How to have fun as a citizen (a guide for players)
We all know how incredibly boring Citizen RP is, @Equinox spoke about this in his thread, I won't pretend that citizen RP as it currently stands is fun at all, because it isn't. Before I talk about how to have fun as a citizen, I need to talk about what isn't fun about being a citizen.
This is a list of everything that citizens can do to entertain themselves:
-Wait for work at the work desk
-Wait for a work shift
-Wait for rations so you can get money and food
-Collect trash and wait for it to respawn
-Talk to people
-Grind social credits
Here is the problem with these things:
-You can wait at the work desk to beg CPs for something to do, but the most you will end up doing is wiping down windows or picking up trash (if you are lucky enough to catch a CP while they are manning the work desk)
-Work shifts are uncommon, and if you are unlucky enough to be in the slums when a work shift is called, the entire shift will be filled by the time you get to the warehouse. Even if you manage to get to a shift in time, you wont really be having much fun doing it, the only reason you want to do work shifts is because you want to get social credits, not because the act of writing out ten /mes of filling cans with paste is fun.
-It is two hours per ration cycle, and there is a good chance the ration machine will be closed when you need it most.
-Collecting trash and crafting *isn't* roleplaying, if you are playing Willard for the crafting and trash-collecting systems, other games have you covered
-Yeah, you can talk to people, but what will you say to them if you don't have a reason to talk to them?
-Grinding social credits isn't worth it, by becoming a full loyalist you essentially neuter your character, you lose out on doing half of the things the server has to offer in exchange for being treated better sometimes. Only do this if you need to as part of a job.
As you can see, citizen RP requires a lot of waiting in hopes of someone else doing something to entertain you, this is a huge problem. citizen RP isn't a self-sustaining faction, it requires pretty much every other faction to keep citizens entertained.
Don't fret! You can make citizen RP fun through a method I call "Goal setting"
What is goal setting?
Goal setting is where you give yourself a realistic objective to complete, once you figure out what your goal is, you can work with GMs on reaching your goal.
Here is an example:
Back during V1 of Willard on C24_V2, there was a massive underground cavern filled with corpses, my character, and aspiring scientist, wanted to figure out why there was a bunch of dead people buried under the city. In order to solve this mystery, I gathered a few other citizens and ventured into the corpse cavern in order to collect corpses for autopsy. I made sure I made a ticket before we set off to let the GMs know what we were doing.
I and the other random citizens I recruited to solve this mystery gathered corpses from the pit while the GM spawned a few zombies to make it interesting, once we had gathered the corpses and started to take a look at them, the GM described the state of the corpses. After the autopsies, me and the other citizens that helped me out discovered that the corpses had been killed by AR2s, meaning that the combine was responsible for killing and burying tons of innocent citizens beneath the city!
I had solved the mystery and made friends with people I wouldn't have usually interacted with, the feeling of accomplishment was amazing.
How can I do something like this?
1: Give yourself a goal, it could be anything, but make sure it is something that you could realistically pull of with the help of a GM.
2: Gather some other players to help you out, I'm sure people will be more than eager to help you out.
3: Contact a GM via tickets, it could take a while, so try to prepare while you wait.
4: Work with the GM and the other players to achieve the goal you set for yourself.
You can pretty much request an event through the above method
If you don't know what to do, here are some examples of what players have done in the past:
-Solve a mystery
-Set up a small farm
-Work with other players to set up a public homeless shelter
-Collect Xenian fungus to plant in the city as a way to sabotage the Combine
-Work with friends to repair an old van
-Go hunting for a dangerous monster
-Set up a food drive
-Set up a stand to sell stuff at
Pretty much anything you can think of can work, if you are unsure, just ask a GM (keep in mind that for some of the larger scale goals you will likely need to do a character auth)
Think outside the box, just because the server doesn't have systems in place for something you want to do doesn't mean you can't do it with the help of GMs, please don't be afraid to ask GMs for help, if you want to know if a GM is online, just do /printstafflist.
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How to write engaging citizen events (a guide for GMs)
This is a guide for Game Masters and Creative Team members on how to make engaging events for citizens, I recommend you read the guide above this one as well.
I don't often see events being done for citizens, usually, it's the CPs and rebels that get to do a majority of events. This does not need to be the case, we shouldn't neglect the largest faction on the server, the citizens.
What kinds of events should I run for citizens?
-Action events with tons of NPCs is usually a no-go for citizens, they do not have the gear needed to survive. But if you really want to do an action event, you could give them a basic melee weapon as well as an enemy or two to deal with, but nothing overwhelming.
