a lot of other Outlands players.

jigger left dude

Why is the server population requirement 10? Why not 8 or 6? Just wondering why that specific number.

To clarify, I have no sympathy for people who pre-emptively attack OTA patrols and then whine about shit. In my opinion, there's a need for things that are strong and powerful and not to be messed with, and I expect a more than a few players to learn this the hard way.

On the Overwatch side of things, I think more OOC training on when to engage, what to do when engaged, how to react to belligerent players, and so on, would go a long way in preventing butthurt-laden situations.