An Open Letter To Leadership Regarding The Perp Server

[Magic]

Dear HeLLsGamers Leadership and Staff,

 

For those of you who do not know me, I am a former division advisor (Staff as you refer to it now) and division leader of the Garry's Mod division. I have been playing PERP for about 3 years now, and some of you reading this may have been playing even longer then me. I am sure I can speak on behalf of everyone who wishes we could go back to the days when the server was constantly full with about 50-76 players. Hell, I remember as a member of the community having to wait for slots to be open to get into the server. I miss the gang raids, I miss the competition, I miss the 'life' of the server, and most of all I miss the new players constantly joining our PERP server and keeping the cycle going. PERP is the sole reason I joined the Garry's Mod division and expressed interest in leading this division, but unfortunately I was unable to rebuild the PERP server as I had hoped, and for that, I apologize. As a retired leader and current admin of the PERP server that dream still lies within me because I know this community's potential and the fact that we CAN get back to those good old days, but we need to actually do something. I'm not saying we have not done anything towards this server, but we need to actually do something major, something that will bring new and old players back.

 

We need to admit our current position first off. This server is absolute crap, and that is my honest opinion. I stuck around playing it during the decline and still hop on from time to time. This server is literally gasping for air, and the proof lies within the brutal facts that we as a community need to accept:

 

 

Server rank over the past 30 days:

 

Players over the past 30 days:

 

If this doesn't address the state of our server, I do not know what will to be honest with you.

 

 

With all of this being said, i'd like to dive deeper within the server's current issues. The main issue is we lack creativity. When we were at our peak we had interesting cars, gangs, and items to work towards, but as we sat with what we had, our server became stale, people got bored of what was on the server, they got their buggati and what was next for them? Not much. The point I am trying to make is we need to capitalize on these moments. We have had the same cars, weapons and other items on this server for YEARS without adding on. Yeah we updated the car models and such, but the cars got broken and their power sometimes doesn't sound right for their respective prices. When we realize decline or something we need to address the issue and come up with ideas to keep that player base steady. Whether that is new cars, new weapons, new items, whatever...we need to do that.

 

When I was a leader of the division, I constantly attempted to push for change to the PERP server, but sadly I got the same typical answer plenty of times that, "We have plans for the server" or "We're working on it", you know vague stuff like that. During my time as leader, I wanted to keep my members updated, but sadly I had to carry the same vague message that I received on to them, and as a result, I saw many great members leave this community, and I don't blame them either. So as a retired leader and veteran with the same mindset as the other friends, recruits, members, and veterans, and perhaps even some leadership members, I ask you, what is going on with PERP?

 

I understand what we can cannot do currently due to legal issues and such (Which I won't dive into for obvious reasons), but something needs to happen. The bugs need to be fixed, the cars need to be fixed, and we need to expand. If we do not do that, we will go nowhere. To be quite honest with you, getting words and statements all the time is getting old, this server needs change...it needs work. I understand the people who dress the content of the server have lives and all, but multiple years without little to nothing? That is one of the sole reasons this server is dead. Also, in the past, bugs have appeared as result of an update or something else (*cough* uzi auto reload bug *cough*) and took weeks to months to fix. That shouldn't be happening cause it can be little things like that that make people leave. We, as a community need to address any concerns and address them asap. A gun glitch should not take months to fix, and i'm not the only one who knows that.

 

With all of these claims I hope anyone reading this gets the picture, this server is dead, but it can be revived. However, it needs to be revived the correct way. We can't have poorly led mapping projects, and we cannot have vague answers to just buy time.

 

Just to list one thing, there is a new EvoCity map being made, Evocity 3. You can read all of the updates regarding it here: http://facepunch.com...=1439184&page=7 I believe whenever that map is completed we should take a look at it and use it if it proves to be an effective map. We need something fresh to help that server rebuild itself.

 

For the time being, please fix what is wrong and possibly add new cars or something. We need something to bring players back, create that competitive atmosphere, and have a stable player base once again! I always read these couple sentence threads saying how PERP is dead and how people should start playing it more. To be brutally honest with you, we should not be playing this server, not until change or something is seen where we are heading in the right direction. We have waited long enough and yet we as a community do not accept the message being sent to our community about our PERP server.

 

We are HeLLsGamers Gaming Community, we are better than this! We are not the ones to let some of our most popular game modes/servers for what we were once known for just die and leave it to suffer. With that being said, HeLLsGamers Council, Community Directors, and leadership I personally ask what is going to become of our PERP server? When will we actually experience change and move forward and not backwards? I am not here to start a flame war, that is not my intention. I care about this server, I believe in this community, but us members not in leadership deserve a clear, more specific answer towards this server. I am here to be along for the long haul, I know this is no easy thing, but we need to actually take action and not just say stuff. I thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope all of you understand why I am writing this.

 

Sincerely,

Magic

 

Edited April 29, 2015 by Magic

[Suicide]

you go girl

[KarmaOfPain]

Well written, I would love for perp to come come back!

[Huejay]

Very inspiring letter, an eye opener to Hellsgamers as a community.

[Manchu_OPFOR]

Very deep, looked at EvoCity 3, looks amazing! I hope we can soon revive the server and keep it popular like the old days...

Edited April 29, 2015 by Manchu_OPFOR

[Nite]

Well put my man.

[Midget]

Love the idea, and would love for PERP to come back. Good way to address the issue as well. Good job.

