Mechanic/Auto Shop role-play

[liq]

Hi.

 

Been wanting to open one of these discussion topics for a while. Having been running an auto shop IG for about a month and striving to provide quality role-play for it, I'm curious what's the community's take on the current mechanic role-play scene, what you don't like to see, what you like to see more, and so forth.

 

I've personally been trying to burst the bubble with it and instill a sense of realism and fun along the way. Keep it knowledgeably detailed but not dwell into anything too technical for one to understand. Promote mainstream aspects that are apparently not even practiced by most shops (like take time when there's a serious order, provide warranty on services and products, never rush role-play, etc) as well as develop a character along the way that just doesn't know to do everything and work on any kind of make and model, and have been trying to get that into my members' role-play.

 

As for IG money, I'm pretty conservative and don't care how much it makes. I take earnings out weekly, pay anyone higher (supervisor, manager) a fair share, and pay any entry level mechanic a bonus. The rest goes in restocking, ads, graphics, lease and my character retains whatever profit it makes.

 

/discuss.

Edited September 23, 2019 by liq

[MasterChief]

I'm sure the Admin team has their reasons for certain things, so I don't presume to know their plan. I feel the mechanic/auto-shop role play should be an official faction that can hold shops/mechanics accountable for the quality of their role play. Sure people are going to say that they don't want to be limited to a faction, that it will limit their role play. I personally think that's a bullshit excuse to be honest. I won't mention server names, but several other examples of this can be found where the mechanic position is whitelisted or within a faction to be monitored. It helps facilitate more realistic role play and keeps people accountable to their RP standards. This way there can be an organization to it all and can help facilitate larger and organized events between shops, promotions, etc. I feel this can also help facilitate illegal auto shop RP and expand that into something more than it is now.

 

On this particular server, I've seen great RP and awful RP in the auto shop/mechanic area. Some people are really out to make a legitimate experience and others are just in it to make money. That's to be expected. However, some places are just downright awful and take 3-5 minutes to swap out an engine, install a turbo, install new racing brakes, lower the suspension and apply a new paint job. I understand there should definitely be a balance to role playing a proper amount of time and taking into account that players don't want to wait forever, but there should be a basic understanding that this is RP and it should take longer than 3-5 minutes. I want to see a standard that you come across where there is quality, timely role play where mechanics/business owners are in it for the role play more so than the money. I get that money is a big thing, but role play quality is paramount.

 

 

[Fenrir]

What you're suggesting would most definitely be a good addition to see in the auto-shop RP. I'd also like to hear a mechanic say "Leave the car here. You can pick it up tomorrow." For some reason mechanics in LS can tune a car from stock to stage IV in ten minutes. Sure, there's the timezone/servertime problem, but still, some things move way too fast. There are a lot of things that can be improved, but they will all have to be done individually by each of the mechanics on the server. I can't think of a reasonable way to impose a 'standard' upon the mechanic RP, at the end of the day it's up to each player to bring something good to the table.

[liq]

@Kestalas, I don't see a faction making this particular role-play type any better. I think that'll hinder it. Auto shops are commonly businesses. I like having the freedom of doing whatever I want with it as an owner/leaser and considering all shops are leased through Property Management and passively monitored, I think the current system works fine. PLM could subjectively be more proactive to iron out subpar mechanic roleplayers and set the norm but that's about it. Pretty certain @Thirteen has been on top of that given the track record of some places. But I wholeheartedly agree with the other aspects you shed light on - rushing the role-play and timeframe has been a norm I'm trying to break. But it's hard because players just start messaging you that you take too long and then they never swing by again and go to another shop who gives them what they want. So I try to keep it balanced and instill roleplay for the most part and not make people wait crazy amount of times (max I did was one OOC day on someone who didn't want it). If people want quick service I make them realistically pay expedite parts shipment and overtime on top of the usual labor charge so it gets more hefty for them just like it would get in real life.2

 

@Fenrir, I already take steps to do long term roleplay at the shop I have. But sometimes players aren't fond of it. So past a few hours, it's never been appreciated, except specific cases where it was demand and I personally had a blast to roleplay reconditioning a car for 4-5 days in a row.

