It says legends no wonder why some are writing down only top 5 skills/DM based players
Okay, so in terms of
influence on VC:MP, I'm gonna break the rules a little and go past 5 so that no one major gets left out. I'm also going to exclude myself so that I don't seem like an arrogant prick
(Again, this is a list on what I perceive as influence, not on reputation. And it is only based on experience of the mod since late 2007, no earlier.) I'm gonna list the explanations below.
1. Developers (esp. Stormeus, Max and Bakasan)
2. HeAD
3. Thijn
4. VRocker
5. Adtec
6. Cola & Darfy (Sorry guys but you'll always be linked in my eyes)
7. Morphine
8. Juppi
9. Tical
10. aXXo & Klaus
11. Hanney
12. Force
1. Obvious reasons are obvious.
2. HeAD completely shook up VC:MP when he took over XE and dragged ULK here. In late 2008 VC:MP was dead. VCDC and XE brought it back to life. By perfectly distilling and executing the vision of gameplay that had emerged but hadn't been fully realised in MTA:VC, HeAD changed how we all played. It could be argued that it would have happened sooner or later no matter whether someone made it happen or not, but the fact is that HeAD was the one who forced the change and brought real TDM to the mod.
3. Thijn has helped out on almost every major project in VC:MP since 2009. He's the unsung hero of VC:MP, and continues to innovate and create wonderful things for us, years after he stopped playing frequently ingame.
4. VRocker provided foundational help to LWs back when it was the exemplar server in 2007/8. He then provided assistance and hosting to the variety of servers and events that helped VC:MP come back from the edge of complete extinction during 2009. Since then he's been a consistent, friendly and reliable support to the VC:MP community. I'm not sure what he contributed during the VC:MP-LU merger, but I'm sure it was great.
5. Adtec may not be an obvious choice here, but in his (albeit slow) work on LWs years ago, he inspired a lot of people to start scripting, and without them, we wouldn't see a lot of what has been on offer and what is on offer today.
6. As co-leaders of DU they set the bar for what a friendly clan could be. For years they've been dedicated to supporting the community in a non-confrontational and unconditional way.
7. The most recent addition to the VC:MP community on this list, but now seemingly an old-timer, Morphine arrived and it was clear that he wanted to make his mark on VC:MP. It was a somewhat tumultuous rise to the top, but Morphine worked hard and deserves every credit he has to his name.
8. Juppi's contributions independently and alongside VRocker, and the LW team, and in Ka, have been tremendous. My old head forgets who exactly created the original squirrel server, but I believe it was Juppi. That alone has had an immeasurable impact on the mod.
9. While HeAD had a vision and set it in motion, Tical, with the help of others, carried it forward. He was one of the few people who worked across the ULK-everyone else divide and took no shit from either side. He shared HeAD's vision of pure, fair TDM and worked hard to implement it; which he did, successfully.
10. So I've grouped these two together because of Argo. Their independent contributions to VC:MP have been huge, but more than anything they have kept alive and thriving a part of VC:MP that is often overlooked, and that some of us doubted would ever survive. They are the godfathers of RP in VC:MP.
11. Hanney has obviously been a great admin over the years, but really his contribution comes in the form of having somehow attained a folkloric status, and having maintained it for more than ten years. The combination of his skill as a fighter, the fact that he is sometimes not seen for months, and the fact that he doesn't engage with the community on forums or much at all outside LWs, endows Hanney a semi-mythical reputation. Year after year we have seen, and will continue to see, people saying that Hanney is the best fighter in VC:MP, even if they've never seen him ingame.
12. By releasing FBS, Force gave an entry-point for many, many people into scripting. Besides countless other contributions Force has made behind the scenes, FBS alone sets him apart as one of the key figures in VC:MP history. It was a simple script, no doubt, and that's exactly why it had so much influence. Tamas tried to do the same, but, while it was a good effort, he never quite succeeded.
Edit:- I'd be especially interested to see Thijn's opinion on this topic, as he's probably witnessed more of VC:MP history than anyone I can think of.