Whitelist the server full time?

[D E M 0 N XIII]

Ready? Go. 
- I don't care votes will be considered Majority Rules votes.
I am not an admin - I am not a moderator - I am not a staff member.
This poll does not and will not have any pending changes for server whitelisting or not.
This is a post for us to place our opinions on the topic and let admin/staff decide what to make of it.

Edited May 1, 2022 by D E M 0 N XIII
edited my edit for disclosure & idc will be majority rules

[Rizz]

I hope that one day it does become whitelisted, but we also don't have current numbers to support it. 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Rizz

[Coach]

Agree with Rizz. Eventually? 100% for it. But im not sure if now is that time.

[Brendan Thomson]

Really need to grow out the OC/EU/UK timezone I think before locking it down more.

[Levi Bentley]

After being here in and watching the community grow for almost 4 years, if now isn't the time then when is? This is another peak time in the regular population. I feel it should happen before it is too late and the opportunity to WL and continue to be a strong population slips by.

I care for this community more than I can express. It pains me to watch good quality people with quality RP have to deal with waves of people that come in, don't read the rules, break them, are racict, mean, angry, you name it. Yes we have Staff that steps in and bans that behavior but why not stop it before it even starts? With a transition to WL (obviously not happening overnight) then we can all rest easy knowing that the safety and quality of the community is being safe guarded. The quility of RP that we all experience on a daily basis will only increase, and also draw in more quality RPers, as public servers often turn off more experienced RPers. The application is very simple and doesn't take long to fill out. If you don't want to fill it out how much do you really care about being here and being part of a healthy community?

[StareDown]

I completely agree with whitelisting the community. It'll weed out the people who just come in, RDM as Dannys, cause issues, drop racial slurs, and just waste people's time. It'll at least cause people who want to give us grief a couple of hoops to drive through and discourage them. Especially with us switching to mumble, we've only made it easier for those who want to waste and ruin our fun.

 

#whitelistbadlands

[Infinity]

I do agree the server should be whitelisted, however if its being done to root out the people that don't read the rules and complain in discord, then it's being done for the wrong reason. If it's to done in the hope to produce better RP then that's a good start. However, just because the server goes WL (even IF it does) it doesn't mean good RP is gonna follow. Along with the server going WL other things need to be changed, (I'm just giving cliff notes) such as:

1. The court/legal/DOJ system needs a complete revamp. the system that the DOJ has now favors cops so heavily and it's one of MY biggest problems. 
2. Let more players who aren't support staff/admins/mods take over more of leadership roles in factions
3. Let people run and vote for mayor. This will not only help with my first point, but also it will Civs more RP if they so choose
4. Give Civs more chance for RP. Besides dealerships, Mech shops, restaurants, and tow. There isn't alot for civs to do especially when some of those can just be owned by crims and have 90% of their crim friends work there. I've said it before but i honestly believe that anyone with a felony should not be able to own a business, regardless if its 100% legal or they pushing illegal things out of it. 
5. The current WL app is easy and needs to be made harder
7. Stop worrying about the server numbers, The population of people is always gonna rise and dip, the only difference is that with public there is a quicker increase. Yes, the server pop would dip going to WL, but over time it will climb back to good numbers.

Finally, the WL isnt something that needs to be rolled out the second its decided upon, it can literally be "Hey all, we have decided to go WL full time, with this decision we have re done the whitelist app. The server will stay public for the next 3 months while we give everyone here more than enough time to fill out the new WL app and have it get approved"
 

[Steve Henderson]

1,000,000% agree the server should be whitelisted like Levi said if 4 years hasn't been enough time to whitelist the server than nothing ever will. The number of times I've gone to Downbad apartments where there's a down Danny there has never been a time, I don't hear a racial slur said from them. There has been too many times that great quality RPs are burned out and don't want to come in all because the Dannie's go nuts and murder everyone because they think its GTA Online. Yes, you can ban them and in return what does it get us, sometimes we are happy that they got banned, other times because they are so butt hurt, they will DDOS the server or have their friends come in and blow everyone up or ban them using scripts. I haven't been in the server for as long as a lot of you, but I have never seen a day where someone isn't banned for not RPing correctly or for scripting. I would love to see the server whitelisted we've done it before when scripters and DDOSers got way out of hand if people don't want to take the time to file out a whitelist application that isn't even that long then personally, I don't think they deserve to be a part of an amazing community just my 2 cents.

[Piper Bentley]

If I had to switch to a new city at this point, I wouldn't go anywhere near a public server. There are a lot of areas where we could use fresh eyes and hands who are willing to help improve things, and I have to wonder if/how many experienced RPers/content creators who could have helped us do that passed BL by because it's public. 

