Conflict: Striking a Balance

[Eurynomos]

Could you describe why it appears dubious? We invite discussion when we can...

Sounds good.  This is the first I've ever heard of the show-rather-than-tell policy, but it looks like you guys do at least invite discussion when you can, so it's not very enforced.  It's great for avoiding spoilers, but for other aspects of the gameplay experience, I'd think that putting the idea out there for players to chew on would have a net benefit to everyone involved: you'd get feedback (witness: banking changes - oops!) and players wouldn't be blindsided (compare: tuluk vs. sorcerers).

I'm not really the GDB kung fu search wizard that many people are, but it's been our (personal) policy for a while as Staff -- Honestly, probably, since Armageddon Reborn/2.0. When it's overarching OOC changes, you'll notice that with every announcement in the last few years, we've posted a discussion thread for all major changes. In those threads, some player voiced opinion has effected change, sometimes it hasn't. It depends on the issue, and it's rather specific to what that issue or change is. I agree that it is great to avoid spoilers, so when it comes to IC changes or movements, we tend to be pretty tight-lipped, and I think for good reason. I'd like to think that we are much more receptive to player feedback than we've ever been before -- I think a few of the old timers can attest to that. Staff were pretty 'my way or the highway' even like five or six years ago. We're constantly moving towards a more collaborative environment -- But it's a two-way street. We also expect to be treated respectfully in interactions, or we tend to check out and go do something more productive with our time. Saying that I 'bumble into threads' isn't very respectful! So I guess if you want me to treat you with respect and not wave my snark wand, you'll need to afford me the same courtesy.

When we say 'volunteer time', it's that time is typically important to all of us as human beings. When i'm at work, I get compensated for my time with money (woo hoo!). When i'm putting time into a hobby like ArmageddonMUD, it's because I love it, and it's a good outlet for my imagination  and creativity. I think all of us on Staff recognize that this is just as true for players -- You, as players, devote your time into this game/hobby, and you want it to mean something and not be a waste of time. There isn't some hierarchy that decides 'your time is better than my time', not by a long shot. Our duties as Staff are different than players, but not necessarily better by merit. I'd like to think the time I put into this game is well spent, and I think players have the same mentality.

As for conflict, we very much agree there needs to be more of it. And we are attempting to effect changes in this respect, many of which mirror sentiments stated throughout this thread. Hopefully that will make everyone, Staff and Players, together, happy!

[nauta]

Saying that I 'bumble into threads' isn't very respectful! So I guess if you want me to treat you with respect and not wave my snark wand, you'll need to afford me the same courtesy.

Yeah, sorry I probably characterized it too harshly; I really only meant that particular comment seemed to be a bit out-of-nowhere.  Also I really don't like brew-dogs.

[seidhr]

We're in a game where there's a lot of privileged information (IC or otherwise) so it doesn't always allow us to have a discussion about things up front.  The secrets, misinformation, and wild theories about how or why something is the way it is are part of the game's charm.   

[Lizzie]

We're in a game where there's a lot of privileged information (IC or otherwise) so it doesn't always allow us to have a discussion about things up front.  The secrets, misinformation, and wild theories about how or why something is the way it is are part of the game's charm.   

I heard you'll be opening up the braxats to players as a sub-extended-subguild. And that Rathustra will be playing a Wyvern kit who gets raised by the Braxats til maturity, at which point he will set out to destroy Allanak and become the new sorcerer-king of Luir's.

Please confirm.

[Suhuy]

quote author=Alesan link=topic=50061.msg911341#msg911341 date=1446826839]
I'm a relatively new player. I play because I have nothing better to do. Mostly I log on and hope for inspiration that never really comes. There's a lot of great roleplayers in the game but it's rare to see many of them gather in one place. I've seen peak hours top out at 40 players and the world seems empty and desolate of PCs. And then you guys want more places added to the game so there's even less PCs to be found. I have a feeling that even if the game world was restricted to Allanak, people would still be spread out in clans and apartments and it'd look very much the same as it does now.

Just idle thoughts.

Whoever wrote this had a really good point. For those players who were present at the Ten'Sarak camp leading up to the last HRPT, they'll remember a similar experience as I did in which all walks of Allanaki life were confined to that small region of the game. I loved it, it felt how the game should be to me. Mages shared very limited space with soldiers and nobles and templars, not to mention everyone else present at the time. This didn't mean everyone was chummy with the mages, but they still interacted with them (contrary to how it usually works in Allanak). It had one tavern and if you wanted to duck out and get some peace and quiet, it was likely in one of the very limited number of nearby tents, which probably had at least one or two PCs in them at any given time. It's funny how much more alive that tiny little camp felt compared to Allanak. As the new player in the quote above says, you can be hard pressed to find a single player even when there are 40 other players online! But players don't seem to want to pool together unless given a reason to do so.

I'd love to see more initiatives like what was done with Ten'Sarak to help centralize the playerbase, even if it's only for a short period of time. You don't have to destroy Allanak and turn the game into a bunch of tiny tent villages in order to make it feel more populated and more alive, just weave plots into the storyline which force people into tighter areas for a while. Famine, rioting, and threats from the outside world could all be wonderful excuses to temporarily quarantine certain areas, such that suddenly everyone is using only one tavern and milling about the surrounding area only while they wait for the storm to pass.

