With the AC this month, this really brought to mind a few issues, and I think you guys are aware of some of them already, but have some ideas that I know a few people I spoke with already said they thought were pretty good.
But first, an kind of unrelated thing, considering that every AC seems to always have someone almost removed for not posting a hiatus to the hiatus post, something needs to be done to make it more obvious. I know it is in the profile, but I noticed it isn't in the FAQ or the rules. The fact that it isn't in the rules may well be why people are missing it.
But as far as activity goes, I think the AC has gotten to the point where it is completely predictable and since there is really no accountability outside of that period unless you app a new character, we have people who are basically only threading around AC time and we never see them again. That's a problem and I know I would rather see a smaller game with more active players than a big game with players who only play once every two months. Not saying people have to be around 24/7, but I'd like to see some of these characters we have around more than they are.
A few suggestions on how to fix this:
1. When someone apps a character and you ask about activity, ask them to post a thread within the past two weeks. Yeah, taking people's word for it is nice and all, but there needs to be accountability. It might not even hurt to change the app to require that if there isn't a post within the past two weeks in the journal. That would save you guys some time from having to ask people and get the apps processed faster, and you have proof they are being active and not squatting.
2. Make the AC time less predictable. That is really the biggest thing, a few of us have gotten to the point that we know it is coming, we know to make absolutely sure we have posted/threaded enough for the AC. The way it is done makes the system too easy to get around.
Now a few ideas on how to make it less predictable? Well there are a few options, they may be good, or they may not.
- Change up the time they are done and don't tell people before the post is made. Nothing says it always has to be on the 15th, you could do it on the 10th, the 5th, the 21st, whatever you want. The requirement is every two weeks, so the day of the AC changing wouldn't be a huge issue.
- Institute a random check up. Since Luceti is so big, it might be better to make this be a smaller thing. Maybe pick out about 10% of the character base (at this point in time, that would be about 40 characters) and make a post where the players have to post activity for the past two weeks within 5 days. Make sure of course to not pick people on hiatus. Any time you want to pick for this could work.
It also might not hurt to consider a mod specificially for keeping tabs on activity if you guys want to run more ACs (or give that to Kukki or Kyo also to help with, like Kukki could run a random one one month, Kyo could do it the other month or something). I know it can be troublesome with a game this large, but overall I think many of us would rather see less characters and know they are all being played than to have 400+ characters and know some are only being played right around AC time. I think just changing up when you guys run it would make a big difference in seeing more active characters and less squatting. I definitely think that it's fine you guys are being laid back and understanding, but I just think there needs to be overall more checking up on activity or less predictability to it. Most other games have ACs either every month or don't announce them.
No matter what you guys opt to do, I would definitely request that there never be a requirement for posting added. I like the fact that activity is a log, thread, or post because not all characters are going to post often, and that's fine. It wouldn't be bad to step up the requirement to 20 comments from the character either from threads, logs or posts, I just don't want to see posting actually required.
Anyway, just some thoughts I had and I do hope it helps!
But first, an kind of unrelated thing, considering that every AC seems to always have someone almost removed for not posting a hiatus to the hiatus post, something needs to be done to make it more obvious. I know it is in the profile, but I noticed it isn't in the FAQ or the rules. The fact that it isn't in the rules may well be why people are missing it.
But as far as activity goes, I think the AC has gotten to the point where it is completely predictable and since there is really no accountability outside of that period unless you app a new character, we have people who are basically only threading around AC time and we never see them again. That's a problem and I know I would rather see a smaller game with more active players than a big game with players who only play once every two months. Not saying people have to be around 24/7, but I'd like to see some of these characters we have around more than they are.
A few suggestions on how to fix this:
1. When someone apps a character and you ask about activity, ask them to post a thread within the past two weeks. Yeah, taking people's word for it is nice and all, but there needs to be accountability. It might not even hurt to change the app to require that if there isn't a post within the past two weeks in the journal. That would save you guys some time from having to ask people and get the apps processed faster, and you have proof they are being active and not squatting.
2. Make the AC time less predictable. That is really the biggest thing, a few of us have gotten to the point that we know it is coming, we know to make absolutely sure we have posted/threaded enough for the AC. The way it is done makes the system too easy to get around.
Now a few ideas on how to make it less predictable? Well there are a few options, they may be good, or they may not.
- Change up the time they are done and don't tell people before the post is made. Nothing says it always has to be on the 15th, you could do it on the 10th, the 5th, the 21st, whatever you want. The requirement is every two weeks, so the day of the AC changing wouldn't be a huge issue.
- Institute a random check up. Since Luceti is so big, it might be better to make this be a smaller thing. Maybe pick out about 10% of the character base (at this point in time, that would be about 40 characters) and make a post where the players have to post activity for the past two weeks within 5 days. Make sure of course to not pick people on hiatus. Any time you want to pick for this could work.
It also might not hurt to consider a mod specificially for keeping tabs on activity if you guys want to run more ACs (or give that to Kukki or Kyo also to help with, like Kukki could run a random one one month, Kyo could do it the other month or something). I know it can be troublesome with a game this large, but overall I think many of us would rather see less characters and know they are all being played than to have 400+ characters and know some are only being played right around AC time. I think just changing up when you guys run it would make a big difference in seeing more active characters and less squatting. I definitely think that it's fine you guys are being laid back and understanding, but I just think there needs to be overall more checking up on activity or less predictability to it. Most other games have ACs either every month or don't announce them.
No matter what you guys opt to do, I would definitely request that there never be a requirement for posting added. I like the fact that activity is a log, thread, or post because not all characters are going to post often, and that's fine. It wouldn't be bad to step up the requirement to 20 comments from the character either from threads, logs or posts, I just don't want to see posting actually required.
Anyway, just some thoughts I had and I do hope it helps!
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