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Encouraging communities and outside RP


Paenymion

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Hello community, just got a bit of a ramble-thought post for you.

 

Like a few others, I have often wished there was more spontaneous "normal citizen" (i.e. not obviously just part of a faction guarding some corner) roleplay happening outside.  Of course, we can go to bars, or a coffee shop but I'm the kind of person who does enjoy random encounters without any specific event around it.  I have noticed lately that K-Town RPers have actually gotten a pretty good outside community going.  People sitting around, having random walk-up RP etc.  The streets next to the gas station always just seem alive.  Not really sure how they managed it, I guess these things just start with an effort of one or two people sitting outside until more join them.  But I also suspect there are some map reasons which help:  It's Korea Town, so there is the bonus that people there have a helpful hook in that they are korean and sticking together.  It's not just a collection of random people who have nothing in common.  Next, there are a lot of multi-interiors packed together in that small block, with a central meeting point: the gas station/store and other korean businesses just steps away.  I think that really helps build a community: people are on foot, everything is close and they have a common IC bond without needing to know people OOCly.  China town is kind of the same although from what I've seen, slightly less busy.  I don't visit ULSA much but their campus probably gives them all the right ingredients mentioned above to build a nice community, so I predict that they have a healthy amount of outside random RP going on (let me know if they don't, would be surprising and would ruin my theory).

 

If we compare these "healthy community" places to other areas like Vespucci beach, which is pretty deserted in comparison, I guess we are missing some of those ingredients.  There is nothing really connecting the people that live there to encourage them outside.  You got some nazis and other gangs sprinkled around and BMX people who like the skatepark'ish middle bit.  Then you have an assortment of other people who are just living there by chance.  There is nothing really central to act as a focal point.  The beach is huge so even if you went and sat on it, you're likely to be alone.  The pier would be a nice focal point but obviously it lacks that cluster of housing so it's a place you'd have to purposely drive to.  Mirror park is also a bit disappointing in terms of community.  I suspect because it's not very compact even though it has a great focal point (the lake bit).  People come out of their house and hop into their cars rather than lingering on foot.

 

I suppose the point of this post, is that a lot of places on the map are not built in a way that encourages a local community to emerge and I wonder if that's something we could think about and maybe change somehow?  Does anyone else similarly wish for more random RP on the streets/outside spaces or is everyone happy with just going to businesses or joining factions to find RP?

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Member of K-Town here, and I'll try to give my perspective as someone who has been actively trying to promote the community spirit:

 

First of all, I'm currently running the local night club in the neighborhood, Ji-Ok. Ji-Ok is meant to portray a more "realistic" nightclub that is meant to represent not a high-end club but rather the local nightlife attraction of a particular neighborhood. It caters to Koreatown residents first, and it has shown that it drives hype locally.

 

But that's just a night club. The city has dozens, and to the outside observer Ji-Ok isn't that much different than the others. Lately due to Koreatown growing in its number of street gang members (which I RP with daily, I'm part of their story and I'm happy that they're there) violence has gone up. This is something that we've tried to address IC and internally, as you can see in our faction thread:

 

So yes, new players get excited about an illegal fac, and lacking civilian roles to play, commit more crime, and that's not in the spirit of what we planned out to do, but in all honesty, a big problem in community building is gathering the necessary resources to engage with the community via small businesses and local attractions so people don't default to loitering and exploring crime. Citizens leave Koreatown these days because there's not a lot happening daily other than hanging out by the grocery store. In the meantime I have tried to run the Run Club (meant to be a non-profit, community building organization) and actually have plans for young entrepeneurs to start businesses that give character and life to the community, but finding a place is just near impossible (screen is old):

 

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What I tried with this initiative was to secure properties I could lease myself internally to the community, but securing a single storefront through Property Management is, again, a process that takes ages. Small businesses for RP are basic in having a neighborhood that feels lived-in. People aren't going to just passive RP their jobs on the side in places that don't exist, so they either loiter or they make money somewhere else in the city. We need a more streamlined process for businesses to come and go to develop neighborhoods. Those of us who are dedicated and try face an uphill battle to get a business (and many of those who do are script money oriented), so those with less motivation for it that would still be happy to do it for RP don't even try at this point.

Edited by Koko
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Having a hot spot is always attractive, mainly for new people that comes into the server and wants to find activity - I suppose civilian activities are always better for new players to start with. I do agree with this, the hot spot ideas, but I have in mind that it's an area faction responsibility  to create it's environment and all around it. To keep it alive, I mean. Like you gave the example of K-Town, that's a good example of players coming together, and I doubt that there isn't a faction within that community, and that's my point: If factions would  put as much effort to keep a civilized environment, things would be as we wish in this topic - and that's not a criticism, tho, it's more like a suggestion. I know some factions already do this, and it's not really that easy, mostly because when somebody gets into a faction, they don't really want to be walking around the street and chit chatting, they want to get involved, but they should really re-think about it, grow a civilian personality before a criminal mind and get involved more like with the community that area has, so then he'd get close with the faction itself later, after a good development.

 

Despite all of that about factions, having only a hot spot might be dangerous, as we've seen how must of that turned out in sa-mp servers. We ought to look for something different here, we have a huge map with a lot of people to spread around. Having small communities, IMHO, would be the best to do. I exemplified factions because it's easier to grow a little community when you already have an attractive group in an certain area, but that can be started with common players too, with civilian characters, grow a personality over there, develop things around. I have seen a few try but almost none help or get the interest to hop in, even though they complimented and say the idea is great.

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I believe that community threads/discords/groups that don't particularly cater to players of one illegal faction can be key here, but sometimes this is hard to actually get off the ground.

 

Recent examples of these.

I'm sure there's others too.

 

 

These specific communities have to deal with extreme problems with regards to housing availability. However, this should really be the way forward and is applicable in the county as well as in the city. Even if only it is for a block, or two blocks. That would be easier than trying to cover an entire neighborhood in the city anyway.

 

When I was a staff member, I tried to push for more support towards "Neighborhoods" as opposed to focusing only on Legal Factions or Illegal Factions, but I wasn't able to get much done in that area. I think this is an area that is underappreciated and deserves more support, not just from staff, but also from players.

 

In the end, what it comes down to, is a small group of players putting in the (huge) efforts of starting things up, and getting support from PM to be able to develop the concepts that they like in their small areas. Once that start is made successfully, things usually get up to speed simply because of the appeal they have for other players. If you know there is activity somewhere, you'll go there first to experience random roleplay encounters.

 

If you and a few other players are able to be active at a specific block or area, maintain a few active businesses, and offer options for other characters to move in and participate, then you can get somewhere quickly. Start an unofficial group and see where it takes you.

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23 minutes ago, GambloTwitch said:

Aaaand, another thread where people cry about robberies is up.

Ah yes.. One person talked about robberies and now it's a crying thread about robberies, which has nothing to do with the initial topic.

 

On topic, yes it would be nice to see folks just passively roleplaying in a few different areas, local government could go and attempt to setup minor events being anything from a small fair, to a farmers market, to some random event that celebrates a current holiday that's not an overly spammy EDM party. Even business owners could host minor events as well following some of the ideas above. 

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