Economic Reset & Progression Overhaul

[Brophy]

Over the past few years, we’ve watched hyper-inflation and unbalanced job payouts degrade the core progression feel of the server. To fix the root of the problem and revitalise gameplay, we are looking at implementing a complete economic reset and overhaul while the player count is low.

The core philosophy is simple: by fixing the economy first, we can introduce better activities and jobs that make progression feel genuinely rewarding again.

Centralised Rebalancing & New Additions

• Job Payouts & Economy: All job payouts and economic multipliers are being moved into a central configuration location, allowing for rapid tweaking and balancing based on ongoing feedback.

• In-Game Store: Introducing timed login rewards. Staying active for a set amount of time will earn you points to spend on cosmetic items, skins, and non-P2W rewards.

• Donations & Cash: The cash element is being removed entirely from donation packages to prevent real-world purchases from destabilising the economy.

What the Reset Entails

1. Player Wipe: All player cash and bank balances will be wiped.

2. Property Reset: All properties will be reset and put back up for sale, with purchasing values re-worked to fit the new economic scaling.

3. Weapons & Vehicles Wipe: All weapons and vehicles stored across players will also be wiped to prevent post-reset stockpiles from instantly destabilising the new economy.

4. Donation Points: Players will keep their current donation points.

5. Gangs & Squads: Gangs and squads will remain in place, but all organisation and gang money will be wiped.

6. Legacy Rewards (Tiers for Top Players): To honour past wealth and achievements before the reset, we are introducing exclusive legacy rewards split into tiers:

   • Top 10: Elite-tier custom rewards/recognition.

   • Top 25: Veteran-tier exclusive perks.

   • Top 50: Honoured-tier commemorative items. (We want your community opinions and suggestions on what these specific tiered rewards should be!)

7. Stats Wipe (Discord Vote): We are opening up a public vote on Discord to decide whether player stats should also be wiped as part of the clean slate. Make sure to cast your vote!

Upcoming Testing Phase

We know an economic reset is a massive change, and we want to ensure everything is dialled in. We will not push this live without a testing phase.

Before going live, we will spin up a dedicated test server. This will give everyone the chance to test the new economy, check adjusted job payouts, stress-test progression, and report bugs or feedback prior to the official launch.

Next Steps & Feedback

Cast your vote on the stats wipe poll, share your ideas and suggestions for the top player legacy reward tiers, and drop your overall thoughts on the Discord channel and here on the forum.

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[Elyeso]

if it will bring people playing again and gives some challenges why not

 

why iran in the pic ;D

[Ban]

When I made this suggestion back then, you all opposed me. If you want it so badly, you can just give away the money in your own bank, as someone 'so wisely' said. 🙂 @fl0wz

The blind cannot see the sunrise until they are left in the dark.

[mellow]

I have decided to summarize what has been said on discord by using chatgpt and think it did it's job fairly well:


Link here in the Spoiler.

Spoiler

https://chatgpt.com/share/6af3dc51-ecc4-83eb-93bd-f66cc278c3bc

 

SAES:RPG Community Discussion — Full Summary

Discussion: 9–11 November 2026 | Topic: Economic reset, declining player base, and the future of SAES

1. The overall situation

The SAES:RPG community is debating a proposed economic reset intended to revive a server that has experienced years of declining activity.

The discussion quickly expanded beyond the economy, revealing widespread frustration with server development, administration, group management, gameplay, and community culture.

The central disagreement is:

SAES leadership believes an economic reset could create the foundation for renewed development. Many players believe the underlying problems must be addressed first, otherwise the reset will accomplish very little.

There is also a divide between players who want to preserve years of progress and those who believe SAES needs a completely fresh start.
 

2. The biggest problems identified

Based on the discussion, these were the most frequently raised issues.

