Link

Yeah I believe it would be good to implement rewards for playtime as APD. Just to keep people playing once they reach the ranks they desire.

Yeah I understand, it was just an example time. Not much can be done in an hour honestly haha But very interesting, I see what you mean. Certain things could come up after playing Civilian to were you don't get a chance to play as APD. IRL can get in the way sometimes unfortunately >.< Maybe have a system to a ratio rather than percentage, and start it out at a high number? Start out: if (Civilian Hours > 20) then (APD Hours == 5) Then perhaps hitting tiers in civilian hours played should make one play as APD more. Such as: Tier 1 (Civilian hours > 20) then (APD hours == 5) Tier 2 (Civilian hours > 40) then (APD hours == 10) This way if you do not play atleast 20 hours as a civilian you have no APD time required. That number could be raised or lowered depending on whatever would be ideal. And if all else fails I'm sure issues could be resolved, we have very good staff and a great community. Lets say you had an emergency or got called into work. Maybe we could implement a ticket system to explain why you weren't able to play as APD. I'm not trying to make APD so difficult and demanding that it is not fun. I'm just trying to find a way to give incentive to play after no longer wanting to climb the APD ladder. Or maybe implement a reward system for time played as APD? Again like a tier system similar to donation perks. But for hours played. Put very basic things as rewards at lower levels, but give something unique when hours hit ridiculous levels. This would give a lot of people incentive to play as APD I believe. Example: Tier 1:100 hours slightly raised paycheck as APD Tier 2: 500 hours some type of APD appropriate apparel Tier 3: 1000 hours perhaps a special rank or different branch of APD. Like S.W.A.T or F.B.I.. I don't know, just quick ideas that could possibly be implemented in some form or fashion.

Yeah I factored that in considering I'm a full-time student in a difficult major, I don't have as much free time as some. However, that is the beauty of basing it off of percentage. Lets say you are only able to play for 1 hour during an entire week. Then as long as 15 minutes or so are on APD then you are in the clear. It's not about how much you can play, just how you spend the time when you do play

I completely understand that promotions are not given out based on time played. My main concern is once someone is promoted, there should be a minimum amount of playtime as APD. One that scales with rank. I believe this will solve a lot of problems if higher ranking APD members have to fill a quota. It also add's a little bit of an RP element, causing APD members to actually feel like they are working for the force. Oh and thanks for replying It's very nice to see Olympus staff being so active in a small forum post

I like the first part. I'm a computer science major, but I have not made it far enough in courses to trust myself with something sophisticated that could effect so many people haha. I would love for APD ranking to be directly tied to a percentage of play time as APD and this would make that possible. Also the point wasn't citizens yelling at cops, the point was cops breaking RP and pulling rank while playing as civilians. I rather enjoy a good roleplayed debate with a citizen of Altis about cop rules, but when people immediately break RP and start stating they are also APD and pulling rank, things have already gone too far and are no longer fun. Officers have to tread on thin ice for this reason and it gets really frustrating. It is difficult to deal with these situations because you feel inclined to agree with fellow APD officers and you know you will eventually have to play with them at some point. It gets really difficult when so many believe they can instantly break RP and cause problems just because they are a member of the APD.

That dreaded #4...at least now we no its still not ok. I find it to be the worst offense of them all and hope we can end it quickly. It would just make for a better overall experience for everyone.

Alright that pretty much sums up my problems and solutions >.< I suppose things can't be perfect so the best we can do at this point is just say please to the higher ranking APD. lol And I didn't know how coding for ARMA works, I thought maybe you could just change a variable or two to give someone permission in a store. I am highly ignorant on ARMA systems. This makes my solution to that highly insufficient and ineffective. I also didn't know the strain stats&Info would put on your system with that many users. Good to know. Maybe others can find this useful like i did thanks alot

I appreciate that you took the time to read my post. As for the promotions in the APD. It's not up to me, but I have been on the force for a long time and I've met just about every kind of APD player there is. I know you can't just promote everyone, but there are a few that have proven themselves time and time again. Yet they do not get promoted. I believe its simply because we play at different times, but I'm not one to argue, you clearly are more informed and above me on this matter. And for the lethal rounds, I suppose I should re-phrase what I was trying to say. I see it as more of a trial period for a constable. Lets say you give Constable ItallionStallion the proper training and permissions to use lethal rounds after he has proven himself to be a dedicated and loyal APD member. Could this serve as a trial period to see if they are ready for Corporal? This would leave the hummingbird as a Corporal Exclusive Item as well as the better MX rifle and clothing " we love our aesthetics you all know it", leaving desirable tools to climb the APD ladder for but also giving good constables a tool to handle situations when superior officers are busy or not online. I'm by no means trying to tell anyone how to run things, I'm just trying to clarify if I'm just shooting in the dark here. haha I also like your response to the "I'm recording" topic, I read your post but I did not know how far it extended and if it even covered the topic between APD officers: one being on civ of course. As for the teamspeak channel, would we just submit a normal player report ticket or would that be more of a personal message subject? Thanks again for taking the time to answer some of my questions.

