(Celestial Hills) Discussion regarding the current lack of moderator involvement w/ community

TheGreyWolf · June 2016

I do remember on the old forums certain guilds would usually host RP events on CH? That qualifies as a community-driven initiative without actual paid / empowered moderation. I see no reason why this can't still happen. Sure, you will still have your trolls (who doesn't?), but there's nothing stopping anyone from hosting events if they so choose. As for moderation, there was the whole discussion about "community mods" (or whatever they were calling them); I assume this project is still in the works, and I hope that some good can come out of that. Maybe they could have a designated liaison solely for RP (minority or not, TERA is an MMORPG... RP is part of that).

Again, I support your cause, though you and I both agree that it's probably not feasible to make this an actual EME paid post. I do wish you the best of luck in perhaps finding an honest volunteer for such a position, and sincerely hope that they do not choose to abuse the position.

Bachstelze · June 2016

TheGreyWolf wrote: »

I do remember on the old forums certain guilds would usually host RP events on CH? That qualifies as a community-driven initiative without actual paid / empowered moderation. I see no reason why this can't still happen. Sure, you will still have your trolls (who doesn't?), but there's nothing stopping anyone from hosting events if they so choose. As for moderation, there was the whole discussion about "community mods" (or whatever they were calling them); I assume this project is still in the works, and I hope that some good can come out of that. Maybe they could have a designated liaison solely for RP (minority or not, TERA is an MMORPG... RP is part of that).

Again, I support your cause, though you and I both agree that it's probably not feasible to make this an actual EME paid post. I do wish you the best of luck in perhaps finding an honest volunteer for such a position, and sincerely hope that they do not choose to abuse the position.

Thanks for the support. You are correct, guilds used to host occasional public RP events and would announce them on the EME forums. However, for one reason or another, it would seem that these announcements are typically limited to the guild websites and word-of-mouth in recent years. This is fine and understandable; guilds want their privacy and desire a minimal number of party crashers. However, it tends to limit the income of new RPers, since most newbies have no idea where to find said guild websites or they have no connections to hear about such events. If newbies and guilds/groups mixed better in today's TERA, that would be fantastic and a possible solution. I'll add that as a suggestion in the primary post.

Aulon · June 2016

In these forums there are two re occurring events posted

Often you will see people posting in Global as well

Issue is many just turned global off so they miss it and several do not visit these forums so it does tend to be more word of mouth. Word of mouth can be very powerful so do not under rate it.

Mixing of guilds has its pros and cons and you can not ignore the reason for guilds. Often RP takes several different styles, some guilds will be designed around one rather then another because that is what they enjoy. Also some guilds will take different views on lore and how it is used. I seldom see any of these guilds closing themselves off to new people as well. In my opinion events should highlight what a guild is based on, they should do them to showcase this to newer players as well as offer others outside the guild to enjoy their style as well. Where I seen in the past people have tried to force guilds into a mold with events, causing issues and drama along the way.

Bachstelze · June 2016

Aulon wrote: »

In these forums there are two re occurring events posted

Often you will see people posting in Global as well

Issue is many just turned global off so they miss it and several do not visit these forums so it does tend to be more word of mouth. Word of mouth can be very powerful so do not under rate it.

Mixing of guilds has its pros and cons and you can not ignore the reason for guilds. Often RP takes several different styles, some guilds will be designed around one rather then another because that is what they enjoy. Also some guilds will take different views on lore and how it is used. I seldom see any of these guilds closing themselves off to new people as well. In my opinion events should highlight what a guild is based on, they should do them to showcase this to newer players as well as offer others outside the guild to enjoy their style as well. Where I seen in the past people have tried to force guilds into a mold with events, causing issues and drama along the way.

My intent is not to suggest that guilds need to be put into one specific, catch-all system for RP. Rather, the large-scale events I hope to see some day would be entirely optional. If a guild feels the event being hosted at the time does not fit their style, they are in no way required to attend. The goal of these events is to bring a bit of unity into the community, whether that be the RP community, the PVP community, or the PVE community. Guild events are fantastic, but why not have a global event every now and then that brings many members from various different guilds together? From a guild focus, these gatherings would exist so that members of RP Guild A can meet members of RP Guild B , and members of PvE Guild C can meet members of PvE Guild D and E. Who knows, maybe these events will spark joint-guild events between guild A and B, or C, D, and E.

