Player Base Distribution?

[COGATO]

I just came back to playing after taking about a three month break. And before I left I noticed that the south is almost completely without a player base while the north, which in the past only had numerous players when carvans would come up from the south, has became over run with pcs. And now that I am back I see that this is even more evident, the southern taverns are almost completely devoid of pcs while the northern taverns are packed quite frequently, (I remeber about a year ago finding 2 or 3 people at a time in a northern tavern, even in peak hours, was a rarity). I was just wondering what people thought about this and wondering what you think might be the cause of the dramatic shift.

I for one think its because of the Allanaki wildlife. Not only have the always present creatures been given a little dose of steroids but alot of new creatures have been implemented in the past year that would strike fear into the most battle hardened of dwarfs. Another but more debateable issue, as unlikely as it seems, is the construction of a Byn compound in Tuluk. I think we lost alot of newbie starters down south when the byn set up shop in the north, if you think about it a whole lot of newbies use their first 10 characters maybe joining the byn just trying to make it. And now that there is a compound up north in a much more hospitable environment with a much less enforcing government and there isnt a constant flood of thieves picking at you belt coming out of the rinth, the north just seems like the better place to start out, and stay. Oh well, these are just my insights, what do ya think?

[JollyGreenGiant]

Maybe it's just when I'm on, but I've got a character up north right now, and I go for real life days at a time without seeing another pc.

[UnderSeven]

As a player who has had my char move around a lot, I would say right now the north and south are pretty even with perhaps a southern tilt.  But before anyone disagrees, keep in mind timezone.  If you play during a certain part of the day, you might be missing the vast number of players.

[COGATO]

Yeah I never did think about time zones being a factor, but I can say that in my time zone, the shift is very apparent. I remember how it was around a year ago and it boggles my mind to see the singnifacant difference. But we have got alot more players in the past year so it may not be that there are less players down south, but many more players up north. Just a thought.

[darkone]

whenever i'm playing at a time that isn't a terribly late hour, i can always find other PCs to RP with in almost any part of Allanak. so yeah, maybe its your playing times.

[Dyrinis]

Actually, in the last few weeks Allanak has been killing Tuluk.  Most people seem to hang out in the Barrel instead of the Gaj/Traders these days.

And,

I for one think its because of the Allanaki wildlife. Not only have the always present creatures been given a little dose of steroids but alot of new creatures have been implemented in the past year that would strike fear into the most battle hardened of dwarfs.

this is incorrect.

Dyrinis

[Angela Christine]

I for one think its because of the Allanaki wildlife. Not only have the always present creatures been given a little dose of steroids but alot of new creatures have been implemented in the past year that would strike fear into the most battle hardened of dwarfs.

this is incorrect.

I'll have to agree with Dyrinis here, although the mistaken perception that the creatures in the south are deadlier than a herd of spiced up bahamets may still be a contributing factor for some people.  Everybody knows northerners are cowards.  

By way of experiment, I tried a few "lone rangers" in the south in the last couple months, and managed to keep them alive for upto 3 days of play time.  Ok, a couple lasted like 3 hours, but you'd get that anywhere in the known world because loner characters are hard to keep alive.  You have virtully no margin for error when you are alone.

I'll admit to using OOC knowledge of reboots, which is probably bad but unavoidable.  IC reboots don't happen, it's just "natural cycles".  Anyone who has played an outdoorsy character knows that the wildlife situation is different right after a reboot, a day after the reboot, and four days after the reboot.  Right after a reboot there are many creatures of all kinds.  4 days after a reboot there are fewer creatures overall, but you are more likely to find a deadly creature in an unusual location because the deadly creatures chase things.  If you see a silt horror in the Grey Forest it has probably been a good long time since the last reboot.  :twisted:

Their are not as many "easy kills" for hunters in the south, so it is harder for a lone hunter, but it's not bad for a small group of hunters.  And there are some compensations, like there are fewer poison using creatures in the south.  I hate poison using creatures.

Caution and common sense will keep you alive as well in the south as they do in the north.

Don't poke the mekillots.

AC

[gfair]

If anybody is aware of this issue, it's definitely the IMMs.  I agree that in some circumstances, low PC populations are clearly having an effect in the game, in both of the major cities, as well as the smaller ones like Luirs and RS. Also, the more isolated tribes tend to decrease the interaction of PCs.


I think what a lot of us would like to see is the good ole days of Nak, when you could see huge turnouts to the Gaj, to the arena, and large, active populations in the Houses and Byn.  With Tuluk being as appealing as it is, it was not a hard choice for a lot of people to start characters up there, which is guaranteed to attract a lot of the playerbase, and it clearly shows.  Now there are more than double the number of Houses if you count the ones both in Nak and Tuluk, and some quite inactive, which leaves a number of people with PCs they like stuck to a life-oath in a House where they are perhaps the only active player, or one of very few.


If I had a suggestion, I would assign a rigid ratio of active PCs to VNPCs, in order to determine the minimum number of PCs needed to keep that particular group active.  For Houses or groups with a large virtual population, perhaps a ratio of 1:20 or 1:30 active PCs to virtual population.  For smaller groups, a smaller ratio.  And particularly in this case, Houses with a PC group in more than one town.

This then would give a guideline for the Immortals to determine if the groups they administer are currently healthy or need increased membership. Then the attempt should be made IC to increase those populations through IC incentives.

Finally, once a sustained effort has been put in, and PC populations not at a level whereby the virtual population is as high as it has been set, either look at decreasing the total virtual population to be in line, or if that reduction is too drastic then look at consolidating groups operating in different cities to the main base of operation, or perhaps even consider closing the group to PCs and making it a virtual group.


This is just a suggestion, of course, the Immortals have every right to do what they want, but in my opinion a House/Tribe needs to have an active PC population at a level that is reasonably able to justify the virtual population.  This ensures that new PCs have a healthy level of interaction, it ensures that effort is made when PC populations dip below the minimum acceptable level, and it helps to ensure that the actual group lives up to the  clan documentation, which at times can be quite colourful in how it paints the clan.

[Peabody]

I actully think there is tonnes of pc's in nak.. perhaps just my play times...

Recruiting suggestions.

If your an active recruiter for your house, why not ask about play times when your first recruiting the person, and maintain a nice little list on your clan board?  Its not too hard to do and would help players see when might be a good time to log in and get some rp going with fellow house members.

Dont be too greedy, Yea its really nice to have a bunch of pc's in your house to do all kinds of cool things, and if you need em great!  But if your house really does not need a tonne of pc's to operate, perhaps leave some for some houses that do (there is nothing worse, or more boring, then getting hired then finding out all your going to be doing that is work related is guarding some noble/merchant who already has a guard for an hour a rl week).

[gfair]

Dont be too greedy, Yea its really nice to have a bunch of pc's in your house to do all kinds of cool things, and if you need em great!  But if your house really does not need a tonne of pc's to operate, perhaps leave some for some houses that do

That's the obvious point - once you have reached the sustainable level, it should be enough so that most of the players are having a lot of fun, and with luck there is someone around all the time.  It takes only a few active players to knit together a good group, so active PCs are the key to those who don't have as much time still being able to interact with others.

But that said, there is absolutely no reason why any recruiter should say "Nah, we have enough PCs already, I shouldn't be greedy."  A successful, popular group is what everybody has the right to be a part of, and to prove themselves capable of leading.  It's up to the players, not the recruiters, to decide whether or not to join the House, the recruiter need only take every PC that wants to join, provided she/he meets the entry requirements.