Why did you leave?

[Buzz]

1. What's the reason you no longer log in?
Lack of players

2. What can be done to get you to log in again?
Get players

-------------------------
Jokes aside... SAMP is an old game, I guess that's the main reason. Plus most of our veteran players are adults now, some have wives, kids etc. (not me thankfully lol). My job is quite stress-free and I could manage to play games during free time, but right now there's better stuff to do in my spare time. Especially considering the current activty (0/85 most of the time). I do miss the old shootouts and I'm still waiting for my revenge on LS groups, but it doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. Too bad. I'll keep my fingers crossed and my shotgun clean though

Cheers

[Sawyer]

Lack of activity.

I did spend a fair amount of time explaining and proposing a couple of additional features for the SA:MP server a couple of months back, when I was top 5 in activity at the time.

Nobody actually took the time to read between the lines and get to know the point, sadly this very outcome is what I truly feared.
The server was getting closer and closer to becoming dead again; and here we are.

Active players always seek for something to keep them interested, even subconsciously.
Sadly the ego of some and the emphasis on the title of the topic I guess pushed it down to the archives.


Perhaps this time then..
A few proposals.

[TinMan]

I feel like I haven't left because I'm still constantly checking the ARPD Forums every once in a while. 

[Thom]

Here are mine:


1. What's the reason you no longer log in?
Not much to do. When I try to take initiative, it swiftly gets shut down, or put to a vote like we're running an actual country here, not a SAMP server. And it takes months before they "vote" on it or a decision is made, and by that time, I've moved on to bigger better things.

Too relatable unfortunately.. Maybe not the immidiate reason I no longer login, but surely the reason it got over time drowned as a lower priority more and more.

2. What can be done to get you to log in again?[/b][/u][/size]
Solve that ^^ 1. and come up with a well-thought plan, recognise entertainment as the NO.1 reason you're choosing to spend your free time somewhere and strive towards making a healthy enviroment and an active, fast and open minded leadership. I mean how is it possible to not already have recognized that we don't have the luxury to have "bureaucracy" and by-the-book no-reason time wasting methods.. at least before shit hits the fan for good, try that.

I can't really tell if it's too late anymore, almost all if not all HQs have found their way to discourage the most motivated players, blow shit up and then disappear once their master plan failed. I know for sure that it's too late for me time-wise, since I wanted to support JDC and I can't. So much ego and pride that lead us here for what? are we so rotten that there is greediness even in a small-scale community/server?

[Badandy]

I don't see this topic that useful or productive, at least for me. All I can say is that development will continue and I'll continue adding and fixing things. If you want to chat about the server, you can hit me up on Discord.

[Astaroth]

I don't see this topic that useful or productive, at least for me. All I can say is that development will continue and I'll continue adding and fixing things. If you want to chat about the server, you can hit me up on Discord.

The reason I created this topic was for the people responsible for leading to see their players concerns and hopefully address them.

Like I said on Discord, you and JDC are currently the only 2 people trying to improve things, and that is greatly appreciated. Nothing said in this topic is directed at you or blamed on you.

[Astaroth]

For fun:

[Astaroth]

Hola,

After a lengthy discussion on discord, we've made a full circle to where we were yesterday, yay!
So, I'll put here what I put in discord:

Every single player that responded to this topic, or got involved in the discord conversation expressed concern and puts the blame on HQ.
Every HQ member that responded has said "We hear your concern and are doing our best" or "Nah, all is well things are working as they should it's the players that aren't interested".

I see two possible explanations for the radically different views:
1. HQ is out of touch and does not care about the players
2. Players are not providing enough information/feedback or expressing concern to HQ.

Seeing as topics like this have been created before, I don't think it's #2.
At this point, I am asking for HQ to be transparent with players and answer this:

- Will you do anything to help, like right now? Not two years down the road.
Note: If you don't know where to start, take a look at the responses on this thread and pick one.


I am asking that @JDC and @Badandy stay out of this and allow someone else to answer.

[Nathan]

.

[Astaroth]

 

I thought about this further and wanted to share my thoughts in a more expanded fashion.

I believe the underline problem is the lack of activity. The problem of lack of activity can be expanded into the following three reasons:

- Age of server and abilities
- Lack of inbound traffic and discoverability
- Lack of community ownership and direction


Age of server and abilities

GTA:SA was released on October 26, 2004. That's over 17 years ago. SA:MP was released several years after that. We're talking about a piece of software that is not only old but also abandoned by the owner. The original iPhone was released around the same time SA:MP was. On the flip side, the reality is that there is though still demand for old games. One successful revival is Old School Runescape. Games like these live in a special place in our hearts because of how much time we spent playing them when growing up.

Argonath's SA:MP server in general has not changed drastically since RS4. Sure, there has been some additional UI changes, new jobs, and group system but in general it's the same product for the last almost ten years. This is not to discount the amount of work done by the developers. But to be honest, the main core system has been exactly the same for the last ten years.

