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damned_lounge2011-09-26 07:14 pm
burningvigor.livejournal.com) wrote in damned_lounge2011-09-26 07:14 pm
Activity Check Discussion Post + Contact List Update
Hello, everyone!
While the game has been trucking along pretty nicely (I hope the military arc has been enjoyable for most of you!), recently there's been a lot of talk about people's waning activity. I do think that Damned is a place where you can afford to be slow at times, where you don't have to post to every shift -- this isn't meant to discourage people who aren't lightning taggers like some of us. It's already been mentioned a number of times, but there's little I can do as a mod to make people post faster, and yet there are a few changes that can be made to possibly work through this problem. I definitely want to encourage people to put their all into the game when possible and to play out some awesome plots, so here goes.
This issue was brought up over on the suggestions post, so this is mainly just meant to be a continuation of that. It was mentioned there that this is something that should be talked about by the game as a whole, and so this post is basically an open forum for people to give their thoughts and talk things out. Whether you're one of the people who's frustrated or someone who is on the slow side and looking to explain your side of things, feel free to reply and comment around!
The two solutions which have been brought up are as follows:
a) changing the requirements for the activity check
b) adding a "Posting Speed" section to the plot post form
The second option there would mainly be a way for people to know from the start what to expect from potential thread partners. It's not much of a change, but it would allow an open line of communication to be present from the start.
Changing the Activity Check requirements is something that is going to require some more thought, and so I'd like to start by polling you all on if you think it's something that needs to be revised.
[Poll #1781912]
So go ahead and fill that out, reply here with your thoughts, and we'll see what we can do about this! I'm sorry there's not more I can do, but hopefully this is a step in the right direction.
Additionally, some changes have been made to the Contact List in order to make communication easier for everyone. There's been a spot added for people to list their plurk names if they wish. It's in no way required, but if you are open to people contacting you/conversing with you through plurk then please feel free to list it. More importantly, a Preferred Method of Contact section has been added so that other players can know how you would like to be contacted. I'd like to ask for everyone to respond to the contact list with their response to that section if possible! Thanks a lot for reading all this, and have a nice night, everyone.
While the game has been trucking along pretty nicely (I hope the military arc has been enjoyable for most of you!), recently there's been a lot of talk about people's waning activity. I do think that Damned is a place where you can afford to be slow at times, where you don't have to post to every shift -- this isn't meant to discourage people who aren't lightning taggers like some of us. It's already been mentioned a number of times, but there's little I can do as a mod to make people post faster, and yet there are a few changes that can be made to possibly work through this problem. I definitely want to encourage people to put their all into the game when possible and to play out some awesome plots, so here goes.
This issue was brought up over on the suggestions post, so this is mainly just meant to be a continuation of that. It was mentioned there that this is something that should be talked about by the game as a whole, and so this post is basically an open forum for people to give their thoughts and talk things out. Whether you're one of the people who's frustrated or someone who is on the slow side and looking to explain your side of things, feel free to reply and comment around!
The two solutions which have been brought up are as follows:
a) changing the requirements for the activity check
b) adding a "Posting Speed" section to the plot post form
The second option there would mainly be a way for people to know from the start what to expect from potential thread partners. It's not much of a change, but it would allow an open line of communication to be present from the start.
Changing the Activity Check requirements is something that is going to require some more thought, and so I'd like to start by polling you all on if you think it's something that needs to be revised.
[Poll #1781912]
So go ahead and fill that out, reply here with your thoughts, and we'll see what we can do about this! I'm sorry there's not more I can do, but hopefully this is a step in the right direction.
Additionally, some changes have been made to the Contact List in order to make communication easier for everyone. There's been a spot added for people to list their plurk names if they wish. It's in no way required, but if you are open to people contacting you/conversing with you through plurk then please feel free to list it. More importantly, a Preferred Method of Contact section has been added so that other players can know how you would like to be contacted. I'd like to ask for everyone to respond to the contact list with their response to that section if possible! Thanks a lot for reading all this, and have a nice night, everyone.
so many words. ;_;
Taking into account that our opportunities to thread are per-shift, and shifts are on a semi-regular schedule, here are examples of what I mean about needing the freedom to manage things on our own:
- Good habits should be encouraged: taking on fewer shifts per DS is a good way to manage less active posting, but if a heavy focus is placed on the number of posts put out per cycle, reducing your opportunities to make AC is counter-intuitive.
- Most people who choose not to post to a shift, or who post a single closed tag, don't usually formally hiatus (many are backthreading).
- The plan for reducing AC requirements based on hiatuses is not yet well-geared to the actual shift structure (4 days per shift but 7 days per week, etc etc).
- Players could still feel like it's "safe" to be unreliable after they get their two threads or required number of posts out. Bailing on threads later in DS is already a problem, & this scenario offers little incentive for consistent NS posting.
- Threads get dropped for many reasons other than unreliability; one is a lack of chemistry during attempts at new CR. Making it less desirable to take a risk on new CR (because it takes up a shift & therefore possibly an opportunity to pass AC) would be bad.
- Some threads get done w/o hitting 6 posts per character, or by just barely hitting it. Similarly, larger groups during NS can involve fewer tags per character.
- It could limit CR for players who aren't willing to backthread much.
- Too many players consider dinner shift semi-optional & are unreliable about posting to it, an ingrained habit caused mostly by the shift's timing. It means that some of us have fewer opportunities for DS threads overall. Roommate-switching options (which are slow) aside, we can't go out and find another dinner thread to help us make AC.
- The suggestion to go back to earlier stuff if NS stalls isn't bad, but many players want to move on if they've waited for a response for more than a few days. Motivating them with guilt would drain fun from the game.
- Sometimes lag is caused by waiting on other lagged players; this is a major factor in activity issues. It's already stressful to be stuck; it's going to be more so if it involves ability to meet AC. Yes, exceptions can be made, but you might not know for sure until AC time that the exception would be made.
- Having to point out that it's "someone else's fault" that we didn't make AC could have a bad effect on the game's OOC atmosphere.
- Risk of discouraging doctor apps. Therapy days require heavy activity from doctor players (a vicious cycle, because having more doctors overall would make it easier for everyone who plays one). This can be managed with character hiatuses to some extent, but still... under the proposed rules, even if I had my activity at the point where it was the first few months I was in the game, I probably wouldn't app a doctor. Others might feel the same way.
- It's hard to explain well, but the proposal seems to be geared to the needs of action or CR-oriented characters (those who focus on their friendships, don't analyze much, and aren't "fighting hero" types) rather than info-oriented ones. Damned is a good game for info-oriented characters, relatively balanced in a way that not many other games on LJ are... but my experience is that the relatively complex detail in the setting can make for long tags that sometimes call for fact-checking. People are already reluctant to app info characters here in the fear that it will be "too hard." I would be sad to see them further discouraged by a demanding AC. (I know some people are also faster than me with posts that analyze a lot of info!)
That's about all! I don't want to annoy you & don't plan to come back to this again; I just have genuine concerns and wanted to be sure someone brought them up. Thank you for reading.