[Rust] The Horde Sleeps

[SeraphiM0352]

Guys, checking the Rust Subreddit, It looks like servers might need a full wipe. Item data seem to be corrupted with the new changes.

THIS IS OUR CHANCE!!

Just logged in. Not wiped, our building is still there

[haruky]

Guys, checking the Rust Subreddit, It looks like servers might need a full wipe. Item data seem to be corrupted with the new changes.

THIS IS OUR CHANCE!!

Just logged in. Not wiped, our building is still there

Perhaps there will be issues with the server that get discovered soon..
One can hope..

[CountBelasarius]

Confirmed that original server has not wiped as of SBT +3.

Three decisions we need to make:

1) Location of base(s)

2) Number of bases

3) Layout of bases

So to answer the first question, let me show off my pro MS paint skills

In summary, the far east is inhospitable, the south is dangerous and/or unknown, the west is a lie so north/east/central is our best bet.

We want close proximity to central civilian buildings for scavenging, good resources, and reasonable but not too high population. French Valley, Next Valley and Forest meet these criteria, and we're fairly familiar with them all.

I vote Day One base to built in roughly the same location in Next Valley as the last base (i.e. the eastern end). The next base (started a couple of days in) should be closer to Forest and will serve as the primary location for scavenging. Then once we have the spare resources (week or two later), we should build a forward operating base in French Valley for raiding. Finally several weeks in, when we have enough metal, we should go to the north edge and build a metal vault complex for heavy security for key items.

So primarily I advocate for two bases off the start, but with an eye towards outposts elsewhere.

The question of layout is beyond me, but the fewer doors and fewer passcodes the better.

[Henidhor]

I still don't think the promised land is a lie. Forest is equidistant from Coast Mountains and Next Valley if you learn to take the mountain shortcut. Nevertheless, I'd be happy with Next Valley and I certainly prefer it to Spain Valley.

It may be a little remote, but have you guys considered Silk Valley? It doesn't have any resources immediately inside it, but it's right next to Forest and not too far from Next Valley. There's a spot there that I think could work really well.

As for base design, I think the tower-in-rocks design is still by far the best and most efficient. As to Duke's comment about doors and passcodes, that's going to be the same regardless of the base design and there's no way around that without weakening our security. The tower arrangement, however, will make the door system more clear and navigable.

I like the idea of having one communal base and putting all our resources into that. Other bases/outposts in the future would be fine, but I think we should put all of our resources towards one base until it's complete.

Other topics of discussion:

4) Protocol regarding the usage of guns, armor, and other rare items.

5) Rules of engagement when encountering strangers.

I think guns and armor other than cloth and maybe leather should be on an absolutely need-to-use basis. You should have to have at least one partner if you go out with a gun and they must only be used when fighting people (not animals!) in an organized manner, be it offensive or defensive. No taking guns or valuables anywhere near airdrops. If you need to question whether it's necessary to bring a gun to do a task, then you don't need one.

I also think we should strictly forbid KOSing, unless the target is a confirmed enemy or it's an airdrop. That's how we get enemies and get raided. (Conversely, being friendly can gain us valuable allies.) It's also really douchey and we should hold ourselves to a higher moral standard than other players in the world. "Be the change you wish to see in the world," or something.

[bigdcowboys22]

I like Duke's idea for bases. That sounds like a good goal to go for.

I'll have to disagree with Henidhor some though. While I agree we should be diligent with our weapons, the whole point in having them is to use them. It's pointless to go anywhere near an airdrop if you don't have a weapon. Everyone else will.

That leads into my next disagreement. Before the "wipe" things were relatively tame in next valley. We held most vandals (other than the guys that KOSed next to us) at bay. In the day or two leading up to the "wipe" there was a lot more hostility. There were a lot more people just looking for battles and raids. I attributed it to a lot of newer players and a lot less care about what happened because the wipe was coming.

