how and why are there so many rich people

[jamba]

I've been playing on this server for a couple of weeks total, so my insight on this might be totally wrong, but I've been roleplaying since 2012 and I've read a couple of topics on this issue already so I'll try to give my perspective.

 

As I said I'm new to the server... I've created my first character and started getting some money, mainly working in a business. Not much to be honest, probably less than 10 hours, but definitely the most boring 10 hours of videogaming of my entire existence. I chose to work in an Ammunation cause it's what makes the most sense for my character, being a 52 y/o army veteran, so I kind of expected not getting many customers... didn't expect I'd get literally zero in 10 hours. So what did I do? I just spammed the same /me scrolls the latest news on his smartphone over and over to keep the timer running, while watching Netflix on my other screen (watched the entire first season of Better Call Saul during my shifts, not even kidding). Now the question is, why did I waste all this time grinding? Because money enables roleplay, and this is the root of the issue in my humble opinion. This is the basic gameplay mechanic of most MMORPGs like World of Warcraft. Wanna fight this big boss? Sure, spend 50 hours of your life grinding to get that shining sword! (never played WoW, I'm just guessing)

 

Money is the OOC currency of this game... and it shouldn't. Good roleplay should be the currency, people should want to grind that, not money. If we could somehow reward players who bring and create good roleplay, regardless of it being merely remunerative, maybe we will start seeing fewer nightclubs and grinding truckers and more diverse businesses, social classes and environments. Now you might be thinking "okay, but why would people want to grind this roleplay currency? what would its value be?" Ideally, the more you have, the more roleplay possibilities you unlock. You wouldn't be able to roleplay a millionaire if you're not a certain "level" (this would solve the unreasonable amount of teen millionaires we see every day). At the same time, you wouldn't need to grind your ass off to do that. You're a good roleplayer? Here's your million.

 

Now how do you do something like this? How do you translate such a subjective thing as "good roleplay" into a somewhat objective value? I'm not sure I have the answer to that. There could be a "roleplay quality team" awarding "RP levels", not necessarily run by staff members since they already have lots on their plates. Or players could give "RP coins" to others. I don't know... and honestly, I'm not even trying to come up with the perfect system because A. there's no such thing as a perfect system, and B. we all know this will never happen, so why even bother. I just thought I'd give my perspective on this, and I'm hopeful people realize this is not Millionaire Simulator 2021 and they start seeing roleplay as the objective, which, let's be honest, is the only long-term solution. Taxes and money sinks and complex virtual economy theories might help, but they're just band-aids.

Edited September 18, 2021 by jamba

[Vash Baldeus]

On 9/16/2021 at 3:17 AM, Boland said:

richest people on the server are the po po

They were since GTAW Began, no lie, they were the richest even then. Before the 200k paychecks thing was a thing.

 

On 9/16/2021 at 10:40 AM, Alyssa McCarthy said:

I think it comes down to some very simple factors.

When new to roleplay, the most popular character arch-type is a young, attractive, wealthy and successful character - basically, a persons 'view' of what kind of life, their alter-ego would like to live IRL.

GTA:W as a server, facilitates this by making it very easy for people to play this kind of char - the following are examples of how this is facilitated.

1) It's far too easy to make large amounts of money in a short time - Wages / unemployment and starting checks are far too high.

2) Prices for items are far too low.

3) Taxes are far too low.

 

This means it's exceptionally easy for any starting character to:
a) Do very little to earn huge amounts of money
b) RP a millionaire.
c) Buy property and furnish it as though its a multi-million dollar apartment

d) Buy a super car.

 

If you want a 'grittier' setting, then the ease at which players can obtain wealth needs to be addressed & until a more realistic economy is put in place by staff, this situation is not set to change anytime soon.

 

Nervous did mention they are working on an economy revamp and rework which will include IRS faction/system.

 

Moreover, my main character, when I made her, she was not rich, had 2 cars, small ass apartment and about 250k in cash, over a year later. Worked her way up to a house, multiple cars, a business that is profitable. It all depends what you make it, I did not roleplay the character a Millionaire until she really became one after months of hard work.

 

My alt who's a middle class, owns 1 car, has about 120k in cash left and is satisfied with his 80k car, yes he plans on upgrading to another car once he earns more money and actually can afford it and it's upkeep.

 

Majority of the issue is how people Roleplay their character, that's where the problem is. The 200k start paychecks were done to prevent someone getting that all at once but allows the person to kick-start the character by getting a car and an apartment, instead of tossing the player onto the grindset of doing trucking or w/e other mindless job he can to grind $ to start his char.

 

Moreover, in real life you don't just born and have 0 money do ya', you have parents who take care of ya until you're 18y/o or old enough to work and move out. Some kids work part-time while in high school so they can afford other shit beyond what the parent is providing (housing, clothing, food. anything else is luxury, don't delude yourself). So here is the same thing, instead of a person making a character and is forced to grind a mindless job he can move onto roleplaying while getting the 5k paycheck. If a person wastes it mindlessly on something unrealistic for his character there's RPQM Reports where you can report the player.

[Gato]

If someone decides to buy a mansion IC and spoil themselves with expensive cars and whatever else, as long as it suits their character's lifestyle and what they roleplay, I'm totally okay with it.

Edited September 19, 2021 by Gato

[Kari]

Wild how much government jobs are being brought up, afaik, most deputies/firefighters/cops don't make more than 50k a week. 
Meanwhile, stuff like bartending can pay 16k a night. 
I guess a guaranteed paycheck after 20 hours is "OP" or something, but, most people spend that time actively roleplaying, and most of that roleplay is doing their job

[Yoshijira]

On 9/17/2021 at 1:48 AM, ScarletRose said:

I feel like one of the issues is that not everyone RP's their money the same way. Some of my friends consider their bank money to be OOC money and that it doesn't reflect their character's wealth. I've seen people still drive shitbox cars and live in low end apartments while sitting on millions in their bank from just years of playing. Some people, me included, RP our money as our character's money. If I have 95k in my character's bank, then I have 95k in my character's bank. I'm not gonna pretend my character should be poorer than what her IC bank account reflects. If I did, then what even is the point of money itself on the server? Money loses all value once you take the value and throw it out the window.

And there's also no rule as to which way is the correct way. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there is such rule anywhere stating you need to RP your money as is OR that money is considered to be OOC assets. So now we have everyone RP'ing money differently. We have characters buying sports cars, because they can afford a sports car with their trucking money. We also have poor characters living a poverty lifestyle while casually having 2.8 million in their bank account. It makes no sense for both sides.

The majority of people that do this, do this on the basis that the cost of certain items on this server is completely disproportionate to reality, 

 

The fact that an El Burro house can go from anywhere from 400-600k, or that a South Central house can easily go for over 150k, along with how inflated the prices of the illegal economy tends to be, it's nigh impossible to stick to a concept while still having the basics script items for that concept without having an excess of OOC money.

[7b57m98htf754B78o]

There is no actual economy in this server.

[Cartoonhead]

As long as you play a realistic char and don't rush up the social ladder just because you can, I don't really give a fuck. Let people play how/who they want to.

[Cadillac]

Good question

[Mór-Ríoghain]

You get 200k in 40 hours and that's enough startup capital to invest into a business in and of itself, most people use it to buy a vehicle and a home and then go work jobs which pay anywhere from 5-15k an hour and simply grind those out until they are rich. There is no incentive to pay money for anything else.

[averycoolguy]

On 9/16/2021 at 12:17 AM, Boland said:

richest people on the server are the po po

OOC money, definitely. Not like you can spend it on anything.