[We need to talk ...]

I think a big part of the issue in regards to the playerbase are these shock changes that come out of nowhere but have massive impact to people's experience.
 

To list a couple, trucking was suddenly completely nerfed, then it was reverted, then another update which left it in a state it should've been originally. Another was the PF gun prices. Why would raising the prices 10x ever be a good idea? Even as a short term fix, it was ridiculous. It isn't even about the short term affects these changes have, but how they were so obviously the wrong decision to make and these types of decisions are made time and time again. And this is proven when the player count is noticeably affected when these sorts of changes are made.

 

And that's a common theme, there's aspects of the script which make you think, or rather know, there hasn't been much forward thinking put into them or have been entirely glossed over. I remember one community meeting someone asked if you can sell a car once the loan is paid off, nobody knew. Considering how GTA servers are played, that is such a crucial thing to not only implement, but even know if it is implemented or not. It all just screams incompetence and poor management.

 

The gambling scripts would be well received. A weekly lotto could bring a bit more excitement to the server. I'm picturing a lotto ticket item purchasable from 24/7s and the winner is picked automatically and announced, the money sent straight to their bank account. Blackjack would be a really good addition too. Poker would be great but could take a while to implement, nevertheless I think this and blackjack should be prioritised as it would make the gambling scene a lot more viable, as right now it's painful to use /rnumber and /dice and so on. Gambling is one of the things which tends to blur the worlds of legal and illegal RP as well which is why I think it's such an important thing for the server.

 

The vehicle changes sound good, but it feels like there needs to be a bigger overhaul for how all this works. There's no way to preview the changes you're making to the car, and the mechanic controls it all. Instead the customer should be able to configure what they want done to their car, actually see it previewed on their vehicle, and then submit a request to the garage. The mechanic working for the garage can then accept this request and begin performing the roleplay for the job. To add on to this, more visual mods should be added like bumpers, side skirts, exhausts, wheel colours, etc. Performance mods should be added as well, but I think visual mods should be prioritised over them for now. On a similar note, add the ability to spawn in multiple vehicles at once. And why is /v setpark even a thing? Just make it /v park and you can park anywhere. I've also made a pretty lengthy suggestion here which would add a lot more depth to vehicles on the server and boost the second hand car market. It could be a bit overkill and a money sink for where the server and the economy is right now, but it is quite modular and could be implemented in phases.

 

 

 

The furniture system, while already pretty good to be fair, is missing some key features which would make mapping much more user friendly. The ability to copy the location and rotation of one object and apply it to another would be very beneficial. It also seems like if objects do not face north, then using the static movement doesn't actually work, say if the object is facing north east, pressing up will move it towards north, and not north east, which is incredibly frustrating and makes mapping so much more time consuming when trying to line up walls and so on. What should take a couple seconds max can end up taking 30s - 1m, which when applied to a whole project, is substantial. Add more furniture items too. Having to retype /furniture and navigate through the furniture screen after performing certain actions wastes a lot of time too. If these things could be sorted then mapping would be so much faster.

 

There also seems to be a lot of hand holding on the server which can slow things down. Why an admin needs to set the spawn point for the interior is beyond me. Players are given the freedom to map custom interiors but not choose where players spawn within those custom interiors? I don't even know what the reasoning would be for this, it seems like a pointless restriction. If someone is going to abuse it, police it when it is noticed, don't gatekeep the functionality for the entire playerbase just in case someone abuses it. Similarily selecting different interiors for your properties. This could be something that is done via the UCP and removes work for the admin team. Again, if an unsuitable interior is selected, that should be reported and dealt with accordingly, but put some trust into the playebase that 99% of people will pick appropriate interiors. On a similar note, custom interiors should have to match the exterior of the buildings. There seems to be a lot of interiors that are much bigger than the exteriors or have a completely different layour / footprint which does seem a bit cheaty.

 

I think the gun and drug schemes could be changed massively. As @memooh mentioned, gun parts should be able to be bought on the darknet and you can assemble these to make a gun, this would also give illegal roleplayers more things to trade. Serial numbers on PF guns should be able to be filed off. Similarily PF guns should be a lot harder to acquire (but not more expensive). Make the process more time consuming (even if artificially inflated), require a test of sorts, some roleplay IG with a licensing official (an interview, check of the player's home to make sure the gun can be stored appropriately, etc). As for the drug schemes, you could add the ability to buy items and create drugs from them. Get seeds from the darknet and grow weed which takes time, requiring you to water the plants and so on. Other drugs like meth, all the chemicals could be bought which need to be combined in a series of actions to result in the end product. These seeds / chemicals can also be traded as well then. You get the idea. This doesn't need to replace straight up buying the drugs or guns, but go alongside it (and be cheaper).

Another thing to keep in mind is software development takes time. Ideas are all good and well but they take a lot of effort and time to implement, so players can't expect the world immediately. Even these barebones features we are missing, don't expect those to come in a week or two. If people want to see the server grow and succeed, try to look past some of the downfalls for now and enjoy the server for what it is. You can still have a good time on the server if you seek this out. My faction The Road Slayers Motorcycle Club and I even struggle with this sometimes when thinking is it even worth hopping IG when we see the playerbase around 40 - 60, but then we do and open one of our businesses or host an event like our recent car show and end up having a great turn out and it motivates us to play more. It has to be said that the community here does feel a lot better considering the player count and people are more open to roleplaying with people, so just keep doing that, give the script time to mature and the playerbase and playing experience will no doubt improve.

[Economy Update]

It was brought up during the meeting but the answer was pretty much "we don't know", but what happens when a player wants to sell / get rid of their financed car?