Find a way to get more players some sunlight.

[TheSenate]

I know that we've discussed this topic in the past, the issue of the servers timezone being European even though we portray ourselves as residing on the west coast of the United States. I understand the argument that has been traditionally made in favor of keeping it in Europe, that being a majority of the playerbase is in Europe. However, a side effect of the server being on its present timezone is that during peak hours and all throughout the later hours that most non-european players play, particularly Americans and Canadians, is that we almost never get to see the sun, and when we do, it is only moments away from descending on the horizon. 

 

Point is, a solid chunk, if not a majority of the playerbase has minimal playtime when it is actually bright outside. Even during peak hours when both Americans and Europeans are online, it is dark outside.

 

Now you might say this is not an issue, though I would say that it is. On the rare occasion I've either stayed up late enough or gotten on early enough to actually see the sun in-game, it is almost a whole different experience. Characters look different, the map looks a lot better, and it certainly would encourage me to do more roleplay outdoors. I mean, who after all wants to go on a hike at Mount Chiliad when its pitch black outside and you can't even see all that much? Needless to say it is a very welcome change from the constant darkness we normally experience.

 

So how do we solve this? Well, we have a few options. 

 

Option A: We select a different timezone. 

 

Unfortunately this has been denied on multiple occasions already, however, most of the time it has been denied it has been because the suggestion was to roll back to GMT -8, which is PST, AKA the timezone California is in, a far cry from the servers current timezone. Though not all that bad considering it actually corresponds quite nicely with the reality of when players are online (its bright when most players are on, dark when most are off). However, given this has been denied before the alternative here is we agree on a timezone in-between like GMT -5 (US East Coast) or even GMT -3 (Bermuda) would at least give us a /little/ bit more sun exposure, albeit not much. 

 

Option B: We find a way to artificially cut nighttime hours down without changing server time. 

 

One way or another we find a way to accelerate time, or just cut down on the amount of hours it is actually dark outside. I don't know if this is even possible, however it is at least an alternative worth suggesting. If we could cut the night down to a more reasonable length (perhaps 4 hours out of the 24 in a day) that gives players the chance to play in the dark as well without being overbearing. 

 

Either way, let's use this thread to discuss how we might be able to fix this issue and get everyone the opportunity to roleplay during the daytime. If that means we need to change the timezone, lets have a serious discussion on that and see if we might be able to compromise. Because while Europeans may be a majority, they are far from the only people who play on this server.

Edited June 9, 2022 by TheSenate

[bartman]

Good god yes please. It's seriously about time these suggestions stop getting shouted down.

 

[Wildcat]

Absolutely.

[St3fan[NL]]

1. Use the format.

2. Use the search function

3. Been suggested a thousand times since the start of GTAW and it keeps being denied.

-> I have forwarded it to Nervous either way see if he wishes to open it up for debate. Until then it stays locked to avoid unnecessary discussion.