Hopefully you won't get flamed >.< And for your sidenote, its sad but its the truth. You are not the only one with that view of the APD, and why would it be different? With rebel gear and a good position, cadets and constables are basically just chew toys for the larger gangs/skilled players. Not to mention this view is further fueled by Cadets and Constables being 90% of the active police force. It's like bringing a knife to a gun fight. All I'm asking is that a few people with guns come and help out with the gun fight instead of immediately jumping to the opposing side. I completely understand its a game. I play it and I enjoy it, but individual enjoyment should not come at the cost of another's experience. I can play APD and have a blast, and so could they at some point or they wouldn't be Corporal or higher. Altis Life is great and Olympus seems to be the greatest in my honest opinion, and its because of our community that I actually think some Higher ranking APD officers will read this and maybe put in a tiny bit more effort to level the playing field....Hopefully.

And I remember Bobey I'll voice it, even though it is old and not known to the new citizens of Olympus. But what about you? Do you agree with what I said? You are way more of an expert in this and also have way more experience in the subject I'd like to know what you think . Oh and shout out to you being one of the few that still play Olympus Altis Life with me that I out started with!

I completely understand that corporals are normal APD members, but they possess the means to solve every problem I have brought up. If Corporals did not get lethal's, or did not get helicopters I would have just started at Sergeant, but they do. Its not the title that I am emphasizing its the tools that said title provides. It's not title that troubles me, its the fact that once many hit corporal, they are done playing APD for the most part. And I also know cadets and constables are not "technically" APD yet, which just adds to my argument that higher ranks should play as APD more often. I'm not saying they do not play as APD at all, nor am I accusing anyone specifically, but if you can honestly sit there and say our higher ups in the APD just have better things to do then I think there are better people for the job. As for staff members, they know what they are doing and I have no complaints against any of them. Olympus Staff Work > Everything else, but not all higher ranks are Olympus staff. And for roleplaying scenarios off-duty, this is fine. Do you not think 75% of playtime as civ is enough time to accomplish this?

It is sad but it is true. Completely breaks immersion, and solves nothing. It generally only leads to flaring emotions and awkward silence. I believe it has become a common occurrence so maybe people aren't saying anything, but it definitely should be addressed. I feel this can be addressed by the APD itself, by meeting this behavior with maturity and a unified distaste for these actions. Stricter punishments for the offenses wouldn't be a bad start either though haha

I agree its a game, but it is a roleplaying game. With your logic, why not give all cadets titan missile launchers and mk 18's. I'm pretty sure they would have more fun with that than just their tazer. Taking a higher rank should come with responsibility to the APD, if you don't want the responsibility just decline the promotion or step down.