Edited September 23, 2019 by liq

[Topinambour]

Like a lot of jobs, mechanic RP is in a strange position. It's technically mandatory to have an elaborate mechanic RP whenever, as a customer or mechanic, a vehicle is upgraded or repaired. 

 

However, it's a rather niche kind of interest. Not a majority of RP'ers (far from it) are interested in RP'ing the in-depth details of what being a mechanic entails, or reading lines upon lines of detailed mechanic RP. Unfortunately, for those who want a job that isn't bartending, mechanic is often a good alternative except: not everyone's an adept. And for the customers, well, that RP's mandatory, a little like queuing at the DMV IRL is mandatory and realistic but not very interesting. 

 

It also creates an expectation for the OOC player to have the OOC knowledge an actual RL mechanic would have. This means studying on a relatively niche topic, all for an IC job. While most people will find *some* knowledge of mechanics to be interesting, going in-depth will just be boring and overall they'll just do what's sometimes done: skip the RP altogether, or do the bare minimum.

 

And to be fully honest, given how few interesting stories, links, relations, ... are created through this type of RP, I can't quite blame them. That said, we're at the risk of veering in the problematic field of "realism and quality RP, are they truly synonyms?" and I know the whole GTAW staff doesn't share my vision of those aspects. 

1 hour ago, liq said:

@Fenrir, I already take steps to do long term roleplay at the shop I have. But sometimes players aren't fond of it. So past a few hours, it's never been appreciated, except specific cases where it was demand and I personally had a blast to roleplay reconditioning a car for 4-5 days in a row.

This is pretty much what I was mentioning above. You're one of the people who have that niche interest, which is cool. However, not everyone shares that interest and it can get problematic. It's...

 

A little when you have that friend who's obsessed with THAT anime and every time you're around, he will spend the entire evening monopolizing the conversation to tell you more about that fucking anime you don't give a damn about. It's a bit of a similar situation, except here the rules make it mandatory for you to listen to the dude's anime ramblings. 

 

Someone who's as passionate as him about that anime may like it, and it would be cool if they were in touch and talked about it with one another. But for everyone else it's horribly obnoxious, and often would discourage them from coming back (part of why I never upgraded any of my cars).

[iamfailtacular]

@Topinambour kinda nailed it on the head. People are inclined to speed out on you if you take too long to /aorder. People want money, so they're not going to go "Hey line of like four-five cars? You all cool waiting 30mins-2hours while I work on one vehicle?" Frankly the amount of work that has to go in to learning enough about Mechanic RP to maintain the suspension of disbelief is heavily underappreciated to begin with. And that being said, mechanic shops have pre-determined prices on all the services. The only way to differentiate from another mechanic shop is labor fees and even then those are getting increasingly eliminated by shops. So you can't really do a whole lot to create customer loyalty. The best you can do is look like you know what you're doing and get them on the road ASAP.

 

Tldr; Don't mistake expedited RP for lazy RP. Usually it's done through a lens of balance.  

 

Edit: Quick suggestion. But if you're okay with waiting two years for a vehicle upgrade why not take it upon yourself to spread them out? One upgrade today. Another next week? And slowly build your cars into the fully upgraded top tier monsters they usually are?

 

Edit Edit: You could even go step by step instead of going straight for that top tier engine. RP it as one piece at a time. Gradually building up the thing. This would take a very long time and fit your immersive time table!

Edited September 23, 2019 by iamfailtacular
Really just being snarky at this point. x'D

[Anselmi]

I don't mind if people don't want to role play it out to such an extent where it's taking a week to repair or upgrade a car. That's totally down to preference and applies to many other situations where certain themes of role play are simply not everybody's cup of tea. An hour, a day, a week - totally down to the people who are involved in the role play as far as I'm concerned.

