Radios and Radio Frequency

[Wizzidy]

Recently I joined a smaller gang, but there is a larger, overwhelming alliance of factions that play to win more than RP.... but hyperbole aside, I want to talk about radios. This faction spends their time hunting and digging for the radio frequency and it is just a nuisance, rather than an actual role play point. This sort of situation is honestly just really immersion breaking, and super distracting from real play... because we all have to reconvene and check our radios and put them in a new frequency. Let me ask you something, why do we have 50000 dollar dark web utilizing laptops, but hardcore criminal enterprises use wide ban walkie talkie radios to communicate? What possible sense does that make. My suggestion is that role playing the radio frequency is in every way considered PG because lets be honest, the only reason these walkie talkie type radios event exist is because ragemp and eclipse do not have the functions of actual encrypted burner phones... and other bounced covert communication devices... it seems like lazy at best to stand on wide ban frequencies and then have them hunted full time to no end other than annoying a group of people. To put this in perspective, this large alliance of people attacked groups of our smaller organization a total of 13 times in 2 days trying to power game us into giving frequencies that we had to fight with them about in RP. I think role playing not giving up the frequency is interesting, but it has just become a point of power gaming that goes un-noticed and un-answered.

[alexalex303]

Story aside, what's the actual suggestion?

[Wizzidy]

3 hours ago, alexalex303 said:

Story aside, what's the actual suggestion?

The suggestion is to make the radio frequency "stealing" nonRP as it is obviously outside a real life scenario, and used for warfare and not role play.... It shouldnt exist in the first place... and like I said it is currently being used to an extreme by certain factions to engage in overwhelmingly shitty rp, 90% of our engagements involve being held up everywhere all over town (of course this is not unrealistic and stealing I understand) and then dug at for a frequency that shouldnt exist. It just doesnt feel real and it doesnt add anything to the world really, and almost every time it happens the outcome is one of two things, an annoying in game mechanic where we reset our frequencies, or a long drawn out ruling process where the moderators have to come rule on wether or not they are harassing the person for their frequency... 

Let me remind everyone hear, fearRP is making sure you put a reasonable value on your life, why would anyone give up a code (wether or not it should even exist, which it shouldnt) if they knew they would be killed for it... and we are made not to lie about it because the RP for it often looks like this *gets shot* assailant borderline dming runs to body and /me takes radio and looks at screen and then expecting us to not lie in /do. We can't use /do to lie, but there is abuse of the system to try and get a "warfare" advantage on people they would commonly just have to track down or have eyes on the street for. It is tacky and lazy and annoying and I have yet to feel like the support of radio frequency stealing on either side has added to the role play experience. So I basically want it excluded from RP. I am curious to see how others feel about this situation. Has being held up 20 times a day, usually in hugely public places, clothing stores, outside the bank, places where the police would respond if the population was enough to call the police... and then pushed into giving a frequency to a person and having to change it 4 minutes later, interrupting RP from everyone, improving your gaming or role playing experience. 

Being robbed doesnt feel good, but it shouldnt, being robbed for a frequency feels lame and immersion breaking. I can understand role playing making them use their phone to call their boss for ransom or something, but the radio thing is just... come on... thoughts?

(Also sorry about the long windedness, I forget where I am in long explinations sometimes, I hope I made it clear how I feel and what I would like to see done)

[TheCanadian]

-1 There are RP counters to this with /mes and /dos. making an action that is extremely useful to get intel non RP would in no way improve RP. You can steal frequencies to spy on enemies and hit them when they regroup, tell cops, etc. there are many uses to tapping an enemies frequency, none of which should count as NonRP.

7 hours ago, Wizzidy said:

What possible sense does that make. My suggestion is that role playing the radio frequency is in every way considered PG because lets be honest, the only reason these walkie talkie type radios event exist is because ragemp and eclipse do not have the functions of actual encrypted burner phones...

Burner phones would not allow for multiple to speak on the same voice channel as a radio would, it would be a 1 to 1 call like a normal phone. Please explain how holding a man up and retrieving his frequency be considered powergaming? PG is unrealistic actions taken. I.e driving with handcuffs, swimming around the entire island to avoid getting robbed/arrested. Not taking a guys frequency. Next thing you will claim is what? Detectives are powergaming when swiping for fingerprints?

[Wizzidy]

1 hour ago, TheCanadian said:

-1 There are RP counters to this with /mes and /dos. making an action that is extremely useful to get intel non RP would in no way improve RP. You can steal frequencies to spy on enemies and hit them when they regroup, tell cops, etc. there are many uses to tapping an enemies frequency, none of which should count as NonRP.

Burner phones would not allow for multiple to speak on the same voice channel as a radio would, it would be a 1 to 1 call like a normal phone. Please explain how holding a man up and retrieving his frequency be considered powergaming? PG is unrealistic actions taken. I.e driving with handcuffs, swimming around the entire island to avoid getting robbed/arrested. Not taking a guys frequency. Next thing you will claim is what? Detectives are powergaming when swiping for fingerprints?

Burner phones can connect to encrypted voip networks on the dark web, and can most certainly sustain conversations across many people, source: I used this when I was doing stuff in college... the action is realistic because the radios are unrealistic... fingerprinting is not PG because it exists... also I called it failRP... because it is using a mechanic of the game as a crutch to support things that could be done in game through other means. It is tacky and I am just voicing a suggestion.

To believe any criminal enterprise would use a radio frequency like this is just... so silly...

