Make Civil Protection & Overwatch Roles Earned, Not Automatic

ThePanMan

HL2RP Trial Moderator & Events Staff
Staff Team
Dec 8, 2025
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Saudi Arabia
It’s extremely outrageous how easy it currently is to obtain Civil Protection and eventually Overwatch. Reaching 50 XP and automatically becoming CP is not okay. The same issue applies to Overwatch progression.


At the moment, players can simply AFK at spawn or wait until they hit the required XP, and gain access to important Combine roles without effort, knowledge, or roleplay quality. These roles should feel earned, not automatic.


My suggestion is to make Civil Protection and Overwatch Rewarding.


Civil Protection images.png

  • Bring back the Civil Protection Exam.
  • Add a Recruitment Office NPC (similar to the Requisitions Officer at Combine spawn).
  • Interacting with the NPC initiates an examthat includes:
    • Rules
    • Guidelines
    • Basic RP and lore knowledge
  • If a test-taker fails, they must wait before retrying:
    • Suggested cooldown: up to 3 hours maximum

This ensures CP units are competent, informed, and actually deserve the role.



Overwatch Transhuman Arms images.jpg

  • Apply the same system as Civil Protection.
  • Add a Recruitment NPC at a logical location (for example, the Overwatch Armory).
  • Keep the XP requirement at 800 XP.
  • The exam should be accessible only to Civil Protection officers, framed as a memory replacement / augmentation process.
    • This does not delete the CP character.
  • If the test-taker fails, they must wait a few hours before retrying.

Civil Protection and Overwatch are high-responsibility roles. They should require effort, knowledge, and commitment, This system would improve roleplay quality, reduce low-effort promotions, and make Combine progression feel meaningful again.
 
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+SUPPORT
I actually agree on this one due to recent observations of specific Assets (I won't mention names) not even knowing how to communicate through the radio, disobeying, getting de-serviced and then throwing a tantrum about it. I think a small Quiz would help to sort through individuals and encourage people to study up to know atleast the basics of OTA/CPF.
 
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I agree with this partially. Yes it is definetly too easy to become OTA/CP but with that said I do disagree on some aspects I offer an alternative middle ground.
I-4 CP units are permitted to be made but at a higher XP bench mark.

If 50 XP is all it takes to gain access to everything a I-4 has access to, which is a fair amount considering. Thus it may serve better to have these tests/exams to increase to I3, I2 and I1 each one different.

This gives players the chance to play a little as an I-4 and get a feel for being a new recruited member of Civil Protection. If they repeatedly ignore faction guidelines and rules then they are dealt with as they currently are, preventing dealing with players like this who reach the ranks of I-2 and I-1.

As for Overwatch I agree that CPs should do the aformentioned method to unlock the ability to create a OTA character if they pass however It'd be both logical from an OOC and RP standpoint to lock it to I-1+

Yes I admit my alternative adds a grind to ranking up in the Combine but we already have plenty of capable players who hold ranks in both CP and OTA so in the end if implemented we don't suffer too sevearly.
 
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I agree with this partially. Yes it is definetly too easy to become OTA/CP but with that said I do disagree on some aspects I offer an alternative middle ground.
I-4 CP units are permitted to be made but at a higher XP bench mark.

If 50 XP is all it takes to gain access to everything a I-4 has access to, which is a fair amount considering. Thus it may serve better to have these tests/exams to increase to I3, I2 and I1 each one different.

This gives players the chance to play a little as an I-4 and get a feel for being a new recruited member of Civil Protection. If they repeatedly ignore faction guidelines and rules then they are dealt with as they currently are, preventing dealing with players like this who reach the ranks of I-2 and I-1.

As for Overwatch I agree that CPs should do the aformentioned method to unlock the ability to create a OTA character if they pass however It'd be both logical from an OOC and RP standpoint to lock it to I-1+

Yes I admit my alternative adds a grind to ranking up in the Combine but we already have plenty of capable players who hold ranks in both CP and OTA so in the end if implemented we don't suffer too sevearly.
+ Support
 
  • Like
Reactions: ThePanMan
I agree with this partially. Yes it is definetly too easy to become OTA/CP but with that said I do disagree on some aspects I offer an alternative middle ground.
I-4 CP units are permitted to be made but at a higher XP bench mark.