-Mystery events are perfect for citizens, all you need to solve a mystery is your mind, and most citizens have one of those. Solving a mystery or puzzle is incredibly rewarding, but try not to make the mystery too difficult to figure out, players will end up using Google to find out answers and that ends up taking away from the satisfaction of solving a mystery all on your own.
-Construction events can be fun even if they have the same gameplay as a normal work shift, nothing feels better than seeing your effort manifest itself into something physical, if a citizen wants to prop something, go ahead and give them the flags they need (just be sure to tell them not to spawn too many props)
-Exploration events are super fun but will require you to do a bunch of propping in the admin box using the scene builder props. Don't be afraid to ask another GM for help in constructing an interesting place for players to explore, be sure to add descriptions to props with the /propdescriptionadd command. Always remember to save a dupe of your construction, it's alright to re-use old builds in new events, just be sure to modify the dupe so it isn't an exact carbon copy of your last event.
-Events requested by players are perfect, if you see a ticket from a player asking for a GM to assist them, you really should assist them as soon as you can, it is the perfect opportunity to do something fun, and the player will do most of the writing for you, all you need to do is help them (as seen in the guide before this one).
These aren't the only kinds of events you can do for citizens, they are merely examples, there is a ton of stuff you can do for citizens, not every event has to be a high-stakes action event filled with enemy NPCs, sometimes a simple event can be just as fun.
Other advice:
Don't let CPs take over your event, if your event has any sort of crime in it, try to have it take place in the sewers (or the slums if you have to). Once word gets around that there is an event with any sort of crime in it, the CPs will take over and force citizens to the side.
Don't let citizens go too crazy, if you give a citizen PET flags so they can build something and they end up spawning way too many props, don't be afraid to tell them no. Too many props will lag the server and ruin everyones experience.
Don't forget that citizens exist, they aren't just side characters, they are the biggest faction on the server yet other factions get more events than citizens do.
Punish loot goblins, if you notice that players are rushing through your events and just collecting every single script they can, don't be afraid to punish them, perhaps one of the containers they opened was booby-trapped.
Answer GM request tickets as soon as you can, it *really* sucks to wait forever, sometimes entire groups of players are forced to wait for a GM.
We all know how incredibly boring Citizen RP is, @Equinox spoke about this in his thread, I won't pretend that citizen RP as it currently stands is fun at all, because it isn't. Before I talk about how to have fun as a citizen, I need to talk about what isn't fun about being a citizen.
This is a list of everything that citizens can do to entertain themselves:
-Wait for work at the work desk
-Wait for a work shift
-Wait for rations so you can get money and food
-Collect trash and wait for it to respawn
-Talk to people
-Grind social credits
Here is the problem with these things:
-You can wait at the work desk to beg CPs for something to do, but the most you will end up doing is wiping down windows or picking up trash (if you are lucky enough to catch a CP while they are manning the work desk)
-Work shifts are uncommon, and if you are unlucky enough to be in the slums when a work shift is called, the entire shift will be filled by the time you get to the warehouse. Even if you manage to get to a shift in time, you wont really be having much fun doing it, the only reason you want to do work shifts is because you want to get social credits, not because the act of writing out ten /mes of filling cans with paste is fun.
-It is two hours per ration cycle, and there is a good chance the ration machine will be closed when you need it most.
-Collecting trash and crafting *isn't* roleplaying, if you are playing Willard for the crafting and trash-collecting systems, other games have you covered
-Yeah, you can talk to people, but what will you say to them if you don't have a reason to talk to them?
-Grinding social credits isn't worth it, by becoming a full loyalist you essentially neuter your character, you lose out on doing half of the things the server has to offer in exchange for being treated better sometimes. Only do this if you need to as part of a job.
As you can see, citizen RP requires a lot of waiting in hopes of someone else doing something to entertain you, this is a huge problem. citizen RP isn't a self-sustaining faction, it requires pretty much every other faction to keep citizens entertained.
Don't fret! You can make citizen RP fun through a method I call "Goal setting"
What is goal setting?
Goal setting is where you give yourself a realistic objective to complete, once you figure out what your goal is, you can work with GMs on reaching your goal.
Here is an example:
Back during V1 of Willard on C24_V2, there was a massive underground cavern filled with corpses, my character, and aspiring scientist, wanted to figure out why there was a bunch of dead people buried under the city. In order to solve this mystery, I gathered a few other citizens and ventured into the corpse cavern in order to collect corpses for autopsy. I made sure I made a ticket before we set off to let the GMs know what we were doing.