[Delirium]

quote author=Alesan link=topic=50061.msg911341#msg911341 date=1446826839]
I'm a relatively new player. I play because I have nothing better to do. Mostly I log on and hope for inspiration that never really comes. There's a lot of great roleplayers in the game but it's rare to see many of them gather in one place. I've seen peak hours top out at 40 players and the world seems empty and desolate of PCs. And then you guys want more places added to the game so there's even less PCs to be found. I have a feeling that even if the game world was restricted to Allanak, people would still be spread out in clans and apartments and it'd look very much the same as it does now.

Just idle thoughts.

Whoever wrote this had a really good point. For those players who were present at the Ten'Sarak camp leading up to the last HRPT, they'll remember a similar experience as I did in which all walks of Allanaki life were confined to that small region of the game. I loved it, it felt how the game should be to me. Mages shared very limited space with soldiers and nobles and templars, not to mention everyone else present at the time. This didn't mean everyone was chummy with the mages, but they still interacted with them (contrary to how it usually works in Allanak). It had one tavern and if you wanted to duck out and get some peace and quiet, it was likely in one of the very limited number of nearby tents, which probably had at least one or two PCs in them at any given time. It's funny how much more alive that tiny little camp felt compared to Allanak. As the new player in the quote above says, you can be hard pressed to find a single player even when there are 40 other players online! But players don't seem to want to pool together unless given a reason to do so.

I'd love to see more initiatives like what was done with Ten'Sarak to help centralize the playerbase, even if it's only for a short period of time. You don't have to destroy Allanak and turn the game into a bunch of tiny tent villages in order to make it feel more populated and more alive, just weave plots into the storyline which force people into tighter areas for a while. Famine, rioting, and threats from the outside world could all be wonderful excuses to temporarily quarantine certain areas, such that suddenly everyone is using only one tavern and milling about the surrounding area only while they wait for the storm to pass.

I remember that as well. Wile I think centralizing gathering areas is a great idea (I've long been a proponent of this), players should still have the freedom to come and go as they need or want, because otherwise you just end up feeling trapped, stifled, and bored once the "cool factor" of the new situation wears off. It gets achingly dull being confined to a tiny area of the gameworld.

[whitt]

But, players don't seem to want to pool together...

This is the truth of it.  It's Column A and Column B. 

Column A says - Players want everyone pooled together for more interaction but,

Column B says - they want this so that they can find a way -not- to be pooled together, thereby demonstrating they are doing something everyone else is not and having a sense of achievement. 

Push everyone together and try to keep them there?  Get complaints of stifling creativity and shrinking the game world.

Let everyone do as they wish?  And there's not enough people anywhere.

Fun game trying to balance A and B.   

[Norcal]

We're in a game where there's a lot of privileged information (IC or otherwise) so it doesn't always allow us to have a discussion about things up front.  The secrets, misinformation, and wild theories about how or why something is the way it is are part of the game's charm.   

I heard you'll be opening up the braxats to players as a sub-extended-subguild. And that Rathustra will be playing a Wyvern kit who gets raised by the Braxats til maturity, at which point he will set out to destroy Allanak and become the new sorcerer-king of Luir's.

Please confirm.

I heard this as well!  And Adhira will play a perfectly tressed she wyvern (with voluptuous wings) who seeks to subvert Rathvern  and steal the throne.

[Suhuy]

But, players don't seem to want to pool together...

This is the truth of it.  It's Column A and Column B.  

Column A says - Players want everyone pooled together for more interaction but,

Column B says - they want this so that they can find a way -not- to be pooled together, thereby demonstrating they are doing something everyone else is not and having a sense of achievement.  

Push everyone together and try to keep them there?  Get complaints of stifling creativity and shrinking the game world.

Let everyone do as they wish?  And there's not enough people anywhere.

Fun game trying to balance A and B.  

This is why I felt the situation in Ten'Sarak was so ideal -- and struck that balance you're talking about -- because it was a) not compulsory (players who were there went because they wanted to be there) and b) it was of a temporary nature. No one's saying players should be forced into tiny regions of the game indefinitely. I'm certainly not.

But, give players a reason to be stuck together to a smaller area for a temporary period of time. If some sort of disaster forced (or let's just say encouraged) people together for a while, I promise you once the threat is gone and they go back to their usually dispersed selves, they'll be pining for the "old days" when times were precarious and everyone had been holed up together. Not because they actually miss it, but because it's gone. Give, and then take away. Let nothing (or very little) be static. By accepting that too much space is as bad as too little space, you can frequently alter that balance to keep things interesting. Ten'Sarak wouldn't have been even half as fun if it were simply a new area open to the public evermore. It was neat because we all knew we weren't going to stay there for very long, and we'd likely never ever see it again after that.

[Lizzie]

The old Ten Sarak was fun too, pretty much for the same reasons. Luir's was closed because the mantis had invaded and sacked it, the entire Known World was in a flux, crazy shit was going on everywhere, and even in Ten Sarak you had to worry about raptors and mantises. Everyone knew it'd be temporary, but no one knew how long that extended vacation from "normal" was going to last.