Jump to content

The Business Ideas Thread


Blöp

Recommended Posts

3 hours ago, Anders said:

It's easy to make any kind of businesses in this community proven by many niche stuff like pest  control, ISP, lawn working, general laborer and cleaning etc.

The only problem is that people do not want to bother about it cuz its not script items you get. It's RP. For a heavy roleplay "realism" server, we sure hate roleplay. 

It dosn't add any script benefits in the end, just rp benefits.

I can shed some more light on this. And yes it's true. 🙂 

It comes from a lot of different problems. San Air is supposed to be, originally, a helicopter charter company. I looked into them, IRL, a lot, before opening. Generally, those tend to work rather well and to become profitable quickly. The reason is simple. Most mid-to-high end companies tend to reach a point where the time of their managers and execs becomes more valuable than money.

E.g.: their manager needs to have 3 meetings in 3 different places in the LA county. They can go to one meeting by car, because of traffic and all that, the day is over. Then they have another meeting the next day. And another the next day. OR. They can charter a helicopter, and go to all 3 meetings in a single day. 

Same goes for "VIP" rich people whose time is more valuable than the (tons of) money they have. 

 

Issue is, this market segment exists IRL, realistically, but doesn't exist in-game. So, I added tours on top, to have more activity. And it brings a few people. But. 

Most helicopter tour companies make their money from tourists. We don't have them 😄 That means, realistically a helicopter touring & charter company could easily make bank quickly. But since the server has a very special context, it doesn't. 

 

So it's like you said, there is a need for a script benefit. BUT. Even if your business brings a script benefit, it may be "speaking" to a segment of the population that isn't represented on the serv. That means the business that would be "realistically" profitable isn't. 

 

24 minutes ago, Mahitto said:

No one wants to come back after an 8-hour shift or classes to idle behind a counter for 4-5 hours, out of which 90% is AFKing and the rest is boring RP.

Have that problem with my first (and only 😛 ) employee. They realized that most shifts are boring. You wait at the heliport, hoping at least one person will come by lol. Looking at my accounting, we have (on average) 0,12 clients per ad sent. That's 0.24 clients per hour. Which means for each helicopter trip, you have to AFK/wait on average for 4-5 hours. Not amazing lol. 

 

It's part of why my character also part-time manages a bar. It gives her a job that 1) Is much more active, you see a lot of people when you open, and 2) Makes some money.

It might not be perfectly realistic. But the fact that the charter company makes no money isn't realistic in the first place lol. And I like to RP with new people a little instead of AFK'ing at La Puerta all day 😄 

Link to comment
17 minutes ago, San Airdreas said:

I can shed some more light on this. And yes it's true. 🙂 

It comes from a lot of different problems. San Air is supposed to be, originally, a helicopter charter company. I looked into them, IRL, a lot, before opening. Generally, those tend to work rather well and to become profitable quickly. The reason is simple. Most mid-to-high end companies tend to reach a point where the time of their managers and execs becomes more valuable than money.

E.g.: their manager needs to have 3 meetings in 3 different places in the LA county. They can go to one meeting by car, because of traffic and all that, the day is over. Then they have another meeting the next day. And another the next day. OR. They can charter a helicopter, and go to all 3 meetings in a single day. 

Same goes for "VIP" rich people whose time is more valuable than the (tons of) money they have. 

 

Issue is, this market segment exists IRL, realistically, but doesn't exist in-game. So, I added tours on top, to have more activity. And it brings a few people. But. 

Most helicopter tour companies make their money from tourists. We don't have them 😄 That means, realistically a helicopter touring & charter company could easily make bank quickly. But since the server has a very special context, it doesn't. 

 

So it's like you said, there is a need for a script benefit. BUT. Even if your business brings a script benefit, it may be "speaking" to a segment of the population that isn't represented on the serv. That means the business that would be "realistically" profitable isn't. 

 

Have that problem with my first (and only 😛 ) employee. They realized that most shifts are boring. You wait at the heliport, hoping at least one person will come by lol. Looking at my accounting, we have (on average) 0,12 clients per ad sent. That's 0.24 clients per hour. Which means for each helicopter trip, you have to AFK/wait on average for 4-5 hours. Not amazing lol. 

 

It's part of why my character also part-time manages a bar. It gives her a job that 1) Is much more active, you see a lot of people when you open, and 2) Makes some money.

