Implemented World of Willardcraft

[Sagsworth]

If you don't want this grind, IMHO HL2RP isn't the best gamemode. It is too much based on items

please someone tell me how representative this is of how CMs and the wider staff team feel, or if this is just you. because i know a bunch of serious, committed and intelligent players are extraordinarily close to leaving this community after reading this. if this is genuinely the ethos of willard networks, i don't even have words

 

[Maroon]

Focus on GMs providing skill exp/items as rewards for their events.

Considering we are already having trouble dealing with tickets sometimes (GM's aid with those) having GM's give personal attention to every single player that wants to do this is absolutely unmanageable imo.

 

[Maroon]

please someone tell me how representative this is of how CMs and the wider staff team feel, or if this is just you. because i know a bunch of serious, committed and intelligent players are extraordinarily close to leaving this community after reading this. if this is genuinely the ethos of willard networks, i don't even have words

Gr4ss said 'IMHO', so it's just his opinion.

 

[Sagsworth]

Gr4ss said 'IMHO', so it's just his opinion.

Sure, it's Gr4ss's opinion and doesn't necessarily state what the rest of the community feels. But if this is a sentiment held by a senior figure in the community, then this might be reflective of the outlook of others. And therefore, when an idea like this is raised - and one in my opinion that is antithetical to a bunch of the founding principles of Serious RP, there's an extent to which it'd be prudent for senior management to separate this from their own views if they disagree, or support it if they do. Because if not, you're represented by the only one speaking on the issue.

 

[Gr4Ss]

Hey chief, I agree with you on your first part there. Just take a peek at discord general chat and someone had a video of someone bunnyhopping across the map hungrily looking for trash spawns. But- that's the thing. There's too much focus on the script rather than the roleplay. The schema is awesome- But it should be there to provide comfort to the GMs and supplement the experience they provide, not to give players the sole focus of boosting their skills. Now- I'm not going to say delete the whole system and start making new things- There's a simple solution that I don't think anyone thought of.

Remove trash spawns.

Remove trash spawns, give GMs more tools via workshop- some training too while we are at it- and idk if that perk idea was approved but hey more the merrier.

Focus on GMs providing skill exp/items as rewards for their events. Your TBC system and RPG system is perfect for GMs to send small groups of players out into mini events almost like a traditional PnP. You get GMs making events that give character progression and RP for all sides- and you reduce the scriptplay. I call it a win win.

FYI, we do have a lot of extra tools mounted directly on the server without including them in the workshop as they are only lua files, so you don't have to subscribe to them. You will download what you need when you first join.

Dedi box has been ordered so soon we will have a second event server again which will also open up opportunities for people to venture off the map for events. Should also allow GM's more room to actually do events without it having to take place on the main server and involve everyone.

It's a shame to see you don't trust your own player base, although I can appreciate the understanding as to why. I don't think you're necessarily correct in saying if we don't like this system then we should find another suitable outlet for Roleplay: There is no other server that I can ever remember RPing on being so heavily on grinding and attribute whoring. I've never felt like I had to rely on OOC sources and trash spawn locations so I had to run around and farm for a few hours every day like a chore, neither have I felt so baffled that I can't roleplay things my character should be able too based purely on the fact that I haven't performed some of these grinds. Items and scripts are important to HL2RP, that much I won't deny, and I actually think there is a charm to it; there's certainly something immersive about needing to go get food and water, or the importance of a gun item being hidden away in a fridge or something. But you said it yourself, some people will do anything to get an edge - and right now this is completely acceptable to them, there aren't any rules against it, and it's also incredibly easy to abuse the system you've worked tirelessly to make. That's why I suggested that perhaps the system should be lower down on the 'importance' scale for character development, but higher on the customisation scale. By this I mean more 'tools' that could benefit something you do when performing an act like syringes, or like, idk, jackhammer lol but without it handicapping at all someone's character as they've spent more time Roleplaying than grinding OOC attributes.

I also really like pineapple's suggestion though it does indeed depend on if the developers are willing to consider such changes, or take inspiration from at least some of them.

Believe me, I would prefer to be able to just let people do what they want with less restrictions, but I think WN got too big for that.

And as to clarify my statement (note that it is my statement and not WN's opinion - some people got confused and read over the 'IMHO'): I once made an SSTRP gamemode. Total amount of items required: 40. Current WN HL2RP item count: 555. Total amount of item instances created since launch: 16742.

This partially plays into trust as well. If there is no knife item and we expect people to RP having it, they will asspull it with zero RP. You can perfectly play on HL2RP without ever touching items (I played loyalist for 3 years, never had to bother with items). But that is also because those characters generally never seek conflict. The moment we talk conflict, (some) people start to abuse to get an edge. And that mentality is the reason we cannot have a lot of nice things like freely being able to select your skills based on your background, everything being locked behind items/recipes, ...

