gang activity
 

as i predicted, gang activity has soon faded (it's almost friday and the top gang has only 964 points)
plz stop testing new bases/systems and just bring back the old bases every1 likes and no1 would complain about..it took years of improvements to get to the final product of the BH and BB bases. i honestly prefered BH due to BB's lame circular heal room but both of the bases were excellent and lead to years and years of active raiding, not simply 2-3 weeks of gang activity

I agree, even though I don't raid.
I think the old system needs to come back with maybe a 4th gang, just to level things out a bit?

I liked BB's heal room the best XD

3-5 gangs is the ideal number but starting off with 3 would be best since gang activity is very low atm, so it would take a while for innactive players to realise that raiding is back
BB heal room only suited runners, on the other side in BH heal room ud have to work as a gang to corner the enemy team

I think the system is good. I see raiding everyday with humbbolt haze, factioneX and syndicate also mixed in with multiple semi-active/big gangs.

Sequence of events (gangsystems):
cry, cry, cry, this system sucks plz change it
*gang system changed 2 months later*
raids for about 1~3 months
cry, cry, rage, cry, cry no one is raiding!
plz plz plz back to old system
rage hard and make threads whining about changing back system <-- You are here!

Yeah guys, old system!

Let me start the next "new system" thread, tk. You're hogging them.

Just because you see them gangs raiding everyday doesn’t mean they like the new system. The system is bad in many ways. Era cannot support the gang system for a start. The gangs are thinned out? There isn’t a limit on how many gangs there should be. I believe they stopped letting people make more gangs but do you really think that is going to fix the problem, Of course not.

There should be a limit of 3-4 gangs on era, I don’t get that anybody can make a gang and name it what they like? That’s what parties are for. When it comes to hosting gang events it’s a pain in the ass! You have to work out a system in your head if you have 5 or 6 or more gangs. It’s also hard to get gangs due to the fact that there are so many gangs and not enough players in them.

A good while ago, I got MD to do a poll about the gang system. The question was something like which gang system did you prefer?
Old system -80%
New system – 20%

That isn’t exact, though it was as close as that.

The players want the old system? Why not give them what they want? It’s not about what the staff team want, they have to deliver what the players want and pay for.

We all know that the old system would fix many problems but there is something stopping that. This isn’t a dig Tim, though I think you should think about what the players want, rather than trying to do things your way. I do not recall you raiding ever or taking part in any gang events. So how would you know what you’re doing is for the better of gang raiding?
You could just bring back the old system and see for yourself the difference in raiding and gang events.

THEN you can start upgrading from there. I don’t see why it’s such a big deal about bringing the old gang system back? If it’s all about becoming manager then doing things that you’re remembered for as it seems that way to me, then bringing back the old gang system would be a damn start, instead of trying to make it better, when that is making things worse.

Yo, bloody you really can't see the benefits of having a completely automated gang system?

I love how your first post makes the old "system?" seem like a masterpiece, it's cute : )

In my humble opinion era has made a huge leap forward, just by committing to an interest in an automated gang system. To go back to what we had before would be like taking two massive steps backwards. You've been around for a long time, you know how slow progress on era is. It will probably be a long process of trial and error, and management changes, before anything worthy is developed.

Just sit back and relax. an automated gang system is the way to go. It is far from perfect now, but you have to realize it's potential.

You people sound like a bunch of cut and runners.
We must stay the course.

lol natchez how do u see this current system improving? gangs owned by noobs who just payed 10k to obtain them have no appeal
i'm not saying the old system was perfect (i.e. the gang guns sucked cuz some dumb gang admin decided to nerf them), i just said the bases were very good and the "old" gang system has been fine for almost 10 years.
i have never seen so little raiding on era (not considering alf's failed management)

tim if u want to make it so that everyone has a chance to own a gang you should create 2 fixed gangs (i.e. bh and bb) plus add an extra gang (x), which every week will have to face another potential gang (y) in events. if y defeats x then y will be the third gang added to bh and bb for a week, after another week another gang (z) will face y to determinate which one will remain a gang for the next week. the challenging gang (z in the last example) might be chosen from party with most kills, within a "challengers tournament" or something similar
this system would ensure that 2 gangs (bh and bb) r lead by adequate leaders which will be replaced in case of inactivity. the 3rd gang will also be competitive as long as there's a gang limit on bh and bb

Dude, So because the current system sucks, we should just abandon the entire idea of an automated system all together?

-That is just retardation in its purest forms.

Do you really fail to see the potential of an automated system?... I mean seriously...
Please don't make me type it all out here...

