- Location
- The Marmite Pit
I suppose this could be construed as a very long-winded suggestion, so my apologies to the powers-that-be if this is in the wrong place. If needs be I’m more than happy for it to be moved to the suggestions forum and to arrange it into a suggestion format (pros and cons, brief and detailed suggestions, etc). Apologies for another essay, I know I have a habit of writing these indecently long posts, but I've just got a lot of ideas and it seems like now more than ever we need all the inspiration we can get.
Anyway: here I present to the people of RPUK, my grand vision of Altis 2.0. In my view, the reset has to be more than just wiping the player's bank accounts. We need to approach this as a fresh start entirely, starting with the basics and then building up and adding new things as/when we need to. It's worth mentioning that I am not a developer. I don't believe anything I am proposing here would be particularly difficult to do, but I know nothing about coding or developing, so I can't say for sure.
1. Money Runs
Detailed version of this suggestion can be found here. But, as a tldr: I’ve got three legal, three illegal runs, all of them are different distances. There are two drug dealers, one in Kavala and one in Pygros. The payouts of each run are determined by the distance covered in the run and the risk (illegal runs pay more, and there is a bonus for selling at Kavala drug dealer instead of Pygros). Having too many runs spreads players out too much; by having less runs, we are increasing the chance of players running into each other, which is only a good thing. The more interactions players are having with each other, the better. These runs are simple. Field > processor > seller. There is no point in complicating money runs; they are boring by nature, and giving certain things certain names does little to change that.
2. The Map
We want players to find each other easily. To accomplish this, we are going to completely debalance the map. We’re gonna have massive portions of the map being completely unused and completely empty. To use Kavala as an example: the DVLA and the car shop are going to be moved into Kavala square and the bank is going to be moved to just outside the square. Kavala high street is going to be busy as fuck, the rest of Kavala is going to be empty. We’re gonna move the prison back to Athira and we’re gonna move all the shops and the bank in Athira all down the same street to create a highstreet. For my example of a reworked Kavala, see here.
3. Balancing Roleplay and Gunfights
The past couple of years there has been a lot of talk about RPUK becoming more gunfight-oriented, and that RP had taken a backseat. With the addition of zones and the prominence of PVP moneymaking, it's clear that this is the case. RP and gunfights are often talked about as though it's a case of one or the other, but I don't believe that has to be the case. I think we can have both.
3a: Zones: The zones have to go. We have to provide a platform that allows for gunfights, but not in a way that encourages it as a primary playstyle. At present, the zones are a weak excuse for players to go to a certain location and wait for someone to show up to fight. Everything that happens on the server- including gunfights- needs to suplement a storyline.
3b: Gangbases: My solution to the zones is a new gangbase system. This is perhaps something that should be added later on if/when the numbers go up, as I don't believe there will be a place for this early doors. There are only a limited number of bases, and each base offers a unique perk (i.e. you can only buy this particular gun from this particular base). Gangs capture the base by having enough players and enough money to do so. Rival gangs who want to take the base will approach the occupying gang in initiation/negotiations, where they may come to an agreement (i.e. an exchange of funds) or they may initiate a gunfight. But if it's going to be a gunfight, there must be initiation. These gangbases will not be redzones. Taking bases from other gangs will also require a certain percentage of the occuping gang's members to be online.
3c: Heists: When robbing the HM Treasury and doing similiar heists, there are two ways to access the goods: by force, such as using a blasting charge or codebreaker or whatever the equivelant is; or having a police officer open the vault for you. If you open the vault by force, you will face a penalty (there will be less inside the vault or something like that). Players who roleplay their way into the vault and have a police officer open it for them will earn more money from a heist. Those who choose to talk their way through heists rather than shoot through them will be rewarded.
3d: Firearms: The Zaros handgun store will be moved closer to Kavala. Personally, I liked it when it was on Kore Bend like it was back in 2015. In terms of rifles, we'll have two shops: one for lower calibre (6.5 and below) and one for higher calibre (above 6.5mm). Both require seperate licences. These should be out of the way elsewhere on the map.
4. Police, Poseidon & Plot
My vision here is to create a dynamic world that changes based on what happens within it. Beforehand, Altis has been static. Poseidon can push the border forward a little bit, and the police can push it back, but aside from that, nothing really has any consequences.
