The REAL reason ECRP is in it's current state. (Opinion Piece)

[Marksy]

I wanted to take some time to write something out, get my feelings out in the open, feelings I know are shared by many people I've spoken to and dealt with during my time in FM and just generally as a long tenured player on this server in general 5 years to be precise, I've seen the server go through so many stages of it's life cycle and through so many player bases. This might end up being deleted swiftly, and if it is then I think it only further proves my point that I'm going to attempt to make. 

Firstly, 

I'd like to start by touching on Development, now we've all seen the recent announcements about "saving the server" and I commend that FINALLY someone noticed and said hey, things are not good right now and we need some changes, we'll not talk about how long it took for this realisation to slap the face of those who can make changes. HOWEVER, although we all like new and shiny things, and lord knows the server has needed some fresh activities and scripts, lack of development to the server really only contributes to about 10% of the problem that has alienated the once loyal player-base. The other 90% of the problem is as follows;

Law Enforcement and the divide between LFM and FM and the divide between LEO and Crim mains. 

The power that is wielded by Law Enforcement is frankly, insane. I've played a lot of hours on both sides of the server (LEO and Crim) and can honestly say sometimes people be complaining about certain things they believe are overpowered etc and are usually complaining about the wrong things. 

Exhibit A:

Everyone's favourite branch of the Law Enforcement factions... GND, some of the servers most god complex players, like a toddler who just discovered candy for the first time and they can not be handled when the sugar rush hits. The real stain that has caused so many issues that LFM have continuously failed to address, understand or honestly even care about addressing, a branch of players who play and act like criminals who enjoy the freedom and power they get without any of the risk of losing anything (Let's not forget that most of them also played as criminals and know how shit it can be to be abused by LEO's and still went out of their way to join GND and do it to you), you can find GND most of the time rolling labs in criminal outfits, hiding in labs dressed as gang members, smoking blunts and using other drugs that effects were added as a way to give a bit of an advantage in a fight or perhaps level the playing field against LEO's zero recoil Special Carbines and Bullpup MK2's and their 150AP's (or 100AP if you want to be a staff member who pretends that it's just a visual bug). You'll find this same division who have a blank page to make a "Casefile" on just about anything they want that's gang related and guess what, it gets to pretty much ALWAYS stay open so they can pull you over whenever they feel like and tell you it's "FoR aN iNvEsTiGaTiOn" How many of you have heard this blanket phrase that acts as a free pass to do whatever they want with you and give you pretty much 0 RP balance besides evading, yeah good luck evading from Air-1 and everyone on shift as you drive on the open empty roads giving them an easy target to follow if they're even semi competent drivers, sure you can get away with a bit of luck and some level of skill but mostly, you're going to DOC to sit in an empty prison that might have the occasional AFK player and even on special occasions the odd AFK DOC employee that's stood there salary farming in a job that gives them 0 rewarding RP and the LTU with 3k XP that wants your stamps and attacks you with no prior interaction. 

Exhibit B: 

K9... Oh yes, the biggest power play in the LEO handbook, hey man I just pulled you over because I saw your 4 stacked Kamacho driving through an empty street (one that would be RPly populated but due to 0 NPC's you stick out like a sore thumb) and now I'm gonna grab my dog that can sniff out anything illegal you might have in that car, I'll throw in a few lines of /me and /do for some top quality immersion as I walk around your vehicle with my spawned dog and your only option is to run from me. The less I say on this the better, it's a disgraceful way of Power gaming and should never have left the discussion phase of implementing it to the server. 

 

Staff incompetence/Inconsistency/Laziness

Now this one is going to hurt some feelings but to be honest, you need to hear it and have your bubble burst if any of this applies to you, if you are a member of staff and you feel offended by this following blanket statement, then you should do some self reflecting as it clearly applies to you. I'm gonna start by saying that this absolutely DOES NOT apply to all members of staff, there are some people in the staff team with a heart of gold and who have the purest intentions for the community and some I consider friends that I have spent a lot of time with. 

A huge issue with ECRP is that there seems to be a large amount of the most senior staff members that simply DO NOT PLAY ENOUGH OR ARE SO OUT OF TOUCH WITH SERVER OPERATIONS ICLY, I understand we all have lives, we all have other things we like to do, some of us have families and jobs etc etc, however there are some members of the staff team who have progressed to a point that they lost their spark or commitment to their role within the community or genuinely swan about with a holier than thou mentality where they believe they absolutely can not be wrong about anything and you're in the wrong for disagreeing. 