It might not be perfectly realistic. But the fact that the charter company makes no money isn't realistic in the first place lol. And I like to RP with new people a little instead of AFK'ing at La Puerta all day 😄 

 

Yup, true. Unfortunately, that's the case for most businesses, actually. Even the more "popular" ones, like bars and nightclubs. Everything's perfect in theory - you have various people filling in various roles, tending to the many customers who have something to do, relax and have fun. But in practice? The bouncer standing at the door? He's literally AFKing and repeating the same few lines for hours. The bartender? Same thing. Security - all they do is sit in a corner for hours. And even the customers, they just do the same few lines over and over again. Overall, if you take a closer look at not some but all businesses on role-play servers, it's actually a VERY boring experience for everyone, where 90% of it is idling and AFKing and the other 10% of "action" is just repeating the same stuff. Can be applied to nightclubs, to stores, to restaurants. You do get a meaningful interaction every few weeks, but is that really worth it? The reason people do this stuff IRL is because they need the money, but that's not as much of a problem on GTAW and for those who do need money, they quit after getting it.

 

And the other problem is that the with very few exceptions, most businesses aren't needed. No business is truly needed, unless you're a faction and use it as a hangout spot. You might go to a store IRL because you need some electronics, to a restaurant because you need food, to a cafe or club to socialize or to a bar to get a buzz in. Since all of this is just virtual, most of the interactions stem out of boredom, which makes most of them meaningless. That's why most people resort to the same old cops and robbers thing, because that's actually bringing them some action and adrenaline. Sure, we have some actiong holier than thou, stating how THEY don't but in the end, everyone does. None of us want to play boring characters. 

 

All in all, the business climate on not just GTAW but all RP servers is pretty messed up and there's not much to do about it. 

Link to comment

There is not much to do about it, because people do not want to. But honestly with 65% (Random guess) population prefering cops and robbers playstyle, the situation on the server is boring in general. You leave a car in front of your house, somebody will notice and they knock on your door with guns, You dare to put on tint 1 windows on your car, you get pulled over, sometimes 3 times a day. I personally hold that achievement, got pulled over in 3 different cars within 4 hours. Lets try to imagine where would we be without civilian roleplay? Yes Escape from Tarkov LS edition. Which infact is again, boring. I'd rather idle 5 hours in my shop watching TV in the back office then to die on every traffic stop or be g checked every ten minutes by different gangs, just cause I live in that area. Your fun doesn't mean it's my fun as well. (Not meant at you, but in general). For instance Arcades can be fun, shopping can be fun, hell even a flower shop can be fun, if you get right people for it. We choose our own roleplay, what we want to portray and where we go looking for fun.

For some its gangbanging, for some flying a helicopter and for some, it can be having a job.

Edited by Engelbert
Link to comment
6 minutes ago, Engelbert said:

There is not much to do about it, because people do not want to. But honestly with 65% (Random guess) population prefering cops and robbers playstyle, the situation on the server is boring in general. You leave a car in front of your house, somebody will notice and they knock on your door with guns, You dare to put on tint 1 windows on your car, you get pulled over, sometimes 3 times a day. I personally hold that achievement, got pulled over in 3 different cars within 4 hours. Lets try to imagine where would we be without civilian roleplay? Yes Escape from Tarkov LS edition. Which infact is again, boring. I'd rather idle 5 hours in my shop watching TV in the back office then to die on every traffic stop or be g checked every ten minutes by different gangs, just cause I live in that area. Your fun doesn't mean it's my fun as well. (Not meant at you, but in general). For instance Arcades can be fun, shopping can be fun, hell even a flower shop can be fun, if you get right people for it. We choose our own roleplay, what we want to portray and where we go looking for fun.

For some its gangbanging, for some flying a helicopter and for some, it can be having a job.

 

You see, I don't know how true that is. Mainly because topics like this one pop up every now and then and there's always a swarm of people stating the same stuff, "not everyone does that, I don't". This shows people the huge potential for passive RP (stated on the forums), and they start niche, RP-only businesses. Which miserably fail because the demand is not really there. It's been happening over and over for years. Now I'm not directing this at you specifically, but rather the whole ensemble. It's one thing to say you prefer 0 action and just a boring, realistic encounter of spending 6 hours behind a counter and doing "/me gives boombox" twice in that time span, but doing it is a completely different thing. Most people, especially most of those who say they do, don't do or want that, either as customers or employees.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
1 minute ago, Mahitto said:

 

You see, I don't know how true that is. Mainly because topics like this one pop up every now and then and there's always a swarm of people stating the same stuff, "not everyone does that, I don't". This shows people the huge potential for passive RP (stated on the forums), and they start niche, RP-only businesses. Which miserably fail because the demand is not really there. It's been happening over and over for years. Now I'm not directing this at you specifically, but rather the whole ensemble. It's one thing to say you prefer 0 action and just a boring, realistic encounter of spending 6 hours behind a counter and doing "/me gives boombox" twice in that time span, but doing it is a completely different thing. Most people, especially most of those who say they do, don't do or want that, either as customers or employees.

