Please tell me why Free Vortigaunt is even a faction now

[Lord Beckett]

See the barnacle? No? Hm.

Not only did they make the sewers way more dangerous, including by camouflaging the goddamn barnacles, but they removed all the reasons to be down there in the first place (trash/box spawns). Does this server's administration have some sort of vendetta against the vortigaunt faction? I may have been able to spot this barnacle (and the many others down there), but eventually I will not see it coming. Perhaps that's because the barnacle tongues were made clear for some reason...

Running around the city as a free vort is a death sentence. Running around the sewers is unrewarding and incredibly dangerous. The only place I can even interact with other players is the slums because hardly anyway ventures into the sewers. I would have been fine with fewer trash spawns, but now I can barely even talk to other players without taking huge risks.

A PK under these circumstances is almost inevitable. Why should I even bother playing?

 

[Fallizs]

dont forget to pay breen for a nlr

 

[RedHotGinger]

but they removed all the reasons to be down there in the first place (trash/box spawns

Any rebel that's in the sewers for trash runs isnt going to stop to rp with anyone typically. At best you typically get some cursory glances. So the lack of trash doesn't change much in this regard. unless the implication was that looting bags was considered apart of vort rp, which I doubt.

Running around the city as a free vort is a death sentence

I don't see why you imply vortigaunts can't go to the surface. Literally the only way for cops to know you aren't enslaved Is to unlock your collar (why tf would they ever be doing this) or to get a dispatch guy to shock you (last resort that doesn't even work)

How immune do you have to be in in order to act outside the sewers? Even if cps catch you a vort can easily clear two of them. Or at the very least run away. I've seen vorts go to the surface with no issue before. Just don't bring your antlion armor with you and act like a biotic. Far as I can tell, you're pretty much set from there.

 

[Lord Beckett]

Any rebel that's in the sewers for trash runs isnt going to stop to rp with anyone typically. At best you typically get some cursory glances. So the lack of trash doesn't change much in this regard. unless the implication was that looting bags was considered apart of vort rp, which I doubt.

No? I've had some great interactions in the past down in the sewers, and you still haven't addressed the obvious imbalance here. Sewers used to be a risk-reward situation where it's dangerous but has loot. Now it's even more dangerous with no loot.

I don't see why you imply vortigaunts can't go to the surface. Literally the only way for cops to know you aren't enslaved Is to unlock your collar (why tf would they ever be doing this) or to get a dispatch guy to shock you (last resort that doesn't even work)

How immune do you have to be in in order to act outside the sewers? Even if cps catch you a vort can easily clear two of them. Or at the very least run away. I've seen vorts go to the surface with no issue before. Just don't bring your antlion armor with you and act like a biotic. Far as I can tell, you're pretty much set from there.

Interesting how you say this even though they were doing collar checks on the first day of District 9. Not to mention the fact that if I was found in the city, even by CPs, OTA would invariably be called. Perhaps you would be OK with risking a PK and wasting 10k words in two separate applications by venturing in the city, but then again, I don't know if you've ever RPed as a free vort on this server.

 

[Astro]

Interesting how you say this even though they were doing collar checks on the first day of District 9. Not to mention the fact that if I was found in the city, even by CPs, OTA would invariably be called.

Civil Protection can't/won't check collars without a reason, whatever happened at the beginning of District 9 was very quickly rectified as seen above.

 

[𝔄𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯𝔮]

Have we come back full circle with the return to v3, where even barnacles are an issue?

 

[RedHotGinger]

Now it's even more dangerous with no loot.

To me it just sounds like you are more upset about not having as easy access to loot as a free vort. Sure, rebels are less likely to wander down there and thus there is less RP. I gotta say though, Its very rare I saw rebels stopping to have long-form conversations with people in the sewers while on a loot run. Time is of the essence at that point and most people are just running and gunning.

Interesting how you say this even though they were doing collar checks on the first day of District 9.

This was a long time then, and unless you are able to cite it ever having happened again, this was almost certainly a fluke, a mistake by CP's that likely has not been repeated since, and is thus moot.

Not to mention the fact that if I was found in the city, even by CPs, OTA would invariably be called.