I and the other random citizens I recruited to solve this mystery gathered corpses from the pit while the GM spawned a few zombies to make it interesting, once we had gathered the corpses and started to take a look at them, the GM described the state of the corpses. After the autopsies, me and the other citizens that helped me out discovered that the corpses had been killed by AR2s, meaning that the combine was responsible for killing and burying tons of innocent citizens beneath the city!
I had solved the mystery and made friends with people I wouldn't have usually interacted with, the feeling of accomplishment was amazing.
How can I do something like this?
1: Give yourself a goal, it could be anything, but make sure it is something that you could realistically pull of with the help of a GM.
2: Gather some other players to help you out, I'm sure people will be more than eager to help you out.
3: Contact a GM via tickets, it could take a while, so try to prepare while you wait.
4: Work with the GM and the other players to achieve the goal you set for yourself.
You can pretty much request an event through the above method
If you don't know what to do, here are some examples of what players have done in the past:
-Solve a mystery
-Set up a small farm
-Work with other players to set up a public homeless shelter
-Collect Xenian fungus to plant in the city as a way to sabotage the Combine
-Work with friends to repair an old van
-Go hunting for a dangerous monster
-Set up a food drive
-Set up a stand to sell stuff at
Pretty much anything you can think of can work, if you are unsure, just ask a GM (keep in mind that for some of the larger scale goals you will likely need to do a character auth)
Think outside the box, just because the server doesn't have systems in place for something you want to do doesn't mean you can't do it with the help of GMs, please don't be afraid to ask GMs for help, if you want to know if a GM is online, just do /printstafflist.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How to write engaging citizen events (a guide for GMs)
This is a guide for Game Masters and Creative Team members on how to make engaging events for citizens, I recommend you read the guide above this one as well.
I don't often see events being done for citizens, usually, it's the CPs and rebels that get to do a majority of events. This does not need to be the case, we shouldn't neglect the largest faction on the server, the citizens.
What kinds of events should I run for citizens?
-Action events with tons of NPCs is usually a no-go for citizens, they do not have the gear needed to survive. But if you really want to do an action event, you could give them a basic melee weapon as well as an enemy or two to deal with, but nothing overwhelming.
-Mystery events are perfect for citizens, all you need to solve a mystery is your mind, and most citizens have one of those. Solving a mystery or puzzle is incredibly rewarding, but try not to make the mystery too difficult to figure out, players will end up using Google to find out answers and that ends up taking away from the satisfaction of solving a mystery all on your own.
-Construction events can be fun even if they have the same gameplay as a normal work shift, nothing feels better than seeing your effort manifest itself into something physical, if a citizen wants to prop something, go ahead and give them the flags they need (just be sure to tell them not to spawn too many props)
-Exploration events are super fun but will require you to do a bunch of propping in the admin box using the scene builder props. Don't be afraid to ask another GM for help in constructing an interesting place for players to explore, be sure to add descriptions to props with the /propdescriptionadd command. Always remember to save a dupe of your construction, it's alright to re-use old builds in new events, just be sure to modify the dupe so it isn't an exact carbon copy of your last event.
-Events requested by players are perfect, if you see a ticket from a player asking for a GM to assist them, you really should assist them as soon as you can, it is the perfect opportunity to do something fun, and the player will do most of the writing for you, all you need to do is help them (as seen in the guide before this one).
These aren't the only kinds of events you can do for citizens, they are merely examples, there is a ton of stuff you can do for citizens, not every event has to be a high-stakes action event filled with enemy NPCs, sometimes a simple event can be just as fun.
Other advice:
Don't let CPs take over your event, if your event has any sort of crime in it, try to have it take place in the sewers (or the slums if you have to). Once word gets around that there is an event with any sort of crime in it, the CPs will take over and force citizens to the side.
Don't let citizens go too crazy, if you give a citizen PET flags so they can build something and they end up spawning way too many props, don't be afraid to tell them no. Too many props will lag the server and ruin everyones experience.
Don't forget that citizens exist, they aren't just side characters, they are the biggest faction on the server yet other factions get more events than citizens do.
Punish loot goblins, if you notice that players are rushing through your events and just collecting every single script they can, don't be afraid to punish them, perhaps one of the containers they opened was booby-trapped.
Answer GM request tickets as soon as you can, it *really* sucks to wait forever, sometimes entire groups of players are forced to wait for a GM.
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