Bala

Hell no

Poker? I hardly know her. In all seriousness, can you be a little more specific?

I hear you and I know it's rough, but PD/SD just needs to sort its activity and you won't notice it, it's a little rough right now. I wouldn't say I enjoy Impound RP but it's quite nice being able to have a neutral interaction with a crim where no one is trying to get something over the other. If we automated, we'd lose that.

I think you've raised some good points there. I also hate seeing stricken vehicles that can't move in that little impound lot, it makes the process of impounding vehicles much more difficult. When we move to the City Impound, it won't be as much of a problem but still, the idea of getting your car released is that you take it and go. I think 450 hp would suffice. You could survive the odd bang still, going from the impound. Ah Colonna, I'm disappointed in you. You know we don't have time to be doing stuff like that from your own experiences as a cop. There's barely enough time to get it out the impound sometimes. That said, the goal is for you to get your car and leave. Perma-stalled vehicles or not being able to push a vehicle you can lock and unlock fucks that up.

I understand the concern but the people that deploy this are one, so good at aiming that no amount of recoil could put them off anyway and two, are very responsible and only use this rifle in situations where it's appropriate to use it. If this was a regular occurrence, then it would be worthwhile having a conversation about it but the amount of times are so few and the use of it are so situational that it's not going to have a troubling impact on crims. Marksman is with the confines of balance in my view. Also, if we're doing the realism argument, the sharpshooters taking these shots won't fucking miss. They train and train to be eagle eyed with situations like this. The game makes more allowances for missing than a real life situation would.

That was before the explosion of GTA 5 RP servers. Everyone and their mother knows there is serious money to be made now, whether it's running a server and taking donations, streaming it, creating content for it etc.. I would also imagine that a lot of what was done in GTA 5 for the multiplayer clients would be applicable for GTA 6 as well, so it's not necessarily starting from scratch. Long story short, the demand will mean a client is out a lot quicker than previously.

It's an interesting topic of discussion but to be completely honest with you, I'm not sure that that potential outcome is quite the great save that you think it is and I'll share with you my own experiences of being in a community that went through this as a warning. I was in a SA:MP Community before this, from 2007 until 2014. Around 2009-2010, the server was purchased from the original developers and reached its peak in popularity around that period, not unlike ECRP did during COVID. The person that bought it made some money from it but for all accounts, he was a pretty good server owner and the community ran well under him. But towards the end of 2011 / beginning of 2012, the community began to stagnate. It was purchased by someone in 2012 who was by all accounts, someone that had a lot of money but had no clue about running a community at all, he chose to try and monetise the server over developing it and it turned a lot of players off. The server was bought by a fourth individual in late 2012 and while that person meant well, the decisions that they decided to take with development and other bits and pieces, managed to nosedive that once thriving community into oblivion and essentially the community became worthless. The point is, while NBDY and Osvaldon might not be "perfect" owners and there are issues in the community, they've built the community into what it is today, good and bad. Better the devil you know, right? If they sold up, maybe we get an owner that takes the server forward or maybe, we get an owner that is either completely incompetent or just wants to bleed whatever money they can out of it. Then you go from Eclipse Roleplay being the size that it is to people talking about it on a forum somewhere in 5 years time about where things went wrong. At this stage, GTA 5 RP while thriving, has peaked. It's still at a high level of popularity but GTA 6 is on the horizon and once announcements/trailers start dropping for that, the momentum starts to shift. I've seen people talking about how long it took a multiplayer client to be made for GTA 5 but that was before the boom of roleplay servers for GTA. There is so much god damn money to be made from this shit that FiveM especially will be all over that shit. We could absolutely make things better in the community for the players that are here but to be honest, I don't think that there is quite the room for growth now for Eclipse on GTA 5 that people think there is. I'd like to see some existing systems get updated in Eclipse and for us to tie off some loose ends but I don't think we need to reinvent the wheel now. I'd rather do that with owners that I know than roll the dice and be worrying about what the new person wants to do because it might not be what you or the community wants to do.

The realism argument doesn't hold up because how criminals interact with cops in real-life and in Eclipse is very, very different. Criminals in real life will do their upmost to avoid police. In Eclipse, at times, it feels like they actively seek their attention. A realistic portrayal of negative cop-criminal dynamics in real life would lead to a weighted outcome in the favour of law enforcement. Accepting that the law is the law and the system is weighted in the cops favour is a very realistic outcome but that isn't gunna happen here. That doesn't work on Eclipse because getting a "win" means more than being realistic with the RP. If you can get a cop into shit over something where you've taken an L, then people are always going to want to push that button. It is what it is.

Absolutely no idea

I think if anything, we need less action timers, not more. For that reason, I'm out.

Sounds like a swell idea.

This is why I don't buy from Motorsport anymore.

Um..