Aulon · June 2016

Hopefully the new Player Council can help

MrEkks · June 2016

Work's very slow at the moment, so I can finally give my two cents on the matter, as I promised yesterday. (This is Ithryll, by the way, although I'm more widely recognized as Louisette. Ahem! Anyway, back on track.)

A few folks have already given very constructive feedback, which could be easily implemented without any sort of massive overhaul to the game´s mechanics or statu quo. However, what I think would be most necessary, before anything of this happens, is awareness; more often than not, I have seen several folks being oblivious to the RP scene, up to the point where it was called "a rarity" to actually see random, public RP. This, of course, has its source on the problems you adequately have exposed (e.g. risk of heckling and disruption). I think that, in order to bring new "life" to the RP scene, we might just need to give it a little, collective push; here are some thoughts I have regarding that statement:

Standing up: More often than not, we will see RPers conflicting with each other, especially regarding lore discrepancies or random fights; were one to see that, a beckoning to discuss the issue on a party chat might be able to defuse the situation, without clogging the chat window with OOC arguuments. This, of course, would need one to be unbiased. We could, naturally, designate people to do this, but a willing, sporadic effort might also suffice.
Random announcements of help on Area and Global: I've seen people asking about RP matters in Area chat a few times; we could designate a few people to sporadically offer RP-related assistance on Global and Area chat, á la Guild Advertising way. This might also serve as a way to advertise current events, griefers be damned.
In-game bulletin board: Although the idea of an Enjin site is excellent in theory, past practices haven't been really favorable to it. Past attempts like Celestial Tales and Teraverse have been unsuccessful; both sites are inactive as of the time this post is being written. A similar idea could be implemented, though in-game, by having a designated...
RP council: I think someone else discussed the idea before me, and I quite agree with it. Having a designated group of thick-skinned, fair players would be able to organize events, current state of affairs, and occasional bad apples, without getting to the point of enforcing it as if it were a law.

All in all, I think the biggest issue might be the lack of initiative of the RPers themselves to solve these issues. I'm certain that, if more people with your mindset show up, we might get onto something that makes the RP experience even more enjoyable.

Cheers, mate, and keep on the good fight! o7

Bachstelze · June 2016

MrEkks wrote: »

Work's very slow at the moment, so I can finally give my two cents on the matter, as I promised yesterday. (This is Ithryll, by the way, although I'm more widely recognized as Louisette. Ahem! Anyway, back on track.)

A few folks have already given very constructive feedback, which could be easily implemented without any sort of massive overhaul to the game´s mechanics or statu quo. However, what I think would be most necessary, before anything of this happens, is awareness; more often than not, I have seen several folks being oblivious to the RP scene, up to the point where it was called "a rarity" to actually see random, public RP. This, of course, has its source on the problems you adequately have exposed (e.g. risk of heckling and disruption). I think that, in order to bring new "life" to the RP scene, we might just need to give it a little, collective push; here are some thoughts I have regarding that statement:

Standing up: More often than not, we will see RPers conflicting with each other, especially regarding lore discrepancies or random fights; were one to see that, a beckoning to discuss the issue on a party chat might be able to defuse the situation, without clogging the chat window with OOC arguuments. This, of course, would need one to be unbiased. We could, naturally, designate people to do this, but a willing, sporadic effort might also suffice.

Random announcements of help on Area and Global: I've seen people asking about RP matters in Area chat a few times; we could designate a few people to sporadically offer RP-related assistance on Global and Area chat, á la Guild Advertising way. This might also serve as a way to advertise current events, griefers be damned.

In-game bulletin board: Although the idea of an Enjin site is excellent in theory, past practices haven't been really favorable to it. Past attempts like Celestial Tales and Teraverse have been unsuccessful; both sites are inactive as of the time this post is being written. A similar idea could be implemented, though in-game, by having a designated...

RP council: I think someone else discussed the idea before me, and I quite agree with it. Having a designated group of thick-skinned, fair players would be able to organize events, current state of affairs, and occasional bad apples, without getting to the point of enforcing it as if it were a law.