Oh this not the right thread for this debate, which I like btw. But yes as you said I usually prefer 0 action, cause I like roleplaying mundane and trivial things. 

Link to comment
7 minutes ago, Engelbert said:

Oh this not the right thread for this debate, which I like btw. But yes as you said I usually prefer 0 action, cause I like roleplaying mundane and trivial things. 

 

Eh, I don't know about that. The thread was supposed to be for business ideas but no one's filling in that format. The discussion kinda took a turn towards why it's pointless to even come up with these ideas.

 

After all, if someone really wants to develop a complex, realistic business and put the time and money into making it happen, they'll do so without this kind of content. If they don't, won't help them much anyway. My opinion.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
2 hours ago, Mahitto said:

 

Yup, but the bigger problem is with employees, and it extends to all business, not just the niche/RP-only ones. It's extremely hard if not straight up impossible to find long-term employees. No one wants to come back after an 8-hour shift or classes to idle behind a counter for 4-5 hours, out of which 90% is AFKing and the rest is boring RP. It's impossible to find someone to stick around and put in the time. Even the ones who do look promising will only stick around until they can open their own business, make enough money, or get bored after 1-2 weeks.

 

This makes it pointless to role-play any meaningful training or interactions, when you know for a fact they'll be gone by the end of the week.

 

Ultimately, this isn't really anyone's fault. Can't blame management or the staff team for this, it's just the way it is. We have to deal with it, I guess. We can come up with all of the ideas, but having no one to RP with and for is almost always the biggest dealbreaker there is.

It's because half of the people here are NPCs and they expect YOU to provide RP for them. Even working in 24/7 can be fun if you create RP for yourself and have meaningful interactions with other people. But I guess it's too much to ask people to roleplay on a heavy roleplay server... That's why most people CK/rename their characters every two weeks because they get bored easily. They blame the concept of their character but in reality it's them not using their brain to create any kind of RP for themselves. Maybe if this server promoted roleplay first instead of cops and robbers concept there would not be a drought for employees.

  • Upvote 1
  • Applaud 1
Link to comment
1 hour ago, sCrax said:

It's because half of the people here are NPCs and they expect YOU to provide RP for them. Even working in 24/7 can be fun if you create RP for yourself and have meaningful interactions with other people. But I guess it's too much to ask people to roleplay on a heavy roleplay server... That's why most people CK/rename their characters every two weeks because they get bored easily. They blame the concept of their character but in reality it's them not using their brain to create any kind of RP for themselves. Maybe if this server promoted roleplay first instead of cops and robbers concept there would not be a drought for employees.

 

Nah, I don't agree. Most jobs are completely boring and useless, which makes it extremely hard to start any business, and then we get this thread.

 

Sure, you can create role-play for yourself, but you can only go so far. I've been in that situation numerous times and there's only so many times you can RP mopping the floor, stocking shelves, decorating, or even sparking up a conversation and such. People aren't interested which turns this into a vicious circle, making jobs boring. At the end of the day, you're still spending hours idling behind a counter and typing.

 

GTA RP is honestly the only video game I've heard of that's so time intensive and yet so boring. It's the only game whre it's not only acceptable but perfectly normal and even regular to spend 3-4 hours online per day, yet only do so much. It's a mystery. 

Link to comment
3 minutes ago, Mahitto said:

GTA RP is honestly the only video game I've heard of that's so time intensive and yet so boring. It's the only game whre it's not only acceptable but perfectly normal and even regular to spend 3-4 hours online per day, yet only do so much. It's a mystery. 

Having played a fair few other games, I can confirm GTA is a very unique beast, in that regard. It creates an odd disconnection of that game from other communities in fact ^^' GTA players have a very bad reputation in almost every single other RP community out there, and the other way around: a lot of GTA players seem to have a sort of disdain for other communities, because they're not "hardcore" enough.