4a: Border Wars: I think Border Wars should stay, but it needs to be more consequential. The server needs to be more reactive to the overarching story, and factions need to be willing to adapt to their role within the story, even if it comes at a price of power and territory. The Poseidon border should start at Telos. For every Poseidon victory, the border moves west. For every police victory, it moves east. There is no limit to how far the border can go; if Poseidon win every week, they can eventually reach and conquer Kavala. What will that mean for the police? Well, until they get a chance to fight again the next week, they will have to go incognito as civillians, and the police leaders will become fugitives and hunted (sounds like a very fun server event if you ask me, playing hide and seek with the police bosses).
4b: Events: We will host events that directly affect the storyline of the server. Debates between mayoral candidates. Public trials of notorious criminals, where if found guilty they will become fugitives. Protests against police bosses, that can result in them being exiled from their position until they win it back. The list goes on and on, the events would keep rolling and rolling, and the storyline would continually develop. The possibilites are endless.
4c: Faction Hierachy: I believe it was @Normanthat suggested that faction leaders should have term limits, and I'd agree with that. How long it would be is open to discussion, but I do feel there needs to be a limit. I would also say that as of the wipe, a lot of ranks need to be removed, as we simply don't have the players at the moment to fill most of them. The ranking structures need to be simplified, and we can add more ranks as and when we need to.
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With enough advertisment of the wipe and a willingness to implement new ideas, I think we have a chance of reviving Altis. But Management need to be all in on this. We can't have this half arsed thing where Altis just exists on the side while FiveM is the focus. I understand FiveM is the fresh new thing and it's the platform that is generating the most amount of buzz. I know that Altis has had its day and that it can't ever compete with FiveM. But we can still have a succesful Altis server. Other places are still doing it, and the simple truth is that for most of the last seven years, we have done it better than anyone else. We can get back to that.
--------
TLDR:
- Less money runs, and run payouts are calculated by distance and risk.
- Map is compressed so that there's more stuff in popular areas, so that players are always nearby each other.
- Zones need to go, I have made an alternative suggestion involving gangbases. Heists such as HM Treasury can be done by gunfight or roleplay, people who choose roleplay will earn more money.
- The last one is kind of difficult to summarise- if you only read one of the sections, please make it section 4.
- Management need to break out of their FiveM tunnel vision and recognise that Altis can still have a place in RPUK.
Anyway: here I present to the people of RPUK, my grand vision of Altis 2.0. In my view, the reset has to be more than just wiping the player's bank accounts. We need to approach this as a fresh start entirely, starting with the basics and then building up and adding new things as/when we need to. It's worth mentioning that I am not a developer. I don't believe anything I am proposing here would be particularly difficult to do, but I know nothing about coding or developing, so I can't say for sure.
1. Money Runs
Detailed version of this suggestion can be found here. But, as a tldr: I’ve got three legal, three illegal runs, all of them are different distances. There are two drug dealers, one in Kavala and one in Pygros. The payouts of each run are determined by the distance covered in the run and the risk (illegal runs pay more, and there is a bonus for selling at Kavala drug dealer instead of Pygros). Having too many runs spreads players out too much; by having less runs, we are increasing the chance of players running into each other, which is only a good thing. The more interactions players are having with each other, the better. These runs are simple. Field > processor > seller. There is no point in complicating money runs; they are boring by nature, and giving certain things certain names does little to change that.
2. The Map
We want players to find each other easily. To accomplish this, we are going to completely debalance the map. We’re gonna have massive portions of the map being completely unused and completely empty. To use Kavala as an example: the DVLA and the car shop are going to be moved into Kavala square and the bank is going to be moved to just outside the square. Kavala high street is going to be busy as fuck, the rest of Kavala is going to be empty. We’re gonna move the prison back to Athira and we’re gonna move all the shops and the bank in Athira all down the same street to create a highstreet. For my example of a reworked Kavala, see here.
3. Balancing Roleplay and Gunfights
The past couple of years there has been a lot of talk about RPUK becoming more gunfight-oriented, and that RP had taken a backseat. With the addition of zones and the prominence of PVP moneymaking, it's clear that this is the case. RP and gunfights are often talked about as though it's a case of one or the other, but I don't believe that has to be the case. I think we can have both.
