Improving LSEMS Roleplay / Server Attitude towards Medical Roleplay

[lLizzyl]

NOTE: I am not saying all solutions provided should be implemented. If anything, I believe my 2nd solution could be the best solution if no others are implemented. I am simply making suggestions for improvements for motivation and server engagement.

 

The Problem

Unfortunately, there has been a severe decrease in motivation for players already a part of LSEMS and lack of interest in LSEMS from a server standpoint. While I do think there are aspects that could be changed within LSEMS to increase motivation and overall interest in the faction, there are multiple aspects outside of the faction that should be examined and changed.

There are many players who are a part of LSEMS who feel as though EMS could disappear and nothing would be different about the server. The overall server attitude toward LSEMS seems to be indifference. LSEMS services could be done by the average player, so why should they call for a medic?

There needs to be changes within the server for EMS to be essential for overall roleplay. If a player is injured, it only makes sense to call for an ambulance. However, from a gameplay standpoint, there is no need to call, unless the players is completely alone. If roleplay is improved for EMS, it could benefit all roleplay within the server.

There needs to be changes within scripts and roleplay in order for LSEMS to participate in more opportunities. While I do recognize that some gameplay elements have been implemented for times where there are not many EMS members online, these elements should strictly be used when it is the only option. There are already scripts in place for PD and SD; if there are no officers on duty, banks cannot be robbed. There are also scripts in place for DCC; if there are no taxis available, City Bee's are able to be used. The same idea should be applied to EMS for completely fair RP opportunities.

As it currently stands, LSEMS is robbed of roleplay constantly. Have you ever wondered why there are no medics on shift? In many cases, it is because players are tired of waiting around for a moment of roleplay while they watch PD and SD transport players to Pillbox from the GPS and/or listen to trunks open and close from the medbay. Medics are treated as someone to be avoided unless absolutely necessary, effectively killing the LSEMS faction.

I have a couple of ideas for EMS to be the heavy RP faction it is meant to be, providing more of the roleplay players expect. Not the sit and wait faction it is now.

Ideally, all solutions should be combined to maximize EMS activity/RP opportunities. However, even one solution could improve roleplay overall.

 

Solution 1 - PD and SD can no longer stabilize.

Part of the problem is PD and SD being able to stabilize injured players. This ability quite literally renders EMS obsolete, being able to perform the exact same scripts that EMS uses. Why are PD and SD able to perform the same actions as EMS? Members of EMS are told not to interfere with PD and SD's work, so why do they get to take over EMS?

From a roleplay standpoint, and for the sake of realism, this ability makes no sense. PD and SD are not medical professionals. They should not be able to roleplay as such. From an outside perspective, this ability feeds into the win mentality that everyone accuses PD and SD of. The mentality that many members of PD, SD, and staff deny and claim to be against. Being able to stabilize a suspect leans more into gameplay than actually roleplaying the situation out.

If the server is as roleplay focused as it claims, PD and SD should only be able to do what RPly makes sense for them to do. If a member of PD or SD has been a member of LSEMS before, it would make more sense for them to have the medical knowledge to stabilize a suspect. However, this is almost never the case from my understanding. Members of PD and SD should be allowing for times where officers are lost, potentially fueling a roleplay storyline. Even allowing for times where a suspect is lost, except for the times where criminal players intentionally stall for their character to avoid prison time. When a player intentionally stalls, PD or SD should be able to use /cpr in order to continue roleplay, allowing time for EMS to arrive and /stabilize.

Player death in a situation should not be avoided at all cost if roleplayed correctly. Player death should be used in roleplay and character stories, creating deeper storylines and less surface level gameplay. It should not be a race against the script. If a criminal character sustains injuries that should kill them, PD and SD should allow it after roleplay effort to keep them alive and take more care to prevent such injuries. The command /mywounds or /analysewounds could be utilized more often to determine if a player is stalling, creating a roleplay situation where the character has to die when the injuries do not match, or to prevent having to ForceRP when a player is unresponsive to current roleplay.

I do recognize that PD and SD are able to stabilize in case there are no EMS members available, however, it should strictly be used during those times. If there is a medic on duty, PD and SD should no longer be able to stabilize injured players and must perform BLS until EMS arrives. If all medics are busy at that moment, PD and SD should have to continue BLS, like any other player. PD and SD calls are top priority for EMS, so there is little to no chance the player dies before EMS arrives if /cpr is used.

