What's Next? - HL2RP: Early Days

[Postal]

How comes Willard's is still able to remain popular years after neb died?

they finally got rid of the players with nazi avatars and got rid of people who meltdown about pride month

the cps still have along way to go, too focused on amputating people for everything

 

[Anti-tankspy]

why is the formula being entirely redone with an older formula and setting that has been done on nebulous time and time again, instead of taking the current one and instead improving it which would not only be significantly easier, it would also guarantee a return of the big net of people who used to play?

I am being genuine and in no way am I trying to downplay the setting that's being aimed for - as a matter of fact, I think it's a bold move and I respect it. It's just that most of us are either in college/jobs and barely have the time and effort to dedicate to a cityrp setting which would require hours and hours of work to properly establish a character. S1 was very explosive and intense to the point where it was decided it'd be laid off for two weeks due to how the intense action the server's gameplay and lore saw, and the iteration was even quoted as being 'one of the best'.

The majority of S2 was also very enjoyable and provided a good experience for many. Only at its final days (or two months, to be specific) has it started getting a downgrade due to the petty drama that happened back then.

I understand that it would be very difficult to go back to that level without the original drivers of S1, but like many of the former senior staff stated: there was originally no lore set in place for the first few weeks, yet the server itself was still very enjoyable from both the rebel and Combine perspectives. The level of gameplay and direction in that era of HL2RP² might require some effort to mimic and re-implement, but it's definitely possible to be revised, and again, would still be easier than rewriting the formula to something the community lost interest in a long time ago.

So again my question is this: Why is this level of astonishing potential, presented in the setting and original gameplay of HL2RP², being discarded & abandoned in the face of something that has been done time and again for the past eight years? I understand that the lore and the story wouldn't be the easiest thing to manage without the original team, but it doesn't look nor sound like too much work to just stick to the original and intended mechanics of the early HL2RP² era and improve them.

For me, an old timer and a person who, for the first time, actually enjoyed HL2RP leagues over other servers that I played on, this is very disappointing to see as I do not overreact when I say that this was the seriously the best roleplay server I've played during my time on GMODRP and was ultimately the birth of my most developed character. Seeing a very good formula being discarded and thrown away for the sake of CityRP just refuses to sit well with me.

 

[rob]

I understand that it would be very difficult to go back to that level without the original drivers of S1, but like many of the former senior staff stated: there was originally no lore set in place for the first few weeks, yet the server itself was still very enjoyable from both the rebel and Combine perspectives. The level of gameplay and direction in that era of HL2RP² might require some effort to mimic and re-implement, but it's definitely possible to be revised, and again, would still be easier than rewriting the formula to something the community lost interest in a long time ago.

Oh yeah, for sure, you could almost argue that the lore was nonexistent at times, people didn't really know what they were doing for a good portion of the maps- but it worked. People were enjoying it. We didn't need convoluted lore, dozens upon dozens of roleplay documents to understand the setting. We just needed one or two threads every now and then.

Remember City 24? Remember when we tried to go for a genuine city setting at the start? Remember the businesses being setup that were quickly abandoned? Remember everyone deciding it was more fun to just leave the city and go to the slums instead?

I remember Civil Protection on City 24 being reverted back to how they used to be traditionally - which is why I lost interest in the faction and just decided to play on my Rebel for a good part of it.

I could pick on Southside as well, but that was much different than your typical CityRP format, even though we were in a city. It was fun. (thank you @Appetite Ruining Kebab for it)

Which is why I was surprised by what's next. Back to a city? Really? But we were loving the previous format, weren't we? What was wrong with it?

 

[RedMan]

Which is why I was surprised by what's next. Back to a city? Really? But we were loving the previous format, weren't we? What was wrong with it?

I personally detested the format. For me it was the hyperaggressive TDM gameplay; the Us vs Them mentality that killed it. Death lost complete meaning as people recklessly sent their characters into slaughter without consequences or reprecautions. So much so that people always took the opportunity to shoot without thinking; slaughtering pockets of roleplayers on several occasions.

As a matter of fact, City 24 demonstrated through the playercount people were far more interested in S2K than roleplay as the server peaked during planned incursions.

Remember City 24? Remember when we tried to go for a genuine city setting at the start? Remember the businesses being setup that were quickly abandoned? Remember everyone deciding it was more fun to just leave the city and go to the slums instead?

A setting that was promptly abandoned by inaction on behalf of staff members and shortly afterwards, the players themselves. There was no reason to stay within the city as player-led efforts were left supported unlike the slums. However, I do remember that whenever someone set something up- it always attracted people like moths to it.

In my humble opinion, the peak was the Combine expedition into the labs of D4. That is what made deaths meaningful and created a lot of opportunity for character development for each participant. Something that I struggled to find across the multitude of maps which were utilised.

 

[rob]

I personally detested the format. For me it was the hyperaggressive TDM gameplay; the Us vs Them mentality that killed it. Death lost complete meaning as people recklessly sent their characters into slaughter without consequences or reprecautions. So much so that people always took the opportunity to shoot without thinking; slaughtering pockets of roleplayers on several occasions.

As a matter of fact, City 24 demonstrated through the playercount people were far more interested in S2K than roleplay as the server peaked during planned incursions.

each to their own, I loved the format even with its flaws, I'd much rather it than what we had in the old days

 

[Northgate]

Personally, last iteration wasn't for me. I tried playing and enjoying it, but I couldn't get into it. It was done well, but I prefer a solid gameplay loop. I want a unique city setting for once, and I think that's what the team wants as well. I'd rather hear thoughts on how to make this work than saying it just won't

 

[rob]

I'd rather hear thoughts on how to make this work than saying it just won't

same here, I'm just being skeptical, I hope it works but I'm worried it likely won't - only time will tell at this point

 

[avralwobniar]

a random hl2rp server does not run that deep and doesnt need so much essay posting analysis
good luck

 

[Northgate]

a random hl2rp server does not run that deep and doesnt need so much essay posting analysis
good luck

i think its good to discuss concerns and ideas but we've entered a negative feedback loop

 

[Havok]

I’ll try it out :)

it’s hard to find time to juggle with when a child and a household plus a full time job is in play. But I will be sure to check it out .

