Current State of Rebel RP and why it sucks

[ItsLiam]

The state of Rebel RP.

The current state of Rebel RP is in clear shambles due to all the changes happening both OOC and ICly, nobody is satisfied anymore, there is a lot of OOC hatred/prejudice from both Admins and Players and frankly, I'm kind of at a point where I can't be arsed to even log onto the server anymore. Why should I keep grinding and grinding and grinding away, slaving away at some trash bag/crate mechanic JUST to get fucked over by OOC changes that I have no influence over because Staff decide so.

Well, I've written down a few points below at what is currently wrong with Rebel RP and how everyone has to jump through 700 loops to change anything, or try to better anything.

The Intranet.

The intranet relay used to be an IC item that you had on you and could RP the usage of ICly. There was already a risk bc there aren't a lot of private places you can go to inside of the city.

Now, group intranets are removed so you can't even communicate with your own group via the relay AND you can't be outside of your base and use the intranet because of (??) reasons, this only helps in fucking over Rebel RP since there are about 3 based that Civil Protection/OTA won't be able to raid (WD Base, Sentinels base and Nameless base), but... We don't have 3 active groups, we have about 10 of them, what about those other 7? Also, if we push this change through, rebel communication will get even worse and it's already at an all time low. Rebels aren't a unified faction, or something close to it. Rebels don't have a whitelist, don't have OOC checkups regarding their activity and actions and RP quality so it's already near impossible to communicate with everyone.

Before, we used to have group relays to help with the communication, at least from within your group, not to forget all the leaders had access to the big intranet (if they were given access to it ICly by another rebel leader) and this was perfect, The Gameplay Manager Robert even told the Rebels that we didn't abuse any of the given relays, not the group ones nor the one for rebel leaders but we were just fucked over since everyone else got it removed for their continous abuse of it.

The GM/Arc problem.

Currently, Gutsy is making a system where each group will have a GM that will cater them with their needs. This will make the workload be more shared, thus less possibility of a burn-out or admins ignoring you.

Isn't it crazy that someone has to jump through 700 loops to make sure that Rebels are able to get a GM? Sure, GMs might not always be available and sure, this and that... But it's come to this far as a point where Rebels don't have any directions to go in because the current arc... What arc? Nobody knows what the point of this 'debt arc' is, IF they even know it exists.

Rebel RP is currently being kept alive by GM quests and Expeditions, the second one not even being rewarding enough so let's get onto the next point.


Expedition rewards.

I think almost everyone has heard about this by now, Expeditions just aren't worth it.

During the expedition some time ago where we went into the C24 sewers to break a few Infestation hearts, we fought about a million Antlions, we had OTA roaming around, we fought Antlion Guards and what more. The original reward that was agreed upon by Gutsy and a few members of the staff team was; 9 Weapons distributed among the groups, the biggest groups getting the most weapons and then 2500 chips if you didn't get a weapon.

Considering the huge nerf rebels went through, how stacked the odds were against us (OTA being overpowered as hell) it's absolutely unfathomable that 2 members of the Staff team were able to 'emergency reset' the rewards of the expedition because, in their words, WE FAILED THE EXPEDITION. Now, that clearly isn't right because the objectives were as followed: Destroy the infestation hearts, do not fight OTA, get one of those Xen Crystals, find the Sentinels scout and their map and don't die. Considering we did all of these objectives perfectly, I don't understand why staff team had to nerf it.

Maybe the dangers weren't big enough? You know, the overpowered OTA roaming around, the million Antlions (red and spitters as well) being spawned on us. Or how about the Hydras when you jumped down blind into a pool of water, almost insta-killing you if you went near the scout?
Oh wait, maybe it's the fact that OTA didn't engage us... You know, the OTA that RAN WAY FROM US. That Admins allowed to just open one of those access points which were never meant to be open when we were holding them at gunpoint to ambush them?

But sure, we didn't do enough, we failed the objectives, we failed the expedition, we failed the dangers, not enough dangers... Sure!