There are people within the staff team who don't conduct themselves in a way they should and I can think of a situation within the ECRP discord recently as a perfect example; Empire had a little squabble lets call it over the fact they hadn't received their clothing, they were mad, some others got mad, it happens we're all human and we blow up sometimes. But we saw a Head Administrator put a snarky comment thanking the Modder team for their specific item of clothing, instead of defusing the situation or approaching it with some fucking decorum that should be expected of someone of that position within the community.

We have a one sided divide in staff that doesn't represent a large quantity of the community, almost all high end staff are high ups in Legal factions, and they're also the ones telling you that these legal factions aren't too powerful or aren't prioritised while the crim scene dwindles and withers like a dead flower, tone deaf beyond belief is how I and many others have perceived this.

Moving onto the inconsistency, we see with so many examples reports and punishments that will be accepted with punishments given one report and another with a similar situation not accepted and no punishments handed out. Why does the outcome of a report depend on which admin you get that takes it, it's like a lottery or flipping a coin not to mention the sometimes blatantly obvious bias from staff on decisions depending on which faction the player is a part of and if they're friends, conflict of interest is rife in the report handling system. 

Don't get me started on the lack of in game support and the lazy culture that has curated itself within staff, staff members with the ability to handle in game reports will sometimes accept a report and teleport to their friends at the drop of a hat to sort out a situation, however if little Timmy is having his experience ruined because of some Grade A bullshit and puts in a report 4, someone like me is going to have to tell him in 30 minutes that he needs to write an essay on the forums about a situation that's already ruined his experience and willpower to play the server that day which brings me nicely to my next point. 

 

Report Culture and OOC Toxicity

The server has become a cesspit of toxicity, if someone doesn't like the outcome of a roleplay scenario you can almost bet that they'll be trawling through their footage for anything they think could be even a minor rule break and a player report will be made on it within the next 48 hours. It's tiresome, it's making most of the community feel like they need to walk on egg shells in every single situation, instead of fluid and spontaneous roleplay situations we have everyone second guessing themselves... Can I do this? Will I be reported for this? Can we shoot here? Where does it end, did we get that caught up in winning and shit talking each other over some pixels that we became that centered around getting people we beef with IC into trouble because we can't keep it in game and we have to hate eachother OOCly as well? 

Don't get me started on the threads that are made on these forums every so often where people try to bring some good ideas and sometimes extremely terrible ideas to discussion and it ends up with a fight, or with all LEO players telling crim players that their feelings are invalid about XYZ and the same vice versa when neither are experiencing each side of the server in it's current state but believe they know best for a pathway of character they don't even play. 

Conclusion

The alienation of the player base to appease a select few has been a massive issue for at the very least a year now. Gangs are dropping like flies which is having a domino effect on LEO's wanting to all be involved in every situation or making something happen because they're also bored due to the lack of players, we lost the entirety of Off Grid due to unanswered concerns, we lost many other factions over recent times and the ones still surviving are hanging by a thread, one faction leader was recently threatened with a ban if they left the server and took their faction with them, crazy thought that friends would all follow eachothers decision to leave but it's been viewed with a tunnel vision of breaking rules by asking their friends to leave with them. 

The clear unwillingness for LFM and FM to work together has been a massive evident problem, FM try to make some changes for the criminal player base, it's shut down by LFM, same vice versa, these 2 branches represent almost the entire population of the server and instead of being a cohesive unit, they squabble like a married couple and basically never come to any kind of decision that works for anyone, too much gatekeeping of their own factions interests to consider the interests of the other side, this might be branded as untrue in a public space however the amount of times I've been told by high up staff members in both of these branches that have told me their hands are tied because the other side refused to compromise is actually laughable and detrimental to the health of the server and community. 

