LEO Weapon & Armour Rental System (Economic Balance Proposal)

[Xylum]

For context, I am SD Arnold Rimmer. I'd like to suggest the following:

• Weapons and AP now have a financial value associated with them in the /FL menu. 
• Items such as Standard Kevlar, Pistol .50, Nightstick and Tazer are all $0.
• It now costs money to "rent" the weapon or armour of choice. This price would be the same as the import price for criminals for the weapon/armour.
• Upon going off duty with the weapon, or returning it, you are refunded the rental fee.
• Additional ammo is at no extra cost.
• Death with the weapon/armour in your possession would add 1x packed cash worth the value of the "rentables" on your person at that time. If there is no space in the inventory, it is dropped.

What this does:

• Creates an economic money sink for LEO and a reason for LEOs to have money altogether.
• It gives fear to LEO, now they have something to lose. No longer will LEO rush head on into situations with simulated fear RP. Bringing out a loadout of 150AP, a heavy and a SMG will run the LEO up a rental fee of ~$120k (don't quote me on that), creating the same fear level the criminals experience.
• Prevents LEO's during demon hours from pursuing a high risk gang when there is only 3 of them online because there is no risk to death, with the only objective to get into a gun fight.
• Criminals now have something to gain from engaging with LEO.
• Encourages LEO to think strategically instead of defaulting to high risk.
• Means that increase in salary for LEO actually is meaningful rather than every cop being a millionaire.
• Encounters are less one-sided. Criminals don't want LEO to be involved in gang vs gang fights because there is nothing to gain. This now enables criminals to gain from LEO being involved.

Risks that this suggestion may impose:

• LEO may avoid carrying certain equipment to minimise financial risk, which could impact their effectiveness or alter typical policing behaviour.
• Criminals may focus on farming LEO wherever possible.
• Criminal wealth could increase dramatically as a result.

I'd like to explore this a lot more as I think it truly has potential. This same logic can be applied to vehicles, that the LEO "rents" the vehicle and has to pay back the damages cause to the vehicle on return, or lose their money entirely if its destroyed.

Edited November 23, 2025 by Xylum

[HobGoblin]

The devs added decay to LEO equipment in preparation for them to be looted if dead. I honestly think looting the guns that decay after 6 hours would be a better system to have. Would avoid them making a whole new system.

[RustyOsprey2]

Mate we earn the same amount as benny's workers. And you want us rent gear for import price?

[CharlesXiao]

Just now, RustyOsprey2 said:

And you want us rent gear for import price?

Yeah that's what he said.... Your money would be refunded once your shift ended. It directly counters LEOs from playing the hero part since they have a free 200k+ kit. Also forces them to play more stratigically. Where's the downside your complaining about?

[Bala]

No.

[Xylum]

2 minutes ago, Bala said:

No.

Care to elaborate as to why at the very least?

[RustyOsprey2]

31 minutes ago, CharlesXiao said:

Where's the downside your complaining about?

If we divide some of the items PD uses into how many hours it takes to be able to afford.

Carbine Rifle MK2 - 5 hours
SMG - 2 hours
Standard 100 AP - 3 hours
150 AP - 4.5 hours
Bullpup MK2 - 6 hours
Service Carbine - 4 hours
Pump MK2 - 3 hours

Then, let's say, someone does the required amount of hours a week, as a non-supervisor, it would take 3 months of playing to even be able to afford one kit. If that kit is worth around 200k.

LEO can't cook drugs to get money. One small cook for LSD, let's say a 20 cook. Even at the lowest possible quality, it equals around 1.5 hours of work for a standard officer. If you are at a lab with 5 LSD tables, that takes you around 5 minutes. Sure, there is risk involved, but the overall profit is still way more than the average PD officer earns. 

Sure, if we live and clock off shift, we get the money back. But if we die, we lose way more than a criminal would in terms of time wasted, and it would take way longer to get that back.

This would also turn the server into EVEN MORE of a report war. Criminals report cause they lose items, now all of LEO will do the same. 

At the moment, if I get DMed while on PD by not being given enough demands, or there not enough escalation. I don't really care. If someone runs out of a bank under gunpoint and leaves, I don't really care. But if I'm having to pay for equipment, you can be sure LEOs "Win Mentality" will grow 100x bigger.

Edited November 24, 2025 by RustyOsprey2

[Xylum]

Did you read the part about it being optional? Pistol, Nightstick, Tazer and Standard AP would be $0.

