Disclaimer: this was from the result of a huge argument in the Discord server a few days ago due to metagamed offline raiding that left some members unsatisfied with the verdict. This was already posted in the #suggestions channel but I feel that a proper statement/decision could be made with a forum post so it doesn't get swept away from more talk in #suggestions.
Detailed description: The answer to "protect your vehicles" has been "keep them in secure places, lock the doors, and keep them within your safehouse". However, currently in Project Zomboid multiplayer this is not possible, at least not with the same level of security safehouse claiming can be. Assume that your safehouse has a garage attached to it, such as a large home in Muldraugh or Louisville: short of barricading your front door every time you log off to prevent entry, players are still able to enter your safehouse by opening the front door. Though they cannot interact with objects inside, they are still able to open other unbarricaded doors, and therefore open the garage, and gain access to the owner's vehicle. You do not need to right click to enter a vehicle; one can use the V menu or simply press E next to a door, hotwire the car, and take it away, ignoring any need for offline raid requests. This also can allow them to remove parts from the vehicle depending on how it is parked (removed battery? doesn't matter if you reverse parked in your garage, just open the hood).
The issue ultimately would not be brought up if every player abided by raid guidelines and respected properly secured vehicles. However, there are many players on this server, as evident from past metagame and poor RP incidents, who disregard the rules put in place and treat Day's End as other PVP servers, where "roleplay" simply means "play as aggressively as possible to protect yourself".
Relevant changes necessary:
- Count vehicles that are properly secured and within clear safehouse/encampment bounds as property that is protected by raid guidelines. If a car is parked inside a garage, the raider must roleplay out breaking into the garage, be it destroying the door or using the door inside that leads to the garage. If a car is within a clearly protected settlement's parking lot (or any other vehicle storage location), the raider must still breach the settlement's walls through regular required roleplay.
- Penalize unnecessary vehicle stripping as griefing. Stripping a vehicle found in the middle of Muldraugh with no safehouse or player around is not the same (even if it does suck to see a repeat of Season 2's issues of stripping engine parts, completely ignoring the fact we now have professions and players who can craft engine parts) but if a car is clearly parked and protected by safehouse guidelines, it should be considered a serious griefing offence to remove the engine parts of a 99% quality vehicle and leave nothing else. If admins are able to track loot and gear stolen through other metagamed events, I cannot imagine why tracking car griefing is anything different.
- If griefing does occur, tickets and moderator investigation proceeds as normal, as would any unlawful raid that occurred.
How will it benefit the server?: By including cars and vehicles as items protected by the need of a raid request, this will encourage and remind players to properly fortify their bases and treat their cars with respect and not as disposable gear. This will also allow for better raid roleplay, where the attackers will have a much richer looting opportunity (i.e permitting the theft of a settlement's trailer) and feel more rewarded for pulling off the attack. Finally, this will also help 'weed the metagamers' out, in a way, by narrowing in on unfair theft and identifying players who do not respect the roleplaying efforts of Days End's community.
SEASON 2: REVECA VLACHENKO
SEASON 3: AUBREY VOGEL ⚰️
SEASON 4: AUGUST CHAMBERLAIN ⚰️
SEASON 5: DECEMBER CAUDILL
To add onto this, I noticed you mentioned engine parts being craftable; engine parts are not cheap to craft. It's very costly just to craft one engine part, which may net you 2-5% engine condition (5% if you get extremely lucky, and have level 10 mechanic skill) per engine part. Not classifying cars the same way we classify safehouses is really irresponsible. It's hard enough to find cars in the world as it is, so having your cars that are parked in front of your safehouse griefed by some bored asshole is really discouraging.
The way Project Zomboid's mechanics work, people are encouraged to salvage the engines of cars in good condition. If you salvage the engine parts from a car with an engine condition of sub-20%, you're only going to get 1-3 engine parts in return, which in turn will only fix your own car's engine by 4-12% at the very best. I've done this countless times, even with level 9 mechanic skill, and the most engine parts I've ever gotten from a vehicle that had an engine condition below 20% was 3. However, if you salvage an engine that has a condition above 65%, you tend to get anywhere between 9-18 parts. This makes sense of course, but it causes a lot of problems on a multiplayer server, because it encourages players to salvage cars that are in good condition instead of the shitty, broken down ones. That's why we have so many issues with people breaking into bases to salvage car parts, or salvaging cars that are outside of a safehouse. It's too lucrative to pass on those cars that are in pristine condition.
Essentially, what I'm trying to say is that PZ's mechanics make it almost a necessity that we treat cars the same way we treat safehouses. If they put in a ticket and get approved for an offline raid, that's fine. But allowing people to just come by your safehouse and strip your vehicles of parts is not a good idea. I mean, seriously, if someone waltzed into a faction base and stripped the vehicles of their engine parts, that would literally cripple the entire faction.
I think maybe, as an add on to this, it would be beneficial to look into altering the way salvaging engines works. For practical purposes, maybe it would be better if there was some way we could make it so that engines with less condition give you more parts. That doesn't make sense in the real world, but it would be more practical in a multiplayer server. Perhaps that's out of the realm of possibility, but I thought it was worth bringing up the idea.
I agree with all of the above. Along with a rules update, I think trying to nip it in the bud - such as altering it - is also a good idea, to get to the root at the problem described above. A possibly easier solution than changing how it all works, could just be for for the spare parts recipe be adjusted? Be it costs, or adjust how many give you. I've heard there is a bug that even consumes the entire wrench you need for it. I wouldn't know myself, but after hearing how troublesome it is to maintain an engine, I'm not all that surprised anymore.
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