For those who missed it: there was a general discussion topic called "Will LSRP survive?" that went viral yesterday which was flooded with constructive criticism and solutions to improve LSRP. The thread was locked in response to a small minority of people doxxing, leaking staff information and derailing, and someone within the staff team crashed out and merged all of the faction threads into Bellantonio's. This prompted staff to rollback the forums to recover the faction forum, which resulted in the deletion of this topic. I've been told others have tried reposting it only for it to be deleted again but I'll give it another go, although I want to frame the discussion slightly differently to push for a more positive, solution-based discussion.
Censorship certainly isn't the answer here and will only serve to shatter any trust left in staff and push the few players left out the door. Please keep this thread up if you know what's best for the server. If people are derailing or breaking rules, deal with those individuals accordingly but the rest of us who wish to see LSRP revived should be allowed to say our piece.
Roughly a year ago I posted the first iteration of this topic and it was received quite well by everyone. I was very pleased with the staff response and moderation of the topic, but seeing what happened with the topic yesterday was a disappointing reversion to the kind of censorship LSRP had been known for years ago and was deeply disappointing.
Linked below is the topic I posted last year which goes into detail about my vision for LSRP and is ripe full of great ideas put forth by the community:
A VISION FOR THE FUTURE - Page 15 - General Discussions Archive - Los Santos Roleplay
Today, however, my post (initially written as a response to the topic that was deleted yesterday) will focus on what I believe to be the crux of the issue. Given my faction has been staring down the barrel of description threats recently, I don't take posting this lightly but I want LSRP to succeed and believe it needs to be said.
I want to start off by acknowledging and thanking the staff members who have helped make LSRP be a great place to roleplay over the years. As a member of this community since 2009, former member of FM, an official faction leader from 2018-2024 and having still represented Valenti in many of our correspondences with Illegal Faction Council beyond that, I’d be remiss not to highlight the vast improvements seen in the Faction Team in particular compared to past eras where it was marred with incompetence, toxicity, and corruption. Factions today have access to more perks than ever before, official faction selections have been handled sensibly for the most part, and the FT has generally been more supportive and transparent than ever before. Despite recent disagreements with the handling of my faction, I greatly appreciated the honesty, accountability, and consideration shown by @Aloosh, @Rye and @unlawfulact in their responses yesterday and this gave me a renewed sense of confidence that the FT is still in good hands. I'd also like to thank @badhbh and @Dos Santos for their immense dedication to this server and being a pleasure to deal with during my time as an official faction leader last year.
When we brought Valenti back, I urged our people to set the bar low in terms of expectations for LSRP. Not because I didn’t believe in the potential for a major comeback on SAMP, but because the staff, more specifically, the management, had let this community down time and time again, and the return of the SAMP server seemed more like a last-ditch marketing gimmick for LSRPV than anything else. I wanted our people to enjoy this last ride as much as we can without dwelling on the failures of the staff team. Fortunately, despite the recent decline, this SAMP run overall has exceeded my expectations and much of that is thanks to the staff putting forth more of an effort to satisfy the community’s wishes, at least initially. Beyond that, the success affirmed that there is still an appetite and market for SAMP. Unfortunately, that market is shrinking by the day and will vanish if things don’t improve in quick order.
I’ve only recently returned to playing after a year-long hiatus so I’m admittedly writing this from a limited perspective, but I’ve kept in the loop and been around long enough to pinpoint what I believe to be the main reason LSRP is on a steep decline: inactivity, complacency and a lack of leadership at the management level. No, this is not the only problem. Yes, I do agree with much of what was said in the discussion yesterday, but many of those problems are symptoms of this primary issue.
When @Mmartin and Surreal took over from Damian, I showed my support publicly and still believe it was a much-needed change at the time. Some positive changes were made over the years and when Mmartin was actively contributing, developing and engaging with the community earlier in this run, the community was undoubtedly better for it. However, being a good leader isn’t just about knowing when to step up but also knowing when to step down when it’s clear you are no longer the person for the job. That time came long ago and it’s time to act on it. Every leader has a shelf life and there's no shame in that but it's abundantly clear a major change is needed at the very top to restore any level of morale and confidence in staff by the community. By no means is this an attack on Mmartin; in fact, my interactions with him both IC and OOC (the times he responded) were always good, but an active and engaged leader is essential for any hope of a revival for LSRP.