After the "wipe" though things have changed drastically. I couldn't go out to hatchet a tree with my rock without an M4 or bolt action to the back of the head. Literally everyone I ran into was looking to KOS and I'm tired of it. I like the 2 man policy, but I think it should be used differently. When we see someone we warn them to stay away over in-game chat and if they keep coming we blow their fraking heads off. If it's a misunderstanding we can leave their bodies for them to reclaim, but we don't take the risk anymore.

[Gardalop]

After the "wipe" though things have changed drastically. I couldn't go out to hatchet a tree with my rock without an M4 or bolt action to the back of the head. Literally everyone I ran into was looking to KOS and I'm tired of it. I like the 2 man policy, but I think it should be used differently. When we see someone we warn them to stay away over in-game chat and if they keep coming we blow their fecking heads off. If it's a misunderstanding we can leave their bodies for them to reclaim, but we don't take the risk anymore.

This I agree with. I also feel that my idea of fun is not running out naked trying to gather stuff so that when I die I do not lose much. My idea of fun is to get really good gear and to try and go on raids or hit up all of the airdrops and rad towns. If this idea clashes with what we are trying to do as a group that is fine and I will go my own way.

[haruky]

TL;DR at the bottom. Sorry for the essay.

So, we fell apart last night.

I noticed a few things that led to our fatal demise.

1.) We were not organized. At all.
2.) Lack of communication.
3.) Finger pointing.

Our journey back into Next Valley was more difficult than planned. We made critical mistakes that ultimately led to the night ending in a raid by the other group.

Before I jump into what we can fix, I want to talk about what went wrong.

To start... There's really no one at fault. It was all our mistake. All of our faults. So don't try and pin this on any one person. Some of us think we know better than others, but let's not go that route. We're all equals here trying to play a cut-throat game as a team. If we're going to be successful, we need to overcome our differences with each other and cooperate. What I heard over TS made us sound like a bunch of chickens with our heads cut off.

There are a few people who vehemently disagree with the route we took yesterday. Some of those have expressed desire to change different server so we face less competition. I just want to say that although your opinion is appreciated, I want to keep our group as together as possible. We're not going to survive in separate groups. We NEED to learn how to work together one way or another, or else we're just not going to make it. So let's not point fingers at people. Just realize that we live as a team and we die as a team. BUT, if you're not willing to co-operate and are actively being a negative influence to the group, we may need to explore other options for you.

Secondly, we were not organized, nor prepared to build this base. Although the idea itself was good, the execution was poor. What led to this? I honestly think it was due to poor organization. We weren't ready to build a base from the ground up. What we should have done is prepped a design from the floor up with each level already mapped out. Instead, what it seemed like happened, was we sort of built it brick by brick without pouring thought into each of the levels. This is, again, no one's fault. It was something we thought would work fine for us, all the way up till we got raided. Let's not point fingers and start tearing the group apart.

Thirdly, since the last few weeks, we've had massive communication failures. We need to learn to work with each other. Although you may think that being in TS would make it easier, it doesn't. We need designs to make comms more efficient and have less people talking over one another. For example, today's raid: One of our players called out the enemy rolling into our base. Did we do anything about it? No. They rolled in, raided us, griefed us, and left without a scratch. That's possible the worst thing that's happened to us so far. As another example, one player said that it was super easy to jump in through the roof of our base. Did we fix it? No. Could we have fixed it? Maybe. I'm not sure what the resource situation was, so it's difficult to say whether or not it could have been prevented via a fix.

If our communication had been a little better, perhaps this could have worked out in our favor. Our comms system needs more fluidity. Perhaps we have a separate channel for "look-outs" and "Scouts. Once they spot something potentially hostile, they jump back into the core TS channel (or we use channel commander) to alert the rest of the crew. I believe that this new system of using Channel Commander needs to be desperately implemented. Not everyone needs to be in the same channel unless we're ALL together defending against a raid. This way, critical information can get passed down without having to pass through 12+ voices on TS talking over each other.

Thirdly, Finger pointing. I know this game gets frustrating. I know how difficult it can be. And I know how easy it can be to start blaming others for the downfall of the group as a whole. All of this ends in a negative experience for everybody involved. As much as I hate myself for it, I know I've done it a few times as well. So I want to apologize for that before I go any further. When something like this happens, it's easy to point at someone and say "it's your fault!! I told you so!"

