Gauging interest: a case for port roleplay

[Slamdance]

Comparatively GTA V's rendition of Los Santos has a total port area at least twice the size of similar environs in GTA IV and around double that still of Ocean Docks from GTA: San Andreas. Despite the scale of the PoLS and depth of detail with enterable/lockable compounds, moored cargo vessels, wharfs, and explorable warehouses, the area is far from being used to its full potential.

 

In reality, the Port of Los Angeles at Terminal Island is the busiest container port in the United States and the largest by area by far when factoring in the neighbouring Port of Long Beach as part of the same maritime trade hub. It's home to countless jobs and undoubtedly countless crimes (because what else are most of us here for, right?) It hosts its own police force - the Los Angeles Port Police - dedicated to anti-narcotics, counterterrorism, and community operations.

Needless to say the port plays an enormous role not just in the day-to-day operations running of the city but also the country at large.

 

So what's my point?

 

The benefits of such an environment for roleplay are innumerous. Here are a few highlights:

• A more manageable entry point into government roleplay. The port has the ability to become a city within a city and as such can act as a testing ground for the next generation of government / political roleplayers without any errors or issues that occur affecting the entirety of LS.
• An actual physical point of contact for the underworld trade. The ports of the world are the primary conduits for narcotics, firearms, and sex trafficking. While I lack any hands-on experience with the smuggling systems GTA:W has in place, I can't imagine any of them would be much more engaging than actually having to manage the supply chain yourself.
• The facilitation of legal roleplay. Currently legal characters are restricted to either grinding away at scripted jobs or stripping on female alts (a reductivist viewpoint but an accurate one.) An active port opens up opportunities for unions, warehousing, more in-depth trucking roleplay for those that want it, and more.

While I'm not explicitly putting myself forward for the management of such a mammoth project, my experience in handling similar quasi-governmental factions is more than suitable to get this sort of thing off the ground. There's also the question of what form it would take, whether it's a general Port of Los Santos thread where involved characters operate autonomously, a branch of the ILWU, or something more formal.

 

Ultimately it's interest from the GTA:W community that will shape this concept into something that can be utilised by the widest amount of players. What's your opinion?

[Scarecrow]

The port is already running, I believe? It's a project of the gov's Department of Labor, like 99.9% sure.

[Slamdance]

Just now, Scarecrow said:

The port is already running, I believe? It's a project of the gov's Department of Labor, like 99.9% sure.

Yeah, this was supposed to be more about expanding upon it to make it more accessible. I can't edit my posts for some reason though.

[slick!]

3 hours ago, Slamdance said:

Yeah, this was supposed to be more about expanding upon it to make it more accessible. I can't edit my posts for some reason though.

He is right, it's very inaccessible to anyone outside of GOV, been waiting around 6 months for LFM to sort it out with GOV and get me a contract so my warehouse can actually handle paying my people.

[Planters80mm]

There's a man you need for it and he's named @Florida

[DLimit]

12 minutes ago, slick! said:

He is right, it's very inaccessible to anyone outside of GOV, been waiting around 6 months for LFM to sort it out with GOV and get me a contract so my warehouse can actually handle paying my people.

Simply contact the members of the port. Jobs are accessible to non-Gov members, from the bottom-up.

[Matt.]

@NexusExodus

[Florida]

I haven't done trucking on this server since 2017 so I don't really know how it works, but if truckers relied on the port workers to expedite loading/unloading cargo that alone would drive incentive.

[HeyMambo]

6 minutes ago, Florida said:

I haven't done trucking on this server since 2017 so I don't really know how it works, but if truckers relied on the port workers to expedite loading/unloading cargo that alone would drive incentive.

That would be awesome. As it stands now, there are supply points scattered around the map to pick up different kinds of supplies. There’s two spawn points at the port if I remember correctly. One that’s a bit down the road and a couple out west towards Sandy. The truckers pick up the supplies themselves with a script command and then put it in the truck, box by box, with a second script command. 

Edited May 18, 2021 by Numelo

[Florida]

3 minutes ago, Numelo said:

That would be awesome. As it stands now, there are supply points scattered around the map to pick up different kinds of supplies. There’s two spawn points at the port if I remember correctly. One that’s a bit down the road and a couple out west towards Sandy. The truckers pick up the supplies themselves with a script command and then put it in the truck, box by box, with a second script command. 

 

On a different server the port workers got forklifts which loaded/unloaded cargo ridiculously fast compared to by hand. That alone made truckers love role-playing with the port workers. Something simple just to speed up the process while encouraging interaction is all you need.