How should we improve the community?

[Jorus Merrill]

I think we need a formal way for Major Factions to fight...

...and have it matter more than a Skirmish...

...without people getting their backs up and feeling attacked. So I'm proposing invasions of neutral planets.

SCENARIO: Planet X lies between the Galactic Alliance, the First Order, and the Outer Rim Coalition. Planet X is neutral. GA starts a thread on Planet X. FO and ORC jump in. Whichever faction does best, as per invasion judging rules, wins the planet.

You can sort of do this now with Rebellion rules, but by that point a faction has sunk like 150 posts into the place and feels like the other side is coming to stomp on their effort.

What I'm proposing has been done before. Once or twice, enemy factions have agreed to fight over a neutral world, winner take all. Another example is the Battle of Roche in 2013, a player-run event that saw most or all of the board's major factions fight over an unclaimed system. I believe the Republic ended up with map-recognized control of Roche after some Mando intervention. I helped run Roche, and it was remarkably low-drama. People had a blast. They had everything to gain - territory, prizes, pride - and nothing to lose.

 

[Delila Castillon]

I personally feel like for new members, trying to get into private posts with people or a group of people before getting into Doms and other things and to build connections can be very hard, and frightening.

Building on that, perhaps a voluntary buddy system? Personally I feel Doms are useful for newer members to get a feel for their writing and if they really want to stick with said faction or find a new one. Heck, you can even join them without being a member! Now getting a little off track about my original point...

• Create a Master Thread/Pinned Thread. Allow new and newer members to toss up a few ideas or what they are looking for for a intro thread or two.
• Groups of volunteers for said thread(rotating, doesn't have to be like Factory/Codex, just folks who want to do this) nab a "New Member" request.
• Thread is created or member will have an instant posting buddy/starter point in Doms/Public Threads/etc
• Allow Veteran Member to take on Mentor role, introduce them to various Discord chats they may be interested in,writing partners,etc.

Rinse, wash, repeat. Now, this may seem a little too simple or elementary school "buddy system" for a lot of folks. However, I keep hearing the constant issue of Veterans v. Newer Members, plus an intimation factor about joining in. It won't fix everything but might be a good option for those who don't know where to start.

 

[Other Space Kaiden]

I have very mixed feelings on the map and always have. I love it as a tool, it's apart of Chaos and having it gone would leave a void on the site. I have always thought, however, that something needs to change with it.

On one hand I have had this little saying I've used to describe my beef with the map. "If you are making a game of Risk, give it the depth of Risk". Now the depth of Risk isn't much, it's actually pretty shallow in comparison to many things.

On the other hand, I feel the map creates drama and hurt feelings, so easing it up wouldn't be a bad idea.

That being said, my suggestion would be this.

A.) Make expansion slightly easier. Not stupidly so, but I think the main reason so many people get bent about the map is the time put into it. Less time lost = happier losses.

B.) Making the expansion easier needs to be balanced by making invasions more complex. In a similar vein to Darth Metus, id like to see a bit more depth and thought put into invasions. Now, this is coming from somebody who loves strategy and roleplayed on Nation RP boards.

Defenses, battle maps, tactics, NPCs armies that aren't just cardboard cutouts to tear pieces off of and huck at one another. I for one loved Dark Harvest's fleeting map. That was a fantastic fleeting method and I would love to see more of it and translated into ground battles as well.

Now I personally like the idea of planning the battle out, roleplaying combat and reacting to the oppositions movement. I imagine there would be a way to balance the story and depth in a way that is fun for everyone. Perhaps adopt a point rating system for victories in invasions that include things like:

Points for story/writing

Points for creative tactics

Points for Objectives

Etc. I have not the answers in full but just what I think would be interesting. Making planetary invasions longer than a single thread would be cool too. Perhaps break planets into sectors that need to be taken, make it feel like a war.

 

[Rashae]

there is not enough non combat stuff. Though from what i understand Dominions can be anything the word dominions is not a very good word for those types of RP.

1. a focus on character developement encouraged in factions. (featured player or something)
2. at least 1 major rp that does not consist of conflict. Battle is only part of the story.
3. Would staff be willing to provide an over theme of rp. example. "The time of the grand galactic equinox. flowers grow in odd locations." Its a silly example but something galaxy wide to add flavor.
4. writing prompts or writing contests.

 

[Kuzo]

FNRP/SNRP

and/or

Mini board wide events.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

3. Would staff be willing to provide an over theme of rp. example. "The time of the grand galactic equinox. flowers grow in odd locations." Its a silly example but something galaxy wide to add flavor.

This is really cool. To expand on it, while individual timelines do tend to get flexible, I love the idea of staff occasionally posting things that can affect everyone. One example was when Smitty and I finished the Mara Corridor, and Tef declared that it boosted the galactic economy, so everyone on the map got a bit more territory.

