The current situation with garages

[Aquila]

24/7s are cool because you can use them without someone working there, so it's essentially self-service until someone starts their shift and is actively working there. Same with tobacco shops, clothes stores, gun vendors, or any vendors in general. Yet, for some reason we are still using the old mechanic system where they're unusable unless they're open, which from my experience is quite rare.

 

It's quite annoying having to wait until some late time just to change a few modifications on a car. It shouldn't have to be like this, and it certainly didn't used to be like this.

 

When I started playing, we were able to use garages when nobody was working there. It then changed where modifications had to be applied through roleplay. That was all well and good because you would almost always find a garage that's open. These days they're not open as much, which is annoying.

 

I'm just wondering how the community feels about this?

 

I would say that they should work similar to other vendors, because from a returning player's perspective, it looks as though they open whenever they feel like it, which is almost never based on the hours I play. I'm not big on modifications, but having to wait days to replace a truck's bumper is not the one.

[shaobadman]

My only theory for it being this way is that management wanted to curb the number of stupid looking cars on the street, you might remember how bad it got in 2018. When I came back and saw how garages changed while other services stayed the same, this was my first assumption and I couldn't fault them on it.

 

However if that's not their aim then it could really use some work. People can't get their vehicles done, even for small modifications, in their own time. When one (and usually it is just one) opens up, everyone piles in and you end up waiting an undetermined amount of time (in my experience, garages don't seem to have a queue system) as they have to roleplay the modifications. Last time I had to wait about 30 minutes just to get a sign removed from my taxi.

 

Then there's the problem of those unable to play at peak times.

 

I think garages should work the same way as other services, even if visiting an unmanned garage puts a price penalty on the visiting player. Or if one garage has active workers then closed ones stay closed, but if none are open, have them all allow self service like 24/7s and make the player wait five or ten minutes after picking their mods to simulate players working on it.

[BINGBONGBALONEY]

5 minutes ago, shaobadman said:

have them all allow self service like 24/7s and make the player wait five or ten minutes after picking their mods to simulate players working on it.

Really like this.

 

Nothing like waiting a solid 3+ days to close the curtains of your RV.

[Amellis]

IMHO It could and should work as it does irl; You leave your vehicle in the garage and the mechanics work on it when they have the time and parts to do so.

To be more specific, remove the queue of players waiting and let them have a queue of vehicles instead, even when closed (And of course the hability to take our vehicles out in case the garage you take them to is just inactive)

 

Edited July 24, 2021 by Amellis

[Martyn]

The reason that you don't see garages open very often anymore, is because they significantly decreased the amount of money that you can make with it. That change was very much needed, they were making way too much money. But it inevitable means that the less money people make with the job, the less people will want to do it. It gets really old repeating the same procedures and therefore, basically the same lines of RP with some adjustments to it every now and again. The job also doesn't really offer much for interaction, you're not getting a response out of the car you're working on. You're sitting there working on a car all alone, just spitting out random emotes for the sake of it. 9/10 times the customer isn't even in range to see the RP so you're just typing away into the void. 

 

There should be no reason having to wait for days for one to open so you can change the color of your car, or whatever else someone wants to do. I think the previous suggestion someone made is quite good. That being, having people wait a few minutes before they're able to get their modifications to simulate the time it would normally take for a mechanic to work on your vehicle in our world. But I do think we can come up with something different and better. I would very much like to see some more suggestions from the community on this subject. It's not a problem to me, I already avoid garages because it's usually a place where a certain crowd comes together that I don't want any part of. But I can definitely see this being a problem for many people out there who enjoy car roleplay which can be stalled due to the problem outlined here.

Edited July 24, 2021 by Martyn

[Paenymion]

I have also noticed that sudden drop in garages being open.  Kind of facepalm that as soon as scripted profitability was nerfed, suddenly there was a lack of people wanting to do mechanic RP.  Honestly, I don't see any reason for garages not being treated any different to a 24/7 or gun store.  If one is open...yes...direct people to it.  If none are open, allow it to happen without a player mechanic.  This is not only for non-mechanic's benefit, but also for mechanics.  Imagine wanting to do some chill mechanic RP, maybe working on a car in detail, but because you open you suddenly get ten people rushing to you and wanting mods done quickly.  Not fun for anyone!

Edited July 24, 2021 by Paenymion

[Vassilios]

Currently there's two-three garages up for lease which is one reason that they are currently not open as often. As someone who has worked at a garage I can tell you that another reason that garages aren't open as often is people burning out. You do the same five types of roleplay for hours on end and you need a break after that. Couple that with people leaving the garage due to that or other reasons and you have the current situation. In my opinion, I think a revamp of the whole garage system is needed.

[UTOPIA]

I'll keep my statement about garages blunt and simple, nobody actually cares about the RP being done on their car, they just want their vehicle modded and want to leave. Garages are the only script businesses that require players to keep them open, which leaves players who play at odd times out of luck, it is not player-centric whatsoever. They should treat garages like any other script business and let players use them while there are no employees opening them.

[Uthenera]

As a person that works as a mechanic the money is nice but I also enjoy being able to work on cars in a roleplay fashion as I generally have a love for cars and the work that goes into them. The wait time is because we are required to do the proper roleplay required to replace said parts. It's not a fast thing to completely replace an engine, paint the body of a car, install a turbo, make the new manifolds, etc. These things take hours to days in real life, so simplifying it down to just ten to twenty minutes if someone wants /everything/ replaced on a car isn't that bad in the long run of things. It's not as simple as *pulls engine out and replaces the parts before putting it back in*, they want quality roleplay, it falls under the same rules as trucking where you can't just go about script wise delivering items. On a second note it's also a supply chain issue, trust me there are garages that want to be open right now but finding truckers to deliver the comps is neither fast nor easy.  

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