add private drug tables back

[Maddox]

45 minutes ago, Ritchie Stones said:

strange how the server top was 500 people when private labs was a thing and now it only went down, 
how long, wil reality be denied, its getting from bad to worse.... how long till people realise you cant argue "reality"  

When the server was popping 500, it was mainly due to covid. People were at home and had nothing to do, fast forward today, there are many aspects that caused the declined in player base and I can assure you 100% its not because of taking away the private labs functionality. People have moved to other places, IRL jobs etc etc. I dont see the point of you making the " Private Drug labs " center of attention again and again? when it was never meant to be used like that

[Daxu]

47 minutes ago, Ritchie Stones said:

but that takes away the purpose of "investing in houses to get that perfect great spot, its about "investing"
everything these days is so over regulated to to point it aint fun no more or has no build up.

strange how the server top was 500 people when private labs was a thing and now it only went down, 
how long, wil reality be denied, its getting from bad to worse.... how long till people realise you cant argue "reality"  

500 pop was probably more due to COVID and the resulting remote work/school culture that came from it. Now that's declined for a few years. We're basically at pre-covid pop now, maybe a bit less at certain times but still in the ballpark. I don't think removing private labs was even remotely part of why the server pop has gone down. Even if so, I'd rather interact with 100-200 players in the overworld than 50 players with 450 in their private money printers.

[Ritchie Stones]

22 hours ago, Daxu said:

500 pop was probably more due to COVID and the resulting remote work/school culture that came from it. Now that's declined for a few years. We're basically at pre-covid pop now, maybe a bit less at certain times but still in the ballpark. I don't think removing private labs was even remotely part of why the server pop has gone down. Even if so, I'd rather interact with 100-200 players in the overworld than 50 players with 450 in their private money printers.

Pre covid had also significant more players 

[AtlasOLimbo]

1 hour ago, Ritchie Stones said:

Pre covid had also significant more players 

Proof?

[Daxu]

9 hours ago, Ritchie Stones said:

Pre covid had also significant more players 

Not really from my memory. I remember playing back when our PEAK was 100 players in like 2018. 2019 grew a lot with the influx of LTU players with that one streamer (and the LTU server thereafter). We still healthily hit 150-200 players during peak times in 2026.

[Pazz]

Player population has gone down due to a lack of consistent development, false development promises, a lack of server management and/or direction, inconsistencies in server management, long-term community toxicity that isn't addressed, and mass confusion on what is actually happening, whether there is a future or not, among other things. That is the reality. Citing the post-Covid drop being linked directly to private labs isn't 'reality', it's masquerading around unrelated facts to substantiate your own narrative in pursuit of your own goals.

Private drug labs being removed did not cause the server to lose 400 players at peak time, when the more likely story is that 380 of those players never touched private labs in the first place, or never got beyond blowing up a table in their backyard or RV.

The ideas in this thread, such as Requiem and Kon's brief touch on paying an NPC to open up a (specific) lab, or Carl's suggestion on allowing tables to be placed anywhere outside are much better 'solutions' than reintroducing mass-cooking facilities locked in a private dimension. Their ideas should be looked at for development, not private dimension money printers.

Public labs with risk of intervention and conflict should produce drugs with the highest potency and stat bonuses/sale value, tables placed anywhere else in the outside world, hidden away, are less risky, and thus should offer less reward, while still being substantial enough to at least make it worth your time and the risk, albeit less, that you're still taking.

[AtlasOLimbo]

2 hours ago, Pazz said:

Player population has gone down due to a lack of consistent development, false development promises, a lack of server management and/or direction, inconsistencies in server management, long-term community toxicity that isn't addressed, and mass confusion on what is actually happening, whether there is a future or not, among other things. That is the reality. Citing the post-Covid drop being linked directly to private labs isn't 'reality', it's masquerading around unrelated facts to substantiate your own narrative in pursuit of your own goals.

Private drug labs being removed did not cause the server to lose 400 players at peak time, when the more likely story is that 380 of those players never touched private labs in the first place, or never got beyond blowing up a table in their backyard or RV.

The ideas in this thread, such as Requiem and Kon's brief touch on paying an NPC to open up a (specific) lab, or Carl's suggestion on allowing tables to be placed anywhere outside are much better 'solutions' than reintroducing mass-cooking facilities locked in a private dimension. Their ideas should be looked at for development, not private dimension money printers.

Public labs with risk of intervention and conflict should produce drugs with the highest potency and stat bonuses/sale value, tables placed anywhere else in the outside world, hidden away, are less risky, and thus should offer less reward, while still being substantial enough to at least make it worth your time and the risk, albeit less, that you're still taking.

Nail hit right on the head but I don't think any of these problems will be resolved. There seems to be a brief effort to develop things whenever the community gets in an uproar just enough to keep them at bay, then a total halt while people still buy into VIP for some reason.

Sucks to see, but oh well.