More in line with the flowers thing, you could easily have stuff like 'For the moment, the balance of the Force shifts toward the Dark Side across the galaxy. A Dark Side nexus will be stronger, a Light Side nexus will be weaker, and Lightsiders will find farsight and precognition more difficult while the Dark Side clouds everything.'

 

[NightSister]

I like the idea of things requiring less planning. We're literally called Chaos! Seven day/five day notice for invasions has a thumbs up, and so does FNRP.

 

[Isamu Baelor]

In the context of PVP Threads (Skirmishes, Invasions, Rebellions):

The lack of communication has caused, and will continue to cause, an incredible amount of salt.

I propose that we make it mandatory for those launching a PVP thread, to contact their targets with their intentions.

In addition, there should be a buffer zone between contact, and the thread going up.

Skirmish: 3 days
Rebellions: 5 days

This would allow the target party to inform the attackers of any defenses in place, and have the attackers incorporate it into the thread.

I make this suggestion based off my previous experiences. The skirmishes/rebellions where contact was made prior, where discussion were had, were wonderful. The ones without? Generally drama-fests.

 

[Soeht]

Just three from me because I've already written too much.

Rewrite the Rules
I believe staff should take a look at the Rules for multiple reasons:

• Many newer Rules are written in a way that it appears to be all knee-jerk reaction to certain behavior Staff found undesirable, thus:
• Some Rules may have logical conclusions unintended by Staff. This thread is an indicator of at least one. Just as with any game, any possibility allowed by the Rules will be used again and again regardless of the creators' intentions. Therefore, this is a sufficient reason alone to scrutinize all written Rules and bring them in-line with what Staff envisioned when the Rules were written.
• Definitions are severely lacking in the Rules. This was pointed out in this thread. When writing Rules, for anything, it's best to assume the readers will have no knowledge of anything.
• The current Rules rely heavily on arbitration. Going off the thread mentioned in the point above, the values that any judgement is based upon are very flimsy and open to interpretation. This creates dissatisfaction among members - especially when two different arbitrators can give two different judgments.
• Several Rules are written in a manner that eat up time. One of which is pointed out in this thread.
• Rule Changes should be delayed. Video games, governments, tabletop games, etc. publish any rule/law changes prior to the change being effective. This gives people the ability to prepare for the change as well as for those in charge of changing the Rules to gather any input/criticism of the change. It also would prevent the need to grandfather things - a reason for why it may seem older RPers/Factions can easily bully people is because the standards for Tech in the Factory in the beginning were a lot lower than now. Those than manage to keep this old Tech but deny new RPers/Factions this same Tech get an extra stick to "bully" people - which is always a consequence of grandfathering.
• The Rules can be used to mold the culture as Staff sees fit. It's a tool that's vastly underutilized and Staff's insistence on the community fixing itself is merely throwing the responsibility of community management upon the community itself. This doesn't work.

It sounds like I'm going counter to the lead and just posting issues, but the solution for all of this is for the Owner of the site to sit down, define how the roleplaying game should be played, then utilize volunteers on Staff to examine the Rules are written and modify them to be compliant to this vision. It might sound dictatorial, but if the Owner desired he could properly consider points brought up by individuals both from Staff and general membership.

Bring back Staff Critique threads
I'm not sure why they were removed. Maybe the threads became a constant NaCl fest. Maybe the critique wasn't really critique of Staff. Doesn't matter.

The lack of proper, consistent critique and outsider opinions leads to groupthink. In fact, I'm certain groupthink currently affects the staff team:

• Staff conversations are insulated from the community-at-large. Our input is usually only given until after a Rule change occurs or after a judgement has been rendered.
• Lack of impartial leadership (or the perception of this) due to the, until recently changed, possibility of Staff owning Factions. Though, their ability to remain as Faction Admins doesn't change this very much.
• Closed style leadership (for the community at large). Again, leading to the community not providing input to the decision made and usually just going along with what Staff wants.
• Lack of written procedures. Unless this has changed, Staff has almost no procedures for any action.

So with these conditions, which could lead to groupthink, existing - it's very important for Staff to seek outside opinions and critique in order to keep their decision making rational. This thread is a good step in that direction, but there needs to be more of this.

A random suggestion in addition, it's very important for Staff to seek critical thought from itself as well. Staff should be its biggest critic and voicing doubts should be welcomed.

