Player/Staff Meeting 2 : 2/21/09 - Part 2 - Player Retention & Staff Animations

[Morgenes]

<Nessalin> We'll move the topic on to Player Retention and Player
  Promotion for Arm 1/Arm 2, if anyone has comments or questions on this topic
  msg me now and I will put you in the queue.

*** Nessalin sets mode: +v halcyon

<Halcyon> Is karma serving as intended, by which I mean, are trusted
  players needing to be demoted for failures, and, are the populations of rare
  roles being over or under limited by the settings?

<Sanvean> We rarely see trusted players needing to be demoted for
  failure, but it does happen sometimes. The populations of rare roles are
  definitely being limited, but I am not aware of complaints that they are
  overlimited

<Sanvean> If anything, though, I'd like to see us being a bit more
  liberal, there are always people being overlooked, in my opinion, by the
  very nature of the system. (done)

<Halcyon> Do you think that awarding more karma, since the spec app
  system in more limited now, might help retention?  (done)

<Sanvean> I think that's quite possible, and I'm making a note of that
  in my list of take-aways from the meeting. (done)

*** Nessalin sets mode: -v halcyon

*** Nessalin sets mode: +v venomz

<Venomz> I think that player retention is largely a problem of player
  perception concerning staff. I have no clue the solution, but if there is a
  real problem, I simply encourage it to be addressed. We wouldn't have this
  game without you folks, but the same applies in reverse. So I think that
  both sides should be looked at in regards to interaction, behind the story,
  between players and staff. Sand in the shoe is sand in the shoe, no matter
  who's shoe it's in.

<Venomz> I should add that player retention, when it's not about Real
  Life taking over, is what I am addressing. Sorry.

<Sanvean> I think there's a lot of factors involved in player retention. One
  is ease of lerning - traditionally the game turns a lot of people off
  within the first ten minutes of play and they vanish, never to be seen again

<Sanvean> To me that seems like something more worth addresing than the
  inevitable attrition when people change life priorities, if that makes
  sense. We have a process in place with which players can address issues
  with staff

<Sanvean> We've made that about as easy as we can, and I'm not sure
  what more we can do there. Adhira is working on making the docs on how to
  do that clearer right now

<Sanvean> done

*** Nessalin sets mode: -v venomz

*** Nessalin sets mode: +v fantasywriter

<FantasyWriter> Any decisions or strong leanings on how the "karma"
  system for 2.arm will work when it goes up?

<Sanvean> Well, not much definitive. One thing I have proposed is that
  there be no karma system at first, in order to see how it
  goes without one, but it remains to be seen whether or not we'll do that.
  (done)

<FantasyWriter> done

*** Nessalin sets mode: -v fantasywriter

*** Nessalin sets mode: +v lysine

<Lysine> I think part of the problem with the rentention of new players
  has to do with an "empty tavern" syndrome. Some create and log in, then
  wander about a seemingly empty city, wondering just what they're supposed
  to be doing, and after a while give up. I don't have any brilliant idea
  concerning what can be done about that, but perhaps someone else does?
  Here's one controversial idea: let new players join

<Lysine> the Byn right from the Hall of Kings? Only with their first
  character.

<Lysine> (done)

<Sanvean> That's a system that's been proposed and has some pluses
  going for it. One thing I'd feel more comfortable with is if we had some
  equivalent for people who don't want to run combat types.

<Sanvean> The Atrium was intended to work along those lines, but was
  unsuccessful.

<Sanvean> It also gets discoruaging for newbies to only have onother
  newbies to RP wtth (done)

*** Nessalin sets mode: -v lysine

<Nessalin> We'll move on to the next topic, now, Clan Staffing,
  Animation, Bringing the World to Life.  Msg me with your
  questions and I'll put you in the queue.

*** Nessalin sets mode: +v rishenko

<rishenko> Sorry folks, I'm an idiot.  Here come the questions.

<rishenko> With the changes in staffing, should independent characters
  be making more of a concerted effort to send update emails to the indy
  clan staff? <cont>

<rishenko> If they do, should they expect any sort of response or just
  send emails to keep the imms up to date? <cont>

<rishenko> Finally, do you feel that bios are more important for
  independent characters since they don't have an imm watching over them and
  keeping up to date as much as imms are perceived to do for those within a
  coded clan? (done)

<Sanvean> Yes, and here's a big reason why: take advantage of that
  fresh new staffer energy while you can. I encourage staff to drop people
  a note acknowleging reports - if someone is worried stuff isn't going thru,
  feel free to drop an email asking if it is.

<Sanvean> I think bios are important for all characters, really, but I
  would think a clear, interesting one that shows you're interested in RP
  is certainly very helpful to staff

<Sanvean> (done)

*** Nessalin sets mode: -v rishenko

*** Nessalin sets mode: +v booya

<Booya> talk Could there be a way Storytellers can identify new
  accounts to offer newbies an increased chance of interaction? I think
  involvement is key to retaining a lot of people when they start playing.
  (done)

<Sanvean> Well, you can see the number of chars a person has been you
  look at someone's account info, along with the date when the account was
  made. So that functionality is there. I totally agree with you on it
  being extra important for new players.

<Sanvean> I've had people meniton early interactions with staff as
  reasons why they stuck with the game. I'm being told there's also a way to
  list only new accounts when doing a who as well (done)

*** Nessalin sets mode: -v booya