Bala's ECRP Map Showcase II Since the last showcase was received so positively by the community, I figured I would do another but also, unfortunately, it seems increasingly likely that this will be my final contributions to the server in terms of modding. The reason for that is long and not appropriate to discuss on an open-forum but suffice to say, all parties involved have differing opinions on how things should be delivered and those differences are likely irreconcilable (not fixable) at this point, which while unfortunate, is as they say, what it is. My understanding that previous projects such as the uniforms and such that I've finished will still be implemented at some point, I don't want the server to go without things but it's unsure at this point whether there will be any new developments from me beyond those. I'd like to thank everyone that has worked with me to this point on the modifications as part of the mod team, as well as those that shared their feedbacks positive and negative as they've helped shape the work. While I think we could have done more and gone further with it, I'm really proud of where we've got to and also that I got to share my creativity with the community in this way. I hope that even in some small significant way, the things that I've done have made you love the server just that little bit more. That said, I should point out that the inclusion of any project featured here is subject to review so don't take the inclusion of certain maps as a promise that they will be included, merely that they have been created. With that in mind, let's take a look shall we? Twust. Los Santos Customs An update on the current LSC interior, which darkened the tones making it feel less like a empty warehouse with splashes of the LSC logo colours through to give it a regal and custom theme. The addition of a desking area, custom signs for the building, the establishment of a one-way road system through LSC, lifts for the vehicles and other minor customisations. Los Santos Pier Taking everyone's favourite or least favourite place on the map and adding some new life to it. Adding barriers so players can fish without the chance of getting VDMed, speed bumps to encourage reasonable speed, a market/fair at the end of the pier's road to discourage vehicles from entering and also, fill out the space a little more. Different stalls and attractions to make one of our server hotspots feel unique to us. Sandy Pet and Hunting Store Taking something that is just money sink and adding a little more detail to it. A pet store that people can go inside. Featuring pets from real community members (with their permission) as well as a number of different pet related items. Given the location, it was also in my opinion, a natural place to be able to deliver fish / meat to. County Billboards Four different billboards, two for the city, two for the county. Featuring the LSPD, Bayview and LSSD. My head has never looked so big. Los Santos Bank A simple reimagination of the LS Bank with less barriers but focusing on the area that matters. Also removed the scaffolding from the side of the bank. La Mesa Pub Envisioned this as an alternative location to Burger Shot but for alcohol and such. While players will host events at their properties, that is not always regularly available and often those properties are closed for most of the week. Having a guaranteed location where people can work serving drinks as well as players being able to congregate and RP together seemed like a good idea. Obviously if club owners are putting on events, there is a different reason to go there. Paul's Gym Just a free interior that I picked up and I thought if we ever decide to expand on the health aspect of our characters, going to the gym would be a good way. Burger Shot A more-modern take on the current Burger Shot. Separate area for going on duty, a separate area for trucks to refill, clear of the parking lot at Burger Shot. Seats you can actually sit in and you can simply watch people work looking in and the world go by looking out. Vangelico Jewellery Store and Low End Dealership Relocation Vangelico Jewellery would be a different take on the heist activities we do in the server. Hold up the clerk and security guard inside, then have your associates smash and grab the jewels. As for Low End, moving it from Maze Bank Arena which is a random parking lot to an area by the Airport (closer to DMV) which makes more sense and shows a level of realism/detail particularly to new players. Los Santos City Impound and LSPD Metropolitan Division Headquarters Building METRO on top, we all know this. But they'd have the location to prove it. Additionally, moving Mors Insurance closer to Legion Square and adding the larger City Impound closer to the centre of the city makes it more convenient for cops, mechanics and civilians alike to get their car out. The Great San Andreas Treasure Hunt Basically, a treasure hunt that will lead the player across the state of San Andreas. You'll swim the oceans, climb the mountains, run the desert.. all in the name of finding the end location which is a trove of memes and easter eggs for the community. Each location will have a different hint (20 in total) before reaching your final destination. Official Faction Custom Mapping One of the biggest things I wanted to do with the mods was custom items for the factions of our server. It can be a complex and difficult job running or being in a faction in ECRP, particularly for those factions that have been here a number of years. I wanted to give them the environment to be able to take their roleplay to the next step but also, reward them for their patient, loyalty and dedication to ECRP even in a small way like this. Also, someone complained I didn't include a song last time. I couldn't be arsed to make one this time so I'll share with you my favourite one at the moment.

Lol, good suggestion

No no, don't back track now. You said all the time, there's no other way to interpret that other than it happens so much when in actuality, it probably happens every now and then. Cops are the ones taking the licenses and cops are the ones issuing them, so if you're saying something negative about the firearm licenses then it's against Police? We are going to be changing things with the upcoming gun update, I know this because I'm leading the proposals. Suffice to say, there will be probably be more reasons to take a license but also a shorter time period to allow someone to get one in again depending on the circumstances. If you make a certain level of mistake, you can get a do over in a reasonable amount of time. If you do certain crimes though, you're never getting one again. Obviously all that stuff is IC but the whole process is something we're thinking about.