Provide timelines of long-term projects
There are apparently long-term projects, but we know almost nothing about them. That move to the new site software? Last thing I've seen of it is as the offhand reason for why Founder tags were taken away. So there's some uncertainty now about the whole thing, which is not really a good thing to have. And there could be even more long-term projects that show that there's some direction for the site/game. Providing timelines would ease that uncertainty and benefit the Staff - giving them an idea on what aspects of the long-term project need to be completed and at what times. It doesn't need to be detailed, but having a due date does help as both a motivating force to do work as well as a means to check the performance of Staff.

 

[Malok]

Let's slash t1 Dominion requirements.

Fifty posts for a planet. Double it and you get two. Triple it (almost) and you have a hex. Frankly, given the "straight line" editing style of the map nowadays (looking at you Dominion) I'm not too worried about people abusing the system. If you want more than one planet, do a tier. But if you really want that rock in particular, I feel like fifty posts ought to do it.

Frankly, it'll help out factions that are new, small, or coming back to life too.

 

[Other Space Kaiden]

Alright, on my computer now so its time to post in my larger account and make my suggestion more of a show than the last one as Irridius.

What does Chaos need you ask? Now, as a member of the *bleep* party, I believe in *bleep* style of government. Here on Chaos, I think what we need is MORE staff. Not just more staff, but more specialized staff so the site can handle more.

(Appalled gasps from readers)​

​

"Vulcanus" I hear you say, "what do you know? You are a volcano monster who makes fun of site drama in Hitler Reacts videos, I'd hardly consider you an authority!"​

​

Well, I might poop stars and eat cities but here is one thing I do know. We ask our staff to do a lot and they are just people like us. Sure we have the factory judges and that is a start, a good one. But why stop there? We need RPJs, volunteer impartials for multi-judge determining of invasions and we need RP gurus who eat words for breakfast and crap out golden community events before a lunch of #HYPE!

​

THIS LEADS ME TO MY SUGGESTION: ​

​

For the peace and prosperity of our RP Empire, we implement a handful of new administrative titles and begin a new program "Auxillary Staffing"​

​

The community wants to help staff. Staff wants to help the community, so we begin by creating a new layer of staff that is Auxillary in nature. The Weekend Warriors of Staff.​

​

Auxillary Staff Would:​

• Be a group of volunteers who can be called upon in times of need by the staff. They agree to a firm set of rules they have to abide by as players but are not considered "full-time staff" they are just pulled in for special purposes. This means that if a full-time staffer suddenly has a case of Explosive Super Diaherria and can't be on for a month, an auxiliary can be called up to temporarily replace them.

• Further, Auxiliaries can take pressure off of full-timers by providing extra hands as impartial judges or, as stated, filling in for vacations. They can also be called up for more extensive projects the full-timers can't be bogged down with. (I.E acting as thread DMs for community events, hosting community threads, doing polls, doing pole dances, whatever it is).

• You could even have some of them serve as staff for short "tours" a month or two at a time so that people who want to help out but can't dedicate full time only have to be staff in chunks.

Auxiliaries would boost the staff manpower significantly and give the community more of a voice in decisions. They would serve to relieve staff as well as make us feel like we have our voices heard in those dark times when the Cheetos run out and the Sixth Galactic Sith Empire of the Jedi just crushed you under its boot.

Now on the subject of additional staff positions, here are a few I had in mind.

• Community GM: Puts together and runs frequent small community threads & events/helps with timeline events and the huge site wide events like Dark Harvest

• Auxiliary Judge: Volunteer who is brought in to help judge invasions or disputes (I think we need more voices in decisions on invasions and disputes. One judge isn't enough in this atmosphere. Hell, it's not enough for a court, that is why appeals are a thing).

• Auxillary/Full-time graphics: Not sure how tight you guys are on people who are graphics types but it might not hurt to have some extra hands on deck who do nothing but that.

• Auxillary/Full-time tech: Again, not sure how tight you guys are on that but dedicated techs might help.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Darth Vulcanus"]

​

​

Yes, yes and yes. Auxiliary could even run mini board events, FNRPs, mini contests and more. Take it a step further and make sure one has a mixture of new and old for balance and ideas.

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

[member="Rashae"]

I think as part of what this lady is saying we could have thread of the month--sorta like MoTM. Except it'd be the next Non-combat threads showcased, picked for their quality of story and so on.

Also I like the codex and factory show case things where we see some amazing subs displayed for their skill of writing and stuff. I loved seeing that.

Also I concur that if staff were allowed to feel like they could partake more in some things we might see more quality applications for staff positions, just my opinion and I know it's not much.

Also, we need less map game. It's pointless. We need things for major to do that's less map and more story. The board is great but we need less of the map, not more.

I love the new colors we are seeing on the map though, so that is good.

Also I like the idea of invaders having costs for losing invasions, like real life.

And lastly, I'm not saying we need a monetary system.... But it would be great. I'm honestly sick of seeing "I r brillunair pkaybyo" characters. (Yes James was that way.... After starting from the bottom....).

