1. New Player Experience for Criminals
I feel like the early criminal experience is more difficult than it needs to be for new players, and by new players, I mean people who are either new to the server or new to criminal RP in general. For example, my main is in PD and there is a very straightforward path to follow as a new player. You find a cop, you ask how to apply, you go through that process, and then have a structured way to learn everything. Enjoyable experience.
However, on my crim character, it's been the opposite. When trying to learn how to be a criminal, you either have to learn by guessing (usually resulting in being caught and getting set back even further), or you have to try asking around for help and hope that people don't take advantage of you for being new, which I unfortunately have seen a lot of. Unenjoyable experience.
I've been told about some gangs who are great at helping new players learn criminal RP, specifically Lost, but for some people, it may not fit their crim character's lore to join a gang. There should be ways for new people to learn criminal RP outside of gangs. I don't know if there is some way to provide people with an optional tutorial or something similar that teaches the basics, but anything that can provide more guidance would be helpful, especially as we prepare for more new players as we move over to FiveM. We don't want to get a massive influx of new players only for them to leave after a few weeks because they don't understand how to play crim or because they get killed when asking for help.
2. Content Variety
I've been playing on Eclipse for just over a year, and in that time, I feel like there hasn't been much new content added in terms of jobs or criminal opportunities. @Eliza said it very well when they said:
To add to that, there's not a ton of criminal opportunities for people who want to do crime on their own (whether that be lore related or based on the time of day that they play). Most crimes require multiple people (whether script reasons or safety reasons), which really inhibits the solo crim experience.
I'll also adding more opportunities (even if it's only 2 or 3 things) would help not just the criminal experience, but also the LEO experience. LEOs aren't just stuck patrolling around labs and other common areas for gangs waiting for something to happen. They get more calls to respond to, which in turn gives more freedom for crims to operate. Additionally, more opportunities gives crims more variety in their gameplay instead of doing the same couple things that they have been doing for years.
I'm also going to briefly mention the civilian side of things. New content would also be a great addition for people who don't want to play crim, join a government faction, or a mechanic shop. It would also be helpful for a crim players who want a crim/civilian balance. Just an extra point that I wanted to throw out.
3. The Grind
I'm not going to spend a ton of time on this aspect since I don't have a lot of crim experience, but it is a common trend that I've noticed not only in this thread but also from conversations I've had with people OOC. If people want to make any progress, they have to spend dozens of hours grinding away. This also ties into the asset focused mentality that a lot of people have. They do all of the grinding only to lose it during one interaction with either LEOs or other crims. I'm a big fan of what @Jaxxon said previously in this thread about the grindy nature of the server.
Conclusion
Addressing all of those points I mentioned would help with long term retention with not only new players but also current. Content variety and the grind is something that a lot of current players are frustrated with, and the new player experience paired with the grind is something that we need to be conscious of if we want to keep any new players.
Thanks for the opportunity to share my perspective, and I hope you all have a fantastic day!