Going whitelisted won't instantly create spectacular RP, but imo it will certainly help improve it. The people running rampant with no RP, shooting others down, etc. etc. get the attention, which means every person dealing with THAT mess isn't getting or giving good RP from/to the more reputable members of the city. We've gone through cycles like this before, but since the barrier to entry is even lower with the implementation of mumble, those cycles could be longer-lasting and more frequent, which could end up driving good people away.

[Ron]

Yes +10000 exactly how piper and Levi said it!

[Diesel]

this has been a conversation since 2.0 started. Of course everyone would love to have the population to have it be whitelisted and the rp be at a higher level. Its never really been a sustainable option and personally idk if it ever will.

[Kyle Smyth]

They tried this in 2019 and it killed the server population (Which is why it's not whitelisted today). But history repeats itself I guess 

[Piper Bentley]

A lot has changed in the years since then. You can't compare the place the server was in at that time to where it is now, it's completely different.

[Levi Bentley]

I understand that take, but I don't think comparing the server completely shutting down for a period at a time of low population, and then re-opening under WL is exactly an even comparison to a slow transition to WL now given the exponentially larger population we have. As Callahan suggested it would not be an overnight thing, it would be a transition.

[Kdog29]

hi everyone. i am okay with what ever happens. i love blrp. i have been in the city at least 3 years.

[Matttheman]

2 hours ago, Kdog29 said:

hi everyone. i am okay with what ever happens. i love blrp. i have been in the city at least 3 years.

@Kdog29 You're literally the most wholesome person on the server!

[Brendan Thomson]

I can see the pros and cons to both sides.  As long as it doesn't take 3 days to process applications.

 

I don't think the whitelist application needs to be made any harder.  If someone puts in enough effort to write out in character responses like that I think thats enough effort that theyre probably not going to enter the server and DM everyone straight off the bat.  I don't mind less experienced RPers joining in because you have to start somewhere.  

Could be worth making a welcome to badlands video as well that walks through setting up voice chat etc as well

[vDrop]

I said -1 because I think this city is special the way it is. I would have never entered RP without it. As Brendan has mentioned, you have to start somewhere, and I think Badlands has been amazing at providing good RP compared to whitelisted servers that already exist. I've seen a lot of whitelisting servers that have failed, that many players from even here "escaped" to for great RP, yet those servers don't even exist, or whatever it may be. 

Whitelisting, MIGHT bring superior consistent quality RP, or it might increase the WL Toxic that already exist. I still think we have room to grow and get even better, I know even from a personal point I would love to get better at Roleplay. 

I respect the vote, and will always be here regardless if the community shifts or not. That's just my opinion on what I voted for, BUT I will also say those that voted yes have made very great points and I also can't disagree. 

Edit: Just wanted to add this, I respect so many of you that want the server to be whitelisted. The ones I talk to the most, I want you to get what you want, and I do apologize I voted the other way. I just don't think personally I'd be even ready for it myself without a lot of improvements on my end. I work many hours, this is my baby, and my escape of reality to have a fun and forget the stresses I deal with. I'm extremely exhausted all the time from work. I do what I can, where I can. 

Edited April 30, 2022 by vDrop

[Lane2G]

3 hours ago, vDrop said:

Edit: Just wanted to add this, I respect so many of you that want the server to be whitelisted. The ones I talk to the most, I want you to get what you want, and I do apologize I voted the other way. I just don't think personally I'd be even ready for it myself without a lot of improvements on my end. I work many hours, this is my baby, and my escape of reality to have a fun and forget the stresses I deal with. I'm extremely exhausted all the time from work. I do what I can, where I can. 

Making me feel bad for all the times I shot you, And I'd do it again. Wholesome Sully

[Paul Bell]

I like everyone's points, but I voted no because I personally enjoy what we are rn. We have the BEST community to start your RP experience. How many of us have taken pride and enjoyment out of finding Danny's and showing them the ropes of the city? Many of us have! From those criminals of the underworld to the straight and narrows. This is the perfect starter community and I like it like that.

As a new player to RP I played 2 servers and just couldn't enjoy it and had No idea what I was doing. And so my random clicking of servers brought me here to which multiple people happily showed me how to RP thru their interactions.

And now that I do EMS, I like to take it as my chance to extend that same kindness to new players. We are often some of the 1st people New players meet considering they'll get hurt and we get called directly to them.

Now there are those few bad apples to which I myself have even reported, but overall I like to think my first interactions with new players often sets the tone for the rest of their RP regardless of whether or not it's on this server.

Long story short, I disagree with whitelisting the server although I Can see why so many people call for it. Just my 2 cents.