Problem	Community concerns
Lack of development	Few major updates over the last three years, with suggestions and promised features allegedly ignored
Repetitive gameplay	Robberies, arrests, turf wars and jobs have become predictable
Broken economy	Players accumulate millions or billions without meaningful ways to spend them
Group favoritism	Allegations that friendships and connections influence recruitment more than activity or performance
Administration	Complaints about inactive admins, inconsistent enforcement and dismissive behavior
Gang progression	Level 5 often feels like the end of meaningful progression
Performance	Donation vehicles, large bases and unused assets allegedly contribute to FPS drops
Community toxicity	Personal attacks, hostility toward newcomers and fear of criticizing influential players
Declining population	Players report seeing approximately 8–40 people online, sometimes with only a handful actively playing
Poor communication	Players feel their suggestions were ignored until the server reached a critical state

These are community reports and opinions, not independently verified findings.

3. The economic reset debate

Arguments supporting the reset

Supporters, including Brophy, Jay, Nord and several others, argue that the current economy has lost its purpose.

• Money and properties no longer feel rewarding.

• New players cannot realistically compete with established wealth.

• Resetting finances would restore progression and competition.

• Forgotten jobs could become relevant again.

• The current low population makes this an opportunity to experiment.

• A reset could support a larger economic overhaul.

 

Arguments opposing the reset

Critics, including Phantom, Wickness, Spartan, reket and others, question whether removing wealth would solve anything.

• Long-term players could lose years of accumulated progress.

• People may not want to repeat the same grind.

• The lack of updates, not wealth, is seen as the main reason players left.

• A temporary activity increase could disappear within weeks.

• The remaining active players might be discouraged.

• There are no guarantees that development will continue afterward.

A recurring suggestion was to back up the entire database before resetting anything, so the server could potentially be restored if the experiment failed.
 

What is actually proposed?

The discussion indicates that the plan under consideration includes:

Feature	Proposed treatment
Player money	Reset
Personal properties	Reset
Gang/squad money	Reset
Gang/squad levels	Preserved under the stated proposal
Gang/squad existence	Preserved
Player statistics	Separate community vote
Playing hours	Debated as part of statistics
Donation vehicles	Reworked into a storage system
Donations for in-game cash	Cash rewards removed
New development	Intended to follow the reset

These details reflect the discussion, not a confirmed final implementation plan.

Brophy specifically clarified that the vote being discussed concerned whether player statistics should also be wiped alongside the economic reset, rather than being a vote on the entire reset.

 

4. Brophy's position and promises

Brophy was one of the central figures in the discussion.

He acknowledged that SAES leadership had failed to deliver enough updates over recent years and repeatedly expressed a willingness to restart development.

His main arguments were:

1. The current economy is fundamentally unbalanced.

2. Simply adding scripts would not address the lack of meaningful progression.

3. A reset would allow the economy to be redesigned.

4. Development would continue after the reset rather than ending there.

5. The community needs to decide whether it genuinely wants substantial change.

He also acknowledged that toxicity has become a significant issue.

However, several players challenged him on an important point:

What specifically will be different after the reset, and what will prevent the economy from returning to the same state?

That question remained largely unanswered in concrete terms.

Brophy expressed his intention to deliver long-term improvements, but the conversation did not establish a detailed roadmap, development schedule, or measurable commitments.

 

5. The CLO, DE, HLS and special-group controversy

This became one of the longest and most heated parts of the discussion.

Complaints about exclusive groups

Players including Corpse, Emrywa, Samuel, alone and others argued that some special groups operate through unclear or unfair recruitment practices.

Their complaints included:

• Active players being overlooked while less active members retain prestigious positions.

• Invitations allegedly depending heavily on friendships.

• Unclear recruitment requirements.

• People investing hundreds of hours without knowing whether they have any realistic chance of joining.

• Fear that publicly criticizing groups will damage future recruitment opportunities.

• Inactive leadership and membership slots limiting opportunities for newer players.

CLO became the main example, but similar criticism was directed toward HLS, DE, OB and other organizations.

The broader concern was not simply that players wanted easier access to groups. It was that players felt their efforts were not being recognized fairly.

Some argued that when prestigious group membership is one of the few remaining goals, perceived unfairness can directly reduce motivation to play.

RAMPAGE's response defending CLO

RAMPAGE, who stated that he had served in CLO leadership for six years, rejected the accusation that CLO simply recruits friends.

He explained that CLO evaluates:

• Skill and reputation.

• Maturity and behavior.

• Trustworthiness.

• Current and historical activity.

