Future of Owl?

[VeX 107]

I know this title is going to spark controversy - but i'm not here to talk down the server, or anything of the sort - i'm just making a statement based of evidence and observations.

 

To me it appears - despite the overwhelming effort from the staff team that OwlV just simply isn't taking off, and I think that could be for a few reasons.

My guess is due to competition. GTA World has by far the biggest player base of any RP server currently, and it shows no sign of slowing, or stopping - it has a fleshed out script that has been in development for a lot longer than Owls has. People have played there for a long time and have gained alot of traction, they have fully integrated RP worlds, with companies and assets and all kinds of shit. Why does this matter? Well for one thing - players aren't generally going to want to start afresh on a server, and I think one of the main reasons not alot of people came back from MTA is because if they were going to start fresh they'd rather do it on another community - and not have to do the exact same stuff they did on the previous community.

 

I think OwlV should continue it's development - and if possible, re-open the MTA server, because MTA RP isn't dead, it can still be enjoyed. No one community can last for ever - and maybe this is time to call Owl quits? It's really not my call, but I can't imagine the server continuing with hosting costs for much longer :( Especially when the main server isn't pulling in too many folks.

Edited January 27 by VeX

[QueenC 852]

1 hour ago, VeX said:

maybe this is time to call Owl quits?

No, We are not gonna quit.  We are still getting players and new players as well. Majority of the people who try out our server are surprised how much better they find it compared to other servers. And as you just said yourself other servers might have been on V servers for longer thus having bigger player bases etc but that does not mean they are better servers, that just mean they have worked on their servers for way longer than Owl currently has. Every server who starts up on a new platform will hit a few rough paths but that does not mean they can't grow to become bigger. 

The Title, you should probably change it to something else as the title does not really match the content or the message you are trying to get across. 
 

1 hour ago, VeX said:

if possible, re-open the MTA server, because MTA RP isn't dead

Its not possible, its been discussed and stated so many times by now, MTA will not re-open. 

[BremboBG 257]

As much as I used to love OwlGaming - I can see what VeX wants to say. I am no longer an active member of the community, but I feel like there are some good reasons for that. I've been in a lot of other communities for the past year and half or so and doesn't matter the size (some way bigger, some smaller) they all do better in different aspects that the community really values. For 'me' Owl died when UAT stopped giving a f*ck about what the players were saying. It took UAT what-.. like 3-4 years to finally figure out the trolls and abusers in their very own staff team? Pathetic. Only way I would of considered having fun with the community again was MTA - and that was long ago. I am either way wishing luck to whoever feels like this is going somewhere and they like it. I've tried pushing myself once or twice into rejoining, but never really came to it. 

[ToyYoda 995]

I don't feel the same, I played on World. Did not like it. 

Also, the MTA server has been online after the launch of OwlV. Dunno if you checked it from time to time, but it died out. There is no reason why you should revive an already dead server. 

[Chaos 7,975]

Hey thanks for the thread and mostly keeping it respectful here.

 

It has no taken off, you're right, but we do still have a number of people dedicated to the server who get on every day and more that turn up for events. We met last weekend to discuss some scripting priorities that we hope will help as well (mainly around vehicles which have been largly requested). If you have any specific suggestions do reach out here on the forums.

 

As for the MTA server we have no plans on reopening that. There are other RP servers on MTA that are using old leaked copies and are not doing very well either.

 

As always there are a number of ways you can contribute to Owl whether that's being a staff member, suggesting new ideas, or helping keep the lights on. We have no plans of quitting.

[GioSerpo 195]

I'd like to throw my thoughts into this as well. I get that starting fresh on another server is not always a good thing. As it stands, the dedicated staff and players that are active do everything they can to make newer players feel like they don't have to start from literally nothing. Vehicle and house tokens are a thing, they offer stat transfers from other communities, they offer faction starter packs, so the only thing that could be troublesome is finding members for a faction but, if you had said members on MTA, or you have them on whatever other community, ask them if they would join you to even just try Owl. Who knows, you could wind up doing better on Owl. 

