Faction Update (October - November 2023)

[Kenneth Larosa]

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Faction Update — October - November 2023

Dear Members,

It has been some time since my last formal communication, with my last update in September. Two months have transpired since then, and I believe it is my duty to keep everyone informed of recent developments.

Throughout the month of October, I was in the process of relocating to a new residence, which resulted in extremely limited access to my PC and anything related to our faction. I sincerely apologize for not providing advance notice regarding my potential absence. I understand that there were concerns about the activity of our faction's leadership during this time, but please know that I was always reachable, and the leadership's commitment was unwavering.

I would like to express my immense gratitude to Canyon Drummond for stepping up to the plate in my absence. He has put in significant effort and ensured the smooth operation of our faction, and I am deeply appreciative of his contributions.

Over the past two months, there have been concerns about the player base of our server, and I acknowledge everyone's right to have such concerns. While our player base may not be exceptionally large at the moment, I firmly believe that the ongoing efforts of the LS-RP development team will lead to an increase in our numbers in the near future.

In these challenging times, it is essential that we persevere and maintain a dedicated mindset. By consistently providing role-play and fostering an environment for others to follow suit, we have demonstrated our unwavering commitment to the LS-RP community. I take immense pride in the dedication and role-play we have continued to offer over the past two months.

I am delighted to announce the return of Undersheriff Roderick Hayward, a familiar face who played a pivotal role in our faction's development and subsequent launch. He is now fully committed to supporting the operation of our faction, and I kindly ask you to extend a warm welcome to him.

You may have noticed that the LSGOV Bot is no longer operational. We are transitioning back to a manual process for handling ranks and roles, both from the forum to Discord. This is a temporary measure until I can restore a fully functioning bot for our faction. It may take some time, but I will keep you updated on our progress.

I am aware that there is a strong desire for the return of the sheriff formatter. While I initially agreed to its revival, due to the challenges of moving house, I couldn't commit to getting it up and running. Now that I am settled in my new place, I will work on reinstating it, and I will keep everyone informed of the progress.

Some of you may have noticed the temporary closure of the West Vinewood Station. We had to take this step due to a shortage of manpower and leadership to keep two stations operational. As soon as we have the necessary resources and leadership in place, we will announce the reopening and initiate recruitment.

These are all the updates I have to share at the moment. I want to take this opportunity to apologize for not being as present as I usually am, but I am now fully committed and look forward to more active participation.

I will be reopening the feedback form to gather your input and to assess any changes from your perspective since the last time we ran it. It is crucial that we provide an open platform for everyone to voice their concerns without fear of repercussions, as we value constructive criticism.

Once again, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your continued interest and dedication to our faction. Your contributions in the game are what keeps us going. Keep up the excellent work!

Warm regards,
Sheriff Kenneth Larosa

Los Santos County Sheriff's Department

[Remington Hicks]

LSSD leads the way suiii

[Sergio Escobedo]

LSSD on top!

[Melody Reyes]

welcome back, glad for the faction update. we will stay strong.

[Andrew MacMillan]

Good stuff

[Amberly Hammond]

Nice to see you back in action!

[Thiago Tenorio]

nice

[Michael Spencer]

nice

[Russell Davenport]

Don't think there's much of a point in mincing words or spouting platitudes, so here's the deal.

The server isn't exactly flourishing at the moment and this faction is one of the few islands of activity that's keeping it alive. But while it has less problems than others it still has two massive issues that need to be corrected ASAP if the current member base is to be retained and built up: those are lack of communication and lack of vision.

There's a very concerning lack of communication, like it's recognized in the main post, and it's been going on for a while. While it's understandable that real life takes the precedence and faction leadership can't be always be on the ball, there's been several instances in which people were left in the dark about important features that seriously affect the roleplay, ranging from manuals lacking fundamental information to server scripts being rolled out without any explanation. The most glaring example of that is the fact that a massive penal code update that basically changes the entire criminal justice system was introduced yesterday and nobody, at either faction or server management level, thought it was necessary to inform the faction about that. This resulted in people having to rely on third hand information leaking out of a staff chat to carry out an arrest, and then they bungled it up anyways because even that intel was incorrect.

The other glaring problem is one of vision. There doesn't seem to be any roadmap or clear objective as to where the faction wants to be or wants to do, other than some vague intention of gaining more people, which can't happen anyways because recruitment has been closed since before the fall of the Roman Empire. The focus, too, seems to be on all the wrong aspects. Discord bots and formatters are great, but don't get people to roleplay, just like you can't seriously expect people to get in-game by dangling Discord Nitro or a server premium membership in front of their eyes. It's great roleplay and interesting situations that make people willing to join day in, day out, and right now that isn't really happening: most of the times it's just a bunch of random deputies, all in separate radio cars, patrolling on their own and barely interacting if at all.

This isn't a coup attempt, nor an effort to belittle the efforts you all have made so far, but rather a frank appreciation of the situation as it is right now with some advice on how to move forward if the intention is to succeed and not just survive. Focusing on gimmicks that basically amount to smoke and mirrors will not save the faction, but concentrating on roleplay just might.

You want to pull the faction together? Provide constant communication and interesting roleplay scenarios and Discord bots and formatters will be the last of your concerns.