All in all, I think the biggest issue might be the lack of initiative of the RPers themselves to solve these issues. I'm certain that, if more people with your mindset show up, we might get onto something that makes the RP experience even more enjoyable.

Cheers, mate, and keep on the good fight! o7

When it comes to "standing up," as you put it, that would be a great start. I wasn't aware that lore conflicts occurred often enough to be noted, but I suppose that should be expected in any MMORPG where custom characters and backstories are plentiful. I'll keep that in mind as I set things up. Random announcements on area/global would also be a good step in the right direction and I plan on doing such with any events I host. The in-game bulletin board and RP council suggestions fit together, so I'll lob those together with my response. I agree that Enjin websites have failed in the past, so an in-game council of some sort would be very helpful; a Round Table Alliance of sorts, for any Log Horizon watchers out there. This could be an RP community council, or it could encompass leaders of the top guilds from all aspects of TERA: PvP, PvE, and RP. Alternatively, there could be a separate council of sorts for each community so that, for example, PvP and RP guilds who dislike each other will not have interact. I'll tack the council suggestion on to the list of ideas in the main post! Thanks for the input, Ith. I'll do my best. o7

Bachstelze · June 2016

A quick reply to give this a little bump to make sure previous viewers see this! My main post is constantly changing as ideas become available via comments and mail. I have an edit section at the top of my post which houses all major changes I make, including all additions and subtractions in the Possible Solutions section. Keep checking back if you're interested!

Aulon · June 2016

MrEkks wrote: »

Standing up: More often than not, we will see RPers conflicting with each other, especially regarding lore discrepancies or random fights; were one to see that, a beckoning to discuss the issue on a party chat might be able to defuse the situation, without clogging the chat window with OOC arguuments. This, of course, would need one to be unbiased. We could, naturally, designate people to do this, but a willing, sporadic effort might also suffice.

Random announcements of help on Area and Global: I've seen people asking about RP matters in Area chat a few times; we could designate a few people to sporadically offer RP-related assistance on Global and Area chat, á la Guild Advertising way. This might also serve as a way to advertise current events, griefers be damned.

In-game bulletin board: Although the idea of an Enjin site is excellent in theory, past practices haven't been really favorable to it. Past attempts like Celestial Tales and Teraverse have been unsuccessful; both sites are inactive as of the time this post is being written. A similar idea could be implemented, though in-game, by having a designated...

RP council: I think someone else discussed the idea before me, and I quite agree with it. Having a designated group of thick-skinned, fair players would be able to organize events, current state of affairs, and occasional bad apples, without getting to the point of enforcing it as if it were a law.

All in all, I think the biggest issue might be the lack of initiative of the RPers themselves to solve these issues. I'm certain that, if more people with your mindset show up, we might get onto something that makes the RP experience even more enjoyable.

-Standing up

I rarely see this, though I admit I stay away from spots that are renown for conflicts. Most cases when I see RPers in game they are working together and building something, if there is a miss understanding they discuss it like adults

-Random Announcements

Global and Area chat have become a venue for trolls and attention seekers, seldom will we find any RPers clinging to it. What could work better is word of mouth a list of people who are active and willing to let their guild know, "Hey this event is going on" or "Hey I know a great oppertunity for more"

-In-game bulletin board

Would be awesome but would take BHS to develope. What could be a solution for the near present on in these forums as well as word of mouth. Back during the Co7 days that is what several of us did, we not only let other RPers know it is there we also inform them all of events as well as opportunities that could take advantage of in them.

RP council

Looks nice but going to be very difficult to pull off as well people can already do those things. A player base that is interested in RP and is taking the initiative to promote it far out weighs a Council. People just have to be respectful of each other.

There are tools out there be presented for people to use to help the community to grow, we at Desire are sponsoring a WIKI site that mirrors the Transverse one (Jaxy was a good friend and a guild member who had RL steal her away so we adopted what she started so not to let it die). Every one is welcome to the site as well. In it you find detailed Lore sections, the ability to make detailed character sheets, ways to find others that share your interest, it just needs some word of mouth. If you like you can visit it Here

In the RP section of these forums as well is a thread to share preludes in your style

Sorry for this being long winded, most cases I hate dragging something on. Soon the Player Council will be finalized, it will have a RP and Event side, until it is I am going to just relax and see what tools it can bring.