GOI


Remember GOI, the awesome thing that was going to FIX the server, remember how it was hyped up and worked on for months, if not years? Well, it's a loyalist update and it was NOT made with Rebels in mind.

You know, I lead a rebel group 'The People's Front'/'Die Vereinigte Volksfront' and we had this awesome plan to stage a coup where we wanted to steal a fabricator. I have joined the CWU on my rebel char after becoming friends/acquantances with a lot of loyalists to not have any suspicion aroused around me, and the plan was slowly (very slowly) going to be set in motion.

So, we talk about it in our little rebel chat in the Underground Discord "Hey, is the plan still up?"




Oh.. Okay? The Update that was supposed to fix the server... Isn't made with rebels in mind... You know, the driving force of a server? Without a rebellion you don't have a server.


Please add more things if u know other points to add

 

[Zebra]

Going to start work on the BMD price sheet tomorrow (not sure why it hasn’t been done yet tbf, but I’ve been working on Vorpal for a little while).

Why is the price sheet not done before the server launch? This is strange...

Thank you staff member greogre gaming. You are a priceless asset to this company.

 

[ClapTrap]

Why is the price sheet not done before the server launch? This is strange...

We don't get paid to do this stuff, y'know. 90% of the staff team are doing this to try and provide a fun experience for players. There are so many facets to running this stuff—trying to get balancing correct, discussions regarding these topics, propping the server, creating narratives, mechanics, etcetera for every faction—all on our personal free time. We're bound to make some mistakes and forget a couple things post-launch. This type of language, entitlement, and expectation is frankly nutty to me.

Basically: we're trying. Relax. Stop looking for a fight with literally every opportunity you get. Nobody is trying to kill rebel roleplay.

 

[Senor Sauce]

As a CWU player I've noticed steep improvement to the faction since GoI, and I will speak on behalf of the CWU faction that it is awesome. However, as someone who also plays rebel, it feels as if this is another example of rebel RP being de-prioritized in terms of the overall server development.
Here are some issues I've noticed in the past ~8 months..
- I was told by the Settlement management that we couldn't do anything with settlements because it was being reworked, and would likely be complete by GoI. The server was reopened without this being complete.
- The fabricator, which in my opinion, would have obviously been a HIGH priority target for most well organized rebel groups as soon as they were added, has been OOCly restricted until it is balanced for the rebel population, and the server was reopened without this balancing being complete.
- The rebel staff are inactive, and it seems they don't want to improve the faction, rather keep it gruesomely difficult. I will not post something without permission, but I would ask @Gutsy to reply to this thread with the screenshot of his conversations with Bassilisk about how shotcopping was his biggest concern about the most recent expedition. Not the fact that the rebel scene has been dead for months and needs a stimulus. Shotcopping. I find this to be incredibly counterintuitive toward someone who leads the faction.
- Gutsy, though doing his best and we all appreciate his efforts, is 1 man. He is one of only 2 active BMDs, (that I have seen, anyway), and he is the only taskmaster/event runner that puts in work.
- BMD price sheet was not complete and given to the BMDs prior to launch. (Added this as per above comments).

Before I get the "you should help then", I, and others, have tried to make my character into a BMD/taskmaster/ something or other etc., and I have been shut down ICly, and also unable to apply for anything considering the applications have been closed for months, and, this is not the same thing as other faction applications being closed for a long time, as those rosters are often full. If the current roster IS full, it is bloated with inactivity, or inadequacies. I think it's time that the server owners take an internal look at who is on the council, and work their way down from there, and I would wager a majority of the player base would agree. It is long past due to take a look at the people who "aren't doing anything wrong", and really scrutinize whether or not they're doing anything right.


Now, I am not bastardizing the work done to help the CWU faction. In fact, thank you for reworking it and given us CWU people some love. However, now it is rebels' turn. We united rebels to fight together rather than being a bunch of guys with guns running around, and ever since then it feels like that has been an excuse to the staff to nerf the ever-living shit out of the players. There is no representation for rebels in the decision making it feels, and if there is, it is sorely lacking. Objectively so.

I am not trying to be toxic, just being simply honest, so please do not respond with garbage, please be constructive. Thank you.

