Still, average unga can't fuck shit up faster on regular ss13. On regular ss13 server such low-tier greytidier gets toolbox, smacks somebody and gets tazed immediately. He could only dream about owning a shotgun. And then comes CM where you get a gun from the get go, no matter if you can use it immediately, or not, you get it. CM back then also was unique in giving you clear enemy - benos. No validhunting, or such. This is what brought people to CM.
Right now you have more combat servers and just wait till Corp Merc goes online for longer. CM will most likely be a desolate space with like 100 pop at best. The only thing keeping CM on top is high pop, constant 24h server running and beno atmosphere.
I know it, because I still remember what brought me to CM. Before CM, I was Paradise Security Cyborg main, however a bit bored with entire hour of patroling station and then greeting antag with laser pointer to stun and kill me in few seconds, or crystal clear admin-player metabuddies. On CM despite dying even faster and way often, it was nice to be allowed to kill something, not bound to Crewsimov.
CM wasn't the only Combat server at the time.
WW2 Server, 1986 Soviet/UN War Server, Zombie Server and Russian CM Server where all active.
The difference between CM and the others is that we had a specific plan which we achieved over the years. The player-base steadily increased due to efficient development, policies and moderation of the server. I don't think people give the moderation team enough credit (especially years ago) when dealing with a player-base that all have lethal weapons at round start. We provided people with a steady influx of stability, development and policies to maintain a healthy server that is still going.
We can disagree on policy and procedures Cabal but for you to completely neglect my role and the previous Administrations role in making CM the top server is pretty ignorant.
Corp Mercs is a Deathmatch server.
It's No-RP and offers nothing beyond memes, jokes and shooting stuff. Which is fine and theres nothing wrong with that, but to say CM will be desolate because a server offering alternative gun-play is coming out soon is pretty shallow and incorrect.
I also find this funny, since I've rarely been around the last couple of years and yet there's been a few scandals as well. To name a couple, Spookydonut intentionally changing variables on marines he didn't like so they'd trigger landmines, Emerald_Blood mass something spawning shit for herself and a couple of Managers/Staff leaving due to Drama. This doesn't even include the staff reports you can go through and read about staff "A-Bombing during events".
I'm all for discussing things with you Cabal (and anyone), but I've noticed an obvious trend with you on the forums/discord.
In a way to "win arguments/discussion", you often intentionally neglect or ignore events/things that don't fit your agenda or what you're pushing. It makes replying to you or even acknowledging you difficult as I know you're bias and will often overlook things that don't fit your agenda.
I'm drawing a line by giving my perspective of how Staff differentiate between the playerbase. There is a reason why direct devs/mods on large games do not interactive with community beyond dev blogs and updates, because it creates a conflict of interest and incites harassment from the players against them. Large games often have a PR Manager/Community Leader who handles the playerbase, but seldom do you see any game offer the level of communication and direct access to a team. The amount of staff who get burned out and sick of hearing players whine, grovel, complain, insult, and potentially dox them is insane.
I'm not trying to be a dick, but I strongly believe the playerbase doesn't understand whats best for CM, primarily due to their lack of investment beyond "playing" and the lack of insight they have within the staff team.
So to reiterate, I do believe that the best people to make decisions for the betterment of any server are the Head Staff and not the player base who in large are a reactive hive-mind with little far-sight.
Ya I should have used the word repressive. I didnt mean they were unfair or anything they were just heavy handed. If you didnt abide by the rules you got removed. Now they just let people skirt the lines and meme until it slightly passes the line then they slap them on the wrist.
I dont understand why you speak so confidently about things you cannot possibly back up with facts. Unless you are polling the entire user base I dont understand how you can possibly draw the conclusion that most of the player base is satisfied with status qou. In fact this thread and the similar ones that pop up all the time lead to the exact opposite reality of the one you seem to think exists.
As for your statement about the player base growing under oppression.
"Correlation does not imply causation"
You familiar with this statement? You basically just saw two things and decided increased player count during oppression must mean players love oppression. You understand how useless this is right? If the internet shut down tommorow cmss13 pop count would be 0. Lets see 0 pop, that must mean current staff are terrible right? Thats basically the logic you just slammed into random data.
Its almost like I was saying it grew despite the oppression not because of it. But nah me too dumb for that. If people didnt like the game they wouldnt be playing it. Its at the highest population its ever been. If people didnt like the game they would be on the forums bitching about it like yall. 10 people bitching about it is a tiny fraction of the community. Thats where I get the idea that most people are satisfied with the game.
Alright, taken at face value your original statement implies that the server grew during oppression, and that most people like status qou. Now youre telling me that you actually meant that it grew despite the oppression that you go on to say players actually like. Am I understanding this correctly now?
As for the 10 people bitching? Cmon man, just go look through older posts and see how many people you can find who are upset with current rp standards, double standards, and rules defining rp. Ill give you a hint, its far more then 10.
As for the "if players didnt like it they wouldnt play"
"if people didnt like the 2 legged chair they would sit on the ground"
actually something can kinda suck sometimes and have people want to make it better without choosing to just leave. Especially when theyre invested in the other players here and enjoy the community.