G
Garlic
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- Thread Author
- #1
For a little while now, I've felt that Willard has just recently lost the touch of HL2. That dystopian feeling clouding over every Citizen, an eerie and depressing atmosphere that every Citizen has to follow by. And an oppressive force that will stop at nothing to make your life a living hellscape, even recruiting their own enslaved populace to work for them under the guise of a mask and actively oppress their own species until total extinction. I feel morally, Willard has driven away from this and has made a goofy and cartoonish representation of what Half-Life 2 is supposed to be. Now obviously, I'm not saying everyone should take this post seriously and personally, this is just how I, Garlic, actively thinks of the state of Willard's atmosphere. I can primarily start this off by giving my opinion on one of the main factions that you and I will always be seeing on the server, that being:
Civil Protection. Foremost, Civil Protection overall feels... Unserious... Goofy, in a sense. They don't feel like an oppressive force like they were before, conducting random searches, giving out random citations, mugging innocent bystanders, etc. etc. They feel like some cartoon police force, just actively looking for someone to pick on. I vividly remember two cops were just picking on a dissident because they felt like it and were just throwing around the lamest insults EVER. They weren't even beating them, searching them, or just giving them false charges/penal codes, just plainly insulting a dissident for no reason which just made them feel... Docile. Which, in representation, Civil Protection should never feel docile, they should always feel like a towering force that can make your life a living hell, but in Willard, they just feel goofy like they've lost that oppressive and dystopian touch. (Quick note: I discharged from the Civil Protection faction a while ago, but that has nothing to do with this post as I'm looking at this from an outsider perspective when I am a Citizen, NOT a cop. My discharge, again, has no change on this rant/post.) Back in 2021, when I was a Citizen and in no faction at all and just purely experiencing Willard for the second time overall, I was terrified of Civil Protection. And I had the right reason to be terrified of them. Civil Protection was ruthless, unforgiving, and uncaring. And I loved that, hell, back in 2021, when the server was on the i24 map. Two cops were investigating a random shelling that had mysteriously dropped near the slums. They soon left the scene, and encountered me while I was leaving my apartment, both of us crossing paths. A cop had accused me of being a terrorist of i24, bombing the slums and whatnot. This accusation led to that cop giving me a random citation, which could've easily led to something worse, but it didn't. I tried to bargain and talk my way out of it, but it wasn't enough, and they beat me almost half dead. And y'know what? It felt amazing. Because for the first time, this oppressive force felt like a serious threat to my progress and actively hindered how I was scavenging and progressing as a character, and I liked that. Civil Protection was an active force, not just standing around and insulting the nearest civvy, but actively being the fire starters and setting that dystopian and oppressive atmosphere once more. Where did that go? To the void apparently. Of course, I'm not demanding players to set this type of change, I'm merely just voicing what I feel is most missing in the presence of Civil Protection. Please, don't take this personally.
Atmosphere. While it isn't too much of an issue, there are some areas or places in Willard that does feel internally unserious in some places. I won't touch upon this topic too much, but Willard's got a very... Asinine feeling in some areas, and even events. For example: The Relocation Festival. At first, you may seem confused on why I'm so obsessed with this specific topic as it's meant to reward and have other characters recognized for being loyal to the Combine but in total essence, it naturally doesn't make any sense at all. A relocation is a devastating event in Half-Life 2 because people are actively being separated and being integrated into a different society. People will lose friends, possibly families, but people are... Celebrating it? It doesn't make a lot of sense. Why would people celebrate going to a different city and having to be separated from friends and family? Why would people celebrate other people who would most likely disrespect them and let them die if given the chance. Why would they celebrate this at all? I obviously know Willard capitalizes on its own lore, and goes off that, but... Willard's a HL2RP server. If you deviate from the feeling and essence of HL2, then... It's just some make-believe server trying to measly portray a world of Half-Life 2. The Combine would never rally the civic populace in one place to congratulate their slaves to benefitting to their horrible and depressing society. Infact, they wouldn't care! The Combine's purpose is to keep everything orderly and to stop people from gathering and forming big groups to sustain any suspicious activity. The world is supposed to feel empty. Yet, it feels vibrant, to which it shouldn't be. It's just unrealistic to the nature of HL2 in my opinion. The Administration has power, they're supposed to yes. But they're supposed to be the top dogs that should still be adding onto the horrible society of HL2. They should be dispersing Citizens, shoving propaganda down their throats. Gathering Citizens together and actively violating the Combines main rule of separation and displaying important figures in a rally that could easily go south, it just doesn't make sense. The Administration should be a representation of Breen. Always in their high towers, never really displaying themselves to the public. I'm not trying to say CCA members should always be in the nexus, but they shouldn't always be roaming the streets in my opinion.
Ending. I'll most likely add onto this post, or add certain things I still have on my mind about Willard that I'd like to discuss, which, I have a lot that I'd still like to talk about, but it'd take up too much of my real life time as of writing this, so, I'll cut it brief and short here.