I just want to end this post with a thank you, a thank you for the memories that I've created in this community, a thank you to the players I've met along the way and roleplayed with over the last 5 years. It's been a blast and I've made some friends for life, I don't know if I'll ever be back, I don't know if I'll get banned for speaking so openly about how I feel and how others who have confided in me feel but I wanted to speak up on behalf of those to afraid to due to the potential consequences. I accept whatever outcome swings my way but the way this is received and the action taken will only shine more of a light on these issues. Much love to all those people who made this server what it was during the great times, and those of you who once did make this a fantastic place to be but became bitter, egotistical and uninspired during the time you've been in the positions you are, time for you to self reflect and step up. 

[Sammy Kane]

at least someone put their head above the parapet and said it. we love you marksy.

Edited October 30, 2025 by Sammy Kane

[Felarx]

Love g, w post. We will miss you

[MateiC]

Marksy, you have hit the nail on the spot on every single point you've made. Things a lot of the community has been saying for ages now but have been getting ignored or fucked over for it. Thanks for speaking up for us, and honestly being the best faction guide we could have had. This, this is what a fantastic faction guide looks like, fighting for all of his factions and always doing his best for them. 

Well fucking done lad!

[crystianaxo]

Quote

Moving onto the inconsistency, we see with so many examples reports and punishments that will be accepted with punishments given one report and another with a similar situation not accepted and no punishments handed out.

+1, I've seen so many situations in my time where Situation A and Situation B are identical with the outcomes being entirely different. At times, you can't help but theorize why certain people tend to get away with certain behaviors yet an unrelated and unaffiliated individual will be punished for the exact same behavior.

On top of that, I've heard a few times that the "rules" are up to the handling staff member's "interpretation." Like, what does that even mean? If it's left up to someone's interpretation of said rule, it's not a rule.

[m38z]

Marksy what a Legend 

 

[Earl Mud]

As a newer member of the community this was strongly felt. I've been here a little over a year and if it wasn't for the friends I made quickly though good RP I would've left after a few months. Server has been dwindling since I arrived and watching it happen real time and seeing so many cover their eyes and ears to the issues since they didn't directly affect them until it was too late has been disheartening. 

Edited October 30, 2025 by Earl Mud

[RustyOsprey2]

Well said Marks, glad someone had the guts to speak so openly about it. Especially someone with experience from all sides, LEO, Crim and Staff like yourself. I enjoyed every moment of RP with you, sad to see you go however everything comes to an end eventually.

Edited October 30, 2025 by RustyOsprey2

[SneakySniper]

Just a man who speaks nothing but facts, thanks for all the stuff u do for us, and being the one to finally speak out!

[PenguWin]

Spot on, even as an LEO main, glad to see someone speak up about it all.

Edited October 30, 2025 by PenguWin

[Trevor Zelias]

Sadly, you probably will be removed from Staff because you opened your mouth!

 

But yes +1 on most parts!

Edited October 30, 2025 by Trevor Zelias

[raganrogaine]

Mans led the best faction in the server, handed it over to a wonderful man, then cooked a masterpiece of everything I have been struggling to put into words. I never log in anymore and have no interest. The server is dying and there’s a huge disconnect.  

[AtlasOLimbo]

2 hours ago, Marksy said:

Exhibit A:

Everyone's favourite branch of the Law Enforcement factions... GND, some of the servers most god complex players, like a toddler who just discovered candy for the first time and they can not be handled when the sugar rush hits. The real stain that has caused so many issues that LFM have continuously failed to address, understand or honestly even care about addressing, a branch of players who play and act like criminals who enjoy the freedom and power they get without any of the risk of losing anything (Let's not forget that most of them also played as criminals and know how shit it can be to be abused by LEO's and still went out of their way to join GND and do it to you), you can find GND most of the time rolling labs in criminal outfits, hiding in labs dressed as gang members, smoking blunts and using other drugs that effects were added as a way to give a bit of an advantage in a fight or perhaps level the playing field against LEO's zero recoil Special Carbines and Bullpup MK2's and their 150AP's (or 100AP if you want to be a staff member who pretends that it's just a visual bug). You'll find this same division who have a blank page to make a "Casefile" on just about anything they want that's gang related and guess what, it gets to pretty much ALWAYS stay open so they can pull you over whenever they feel like and tell you it's "FoR aN iNvEsTiGaTiOn" How many of you have heard this blanket phrase that acts as a free pass to do whatever they want with you and give you pretty much 0 RP balance besides evading, yeah good luck evading from Air-1 and everyone on shift as you drive on the open empty roads giving them an easy target to follow if they're even semi competent drivers, sure you can get away with a bit of luck and some level of skill but mostly, you're going to DOC to sit in an empty prison that might have the occasional AFK player and even on special occasions the odd AFK DOC employee that's stood there salary farming in a job that gives them 0 rewarding RP and the LTU with 3k XP that wants your stamps and attacks you with no prior interaction. 