Good luck with it. I like the idea


Black market dealers are something that should’ve been added years back. Good on you .

 

[Postal]

another reboot and it's hl2?

literally in a taconbanana cycle

 

[rob]

what models are the Progenitor guys gonna use

 

[Maytree]

I think we can all come together agree that we can (when the time arrives) conclude the 10+ years of HL2rp Madness with a nice beachy sunset in rp_industrial17 (followed by a weeks worth of CW 2013-16 Nostalgia).

 

[rob]

I think we can all come together agree that we can (when the time arrives) conclude the 10+ years of HL2rp Madness with a nice beachy sunset in rp_industrial17 (followed by a weeks worth of CW 2013-16 Nostalgia).

wake up, it's 2013! you're about to be late for the CAB Q&A on shell beach! quick, 90 citizens are lined up! and an idiot just ran onto the beach full of mines!

 

[Havok]

I think we can all come together agree that we can (when the time arrives) conclude the 10+ years of HL2rp Madness with a nice beachy sunset in rp_industrial17 (followed by a weeks worth of CW 2013-16 Nostalgia).

@Hudson mind making a neb timeline? Include golden age events etc

 

[Provingmedusa]

what models are the Progenitor guys gonna use

Sorry for the markings, but it'll be clothing like this with some difference in headwear depending on rank.

 

[Simman102]

I personally detested the format. For me it was the hyperaggressive TDM gameplay; the Us vs Them mentality that killed it. Death lost complete meaning as people recklessly sent their characters into slaughter without consequences or reprecautions. So much so that people always took the opportunity to shoot without thinking; slaughtering pockets of roleplayers on several occasions.

My gripe was the failure to create an environment to play a human character (on the Combine side of things). The CP -> OTA pipeline was great for its purpose and I know many people were drawn in by the opportunity to finally play OTA after years of being denied the possibility, but I personally felt like it terrorised the theme of the faction a bit too much.

Sure, if you were looking for a "slowly losing your humanity" arc and were content with the roleplay within OTA (which was overall pretty good, even if group identity expression overtook individual character expression), it was an excellent place to do so. But if you aimed to play a human character, you needed a lot of suspension of disbelief to argue why your character is not being transhumanised. And then, on top of that, you had to witness most of the people you'd met become OTA, which very frequently meant they'd stop playing soon. Losing all your friends to that process makes for good character development, but the fact that it was a regular occurrence made it a dead end, in a way - you either keep repeating the same scenario over and over, or begin to simply ignore the issue, neither of which were sustainable in the long term.

It was a good environment to have a transhumanisation arc and then the militaristic OTA RP, but not much otherwise. We thought about the idea of a secession between CP and OTA as early as the second day of the first map (back during the mass stalkerization era - it would've made the most sense), but it felt too disruptive for the server at the time.

 

[Crabcus]

Willard's only been open for three years so fatigue hasn't really set in for them.

what do you mean by "fatigue"? if you're implying that older communities are at some sort of inherent and inescapable disadvantage this is false.

they don't even do anything especially interesting with it, or different. They don't really need to though.
Willard offered fresh-faced enthusiasm for the setting and absorbed two communities worth of players who, as I said, were still interested in it.

if they aren't doing anything interesting or different, then why are they consistently drawing in a large amount of players? players will naturally play on whatever server offers the most interesting and compelling experience. if you think player count is not reflective of this whatsoever and continuously make excuses for poor performance (i.e fatigue?) instead of recognizing ways to actually create a competitive experience it's no question the server won't be successful - especially now that headstaff have clearly said they have no interest in the setting and have decided to pursue other projects.

 

[heaveN]

I hope that if this is gonna happen there’s more work put into the citizen faction, since that is what most people will be playin.

I felt like people always put 90% of the effort into the cool edgy exclusive factions such as ota, cab, intelligence etc etc even though they barely involved a handful of people and were never seen by random players

 

[Rabid]

what do you mean by "fatigue"? if you're implying that older communities are at some sort of inherent and inescapable disadvantage this is false.

I meant it as I said it - fatigue. After six years of it (as of 2021) people had lost interest in CityRP on all sides on Neb and wanted to move on from it, if not RP as a whole. The vast majority of people I know from this community haven't gone to other big servers like Willard, if they even still do shit on Gmod at all.

if they aren't doing anything interesting or different, then why are they consistently drawing in a large amount of players?

Because, following on from what I said above, their playerbase is made up of people who still want CityRP and-or Semi-serious RP and have been playing there for years now. 'Brand loyalty' is very much a part of a lot of Gmod communities and its something they take advantage of as much as we did.

Like, I encourage you to go play their server for a while. Its just a very strict CityRP.

if you think player count is not reflective of this whatsoever and continuously make excuses for poor performance (i.e fatigue?) instead of recognizing ways to actually create a competitive experience it's no question the server won't be successful - especially now that headstaff have clearly said they have no interest in the setting and have decided to pursue other projects.

I don't think I said anything controversial? Willard were fresh-faced and motivated at a time where Neb wanted to throw in the towel regarding the setting. Of course an energized team on a brand new community with the sort of dev work nobody on Neb had been interested in for years at that point did well and is still going today?

I might not like Atle too much because of what he did before he quit here, but in regards to launching the server he's really only did what we did in 2016 - absorb the bulk of our players from an existing community and keep trucking even during the low points.