+1

"If crims could only know cops, they would neither idolize nor hate." - Dezzy Bala Let's not make generalised statements and present them as facts or representative of a faction of a 100+ people arresting like 20-30 people a day and assume that we don't get more arrests wrong than we do right. Just because YOU have in your own mind been personally wronged, does not mean that everyone else has or in fact that you have. We have the server we have, with the cops we have and the crims we have, so we make the best of it. If that's not good enough for you, I don't know what to tell you.

Since this issue is rooted in activity, putting myself in the shoes of a mechanic on this server, I really don't know how they do it because from the outside it looks really boring. It's only really for me, the social element, that might help pass the time but a bit like Burger Shot, you are reliant on players coming to your shop for custom. Mechanics are dependent on customers for their RP and Customers are dependent on mechanics for their mods and repairs, so I think you have to set it up so that you give mechanics all the opportunities for business you can AND you also give players an option when there's no mechanics on to get things done. Personally, as a cop, I try to get mechanics involved when there is a broken down vehicle but it's hard to get an answer sometimes. What does that look like? Automatic Repairs at Bayview / LSC if there is NO mechanics on duty at all. If you at LSC and a Bayview Mechanic is online, then there's still an opportunity there for RP to happen. If there's no mechanics on at all, why should you suffer as a player for that? Adding a Mechanic App to the Phone. Not only will this give you the option to get a mechanic out to you, it will also let you know how many mechanics are on duty at Bayview and how many are on at LSC. We use this for the DCC app and it's helpful to know. Add more extra random vehicle spawns, but with someone of the vehicles spawning broken, to supplement mechanics not having things to do. Random vehicles spawn broken and mechanics have to go to their location, kind of like the incident worker. When they get there, they have to hit [E] on Diagnose and the vehicle will have a certain problem that is stopping it from starting. This might be that the vehicle is out of gas or blown spark plugs or a flat tyre or it has a faulty alternator. Mechanics will then use /fl to get an item to fix the issue. This might be spare spark plugs, new alternator, spare tyre or a gas can. They will hit [E] on Fix and the vehicle will be repaired. The mechanic puts the vehicle on the flatbed and returns it to their shop for a pay-out. If you attack it from both sides, then things improve. More things for a mechanic to do means more mechanics active. More mechanics active means more customers can be served. Yes mechanics would be going to places other than the mechanic shop but they have to come back to the shop anyway to get their money.

I dunno, I feel like that amount of development for what is essentially an advertising company seems a little bit missplaced. It's a cool suggestion but honestly, I feel like besides people looking to sell and advertise stuff, this server doesn't really care enough about the news to warrant it.

Appreciate the kind words by you and others. I don't know about the management part but as long as the players are digging what I'm doing, that's all that really matters. Some stuff is really good, some stuff needs tweaks to be better and then other bits are not really needed so it's a process. I'll probably throw up another showcase soon when I'm closer to being finished with Update 3. I think the majority of the work is done, we just need to fine tune.

Reviving a thread when the dust had settled on it when you don't even play here is just toxic behaviour. While there might be some debate over whether giving people the current amount of time or giving them less is the right way, no one but you is advocating for more time. This isn't something that concerns you, at all. You are not a criminal here, you were barely in the PD faction before you left as well. It'd be like one of us going on the text server and telling them how they should run their PD. Stop fueling the fire.

Who is being hateful? Lmao. I just said let private labs die a miserable death because I think we should just get rid of them period. Nothing to do with your suggestion, I didn’t even read your post so I dunno why you’re having a hissy fit. Private drug making was a terrible game mechanic for a number of reasons and rather than have it continue in a lesser form as it is now, my suggestion was to remove it entirely.

Let the private labs die a miserable death.

I can understand why people may be concerned about big groups but in all honesty, big fish eat little fish. You become a big faction, a powerful faction, a main player faction over time by building your faction roster and gathering your resources. Some factions will want to do business with people, in part because they're more socially inclined, both IC and OOC or because it's in their financial interest to do it. But at the same time, there are going to be factions that don't want to interact with smaller crims and don't want anyone using what they think is their lab. For me, it depends on what sort of faction you are. The street gang mentality is "us above all others" and it's that constant competition to be number one, the alpha faction. Where as your more-business orientated groups or the mafia mentality is that they want to control the business but if it's worthwhile, they'll cut you in. I feel like if you start rewarding factions for behaving a certain way, you are kind of forcing them to behave that way to get the rewards, not necessarily because it's something they want to do. We've seen that with banks sometimes. For some factions, it don't make much sense for them to be turning banks over but they have to do it because of the system. I think also, people need to get treatment their main character syndrome and realise that after 2-3 years of walking around in a bubble, if they engage in these activities, they are doing so at their own risk and they may get robbed doing it. If you at a lab, you're outside the law and whatever happens happens. As long as the reward is worth the risk, then there's no issue taking the chance.