AuraWatch history

[Hudson633]

Names:

auraWatch
AuraWatch

Servers:

Half-Life 2 Roleplay (HL2RP) [Late 2019 ~ 2022+]

Background & start:

A veteran of the community explains the "beginning of the server [was] around early 2019" and that "it all started as a test with our developer and host of the server, Bob Good, to enhance his coding skills on a game he's familiar with from the past." He added that "expectations were low" and it had "no proper advertisement" but "reached some active players out of curiosity of the project - from the server browser."

The AuraWatch content pack was posted on 12th March 2019. Their Steam group was founded on 15th August 2019, and their first YouTube video was uploaded in Jan 2020. Their early beginnings were during a difficult period when the nebulous community already ran a populated HL2RP server against a background of a declining Gmod playerbase that saw few newcomers to the serious roleplay scene. Despite this difficulty, the community found success.

Funding:

A member describes that there were "no donations. It's a passion project." Another veteran notes that "the server is not open every day" citing financial demands, and explains that "funding has been from Bobs own pockets and he has often rejected the idea of donations."

Operation & culture:

Community culture
Taking a look at the community in July 2022, it was confusing about how to get into it. The Discord didn't seem to let you even join unless there was an event running, but the forum didn't appear to publicly show when an event was planned, and even the Steam group lacked an announcement section.

It looks like a private group that might only run through friends of friends if the events aren't public. The Discord group appeared to have hundreds of members, but it only tells you the exact number of members when invited, and the invite links no longer work as of Sept 2022.

HL2RP seasonal nature
There used to be a page on the HL2RP fandom wiki describing the server as a serious roleplay one running on OpenAura, and hosting themed "iterations" or "seasons" from late 2019 until atleast August 2021. Their forum suggests that the community (and one assumes to an extension - the server also) is still semi-active.

Apart from financial considerations, another reason given for the temporary nature of the server uptime is that experienced players no longer want to play regularly, but still like the idea of occasional weekends.

HL2RP server culture
A veteran mentions the use of an "in-game timecycle system" and "automated action sequences" removing the need for "characters - [to] not constantly need to do their /me's", coupled with the use of "less strict combat rules" to reduce the demands on the staff members. But another veteran explained that there atleast needed to be "cops", as: "aurawatch cannot operate unless cops are around. They have to unlock doors and open containment fields hourly, and process new citizens, etc."

By Sept 2022 there have been around 50 YouTube videos titled with AuraWatch, having been uploaded since in early 2020. They mention Outlands in early 2022, and appear to show Combine soldiers on "Colonial" adventures later on in the year. The content of the early videos show typical City 17 gameplay involving citizens lining up for rations, Civil Protection units and enslaved Vortigaunts present, and firefights between Civil Protection and anti-citizens or rebels.

A member described the server "it is one of the most serious roleplay servers I've encountered in HL2RP. It is a must for players to read the rules carefully, otherwise a mistake can get you banned. There are no admin influenced events either. One's actions can greatly affect others' stories and such."

Another member, explaining the Civil Protection culture said that they are: "the same they were imagined in the original game, harsh, observant and punishing like actual totalitarians - even talking to another citizen, you could get in trouble."

The in-game politics focuses on city security, and involves an administrator, bureaucrats, and collaborators. At one point there had been a Civil Protection coup. The resistance roleplay is described as dangerous, but popular, involving direct attacks on Civil Protection officers and collaborators.

Challenges:

A fairly private community, there's not much information readily available about it, and one wonders if they want to keep it that way. Whether they struggle for playercount as a private group or if they enjoy being free from the chaos of larger styled communities isn't clear. The nature of privacy as a HL2RP community is similar to Anthology Roleplay.

References:

The Steam group, founded 15th August 2019, and had 96 members by July 2022, up to 108 by Jan 2023, and 117 by Jan 2024:
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/AuraWatch

Their forum, which had 233 members and 99 threads by July 2022, and was still up (login required to see it) by Jan 2023 and Jan 2024:
https://aurawatch.info/index.php/

Communities index

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/gca1/discussions/0/1698294337765867799/