• Community standing.

• Compatibility with existing members.

• Feedback from members and leadership.

He emphasized that CLO is deliberately exclusive and that nobody is automatically entitled to membership.

He also argued that blaming CLO for the overall decline of SAES ignores larger problems such as aging technology, repetitive gameplay and insufficient development.

Mellow's perspective

Mellow provided an interesting counterexample.

He said he has several close friends within CLO, including people in influential positions, but has never been invited himself.

He used this to argue that friendship alone does not guarantee membership, although he acknowledged that personal connections can help.

Terry and Pepsi's arguments

Terry and Pepsi defended the principle of selective recruitment.

Their position was that prestigious groups naturally involve subjective judgments and interpersonal compatibility.

They argued that making membership achievable through a fixed amount of activity could undermine what makes these groups prestigious.

The unresolved issue

The discussion never established evidence sufficient to determine how widespread favoritism actually is.

However, it did reveal a significant problem with trust and transparency.

Even if recruitment decisions are fair internally, players who cannot understand the process may still perceive them as biased.

That distinction matters because perception alone can affect participation and motivation.

 

6. Administration, leadership and development criticism

Several players argued that SAES needs organizational reform as much as gameplay changes.

Administration complaints

The community raised concerns about:

• Admins ignoring requests for assistance.

• Players being redirected to /ask without receiving answers.

• Inconsistent punishments.

• Toxic behavior from some staff members.

• Inactive administrators retaining positions.

• Allegations that personal relationships influence decisions.

• Staff being overly restrictive about gameplay changes.

Corpse argued that some admins participate in the same hostile behavior that discourages players from remaining in the community.

Spartan called for removing administrators who allegedly make the server less enjoyable.

Zapomo and Mellow suggested reviewing staff activity and appointing new people to important positions.

Criticism of NanoBob

NanoBob received particularly strong criticism.

Some participants accused him of:

• Blocking scripts and gameplay ideas.

• Enforcing excessively strict development standards.

• Slowing down implementation.

• Having too much influence over development decisions.

• Contributing to years of stagnation.

Several suggested that he should step down from leading MTA development or take a smaller advisory role.

However, these were accusations made by participants. The conversation does not include NanoBob's own explanation or enough evidence to establish individual responsibility for the server's development problems.

Development philosophy

A recurring argument was that SAES had become overly cautious about introducing new features.

Some players believed that imperfect but enjoyable updates would be preferable to waiting years for polished scripts.

Others warned that poorly implemented scripts could introduce exploits, instability and further problems.

The underlying disagreement was about how to balance development speed, quality, security and player enjoyment.

 

7. Gameplay and progression need an overhaul

Many players argued that the server has become too repetitive.

Gang and squad progression

Players criticized the current gang leveling system because:

• Level 5 is often treated as the final meaningful achievement.

• Organizations lose motivation after reaching it.

• New gangs face long application and progression requirements.

• Some requirements depend on roleplay activity that has significantly declined.

• Inactive organizations retain privileges despite contributing little activity.

Mellow gave a specific example: reaching level 2 requires 25 events and 15 roleplays.

He suggested allowing organizations to complete a combined total of 40 activities, choosing between events and roleplays.

Other proposals included reducing application cooldowns, revisiting gang levels, and creating additional long-term progression.

Jobs

Players wanted existing jobs to become enjoyable and useful again.

Suggestions included improving:

• Trucking routes and payouts.

• Taxi jobs.

• Mining.

• Money transportation.

• Captain and delivery jobs.

• Arms dealing.

• Racing.

• Store robberies.

• Bank robberies.

• Gang raids and territorial activities.

A major point was that the server already has many systems that could be improved without necessarily developing everything from scratch.

Crime and police gameplay

Participants also discussed:

• Rebalancing jail times.

• Revising police and criminal advantages.

• Making robbery mechanics more engaging.

• Fixing dysfunctional raid systems.

• Reviewing drug-related combat advantages.

• Making ammunition and equipment purchases meaningful.

• Creating more frequent competitive activities.

Some wanted the server to become less restrictive, with fewer rules limiting spontaneous GTA-style gameplay.

