Hello guys! This document was created by a few players of BP who wish to voice the issues of civilians having fewer advantages and less support with each update coming out. Now I know that this is a hot topic, but I don’t know how else to add emphasis to this topic other than advocating; MPS is getting all the advantages, while civilian updates that actually BENEFIT them are being pushed into the shadows. The imbalance is also likely a big factor in the game’s declining player count and satisfaction rates.
Unfixed Civilian Gamepass
A while ago, there was a game pass added for civilians (Criminal Boss) for 1.5k Robux. Now keep in mind, while this may seem like a modicum of amount to some, it is plenty for others. Included in this package are a decent gun, a car, and the ability to create an in-game organization. It has been, give or take, six months since the organization has worked. All I’m seeing are updates that benefit MPS, but none to address this bug that many players have paid Robux for. I believe many buyers of this pass, including myself, are all looking forward to having the organization feature up and moving again, but it feels like the developers have not even attempted to fix it, instead erasing it completely. Half a year seems like enough time to at least give it a little tuning and communicate with the players about the issues (give some reasoning).
Suggestions:
- The feature should be prioritized and fixed as soon as possible, as it was bought by many players through Robux. If it cannot happen immediately, the devs should provide an ETA.
- If the feature is getting removed permanently, there should be some sort of compensation, like in-game cash or other perks, added to the game pass.
Money
Moving on, the developers need to know that there is a line between realism and having fun. Yes, we all had to push through the fact that fall damage was added, not such a big deal, but it did make the game less enjoyable. On the other hand, the update where the civilian bail system turned into dynamic bail pricing kinda crossed the line. The game is already very wallet-ripping for many players who don’t have perm guns. This isn’t an issue for cops because they don’t have to bail, nor do they have to worry about buying guns. While I’m not clear on the reasons behind this update, the fact that the developers are trying to make the game more realistic does seem to impact civilian mains greatly. Continuing, the vendor for civilians used to be restocked randomly about once a month. This gave civilians the chance to buy something permanent and reduce their future spending. However, the civilian vendor has yet to be restocked in nearly three months, disallowing anybody from gaining a permanent item and having to continue to spend more in-game cash.
Suggestions:
- Reduce costs for some items that cops receive for free.
- Add the ability to drop/give items to other civilians to pick up and use. This will help balance the economic differences between players.
- Ability to give other players access to my car’s boot/trunk. I can give Player A the ability to open the boot/trunk and take the items I put in.
- Ability to share cars with other players. I can give Player A the ability to access my car and use it as their own (as well as lock it).
Civilian Roleplay Area Loss
Another aggravating thing is how the developers are getting rid of places to do shootouts or hostages like RAC and the back of NSY. Some cops may complain that these places make it hard for them to have fun and do their job, but think about how many times a hostage sit was successful for the civs and didn’t end up with the civs in cuffs or dead. Little to no right? That’s because the cop team is always able to do their job one way or another, as they always have the tools to win, so the benefits of MPS are undeniable. Many cops in serious divisions also carry items such as tourniquets and hemostats, as well as a free med bag for sergeants+ on regular MPS. Civilians, on the other hand, rely solely on LAS to heal them when they need a tourniquet or hemostat, and they need to spend more in-game cash to buy a med bag if they don’t own a permanent one. This means that while a civilian getting sniped means guaranteed death, a cop getting sniped would still allow them room to live through LAS, healing themselves, or being healed by another cop.
Suggestions:
- Remove the hatch preventing civilians from going up to the RAC roof. This is legit the only spot where civilians have an advantage.
- Add random vendors around the map that civilians have to track down that sell medical gear like tourniquets and hemostats.
Unfair Mechanics
Now, what really forced us to say enough is enough and fueled the motivation for this post is the new, unannounced update where cuffed civilians cannot be killed by a firearm by another civilian. Again, I don’t understand the motivation behind this update, but I believe I can speak for all the civ mains that this update, respectfully, is terrible. Obviously, the update benefits MPS and makes playing the game humdrum for civilians. Civilians once cuffed are almost guaranteed to get booked, as there is a slim chance of being saved, and have to either wait out the jail time or suffer cumulative time. This makes gameplay as a civilian very discouraging and monotonous as most scenarios lead to the same outcome. Additionally, if the civ had carried non-permanent weapons and wished to buy more, money is being spent left and right.
Suggestions:
- If this is a bug, ignore everything that mentions this. However, I would wish that Ulferno would communicate issues such as this more clearly in the future.
- If there is no way of removing this, consider adding jailbreaking as a feature. This will give civilians something fun to do that doesn’t entirely target cops. Civilians can attempt to rescue people who have already been booked using things such as explosives or lock picks.
Cool Statistics
Now, someone might ask, why not just stop taking on the role of a criminal? If civilians start to lose interest in actively engaging in their role, then all the other teams have hardly any purpose anymore. This is the reason that the game is losing players because people are getting bored, whether it’s the lack of crime/action when playing as a member of MPS or the lack of amusement from playing another role. These are also some statistics that I have found to stress the negative impacts of the updates on the game: 
As you can see, the game is declining in many categories, which may not just be due to updates, but I’m pretty sure that the updates are a big factor. Without civilians to cause chaos for others to respond to, there is no point in MPS or LAS, leading to a decline in players. I don’t mention RG a lot because I am not familiar with their purpose and what they do, but I have noticed that the RG team is often only a fraction of MPS.
I’ve also taken into account some arguments from others.
A1: “What if the game aims to support realism?”
C1: Realism should not cost the enjoyment of players! I believe that balance is what matters, more than realism. If civilians constantly feel outmatched, they will likely stop playing, it hurts the game overall.
A2: “Civilian players can just play as cops if they feel like they want the perks.”
C2: This just ignores a huge part of the community who prefer the role of a civilian. If everyone becomes MPS, there’s no one to chase after and arrest, which also shows how much the game relies on civilians to keep its dynamic.
A3: “MPS needs some advantages to keep crime under control, otherwise civilians will just dominate the servers.”
C3: It’s plenty obvious that civilians take on more risks, have to spend much more money, and still get put in jail for an insane amount of time. Even before these updates, civilians had seldom escaped or won engagements. Giving civilians more benefits doesn’t mean cops can’t win any longer, it just means that the outcome will be more randomized and less predetermined!
A4: “You don’t have to buy guns or bail yourself out, it’s your choice.”
C4: I understand that it’s technically optional but the gameplay loop pulls people into spending in order to stay competitive and actually have fun in the game. Without civilians buying firearms, MPS doesn’t get to shoot and enjoy the game as well.
Ultimately, we aren’t here to just rant or throw shade, we are just seeing a negative wound within the civilian population of the community. Lately, it’s starting to feel like a never-ending loop of spending too much money without gaining the same amount of enjoyment. We get that it’s hard to balance such a big game but all we’re asking is a little more spotlight on the civilian side of things. Also, we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes, so we can only imagine how hard it is to juggle the insane amounts of bugs, updates, and feedback flying at you guys. That said, just having a tad more communication would go a long way, even a short post or update will help a ton. Thanks a bunch for reading this and for hopefully understanding where we are coming from!
Suggestions for lack of communication:
- Add a “development” server to test new features to see the reaction of the community.
- Planned changes to gameplay should be mentioned to see the reaction of the community
thank u! and i completely agree!! id just like say that the robux has to end somewhere once converted into in-game currency, after all 500 robux (cost of ap) is around 6k in game cash, which if u think about it, it gets spent really fast as a civilian