Edited April 10, 2019 by Wizzidy

[Vito_Vanucci]

3 hours ago, Hoxton_Curry said:

-1

There are ways to "hide" your radio freq and there is also a way to counter that

this exactly

 

-1

[Wizzidy]

3 hours ago, Vito_Vanucci said:

this exactly

 

-1

but it is such an unrealistic part of the game... this would never exist in real life, and today the group I am with was basically harassed, robbed exactly 14 times, asked for torture rp, all for a communication channel that doesnt even exist irl...

[TheCanadian]

1 hour ago, Wizzidy said:

asked for torture rp, all for a communication channel that doesnt even exist irl...

Of course i asked for torture RP as i find it enjoyable. Deny the request if you find it disturbing or dont want to take part.

[Wizzidy]

6 hours ago, TheCanadian said:

Of course i asked for torture RP as i find it enjoyable. Deny the request if you find it disturbing or dont want to take part.

Its only disruptive when it is literally every time I leave the bank... it is not fun to be borderline harassed. I enjoy the fun of torture and crime and fighting RP, but most of the time these robberies come down to shouting shut the fuck up and get down, then me waiting 10 minutes while they cycle through every possible route to get the radio frequency, which should not exist, and then meeting at the bank to change said frequency because everyone knows we have to change it the second a person is robbed because its basically the most annoying part of a robbery... and least realistic. I mean some seem to like it, so I can't argue with their opinion, but my suggestion was to make radio frequencies ignored as part of the game, because I just don't find them to be fun or realistic... Spy, hide in the bushes, infiltrate, beat information out of me, but this radio frequency thing is a lazy bunch of cop out and anyone who imagines otherwise is probably the ones asking for it.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Wizzidy

[Teca]

-1 

[Xoza]

For every offense a defense is created. Here are some pointers.

• Create a math formula for a different frequency every day. (I'm going to regret suggesting this one.)
• Create code names for every location in the city of interest to your group.
• Make someone else set your frequency, so you don't even know it.
• Buy the radio set it, then remove or damage any channel indicators. (I don't believe we have an "official" radio design, so get everything from nobs and screens to buttons.)

I do agree though, radios and communications in general can be improved a lot.

• 900 frequency's should all be secure for government usage only.
• Public Frequency should be 1-899 and 1000-9999, or more.
• You should be able to buy a 'scrambler attachment' you can use a code with your radio to secure your frequency.

Edited May 24, 2019 by Xoza

[Wifye]

-1

As most said already, there's numerous ways to take measures about using radios and their frequencies in various ways to avoid people finding out the frequencies.

Alternatively, you could set up all sorts of protocols and signs to avoid using radios at all.

Examples of such:

- time interval texts, if you don't text within a certain time frame, they know to come running.

- horn patterns, like 3 fast honks means trouble, 2 long honks mean trouble. 

- /me hand signals like radio silent tactical teams

 

I understand the frustration of dealing with constant badgering for "what's the frequency" but you should be finding ways to adapt around it IC'ly. If your robbers don't find radios on you and your guys, they'll stop trying to take radios.

Extra note: if you do decide to go a radioless route, you should definitely document everything you use as protocols OOC'ly in order to show any staff instantly, in case you get accused of metagaming as people will likely assume you are without knowing your protocols and signs. 

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by Wifye

[MusketDeezNuts]

Honestly. I think a suggestion that makes it so radios that are picked up for bodies or stolen display their last freq. (Alot of people scratch them out. But that does not work as it would still be on that freq when you die or ware arrested unless you changed it before the RP situation. Or during the situation using /me) 

[DaleGribble]

The argument everyone in here seems to be throwing up is invalid - it doesn't matter if there are ways to hide your radio frequency, the point the OP seems to be making is that this entire "getting other peoples radio frequencies" has become a central focus of criminal RP which, like he says, is unrealistic.

Cant really +1 the idea though because it just boils down to bad RP rather than a broken mechanic, which unfortunately can't be prevented that easily.

[alexalex303]

2 minutes ago, DaleGribble said:

The argument everyone in here seems to be throwing up is invalid - it doesn't matter if there are ways to hide your radio frequency, the point the OP seems to be making is that this entire "getting other peoples radio frequencies" has become a central focus of criminal RP which, like he says, is unrealistic.

Cant really +1 the idea though because it just boils down to bad RP rather than a broken mechanic, which unfortunately can't be prevented that easily.

Contact the faction management team and report official factions that exhibit bad roleplay. It is the best avenue for tackling issues such as this. Script support can not fix bad RP.

[DGanja]

There are /mes and /do's you can use to counter act that. Scratch screen etc...

 

And unless you do anything like that to prevent your freq from being revealed, try picking up a walkie IRL and notice that somewhere it will state what freq you are using. So in reality if I'm robbing you, and I pickup your radio chances are I'd see a freq somewhere on there unless of course the knob was filed off, screen scratched things like that.

[DaleGribble]

3 hours ago, alexalex303 said:

Contact the faction management team and report official factions that exhibit bad roleplay. It is the best avenue for tackling issues such as this. Script support can not fix bad RP. 

Not experienced it with any official factions to be honest, most of them seem to do a good job of keeping RP fairly realistic. It's usually small gangs & lone criminals that take it too far. DCC changes its frequency several times a week on average, due to people taking it with no real RP reason to do so. Just boils down to "Got a radio? Give us the frequency so we can troll you"

Like you said though there's nothing a script can do to fix that