The community should vote on a new manager and that’s who Mmartin should pass the reins to; doing so would rejuvenate the community, potentially salvage the staff’s reputation, and hopefully bring about a vision on the best path forward. I personally don’t have much faith in LSRPV but if that’s what Mmartin and others want to focus on, fine, but there needs to be a dedicated manager and team for each server, not one divided and dysfunctional team covering both. I don’t mind managers being paid for their efforts and wish LSRP was successful enough financially to pay all of their staff because I am extremely grateful for their contributions, but donations to the SAMP server should go towards the SAMP server and LSRPV donations should go towards LSRPV. Once either project is sustainable and successful enough, only then should managers and/or staff get paid. With foresight and an actual vision, there will be more to go around in the long run, but if the status quo persists, donations will dwindle away to nothing. The LSRP brand exists on SAMP, not on GTAV, and it’s apparent the SAMP server needs to be more of a priority going forward. LSRP SAMP failing is a marketing disaster for LSRPV.
Plenty of good ideas have been presented and I have no doubt that people within the staff team have pushed for many of the improvements we are asking for, but ultimately it starts at the top. Management needs to seek player feedback more via discussions like this, feedback surveys, allowing players to vote on important decisions, utilize those findings, set out a vision and get everyone pulling on the same rope. The disconnect between staff and players needs to be eradicated and instead we need to be one cohesive team. I know this sounds like a pipedream, but I believe the right leadership can make it happen, at least to some extent.
TL;DR: Management needs to step it up for the community, put forth a comprehensive vision that we can all work towards, or step aside for someone who will. LSRP's future depends on it.
What's your vision for the future? If you bring forward a problem, do so respectfully and also bring forth a solution. Please, keep it clean and let's have a productive discussion that can hopefully help shape a positive future for LSRP.
I’d like to start this post with a big gratitude to the people operating behind the scenes to make the server last this long. The truth is that from my perspective as just a roleplayer of the community there isn’t a whole lot that I am aware of what it takes to do tedious things like develop and invest in projects tailored to satisfy a big community. Having been apart of this server since 2011, and witnessing different phases of management and FM, the way that I view things now is that everyone has their idea of what they think is good for the server and while it may rub off on other people the wrong way, I know that none of it was in vain. There isn’t one specific demographic of people in this community to blame for the state of the server, because every one of us has contributed to the current state of it. There are bad apples in every genre. Depending on the course of how this topic proceeds I would love to elaborate more, but I’m curious to see how this will be navigated because the players who want to put in the effort to make things better gets mixed in with those who strive to be nothing but an utter nuisance. I’d like the staff team to please consider separating those who offer constructive criticism into perhaps a private user group with this goal in mind. For those who are immature, toxic, and doxxing please keep them far away from the topic at hand.(1)(1).thumb.gif.c24af8f7818b5a5b3a96f27fdee19c5e.gif)
The old is dying and the new cannot be born
jojo2 joined the community
I would like to preface this post by first begging administration to let this thread run its course unless it is absolutely derailed to the point of idiocy. Let the discourse flow. I have, embarrassingly, been a part of this server since early 2008. My 12 year old self would ask I be euthanized if he knew I was still roleplaying at my current age. However, I have always had a soft spot for this community and the people that make it up. Roleplay is a hobby that keeps the brain fresh and creative. I am too old to employ ChatGPT in this response. These words come from my beating, probably-autistic heart. I have been around for the entirety of LS-RP's latest return. I watched it start off firing, continue strong and exceed my own expectations of longevity by more than a year. I have had some of the best roleplay of my entire cursed tenure in this iteration. I have now watched, sighing, as it degrades. There is not one single reason or issue to point to, but instead, a host of many. This last run was doomed to fail from Ground Zero. I expected nothing of it, and it continued to defy and surprise me everyday. GTA World has the playerbase, the features, the map - all a roleplayer with something better than an ancient laptop could desire. It, however, lacks LS-RP's innate soul. GTA World is not LS-RP. Do I know how to salvage this server? No. Do I think an aggressive marketing campaign will save it? No. Easy requests have been delayed, scripting has grated down to a standstill, and the only good administrators we have have somehow become a lightning rod for the frustration everyone feels. Do I attribute these issues to a single individual? No, the rot is systemic. Grow up if you're trying to affix blame to a single individual. Is there administration that should have long ago lost their title? Yes. Many of these others however, as aforementioned, are the only ones fighting to make the situation better and breathe life into a sever already gasping for its