 

[Zebra]

We don't get paid to do this stuff, y'know. 90% of the staff team are doing this to try and provide a fun experience for players. There are so many facets to running this stuff—trying to get balancing correct, discussions regarding these topics, propping the server, creating narratives, mechanics, etcetera for every faction—all on our personal free time. We're bound to make some mistakes and forget a couple things post-launch. This type of language, entitlement, and expectation is frankly nutty to me.

Basically: we're trying. Relax. Stop looking for a fight with literally every opportunity you get. Nobody is trying to kill rebel roleplay.

You had 3-4 months. If you cannot handle the workload then perhaps dish it out to others. George is a BMD lead / co-lead and was not offered anything about it. Don't carry all the groceries at once if you keep dropping the milk in the driveway. You have like 30+ staff, ask for help.

 

[ClapTrap]

You had 3-4 months. If you cannot handle the workload then perhaps dish it out to others. George is a BMD lead / co-lead and was not offered anything about it. Don't carry all the groceries at once if you keep dropping the milk in the driveway. You have like 30+ staff, ask for help.

It's not my duty, lol. I'm defending the people you're critiquing.

 

[Zebra]

It's not my duty, lol. I'm defending the people you're critiquing.

Again, more people being the shield while the people who make the mistakes stay silent. You're loyal, I'll give you that.

 

[ClapTrap]

Again, more people being the shield while the people who make the mistakes stay silent. You're loyal, I'll give you that.

 

[Zebra]

Stop falling for Zebra bait posts you fucking morons and address the actual posts.

Let's stay on topic, detractor. Enough memes and gifs.

 

[Senor Sauce]

It's not my duty, lol. I'm defending the people you're critiquing.

I think you do a pretty good job keeping the CP faction well-armed with things to do and represented in terms of development changes. I haven't heard pretty much any CP players say "it's too hard to get i3, our guns are bad, we don't have enough armor and die to rebels too easily.."
You're fulfilling your role. Thank you for that, as someone who would like to play CP in the future. I look forward to joining an active and properly maintained faction, should I get in; and we have you (mostly, I assume) to thank for that.

My question I will pose to you, and anyone else who holds this mindset; why do you feel it's necessary to defend people who don't put in any effort? Does it not make you angry that other people don't put in as much work as you do to keep the server fun? Yes, you are all volunteers; but there is a difference between explaining shortcomings by saying, "it's a hobby, not a job", and there are people who use it as a shield to escape criticism. If you have a position that is in-charge of maintaining or improving the experience for a server of hundreds of people, then I expect you to be able to put in a modicum of effort toward that goal. If it's a hobby, then it should be something people want to do. The fact Gutsy is the only one running rebel stuff for months on end is, IMO, unacceptable.

From what I can see, you put in effort. I know DeNuke puts effort into the Vort faction. I know GamingPlumber puts in effort into the CWU faction. I don't see that level of commitment being put into the rebel faction. If it's a position that's too demanding, nobody will be upset if it is passed off onto someone else. You're allowed to defend people, and your point is valid, however it doesn't apply to this situation. You should ask for better. You and your fellow staff deserve better, the players deserve better.

 

[Robert]

Gutsy staying up for 24+ hours and still not making any progress or little because of people like bassilisk or Robert (serial non-players) making decisions based on hearsay and reading console logs is insane. This player has been nothing but helpful in trying to bend the rulings to nearly snapping. We love and cherish Gutsy's work. Please do not use him as a shield for our complaints.

I think you should really pay attention before calling out people and you are coming off as someone trying to bait people. But to indulge you for a moment, if you read my own post and my last few posts on forums and discord there will be a few things to note.

First of all, I do play the server in the time I do have to spend playing the game sometimes on the main, other times on an Alt. This is the same as some other members who choose to play on alts to enjoy the server from a player POV. But I sometimes play a mix of both, though haven't played as much recently as spending more time on my main due to my duties pertaining to the CLC and CWU in making sure thats all running smoothly. But i disgress as I don't think anyone needs to justify their playtime to anyone- and Bassilisk does also have quite a good chunk of playtime, just most of the time he is at work while everyone is playing and off work when everyones not. I do have defend him there as calling him a non-player despite his involvement with Gutsy and the Rebel scene is quite a kick in the face to him and his work.

