Published in Conjunction with FBC
June 3rd 2021
By mwb8265,
Everyone seems to have an opinion on the current state of the State. Some say that the State’s never been stronger, while from my perspective the vast majority always refer to the golden days of Firestone in the past rather than the future. In this article I plan to examine exactly what the community thinks about where Firestone is at, where it is headed, and how we as a State got to this point in our history. All information and opinions listed in this article has been provided via responses to this Google form unless otherwise stated.
The data collected in the form shows two things. Firstly, a majority (81%) of individuals who responded to the form believe the state’s “Glory days” are in the past. And secondly, a majority(88%) believe the overall state of the community is declining. This decline can also be seen in overall community activity which is evident in several areas. In the Judicial branch the oldest Criminal case currently being heard within the District Court was first brought there in September 2020, and the most recent criminal case being heard on April 30th of this year. It is also important to mention the decline in voter turnout throughout the past year.
Election Turnout
| 2020-2 | 1,120 |
|---|---|
| 2020-3 | 905 |
| 2020-4 | 768 |
| 2021-1 | 651 |
| 2021-2 | 450 |
(Source: General Announcements, State of Firestone Discord)
These results show a clear decline and drop off in total voter turnout which correlates with a lack of activity throughout the community.
The cause of this decline in activity was attributed to several facets of the community. However several themes were repeatedly mentioned in nearly all responses. The first of those factors being the current state of Stapleton County V2 with one individual stating, “The monotony of V2 is causing the community to decline, look at the governor votes. No one cares anymore.” The theme of an undesirable V2 rang through a large amount of responses with one going as far as to say, “the current gameplay of V2 is a pile of horse shit”. Regardless it is clear that a majority of the community, or at the very least those who responded to the form, feel that much is needed to improve Stapleton County V2 whether that be a reduction in exploiters or a change in the current game meta. Secondly, multiple responses contained some mention of the Founders or more specifically Founder FedoramasterB98 or more simply “Fed”. One respondent stated, “fed micro managing everything. envelopes toxicity. paths inactivity.” in response to a question about their opinions on the state of the community and how it got to that point. It’s no secret that a sizable portion of the community find themselves often dissatisfied with the way the community is run by the founders. Former SCSO Captain Al_erting stated “The community is in a weird and comforting state right now. It’s so unstable, yet everything seems fine. In my opinion I think this is entirely feds fault. We might have some toxic members here and there, but everything eventually leads back to fed”, placing nearly all the blame squarely on the shoulders of Founder FedoramasterB98. And finally, V3. Stapleton County Version 3 or simply “V3”, was mentioned more than nearly any other element of the Community’s decline. Many believe that V3 is the only shred of hope the community has left with one Community Member stating “Honestly it’s getting worse and it’s the same boring map over and over and we were expecting v3 for how many years? To be honest if Firestone doesn’t see v3 I doubt there won’t be a Firestone community anymore in the future”. The Community’s discontent with the time development on V3 has taken can be heard throughout almost every aspect of the community, many feeling that the development team has lied to them about V3 progress and it’s release date repeatedly. One response placed the blame not on the lack of V3 or the ‘monotony’ of V2, but on the “stubbornness” of the community stating, “The community has been plagued with a certain stubbornness and redundancy which is evident even in the tools that most police officers use, where the taser is still a free-modelled asset from 2014, as well as the atmosphere of the community” And, “…It’s a shame to see a lot of the community’s pettiness and inability to adapt. Stapleton County is most definitely becoming a Jailbreak game, with the only opportunities being cops and robbers. Frankly, Firestone still lives in 2014 where other communities such as Ridgeway and Mayflower have innovated. Very easy to see through just the atmosphere of the community and its establishment.” It’s true that the communities of Mayflower and Rideway seem to have flourished more than Firestone has especially in recent times, however the cause of this remains to be unseen. Another possible cause for this lack of activity could be the average age of Community Members increasing into adulthood. The average age of respondents was currently 17.14, while the average age when they first joined the community was 13.64. So the possible cause of the activity decline could simply be that the State ‘grew-up’, many simply do not have the time to remain active in the State while also entering the perils of adulthood.
So what can be done to improve the Community according to those who say it has strayed from its prolific past? Many again point to the necessity of a V3 release. And soon. Lieutenant Governor Stamose bluntly stated “Release V3…” in response to a question about what can be done to improve the community. Some see V3 as the light at the end of the tunnel for Firestone, and that without it the community is destined to fail, “There’s no more turning back, Firestone is in a dark tunnel walking on train tracks, each horrible event a train hits Firestone, one the train passes all it can do now is find its legs and keep walking until FS finds the light at the end of the tunnel.” claimed community member ElJefeDe_Texas. Regardless whether the State’s success or failure truly lies in the hope of a V3 release or not, a large portion of the community continue to believe the latter. Some also say that less Founder intervention in everyday State operations would benefit the Community as Captain Al_erting put it, “Fed needs to step back and intervene at times when NEEDED. The community needs more freedom.” However others claim that Founder intervention is needed and should not be discouraged. Those individuals point to the fact that the Founders did indeed ‘Found’ the group and are entitled to complete control over it as they please. Regardless of whether interventions made by the founding team are beneficial or not to the community, it does raise the question about where Firestone would be if certain decisions had not been made. Probably the most popular opinion about community improvement is a rework of current Stapleton County V2 game mechanics. Many believe that the current meta of V2 is one similar to a ‘Cops and Robbers’ style of game. SCSO Corporal Co55ie believes more incentives for criminals could improve gameplay, stating: “…there needs to be more incentive for criminals to roleplay too, currently they have nothing to do except rob banks and shoot cops, which is really predictable”.
Now for a lesser known group of Community members who believe there is nothing wrong with the state of the Community or that the state is entering a natural period of decline. As County Executive 69Superman put it, “Can’t… really natural decrement”, in response to how the community could be improved. One prolific community member, Philip_Forth, believes Firestone is simply entering a new phase in a continuous cycle as he stated, “my philosophy is different from others, is it that Firestone is dying or are you growing out of the roblox part of your life? I used to be a daily criminal in Firestone for a few years, then I thought the game was boring. After I left, new criminals came and they enjoy the game and they became the daily criminals. I feel like the new people in Firestone enjoys the game and the people that has been here for quite along time find it boring”. These believers certainly seem to be the more optimistic section of the community, remaining positive while so many others have not.
Regardless whether something is wrong or not in the Community it is clear that those involved in it believe the State of Firestone is declining, where this perceived decline will lead remains to be unseen. It is clear however, that activity is dropping, members are dissatisfied and many believe something must be done in order to restore the community to what they see as the ‘Glory days’ of Firestone. All responses and quotes used in this article can be found here or here.
Disclaimer: Form was limited to one response per use, Emails were not collected so the authenticity of those who chose to identify themselves in their response cannot be verified. If a response was made in your name without your permission please contact mwb#2577.
