Kappatalist
Workshift Shooter
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2020
- Messages
- 715
- Thread Author
- #1
There has been a large focus by Willard, since launch, on gameplay mechanics and various systems baked into the schema that automate processes which in previous HL2RP communities were achieved through other ways. Things like crafting, skills, even workshifts now. The 'RPG' aspect of Willard was clearly advertised at launch and despite stripping back parts of it, still remains even if not in name.
This was always a core part of Willards design, but as I've said has been slowly picked at in the past few years. The reason why is fairly simple, we're a serious RP server built by people from servers like Terranova, Nebulous, and various others - to staff and management that is the bar we're trying to reach in terms of roleplay quality and mindset from players. But it's hypocritical that Willard expects rebel players, for example, to focus on the roleplay when the entire rebel progression system has been based around scripts and looting since day 1.
So long as Willard sits the fence this way, it will never have the gameplay automation that servers like Synapse might have. But will struggle as it has for creativity. As it is there will always be half the community who are only interested in interacting with those gameplay mechanics, and half (which tend to become staff/management) who are looking for serious, creative RP.
I'm not exactly making suggestions so much as I'm pointing out that Willard tends to favour gameplay systems and mechanics to fix problems which inherently come down to roleplay. Gameplay doesn't really make roleplay happen, and very often I find it restricts it. Yes a lot is possible still, but new players don't ever look for that possibility because they're never introduced to it.
Crafting & Items
Limitation breeds creativity. When a player is given a huge list of items they can craft, those are the only items they will consider. Take the Combine door breacher for example, it's supposed to automate a way for rebels to breach Combine doors. So the problem has a clear solution, but now there is only one solution.
A player doesn't then think of interesting, creative ways to get past a biolock - the game gives them the tool and it takes X amount of resources to craft. So off they go, collecting items and looting trash until they have it. Not to mention grinding for the appropriate amount of time to reach level 50 crafting. This is a good gameplay solution, but bad for roleplay as any creative options aren't considered, they might not even be allowed.
I don't think we should get rid of crafting, but we should strip back what you can do with it. It's a good time sink, sure, but when players are levelling up their crafting or collecting items they're not roleplaying and interacting with the server at large. In-fact it rewards the players who dont RP, and punishes players who do.
Char auths have been very underused, but they're the perfect place to have players be creative instead - as well as staff/ET giving on the spot auths through tickets for smaller things.
Gears of Industry
Gears of industry (GOI) was a technically great update but IMO it has had a bad impact on RP. To help create RP we lumped another gameplay system onto Willard and this means there's a great deal more work for CWU to do - but it adds very little in terms of actual RP. I imagine 90% of the server doesn't ever interact with much of GOI in a meaningful way.
Fabricators have the same effect as crafting, and i don't mean mechanically. Since the CWU now needs to produce items through workshifts the majority of workshifts become mindlessly slapping items into entities. Less consideration is put into unique and interesting workshifts, because the server has already effectively told the CWU that it should be doing fabricator workshifts.
What the server gains from this is that people get some SC from doing a workshift, and that city stock is replenished. Neither of which are really doing anything to further any sort of RP. It's more grind, for citizens to get into loyalist positions with an arbitrary point system. V3 will change how SC works, but not fundamentally.
Taxes are another just, bad feature. I'm not sure what the idea behind taxing already struggling stores was, but now for every item sold the city charges a percentage - which means prices go up, less people buy things, stores sell less and are less busy. Worse it means that every item in a stores catalogue needs to be calculated and if the tax should ever change, they need to do it all again. And yeah, I've been told this is sticking for v3. Woohoo.
All of this, which mechanically 'needs' to happen, and how has RP actually changed for it? It's a topic of conversation for about 4 people on the server in faction leadership and CCA positions. It keeps people busy, but it doesn't keep people roleplaying. Rather, it gets in the way of that.
As a brief final example, the energy/fatigue bar. Yuck.
tl;dr
Willard want roleplay, willard add gameplay instead
funded by AIPAC. discuss
This was always a core part of Willards design, but as I've said has been slowly picked at in the past few years. The reason why is fairly simple, we're a serious RP server built by people from servers like Terranova, Nebulous, and various others - to staff and management that is the bar we're trying to reach in terms of roleplay quality and mindset from players. But it's hypocritical that Willard expects rebel players, for example, to focus on the roleplay when the entire rebel progression system has been based around scripts and looting since day 1.
So long as Willard sits the fence this way, it will never have the gameplay automation that servers like Synapse might have. But will struggle as it has for creativity. As it is there will always be half the community who are only interested in interacting with those gameplay mechanics, and half (which tend to become staff/management) who are looking for serious, creative RP.
I'm not exactly making suggestions so much as I'm pointing out that Willard tends to favour gameplay systems and mechanics to fix problems which inherently come down to roleplay. Gameplay doesn't really make roleplay happen, and very often I find it restricts it. Yes a lot is possible still, but new players don't ever look for that possibility because they're never introduced to it.
Crafting & Items
Limitation breeds creativity. When a player is given a huge list of items they can craft, those are the only items they will consider. Take the Combine door breacher for example, it's supposed to automate a way for rebels to breach Combine doors. So the problem has a clear solution, but now there is only one solution.
A player doesn't then think of interesting, creative ways to get past a biolock - the game gives them the tool and it takes X amount of resources to craft. So off they go, collecting items and looting trash until they have it. Not to mention grinding for the appropriate amount of time to reach level 50 crafting. This is a good gameplay solution, but bad for roleplay as any creative options aren't considered, they might not even be allowed.
I don't think we should get rid of crafting, but we should strip back what you can do with it. It's a good time sink, sure, but when players are levelling up their crafting or collecting items they're not roleplaying and interacting with the server at large. In-fact it rewards the players who dont RP, and punishes players who do.
Char auths have been very underused, but they're the perfect place to have players be creative instead - as well as staff/ET giving on the spot auths through tickets for smaller things.
Gears of Industry
Gears of industry (GOI) was a technically great update but IMO it has had a bad impact on RP. To help create RP we lumped another gameplay system onto Willard and this means there's a great deal more work for CWU to do - but it adds very little in terms of actual RP. I imagine 90% of the server doesn't ever interact with much of GOI in a meaningful way.
Fabricators have the same effect as crafting, and i don't mean mechanically. Since the CWU now needs to produce items through workshifts the majority of workshifts become mindlessly slapping items into entities. Less consideration is put into unique and interesting workshifts, because the server has already effectively told the CWU that it should be doing fabricator workshifts.
What the server gains from this is that people get some SC from doing a workshift, and that city stock is replenished. Neither of which are really doing anything to further any sort of RP. It's more grind, for citizens to get into loyalist positions with an arbitrary point system. V3 will change how SC works, but not fundamentally.
Taxes are another just, bad feature. I'm not sure what the idea behind taxing already struggling stores was, but now for every item sold the city charges a percentage - which means prices go up, less people buy things, stores sell less and are less busy. Worse it means that every item in a stores catalogue needs to be calculated and if the tax should ever change, they need to do it all again. And yeah, I've been told this is sticking for v3. Woohoo.
All of this, which mechanically 'needs' to happen, and how has RP actually changed for it? It's a topic of conversation for about 4 people on the server in faction leadership and CCA positions. It keeps people busy, but it doesn't keep people roleplaying. Rather, it gets in the way of that.
As a brief final example, the energy/fatigue bar. Yuck.
tl;dr
funded by AIPAC. discuss
Last edited:
((( )
