Information The voice of the people (General Feedback)

[yoursteamfriend.royce]

Hello everyone, I hope this finds you well.

Idyllic is our namesake, but it is also the creed by which we live. It's our goal to be the change we want to see in this niche hobby we all share. We wouldn't be anywhere without one another. Your voice matters!

We are open to hear anything anyone has to say about the current state of things, suggestions, appreciation, even negative feelings. I'm sure we can work things out if so! Out of respect all we ask is that any personal gripes be handled in DMs. Idyllic strives for everyone to feel welcome and heard, and to just simply have a good time! Sometimes we all forget how truly blessed we are to have people to share all of this with.

That being said I'll kick this off by expressing my upmost gratitude to all of you for your interest! If anyone has any fun ideas for things they'd like to do, any of you are more than welcome to reach out to your favorite admin of choice (id hope it's me but let's be fair, smarmy takes the prize)! We can talk it through. We all just want to make sure that everyone here feels involved and welcome. We're open to hear any suggestions involving anything here, from suggestions to these forums to the discord, to on server.
(Ps. @Mickee where is the pets channel in discord?! !!!! )

Script suggestions
Report bugs here

We're all ears!

 

[richard]

 

[AbeBatJes]

Last event was quite enjoyable! Felt a little awkward getting situated at first, but quickly got my bearings. I'll be honest, I wasn't too sure if I myself was being too power gamey or not on my part; I try to stay within reasonable bounds. Nonetheless, you all were very accommodating. The music was also very great as well. Near the end, ngl, I felt like I was at a rave party lol. Still, great great!

 

[pants]

I loved coming back home from my big AFK today and just seeing so many people hanging out near the campfire, doing some kind of electrical work on the roof. Really made the place feel so ALIVE in this cozy, Red-Dead-Redemption-2-Campsite kind of way.

The event was pretty great other than me CONSTANTLY FUMBLING DICE ROLLS and bringing a bolt action to a fast headcrab fight.

Also the xenicide didn't work. That was kind of a shocker to me. And Fake!Demi did a Kipp-Kipp? Did the fungus eat a shock trooper...........

 

[Fours]

I loved the (Semi?)-finale of the event and the build up to it, with HORIZON and the Heart and this entire arc was AMAZING. While I never got to see the end of it, I bet it was fantastic for the others.

I'm excitedt to see how this goes! Thank you Mickee and the staff team <3

 

[Eorvek]

Okay so while I by no means want to come across as salty or anything , last night's event would've been great for me. However it had a huge glaring issue pop in at the end.

The Xenicide. While I'm not gonna throw a huge issue over something in a gmod game, it's the second time I've tried using Doctor Kong to genuinely do IC solutions to IC problems. Which each time it's done nothing. Last time it was doing SOMETHING (killing some xen shit, but not making a difference) at least, but this time? I'm gonna be honest the Kingpin huffing the fumes wasn't something that came across as cool or scary. It came across as OOCly rude and railroady. Like it was punishing me for coloring outside the lines, and it generally deflated my want to even play.

For context I have spent the entire time I was on lugging around that shit that was planned from the very getgo of this map, had to battle constant disconnects and really just feeling sidelined while the more action oriented characters got their time, and then the moment I'm able to stand up and do my thing? Xenicide not only does nothing, but it gets basically powergamed out of my hands and I'm forced back into the mold with everyone else. It wasn't fun, it wasn't cool, and it encouraged me to just disconnect.

 

[Mickee]

Okay so while I by no means want to come across as salty or anything , last night's event would've been great for me. However it had a huge glaring issue pop in at the end.

The Xenicide. While I'm not gonna throw a huge issue over something in a gmod game, it's the second time I've tried using Doctor Kong to genuinely do IC solutions to IC problems. Which each time it's done nothing. Last time it was doing SOMETHING (killing some xen shit, but not making a difference) at least, but this time? I'm gonna be honest the Kingpin huffing the fumes wasn't something that came across as cool or scary. It came across as OOCly rude and railroady. Like it was punishing me for coloring outside the lines, and it generally deflated my want to even play.

