Suggestion: Oh boy, this is gonna be a long one.
The Canals suck. In its current state, all they do is act as a rebel circle-jerk location and detract from roleplay. The risk of trying to get there (when a sniper is flagged up at least) is disproportionately higher than the reward. I understand that this is the way it is to try to mitigate the problem of people going and staying out there, but I believe that there are other methods of doing this that would create more roleplay. The Sniper in my opinion is a HORRIBLE deterrent for a few reasons.
The main reason is that it provides little to no roleplay, but has the power to "kill off" large amounts of it as well. In an instant, the sniper can permanently kill your character while granting you no chance to fight back or providing flavor text to your death. Not only does your character die, but so do all the connections you formed that could have led to more roleplay. The argument can be made that every death cuts off chances for more roleplay, which is true but, in other deaths, you at least have a chance to roleplay your final moments whether it be final words, actions, etc. Deaths as a result of roleplayed actions also more often than not provide some sort of development and roleplay for the person performing the killing. A rookie cop's first amputation for example, or a high-ranking unit having to amputate or deservice someone he considered a close friend, or a rebel having to deal with a snitch he thought he could trust. All of these death scenarios generate roleplay and character development to some extent; the sniper does not.
The sniper killing characters off in such a lackluster way is not the only way it can harm roleplay. It also keeps people trapped inside of canals at times, rather than keeping them out. Yesterday, @Dragu , @Melonarche , sir cumference, molnarmate, and I were trapped inside a tiny room in the trainyard for nearly an hour, waiting for the person playing sniper at the time to flag down. At this time Dragu and I intended to return to the city, and the other three were also looking to return to the sewers. The entire reason the sniper exists is to prevent people from going to canals in an attempt to prevent City RP from fading out. The opposite effect is generated when the sniper flags up for extended periods of time and forces people to stay inside.
The second reason the sniper is a bad deterrent is that it is simply not fun to deal with. With its current wallhacks and lead indicator the sniper is an incredibly difficult to avoid obstacle. I go into further detail about this reason in my "A Rework of The Trainyard Sniper" post.
I think at this point I've done enough crying about the sniper and that it is time to actually provide new methods to replace the sniper.
Green suggestions are the ones I like the most, yellow are ones I'm not sure of, and red are the ones I don't like, but could see working
1. Bring back the mines and remove the sniper.
My first suggestion is to bring the mines back. I personally found that they provided a fun little challenge that matched the reward of making it to canals. They're relatively easy to avoid but a careless player could be caught off guard by one. They are also more likely to severely injure people rather than kill them, which will provide injury/medrp.
2. Bring back the mines and replace the player sniper with the default NPC sniper
By default, I mean making the bullet speed whatever it is in HL2. This one would provide a pretty intense, but not impossible, challenge for making it into the canals. If this suggestion was taken then the canals would have to have much juicier rewards within, such as a little more food and/or a rare chance of medical supplies, to compensate for the increased difficulty.
3. Xenian Wildlife or Headcrab Canisters
I think a good way to add a bit more challenge and deterrent to staying deeper in the canals would be to add Xenian wildlife NPCs such as headcrabs and houndeyes (maybe). This would provide players a consistent threat to fight against, either leading up to their death or forcing them to return to the city.
4. Put the camera leading to Trainyard back
This is a pretty lackluster solution, but it would require people to be more properly prepared to enter canals, requiring at least some form of facial covering in order to not be marked instant BOL as soon as they enter. This would act as a major deterrent for new characters just running straight to canals without actually doing anything in the city or sewers first.
5. Replace the sniper window with a sniper tower
The fact that there is literally no way to fight back against the sniper is somewhat frustrating. The illusion of a chance isn't even present. If a climbable tower was added, similar to the one deeper in the canals, that the sniper would sit on instead of the window. It could provide players with an opportunity to attempt to try and get closer in an attempt to kill the sniper. This provides a little bit of combat RP, and another way for rebels to "rebel" other than just sitting deep in canals.
6. Canals Patrol Team
One of the main draws on Rebel Circlejerks to canals is the lack of risk once you're actually in them. Adding non-transhumanized patrol teams to the canals would add a risk, that could generate a LOT of roleplay depending on how it would be handled. I feel as if making them similar to the TA from the event could be a good idea for CPT. They would be monitored less, allowing them to bend the rules a little bit. Some CPs in the city are already starting to bend the rules with the removal of cameras and it has led to some interesting roleplay scenarios forming, I believe bringing them to canals could expand upon this. The members of the CPT would not be the same as the ones from Civil Protection, they would be completely new characters. It would also provide a risk to rebels staying out in canals, forcing them to hide or otherwise deal with the Canals Patrol Team. These characters would be able to flag on whenever, not just for sweeps. The added reward to compensate for the risk would be that there are no rules to when you can mug one of them, meaning you could find a lonely Canals PT member, and mug them without having to worry about a storm of CPs coming for you. The mugging of one would result in a canal sweep shortly after though, once again encouraging people to return to the city.
7. Manhacks
Occasionally send man hacks in the canals, provides injury, and medrp after they're dealt with.
8. Block off the Canals
If you really don't want people in the canals, then why not just remove them? As previously stated they're really not that great for RP or the server. Unless changes or made this might be the best solution for them.
9. Miscounts
A good deterrent from staying in the canals could be occasional scanner sweeps. If anyone was caught by the scanner a miscount would be called. Citizens would be rounded up and identified one by one until the Civil Protection can narrow down who was in the canals.
These methods are not exclusive and could be combined.
Why it would be worth adding: These methods provide more roleplay than the sniper.
Necessary content: Coding and map editing depending on which solution is chosen.