I know some are not going to like this post and that I probably will get a lot of hate, but please leave feedback regardless of how you stand on the topic. I want to see how the community feels about this recommendation. I've been playing on Olympus servers since the beginning, I've changed names many times and I have had to take short breaks for college but for the most part I have been active in the servers. One thing that has been present since the beginning is that the majority of High Ranking APD officers become complacent with their respective position in the force, and then proceed to play nothing but Civilian. This is not a post to point fingers, but simply my opinion on a matter that should be addressed. At first this was only a small problem. Most situations could easily be handled with just Constables. However, now that the server has massive gangs/clans, the new prison on the island, and the new DLC has arrived it has become absolutely necessary to have at least 1 Corporal online. A well organized gang can post up at the prison or federal reserve and hold off wave after wave of constables and cadets for as long as they want to. They will just repeatedly get downed, then proceed to get back up, and then continue with killing the APD. Lethal rounds are absolutely needed in these situations, or else there is a 99% chance it will go in the gangs favor. Don't get me wrong, I believe a well organized and equipped gang should be able to win its battles and deserves to do so, however, it is completely one-sided if there is nothing but constables and cadets responding. The gang will almost always have higher numbers, better gear, and better positions. This leads to very demoralizing fights that the APD loses 99% of the time. Even if the constables and cadets have the best shots on the server, the effective range of the Constables gun is very close to the length of the Altis Prison bridge, meaning it will take multiple shots to down someone who is sitting slightly back. The wave rule eventually just leads to constables trying to down criminals while cadets rush the bridge or the fed, then after that fails the constables have to suicide across the bridge or into the fed to start a new wave, leading to nothing different except a few dollars spent on ammunition by the gang. This leads to existing rules and problems I have personally run into. 1. Robbing the Federal Reserve - While this is easier for APD to handle than the jail break, it still comes down to having no options to win vs large gangs. Federal reserves are restricted to only happening when 5 or more cops are on. I do like this rule, however, I believe with the size of gangs and just how organized they are becoming robbing the fed is too easy and the odds are stacked too high vs APD if only constables and cadets are online. Possible Solutions: -Maybe we can add a rule that at least 1 of the 5 cops has to be a Corporal or higher? -Or maybe offer selective training in lethal rounds to a few hand-picked constables who show promise; this would make robbing the fed a gamble if just constables are on, because the gangs would not know who is trained in lethal tactics. 2.) Jail Break - As I stated above, this eventually leads to wave after wave of APD forces consistently failing. However, I see Jail Break as a less serious problem because all one gains is time, and eventually a fun fire fight. This eventually leads to one side just getting tired and leaving, and gets pretty old for the APD if it is done repeatedly. Possible Solutions: -Put a time-buffer for how frequently a jail break can take place. Eventually driving forces out of the prison just to end up heading back after 5 minutes to start all over is pretty frustrating. -Again offer the selective training in lethal rounds to hand-picked constables. 3.) With the new helicopter DLC, raiding has become a bigger problem. And APD without a Corporal or higher has very limited answers to this threat. Possible Solutions: -offer selective pilot training to constables, once again hand-picked for performance. -I'm not real sure how to solve this, I just know its a problem and I also know the dlc just came out and rules are bound to be changed. I'm not impatient I'm just addressing a problem. 4.) APD Officers playing as civs spam texting police or specific officers about rules. This is completely distracting and very unprofessional. It does not occur that often but it does happen. I know this topic has been addressed in the past, but maybe a refresher on the rules wouldn't hurt? It gets very unpleasant to hear from fellow APD who are "off-duty" constantly stating rules, stating they are recording, saying "enjoy your time left on the APD.", et cetera. 5.) Senior Officer's taking part in the above activities knowing the APD can do nothing against it. - I have personally been part of 2 federal reserve robberies, 5 jail breaks, and countless assaults from the sky by helicopter squads in the past 2 weeks. I know this seems like petty problems and just me ranting about playing as APD, but the problem is not what crimes are committed, its who was committing the crimes against a knowingly understaffed APD force. Both reserve robberies and all 5 jail breaks happened when the highest ranking officer online was a constable. Normally this is just a nuisance one must put up with, however, it is a very special feeling one gets when they are constantly trying to do the impossible against higher ranking APD officers. Every instance listed here was either committed by, or aided by at least 3 Corporals, 1 Sergeant, and 1 Lieutenant, this being the lowest number of higher ranking officials out of all 7 instances. I know, I counted. I understand getting a little burn-out playing as APD and just hoping on Civilian to have a little fun, but this has been happening too many times. Higher ranking officials are too complacent and are not playing APD as much as they should be! Possible Solutions: -Olympus now has the stats&info feature that tracks a player's time in game as either cop or civ. MAKE A MANDATORY PERCENTAGE OF PLAY TIME AS APD THAT SCALES WITH RANK! Now that its possible to easily keep track of who plays APD or Civ and how much they play total, an easy solution would be adding responsibility in the form of required play time that scales with rank. Failure to meet the % of playtime would result in warnings and eventual demotion, freeing up higher ranking slots for individuals who actually will put time and effort into playing APD. Below are just rough examples that I have put in for sake of demonstration, I do not make the rules and I have no idea how much time would be ideal. That's a problem that is all up to Hades! Playtime Examples: Corporal- 25% Sergeant-35% Lieutenant-45% I know sometimes the constables and cadets win, but this happens significantly less than the latter. I also know that I make mistakes, feel free to correct or point out flaws in anything I have said. This is not a self-promotion thread, I would love the convenient nature of being a corporal, but I've been a Constable for 5 months, and I still believe there are a few Constables that deserve it before I do like ItallionStallion and Mcdili, and even some Cadets. *cough* Officer Hitman *cough* Solution to most problems listed above is to take the time to promote many deserving Constables to Corporal. Especially those who play at night ;D Regardless of all the problems I have listed and the ranting I have done, I still enjoy playing APD more than anything else in Olympus. There are amazing officers who do play APD to its fullest that make playing with them worthwhile. My fellow APD officers are my Altis family, and I have no hard feelings against anyone in the force. I believe everyone with a higher rank deserved to get it, some just have slightly strayed from the appropriate path. So don't think I just hate specific players, I love you all. <3 Disclaimer: I did not, have not, and never will make the rules of Olympus servers. That is the job of our lovely Admin Hades. This is simply my opinion on certain problems and maybe a few possible fixes. To Clarify, This Post is Based Solely on the Times I am Able to Get On Due to College. These Times Range from 11:00P.M CST - 7:00A.M. CST