Exhibit B: 

K9... Oh yes, the biggest power play in the LEO handbook, hey man I just pulled you over because I saw your 4 stacked Kamacho driving through an empty street (one that would be RPly populated but due to 0 NPC's you stick out like a sore thumb) and now I'm gonna grab my dog that can sniff out anything illegal you might have in that car, I'll throw in a few lines of /me and /do for some top quality immersion as I walk around your vehicle with my spawned dog and your only option is to run from me. The less I say on this the better, it's a disgraceful way of Power gaming and should never have left the discussion phase of implementing it to the server. 

To try and get in early here before this dogpiles too hard. I've been a crim man previous and currently an LEO main and have seen these points happen more than sometimes during my tenure. Executive staff in SD are aware of these issues and while I think there's some exaggerations in here, the core points remain the same. Steps have been taken internally to rectify these issues already and I can only expect more to come from our new Executive Staff in SD. (I cannot comment for PD at all, nor is my statement a direct faction-wide statement on behalf of SD's executive, simply my perspective.)

[Earl Mud]

3 minutes ago, AtlasOLimbo said:

To try and get in early here before this dogpiles too hard. I've been a crim man previous and currently an LEO main and have seen these points happen more than sometimes during my tenure. Executive staff in SD are aware of these issues and while I think there's some exaggerations in here, the core points remain the same. Steps have been taken internally to rectify these issues already and I can only expect more to come from our new Executive Staff in SD. (I cannot comment for PD at all, nor is my statement a direct faction-wide statement on behalf of SD's executive, simply my perspective.)

Nothing against leos in general but the issue is it's went on for far too long and people have lost trust and just aren't going to accept anything IC at this point. Attitudes of higher ups ic and ooc have pushed people away and aren't gonna return with "we adjusted some things". I appreciate things are happening but we don't personally see it in our day to day in the server especially on crim side. 

Edited October 30, 2025 by Earl Mud

[Harveyyy]

Oh god. I’ve seen this film before. 

[AtlasOLimbo]

2 minutes ago, Earl Mud said:

Nothing against leos in general but the issue is it's went on for far too long and people have lost trust and just aren't going to accept anything IC at this point. Attitudes of higher ups ic and ooc have pushed people away and aren't gonna return with "we adjusted some things" 

I'm not sure how aware the general public is of this change, but the 4 highest members of SD (with the most decision making power, and final say on any decision in the faction) have stepped aside (or been removed in one case) to allow new leadership to take their place. I've seen actual change happen over the week or so they've been in place and had the opportunity to speak with them to vent similar frustrations to those here. Changes won't happen overnight, but as someone who's been a very vocal critique of the server and its leadership, I have hope.

Edited October 30, 2025 by AtlasOLimbo

[Marksy]

2 minutes ago, Harveyyy said:

Oh god. I’ve seen this film before. 

Oh well 

[Earl Mud]

4 minutes ago, AtlasOLimbo said:

I'm not sure how aware the general public is of this change, but the 4 highest members (with the most decision making power, and final say on any decision in the faction) have stepped aside (or been removed in one case) to allow new leadership to take their place. I've seen actual change happen over the week or so they've been in place and had the opportunity to speak with them to vent similar frustrations to those here. Changes won't happen overnight, but as someone who's been a very vocal critique of the server and its leadership, I have hope.

These are things that should've been communicated cause this is the first I've heard. Glad things are changing but it's gonna be a long road to fix and idk if the people that were most negatively effected by it are gonna gain trust in time. I do appreciate your words and insight on it and I hope my negative outlook isn't seen as directed at you. 

Edited October 30, 2025 by Earl Mud

[MrSilky]

1 hour ago, Trevor Zelias said:

Sadly, you probably will be removed from Staff because you opened your mouth!

 

But yes +1 on most parts!

Factually incorrect. There is nothing wrong with a community member making a respectful post highlighting valid concerns many players face have - all of which are being discussed and addressed.