Also, I do believe that (unfortunately) it is impossible to change an entire communities mentality while remaining as open to new players as we are. There is no real way to enforce responsibility - it is too much of a grey area that even the best admin team ever would have trouble properly enforcing it.

How do we deal with it? Well, we have chosen to not lock stuff behind arbitrary OOC applications that only offer limited slots (your typical server with typical BMD/Crafter flags). Instead everyone is free to pick up a skill and develop their character to be what they want it to be. Does this not always fully correspond to your background? Yes, initially it does perhaps limit you. But you can still pick up crafting.

 

[FreeStalker]

Considering we are already having trouble dealing with tickets sometimes (GM's aid with those) having GM's give personal attention to every single player that wants to do this is absolutely unmanageable imo.

I don't mean give attention to individual characters- People naturally gravitate to groups and factions. But don't mistake me, I don't mean GMs giving players a mission outright like how they offered Dutchy to raid the nexus- No.

An example I'd use, and have used in he past- Setting. You set the stage for a growing situation in the city(Like the Xen Infestation or the Hive). You give it a background threat that will eventually grow bigger- You show that to the players(Show, don't tell by spawning an over geared rebel like what's been happening recently), then- You allow the playerbase to react.

Let the players devise their own solutions with the tools they have available- or the tools they hope to seek out. Maybe they want to implant a mole in the DoP and smuggle out a toolkit? Perhaps they want to get hazmat suits to deal with the Xen infestation on their own? Maybe they want to build an underground railroad and have a covert means of entering and exiting the city such as what happened in Half Life 2?

The GMs don't need to- And they shouldn't- give attention to individual players unless they are assisting with staff matters. What they should do, at least in my optimal situation- is write up a basic setting and plot to a situation and let the players decide how to deal with it. The server promotes the idea that there is freedom of RP and an abundance of citizen RP. Prove it. Hell if your GMs don't want to put that much effort in, I'll write up a story blueprint for each individual one of em.

The reason why I think like this, is because a previous community which had a VERY similar mindset to this one with the TBC system and RPG skills- it had a working schema too but far more bones and alpha versus something more well refined like what Willard has- They gave the players a situation and a drive to solve that situation. Sure- they could suggest some ideas but they left avenues open for creativity. As players progressed, they'd be rewarded with lore/information/items/currency. A sense of pride and accomplishment for their efforts.

Edit: Also Grass I did not know this. Thank you for clarifying.

 

[Madcombat]

I don't mean give attention to individual characters- People naturally gravitate to groups and factions. But don't mistake me, I don't mean GMs giving players a mission outright like how they offered Dutchy to raid the nexus- No.

An example I'd use, and have used in he past- Setting. You set the stage for a growing situation in the city(Like the Xen Infestation or the Hive). You give it a background threat that will eventually grow bigger- You show that to the players(Show, don't tell by spawning an over geared rebel like what's been happening recently), then- You allow the playerbase to react.

Let the players devise their own solutions with the tools they have available- or the tools they hope to seek out. Maybe they want to implant a mole in the DoP and smuggle out a toolkit? Perhaps they want to get hazmat suits to deal with the Xen infestation on their own? Maybe they want to build an underground railroad and have a covert means of entering and exiting the city such as what happened in Half Life 2?

The GMs don't need to- And they shouldn't- give attention to individual players unless they are assisting with staff matters. What they should do, at least in my optimal situation- is write up a basic setting and plot to a situation and let the players decide how to deal with it. The server promotes the idea that there is freedom of RP and an abundance of citizen RP. Prove it. Hell if your GMs don't want to put that much effort in, I'll write up a story blueprint for each individual one of em.

The reason why I think like this, is because a previous community which had a VERY similar mindset to this one with the TBC system and RPG skills- it had a working schema too but far more bones and alpha versus something more well refined like what Willard has- They gave the players a situation and a drive to solve that situation. Sure- they could suggest some ideas but they left avenues open for creativity. As players progressed, they'd be rewarded with lore/information/items/currency. A sense of pride and accomplishment for their efforts.

Edit: Also Grass I did not know this. Thank you for clarifying.

Well said.
Hear hear.

 

[Conair]

please someone tell me how representative this is of how CMs and the wider staff team feel, or if this is just you. because i know a bunch of serious, committed and intelligent players are extraordinarily close to leaving this community after reading this. if this is genuinely the ethos of willard networks, i don't even have words

Just convert to Fallout RP, you have the foundations more fitting for an action RPG, semi-serious roleplay adventure.

CCA = NCR, standing around with personal bodyguards being bureaucratic? Done.
MCP = Legion, edgy people that like to torture, kill and maim people for fun.
OTA = BoS are supposed to be power gaming event faction that just stands outside their bunker entrance.

e zed p zed conversion tbh. It's already a slow, grindy lootfest for script and turf, may as well lean into the fallout 76 vibes. Become the biggest, most impressive FO RP server, rather than singlehandedly killing off HL2RP with outmoded ethos and straight up bad takes.