Let's not do that. Ever.

It makes the atmosphere toxic and makes it even more difficult for us to bounce back from. Yeah, you might have 1,000 hours in the game and may have more experience, but we're all in this together. Blaming people does nothing to help US. Instead of blaming, let's make it constructive. What can we do next time to prevent tragedies like this from happening? How can we get back at them for what they did to us? What are some of the options we can take in rebuilding our home? I hope that the damage from tonight is repairable. There were a lot of angry people tonight and I'm sure some of us won't be returning for a while. I hope that isn't the case, but we never know.

Those last 3 points are things that I think went wrong last night. We need to improve on all of them in one way or another. I'm not sure if we're going to be returning to this server or not, but the next time we join in on a server, we're going to need more organization, better communication, and better teamwork and support for one another.

Now, what can we do to immediately improve these things?

1.) Be ready. Know EXACTLY what to do in the crucial first hours of the server.
2.) Better communication. Set up several TS channels. At least one for "scouts/outlooks" and one for "core group". Know when to speak and when not to speak.
3.) Don't blame. Be tame.

1.) Henidhor had the right idea. The fatal mistake wasn't in the design itself, rather, it was the new terrain, the new pressure from enemies, and overall chaotic communication throughout the night. Overall, I still would like to re-implement the original design, with a few more improvements. But if we can get Henidhor's design to work, and we can execute it correctly, we can make it work. With more organization and knowing how to execute our ideas, we can find success.

We also need to assign people certain tasks. We knew there were hostiles around our area. We were fully aware of that, yet we could not do anything about it. What could we have done? Well, we had roughly 10 people. We only need 1 builder. The rest can be either resource gatherers, scavengers, outlooks, and combatants. We should organize ourselves into certain "categories" to be prepared for the enemy attacks in the future. This would most likely require TS Channel Commander system to be utilized fully. When in full battle, we can all move to the same channel. (Have someone not engaged drag the group together or something).

2.) Better communication. I've detailed this above, but we need to implement a system so that people know when to speak, and when to listen. We don't need to hear that you killed a pig and are starving. I think it'd be helpful for us to move ourselves around into different channels for certain tasks. The "Leaders" of these "tasks" would leave their channel commander on so we can speak back and forth between groups with ease.

3.) Don't blame. If something goes bad, we all get mad. That's a given. But you know what makes that situation worse? Hearing things like "dude, this is all your fault. you shouldn't have done this. You shouldn't have done that." No one wants to hear that. I've done it a few times, and I'm going to try to never do it again. It's absolutely toxic behavior that isn't rewarding in anyway whatsoever. So just don't do it. If you're feeling particularly angry, just mute yourself for a while and come back when you've cooled down. I hope that we can cultivate some positive energy in our channel despite what happens. We stay negative, we fall apart.

Finally, I just want to say that not all is lost. We still have a very large and capable group. I managed to get some shotgun blueprints and know how to craft the P250 and a Large Wooden Crate. If we can get our act together, we can re-establish ourselves again. If you guys are feeling a little heavy about the server, we can always switch. Sure, we spent a good 3-4 hours on it, and it absolutely blows that we lost the progress, but it was a valuable lesson. We were put into a situation that really put us to our limits. Let's learn from this. Don't let it go to waste.

So, what's our next step? Learn. Re-Build. Learn. Learn. Learn.

Well, more realistically, I'd say the next step is to figure out what we're going to do in terms of servers. Do we want to continue to try our hand at this server? Or should we move servers? IF we do stay, do we stay in next valley? Or do we move elsewhere? What do you guys think? Personally, I wouldn't mind staying in Next Valley. Heck, I wouldn't mind spending some time trying to grief them, and then leave for a new server. Why don't we build a giant shell of a base around them? Let's have fun. Let loose some steam. Yeah, it's a waste of time, but heck, it could be cathartic.