Risk what you can afford.

[RustyOsprey2]

Just now, Xylum said:

Did you read the part about it being optional? Pistol, Nightstick, Tazer and Standard AP would be $0.

Risk what you can afford.

Yes, which is why I only included one of those items for reference.

[Bala]

10 minutes ago, Xylum said:

Care to elaborate as to why at the very least?

What would be the point, it's the same answer as it has been the last 5-10 times someone has suggested this. In the context of this server, it's an awful idea

Don't talk about money sinks, when the bank robberies are the state they are right now. Might as well bring Apartment Labs back as well.

Adding financial consequences to law enforcement role-players will alter behaviours, but not for the better. Either people will find being a law enforcement role-player less attractive in this environment and quit, law enforcement officers won't want to get involved in situations where it may cost them financially or alternatively, law enforcement players will make sure to go even harder to make sure that they win a situation.

When law enforcement is done correctly on this server, we're a reactionary faction, which means we don't engage first and we require an action to have a reaction. This puts every law enforcement player at an immediate disadvantage.

There is also, a different code of conduct and different objectives from these situations between criminal and law enforcement players so as much as people like to bang on about equal treatment for all, we're not all created equal. 

If you want to talk about demon hours, we have criminal players actively targeting police members who barely have the means to do anything meaningful in response because of a lack of numbers. They are lacking in numbers because of the targeting and the answer to an improvement on that is, to incentivise criminals and add extra consequences for cops?

"Criminals now have something to gain from engaging with LEO." Maybe I missed this particular memorandum but isn't the whole point of a criminal player to do everything you can to avoid engaging with LEO? Why would you want to incentivise it?

An increase in salary, my brother in Christ, we're capped at 8k an hour BEFORE tax which amounts to 4.8k an hour with the highest tax bracket and no VIP. The reason cops are millionaires is simply because of the amount of time they spend in game and the absence of the costs that criminals have. But then, most cops log on at Mission Row/Sandy Shores and log off at Mission Row/Sandy Shores, they don't go riding around looking for raffles or labs to roll.

Encounters aren't always one sided though. It's just naturally weighted in our favour. Some of the Criminals don't want LEO to be involved in gang v. gang fighting because they want the freedom to do whatever the fuck they want with little to no consequence for doing it. It's the same sort of people that think the prison times should be lowered again.

Of all the things that could, should and would be done to make this server more enjoyable for criminals, this is way down down the list. Just unfortunately and kinda weirdly, some people in the community have more of an erection for cops being financially circumcised than they do about improving their own lot.

Hopefully this suffices for you.

[Larintai]

+1

[Hubie]

good suggestion, too bad it'll never happen. Any suggestion about "nerfing" LEOS will never happen. 

[Xylum]

51 minutes ago, Bala said:

What would be the point, it's the same answer as it has been the last 5-10 times someone has suggested this. In the context of this server, it's an awful idea

Don't talk about money sinks, when the bank robberies are the state they are right now. Might as well bring Apartment Labs back as well.

Adding financial consequences to law enforcement role-players will alter behaviours, but not for the better. Either people will find being a law enforcement role-player less attractive in this environment and quit, law enforcement officers won't want to get involved in situations where it may cost them financially or alternatively, law enforcement players will make sure to go even harder to make sure that they win a situation.

When law enforcement is done correctly on this server, we're a reactionary faction, which means we don't engage first and we require an action to have a reaction. This puts every law enforcement player at an immediate disadvantage.

There is also, a different code of conduct and different objectives from these situations between criminal and law enforcement players so as much as people like to bang on about equal treatment for all, we're not all created equal. 

If you want to talk about demon hours, we have criminal players actively targeting police members who barely have the means to do anything meaningful in response because of a lack of numbers. They are lacking in numbers because of the targeting and the answer to an improvement on that is, to incentivise criminals and add extra consequences for cops?

"Criminals now have something to gain from engaging with LEO." Maybe I missed this particular memorandum but isn't the whole point of a criminal player to do everything you can to avoid engaging with LEO? Why would you want to incentivise it?

An increase in salary, my brother in Christ, we're capped at 8k an hour BEFORE tax which amounts to 4.8k an hour with the highest tax bracket and no VIP. The reason cops are millionaires is simply because of the amount of time they spend in game and the absence of the costs that criminals have. But then, most cops log on at Mission Row/Sandy Shores and log off at Mission Row/Sandy Shores, they don't go riding around looking for raffles or labs to roll.