[KarleyJon]

5 hours ago, Pazz said:

Player population has gone down due to a lack of consistent development, false development promises, a lack of server management and/or direction, inconsistencies in server management, long-term community toxicity that isn't addressed, and mass confusion on what is actually happening, whether there is a future or not, among other things. That is the reality. Citing the post-Covid drop being linked directly to private labs isn't 'reality', it's masquerading around unrelated facts to substantiate your own narrative in pursuit of your own goals.

Private drug labs being removed did not cause the server to lose 400 players at peak time, when the more likely story is that 380 of those players never touched private labs in the first place, or never got beyond blowing up a table in their backyard or RV.

The ideas in this thread, such as Requiem and Kon's brief touch on paying an NPC to open up a (specific) lab, or Carl's suggestion on allowing tables to be placed anywhere outside are much better 'solutions' than reintroducing mass-cooking facilities locked in a private dimension. Their ideas should be looked at for development, not private dimension money printers.

Public labs with risk of intervention and conflict should produce drugs with the highest potency and stat bonuses/sale value, tables placed anywhere else in the outside world, hidden away, are less risky, and thus should offer less reward, while still being substantial enough to at least make it worth your time and the risk, albeit less, that you're still taking.A similar logic is often used in development workflows as well — companies outsource work when internal handling becomes inefficient or too risky. There’s a good explanation of that balance here

I get your point, but I think you’re slightly downplaying how much private labs affected certain factions and the economy. It may not explain the full drop, but it wasn’t insignificant either.

[HobGoblin]

2 hours ago, KarleyJon said:

I get your point, but I think you’re slightly downplaying how much private labs affected certain factions and the economy. It may not explain the full drop, but it wasn’t insignificant either.

[Pazz]

3 hours ago, KarleyJon said:

I get your point, but I think you’re slightly downplaying how much private labs affected certain factions and the economy. It may not explain the full drop, but it wasn’t insignificant either.

I don't disagree; it could very well have been more significant, but I do think it was repeatedly exaggerated in the posts I was addressing and used disingenuously for argument's sake, and that was my point, really, because it failed to address what I believe are the issues that were there before and have long outlasted the private lab conundrum. 

Edited April 11 by Pazz

[Ritchie Stones]

well. what if we implement people to be able to do private labs who been here
- at least 4 years
- donated over 5k 
- have over 1.5 mil exp

would those not be deserving of the kingpin status ? 
would it motivate people to stay long term to get this priviledge ? 

this way it doesnt make "everyone go indoor" but infact have some people, have leverage who deserve it.
why not have long investment be rewarding, those who dedicate themself to ONE game instead of chasing achiefments over 20 games... chasing endless instant gratification.

it is time for those who been in here for years to be able to stand out. THE VOICE !!!

 

[Maddox]

27 minutes ago, Ritchie Stones said:

well. what if we implement people to be able to do private labs who been here
- at least 4 years
- donated over 5k 
- have over 1.5 mil exp

would those not be deserving of the kingpin status ? 
would it motivate people to stay long term to get this priviledge ? 

this way it doesnt make "everyone go indoor" but infact have some people, have leverage who deserve it.
why not have long investment be rewarding, those who dedicate themself to ONE game instead of chasing achiefments over 20 games... chasing endless instant gratification.

it is time for those who been in here for years to be able to stand out. THE VOICE !!!

 

People that have been here for years wouldn't like to just sit indoors and print money, they'd have everything by now ( in majority cases if not all ). I use my own example. I have been here since 2019 and I have cooked alot in the private labs back in the days, It felt very good to have as much money as I want but at the same time it was just standing and cooking nothing else, fast forward now I dont even care about money anymore. I look for interactions, fun moments to have rather than being standing alone and just print money. The privilege you are talking about, we already have different categories for donators, the more you donate, more options you unlock for supers, that right there is a privilege itself. I hope you'd understand that private labs is no longer a thing and won't be coming back.

[Bala]

11 hours ago, Ritchie Stones said:

well. what if we implement people to be able to do private labs who been here
- at least 4 years
- donated over 5k 
- have over 1.5 mil exp

would those not be deserving of the kingpin status ? 
would it motivate people to stay long term to get this priviledge ? 

this way it doesnt make "everyone go indoor" but infact have some people, have leverage who deserve it.
why not have long investment be rewarding, those who dedicate themself to ONE game instead of chasing achiefments over 20 games... chasing endless instant gratification.

it is time for those who been in here for years to be able to stand out. THE VOICE !!!

 

I can't lie, I can't hate on your level of commitment to this, lmao.