 

Solution 2 - Players must see members of EMS or NPC to heal.

As the server currently is, players do not have to purchase pain medication or see the NPC at Pillbox and Paleto MD to heal. They can simply eat and drink and wait for their health to regenerate over time. While this is convenient for the sake of gameplay, it does not promote roleplay in any way. It would make more sense for players to be required to see a medical professional in order to heal properly. People do not just break a bone and heal over time with no issues just because they are fed and hydrated. You have to see a doctor to assist in the healing process.

Players already see a member of EMS after they are taken to the hospital for an "ice pack" so they can heal quickly. EMS should be able to capitalize on that roleplay, making it a requirement for all players. By requirement, I mean players would scriptly heal much, much slower or not at all. As a requirement, the amount of players EMS sees in a day should increase incredibly. Members of EMS would no longer have to sit and wait for the roleplay situations to reach out to them.

Requiring players to see a member of EMS also allows for more activity within the AMU Division. Currently, AMU sees little to no roleplay in a day. Players do not wish to make appointments and many do not want to take the time to request in-depth medical roleplay. If players are required to see a medical professional, player or NPC, AMU could have a permanent spot within Pillbox or Paleto MD everyday.

For my solution, members of EMS could wait in the medbay or in the lobby as a part of AMU. When a patient is dropped off at Pillbox, they could see the NPC for a hefty medical bill that increases or decreases with the amount of EMS available, or see a member of AMU for free. The only price for medical: roleplay. AMU could even start medical records for various characters, expanding on the already advanced roleplay.

Of course, players could still completely avoid in-depth roleplay by seeing the NPC or roleplaying small injuries left from initial treatment. This solution does not require every player to participate in heavy roleplay. It allows it to be an option. Therefore, if players want in-depth medical roleplay as a part of their character's story, they no longer have to wait for someone to be available.

 

Solution 3 - Scripted beds for healing.

While this is not being actively used in ECRP, there are servers on FiveM where you can choose to heal in a hospital bed for maximum health. Players can check into the hospital, wait a couple of seconds in a hospital bed, and be at maximum health when they leave the bed.

To increase roleplay opportunities for EMS, hospital beds could be implemented as part of Solution 2. When there are no AMU or general EMS members available, players can stay in a bed instead for a fraction of the NPC cost, but healing would not be instant. If there are members of AMU available, players can stay in a bed for roleplay and leave when the roleplay is done. I do not believe hospital beds are essential for an increase in roleplay and motivation, but I do think it could be used to enhance roleplay.

 

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, there are still going to be players who do not want to take the time to RP with EMS. I am not trying to force extensive RP onto players, I would just simply like to see some effort from the server in interacting with EMS. Players are going to be injured in roleplay. If you choose not to roleplay the injury or treatment at all, then why are you on a roleplay server? If nothing is done about the current state of LSEMS and attitudes towards it, I believe all players and roleplay will suffer for it. LSEMS is struggling to stay together and something has to be done, even if it is not the solutions provided.

In my opinion, in order for real roleplay and for EMS activity to improve, Solution 1 and 2 should be implemented as soon as possible. Solution 3 is more of a suggestion for more roleplay within the hospital, as expected for a hospital. It enhances the roleplay, allowing it to be more realistic and provides an opportunity for in-depth roleplay.

While the solutions I provided could be improved upon, I believe it would be a great starting point. In the end, all I want to see if more motivation from players within LSEMS and for the server as a whole to recognize how beneficial EMS can be for roleplay and character stories.

Edited 3 hours ago by lLizzyl

[Ash]

I might be wrong or it might have changed but i thought PD/SD could only stabilize if there's only like 1 MD on shift?

"Players must see members of EMS or NPC to heal."
I agree with most of the points in this section, I said it back when i was LSEMS and i'll keep saying it, having LSEMS camping ambulance bay is BAD for the faction. All idling LSEMS should be in the lobby interacting with people who come in, with a vehicle spawnpoint right outside for calls. Even if people are self transporting to pillbox, /dropbody and the "press e to heal" NPC should only work if there's not a medic in the general vicinity of the pillbox lobby.