Its quite naive and ignorant of ones actual relative effort.

Anyway, your post is also quite ironic given the Hearsay you have just claimed decisions are based on is being used in your own post as you just made an assumption which means you are now committing to hearsay yourself. Congratulations for trying to call out something you have no knowledge about given even in my own post on this very thread, reading it you will find a very obvious clue that tells you my involvement in the so-called "decisions" is essentially non-existent. And no, I am not Server Council, I am a Developer and up until a few days ago, a Gameplay Team member. But I quit that.

I am involved in a lot of things when something is not being done, aka I informed bass I will pick up the Crafting and pricing for the Rebels. But generally my involvement is quite limited to that which others have not yet actioned in my free time WHEN i choose to spare some of it to Willard, just like any other Staff Member.

But anyway, thats what I will indulge you with but really do not spend your time baiting a response out of people since it comes off a pure toxicity which in turn only earns you ire or just people not taking you seriously.

 

[Robert]

Going to start work on the BMD price sheet tomorrow (not sure why it hasn’t been done yet tbf, but I’ve been working on Vorpal for a little while).

To answer this part, its being paused by Bass until the release of the Crafting update as that drastically affects pricing.

 

[Astro]

Just as the threads before this one, it will be locked should continued toxicity be apparent.

Stay civil, please.

 

[Zebra]

I think you should really pay attention before calling out people and you are coming off as someone trying to bait people. But to indulge you for a moment, if you read my own post and my last few posts on forums and discord there will be a few things to note.

First of all, I do play the server in the time I do have to spend playing the game sometimes on the main, other times on an Alt. This is the same as some other members who choose to play on alts to enjoy the server from a player POV. But I sometimes play a mix of both, though haven't played as much recently as spending more time on my main due to my duties pertaining to the CLC and CWU in making sure thats all running smoothly. But i disgress as I don't think anyone needs to justify their playtime to anyone- and Bassilisk does also have quite a good chunk of playtime, just most of the time he is at work while everyone is playing and off work when everyones not. I do have defend him there as calling him a non-player despite his involvement with Gutsy and the Rebel scene is quite a kick in the face to him and his work.

Its quite naive and ignorant of ones actual relative effort.

Anyway, your post is also quite ironic given the Hearsay you have just claimed decisions are based on is being used in your own post as you just made an assumption which means you are now committing to hearsay yourself. Congratulations for trying to call out something you have no knowledge about given even in my own post on this very thread, reading it you will find a very obvious clue that tells you my involvement in the so-called "decisions" is essentially non-existent. And no, I am not Server Council, I am a Developer and up until a few days ago, a Gameplay Team member. But I quit that.

I am involved in a lot of things when something is not being done, aka I informed bass I will pick up the Crafting and pricing for the Rebels. But generally my involvement is quite limited to that which others have not yet actioned in my free time WHEN i choose to spare some of it to Willard, just like any other Staff Member.

But anyway, thats what I will indulge you with but really do not spend your time baiting a response out of people since it comes off a pure toxicity which in turn only earns you ire or just people not taking you seriously.

My intention is not to be toxic. But you should understand that the constant breaking down of anything rebel-related is getting to a lot of players. Starting with your choice to knock people down several tiers to try and nerf them and hard restart them. This wouldn't have been an issue if you had BMD's up and running on day-one. I understand you have irl things and this is a passion project but I also see people like George who agree and offer to take some of the workload off and are non-included in your dealings.

I don't want people drawn and quartered, demoted, or anything negative. Just trying to understand why after 3-4 months, the rebels have such a shakey touchdown on re-opening.

 

[ItsLiam]

Intranet
As you know, IC pagers and comms were banned many months ago at this point and have not been an issue since. The recent thread has made us consider increasing the comms for Resistance based groups, but in a way which is controlled and neutral for all involved parties. That being them requiring to follow the rules of 1 hour cooldown, no conversations and generally only exist for relaying important info, organizing meets and so on.