Also I do wish there was an easier way oh the market page some how. It just feels so cumbersome to me and so.... Weird. Maybe we could divide the forums like a mall or something? Weapon market pages go here, robot pages here, ship pages in this forum, etc etc, like the factory maybe?

Thanks for working for a better board all the time.

Cheers.

 

[Lief]

Territory Exchanges. I've had a ranging diplomacy muse burning within my soul, and would like to see factions hash out peace deals which involve planets changing hands, enforceable demilitarised zones and all that jazz. Make diplomacy just as important as wars, please.

I.Love.This.Idea

 

[Lief]

Building on that, perhaps a voluntary buddy system? Personally I feel Doms are useful for newer members to get a feel for their writing and if they really want to stick with said faction or find a new one. Heck, you can even join them without being a member! Now getting a little off track about my original point...

• Create a Master Thread/Pinned Thread. Allow new and newer members to toss up a few ideas or what they are looking for for a intro thread or two.
• Groups of volunteers for said thread(rotating, doesn't have to be like Factory/Codex, just folks who want to do this) nab a "New Member" request.
• Thread is created or member will have an instant posting buddy/starter point in Doms/Public Threads/etc
• Allow Veteran Member to take on Mentor role, introduce them to various Discord chats they may be interested in,writing partners,etc.

Rinse, wash, repeat. Now, this may seem a little too simple or elementary school "buddy system" for a lot of folks. However, I keep hearing the constant issue of Veterans v. Newer Members, plus an intimation factor about joining in. It won't fix everything but might be a good option for those who don't know where to start.

I'd sign up for this, too. Another seconded!

 

[WolfMortum]

[member="Tefka"]

Something I've been curious about yet not having actually gone out of my way to ask about until now is the limit of Forum Categories/Sub-Forums per Faction regardless of whether they're Minor or Major.

I've seen a number of factions with Sub-Forums ranging from the typical Three, to others holding up to Seven Sub-Forums.

Is there a way we could allow for all Factions to hold a larger number of Sub-Forums?

 

[Soeht]

An explanation because I did get a comment about how weird it is to see a post that suggest basically dictating what's on the site and then the importance of listening to outside opinion.

Essentially, I see this site as one big game. Like an MMO. And the Owner of the site is the Lead Director. It's his job to envision how the site should be and then work with Staff to make it happen, who are analogous to other devs on the team. An example of this would be answering questions such as, "What would the ideal Map game be? Should there be any time sinks?" etc.

Just like any project though, outside opinion is critical. Using the video game analogy, a dev that never gets input during development from play testers will end up shipping a bad game. So in the context of the site, the community's opinion becomes important in the implementation of the vision for the site - because sometimes, some attempts to bring about this vision may be counter intuitive to the goals of the organization but are hard to spot without an outsider's eye. And in relation to the vision itself, sometimes an organization might adopt conflicting goals but not realize this until an outsider points it out.

 

[Darth Ferus]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

The idea of multiple factions all invading one neutral planet for control is fantastic. I've personally wanted a Galaxy War where all Factions (Or most) are involved in widespread war between 'good and evil' or axis versus allies, and those sort of alliances are being made. I've seen four different threads based around the new Sith groups, Mandos, and First Order forming an alliance again the Galactic Alliance and Silver Jedi, and probably others as they croup up.

So what I'd love to see is something to support a Galaxy War. Outposts where a faction on one side of the map can take a planet for themselves to launch a campaign against their enemies. Alliance Invasions of neutral planets. Land grabs where the two alliances clash to take control of a whole neutral hex to better buffer themselves or get in striking distance.

I'm not sure if I relayed my idea clearly. Been deleting and retyping to try and make it clear so if it's not but someone gets the general idea please help me clear it up. I think this could be awesome.

 

[Ria Misrani]

Community Voice Chats.

Not a mandatory thing, just optional but I have found that voice chats. Even if you don't have a microphone (you can type/listen) are very beneficial for communicating more effectively than just text. These can be weekly, bi-weekly or once a month, what have you but I feel having those lines of communications open between staff and members, can really help. We have discord and it's a great tool, and we should really take full advantage of what it can do.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

1. Create a formalized way to take over planets peacefully via roleplay.

2. Rather than slogging it out one planet at a time, allow for a single takeover to include multiple unclaimed planets, determined by an admin or RPJ. The justification could be linked by trade, politics, or simple proximity. Let the map be affected on a larger scale. If the planet in question is a Capital World, then you only get that one, forcing the formally controlling faction to fall back.

3. Every six months, we have a one month Time Out. No planets change hands. Everyone takes a break to breathe, relax, and develop their character.