3a: Zones: The zones have to go. We have to provide a platform that allows for gunfights, but not in a way that encourages it as a primary playstyle. At present, the zones are a weak excuse for players to go to a certain location and wait for someone to show up to fight. Everything that happens on the server- including gunfights- needs to suplement a storyline.
3b: Gangbases: My solution to the zones is a new gangbase system. This is perhaps something that should be added later on if/when the numbers go up, as I don't believe there will be a place for this early doors. There are only a limited number of bases, and each base offers a unique perk (i.e. you can only buy this particular gun from this particular base). Gangs capture the base by having enough players and enough money to do so. Rival gangs who want to take the base will approach the occupying gang in initiation/negotiations, where they may come to an agreement (i.e. an exchange of funds) or they may initiate a gunfight. But if it's going to be a gunfight, there must be initiation. These gangbases will not be redzones. Taking bases from other gangs will also require a certain percentage of the occuping gang's members to be online.
3c: Heists: When robbing the HM Treasury and doing similiar heists, there are two ways to access the goods: by force, such as using a blasting charge or codebreaker or whatever the equivelant is; or having a police officer open the vault for you. If you open the vault by force, you will face a penalty (there will be less inside the vault or something like that). Players who roleplay their way into the vault and have a police officer open it for them will earn more money from a heist. Those who choose to talk their way through heists rather than shoot through them will be rewarded.
3d: Firearms: The Zaros handgun store will be moved closer to Kavala. Personally, I liked it when it was on Kore Bend like it was back in 2015. In terms of rifles, we'll have two shops: one for lower calibre (6.5 and below) and one for higher calibre (above 6.5mm). Both require seperate licences. These should be out of the way elsewhere on the map.
4. Police, Poseidon & Plot
My vision here is to create a dynamic world that changes based on what happens within it. Beforehand, Altis has been static. Poseidon can push the border forward a little bit, and the police can push it back, but aside from that, nothing really has any consequences.
4a: Border Wars: I think Border Wars should stay, but it needs to be more consequential. The server needs to be more reactive to the overarching story, and factions need to be willing to adapt to their role within the story, even if it comes at a price of power and territory. The Poseidon border should start at Telos. For every Poseidon victory, the border moves west. For every police victory, it moves east. There is no limit to how far the border can go; if Poseidon win every week, they can eventually reach and conquer Kavala. What will that mean for the police? Well, until they get a chance to fight again the next week, they will have to go incognito as civillians, and the police leaders will become fugitives and hunted (sounds like a very fun server event if you ask me, playing hide and seek with the police bosses).
4b: Events: We will host events that directly affect the storyline of the server. Debates between mayoral candidates. Public trials of notorious criminals, where if found guilty they will become fugitives. Protests against police bosses, that can result in them being exiled from their position until they win it back. The list goes on and on, the events would keep rolling and rolling, and the storyline would continually develop. The possibilites are endless.
4c: Faction Hierachy: I believe it was @Normanthat suggested that faction leaders should have term limits, and I'd agree with that. How long it would be is open to discussion, but I do feel there needs to be a limit. I would also say that as of the wipe, a lot of ranks need to be removed, as we simply don't have the players at the moment to fill most of them. The ranking structures need to be simplified, and we can add more ranks as and when we need to.
--------
With enough advertisment of the wipe and a willingness to implement new ideas, I think we have a chance of reviving Altis. But Management need to be all in on this. We can't have this half arsed thing where Altis just exists on the side while FiveM is the focus. I understand FiveM is the fresh new thing and it's the platform that is generating the most amount of buzz. I know that Altis has had its day and that it can't ever compete with FiveM. But we can still have a succesful Altis server. Other places are still doing it, and the simple truth is that for most of the last seven years, we have done it better than anyone else. We can get back to that.
--------
TLDR:
- Less money runs, and run payouts are calculated by distance and risk.
- Map is compressed so that there's more stuff in popular areas, so that players are always nearby each other.
- Zones need to go, I have made an alternative suggestion involving gangbases. Heists such as HM Treasury can be done by gunfight or roleplay, people who choose roleplay will earn more money.
- The last one is kind of difficult to summarise- if you only read one of the sections, please make it section 4.
- Management need to break out of their FiveM tunnel vision and recognise that Altis can still have a place in RPUK.
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