 

That said, we get new players each day. Do other communities have more players? Yes, but for good RP, its quality over quantity. The community here is close, the staff is great, and regularly integrate themselves with the players in multiple ways. I've had two separate encounters on the server you mentioned, both included not only toxic players but toxic staff as well. We don't have that here.  Why go into a server with 300+ people when 280 of them are literally AFKing in interiors, stat boosting? Do the math, that leaves about 20 to find RP with, which makes the RP count closer to what Owl's is. And don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing on that server for anything. The bulk of the Owl player base is more interested in developing their characters and offering quality RP.

 

As for MTA, it has been discussed before. over and over. It isn't viable to go back to a dead platform, which has already been discussed. My thoughts on MTA, I made tons of great memories, tons of friends, most of which carried over from MTA to V. Even with all those memories, I couldn't go back. V is better overall, it isn't as dated. Clearly RageMP has some work that needs done to it, but, small stuff. The Owl V script does too, but these things do take time, as mentioned, and patience is key. I mean, character customization on MTA was non existent, the graphics are hella out dated by todays standards, and there were engine limitations that prevented some of the stuff we can do on V from being done. V has great character customization, much better graphics, you can do more with the engine, it's just plain better. Fact. I mean, I remember being in FD on MTA, my face and everything would change when I went on duty. On V, just the clothes change when you go on duty. The customized character you have, hair, face shape, eyes, all that good stuff, it stays when you go on duty on V and that alone is enough to keep me from going back to MTA.

 

My final thoughts are this. Give Owl V a try and anyone who is/was in your factions (either on MTA or in other V communities) ask them to try it with you. If all the people who complained about the low player base logged in, we wouldn't have a low player base. If the people who haven't made the switch to V for whatever reason, made the switch, I think they would enjoy it and stay. Patience is key, and you can't live in the past forever.

[BremboBG 257]

"if you had said members on MTA, or you have them on whatever other community, ask them if they would join you to even just try Owl. Who knows, you could wind up doing better on Owl. " - this is wrong. I am currently an administrator on another community which for one or another reason is doing better. Most communities have the same rules as owl in terms of advertising other servers etc. Trying to steal people "just to try" is not the way to go. 

[VeX 107]

7 hours ago, Chaos said:

old leaked copies

Probably why they're not doing too well, chief.

 

They're using

 

"old leaked copies" 

of your script.

[Chaos 7,975]

2 hours ago, BremboBG said:

"if you had said members on MTA, or you have them on whatever other community, ask them if they would join you to even just try Owl. Who knows, you could wind up doing better on Owl. " - this is wrong. I am currently an administrator on another community which for one or another reason is doing better. Most communities have the same rules as owl in terms of advertising other servers etc. Trying to steal people "just to try" is not the way to go. 

I don't think the intent was to advertise on the server/community. More so about if you knew of people personally and asked them to join you on V to try it out.

[yousif 0]

we are not leaving the server but MTA is more fun cause everybody has assets and companies and money and cars and we don't want to start a fresh character and not everyone of the community has a pc that can run GTA 5 or have an original version of the gta 5 game but maybe if mta server reopened again we can expect 25+players

[ToyYoda 995]

2 hours ago, yousif said:

we are not leaving the server but MTA is more fun cause everybody has assets and companies and money and cars and we don't want to start a fresh character and not everyone of the community has a pc that can run GTA 5 or have an original version of the gta 5 game but maybe if mta server reopened again we can expect 25+players

Aka.. I give more fucks about stat whoring, having big boi tools instead of RP. 