Besides Tim just ****ing got management of the server... Cut him a break, and keep your panties on while he develops the system further.

How can he develop something he knows very little about? That's what i was asking?:confused: I understand that all the work put into the new system and just scraping it and going back the old system would have all been for nothing. Though, it doesnt matter because at the end of the day, the players dont like it so scraping it shouldn't be an issue. Take it on the chin. Bring back the old system that people enjoy and play and work from there. The old system should have never been just changed alltogether and never released untill it was finished.

You dont even have to bring back the old system alltogether, why not scrap all the gangs, make a 3 or 4 gang limit. Bring back LC/BB names or create new gang names? Bring back the old bases, but update them? This would gurantee raiding everyday and also keep people happy! Do what was suppose to happen, the gang shop? Where gangs can go buy new gang items. Jeez man, common sense.

Old system was better because it encouraged elitism and discouraged newbies from even attempting to be a part of something we consider a major part of the game!

Staff can't be trusted to update the game, the server must be rolled back before they try to do it again!

Staff can be trusted to moderate the gangs appropriately and always make correct decisions in all situations! /s

Let salesman finish his system!

1) It's really not rocket surgery.
2) I don't have to be a chef to appreciate good food.
3) Players like yourself can wrap your minds around the blatantly obvious benefits of an automated system, and provide suggestions and feedback to speed up the process of trial and error.

1) And where would era be if its management had based every development decision on the constantly changing, whims of the player base?

1) It seems that common sense is not so common.

1) ...
2) This is not a central characteristic to the concept of an automated gang system in any way.
3) Why does it make sense to just revert to the old system because you don't like such a minor, and probably temporary, aspect of the new system? Where are our problem solving skills man!?
4) Create elitism within the contexts of an automated gang system maybe? This could be accomplished very nicely with gang upgrades, via some kind of points shop.

See hidden /s. I agree with you rare sane era individual.

salesman outlined what the system was missing (automated removal of weak/underperforming gangs, rewards and perks for active gangs) sounds like they just need to implement it. Old systems are often monkey-patched to **** and extremely annoying to extend, this is a fairly clean slate and should be fixed so they don't have to have staff moderate the entire system.

Okay, thank god. I was really starting to lose faith in humanity : )

natchez i think that uv never been in a gang with a higher rank than "Recruit", but since ur such a gang expert now tell us what u think is so good about an automated gang system? gangs with 10 members each and a raid every 2-3 days at best?
the only input staff would put towards the old gang system would be hosting gang events+replacing inactive/ineffective leaders, probably less work than having to approve gangs every day

Obviously, ranks and leadership in gangs give you variable expertise in the area. Granted most 'old' gang leaders ended up being failures.. and all 'new' gang leaders just bought their gang, I doubt it.

Pretty sure automation is 'so good' within itself, not to mention the breadth of new content and stuff that could blossom out of it. I'd rather not go into detail as you would ignore or not understand it anyway.

So, what you say here.. monitoring and manually editing scripts to control leaders is way less work than pressing a button?
Yeah man, you're right.

gang activity low? sounds like era police is finally doing their job ^_^

Not that it matters, but I have been a recruiter before.
But you're right, In their old state, gangs were not very interesting to me.

What you are not understanding is that these things have nothing to do with an automated gang system.
You make it sound like these things are fundamental characteristics of an automated system, and since these characteristics suck the only option is to just scrap everything.

There are many many benefits, you just need a little foresight to see them.
I don't have the time to explain everything right now. However, the most important reason for creating an automated gang system is to add a purpose to gangs.

Due to Era having a grand total of 100+ gangs, I've decided to make some changes. From now on if your gang is inactive at the end of the week (zero points), I'm going to delete your gang, there will not be a refund. If your gang is not in the top ten at the end of the week, you will receive a strike. Three strikes and your gang will be deleted. If your gang makes it in the top ten gangs the next week, you will lose a strike.

Also if you'd like to have your own custom gang tag color, it's 10k a single color, but it's another 10k if you'd like a text shadow.

Also I will be increasing gang limits for 25k for an extra slot. The fee doubles for every slot you purchase (next time would be 50k, 100k, ect).


opinion?

I like the zero point removal and the strike system, seems like a simple way to keep the gangs in check.

I however, dislike the option of 'paying for a better gang' in essence, the maximum should stay the same. Although I doubt anyone would shell out the cash to do it; well.. we have people like TK round these parts.