 

8. The economy's deeper problem: money has nowhere to go

One of the most developed arguments came from reket.

He argued that the main economic issue is not simply that players earn too much money.

It is that they have very little reason to spend it.

For example, players can earn significant amounts through police or criminal activities, but many of their regular needs are covered by free equipment from organization spawns.

This creates an imbalance between:

Money faucets: Activities that introduce currency into the economy.

Money sinks: Purchases, fees and systems that permanently remove currency from circulation.

If money continuously enters the economy without enough ways to leave, wealth accumulates and progression loses its meaning.

Suggested solutions

• Introduce meaningful recurring expenses.

• Rebalance job payouts.

• Make ammunition and equipment purchasing more relevant.

• Improve weapon and inventory storage.

• Create desirable purchases beyond properties.

• Rework organization finances.

• Add meaningful progression systems that require spending.

Reket proposed an inventory or backpack system where ammunition could be purchased and stored rather than simply replenished through respawning.

Others suggested beginning with smaller changes instead of immediately implementing a complex inventory system.

This was one of the strongest economic arguments in the discussion: without sustainable money sinks, a reset may only temporarily hide the problem.

 

9. Donation vehicles and performance

This was one of the areas where the conversation produced a relatively concrete proposal.

Players complained that large collections of donation vehicles contribute to lag and make certain areas difficult to play in.

Racing enthusiasts were especially concerned about FPS drops affecting competitive driving.

Brophy's proposed solution

Donation vehicle storage redesign

• Allow one donation vehicle to be displayed at a player's property.
• Store additional donation vehicles in a dedicated disk menu.
• Prevent parking donation vehicles at businesses and police departments.
• Allow players to spawn stored vehicles when needed.
• Preserve vehicle sharing with other players.
• Allow donation vehicles to be purchased directly through the vehicle showroom using donation points.

This could reduce clutter and administrative workload while preserving access to purchased vehicles.

Other suggestions included limiting the number of vehicles available through public disks and introducing respawn cooldowns.

The community generally appeared more receptive to this type of practical improvement than to the economic reset itself.

 

10. Donations and fairness

Players questioned how donations would work after an economic reset.

The biggest concern was that allowing players to purchase in-game cash with real money would immediately undermine the new economy.

Brophy stated that the cash reward had been removed from donations, while other donation rewards still needed community feedback.

Mellow proposed cosmetic donation skins as an alternative.

The general principle emerging from the discussion was that donations should support the server without allowing players to bypass the progression system that the reset is intended to restore.

 

11. Community toxicity and the new-player experience

A significant part of the discussion focused on SAES's culture.

Several players described a community where:

• Newcomers sometimes receive hostile responses instead of help.

• Suggestions are mocked or dismissed.

• Criticism quickly becomes personal.

• Rivalries between police and criminal factions interfere with development.

• Players fear that disagreeing with influential members will damage their opportunities.

• Arguments frequently become more about individuals than solutions.

The discussion itself demonstrated some of these issues, with personal insults and unrelated disputes repeatedly interrupting the conversation.

Brophy acknowledged that toxicity needs to be addressed.

Corpse argued that a healthier community would benefit both returning players and newcomers, regardless of whether the economy is reset.

This is particularly relevant because an economic reset cannot independently change how people treat one another.

 

12. MTA versus FiveM and the future of SAES

Some participants argued that SAES should stop investing heavily in its MTA server and focus on its GTA V/FiveM project.

Others strongly disagreed.

Their arguments included:

• GTA San Andreas can run on lower-end computers.

• MTA remains accessible to players who cannot run newer GTA games.

• SAES has a long-established identity and community.

• Some players have no interest in moving to GTA V.

• Neglecting MTA while advertising FiveM has already damaged confidence in leadership.

Players also discussed whether GTA VI would affect FiveM's future, but these were speculative comments.

An important observation was that some older MTA communities reportedly remain active through frequent updates and responsiveness to player suggestions.

CIT and SAUR were mentioned as comparisons, with participants claiming that these servers have maintained stronger populations through ongoing development.

The exact population figures were not verified in the conversation.

 

13. Other notable suggestions

Beyond the main arguments, several additional proposals appeared.

