<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