Some points raised do lack context/foundation, but this is a personal opinion piece which contains a lot of shared perspectives.

[skeletee]

Thank you for the post, @Marksy.

8 hours ago, Marksy said:

Lack of development to the server really only contributes to about 10% of the problem that has alienated the once loyal player-base.

I could not agree more with this statement. In the faction that I was in before I stopped playing, there was more than enough happening on both legal and criminal aspects, it was often hard to keep up. Finding things to do was not the problem. The reason I continued logging into the server, despite its faults, was due to the group of people I was playing with. Personally, I was not interested in routine updates and development changes, I didn’t foresee that it would have made a major difference.

Everyone will have different reasons for being driven away by the server. The reason I have since stopped playing has not been listed, but was similarly due to staff negligence. As already stated by OP, this is not a blanket statement, as there are well-intentioned players in the staff team, so if the OP and replies feels personal, it probably is and self-reflection may be in order. All the best.

Edited October 30, 2025 by skeletee

[alexalex303]

Quote

you can find GND most of the time rolling labs in criminal outfits, hiding in labs dressed as gang members

This is not acceptable within PD GND, if you have evidence of this occurring, please send it to me personally. realAlex on discord, or make a formal internal affairs report; either way, we want to stop this behavior as much as you, but we can not act on rumors.

[Trevor Zelias]

2 minutes ago, MrSilky said:

Factually incorrect. There is nothing wrong with a community member making a respectful post highlighting valid concerns many players face have - all of which are being discussed and addressed.

Some points raised do lack context/foundation, but this is a personal opinion piece which contains a lot of shared perspectives.

Thank you for responding to my post. Yeah, It is good to hear that he wont be removed. And again thanks.

[Harveyyy]

17 minutes ago, alexalex303 said:

This is not acceptable within PD GND, if you have evidence of this occurring, please send it to me personally. realAlex on discord, or make a formal internal affairs report; either way, we want to stop this behavior as much as you, but we can not act on rumors

This is true. When I used to play here, a lot of people complained about GnD in labs but I haven’t personally seen it happen. Labs were scouted but it was backed up by a valid IC reason at the time. A trace or a snitch etc. 

3 hours ago, Marksy said:

The server has become a cesspit of toxicity, if someone doesn't like the outcome of a roleplay scenario you can almost bet that they'll be trawling through their footage for anything they think could be even a minor rule break and a player report will be made on it within the next 48 hours

Also true. A lot of reports are petty and staff should address this properly rather than going to one person to ask if the report is petty or not. Not every report should result in a punishment and the handling staff member should ask themselves if the report was made in good faith or not. This report-anything-cause-i-lost-a-0.50 trend is so ridiculous. 

Edited October 30, 2025 by Harveyyy

[Eliza]

No matter how involved LFM is with K9 RP, I agree that it’s basically just powergaming, there’s absolutely no counterplay to it. While I usually RP with the handler to ask what the k9 is trained to sniff the outcome is usually the same, if you even remotely try to do counterparty you are asked/told you need to have a altRP permissions for it and the only option you have left is to take the arrest or try to evade.

FM would never let a criminal organization have something similar because it wouldn’t be fair.

[AtlasOLimbo]

Just now, Eliza said:

No matter how involved LFM is with K9 RP, I agree that it’s basically just powergaming, there’s absolutely no counterplay to it. While I usually RP with the handler to ask what the k9 is trained to sniff the outcome is usually the same, if you even remotely try to do counterparty you are asked/told you need to have a altRP permissions for it and the only option you have left is to take the arrest or try to evade.

FM would never let a criminal organization have something similar because it wouldn’t be fair.

I beg to differ on this. We have different K9s we use for different things. A gun K9 will not be able to smell drugs, a drug K9 won't be able to smell guns. The concept of detection K9s is pulled directly from real life where they are used to great effect and are not typically hindered by things like a bag or clothing. Firearm K9s in specific are trained to recognize gunpowder and chemicals used in the manufacturing/maintenance of guns.

K9s can't be pulled out on anyone although I do agree stricter requirements must be enforced (and are fairly strict as written), and from SD's side are actively being worked on.

Would it be nice to have a proper script, that ensures fair play on both sides and maybe offers false detections or a lack of detection once in a blue moon? Sure. But I can't expect anything of the sort anytime soon.