[DISCUSSION] City Life in Liberty: Dreams & Expectations

[ASS]

[DISCUSSION] City Life in Liberty: Dreams & Expectations

 

Today the purpose of why I created this thread is because I've always been curious about what kind of experiences people expect from Liberty City.

To start this off, I'd like to give brief summary of my dream and what I envisioned LC would be.

 

To me, LC (NYC) is a vibrant city that rich in history and brimming with endless opportunities, its a city that has long captivated people from people all over the world. Beyond its vast number of iconic sights, this city is known for its people. For the better or worse, New Yorkers are known for their unique quirks & personalities and I feel that this embody our community rp culture perfectly. There is room for everyone, we can be whoever we wants to be and we can be bold and proud about that diversity.

 

When I think of the rp possibilities within LC, I always imagined a city full of life where everyone always keep up with the latest gossips and entertainments. From my previous experience throughout various rp communities in gta scene, everyone is too focused on night-life activities. There is lack of creativity & support when it comes to capturing the essence of lifestyle and entertainment. I expect this would be different in our community. I say lets discuss about this to gain a deeper understanding of what do we expect from each other. Collaboration is necessary to create a remarkable place full of unforgettable experience.

 

 

To discuss:

 

1. What comes to mind when you heard of Liberty City, what kind of rp niche do you wish to see?

2. What is your ideal influential figures & what makes them relevant in our everyday roleplay?

3. What kind of business ideas do you wish to be utilized more in gta rp?

 

Feel free to add anything you find relevant to the main topic!

 

[Midsomer]

A much-needed discussion.  Well done taking the leap.  Perhaps that one reason it's important to have this discussion was stated aptly by the OP: "everyone is too focused on night-life activities."  We need a different model.  We need to cater to more than just bars and nightclubs.  I don't have any specific ideas at the moment, but I encourage everyone to be creative.  Be creative about opportunities and avoid falling into the trap of a one-track mind, thinking only about the nightlife scene.  

 

The long-term viability and richness of the roleplay we offer all depends on how creative we are about the opportunities we offer.   We should constantly aim for variety and fresh concepts, rather than just rehashing spent concepts (coming up with different ways to dress up the same bar, for example).  It is easier said than done, but that difficulty should not discourage us from the challenge of coming up with fresh concepts.  Good luck! 

[Geo]

As @Midsomer said, nightclubs and bars are the RP Servers backbone when it comes to Business. @Neo and I were so happy when we knew that we could "be the change we wanted to see".

By having only two nightclubs for launch, we're forcing the expansion of other industries. Some of my favorite roleplay was owning a Cinema in GTA W. Not just a regular cinema, one that only showed old movies (Film Noir, Westerns, etc). Although it kind of matched Los Santos' theme, it would really match LC's. Let's remember, NYC is a tourist-filled area; people come for the broadway shows, concerts, and more. I think establishing "celebrity" figures and even your regular 'acting crew' to bring theatrical performances into LC would be a dream. If a Cinema script is created, I myself would apply for a business and replicate the Film Noir Cinema I once owned in World.

Another idea which I think is criminally underrated is stand up comedy. I think some players could really steal the show, and creating the small, hole-in-the-wall businesses that are jammed packed with people to see a comedian IC would be super cool.

Neo and I dreamed of a Property Market that is not driven by nightclubs and bars, and we'll do everything we can to make that happen in LC, even if it means going through some unscripted roleplay, the possibilities are endless once the server is released and the Devs can allot time on certain features to make the game better.

[Effect]

1. What comes to mind when you heard of Liberty City, what kind of rp niche do you wish to see?

Speaking about Liberty City - Well, I do wish for strong "foodie" Roleplay to form around the server considering NYC/LC is still a very strong cultural pot. I know it's not as exciting as legal or criminal RP, but civilian RP has a new environment/lore to play with (I'll be mad if I can't get my Broker slice :v) It's just up to us, players to play with given tools and create an immersive server which we all going to enjoy.