[Zviadi]

#whitelist

[D E M 0 N XIII]

I haven't posted my opinion, so here it is.
At first, I voted yes.
Then I changed to I don't care; because I'm already whitelisted and I have been pretty much since I got on the server.
I'm going to try my best to not meta anything out but I want it to be a good read too.
      I joined in April 2021 and it was my first GTA RP server ever. I've always been big into drama and art during high school. So I was drawn to RP when my friend showed me how to get it going. I made lots of friends on the server. - some good, some bad - Eventually, the good times came to a screeching halt. Lots of drama both inside and outside of the city. The people I was affiliated with mostly did things to get themselves banned on purpose as they were displeased with the way the admins handled things in the past. Most of my friends were either dying, going missing, or just leaving the city left, right, and center, I decided it was time for me to take some time away too. 
The only people I had known in badlandsRP had left - the two friends I came with had left with them, and without knowing anyone else, I followed too.
It didn't take long for me to get burnt out from the drama and just quit playing GTA RP entirely; I uninstalled FiveM and assumed I was banned from badlandsRP due to affiliation.
After about 7-8 months later I decided to try BadlandsRP again. I was curious to see if I was in trouble or not. 
When I logged in I realized that I basically have a fresh start, all my cars, and some well-earned knowledge of the way things work.
I was bummed to see that I lost my house (which I expected) but what really sucked was when I realized my bank account had been nerfed with no explanation.
(Allegedly. I have a support ticket looking into it.) 

I see good points and bad points being addressed.
     My opinion on it is that if it were to happen - it would be better to make it a slow transition, with lots of notice and guidance on the whitelist format, give it 3 months with daily prompts to fill out the whitelist application in order to have access to the server later on. Yes, there will be pushback. Yes, the server population will drop a bit and level out before it shows signs of growth again. However, if we help people with the process of getting whitelisted and keep it whitelisted for an extended trial period I guarantee the server population will grow and flourish. I mean, think of it this way, how many people have sunk their teeth into BadlandsRP, are not whitelisted, and are going to want to continue with their progress if it does go whitelist? If this is what it takes to get them to read the rules for once and get whitelisted, I'm all for it. I see comments saying we don't have the numbers, but the server is basically full 175/175 almost every day. I was in a queue of 18 today, twice cause my game crashed. I say if whitelisting the best server on FiveM happens - give it 3 months with notice & help to whitelist - 3 months after the whitelist lockdown - and see if that makes a difference in quality.
 

[Denver]

What if we whitelist it part time, aka only in the busy times. 

This would still offer new EU people to join and get familiar with the server in an attempt to make the city more alive around those hours. 

[rustyred]

After the past few weeks of interactions with newcomers, I can get behind the decision to move to FULL-TIME whitelist. Granted, I am on the West Coast of the United States, and play real late at night/early in the morning, with the lowest population being between like 12-1 AM my time, to like 6-7 AM my time, I would still like to see quality over quantity. I can't say that I'm perfect at RP, by no means and I probably have a lot of growing yet still to do, but I would like to see more knowledgeable and less toxic people. My character is a criminal, but I normally never ever pull my guns or knifes unless I really really have to in a situation or the RP calls for it, as I hate the state of gunplay in the server, but I've seen myself having to protect myself more and more recently with ratty ass newcomers, pardon my french. From getting pocket wiped in a situation that literally does not call for it, to getting called extremely toxic and racist names, I can get behind the move to Whitelist. Make newcomers have to read the rules thoroughly and answer accordingly to vet and make sure that they are right for the community. As the GtaRP world gets bigger and bigger, more and more people are downloading FiveM and trying RP, and I love that, and I want BLRP to be the home for anyone who wants to RP and be a part of the best online community there is in my humblest opinion, but I also want to protect the place we all call home and go to when we need to escape the realities and pressures of real life.

+1 from me, but either way, the decision to stay public or go WL will not impact my decision to continue to log in and be a part of the community and grow with it when I can. I respect even the opinions that are swayed towards public, as I can see the reasoning and it's totally justifiable.   

[Razec]

I joined this server after I was indefinitely browsing Twitch and found Serpico's stream. He talked about the city as he was developing and I found it was a good investment of my time. I was so hyped about it, I installed FiveM immediately after and started playing. 

I don't believe I would've joined if the server was indeed whitelisted. I wanted to try and test it out before I decided to stay. After all, as a starting civilian, we have to dedicate a lot of time to build connections, develop relationships and grow some funds to start RPing the way we imagined. 

It's my personal opinion, obviously. There are tons of quality RPers that developed in Badlands and, with time, turned into memorable characters. I, personally, don't want to lose the opportunity to see them grow and to interact with them in the long run. 

A few people that Trescott interacts with today didn't necessarily start out as top end RPers and we all growed together. In the end, that's how we developed friendships. 

As a cop, I have dealt with A LOT of "weirdos", as Trescott likes to say. Those encounters did not negatively impact my experience and I never once considered leaving the community because of them. 

I'm not going to abandon something I dedicated numerous hours just because some "weirdo" is trying to ruin my experience. 

To everything there's a bad side and a good side. And sincerely, the good side rules over the bad side in this situation. 

 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by Razec