For context I have spent the entire time I was on lugging around that shit that was planned from the very getgo of this map, had to battle constant disconnects and really just feeling sidelined while the more action oriented characters got their time, and then the moment I'm able to stand up and do my thing? Xenicide not only does nothing, but it gets basically powergamed out of my hands and I'm forced back into the mold with everyone else. It wasn't fun, it wasn't cool, and it encouraged me to just disconnect.

I think this isn't to take a jab at you.

But to show that this thing is simply above that, ontop of me never actually signing off or planning 'Xenicide'...In our lore. It does not exist and I wish to play that out. I've seen alot of Taco N Banana CIC lore cross over into this and I am trying to alienate and remove it. We are not Taco N Banana, we do not follow their lore, and Xenicide simply does not work nor does it exist in this lore, especially against something I've been labeling as a literal god that can infiltrate your mind and reform the bodies of living beings (Examples being the EVERSOR, 181, and the bear).


CIC is not this almighty faction that focuses exclusively upon overgrowth and triumphs all in our lore. I have clarified numerous times that CIC does not exist and that it is instead the CMC, Combine Maintenance Corps. I wish you didn't have to find out this way but I would really prefer if these sort of things were brought up towards us prior so we can actually respond and adjust accordingly. If you have anymore questions that revolve around confusion with TnB's lore and ours I will happily answer any and all.


tldr; XENICIDE DOES NOT EXIST IN OUR LORE AND THE CIC(CMC) IS NOT AT ALL LIKE IT IS AT TNB.

 

[Eorvek]

I think this isn't to take a jab at you.

But to show that this thing is simply above that, ontop of me never actually signing off or planning 'Xenicide'...In our lore. It does not exist and I wish to play that out. I've seen alot of Taco N Banana CIC lore cross over into this and I am trying to alienate and remove it. We are not Taco N Banana, we do not follow their lore, and Xenicide simply does not work nor does it exist in this lore, especially against something I've been labeling as a literal god that can infiltrate your mind and reform the bodies of living beings (Examples being the EVERSOR, 181, and the bear).


CIC is not this almighty faction that focuses exclusively upon overgrowth and triumphs all in our lore. I have clarified numerous times that CIC does not exist and that it is instead the CMC, Combine Maintenance Corps. I wish you didn't have to find out this way but I would really prefer if these sort of things were brought up towards us prior so we can actually respond and adjust accordingly. If you have anymore questions that revolve around confusion with TnB's lore and ours I will happily answer any and all.


tldr; XENICIDE DOES NOT EXIST IN OUR LORE AND THE CIC(CMC) IS NOT AT ALL LIKE IT IS AT TNB.

Which is something I wish I was informed of this after the first time or informed before even trying this time. Again its pretty frustrating because that’s effort down the drain for an ooc reason I wasnt even aware of.

Like sure okay its not lore but that doesnt change the fact Im incredibly frustrated. Its not even the idea of xenicide not “existing “ if anything Im frustrated this lore wasnt even common knowledge and the fact I was forcibly sidelined for no reason then just aggravates me further

 

[pants]

I think this isn't to take a jab at you.

But to show that this thing is simply above that, ontop of me never actually signing off or planning 'Xenicide'...In our lore. It does not exist and I wish to play that out. I've seen alot of Taco N Banana CIC lore cross over into this and I am trying to alienate and remove it. We are not Taco N Banana, we do not follow their lore, and Xenicide simply does not work nor does it exist in this lore, especially against something I've been labeling as a literal god that can infiltrate your mind and reform the bodies of living beings (Examples being the EVERSOR, 181, and the bear).


CIC is not this almighty faction that focuses exclusively upon overgrowth and triumphs all in our lore. I have clarified numerous times that CIC does not exist and that it is instead the CMC, Combine Maintenance Corps. I wish you didn't have to find out this way but I would really prefer if these sort of things were brought up towards us prior so we can actually respond and adjust accordingly. If you have anymore questions that revolve around confusion with TnB's lore and ours I will happily answer any and all.


tldr; XENICIDE DOES NOT EXIST IN OUR LORE AND THE CIC(CMC) IS NOT AT ALL LIKE IT IS AT TNB.

more loreposts im begging. im a lore fiend

 

[AbeBatJes]

I think this isn't to take a jab at you.