own. Stop shitting on them. They are the only thing keeping this Titanic-after-iceberg afloat. As we sit here and debate how to save a dying, geriatric body, I see only one way forward. It's bringing that soul back. Countless hours have been spent chasing away factions comprised of some of the best roleplayers I know in an attempt to punish the lowest percentile of their membership. Meanwhile, spree-robbers and moronic behavior runs rampant and untouched. If you want this shit to last, it's time to get in-game and lead by example. Create the change you want to see in this world. Create a community of roleplayers that people want to join. If we wanted to leave and discard this server, we all would have left already and wouldn't waste time typing up a response like this. The manifesto? I can only speak to my specific niche on the server. Center it around roleplay. We have a roster of strong official factions. Concentrate features into their hands. Encourage systems that allow them to connect with unofficial factions and water the plants seeded by these new factions. Create an ecosystem wherein factions are forced to rely on one another to achieve their aims. Narrow the scope of schemes and material distribution and force factions to center their aims into singular ones. X faction should be the kingpin of cocaine, while another should have the means to launder money. A third faction should pioneer good chopshop-based roleplay, while the fourth spends their time researching how to best portray the marijuana grow op they have in their basement. These are limited examples that could easily be implemented. Reflect real life criminality. Encourage interplay between these groups, not because it results in cool screenshots, but instead, creates a semblance of necessity in sustaining their own faction. The best roleplayers I know have always been encyclopedias of knowledge in their specific lane. Encourage this specialization. Stop policing concepts so harshly when the activity and wherewithal is not there to sustain or even acknowledge their approval. Let people cook. The second order of importance is clarity. Too many discussions occur behind closed doors. As a member of IFT, my ilk and myself are guilty of this. Expose everything to the soul of this community - the players. Act on their suggestions when good immediately, and offer insight as how to improve upon ideas when they're bad or otherwise lacking. The administration should not be a separate body from the players overseeing them, but instead, a sounding board for the players they are representing. Make it political. There should be no tenure for administrators that aren't enacting the goals of the general populace. Administrators should not be private police, but the speaking output for those they represent. To stifle discussion is to make your own job irrelevant. Unless blatant bullshit is happening, let everyone say their piece in the agora that is this server. Lastly, and most importantly: FUCK KRISK FUCK KIRIL SOKOLOV FREE SHARIF REYNOLDS FREE RIVA FREE ASESINO FREE DAMIANC UP BAHDBH AND PAPLO FUCK GTA WORLD We can all watch this server die a slow, awkward death or we can take steps to be the change we wish to see in it. For many of us, this is our last chance at roleplaying and comprising membership of the server we want to see. Clown on this post to your heart's content. I have searched all of my empty pockets and cannot find a fuck to give.
For those who missed it: there was a general discussion topic called "Will LSRP survive?" that went viral yesterday which was flooded with constructive criticism and solutions to improve LSRP. The thread was locked in response to a small minority of people doxxing, leaking staff information and derailing, and someone within the staff team crashed out and merged all of the faction threads into Bellantonio's. This prompted staff to rollback the forums to recover the faction forum, which resulted in the deletion of this topic. I've been told others have tried reposting it only for it to be deleted again but I'll give it another go, although I want to frame the discussion slightly differently to push for a more positive, solution-based discussion. Censorship certainly isn't the answer here and will only serve to shatter any trust left in staff and push the few players left out the door. Please keep this thread up if you know what's best for the server. If people are derailing or breaking rules, deal with those individuals accordingly but the rest of us who wish to see LSRP revived should be allowed to say our piece. Roughly a year ago I posted the first iteration of this topic and it was received quite well by everyone. I was very pleased with the staff response and moderation of the topic, but seeing what happened with the topic yesterday was a disappointing reversion to the kind of censorship LSRP had been known for years ago and was deeply disappointing. Linked below is the topic I posted last year which goes into detail about my vision for LSRP and is ripe full of great ideas put forth by the community: A VISION FOR THE FUTURE - Page 15 - General Discussions Archive - Los Santos Roleplay Today, however, my post (initially written as a response to the topic that was deleted yesterday) will focus on what I believe to be the crux of the issue. Given my faction has been staring down the barrel of description threats recently, I don't take posting this lightly but I want LSRP to succeed and believe it needs to be said. I want to start off by acknowledging and thanking the staff members who have helped make LSRP be a great place to roleplay over the years. As a member of this community since 2009, former member of FM, an official faction leader from 2018-2024 and having