If you are a new player coming into the server you'll realize that there is no end goal. There is no incentive. You just grind to make money. Buy properties. Buy vehicles. Buy weapons. There is no endgame. You work and then buy. No satisfaction.

My suggestion: we need to figure out the identity of the server and the main core objective. This could be through missions. This could be through interactive interactions. But at the end, there needs to be a reason for why someone will want to come on. That something cannot be that they can get more virtual stuff.


Lack of inbound traffic and discoverability

The thing that is holding Argonath together right now is community. It's the reason we all come back and check forums on a daily basis. It's the reason we sit in Discord and engage in chats. But one of the pitfalls with Argonath in general is that our inbound/outbound has been lack luster.

We have not spent an adequate amount of time on growing our audience and getting our name out there. We're stuck in think that if we build, people will come. In reality, this method rarely works. The way you get new people to find your product and service is through advertisement - whether directly or indirectly. Originally, I think this was the goal with the original advertisement team.

My suggestion: we should create more content to get people excited to try out our servers. We should expand to other games. We should sponsor events with famous streamers to get others to check us out.


Lack of community ownership and direction

This one is the elephant in our room. Our owners are absent. Based on some conversations with HQ - they are alive but they are busy with other work and only respond when there is downtime. It's hard to be in a ship with no captain. Yes, we have community leaders but even those seem to only check in every once in a while just make sure that the place isn't on fire. The reality of our situation is that we lack direction. We have several servers being pulled in various directions without any clear indication on where they should be heading.

What made Argonath work original was engaged owners + an active, healthy community. When owners are involved - they know exactly where they want to lead the next iteration and know exactly the pulse of where things are happening. If the owners are absent, the community is left scrambling over visions and past glory days. I proposed potentially acquiring Argonath a couple years ago as a way to try to lead it. Looking back at it now, it feels more like a savior complex than anything else.

We have a community. We have people constantly coming back to the server and forums. But we're not harnessing them and utilizing them properly. Take a look at TheGreasyChopper suggestions as an example. Take a look at Thom's suggestions. We have people who want to help and be involved.

My suggestion: we need the owners and leadership to be actively involved in discussions with the community and not just leading in directions they think are right. I would also suggest going from Argonath RPG to plainly Argonath and expand to other games and game modes.

Those are just my thoughts on this and I hope I didn't step on anyone's toes. I welcome everyone to challenge them.

10/10 - Quoting in case we go to next page and I want this visible.
Another suggestion: Enlist Greasy, Thom, and others in the HQ, give them the rights and authority to make changes, there is literally no downhill from where we're at right now.

[KenAdams]

10/10 - Quoting in case we go to next page and I want this visible.
Another suggestion: Enlist Greasy, Thom, and others in the HQ, give them the rights and authority to make changes, there is literally no downhill from where we're at right now.

All I can see is a cliff and a fall now.
Let's just say "Sauron save us all" like they do in the movies.

[Sawyer]

Another suggestion: Enlist Greasy, Thom, and others in the HQ, give them the rights and authority to make changes, there is literally no downhill from where we're at right now.

[Badandy]

My suggestion: we need to figure out the identity of the server and the main core objective. This could be through missions. This could be through interactive interactions. But at the end, there needs to be a reason for why someone will want to come on. That something cannot be that they can get more virtual stuff.

I agree with this 100%. I also agree with the other points Nathan stated but this resonated with me the most. From a development perspective, this hits a problem on it's head. Over the years we have had different visions and developers taking the server us in different directions. I also agree that the server isn't that fun to play. Getting virual stuff that barely does anything isn't an incentive. I believe the current RageMP server has that issue as well as I played on it, you grind to get money to buy things that don't really matter. The first steps I took to address is this to fix old features and also introduce the interaction system to unify how to play on the server. This progress is no where close to what is needed. I know I'm slow at getting updates out. This is mostly my issue though, development and planning takes most of my time. The good news is, I'm not waiting around to get anything approved. Typically, I can get an idea approved and moving into development / more planning in a few days. Though as addressed by others, this isn't a 100% development issue and some say it's not at all. I do think the server has many issues that are scripted related that leads to players not enjoying the server and not playing.

I thought about quitting development and moving onto other projects but I have decided to continue so I can finish ambitious goals of mine along with what players want. From my perspective and powers, I'm hoping to create a better server over time but I am running against a clock since SAMP itself is dying. I don't consider that I'm wasting my time, I still want to develop things on this platform since it's a challenge and fun. I understand everyone's frustration, I have been there in the past. I can't promise to fix this community or server, I don't think anyone can. I'm just going to try my best now in this moment to give a better experience to who remain in the matter I can. That's life, I guess.

[TinMan]

I would probably play here and there if there was unlimited inventory space. I can't do much in the game since my inventory is way over above full capacity, so I don't have any desire to do anything in the game except talk to people. 

[.James]