 

What bothers me is when people try to role play it and show absolutely no interest in the playing role itself; usually those who are motivated by money. Some people haven't got a single clue and don't make an effort to research the role, which ultimately results in poor role play. Topinambour touched on this and it applies to nearly everything you role play on the server - you're obviously not expected to go out and study how to be a medic, mechanic or whatever you're role playing - but you should at least show some sort of interest in whatever it is you're role playing and put in some effort into the role play you're providing.

[iamfailtacular]

@Veisalgia I'll concede a problem in quality. Quality is definitely more than a fair unit of measurement. Time is the thing that gets me. I had a guy legitimately cockily take a take from someone else that was working on it, like "You're so silly." and, quote, put the car in the paint machine for it's new paint job + decals. Did the cringy %'s then handed it off. 

 

But I think criticizing Mechanic RP for not taking days is a little unreasonable. You have to consider that they're trying to stay in character, and have to deal with a large clientele. I don't know many mechanics that wouldn't be thrilled to hear "Can I leave my car here and you call me when it's done?" but the truth is that it doesn't really happen. And Mechanic's aren't mind readers. They don't know the interests of each customer on a personal scale. So if folk are really interested in seeing days done to work on their cars I'd advise /b or /pm and explain that to the Mechanic. But don't be upset if they don't lead you off with that.

 

---

 

To answer the OP's original comment, it seems the gist of it though is that quality is a desire. Maintain the suspension of disbelief to the best of your ability and tailor the experience to the individual should they give you something to go with. But I do think starting a thread to narrow some interests down is a smart idea. 

[Topinambour]

1 hour ago, Veisalgia said:

What bothers me is when people try to role play it and show absolutely no interest in the playing role itself; usually those who are motivated by money. Some people haven't got a single clue and don't make an effort to research the role, which ultimately results in poor role play. Topinambour touched on this and it applies to nearly everything you role play on the server - you're obviously not expected to go out and study how to be a medic, mechanic or whatever you're role playing - but you should at least show some sort of interest in whatever it is you're role playing and put in some effort into the role play you're providing.

It's an important point, indeed. When someone documents themselves about what they're playing is when their RP starts becoming less McDonald's Hamburger and more BBQ Pit Boys Cheeseburger*.  Even characters often quickly judged unrealistic, with an unusual story, if they're interestingly researched, tend to have way more personality than a cookie-cutter bland "realistic" char with little depth. 

 

That's because what's really interesting in creating cool RP isn't that you can make a full description of how one should change a cylinder-head gasket, nobody gives a damn. If an RP looks like you're reading a user manual, there's a problem. What's interesting is how your character's unique experiences, including his job (but not only) shape him as a unique character ^^ And some research is usually needed. Not a crazy amount, but some, as you said.

 

* Merely watching this video will make you feel 23 to 27% more american, and increase your cholesterol to dangerous levels.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Topinambour

[MasterChief]

I would honestly be okay with an average of 10-15 minutes per car. Obviously this is not ideal for the realism aspect, but as I said before, you have to weigh the realism vs. RP expectations. I believe you can perform quality RP in 10-15 minutes for most jobs if you take the time to write proper and more creative /me's displaying general (but not lazy) mechanic actions. I don't think a majority of people care that you use a 10mm socket wrench to take off this particular part to get to another specific part to take it out, but it can be more creative than "/me takes out the engine and puts in the new engine" haha ?

 

If a shop is trying to establish detailed mechanic role play like that, might I suggest that you take on more internal projects that can promote your shop as a knowledgeable business of restoring/fixing vehicles. Restorative role play can get incredibly detailed and it's highly satisfying to the one portraying such a detailed mechanic/auto shop.

Edited September 24, 2019 by Kestalas