2. What is your ideal influential figures & what makes them relevant in our everyday roleplay?

Hard to tell, I know I'll be jumping in between legal and illegal characters but like Geo has mentioned, I kinda wish for celebrity class to form up - No, not mallrats who are perfect and shit, but someone who you could listen to over the radio or some broke ass politician holding rally around the local community to listen to and so on and on.

3. What kind of business ideas do you wish to be utilized more in gta rp?

*shrugs* designer clothing store, jewelry stores, bodegas with some backroom activity, a local bar where I can get pissed on my character while listening to some stand up jokes or some indie rock band playing their first gig. Dunno, just wish for some businesses where a lot of players could come around and find some activity around there to slowly but steadily develop their character.

[Fang.]

The great thing about being based in Liberty City is the close resemblance with New York City. NYC is so diverse in population, there is a walk of ALL life who are stationed in New York which means there is a vast range of roleplay opportunity. You have the chance to become whatever you want to become without a heavy lock behind being "unrealistic" in your roleplay. Los Santos is locked behind the LA lifestyle which you have to follow to be realistic in your roleplay, which yes, Liberty City has the same, but it has more leeway.

I myself plan on applying for a clothing store property with the unique clothing script LCRP has which would be located in the heart of Chinatown. Roleplaying Chinese in LS is a little tricky because there is no place to call home there. In GTA:W people had to branch out to Textile City and Mission Row to call itself Chinatown even though there is no indication that the area would be populated with any Chinese. With Liberty City though, there is a Little Seoul, Chinatown, Little Italy, and probably even more areas which would have places to locate different races. Though, I plan to make a Chinese woman who made her travels to Liberty City to capitalize on the "American Dream" like everyone else does who plans to move to New York. Once apply for the clothing store and everything goes well, the clothing store would be filled with multiple hypebeast streetwear clothing all over the store. But it will obviously have its controversy in authenticity due to being a Chinese owned clothing business being based in Chinatown, which is known for having street vendors selling on the sidewalk very realistic fakes to tourists for easy cash grabs. Though she could easily capitalize on both authentic and authentic fakes markets, selling both for double avenues of revenue but could cost her, her business so there is always opportunity for new and fresh roleplay just based on where you are roleplaying which honestly, I don't think Los Santos could ever provide. 

But that's just one opportunity of roleplay, now imagine that for 500 different people who would be in Liberty City roleplaying their own stories and their own struggles, endless opportunity.

Now for the wide scheme of things, people are very content on running a bar or a nightclub which yes, it is probably the easiest avenue of making money and it wouldn't be that outlandish having a lot of bars around Liberty City cause realistically, this city will never sleep. But that sort of roleplay is very stale, people themselves need to branch out to different sorts of roleplay but I think they struggle of finding a start. Cause I think there should be more legal roleplay than illegal roleplay, but illegal roleplay is just the easiest to get into. Legal roleplay, you usually have to do some type of advanced application and then another form of entry into the sort of roleplay, I believe if you want to have a vast range of roleplay, you need to loosen up and give a chance to the 'nooby' players who never really roleplayed anything besides a criminal. It would be so cool to have a balance of illegal and legal roleplay, there could be 800 people on the server and 400 of them are a part of some sort of legal roleplay such as LEO, GOV, or even legal businesses such as carpentry businesses that property management could roleplay "building" new buildings to house more people. Then the other 400 players could be on their "blocks" or not even gang banging but could extorting businesses, or laundering money through a legal business. People need to open their imagination to all these different avenues of roleplay, but also staff and server management should loosen up and monitor the entry level of entering these more legal or serious roleplay that is extremely hard to learn for people who purely roleplay off experience.

