Short answer: look at the city, not the counter. The player count on a homepage does not tell you whether a server is good; half an hour of walking around on a weekday evening does. Below are eight things to check before you join. Vice Roleplay wrote this, so we are biased; that is why the checks come first and our own answers sit in a separate section. The checks work for any server.
Pick the platform first: SA-MP, MTA or FiveM
SA-MP and MTA run on GTA San Andreas; roleplay is typed and an old PC is enough. FiveM runs on GTA V; most servers roleplay over voice and you need an up-to-date, legitimate copy of GTA V.
We compare them in SA-MP vs FiveM. Once the platform is settled, it is time to look at the server.
1. How long has it been open, and has it ever been wiped?
What you build in roleplay is a story, not a bank balance. You do not want to give a character two years and wake up to an empty database. Ask: how long has the server been running, when was the last wipe, has it closed and reopened?
New servers are not bad by default. But we have seen plenty of "grand openings" that were gone in three months. If you are going to invest, invest in something that stays.
2. Is the number on the counter real?
Player counts inflate easily: accounts sitting AFK count too. Look at the scenes, not the number. Join between 9 and 11 pm and go where people gather. How many players do you meet, and how many are actually in character?
A server with three hundred players and roleplay on every corner beats one that shows five hundred and has empty streets.
3. Are the rules written down, and enforced?
Deathmatch, metagaming and powergaming rules are written everywhere. The difference is enforcement. Where do reports go, who handles them, are outcomes public? Where punishments happen behind closed doors, so does fairness.
4. Does it require an application?
Some servers ask for a character application, others let you straight in. The downside of applications is obvious: you wait, and sometimes you are asked to revise. So is the upside: everyone inside has at least thought about their character.
If you want to jump in and play, pick a server without applications. If you want the people you meet to roleplay, an application is a filter.
5. Where does the staff come from?
Look at the admin team. Did they start on that server as players and work their way up, or did they arrive with a rank on opening day? Where the founder's friends run things, the rules tend to bend around those friends.
6. What does the store sell?
Servers need income to stay up, and there is nothing wrong with that. But check what is for sale: looks and convenience, or straight-up power? Are items and prices on a public page, or do you find out through a private Discord message?
7. Is there roleplay beyond cops and gangs?
If a city has only police and gangs, what you have is an endless shootout, not roleplay. Shop owners, doctors, lawyers, reporters, courts, a city council, politics: when those exist, the city is alive.
8. Does it have a life outside the game?
A good server keeps going after you close the game: character pages, faction threads, news, a recorded history. And a support channel where you actually get an answer. On a server that is nothing but a Discord, your story gets lost in the Discord too.
How does Vice answer these?
As promised, our own answers are kept separate:
| Question | Vice's answer |
| Platform | Vice City on SA-MP, text roleplay. Our Los Santos city on FiveM is in the works. |
| How long open | Since 3 November 2019. Never closed, never wiped, never reset. |
| Player count | Instead of a number: viceroleplay.com/vice-city shows the characters who are in game right now, with their faces. |
| Rules | Written on the site. Complaints are handled as two-sided cases anyone can follow. |
| Application | Yes. Staff read and approve character applications. |
| Staff | Apart from the founder, the whole team started on this server as players. |
| Store | Custom skins, name changes, membership tiers. Everything for sale is on the public store page. |
| Roleplay variety | VCPD, hospital, justice, city hall and council, press, businesses, mafia, street gangs, motorcycle clubs, racing. |
| Outside the game | Forum, Vice Social, character and faction pages, and the Vice Chronicle that records the city's history. |
We have downsides too, so here they are. Not everyone likes waiting on an application, and text roleplay is not for everyone. Most of the community plays in Turkish. If you want to roleplay over a microphone, Vice City may not be for you.
Last word: try it for an evening
No article, ours included, replaces an evening spent walking around inside. Keep the list in your pocket, try two or three servers, and you will know where you want to stay.
Stuck somewhere? Open a ticket under Support on the forum or come to our Discord; someone is around at any hour.