[Ritchie Stones]

On 4/14/2026 at 3:29 AM, Maddox said:

People that have been here for years wouldn't like to just sit indoors and print money, they'd have everything by now ( in majority cases if not all ). I use my own example. I have been here since 2019 and I have cooked alot in the private labs back in the days, It felt very good to have as much money as I want but at the same time it was just standing and cooking nothing else, fast forward now I dont even care about money anymore. I look for interactions, fun moments to have rather than being standing alone and just print money. The privilege you are talking about, we already have different categories for donators, the more you donate, more options you unlock for supers, that right there is a privilege itself. I hope you'd understand that private labs is no longer a thing and won't be coming back.

fun fact is, even when i could on my island put down 200 drug tables i never really did and if i did it was never that much,
its more about the " idea" of the ability of making money when you need a boost in investment, 

it was boring act, and even if i was able to coock inside or exteriours i would not even do it that much its really the idea of the freedom to do so. and then the chase to find the perfect real estate to do so making it more of a journey through "investing" i really liked that 

 

[Ritchie Stones]

On 4/14/2026 at 2:42 PM, Bala said:

I can't lie, I can't hate on your level of commitment to this, lmao.

my idea sounds very selfish, but it also prevents the entire server sudenly being inside printing money, destable the entire server on inflation. and the people who was used to this and are very attracted to this, they WIL pay that price for it,

if you been here for 5 years you are a kingpin knowledge person, lets make it a subscribtion ontop of the royal vip of 50K delivering 100k credits to be royal and this perk, it good money to the server, or 20 mil in real game money so everyone has a chance, why not, if you really want it, you wil go out there and make it happen, imagine grinding the 20mil for the unlock, and the potential RP comming from that. a fair amount of people wil see this as the triumph and want to even be able to brag about the status the accomplish wich is good in itself.

but lets focus on getting 250-300 people on the server back again first which wil be harder 

[Maddox]

4 hours ago, Ritchie Stones said:

my idea sounds very selfish, but it also prevents the entire server sudenly being inside printing money, destable the entire server on inflation. and the people who was used to this and are very attracted to this, they WIL pay that price for it,

if you been here for 5 years you are a kingpin knowledge person, lets make it a subscribtion ontop of the royal vip of 50K delivering 100k credits to be royal and this perk, it good money to the server, or 20 mil in real game money so everyone has a chance, why not, if you really want it, you wil go out there and make it happen, imagine grinding the 20mil for the unlock, and the potential RP comming from that. a fair amount of people wil see this as the triumph and want to even be able to brag about the status the accomplish wich is good in itself.

but lets focus on getting 250-300 people on the server back again first which wil be harder 

I don't understand why and how it is difficult for you to understand the basic ideology about the interactions, this is NOT an Idle tycoon server, where you can sit idle for hours without any risk and maximum reward of printing money without any interruptions. If you really are attached to cooking, why don't you join a gang just like the people that are playing here since 2017 even before most of us, if they can adapt the new cooking system why can't you? ask yourself. Why you prefer to stand alone with ZERO interactions over cooking at public labs being part of the gang and open door to RP opportunities and countless interactions. A RP server is based on interactions, that's the fundamental, not cooking alone on private drug tables and not seeing sun and just printing money and call it a " Top Donator Perk ". Considering the current player base, we need more social activities / events rather than solo ventures. Please think about how we can make the server healthy and lively again instead of pushing the solo ventures just to avoid interactions.  

Edited April 16 by Maddox

[KarleyJon]

On 4/16/2026 at 7:04 AM, Maddox said:

I don't understand why and how it is difficult for you to understand the basic ideology about the interactions, this is NOT an Idle tycoon server, where you can sit idle for hours without any risk and maximum reward of printing money without any interruptions. If you really are attached to cooking, why don't you join a gang just like the people that are playing here since 2017 even before most of us, if they can adapt the new cooking system why can't you? ask yourself. Why you prefer to stand alone with ZERO interactions over cooking at public labs being part of the gang and open door to RP opportunities and countless interactions. A RP server is based on interactions, that's the fundamental, not cooking alone on private drug tables and not seeing sun and just printing money and call it a " Top Donator Perk ". Considering the current player base, we need more social activities / events rather than solo ventures. Please think about how we can make the server healthy and lively again instead of pushing the solo ventures just to avoid interactions. 

 Different games and communities always face this same debate between solo efficiency and social gameplay—something you can also see in competitive gaming ecosystems like goranked, where progression systems still revolve around individual performance but exist inside a broader interactive environment.

I think there should still be room for different playstyles. Not everyone has the same schedule or wants constant gang involvement, so some solo systems can still add value if balanced properly.

[Maddox]

1 hour ago, KarleyJon said:

I think there should still be room for different playstyles. Not everyone has the same schedule or wants constant gang involvement, so some solo systems can still add value if balanced properly.

I agree and that's why we have public labs where anyone can go and cook regardless if they are affiliated with gang or not. It's not like bigger gangs holds them all the time.

[alexalex303]

1 hour ago, KarleyJon said:

I think there should still be room for different playstyles. Not everyone has the same schedule or wants constant gang involvement, so some solo systems can still add value if balanced properly.

there's nothing balanced about printing money in a different dimension 

[Benjamin Berg]

3 minutes ago, Maddox said:

It's not like bigger gangs holds them all the time.

[Lewis]

We've discussed this at length and have no interest in bringing back private labs unfortunately.

Thanks everyone for your input!