Hell each faction also appeals to each kind of player, suggested by this video

If you don't want this grind, IMHO HL2RP isn't the best gamemode.

This grind didn't exist til you made it. Why not just go FO already. save everyone the trouble. All problems solved.

If people wanted grind, they'd play FO76, WoW, Runescape etc etc etc.
'Grind' and roleplay are antonyms and your insistence that it is and always has been a thing; it will remove all your serious players (which are somehow fleeing to neb to find the fix) until all you have is your script kiddos and pvp players.

Script is currently the server's crutch, not an aide to roleplay. You should not need script to RP but it should help RP. If script is tied to both economy, skills and roleplay? Then I have a game for you!
https://www.runescape.com/splash

 

[FreeStalker]

We got Runescape veterans as leading roles for a SERIOUS roleplaying server and they expect a SERIOUS roleplay playerbase to love their grindy shit systems, which have been proved time and time again how detrimental they are to not only roleplay, but the community as a whole, as seen in the original post. But, as I've been told by the OP, this is the shared opinion of most CMs and Devs. This community is doomed to fail as every single massive issue that arises from an intelligent community member POV, it is immediately shot down by a circlejerk of baboons with the $$ to pay the bills to have a community running.

Impressive UI, impressive Dev work. Shit management.

Congratulations, in an attempt to fix Neb's shitty way of dealing things in the HL2RP community, you managed to craft an even bigger and more smelly piece of crap. You've successfully made HL2RP into HL2RPG. What a feat, I must say.


View attachment 2454 < - Real professional by the way, from the Senior Developer.

While I can sympathize- Insulting the community staff isn't a way to get a point across. As Maroon highlighted, this is Gr4ss's honest opinion and does not represent the staff team or management as a whole(I certainly hope not. I didn't come to play Underdone. I actually kind of miss that game mode). The perceptive I've offered to this thread is a focus on GMing/Storytelling and rewarding roleplay through mini events and work provided by the UU and it's collaborators- that way there's more of a focus on roleplay between characters on all sides, GMs get to flex their muscles more, and Gr4ss doesn't need to die from exhaustion coding new systems.

 

[AdamCF]

idk if this is related but I bought about 75 pieces of lettuce and i went up by like 6 bartering levels

 

[FreeStalker]

idk if this is related but I bought about 75 pieces of lettuce and i went up by like 6 bartering levels

Somewhat related. When it comes to balancing, there's a bit of a problem with some of the skills. Some being that construction complex mechanisms or refining high quality materials gives you less to none experience compared to cutting up a cardboard box or pulling apart a soda can. During the first week my go-to for farming crafting EXP was slapping together an excessive amount of glasses lol

 

[theHandgun]

idk if this is related but I bought about 75 pieces of lettuce and i went up by like 6 bartering levels

rookie numbers, I bought around 170

 

[Mendelevius]

I do not agree with what GrAss had to say. That is just terrible. I could never say, "if you don't like it leave." That is lazy, selfish and just insensitive. I have openly stated multiple times, the only way this community survives is through it's voice of it's players, so it doesn't really matter what the staff or the developers think. This community was made for you. For players, so saying no or ignoring these issues, or concerns make no sense to me. WN will not survive without you so it desperately needs priority with full transparency.

I have said the current state of things are a "script casino" as the posts in this thread demonstrate quite well. The fixes are there and on the table, It needs to be done and it needs to be fixed as soon as possible. Roleplay is slowly becoming an after-thought, and it's become quite obvious, and frankly it is embarrassing. I just ask to continue being loud about it and do not let up on what needs to change.

 

[Dog]

I do not agree with what GrAss had to say. That is just terrible. I could never say, "if you don't like it leave." That is lazy, selfish and just insensitive. I have openly stated multiple times, the only way this community survives is through it's voice of it's players, so it doesn't really matter what the staff or the developers think. This community was made for you. For players, so saying no or ignoring these issues, or concerns make no sense to me. WN will not survive without you so it desperately needs priority with full transparency.

I have said the current state of things are a "script casino" as the posts in this thread demonstrate quite well. The fixes are there and on the table, It needs to be done and it needs to be fixed as soon as possible. Roleplay is slowly becoming an after-thought, and it's become quite obvious, and frankly it is embarrassing. I just ask to continue being loud about it and do not let up on what needs to change.

Oh shit. You're a damn cool dude for saying that. I like it. I hope the other staff is as cool as you.

 

[Mullin]

Oh shit. You're a damn cool dude for saying that. I like it. I hope the other staff is as cool as you.

Not as cool as me.