Encounters aren't always one sided though. It's just naturally weighted in our favour. Some of the Criminals don't want LEO to be involved in gang v. gang fighting because they want the freedom to do whatever the fuck they want with little to no consequence for doing it. It's the same sort of people that think the prison times should be lowered again.

Of all the things that could, should and would be done to make this server more enjoyable for criminals, this is way down down the list. Just unfortunately and kinda weirdly, some people in the community have more of an erection for cops being financially circumcised than they do about improving their own lot.

Hopefully this suffices for you.

Similar ideas being mentioned in the past doesn't mean they should never be revisited. The server has changed a lot. At the moment, LEO have almost nothing to lose when they escalate, which is exactly why the discussion keeps coming back.

Just to clarify as well, I didn't once mention increasing LEO salaries. I said that when someone gets promoted, the salary increase would finally mean something because officers would actually have expenses. No extra money is needed, nobody is asking for bigger pay. The point is that promotions would hold some value beyond a title, because gearing up would come with a cost, just like it does for every criminal on the server.

The idea that LEO would avoid situations doesn't really add up. Right now there's zero consequence to charging into a gunfight and dying, which is why some do exactly that. Giving LEO something to lose is precisely the point. Criminals already experience that fear because death actually takes something from them. Bringing a similar sense of risk to LEO encourages better judgement, not worse. Being a reactionary faction shouldn't mean being completely insulated from consequences.

Some LEOs rush into high-risk situations during low-pop hours simply because there is nothing to lose. Introducing real financial consequences would naturally make LEO think twice before pushing into unwinnable fights when they are heavily outnumbered. It is not about punishing officers or boosting criminals, it is about creating genuine fear of loss for LEO so that engagements during demon hour are handled with more caution and realism, which ultimately leads to better RP for everyone involved.

[Josh]

3 hours ago, Xylum said:

Prevents LEO's during demon hours from pursuing a high risk gang when there is only 3 of them online because there is no risk to death, with the only objective to get into a gun fight.

Ive yet to get into a situation where LEO willingly pursued High Risk Gang during Demon Hours. Its more like crims gain LEO attention and then ambush us. 

[RustyOsprey2]

43 minutes ago, Xylum said:

Some LEOs rush into high-risk situations during low-pop hours simply because there is nothing to lose. Introducing real financial consequences would naturally make LEO think twice before pushing into unwinnable fights when they are heavily outnumbered. It is not about punishing officers or boosting criminals, it is about creating genuine fear of loss for LEO so that engagements during demon hour are handled with more caution and realism, which ultimately leads to better RP for everyone involved.

What better RP? LEOs not being able to fight back doesnt lead to any better RP. Just gives crims the ability to do whatever they want without consequences. 

What would you want LEOs to do during demon hours, just sit AFK at a traffic stop? If we chase a gang member we get lead into an ambush, if we conduct a traffic stop on a gang member we get shot, if we respond to a call that was caused by a gang member, store, bank etc we get shot.

Situations would not be handled with "caution and realism". They would get ignored and the criminals would be free to wander. LEOs rarely look for fights, and should never engage first. Like Bala said, we are a reactionary faction. And it is the criminals who 90% of the time start the shootouts that they then complain about.

[AtlasOLimbo]

Why are we so intent on giving LEOs something to rage over and go into /b the same as anyone else when they lose? This is not the solution that people believe it is. All this will do is make LEOs much quicker to get aggressive and much more violent with people. Especially people who are simply stumbling across scenes or seen interfering with pursuits. 

The behavior of LEOs solely relies on how strong your respective faction's supervisory team is and their own behavior. I personally have wanted permanent vehicles for the longest time where cops actually have to be considerate of fuel and the state of their vehicle, but that also doesn't mean I believe that cops should be footing the bill for these vehicles.

This suggestion particularly hamstrings specialized units who rely on heavy weaponry as a part of their daily kit and are focused on high-risk situations.

[aleks]

Hi Arnold,

As a member of Legal Faction Management, thank you for taking the time to write up this suggestion and submit it. After February this may be an area that I raise with the development team, but at this time they've already got the roadmap planned and decided at this point.

I’m aware that faction vehicle maintenance is planned for implementation. Once that’s scripted and added to the live server, I suggest we see how it operates first and then see if anything from this can be replicated to the armoury system from there.

For anyone with concerns about the faction vehicle maintenance script, wait for it to be added and more information will be available then. There’s no need to express concerns about something that doesn’t exist yet.