[Neo]

Just gonna start off by echoing what Geo said - we’ve essentially come up with a system to force the expansion of industries that aren’t just a generic club. Clubs will always be limited and locked behind a special application, so LC roleplayers will have to get creative which is something I’m excited to see. There won’t be a million clubs watering the market down and thus, other areas have room to grow and be successful.

 

1. What comes to mind when you heard of Liberty City, what kind of rp niche do you wish to see?

Liberty City has a lot of potential. It’s not as “gentrified” as Los Santos. People from all walks of life and all social / economic backgrounds live there. I’m personally excited for niche rp such as hotdog stand vendors, bodegas, roleplay that’s more “interactive” that doesn’t necessarily serve a financial gain. There’s a lot of potential for this. It’s hard to put a specific but the most exciting thing is opportunity, which liberty has in abundance.

 

2. What is your ideal influential figures & what makes them relevant in our everyday roleplay?

It’s not so much influence as it is wealth. The more wealth you have, the more influence you have. In the real world this is the generic format. If you have money you can lobby politicians, line peoples pockets etc for your own agenda. Though, ingame I’d hope that it doesn’t necessarily fully translate exactly. I’d like to see influence come from both wealth AND merit of character. It’s hard to pinpoint someone who fits this criteria in the real world, but when it comes to relevance ICly, I expect that those who hold influence will become known names within the server, and how they intend to use it (be it for good or bad) will be very interesting.

 

3. What kind of business ideas do you wish to be utilized more in gta rp?

Anything that doesn’t fit the “standard” (Think stores, clubs, liquor, bars.) I’d love to see more niche and creativity come from businesses. Think what Geo said, a tiny hole in the wall comedy club, or some greasy fast food place that has dubious food safety certification, a flight school, an outdoors adventure company, a business that focuses on something that isn’t necessarily scripted. (Maybe a food delivery service? Ubereats type deal?). Lots of potential here.

 

[Ras]

1. What comes to mind when you heard of Liberty City, what kind of rp niche do you wish to see?

A) Diversity - L.C./N.Y. is far more diverse and less segregated than L.S./L.A. Hence, I'd like to see people of different races, ethnicities, and nationalities hanging with one another rather than the stereotypical "Blacks with blacks, Asians with Asians" etc... Yes, migrants tend to stick to their own culture, but L.C. doesn't have segregation, by race, on the level of L.A.

B) Big emphasis on food culture - NY-style Pizzas, Ocky-style deli shops, taco shops, Jamaican shops, East-Asian cuisine etc... One thing that I'd prefer to see, though? REGULAR shops that aren't overdone. The gritty restaurants of Harlem/Bronx/Brooklyn should be much different from a fancy place in Manhatten. An issue that I had, with other servers, was that people mapped their businesses as some sort of extravagant place that didn't even resemble an average restaurant in L.A... 

C) Time Square - I want to see Time Square thriving as a tourist attraction, with street performers, overpriced goods, and an overall active environment that somewhat reflects modern-day time-square. 
 

2. What is your ideal influential figures & what makes them relevant in our everyday roleplay?

 

- Overall, politicians, musicians, artists, chefs (well-known and renounced restaurants that are famous to locals or the city) etc... 

3. What kind of business ideas do you wish to be utilized more in gta rp?

A) Tons of restaurants - Pizza shops, deli shops, bagel shops, Chinese cuisine, Japanese Sushi, Thai spots, Jamaican or Caribbean restaurants, taco shops, Latin-American food (authentic) etc...

B) A variety of bars. Gritty and grungy small-bars/dive-bars for locals, fancier bars in Manhattan etc...

C) A club scene that reflects N.Y. Please, don't mass-produce European-style clubs. Produce clubs that reflect the culture of N.Y.... one thing that I never see is a HIP-HOP-based club or Reggae/Dancehall-based club. Each club should be unique from the others, rather than simply blasting EDM/Techno.