[oop 2]

i dunno maybe the server needs more advertising its a really nice server like damn homies

[Valkyr 277]

6 hours ago, yousif said:

we are not leaving the server but MTA is more fun cause everybody has assets and companies and money and cars and we don't want to start a fresh character and not everyone of the community has a pc that can run GTA 5 or have an original version of the gta 5 game but maybe if mta server reopened again we can expect 25+players

owlV gets 15-20 players most evenings already, dividing that playerbase will not help long term, owlV has already garnered a fairly stable playerbase(although yes, mostly EU) so far and everyone who's on owl loves it, MTA is not the solution

[Effect 330]

6 hours ago, yousif said:

we are not leaving the server but MTA is more fun cause everybody has assets and companies and money and cars and we don't want to start a fresh character and not everyone of the community has a pc that can run GTA 5 or have an original version of the gta 5 game but maybe if mta server reopened again we can expect 25+players

Alright, I'll break this comment down.
MTA vs Rage is personal preference, I personally found Rage to hold quite a lot of potential in comparrisson to MTA platform which was around for what? 6+ years?

Everyone has assets, companies, money and cars. Well like it was stated previously, admins do tend to offer faction packages for peeps to settle down and enjoy the server. Not to mention stat transfer opinion if you are coming down from another server as far as I can remember.

We don't want to start a fresh character... Pardon but why? Is it really that hard to create a new character and start a new journey from that point? 

Not everyone in the community has a PC to run GTA 5 - Well, reasonable, but nothing can be done about it as it is simply not their problem.

Have original version of gta 5... Man, gta 5 was given out FOR FREE on Epic store, heck, GTA V costs less than a pack of cigs if you know where to look. That's simply not an argument anymore.

If MTA reopened again we can expect 25+ players. Once again, doubtful - MTA is a dying platform and it's a fact. Even before the transistion to Rage platform. Owl more or less could pull somewhere around... What? 20 players? 30? It's simply not practical to jump between platforms.

[GioSerpo 195]

15 hours ago, yousif said:

we are not leaving the server but MTA is more fun cause everybody has assets and companies and money and cars and we don't want to start a fresh character and not everyone of the community has a pc that can run GTA 5 or have an original version of the gta 5 game but maybe if mta server reopened again we can expect 25+players

Again, I say stats transfers and faction starter packages are a thing Owl offers. EVERY character gets a FREE car and a FREE house. Effect broke that whole comment down perfectly. The only legit argument that stands there, is not having a PC capable of running V. But even that is a moot argument. There are people on owl V who have some low end rigs, and, I'm not gonna throw any of them under the bus, but, they can play it fine, albeit with some lag. Besides, if you build it right, you can build a PC to run GTA V for $400 or less. 

[chup92 52]

I'm on my phone so excuse the misspelling of some things. As for the competition there is no denying World has more players but in my mind, having many players doesn't mean a better server. I've played World for a long time since 2017/2018 and met and made some of the greatest friends I've had online but we eventually quit due to the overwhelming toxicity and staff bias on that server and I can give an example of this from just one player but there is much more toxicity out there on the server, the one friend I met on world's wife being called a Paedophile because she's a couple years older than her husband(not underage). The toxicity has been there for a long time and no number of players is going to stop that. I'll admit they do have fleshed out scripts and what not but Owl will and are getting there slowly which is nice to see.

 

I wouldn't say it isn't taking off and I know 17-20 players doesn't seem a lot but let me put it this way, despite my dislike for World, back when I started there was only a max of 20-40 players, so it took them some time to start building a player base themselves and honestly if Owl does it right with the scripts and the way things are run then I think the server can gain more than what we see currently. Starting fresh on this server isn't exactly difficult at least to me, since you get a FREE property that's around 50K I believe? and a vehicle token, so you basically kind of get setup in terms of owning a property and having a vehicle to get around in and maybe drive to an event to meet other role-players. The staff shouldn't call it quits just because the player numbers are not what they'd maybe hope for them to be, player numbers are growing albeit slowly but it shows that there is some interest there and as i said before, if the staff continue to listen to the community and push out some good updates then you never know what could happen.  

[Resident 2,858]

Owl V is the shit, don't question it because you can't create RP for yourself or between three people.