The Canals suck. In its current state, all they do is act as a rebel circle-jerk location and detract from roleplay. The risk of trying to get there (when a sniper is flagged up at least) is disproportionately higher than the reward. I understand that this is the way it is to try to mitigate the problem of people going and staying out there, but I believe that there are other methods of doing this that would create more roleplay. The Sniper in my opinion is a HORRIBLE deterrent for a few reasons.
The main reason is that it provides little to no roleplay, but has the power to "kill off" large amounts of it as well. In an instant, the sniper can permanently kill your character while granting you no chance to fight back or providing flavor text to your death. Not only does your character die, but so do all the connections you formed that could have led to more roleplay. The argument can be made that every death cuts off chances for more roleplay, which is true but, in other deaths, you at least have a chance to roleplay your final moments whether it be final words, actions, etc. Deaths as a result of roleplayed actions also more often than not provide some sort of development and roleplay for the person performing the killing. A rookie cop's first amputation for example, or a high-ranking unit having to amputate or deservice someone he considered a close friend, or a rebel having to deal with a snitch he thought he could trust. All of these death scenarios generate roleplay and character development to some extent; the sniper does not.
The sniper killing characters off in such a lackluster way is not the only way it can harm roleplay. It also keeps people trapped inside of canals at times, rather than keeping them out. Yesterday, @Dragu , @Melonarche , sir cumference, molnarmate, and I were trapped inside a tiny room in the trainyard for nearly an hour, waiting for the person playing sniper at the time to flag down. At this time Dragu and I intended to return to the city, and the other three were also looking to return to the sewers. The entire reason the sniper exists is to prevent people from going to canals in an attempt to prevent City RP from fading out. The opposite effect is generated when the sniper flags up for extended periods of time and forces people to stay inside.
The second reason the sniper is a bad deterrent is that it is simply not fun to deal with. With its current wallhacks and lead indicator the sniper is an incredibly difficult to avoid obstacle. I go into further detail about this reason in my "A Rework of The Trainyard Sniper" post.
I think at this point I've done enough crying about the sniper and that it is time to actually provide new methods to replace the sniper.
Green suggestions are the ones I like the most, yellow are ones I'm not sure of, and red are the ones I don't like, but could see working
1. Bring back the mines and remove the sniper.
My first suggestion is to bring the mines back. I personally found that they provided a fun little challenge that matched the reward of making it to canals. They're relatively easy to avoid but a careless player could be caught off guard by one. They are also more likely to severely injure people rather than kill them, which will provide injury/medrp.
2. Bring back the mines and replace the player sniper with the default NPC sniper
By default, I mean making the bullet speed whatever it is in HL2. This one would provide a pretty intense, but not impossible, challenge for making it into the canals. If this suggestion was taken then the canals would have to have much juicier rewards within, such as a little more food and/or a rare chance of medical supplies, to compensate for the increased difficulty.
3. Xenian Wildlife or Headcrab Canisters
I think a good way to add a bit more challenge and deterrent to staying deeper in the canals would be to add Xenian wildlife NPCs such as headcrabs and houndeyes (maybe). This would provide players a consistent threat to fight against, either leading up to their death or forcing them to return to the city.
4. Put the camera leading to Trainyard back
This is a pretty lackluster solution, but it would require people to be more properly prepared to enter canals, requiring at least some form of facial covering in order to not be marked instant BOL as soon as they enter. This would act as a major deterrent for new characters just running straight to canals without actually doing anything in the city or sewers first.
5. Replace the sniper window with a sniper tower
The fact that there is literally no way to fight back against the sniper is somewhat frustrating. The illusion of a chance isn't even present. If a climbable tower was added, similar to the one deeper in the canals, that the sniper would sit on instead of the window. It could provide players with an opportunity to attempt to try and get closer in an attempt to kill the sniper. This provides a little bit of combat RP, and another way for rebels to "rebel" other than just sitting deep in canals.
6. Canals Patrol Team
One of the main draws on Rebel Circlejerks to canals is the lack of risk once you're actually in them. Adding non-transhumanized patrol teams to the canals would add a risk, that could generate a LOT of roleplay depending on how it would be handled. I feel as if making them similar to the TA from the event could be a good idea for CPT. They would be monitored less, allowing them to bend the rules a little bit. Some CPs in the city are already starting to bend the rules with the removal of cameras and it has led to some interesting roleplay scenarios forming, I believe bringing them to canals could expand upon this. The members of the CPT would not be the same as the ones from Civil Protection, they would be completely new characters. It would also provide a risk to rebels staying out in canals, forcing them to hide or otherwise deal with the Canals Patrol Team. These characters would be able to flag on whenever, not just for sweeps. The added reward to compensate for the risk would be that there are no rules to when you can mug one of them, meaning you could find a lonely Canals PT member, and mug them without having to worry about a storm of CPs coming for you. The mugging of one would result in a canal sweep shortly after though, once again encouraging people to return to the city.
7. Manhacks
Occasionally send man hacks in the canals, provides injury, and medrp after they're dealt with.
8. Block off the Canals
If you really don't want people in the canals, then why not just remove them? As previously stated they're really not that great for RP or the server. Unless changes or made this might be the best solution for them.
9. Miscounts
A good deterrent from staying in the canals could be occasional scanner sweeps. If anyone was caught by the scanner a miscount would be called. Citizens would be rounded up and identified one by one until the Civil Protection can narrow down who was in the canals.
These methods are not exclusive and could be combined.
Why it would be worth adding: These methods provide more roleplay than the sniper.
Necessary content: Coding and map editing depending on which solution is chosen.
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