Getting caught is unlikely at best. Again, the only legit ways CP's can catch you is by unlocking your collar in an insanely rare display and is done by using a key none of them carry regularly except maybe captains or something. The other way is to be pinged, under reasonable suspicion and as a last resort...of which the ping will do nothing and you are free to flee into the sewers and hide away. From the moment you scamper OTA will have like 15 minutes to get online, get ready, deploy, and find you which again is unlikely to happen - assuming they do call OTA at all.

Perhaps you would be OK with risking a PK and wasting 10k words in two separate applications by venturing in the city, but then again, I don't know if you've ever RPed as a free vort on this server.

Did you really apply for a free biotic with the expectation you wouldn't encounter risk? Of course there's risk involved, there's risk involved for everyone who goes against the Combine, its part of that experience. But, I dont think the risk is some unreasonable amount. You are practically immune to getting caught so long as you do not draw attention to yourself while wandering the surface. Worst case, you do, and you can just book it to the sewers for a fairly likely escape. I mean, I really don't know how you could be less likely to be caught rule-wise. Its already pretty much stretched to the highest odds it reasonably can be.

 

[Lord Beckett]

To me it just sounds like you are more upset about not having as easy access to loot as a free vort. Sure, rebels are less likely to wander down there and thus there is less RP. I gotta say though, Its very rare I saw rebels stopping to have long-form conversations with people in the sewers while on a loot run. Time is of the essence at that point and most people are just running and gunning.

Nope. Just annoyed at the reversal of the risk-reward dynamic that defined the sewers. Makes little sense to me.

Did you really apply for a free biotic with the expectation you wouldn't encounter risk? Of course there's risk involved, there's risk involved for everyone who goes against the Combine, its part of that experience. But, I dont think the risk is some unreasonable amount. You are practically immune to getting caught so long as you do not draw attention to yourself while wandering the surface. Worst case, you do, and you can just book it to the sewers for a fairly likely escape. I mean, I really don't know how you could be less likely to be caught rule-wise. Its already pretty much stretched to the highest odds it reasonably can be.

Escape is easier said than done. Ever wondered why so many people complained about the escape system? There is a finite area to the map and you cannot hide in bases.

Rest of your points are generally valid. Regardless, it seems the unbalanced barnacles were removed, at least for the moment, so my main frustration has been more or less alleviated. I'll leave the thread here anyway in case more injustices are done to free vorts. We will not be silenced, Willard!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Imperator RAD-X]

I'll reply to this later. Right now I prefer a sleep schedule.

Sewers just need more fleshed out to be interesting, that's all. Like the stuff we did earlier. Takes a bit of time.

 

[Donavin Jones]

I'll say, I like that the sewers is more dangerous. Especially the resource nodes, I think that is a fucking genius idea.
But I agree, removing a big portion of the trash bags kind of just ruins the reason to go down there other then resource nodes. What they need to do is make it so masks are very easy to get, not like a gasmask or a hazmat suit.
But like, surgical mask, or bandanas. As it is super annoying having to be half blind off of spores, and maybe add some trash bags down there since, people are still just looting the trash bags up top. And what also sucks is, killing aliens down there sometimes gives 0 reward, and all you did was waste resources.
What I say is, make more resource nodes.
Make the sewers have a bigger threat, but with decent pay off so it isn't just you clearing it.

Have we come back full circle with the return to v3, where even barnacles are an issue?

And yeah, we have.

 

[Robert]

The sewers have become more of a resource and event zone where high-quality resource nodes are found and where quests, missions and other form of high-reward events can be found. Its generally no longer made for general use as it has become more of an event zone vs a zone for vorts to sit in.

Some free vortigaunts have taken an initiative and found ways to live on the surface and peacefully within the slums and some even have acquired themselves fake collars to walk amongst the general populace of the City without being run down by 50 OTA. CPs have their rules to no longer randomly check on vorts and will leave them be for the most part, only bothering them if a Vort is acting far too suspiciously or blatantly using powers in front of a CP.

Apart from that, trash has been limited as we move towards more RP-Based systems and try cut the stalk of the old grinding mentality and revert back to more traditional methods of resource gathering. The reason why we have not removed trash outright is that we are making it a slow process to not flood the players with a sudden change in direction, a complete 180 if you will, but instead take a more gradual and progressive approach towards the direction we wish to head in.

This will understandably take time and while some free vorts are a bit upset over sewers feeling a bit empty at this time, it is something that will be improved as time goes by as everyone, including CT, Staff and Mentors are, settling into the change and thus sewers won't immediately feel like a high risk/high reward place