[Chaos 7,975]

Reading some of the replies on this thread has been great. It really helps motivate us knowing people are excited about what we are building. Thanks those of you that had kind words to say and thanks to our staff team for working hard and getting on everyday.

More big things from us soon!

[Valkyr 277]

24 minutes ago, Chaos said:

Reading some of the replies on this thread has been great. It really helps motivate us knowing people are excited about what we are building. Thanks those of you that had kind words to say and thanks to our staff team for working hard and getting on everyday.

More big things from us soon!

proper events going on, today being one of the coolest ive had, 6 hours of pure RP and fun, in a row, just shows that we do care and we do try to get people engaged in RP, and when we do, we give it our darn hardest, it only goes up, plus the players engaging back gives great motivation and shows that we are on the right track and making the right steps towards a greater experience for the whole community, people just gotta get on and experience these events and meetups in person to know how genuinely fun they are, and this isnt as just "an admin", im speaking from a general player viewpoint, its god damn awesome and im personally enjoying every moment of it, up, up and forward we go!

[Effect 330]

7 hours ago, Valkyr said:

proper events going on, today being one of the coolest ive had, 6 hours of pure RP and fun, in a row, just shows that we do care and we do try to get people engaged in RP, and when we do, we give it our darn hardest, it only goes up, plus the players engaging back gives great motivation and shows that we are on the right track and making the right steps towards a greater experience for the whole community, people just gotta get on and experience these events and meetups in person to know how genuinely fun they are, and this isnt as just "an admin", im speaking from a general player viewpoint, its god damn awesome and im personally enjoying every moment of it, up, up and forward we go!

Agreed. Let's just face it. The server isn't that bad as SOME players try to portray it, apart from that point, SOME players just cannot let go prior experiences on the server and so they automatically think "it's more of the same" - UAT doesn't listen, trollers and abusers on admin team and etc.  Even though nowadays it's FAR from it.

[QueenC 852]

19 hours ago, Valkyr said:

proper events going on, today being one of the coolest ive had, 6 hours of pure RP and fun, in a row, just shows that we do care and we do try to get people engaged in RP, and when we do, we give it our darn hardest, it only goes up, plus the players engaging back gives great motivation and shows that we are on the right track and making the right steps towards a greater experience for the whole community, people just gotta get on and experience these events and meetups in person to know how genuinely fun they are, and this isnt as just "an admin", im speaking from a general player viewpoint, its god damn awesome and im personally enjoying every moment of it, up, up and forward we go!

 

11 hours ago, Effect said:

Agreed. Let's just face it. The server isn't that bad as SOME players try to portray it, apart from that point, SOME players just cannot let go prior experiences on the server and so they automatically think "it's more of the same" - UAT doesn't listen, trollers and abusers on admin team and etc.  Even though nowadays it's FAR from it.

Thank you so much for the kind words, that is exactly what is the fuel to make the people who are working on making events etc keep going.  We will be having more of these kinds of events soon, they are already being planned. If you got any ideas then let me know. But I'm glad that you two have a great time RPing at the lastest event, the best part of creating events is to see people really enjoying them. 

[Zebulon 2,031]

As a veteran of the community, I can surely say the the RP experiences here have been the best of any community on any game I have ever taken part of. There's no doubt that the people involved are what drive that, and I know our team has been hard at work trying to build momentum in the right directions.

With this in mind, it does take buy-in from the entire community to get things going in the right direction. It will take time, but it does take EVERYONE showing initiative, and not just waiting on the staff team to get around to that thing that is important to you.

 

Patience and persistence always pay off. 

[Vubstersmurf 3,430]

As Queen stated and Chaos, having people stick up for the server and realise the work we're putting into it really does make everything worth while. The amount of time that has gone into the server to build it up from scripting, to working on the community as a whole has been a significant amount. I understand in the past people have had a lot of grievances with issues that have occurred on our MTA server whether it was due to staff or players, for one it isn't something I can comment on since I wasn't in the position I am now back then. However I can easily speak that I will continue to work hard to ensure every member of the community enjoys their experience to the full. I can't change the past but I am incredibly stubborn to make the future of the server one all our players can enjoy.