But we know what the devs are like with updates, so let's assume the latter part is not implemented: Faction vehicle spawnpoints can be moved/placed by head admins. stick one at upper pillbox and force idling medics to linger in the lobby, you'll instantly see an uptick in roleplay if not just from people choosing to rp with you instead of the $3k payment NPC.

[Eliza]

The issue is that a lot of players don’t really see medical RP as “actual” RP. Instead, they see it as something they have to sit through before they can get back to whatever they were doing. That mindset usually leads to pretty lackluster interactions from the medic’s perspective. The reality is that EMS treats the same handful of injuries over and over again. Nine times out of ten it’s either a broken leg or, if it’s an arrest, a gunshot wound with enough bullet holes to make Swiss cheese jealous. It gets repetitive, but the people in MD generally aren’t there because it’s the most action-packed faction on the server. They’re there because they genuinely enjoy that style of roleplay and want to create interesting medical scenes for other players. Medical RP is never going to compete with the constant action that criminals or law enforcement get, and that’s okay. The problem is that a lot of players treat EMS as an obstacle instead of another opportunity to roleplay, which makes it difficult for the faction to stay engaging over the long term. I think that’s why suggestions like this have merit. Right now, the server gives players every opportunity to skip interacting with EMS or reduce that interaction to the absolute minimum, so that’s exactly what most people do. It’s not necessarily because they dislike EMS players, it’s because the mechanics don’t really encourage them to engage with medical RP in the first place. I’m not saying every single injury needs to turn into a 30 minute hospital scene, but I do think the server should do a better job of making EMS feel like an actual part of the roleplay instead of an optional stop people avoid whenever possible. Whether that’s limiting when PD/SD can stabilize people, requiring players to properly seek treatment to heal, or some combination of the suggestions above, I think the current system reinforces the mindset that EMS is just a delay instead of another opportunity to create roleplay.

[AnnoyingOne]

6 hours ago, lLizzyl said:

Solution 1 - PD and SD can no longer stabilize.

Part of the problem is PD and SD being able to stabilize injured players. This ability quite literally renders EMS obsolete, being able to perform the exact same scripts that EMS uses.

PD/SD is only able to stabilize when there is not enough MD members on duty. If there is enough MD people on duty, PD/SD are unable to stabilize people via script. I would like to say its 3 MD members on duty, but I don't know the correct number right now.

And even if there is not enough MD members on duty, PD always radio's for MD (Or checks the map) to see if we get a response from that one medic that is on duty, so they can come treat the people and if then MD says that they are busy and asks us if we can handle it ourselves, PD would use the /stabilize command

[lLizzyl]

2 hours ago, AnnoyingOne said:

PD/SD is only able to stabilize when there is not enough MD members on duty. If there is enough MD people on duty, PD/SD are unable to stabilize people via script. I would like to say its 3 MD members on duty, but I don't know the correct number right now.

And even if there is not enough MD members on duty, PD always radio's for MD (Or checks the map) to see if we get a response from that one medic that is on duty, so they can come treat the people and if then MD says that they are busy and asks us if we can handle it ourselves, PD would use the /stabilize command

If you are correct in saying that PD and SD cannot stabilize scriptly with 3 MD members on duty, I personally believe that is 2 members too many. If PD and SD cannot truly wait a couple minutes for EMS to arrive, then they should continue to stabilize when there is only one medic on duty. If that one medic tells PD and SD to do it themselves, all the power to them.

My main issue is the self transporting of other PD and SD members, not suspects. There are SEVERAL times, and I mean way too many times to count, where PD and SD drop off their own members in order to avoid calling EMS or to get back to what they were doing quickly. I can guarantee that PD and SD do not even try to radio for MD in many, if not most, cases where they have an injured officer. It sets the standard for everyone on the server that it is okay to forgo medical RP in order to get back to what the player wants to do.

If PD and SD need to be able to stabilize in order to continue RP with a suspect, they should be able to continue to do so if there is only one member of MD, not 3. If PD and SD need to be able to stabilize in order to save their members, it continues to set the harmful standard that medical RP is a nuisance that can be avoided.

[USA3535]

I just think /stablize should only be able to be used by medics, PD/SD are not trained enough to just be able to stablize someone, and let them sit there unable to bleed out rply. If there are no MD on, SD/PD should still only be able to CPR I feel, and it just would make it more realistic, and give MD more RP.