[HyperActive]

I highly agree with your remarks. I first started playing PERP around the time I joined HG, I became addicted and started playing 24/7, wouldn't mind doing that again.

[Cookie]

magic actin like he came up with all this

[Space Rash]

I support the PERP movement!

[Spanishcpt]

OMG that map looks AMAZING

+1

[7Z.]

Im willing to spend my spare time in perp, lets get this snowball rolling.

[eXtreme]

PERP and CSS JB needs to be alive again! I love you Magic.

[Deadlock]

UM+

 

Don't forget, you promised transparency .

[creepa]

Nice read

[Johnmau]

holy fucking shit yes yesyesyeesyeyeyeysyeyeyeysyeyeyeye +1

[I Love Lamp]

Well written, and I agree with many of your points. The problem, as it stands now, is we are a bit lacking in the development department. Mappers and modders are in short supply for us right now, and the server is a big time investment.

 

I'm honestly not sure of the specifics regarding it, as GMod is not one of our divisions I'm active in other than as a general counsel.

 

However, the revival of PERP is on our list, and it's something you will see us addressing at some point in the future.

 

All I can do here is paraphrase Blizzard here and offer up a...soonâ„¢.

[Deadlock]

Well written, and I agree with many of your points. The problem, as it stands now, is we are a bit lacking in the development department. Mappers and modders are in short supply for us right now, and the server is a big time investment.

 

I'm honestly not sure of the specifics regarding it, as GMod is not one of our divisions I'm active in other than as a general counsel.

 

However, the revival of PERP is on our list, and it's something you will see us addressing at some point in the future.

 

All I can do here is paraphrase Blizzard here and offer up a...soonâ„¢.

[Syrupy (AKA GhostNinjaX)]

I agree 100% Magic. I miss the good days like when I joined back in 2012 and no need to apologize you were a great Division Leader and you did your best, thats what counts.

[Burnt]

soonâ„¢.

This is where someone makes a thread with suggestions (one that isnt as outdated as January 2013) they would have liked to see in perp to better benefit this "custom/new" experience they want. This would also help gmod leadership see what the community wants instead of some pizza delivery job idea that I can give them

[iAman]

This is pritty much css but 3 years in the forward. We can fix this and css at the same time so lets do that

Edited April 29, 2015 by iAman

[Papa John]

What are the odds of us having a meeting about this exact topic on the day this thread was posted. I'm going to assume astronomical.

[Kigen]

The PERP server has no legal issues associated with it.

 

As far as the reason why its not heavily updated is due to multiple issues. PERP, in its original code, is designed for a much older version of GMod. Patch after patch has been applied over to years to keep it working. PERP was also made by someone who was slightly new at coding. As such there are multiple issues there. So the code needs to be completely redone. It also didn't help that Garry cut the download table in half forcing us to rely on unstable Workshop stuff.

 

There is also the economy. Its based around the idea of drug selling for the most part. Hide in a house, make drugs, sell drugs to the drug dealer behind apartments, repeat. The only "spice" is the threats of raids, mainly by other gangs since generally the police are handicapped. And generally can only go in when there is already fighting or a fire. This leaves a lackluster gameplay. I have several ideas to implement that would change the gameplay. However, those changes have requirements.

 

Then there is the map. EvoCity has a crappy map (no offense to the creator). There are no proper sidewalks for a majority of the map. The tunnels are horridus and were obviously placed for visleafs. The ground type is wrong in several areas (lake area is considered concrete, etc). There is a tremendous lack of space for people to buy into. And there is also the lack of a navmesh. I need a proper navmesh.

 

In all though, the biggest impediment to a revival of the server is the map. So if you know a mapper or are a mapper yourself please apply to the mapping team and help build the server a proper map.

[Magic]

The PERP server has no legal issues associated with it.

 

As far as the reason why its not heavily updated is due to multiple issues. PERP, in its original code, is designed for a much older version of GMod. Patch after patch has been applied over to years to keep it working. PERP was also made by someone who was slightly new at coding. As such there are multiple issues there. So the code needs to be completely redone. It also didn't help that Garry cut the download table in half forcing us to rely on unstable Workshop stuff.

 

There is also the economy. Its based around the idea of drug selling for the most part. Hide in a house, make drugs, sell drugs to the drug dealer behind apartments, repeat. The only "spice" is the threats of raids, mainly by other gangs since generally the police are handicapped. And generally can only go in when there is already fighting or a fire. This leaves a lackluster gameplay. I have several ideas to implement that would change the gameplay. However, those changes have requirements.

 

Then there is the map. EvoCity has a crappy map (no offense to the creator). There are no proper sidewalks for a majority of the map. The tunnels are horridus and were obviously placed for visleafs. The ground type is wrong in several areas (lake area is considered concrete, etc). There is a tremendous lack of space for people to buy into. And there is also the lack of a navmesh. I need a proper navmesh.

 

In all though, the biggest impediment to a revival of the server is the map. So if you know a mapper or are a mapper yourself please apply to the mapping team and help build the server a proper map.

I'm sorry, but are you referring to the current EvoCity map we use on the server or the one in development?

[Arezk]

Hell, I remember as a member of the community having to wait for slots to be open to get into the server.

 

OoooooooOOOOO The good times man.

 

, "We have plans for the server" or "We're working on it",

 

These phrases are the most disgusting shit that are constantly said, especially within the gmod division (no offense). I hate them because they provide no information on whats going on, and because they're almost all talk with little intentions.

 

Great letter magic, killing it like always .