But to show that this thing is simply above that, ontop of me never actually signing off or planning 'Xenicide'...In our lore. It does not exist and I wish to play that out. I've seen alot of Taco N Banana CIC lore cross over into this and I am trying to alienate and remove it. We are not Taco N Banana, we do not follow their lore, and Xenicide simply does not work nor does it exist in this lore, especially against something I've been labeling as a literal god that can infiltrate your mind and reform the bodies of living beings (Examples being the EVERSOR, 181, and the bear).


CIC is not this almighty faction that focuses exclusively upon overgrowth and triumphs all in our lore. I have clarified numerous times that CIC does not exist and that it is instead the CMC, Combine Maintenance Corps. I wish you didn't have to find out this way but I would really prefer if these sort of things were brought up towards us prior so we can actually respond and adjust accordingly. If you have anymore questions that revolve around confusion with TnB's lore and ours I will happily answer any and all.


tldr; XENICIDE DOES NOT EXIST IN OUR LORE AND THE CIC(CMC) IS NOT AT ALL LIKE IT IS AT TNB.

I believe the part that makes it get fuddled up is that (if I recall correctly), 181 was part of an infestation core, but don't quote me on that, as I'm not the character, and my memory is kinda craptastic lol. However to fully nullify any Xenicide is odd. I only say this not in conjunction to TnB, but rather the lore in Half Life itself (that being with Half Life: Alyx).. as it's apparent that a 'core' of citizens are tasked with dealing with certain xenian infestations. Now whether or not the foam they use actually just stops the infestation, or repels it is up for debate. However somehow somewhere, there are like-minded scientists or individuals that had to make this substance, to fight against the evergrowing xen life.

Now I'm not sure entirely all Eorvek's character stands in this; whether they were a scientist, part of a group that dealt with that etc, and what they've done on the server, is out of my hands of knowledge (as I've only very recently showed up ).

However, as stated above, that if Dr Kong is experienced in this field of work, and took the time to roleplay creating the stuff through complex means, that they should be rewarded in some capacity. Now even if it didn't outright KILL those powerful creatures, it would've been great to at least see it do something in some capacity; weaken it by not allowing it to do one thing, maybe make it slower etc.

And just as I see pants post, I do HIGHLY agree; there needs to be more lore to be added, just so everyone is in the same field. I suppose it's a lot of influence from being involved with Rad-X & Robert from Willard (technically knew them before Willard), because they seem to like adding in every bit of lore; it helps both staff and player to grab ahold of, instead of tryin' to come up with somethin' on the spot. <3

 

[Mickee]

Which is something I wish I was informed of this after the first time or informed before even trying this time. Again its pretty frustrating because that’s effort down the drain for an ooc reason I wasnt even aware of.

Like sure okay its not lore but that doesnt change the fact Im incredibly frustrated. Its not even the idea of xenicide not “existing “ if anything Im frustrated this lore wasnt even common knowledge and the fact I was forcibly sidelined for no reason then just aggravates me further

I completely understand and I am sorry that it happened. If u wanna get a full rundown of it I am more than happy to put together a general lore post for the CMC's position in our world.

 

[Mickee]

Oop this updated while I was typing...I'll start working on a post for y'all

 

[Zardoz]

Sorry to hear about how that all transpired for some people and I hope that next time around there is more clarity. I do not think anyone specifically was solely in the wrong here (I do not say this as a cop out either) but there were certain things that could have been explained a lot better before hand.

I do remember a similar situation I had with a character I played on ZRP who was a notorious thief then later became a 'trader' of sorts. My enjoyment on ZRP suffered when I tried to interact with certain roleplay encounters differently from the expected convention i.e. sneaking, lockpicking doors, using different entrances, stealing items, and generally straying from the preferred 'way of doing things' than what most players and event planners were used to. While I had a few highlights, my character both IC and OOC was treat as disruptive, useless and in many situations ended up getting ignored. It was really one of the biggest turns offs I had with railroading and it was definitely enough to swear me off from touching ZRP again.

While I think things are generally better now with HL2RP, I can definitely relate to that feeling of being dismissed. Railroading might be necessary (in rare instances imo) but staff should definitely try to clarify things better and reach out a lot sooner. Mistakes do happen and I still hold no hard feelings towards anyone from what happened back then, nor do I think anyone now harbors such grudges. The best thing really for these kinds of situations is to maybe entertain some player ideas in a novel way or provide another explanation such as an easy access guide to players on what can be done within the world.