[ASS]

11 hours ago, Ras said:

1. What comes to mind when you heard of Liberty City, what kind of rp niche do you wish to see?

A) Diversity - L.C./N.Y. is far more diverse and less segregated than L.S./L.A. Hence, I'd like to see people of different races, ethnicities, and nationalities hanging with one another rather than the stereotypical "Blacks with blacks, Asians with Asians" etc... Yes, migrants tend to stick to their own culture, but L.C. doesn't have segregation, by race, on the level of L.A.

B) Big emphasis on food culture - NY-style Pizzas, Ocky-style deli shops, taco shops, Jamaican shops, East-Asian cuisine etc... One thing that I'd prefer to see, though? REGULAR shops that aren't overdone. The gritty restaurants of Harlem/Bronx/Brooklyn should be much different from a fancy place in Manhatten. An issue that I had, with other servers, was that people mapped their businesses as some sort of extravagant place that didn't even resemble an average restaurant in L.A... 

C) Time Square - I want to see Time Square thriving as a tourist attraction, with street performers, overpriced goods, and an overall active environment that somewhat reflects modern-day time-square. 

B) Thank you @Ras for bringing up points that tend to be overlooked before. I totally agree with everything you mentioned above, I personally would expect @Geo and @Neo to be able to come up with some kind of quality check for interior designs. There is literally zero need for every single business being decorated lavishly just because they can, while in reality there are many restaurants that outright refuses to renovate their building due to how iconic they are to the locals.

C) I feel like this is tied to point A as well so I'd like to merge them together, it would've been great to have some sort of 'RP hub' where people can gather around and find any kind of active scene they can partake in, or simply to observe and enjoy the atmosphere of LC roleplay. Though as per @Effect concern, we need to ensure that this place won't be plagued by "mallrats". I'm not a fan of elitism per se and i feel like everyone should be able to be involved in any type of rp they wished, and yet I understand the consequences of having low quality players to fill up the space. So this is kind of a personal contradiction of my own.

 

Now on to the second question, I would like to hear more input but here I will quote the few that we've received so far:

11 hours ago, Ras said:

2. What is your ideal influential figures & what makes them relevant in our everyday roleplay?

- Overall, politicians, musicians, artists, chefs (well-known and renounced restaurants that are famous to locals or the city) etc... 

 

On 4/20/2022 at 12:04 PM, Effect said:

2. What is your ideal influential figures & what makes them relevant in our everyday roleplay?

Hard to tell, I know I'll be jumping in between legal and illegal characters but like Geo has mentioned, I kinda wish for celebrity class to form up - No, not mallrats who are perfect and shit, but someone who you could listen to over the radio or some broke ass politician holding rally around the local community to listen to and so on and on.

 

On 4/21/2022 at 3:17 AM, Neo said:

2. What is your ideal influential figures & what makes them relevant in our everyday roleplay?

It’s not so much influence as it is wealth. The more wealth you have, the more influence you have. In the real world this is the generic format. If you have money you can lobby politicians, line peoples pockets etc for your own agenda. Though, ingame I’d hope that it doesn’t necessarily fully translate exactly. I’d like to see influence come from both wealth AND merit of character. It’s hard to pinpoint someone who fits this criteria in the real world, but when it comes to relevance ICly, I expect that those who hold influence will become known names within the server, and how they intend to use it (be it for good or bad) will be very interesting.

 

In the past, this kind of rp are barely regulated and its totally down to the players, their luck, and connection to 'thrive' as one of the well-known names in the server. This in return gave birth to poor character portrayals when players are left to their own devices. Some players took the term of "be whoever you want to be" and twisted it to "be EVERYONE at the same time". In my opinion, fame should've been something achieved through consistency, tenacity, and skills (not just posing in menyoo or music playlist, please). I'd like to see famous characters that befitting LC lore, the kind of remarkable character that our characters can talk about in our daily conversations.

 

How do you think this should be managed? What significance it would be if the server has the ability to provide support in this area? Will it increase the quality of life in our roleplay?