Keep the playing field even for now since the gangs themselves have no definite purpose (points are useless).
---

I believe that you should re-add the gang rewards for the top gangs, instead of just the top 1 receiving a reward like before give the top 3 gangs rewards, such as #1 - 5ec, #2 - 3ec, #3 - 1ec. This would give at least some motivation to raid and more to strive for than just 'woo most points even though they're pointless'.

Gangs that don't meet a minimum level of participation should be removed/receive a strike not gangs that don't make the top ten.

Make the upgrades cost gang points (?) not money.

Make consumable items that cost gang points so there's always something they can use them on.

Play only to have a surviving gang? Thats not so brilliant, because there is no other reason for a gang to be active... Try offering incentives to active gangs rather making them pay for not being so.

lol natchez did u just say gangs didn't have a purpose with the old system? gangs used to be (and r supposed to be) the purpose of era
it's not about the work to change a couple of scripts rogue, it's about making sure that every gang has a competent leader. u obviously dont agree with this since in years of era uv never been asked to lead a gang but this is the most effective way since itll motivate all ur recruiters to do well in order to have a chance to be the next leader
this system together with the gang bases killed era's raiding, if u dnt believe me just log onto era and check how low gang points are (imo personal points should still go negative or u should at least be able to see how many times a specific player has died)
oh and tim, fyi the party system was created for noobs who aren't good enough to make it in gangs. gangs r not supposed to be for everyone like it or not

@ Scoper:
-All great ideas.
-I would like to see these functions carried out by an automated system eventually though, and not a staff member.
-Maybe gang points and money needed for upgrades?

@ BloodyKiller
Correct, Gangs did not have a purpose before.

I dont even know why we have a playerworld that promotes gangs.

The original plan:

1. Points measure a gang's activity, and gangs are required to stay active
   • Each gang has its own weekly point quota. If a gang fails to meet the quota at the end of a week, it receives a strike.
   • 3 strikes and a gang is deleted
   • Strikes can be removed if a gang meets its quota two weeks in a row (we just don't want gangs to be inactive for long periods of time--it's okay to have a slow week every now and then)
2. Total points are used to unlock gang perks
   • Gangs don't "spend" points. They are just given the option to unlock things as they earn more points. For example, if a gang reaches 50k overall points, they are able to unlock gang guns.
     • Spending points might be cool for temporary rewards (such as being able to buy a 24-hr speed bonus for the top people in your gang), but this was not the original plan.
   • If a gang chooses to unlock a perk, its weekly quota increases. The idea is that a larger gang with more perks is going to have to work harder to maintain itself.
   • Leaders are given the choice whether or not to expand. We don't care if they're as small as a party as long as they're staying active.
3. A set number of bases are positioned around the map (4 or so) and gangs compete to control them.
   • Only one base is active at a time.
   • Each base offers a unique bonus to the controlling gang. For example, an ammunition factory rewards unlimited ammo to whichever gang controls it.
   • I had an idea that at the end of the week, the gang that controlled each base for the longest time gets the perk (or a similar, less overpowered) perk for the entire next week. This might be hard/unfair to do, so you'd have to play around with the idea.
   • Bases have mini-objectives (such as killing the power, or blowing up a wall to create a new entrance) which award gang points.
   • Points for killing are doubled in bases.

Obviously this is a lot of work, and it would take time to play with the everything to find numbers that are balanced and effective.

I had also planned to eventually extend the EventBot to automatically host/manage gang events, so that gangs could challenge one another to things like CTF and TDM. Without going into too much detail, it would basically work like this:

1. Gang A and Gang B have a lot of people online
2. Gang A challenges Gang B to a 5v5 TDM match
3. Gang B accepts, the leaders pick their 5
4. The EventBot takes over and hosts the match
5. The winning gang is given a reward (ideally the reward would be gang points)
6. A leaderboard could be maintained

These are just my ideas...things I was working on when I was staff. I have no intention of ever returning to finish these plans. Maybe they can help the current team come up with their own ideas.

the eventbot is one of the worst ideas ever, because what makes events very fun is actually the contact with the hoster too

So true, events would be boring as hell (same thing over and over) if I couldn't ***** out an ET every time something happens.

lol

ya, gang events are the most fun whenever we have to wait 1-2 hours for the gang admin/ETs to get their **** together

they play era to make friends not to kill ppl

Thats why I go on, to make more interesting friends.

torPEDO

New system should be fine but I still dont like the gang bases

Also gangs should be reworded these perks and extra player slots not pay for them. As the gang gets bigger they should earn all these new updates not buy them or win them.

I think this gang system will be great if we can add on to it right

Why is "PEDO" in capitals?

i totally agree, unfortunately tim has no gang experience and is clearly not open to suggestions