I am glad to say that is something we have succeeded in doing, especially recently. We've had a whole mixture of players coming from all over who have all said the same thing. That they feel a lot more wanted and heard than they have in the past. People are already forming firm friendships, which those who were on the MTA era can also agree they had the same back then.

 

Owlgaming isn't going anywhere, we are prepared to continue putting the work in to bring in more players and continue to ensure they have a blast. That is the whole reason people game in the first place.

[Vubstersmurf 3,430]

22 minutes ago, Mills said:

I quit this server a long time ago and roleplaying in general, but one thing I'll say is that Owl's biggest mistake is the extremely strict enforcement of the rules on their (already) dying servers. No offense but jailing a perfect player with no admin record who's driving in slightly non-RP manner alone on a road with no one else is gonna make them quit and hate the server. Sure if it impedes another user's roleplay you have every right to do so, but admins on Owl have always been hungry to show off their power and it's easy to see why. It's not exclusive to Owl either, but some servers make sure to tell their admins not to be so strict and harsh on the players.

 

Truth be told, there's no reason to stick up for a server that hates it's players and treats them like shit, or where there's extreme bias because admins are all in one faction and love to put their friends first. 

 

I'm not hating on the server, I had great memories here, but I wish I had quit earlier than I did because it absolutely baffles me that I stayed and played on the servers with such poor administration. I don't think much has changed either, the staff team is practically the same. I'm only staying on the forums because I enjoy this community, but game wise, it is beyond over for this server. 

 

And I know me saying this wouldn't change a thing, but I just thought it'd put things into perspective. 

 

I don't hate the server, I love it and had amazing roleplay experiences here, but it lacks direction and it's funny seeing how it's still suffering from the same problems as it did a few years ago. Oh well.

 

I'm all for feedback, however we haven't had a jail system since beginning of 2017 and I can easily state we prefer giving players chances instead of resulting in bans. We also had a leniency policy that gave numerous people a chance at being able to get unbanned. We haven't done bans for an awful long time unless it called for it (Aka Random death matching). You stated yourself you quit the server an awful long time ago, so I can say yes it has changed.  Our whole goal is to give players a better experience and help them during their time on the server. We get a lot of good feedback from everyone who does play, yes our PB is small but is expanding.

 

Hope that answers your feedback. TLDR, we don't have jails anymore, we give more chances to players in terms of roleplay or breaking rules, and only extend to a ban for very serious offences just like most servers should do.

[Valkyr 277]

11 minutes ago, Vubstersmurf said:

 

I'm all for feedback, however we haven't had a jail system since beginning of 2017 and I can easily state we prefer giving players chances instead of resulting in bans. We also had a leniency policy that gave numerous people a chance at being able to get unbanned. We haven't done bans for an awful long time unless it called for it (Aka Random death matching). You stated yourself you quit the server an awful long time ago, so I can say yes it has changed.  Our whole goal is to give players a better experience and help them during their time on the server. We get a lot of good feedback from everyone who does play, yes our PB is small but is expanding.

 

Hope that answers your feedback. TLDR, we don't have jails anymore, we give more chances to players in terms of roleplay or breaking rules, and only extend to a ban for very serious offences just like most servers should do.

Gonna expand that last point a bit

We dont hate players, we do give them leniency and many chances, and DO know and remember if someone repetitively breaks rules(aKa trolls or whatnot), generally if there is some smaller rules broken a simple "hey you mind not doing that" and explaining to them what they did suffices, if the player is willing to understand what has been done wrong, we have all been players before being admins and know what being treated like ass feels like, and try to actively prevent it from happening to others, treat others how you want to be treated. Were all just trying to create a good environment for people to enjoy good RP on afterall.