Hell, I remember I once had my vehicle nuked off the map as I tried to roleplay driving back out through the tunnel during an event, but I kind of understood the intention behind it not being malicious but more so for pacing. Although telling players no at the last minute or not reaching out OOC before hand might not lead to others taking it so well.

On the topic of lore and worldbuilding:

For instance, it is generally accepted that there is a CWU (Civil Worker's Union) in most HL2RP servers despite not actually existing in the games but it is accepted as 'unofficial' cannon by most players standards. Cremators are another instance of otherwise unofficial lore being seen as part of HL2RP's lore even if a server makes no mention or acknowledgement of them. Then there is the whole argument about whether Combine soldiers are mindless unstoppable automatons (I think most people are aware they are not) but a sentence or two can stop a future debate like that in its tracks with a firm 'yes' or 'no', etc.

At this point it is just a simple case I think of a general lore/world overview thread as a basic quick primer. Probably a sentence or two, maybe a paragraph dedicated to the following would help:

1. Factions & organizations (CCA, CMC, RPF, OTF, HORIZON, CONSCRIPTS, etc)
2. Alien creatures, synths & machines (anomalies?)
3. Technology (weapons, medicine, AI, teleportation)
4. Newspapers, radio, & television
5. Employment & private ownership(?)
6. Famous figures
7. Events of Half-Life 1? (Do Gearbox's HL expansions also count towards our canon?)
8. Race X?

Some of the players I think were not even around since the start of the server (could be wrong) and even the ones who were at Worksite 14 did not have much access to information on the outside world. Something like this was bound to be inevitable and the lateness of the event with the added pressure to conclude it definitely led to some hasty actions. It is good to hear that some people did enjoy it though, I also had some fun here and there. Yet as someone who has been in Eorvek's position before with an unconventional character it can be immensely frustrating with such an experience that would definitely make me reconsider if my time was being valued.

 

[Smarmy]

I do remember a similar situation I had with a character I played on ZRP who was a notorious thief then later became a 'trader' of sorts. My enjoyment on ZRP suffered when I tried to interact with certain roleplay encounters differently from the expected convention i.e. sneaking, lockpicking doors, using different entrances, stealing items, and generally straying from the preferred 'way of doing things' than what most players and event planners were used to.

I'm embarrassed to say this, but it might've been me as I had 0 experience doing admin stuff. ZRP is a brutal setting for a trial by fire of events. I don't know why I did it due to how stressful it was, but people seemed to really love the "oh shit smarmy will let us go anywhere in the zombie city," so I stuck with it. I did it because I was overwhelmed, and worried people would think my events were shit if they didn't go 100% smoothly. I almost crashed out at a few points.

 

[Vecilea]

At this point it is just a simple case I think of a general lore/world overview thread as a basic quick primer. Probably a sentence or two, maybe a paragraph dedicated to the following would help:

1. Race X?

I will be releasing more as they become a larger part of the story. Just staff has agreed to keep them to background stuff on this map /mostly/ for the time being.

Promise! I'm also working on creating a Google My Maps with mickee with a fuck ton of lore.

 

[Zardoz]

I'm embarrassed to say this, but it might've been me as I had 0 experience doing admin stuff. ZRP is a brutal setting for a trial by fire of events. I don't know why I did it due to how stressful it was, but people seemed to really love the "oh shit smarmy will let us go anywhere in the zombie city," so I stuck with it. I did it because I was overwhelmed, and worried people would think my events were shit if they didn't go 100% smoothly. I almost crashed out at a few points.

Nothing to be embarrassed about, even putting the most experienced staff to run those kind of events can lead to burn outs as opposed to more open servers with optional story telling. Railroading in general is very demanding despite how simple it seems, it essentially makes servers extremely reliant on event chains to sustain interest and keeping the story moving along smoothly. It is a lot easier for both players and admins, if we embrace players making decisions with good faith even if awkward or would lead to missing out on planned set pieces. We can easily recycle or reincorporate cool scenarios we never got around in another way as well.

