Rent out billboards!

[mj2002]

TLDR

 

• Customize billboards in the same way certain businesses/buildings get custom signs/textures
• Try to incorporate this into an IC system, instead of UCP only
• Charge players in-game money instead of WP or whatever
• Serious advertisements/messages only

 

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So, the city and the rest of the map have a lot of billboards mapped around them. Many of these billboards have textures that could be adjusted/modded. Within the last x amount of months, it has become possible to have certain textures on the map replaced by custom textures (such as signs for long running businesses). I think it would be cool if this could be extended towards billboards as well. Billboards currently don't provide that much value, because most (if not all) of them are GTA5 lore related, and mostly silly stuff at that. Great if you like that kind of humor, but we can make better use of these in the server. I should think this would be a nice way to provide a new (albeit small) money sink that can be introduced to the server.

 

I don't know exactly how this should play out, but I have a few wishes:

 

• Please don't let this be another UCP-only thing. I get that it's needed to actually communicate the textures to the relevant team, but we have so many systems that are OOC-only already. It'd be much nicer if we can also tie some actual roleplay into this. Maybe an ad agency, I don't know. Feel free to come up with suggestions here.
• This would be a nice opportunity to create a (minor) money sink. Please, no panda points or WP. This kinda ruins the immersion to be honest and gatekeeps content. Billboard prices could be based on monthly usage, with higher prices for billboards in more traveled areas.
• Restricted to serious advertisements only, obviously. It'd be mostly businesses that have been running for a while and some legal factions.

 

This concept isn't entirely complete, though I think the basics are there. Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but for many billboards it is possible to replace the textures, which should technical minimum requirement. Feedback or ideas to expand on how to make this an IC thing, are very much appreciated!

 

 

 

[MarcoEL]

+1

[Odin]

This would be cool to see but I think it'd need to be fairly restricted since I believe doing this is a manual process which is why only long term businesses got the special signs.

[knppel]

4 hours ago, Odin said:

This would be cool to see but I think it'd need to be fairly restricted since I believe doing this is a manual process which is why only long term businesses got the special signs.

Let me sell them ic and trash people that come with bad ideas, problem solved.

 

Seriously, I would recommend the opposite approach, as more often then not new businesses need promotion direly, whereas longterm established ones most usually have their clientel anyway (if they had not they'd not last). Consequently, established businesses usually rely on promotion way less than new ones.

 

Opposed to treat is as a sort of ooc reward for longetivity it should be taken as the thing it's supposed to be, a method to advertise, which is available for people paying for it, as long as whatever they put up makes sense (i.e. promoting a business, political party or figure).

 

I mean sure, reward long term businesses. I'll not mind Ashley and Carry plastered all over the city, for me this works. But I think more fruitful in general would be a different approach- and ic regulation is ideal as it creates a (low, but existent) financial interest for the companies controlling billboard access, while at the same time encouraging candidates to keep standards on billboards acceptable, as they might lose their permits to sell billboards if they put up stupid stuff.

[mj2002]

7 hours ago, knppel said:

Let me sell them ic and trash people that come with bad ideas, problem solved.

 

Seriously, I would recommend the opposite approach, as more often then not new businesses need promotion direly, whereas longterm established ones most usually have their clientel anyway (if they had not they'd not last). Consequently, established businesses usually rely on promotion way less than new ones.

 

Opposed to treat is as a sort of ooc reward for longetivity it should be taken as the thing it's supposed to be, a method to advertise, which is available for people paying for it, as long as whatever they put up makes sense (i.e. promoting a business, political party or figure).

 

I mean sure, reward long term businesses. I'll not mind Ashley and Carry plastered all over the city, for me this works. But I think more fruitful in general would be a different approach- and ic regulation is ideal as it creates a (low, but existent) financial interest for the companies controlling billboard access, while at the same time encouraging candidates to keep standards on billboards acceptable, as they might lose their permits to sell billboards if they put up stupid stuff.

 

The reason why I think it's a good idea to have them focus on businesses and factions that have been around for a while is because I'd imagine that this sorta thing takes some time to work on. Unless switching textures eventually is just that easy, you wouldn't wanna have to redo all these boards on the daily. Yes, new businesses need promotion, I agree. But some of them open once or twice and then give up. Gotta keep that in mind, I'd say.

[knppel]

27 minutes ago, mj2002 said:

Unless switching textures eventually is just that easy, you wouldn't wanna have to redo all these boards on the daily

Indeed this would mandate a streamlined way to replace the placed billboards in case, but this is something that should be taken in considerationanyway to begin with for other reasons too (say a character dies, their billboard wouldn't just stay up for months...)

Edited June 28, 2023 by knppel

[Narco]

+1 im tryna see donald gibson n carry saunders on the billboard, sheeeit, maybe even Dambe Warriors. 

[marbella mondays]

+1

[Bubonic]

If the devs can do it, I'd love to see it! 

[FatCatTuxedo]

This is something for LFM and modding team to handle.

 

Theres no methods in ragemp to replace textures via the script.