Area	Suggestions
Groups	Review recruitment, inactivity and leadership
Gang levels	Rework requirements and add progression beyond level 5
Rules	Remove unnecessary restrictions and simplify gameplay
Events	Rotate special activities to keep gameplay fresh
Police	Review ProCop access and management
Robberies	Rework bank, store and gang robbery systems
Properties	Reclaim inactive properties and unused bases
Performance	Reduce unnecessary vehicles and large unused structures
Administration	Recruit active staff and improve accountability
Development	Release regular small updates rather than waiting for major overhauls
Economy	Add recurring money sinks and rebalance rewards
Competition	Create more skill-based and measurable achievements
New players	Improve onboarding and make progression more approachable
Reset safety	Preserve a database backup and consider a rollback plan

Some players also reported possible technical issues involving gang banking, raids and other mechanics. Those reports would require investigation before being treated as confirmed bugs.

 

14. Where the community appears to agree

Despite the arguments, several common positions emerged.

SAES needs meaningful changes. Very few participants argued that the current situation was sustainable without improvements.

The lack of development has damaged the server. Even Brophy acknowledged that updates had been neglected.

A reset alone is insufficient. Even several reset supporters wanted accompanying development and gameplay improvements.

Progression needs improvement. Players want goals that remain meaningful beyond accumulating money or reaching gang level 5.

Performance needs attention. Vehicle clutter and lag were repeatedly raised as practical problems.

Player feedback needs to produce results. The community wants evidence that suggestions will lead to implemented changes.

There was considerably less agreement about whether statistics, properties, gang levels and group memberships should be preserved.

 

15. The most important unanswered questions

These are the questions SAES leadership would need to answer before implementing a reset.

1. What specifically changes on reset day? Will there be new gameplay, jobs and progression systems immediately, or only later?

2. How will the new economy remain balanced? What new money sinks will prevent wealth from becoming meaningless again?

3. Why should inactive players return? What new experiences will be available that they cannot already access?

4. How will active players be protected? Will years of progression, donations and statistics receive any recognition?

5. Will group and gang systems change? Or will the same organizations, leaders and recruitment structures continue unchanged?

6. Who will develop the updates? Is there a committed development team with enough time and resources?

7. Will administration and community management improve? How will complaints about inactivity, favoritism and toxicity be addressed?

8. What happens if the reset fails? Will the original server state be recoverable?

9. How will success be measured? Through peak player counts, active participation, new-player retention or another metric?

10. Will development continue consistently? What prevents SAES from returning to the same update cycle that contributed to the current situation?

 

16. Overall assessment

The discussion reveals three competing views of what SAES needs.

Reset

A fresh start

Reset the economy, restore meaningful progression and rebuild the gameplay systems on a clean foundation.

Main risk: Players return briefly, discover the same problems and leave again.

 

Reform

Improve the existing server

Preserve player progress while introducing jobs, better management, economic changes and frequent updates.

Main risk: Existing wealth and established structures may make meaningful economic reform difficult.

 

Hybrid

Reset and reform together

Introduce an economic reset alongside tangible gameplay improvements, better progression, administrative reforms and a public development roadmap.

Main risk: This approach requires considerably more coordination and sustained development effort.

The third approach appears most capable of addressing the concerns expressed by both sides, although the conversation does not establish a reliable majority preference.

Final conclusion

The biggest issue revealed by this discussion is not the economy itself. It is the community's declining confidence that SAES can deliver meaningful, sustained improvements.

The economic reset has become a symbol of a much larger disagreement.

Leadership sees it as an opportunity to rebuild. Supporters see a chance to restore competition and progression. Critics see the risk of losing years of progress without fixing the problems that made the server less enjoyable.

The arguments about CLO, DE, HLS, administration, scripts, donations and gang progression are connected by one underlying concern: many players feel that SAES has become stagnant, difficult to influence and increasingly unrewarding.

The most constructive contributions were those proposing specific improvements to the economy, vehicle systems, progression, jobs and administration.

Ultimately, a reset could give players a reason to log in again, but sustained development, enjoyable gameplay and better community management are what would give them a reason to stay.

That is the central message of the entire conversation.

 

Edited 44 minutes ago by mellow