I will also say though that on ZRP the best moment I had was when my officer character convinced a few other survivors to sneak into the overrun Police Department and raid the armory for weapons + riot gear. That was genuinely cool and nobody really prompted us to do that, we were forging our own story in that moment. Definitely one of the highlights and MoF has also had those moments too. Overall I think you guys are doing a good job, although my views may not be reflective of those who enjoy the linear experiences more.

I will be releasing more as they become a larger part of the story. Just staff has agreed to keep them to background stuff on this map /mostly/ for the time being.

Promise! I'm also working on creating a Google My Maps with mickee with a fuck ton of lore.

Sounds cool. To be honest it does not even need to go into extreme detail. It's more so to say to those who are not sure or new players that 'yes, Race X does exist!' really.

 

[Mickee]

Currently typing up the thread. Will hopefully be up by tonight.

 

[Mickee]

Sorry to hear about how that all transpired for some people and I hope that next time around there is more clarity. I do not think anyone specifically was solely in the wrong here (I do not say this as a cop out either) but there were certain things that could have been explained a lot better before hand.

I do remember a similar situation I had with a character I played on ZRP who was a notorious thief then later became a 'trader' of sorts. My enjoyment on ZRP suffered when I tried to interact with certain roleplay encounters differently from the expected convention i.e. sneaking, lockpicking doors, using different entrances, stealing items, and generally straying from the preferred 'way of doing things' than what most players and event planners were used to. While I had a few highlights, my character both IC and OOC was treat as disruptive, useless and in many situations ended up getting ignored. It was really one of the biggest turns offs I had with railroading and it was definitely enough to swear me off from touching ZRP again.

While I think things are generally better now with HL2RP, I can definitely relate to that feeling of being dismissed. Railroading might be necessary (in rare instances imo) but staff should definitely try to clarify things better and reach out a lot sooner. Mistakes do happen and I still hold no hard feelings towards anyone from what happened back then, nor do I think anyone now harbors such grudges. The best thing really for these kinds of situations is to maybe entertain some player ideas in a novel way or provide another explanation such as an easy access guide to players on what can be done within the world.

Hell, I remember I once had my vehicle nuked off the map as I tried to roleplay driving back out through the tunnel during an event, but I kind of understood the intention behind it not being malicious but more so for pacing. Although telling players no at the last minute or not reaching out OOC before hand might not lead to others taking it so well.

On the topic of lore and worldbuilding:

For instance, it is generally accepted that there is a CWU (Civil Worker's Union) in most HL2RP servers despite not actually existing in the games but it is accepted as 'unofficial' cannon by most players standards. Cremators are another instance of otherwise unofficial lore being seen as part of HL2RP's lore even if a server makes no mention or acknowledgement of them. Then there is the whole argument about whether Combine soldiers are mindless unstoppable automatons (I think most people are aware they are not) but a sentence or two can stop a future debate like that in its tracks with a firm 'yes' or 'no', etc.

At this point it is just a simple case I think of a general lore/world overview thread as a basic quick primer. Probably a sentence or two, maybe a paragraph dedicated to the following would help:

1. Factions & organizations (CCA, CMC, RPF, OTF, HORIZON, CONSCRIPTS, etc)
2. Alien creatures, synths & machines (anomalies?)
3. Technology (weapons, medicine, AI, teleportation)
4. Newspapers, radio, & television
5. Employment & private ownership(?)
6. Famous figures
7. Events of Half-Life 1? (Do Gearbox's HL expansions also count towards our canon?)
8. Race X?

Some of the players I think were not even around since the start of the server (could be wrong) and even the ones who were at Worksite 14 did not have much access to information on the outside world. Something like this was bound to be inevitable and the lateness of the event with the added pressure to conclude it definitely led to some hasty actions. It is good to hear that some people did enjoy it though, I also had some fun here and there. Yet as someone who has been in Eorvek's position before with an unconventional character it can be immensely frustrating with such an experience that would definitely make me reconsider if my time was being valued.

https://idyllicnetworks.com/threads/lore-primer.268/

The start of one.

Basic but I'll expand it as time goes on...I don't wanna expend all of my motivation atm on it

 

[Zilly]

Haven't been playing here very long but I'd like to say that this is the most memorable and fun RP I've played since 2016-17. Everybody in the community is awesome and thank you to the admins, event team and owners for making such a fun and welcoming community