still represented Valenti in many of our correspondences with Illegal Faction Council beyond that, I’d be remiss not to highlight the vast improvements seen in the Faction Team in particular compared to past eras where it was marred with incompetence, toxicity, and corruption. Factions today have access to more perks than ever before, official faction selections have been handled sensibly for the most part, and the FT has generally been more supportive and transparent than ever before. Despite recent disagreements with the handling of my faction, I greatly appreciated the honesty, accountability, and consideration shown by @Aloosh, @Rye and @unlawfulact in their responses yesterday and this gave me a renewed sense of confidence that the FT is still in good hands. I'd also like to thank @badhbh and @Dos Santos for their immense dedication to this server and being a pleasure to deal with during my time as an official faction leader last year. When we brought Valenti back, I urged our people to set the bar low in terms of expectations for LSRP. Not because I didn’t believe in the potential for a major comeback on SAMP, but because the staff, more specifically, the management, had let this community down time and time again, and the return of the SAMP server seemed more like a last-ditch marketing gimmick for LSRPV than anything else. I wanted our people to enjoy this last ride as much as we can without dwelling on the failures of the staff team. Fortunately, despite the recent decline, this SAMP run overall has exceeded my expectations and much of that is thanks to the staff putting forth more of an effort to satisfy the community’s wishes, at least initially. Beyond that, the success affirmed that there is still an appetite and market for SAMP. Unfortunately, that market is shrinking by the day and will vanish if things don’t improve in quick order. I’ve only recently returned to playing after a year-long hiatus so I’m admittedly writing this from a limited perspective, but I’ve kept in the loop and been around long enough to pinpoint what I believe to be the main reason LSRP is on a steep decline: inactivity, complacency and a lack of leadership at the management level. No, this is not the only problem. Yes, I do agree with much of what was said in the discussion yesterday, but many of those problems are symptoms of this primary issue. When @Mmartin and Surreal took over from Damian, I showed my support publicly and still believe it was a much-needed change at the time. Some positive changes were made over the years and when Mmartin was actively contributing, developing and engaging with the community earlier in this run, the community was undoubtedly better for it. However, being a good leader isn’t just about knowing when to step up but also knowing when to step down when it’s clear you are no longer the person for the job. That time came long ago and it’s time to act on it. Every leader has a shelf life and there's no shame in that but it's abundantly clear a major change is needed at the very top to restore any level of morale and confidence in staff by the community. By no means is this an attack on Mmartin; in fact, my interactions with him both IC and OOC (the times he responded) were always good, but an active and engaged leader is essential for any hope of a revival for LSRP. The community should vote on a new manager and that’s who Mmartin should pass the reins to; doing so would rejuvenate the community, potentially salvage the staff’s reputation, and hopefully bring about a vision on the best path forward. I personally don’t have much faith in LSRPV but if that’s what Mmartin and others want to focus on, fine, but there needs to be a dedicated manager and team for each server, not one divided and dysfunctional team covering both. I don’t mind managers being paid for their efforts and wish LSRP was successful enough financially to pay all of their staff because I am extremely grateful for their contributions, but donations to the SAMP server should go towards the SAMP server and LSRPV donations should go towards LSRPV. Once either project is sustainable and successful enough, only then should managers and/or staff get paid. With foresight and an actual vision, there will be more to go around in the long run, but if the status quo persists, donations will dwindle away to nothing. The LSRP brand exists on SAMP, not on GTAV, and it’s apparent the SAMP server needs to be more of a priority going forward. LSRP SAMP failing is a marketing disaster for LSRPV. Plenty of good ideas have been presented and I have no doubt that people within the staff team have pushed for many of the improvements we are asking for, but ultimately it starts at the top. Management needs to seek player feedback more via discussions like this, feedback surveys, allowing players to vote on important decisions, utilize those findings, set out a vision and get everyone pulling on the same rope. The disconnect between staff and players needs to be eradicated and instead we need to be one cohesive team. I know this sounds like a pipedream, but I believe the right leadership can make it happen, at least to some extent. TL;DR: Management needs to step it up for the community, put forth a comprehensive vision that we can all work towards, or step aside for someone who will. LSRP's future depends on it. What's your vision for the future? If you bring forward a problem, do so respectfully and also bring forth a solution. Please, keep it clean and let's have a productive discussion that can hopefully help shape a positive future for LSRP.
Mic_Sixhozi joined the community
Skodenix joined the community
Wxer joined the community
tampanasli joined the community
mnartin joined the community