Anyway, feel free to pitch in ideas. I didn't get to proof read this wall of text that I spent the last hour writing. It's probably poorly written and a disaster of a "paper". But I hope that you guys were able to get some insights into what we can do to improve.

I've included a TLDR:

TL;DR: We goofed. We need to up our communications & organization. Don't point fingers or I'll chop it off.

[haruky]

Hey guys,

I spent some time before work to get ourselves re-established.

We've abandoned Next Valley. That group is going to be too much of a hassle to deal with. We are now in French Valley.

Me and Duke made a small 3x3 with a 1x1 sealed room in the center. The password to that door is 7591. There's a LOT of good stuff in there. Including my body. We found an MP5, which I have researched. And a Shotgun. We can come back from the disaster last night and we can rebuild.

Now, I have a base in mind and a design plan to go with it. It's very similar to our past design, but not exactly the same. I'd like to build it, but I understand that we need to get our leg-up and we need to do that ASAP. Probably not a good idea to wait for me for the next 8 hours. Damonott's designs are similar to mine. Maybe follow his lead on it. I've got to log off now, but this is where we re-build and become a dominant force on the server.

Let's do this guys!

[StarfisherEcho]

I haven't managed to play yet, but I just wanted to say that reading your AAR felt like reading the story of a failed dwarf fortress from the perspective of a dwarf. That may not make sense to anyone, so to translate, this game sounds incredible.

[SeraphiM0352]

Hey guys,

I spent some time before work to get ourselves re-established.

We've abandoned Next Valley. That group is going to be too much of a hassle to deal with. We are now in French Valley.

Me and Duke made a small 3x3 with a 1x1 sealed room in the center. The password to that door is 7591. There's a LOT of good stuff in there. Including my body. We found an MP5, which I have researched. And a Shotgun. We can come back from the disaster last night and we can rebuild.

Now, I have a base in mind and a design plan to go with it. It's very similar to our past design, but not exactly the same. I'd like to build it, but I understand that we need to get our leg-up and we need to do that ASAP. Probably not a good idea to wait for me for the next 8 hours. Damonott's designs are similar to mine. Maybe follow his lead on it. I've got to log off now, but this is where we re-build and become a dominant force on the server.

Let's do this guys!

so i found the place and spent a few hours gathering resources. its been very plentiful while i have been. still getting shot in the back while gathering though. I think someone tried to raid while i was out gathering because if found a wood door on one side and some stairs to the roof. No entry though and i have fended others off. Also took the liberty of laying down another crate and making a furnace. I hope you guys log on soon so i dont have to fend for myself

[CountBelasarius]

Prune and Rune from last night showed up in French.

Hashey and I were in the storage room (this was night and I was crafting the doors we were going to place in the morning).

They threatened us, and then sealed us in. All our of materials are now entombed inside the central 1x1 until we can scrounge up 2x C4.

[Gardalop]

I think we may need a new server. Those people will not allow us to progress.

[bigdcowboys22]

Prune and Rune from last night showed up in French.

Hashey and I were in the storage room (this was night and I was crafting the doors we were going to place in the morning).

They threatened us, and then sealed us in. All our of materials are now entombed inside the central 1x1 until we can scrounge up 2x C4.

Oh dear. We need to find a way to grief those guys. BAD. And then switch servers so we can go about our way.

[Cheesy]

The moral of the story is we can't play Rust like pubbies. We should play it like GC.

What the means:
1. We need a leader who calls the shots! I nominate Haruky. That person can also nominate a 2nd in command, captains in charge of different tasks, etc.
2. Before we ever log into a server, we need to make a plan of exactly what we're going to build and where, and how we're going to split up to defend it.
3. We need to enforce good communication. Per #1, I'm happy to give our chosen leader admin powers so they can kick people out of channel if they're not sticking to the protocol.

I think we should pick a time to all get together and plan outside of game for 30 minutes. Based on that we should make a concrete objective for the day and not log off until we finish it.

[bigdcowboys22]

1. We need a leader who calls the shots! I nominate Haruky. That person can also nominate a 2nd in command, captains in charge of different tasks, etc.

Seconded. Long live Governor Haruky!