Again, again, again, again. For ANY person reading this. This is not a post that demonstrates how Willard should adapt to this, or how Willard is horrible or lost its touch, or just sucks. It is a personal rant (with big bold letters) that just gives my opinion on how I feel Willard is currently in my perspective. Do not take this post seriously, personally, or gradually. It is a personal opinion, and I do not want to have people hating or berating me because of it. Thank you for reading.
Civil Protection. Foremost, Civil Protection overall feels... Unserious... Goofy, in a sense. They don't feel like an oppressive force like they were before, conducting random searches, giving out random citations, mugging innocent bystanders, etc. etc. They feel like some cartoon police force, just actively looking for someone to pick on. I vividly remember two cops were just picking on a dissident because they felt like it and were just throwing around the lamest insults EVER. They weren't even beating them, searching them, or just giving them false charges/penal codes, just plainly insulting a dissident for no reason which just made them feel... Docile. Which, in representation, Civil Protection should never feel docile, they should always feel like a towering force that can make your life a living hell, but in Willard, they just feel goofy like they've lost that oppressive and dystopian touch. (Quick note: I discharged from the Civil Protection faction a while ago, but that has nothing to do with this post as I'm looking at this from an outsider perspective when I am a Citizen, NOT a cop. My discharge, again, has no change on this rant/post.) Back in 2021, when I was a Citizen and in no faction at all and just purely experiencing Willard for the second time overall, I was terrified of Civil Protection. And I had the right reason to be terrified of them. Civil Protection was ruthless, unforgiving, and uncaring. And I loved that, hell, back in 2021, when the server was on the i24 map. Two cops were investigating a random shelling that had mysteriously dropped near the slums. They soon left the scene, and encountered me while I was leaving my apartment, both of us crossing paths. A cop had accused me of being a terrorist of i24, bombing the slums and whatnot. This accusation led to that cop giving me a random citation, which could've easily led to something worse, but it didn't. I tried to bargain and talk my way out of it, but it wasn't enough, and they beat me almost half dead. And y'know what? It felt amazing. Because for the first time, this oppressive force felt like a serious threat to my progress and actively hindered how I was scavenging and progressing as a character, and I liked that. Civil Protection was an active force, not just standing around and insulting the nearest civvy, but actively being the fire starters and setting that dystopian and oppressive atmosphere once more. Where did that go? To the void apparently. Of course, I'm not demanding players to set this type of change, I'm merely just voicing what I feel is most missing in the presence of Civil Protection. Please, don't take this personally.
Atmosphere. While it isn't too much of an issue, there are some areas or places in Willard that does feel internally unserious in some places. I won't touch upon this topic too much, but Willard's got a very... Asinine feeling in some areas, and even events. For example: The Relocation Festival. At first, you may seem confused on why I'm so obsessed with this specific topic as it's meant to reward and have other characters recognized for being loyal to the Combine but in total essence, it naturally doesn't make any sense at all. A relocation is a devastating event in Half-Life 2 because people are actively being separated and being integrated into a different society. People will lose friends, possibly families, but people are... Celebrating it? It doesn't make a lot of sense. Why would people celebrate going to a different city and having to be separated from friends and family? Why would people celebrate other people who would most likely disrespect them and let them die if given the chance. Why would they celebrate this at all? I obviously know Willard capitalizes on its own lore, and goes off that, but... Willard's a HL2RP server. If you deviate from the feeling and essence of HL2, then... It's just some make-believe server trying to measly portray a world of Half-Life 2. The Combine would never rally the civic populace in one place to congratulate their slaves to benefitting to their horrible and depressing society. Infact, they wouldn't care! The Combine's purpose is to keep everything orderly and to stop people from gathering and forming big groups to sustain any suspicious activity. The world is supposed to feel empty. Yet, it feels vibrant, to which it shouldn't be. It's just unrealistic to the nature of HL2 in my opinion. The Administration has power, they're supposed to yes. But they're supposed to be the top dogs that should still be adding onto the horrible society of HL2. They should be dispersing Citizens, shoving propaganda down their throats. Gathering Citizens together and actively violating the Combines main rule of separation and displaying important figures in a rally that could easily go south, it just doesn't make sense. The Administration should be a representation of Breen. Always in their high towers, never really displaying themselves to the public. I'm not trying to say CCA members should always be in the nexus, but they shouldn't always be roaming the streets in my opinion.
Ending. I'll most likely add onto this post, or add certain things I still have on my mind about Willard that I'd like to discuss, which, I have a lot that I'd still like to talk about, but it'd take up too much of my real life time as of writing this, so, I'll cut it brief and short here.
Again, again, again, again. For ANY person reading this. This is not a post that demonstrates how Willard should adapt to this, or how Willard is horrible or lost its touch, or just sucks. It is a personal rant (with big bold letters) that just gives my opinion on how I feel Willard is currently in my perspective. Do not take this post seriously, personally, or gradually. It is a personal opinion, and I do not want to have people hating or berating me because of it. Thank you for reading.