If 50 XP is all it takes to gain access to everything a I-4 has access to, which is a fair amount considering. Thus it may serve better to have these tests/exams to increase to I3, I2 and I1 each one different.

This gives players the chance to play a little as an I-4 and get a feel for being a new recruited member of Civil Protection. If they repeatedly ignore faction guidelines and rules then they are dealt with as they currently are, preventing dealing with players like this who reach the ranks of I-2 and I-1.

As for Overwatch I agree that CPs should do the aformentioned method to unlock the ability to create a OTA character if they pass however It'd be both logical from an OOC and RP standpoint to lock it to I-1+

Yes I admit my alternative adds a grind to ranking up in the Combine but we already have plenty of capable players who hold ranks in both CP and OTA so in the end if implemented we don't suffer too sevearly.
I agree with filtering progression, but I don’t think exams at every rank-up are necessary. Constant testing risks turning Combine progression into grind rather than roleplay, especially when discipline and demotions already handle rule-breakers. I still believe a solid induction exam for CP, and a separate OTA exam, achieves quality control without overcomplicating promotion.
 
The proposed system has been done before and worked decently, but there are always those that will 'cheat'.
I can't help but wonder if there is a better method.

I don't think a lot of players want to go do homework just to play a role, it stops being a game at that point.
Implementing this removes their opportunity to learn things in character and in a more engaging way.
 
The proposed system has been done before and worked decently, but there are always those that will 'cheat'.
I can't help but wonder if there is a better method.

I don't think a lot of players want to go do homework just to play a role, it stops being a game at that point.
Implementing this removes their opportunity to learn things in character and in a more engaging way.
The exam wouldn’t be difficult or feel like homework, it would only cover basic knowledge any Civil Protection officer should already know. Speaking from personal experience, and reflecting the views of multiple supervisors, we’re exhausted from dealing with repeated incompetence caused by players entering CP simply because it’s readily available. CP should be played because someone wants to engage with the role, and reading the handbook or asking around before joining is a reasonable baseline.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Law
It’s extremely outrageous how easy it currently is to obtain Civil Protection and eventually Overwatch. Reaching 50 XP and automatically becoming CP is not okay. The same issue applies to Overwatch progression.


At the moment, players can simply AFK at spawn or wait until they hit the required XP, and gain access to important Combine roles without effort, knowledge, or roleplay quality. These roles should feel earned, not automatic.


My suggestion is to make Civil Protection and Overwatch Rewarding.


Civil Protection View attachment 1302

  • Bring back the Civil Protection Exam.
  • Add a Recruitment Office NPC (similar to the Requisitions Officer at Combine spawn).
  • Interacting with the NPC initiates an examthat includes:
    • Rules
    • Guidelines
    • Basic RP and lore knowledge
  • If a test-taker fails, they must wait before retrying:
    • Suggested cooldown: up to 3 hours maximum

This ensures CP units are competent, informed, and actually deserve the role.



Overwatch Transhuman Arms View attachment 1300

  • Apply the same system as Civil Protection.
  • Add a Recruitment NPC at a logical location (for example, the Overwatch Armory).
  • Keep the XP requirement at 800 XP.
  • The exam should be accessible only to Civil Protection officers, framed as a memory replacement / augmentation process.
    • This does not delete the CP character.
  • If the test-taker fails, they must wait a few hours before retrying.

Civil Protection and Overwatch are high-responsibility roles. They should require effort, knowledge, and commitment, This system would improve roleplay quality, reduce low-effort promotions, and make Combine progression feel meaningful again.

+SUPPORT

Requiring a basic quiz for i4s and OWS is a great way to make sure players acknowledge important core rules and principles.
 

+SUPPORT

Requiring a basic quiz for i4s and OWS is a great way to make sure players acknowledge important core rules and principles.
it was implemented before, not really sure why it was removed
 

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