Before I start, I want to say that I am making this thread not out of hate for the server, but because I care. This was my first ever GTA RP server, and it taught me the ropes of how to RP on this game, and gave me a lot of fun. I put a shit ton of time into this server, and built myself up and absolutely loved RPing as a large scale drug dealer selling to various allies of my faction, even if I wasn't making as much money as I could have by being a cab driver and cruise controlling my way to the top.
With that said, I am going to discuss some of my views and issues with this server, and how I think it could change.
1. The Quality of Roleplay
I understand that this is a light RP server with VOIP, but my god the roleplay on Eclipse is disgusting. I did not really understand how low quality it was until I began experimenting with other servers. I found that on other servers, even though they were less populated, I got way more immersed because the quality of RP was just insane. People truly would roleplay and handle situations as if they were really in that situation themselves. It really kills my immersion and enjoyment when I am RPing with some people over VOIP who just cannot roleplay. The quiz at the beginning when you first join is completely irrelevant in my opinion, because none of the topics discussed on that quiz are ever put into action on this server. It is either people flying down the street going max speed in whatever job vehicle they chose, or people flying down the street max speed in whatever civilian car they drive. People will shoot and kill you for petty reasons that realistically would probably not get you killed, and do not roleplay these scenarios well at all. When I am talking to almost anyone on this server and trying to RP, I feel like I am not speaking to their character, but instead to them OOC. That is not how it should be IMO.
I think what would really help Eclipse, and please understand that this is my opinion as I expect this to get some backlash, is to switch to a HeavyRP / Serious RP style. Get some actual roleplay and quality control on the server. When there are people who take RP seriously and truly want to play their role and have fun being a citizen of this city mixed in with people who cannot even seem to roleplay something as simple as a fisherman, it really kills the experience. Now I do understand that people will respond to this point by saying "well this is a lightRP server", but a lot of serious RPers love VOIP, and this is the only server with more than like 25 slots that has it. This server is barely an RP server. It's more like a GTA online server with a whole lot of mods and scripts. LightRP is fun and cool at rare times, but overall I feel that the consistent playerbase would all enjoy if we could have a seriousRP server with real roleplay situations. I love VOIP, and I think if used properly, it increases the immersion tenfold. It makes it so much more fun and gives you a real personality behind the character you're talking to. I want to give a quick shoutout to Randy Mcreed, as he is a really good example of this. More players who can really VOIP and play their part and seem as if they are who they're playing as would be amazing.
I only ever see people getting banned on this server for breaking rules like DMing, insulting admins, or other base rules. But very rarely, if ever, have I seen someone banned for very poor RP. This should be enforced. If you cannot roleplay or are not willing to, you should not be on an RP server, plain and simple. There needs to be a lot more strictness revolving around enforcing and encouraging good RP on Eclipse. Even if they are not DMing or breaking other base rules, a player should still be warned and then banned if they are not RPing properly. Joining the server and RPing as a mentally insane man who runs around and robs everyone or just screams insults at everyone is not RP, that is being an idiot.
Another issue I have with the RP is that there's no FearRP rule in state. With the current community on this server, I feel like FearRP would be a shithole since nobody would follow it due to the horrid RP, but FearRP is really important. If I draw a gun on someone and tell them to put their hands up, why can they either sprint away or pull a gun out of their asshole and blast my cranium open? This would also really help the tension in police scenarios; when running from cops, a player would know that if they crashed or got cornered, it was all over. Now, a player can just keep running or shoot back until they die, and hope to god that a medic doesn't make it or the cop who is giving you CPR crashes so you can just die.
The best RP scenario I have ever been in on this server was a hostage situation where our buddy was handcuffed, so myself and some friends called an officer and held him at gunpoint and forced him to take off our friend's cuffs. We realized that he came with a partner who was still outside, and his partner attempted to step in but saw our guns drawn and quickly called for backup. This led to an almost one hour standoff where we tried to negotiate a deal where we handed off their officer whom we had hostage, for one of our guys they managed to get. It was intense, immersive, and insanely enjoyable. This situation was ruined by the server crashing twice throughout the scenario, and we had to call it off because the cops went off duty every time it crashed. That brings me to my next point;
2. Crashes
This topic has been beaten to death already, so I'll keep this short. Instead of continuously adding new scripts and features to the server that are broken upon release, I beg you to just fix the current scripts until the server is stable. I understand that the owners and admins claim it is mainly GTMP causing this, but quite frankly, I believe this is not true. I have played on another server hosted on GTMP with a ton of in depth scripts and sometimes more players than Eclipse, and in my 40 hours of playtime, I have crashed twice. On Eclipse, you are lucky to last over a couple hours. That might even be a stretch.
Please, please, please just work on improving the code behind your current scripts. I don't know what the process for that is or what you have to do in order to make that happen, but I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I am okay with having no new features for a little while in exchange for stabilizing the server.
3. Economy
This is one I'm a bit on the fence about, but I'll go ahead and throw it out there anyways.
I feel that the economy on Eclipse is way too inflated, and money is far too easy to come by. I should not be able to make 40 grand in a day. This is more of a personal thing and I doubt many will agree with this, but I love the feeling of working hard on an RP server (or really any game) and earning some cool shit. I got my money on here very quickly, and sold off all my nice cars to buy an RV and a military style motorcycle so I could drive around selling drugs all day. I didn't even care about profit. I never worked jobs or went fishing, I would often sell drugs for a loss just to engage in some good RP. I want to care more about my money and feel good when I get a new car or house or something, but I literally got on like 2 days ago and just handed out 50+ tabs of LSD and a bunch of Ecstasy to some mechanics and friends because I was bored.
I feel that the starting money should be lowered. Nobody needs seven grand to start. You shouldn't be able to buy a warrener or a faggio right off the bat; make the BMX bikes way cheaper and start the player with maybe 2000 and let them go explore and find ways to get some money for a real car.
4. Criminal Update
I'll keep this one short too since it's my last point and also been discussed a lot.
I love the concepts in the criminal update, and think it was a great addition so the entire server isn't flying down the freeway in trucks all day, but it needs some tuning. I am okay with the drugs on here not having effects beyond visuals, but few people on here are willing to RP and buy drugs for a reason besides getting buffs from it. Often when I sell a drug to someone who has never taken it before, they will ask me OOC what buffs or effects it has. When I say just visuals, they often will not buy it and use that OOC info to effect their IC purchase. This ties in with the poor RP; people care way too much about wasting a penny on some drugs in exchange for some fun RP, even though money is pretty easy on here.
On top of that, the turf system is kind of irritating. Any new group of guys looking to start a faction and get some drug runs going, has to first RP out a war with a faction, partially AFK for ages on three different turf capture points, and hope to god nobody shows up to kill them. Factions that are really big (Syndicate, Grove, etc.) are dominant because they simply have the numbers to take a turf quicker than the opposition can heal it. The turf and warehouse system should not be a game of numbers, it should be a game of roleplay and gun skill. A small group of five or so guys starting a new gang has to essentially either start a war without RPing it and cap turf late at night when nobody is online, or just give up and buy drugs from the gangs who are going to overcharge them. If a player wants to access a turf or warehouse and get drops, they are essentially forced to join one of these big factions. I feel that no feature of the server should be restricted like this; every player or group of players should have a fair chance at getting some turf or getting drug drops, no matter how large their group is. Even if these small groups manage to cap a turf from one of the way bigger groups who currently dominate literally every turf on the server, it will just be taken back as soon as it can be taken.
That's all I have, sorry for making this so long. Just wanted to give my two cents on Eclipse.