 

But by "hardcore", GTA players usually mean creating very unnecessary RP. Describing in details how they're scanning an article, or upgrading a car, while nobody cares. Nobody, on an Conan RP server, will think it's necessary (or useful) to RP crafting every single piece of insulated wood. Nobody in a TESO community will think it's even mentally healthy to RP crafting every single potion you sell. But on GTA? It's "heavy RP".

 

The thing is when you forget about the "heavy RP" as imagined over here? Most jobs can be fun. Like...

 

1 hour ago, sCrax said:

Even working in 24/7 can be fun

It can! I did it for a fair while and met a few fun people, made a few IC friends, etc. But that's because:

1) I had Netflix on the side, because 90% of my time spent there? There was literally nobody in there. And sorry, but "create your own RP", meh. For me, RP is about interaction. If you /me alone, it's really not the same. Some people like it. Y'know what? I got zero problem with that ^^' But it's a very specific kind of interest.

2) I did my best to not focus on the business interactions. Scanning an article and asking for money? This is zero character development, zero interaction. Instead, I used the business interactions as excuses and starting points to have *more interesting and meaningful* interactions. Idle chat, advising a different brand, commenting on the person's car, whatever can create other, different interactions. Cashing in the articles was used as an excuse to do other things. But...

3) Not everyone is willing to do that. Some people just want to buy a coffee and leave asap, so you have to strike a balance, and not pull everyone's pants when they clearly needed to buy a bag, that's it, now they want to leave.

 

But in the end, it means that a majority of your time spent at the counter will be boring. In fact... 

 

2 hours ago, Mahitto said:

The bouncer standing at the door? He's literally AFKing and repeating the same few lines for hours. The bartender? Same thing. Security - all they do is sit in a corner for hours. And even the customers, they just do the same few lines over and over again.

I've done a lot of bartending, and... What I've found out is: the best balance is when you have a "moderate amount" of customers. You don't make a lot of money, sure xD But... you have time to interact meaningfully.

I despise working as a bartender in big clubs, because people come and go quickly. You have a ton of demand, tons of people waiting, you need to /Createdrink, /me makes the drink, /gi customer item, "that's 200 please" and next. It's really a factory, and it's not fun at all in spite of the (much) higher paychecks.

 

When, however, you have like 3-5 people coming in every half hour or so? You can focus on their orders, give advice, find a cool fun cocktail, chat with those who wanna chat or look lonely, suggest a few places they could visit to meet people, ... you not only have more interesting RP, but you can also become a vector for people to find more RP. 

 

And that's basically the reason why I've been trying to buy a bar for 4 months now almost ^^' Not to make money, because it will be clearly a SMALL place, not designed to make those 40k of government bonus every 24 hours. However it would have that opportunity of being a small area where the bar is just an excuse to trigger more interesting interactions, find people / ideas / areas that they wouldn't have heard of in a different setting, etc. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment

I’m glad for the conversation but this thread is for collecting ideas for people who wish to do something new and unique. Please contribute by adding ideas, showing how it can be done, and providing useful insight about how people can keep even simpler ideas alive for longer than a few months. 

 

We already have countless businesses in super niche areas (which is nice) but we need to see how little social interaction can happen there. This is not a problem. Why this topic exists is to find and share ideas about businesses that can be social hubs at the same time. People go to casinos because they will be able to gamble and because they know they will meet a lot of people. People go to clubs because they know they will be around a lot of people and they can socialize with their friends while also not being bored because the music will be different almost every time.

 

Having super niche businesses are nice and people who find joy in running them should continue without doubt. But these places will never act like social hubs for people. The goal here is to find more ideas that can bloom into being social hubs and hopefully by providing more roleplaying opportunities for the workers than a bartending job. This discussion is not a "this or that" question, super niche businesses simply server different (but also needed) purposes. And seemingly people don't have a problem doing them. On the other hand, when it comes to businesses that can also be a place for socialization we are sitting on a handful of ideas for years.

 

We can talk about elitist roleplaying and being extremely realistic all the time but behind the computer, there will be someone who wants to enjoy their time playing. I believe it is long overdue to find ideas that can attract not just a small group of people but also interesting enough to keep the roleplaying there not just in-character interesting.

Edited by liafriuli
Link to comment
  • Wuhtah locked this topic
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...