Bachstelze · June 2016

Aulon wrote: »

RP council

Looks nice but going to be very difficult to pull off as well people can already do those things. A player base that is interested in RP and is taking the initiative to promote it far out weighs a Council. People just have to be respectful of each other.

With regards to the RP council, if not a place for OOC player discussions, it could simply be an RP in and of itself: leaders of guilds gathering together in an RP fashion to chat about goings-on.

Aulon · June 2016

Council can work, don't get me wrong please.The level of what you want from it going to determine how much work and dedication it will take as well how big of a RP base you are going to need to support it.

Bachstelze · June 2016

Hello, everyone!

Quick update! I'm sure that this thread is starting to run low on unique views, but I'd like to keep it on the first page over the course of this weekend to get as much individual feedback and discussion as possible. I would imagine that workaholics who play TERA and avoid games during the week will be tuning in after a long week of work!

The second matter of business is that I will be out for the entirety of the day, until approximately 9 PM CST. Until then, there is no way for me to efficiently reply to any comments/messages, so please be patient! Even then, depending on how long today turns out to be, I may simply leave another note saying I will answer/respond to everything tomorrow (Saturday).

Cheers and happy BAM hunting!
Bachstelze

(I will put a trimmed portion of this at the top of the main post.)

MrEkks · June 2016

Indeed, nobody said this would be an easy task; the mere thought of instilling new life to the RP scene might be already daunting to some people. It can be done in baby steps, however; there's no need to set ridiculously hasty goals to set things in motion. What we need, however, is a bit of collaboration between RPers, so everyone can make the scene a better place to be. I'm sure it can be done, given the right people set their minds on it

Sinastria · June 2016

I was thinking that another issue is the forum organization as well.

Imagine a situation in wich you want to organize an event, and you want to use the forum. You share your subforum with heaps of constantly bumped commission shops, with the result that people assume no one organize events and people are discouraged to post their events on forums.

I'm well aware that public events are prey for trolls, but they are even a good occasion to hook new roleplayers and to know each other and the current forum organization simply doesn't help players to arrange every kind of player event, wich is a pity especially for rp.

Aulon · June 2016

Things I see that can become helpful

-Once the Player Council is in Play Pinning Calendar in the Event Pages or RP page for RP events that can be keep up to date.

--Keeping in touch with those promoting them and helping them do so as well by offering our strengths. May they be our actions by reaching out to people we know making sure they are aware of the events. Being that social personality that helps people feel welcome to them. Offering skills in Graphic Arts to add to the promotion. Anything we can do that promotes a positive vibe for the event and trying not to focus on things that are negative about them.

-Focus on ONE forum for the main RP hub. We all seen fan sites pop up, to me these create extra doors for RPers to find, more work is needed on our part to promote them, to get people evolved. When the owners of these sites become no longer active the site fall and all that energy fades away. I honestly feel that needs to stop, we should focus more so on making THIS forum base the RP hub. From this RP can branch out into guild sites or other fan site but the focus here could help the RP community as a whole.

--With the introduction of the Player Council this should start to become much easier

-A living list of RP guilds that is keep up to date. GMs becoming more active which each other as well as reaching out to newer RP guilds, offering help not only in the RP venue but the PvE and PvP side. Making them feel like they belong to a community instead of standing alone. This was something huge long ago that we did before the break down of the community.

-Player Govern Community

We as RPers understand what we want, we stop being passive and start being proactive to make it happen. One reason we see people more focused in guild is it is just easier to maintain, we can develop an atmosphere inside a guild, we spend less energy nurturing it than a whole server. It is so much easier to simply say what we want, focus on that and close off anything else, that is why we often find RP Guilds and Cliques.

Issues I seen in the past that should be avoided

-Guild leaders always have the last say on how interactive they are with others out side of their guilds and this is to be respected.

-Guilds do not share the same focus, some are more attuned to Lore, some more to being just social, some more para RPers, some more one liners. This should be respected as well, if you do not enjoy one style then simply smile and walk away as well let people smile and walk away.

As a foot note these are just my opinions and you are more than welcome to comment

(Celestial Hills) Discussion regarding the current lack of moderator involvement w/ community

Comments