Recent changes have allow ordinary rebels to gain access to the Intranet, but with a catch- they must have a Computer in the base. To avoid metagame and people grabbing names and IDs from computers. I will add a dummy computer which will be cheaper to fit the Rebel eco for Rebels to gain access that way- of course, later on the computer entity will be used but a more rebel-made version of it to stop Combine master passwords and hide names.

I'm going to ask questions here, since I have no clue what this means. So you're saying that the Rebel Leaders don't have to use a computer, but just follow the rules or something, and only the ordinary rebels need to use the Computer? I don't really understand it, sorry.

---

GOI

Now speaking on GOI, its primarily and currently designed for CWU. It was going to be made for Rebels to steal, but with some current issues with its systems and bugs, it has been locked down to CWU early. Especially since its Economic and Material capacity far outproduces anything the Resistance has on hand, even the refinery.

What would normally cost a few hundred chips can cost a mere 30 chips for example as even the most basic of items can be turned into resin. It also opens up whole new loops in the economy and while yes, it does require a battery to maintain, I will have to be honest that you can get 10 goes using it but with added bulk production added to, it only bolsters the power of the GOI fabricator to extreme levels.

Items which normally cost and arm and a leg turn into something produce easily by those not meant to produce it in that way. Until its more balance and patched up, it has to be locked away for now and thats not so much a staff or balancing decision as it is more Dev related to be centered around CWU for now.

Hope that clears it up a little. If not I can ask Asimo to throw some economic spreadsheets out. (joking, he will murder me). Anyway...

Sorry, but I don't think it makes sense that the CWU gets these huge update for no apparent reason. There wasn't really anything wrong with the old system besides that people kept asspulling. This could've been fixed with an easy intranet channel where people put what they need for their different shifts, but no... This server is never simple and now the Workshifts are boring as hell, CWU is getting overworked and are becoming fed up with doing a 9-5 job and the debt arc is going nowhere.

---

This is a very aggressive title for this thread so I have to take to my guns and stick up for my guys and gals in the staff, creative and mentor teams who go out of their way to make sure rebels get the best ordeals of the situation they're in, possible. That's not fair, you shouldn't do that.

Sure, the title probably wasn't the best way to put it. Probably more towards the SC/Balancing team. That's where most of my complaints are towards anyway, how they keep changing things for the worse and making these weird changes for no apparent reason. From what I know Gutsy doesn't agree with most, if not any of the change that keep being implemented to make things worse.

Rebels are the driving force of the server and for them to keep being overlooked is shambolic and is in no way fair towards the players who actively play such roles.

---

Either way, you guys need to chill out and treat each other with respect. I've seen Gutsy physically staying up nights for 24+ hours making sure the rebel scene is enjoyable for everyone involved in his sphere of influence. A kind of sacrifice I haven't seen by people willingly doing this in all my years playing this game.

The entire reason I made this thread is to help Gutsy and help the others. I don't know a single other Rebel Rep other than Gutsy who is doing anything or is active on the server (No offense to them).

 

[Muho]

As a CWU Player and Rebel. The fabricators wouldn't do shit for the rebel faction. How do you even Transport it logcally, or hide it? Also what is there to craft man? If you run trash for a week or two you get 10k Credits and junk weapons and what not

My only critique that i have rn is that junk weapons can be crafted with level 10 x^)
And that the BMDs dont sell the good weapons which makes my chips useless.

Also you should thank all the people working on this Project.
Many of us have thousands of hours here all for free. This game is over an decade old... stop hate, help rather Kings

Enjoy the half life universe :^3

 

[osmangazi]

 

[George]

I am trying to ruin rebel rp, is it working yet?

 

[Zebra]

Derailers. Here we go...

 

[CreekMando]

Time for another rebel complaint thread..

 

[Rebel RP Philosopher]

Make sure to sign up for my next grocery expedition!

Don't carry all the groceries at once if you keep dropping the milk in the driveway.