Hey, I feel I should throw my hat into the ring for ideas to bring activity up. So.
Right now we are averaging about 100 players a day. Presumably the same players in the grounds. This is not good. This is a sign the game is on life support. We cannot deny this any longer, I'm sorry.
I am trying to remain positive in this thread and not giving back lash toward anyone. I will ask for those to move to PMs if arguments occur.
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Now, my suggestions.
1. Better Communication/Compromise.
We all know there are some issues with communication. From Player to Player, Player to Staff, Player to MOTS, etc.. We do not need different parties of people in this game. It makes the community look bad to new players and those coming back through nostalgia. No one wants to join a drama filled game. This is why no new players are staying. Teens and preteens joining the game have no context of the mess, and most likely do not want to deal with said mess.
The fix: Give information about big updates. Hype people up to stay! Don't just throw parties every year and dance around in game. Parties are not fixing the issue. Upgrades! Hype people up for new things. Secrets will not accomplish this.
You can still have secrets for certain updates. See my examples.
Examples for secrets: new models, some game upgrades (see block glitch and activities tab), new staff, etc.
Examples for Hype: Parties, Big projects you can take us along the way with (see community maps and dev stuff), new maps, MOTS, etc.
I'd look at the game Flight Rising for better examples than mine in updates.
2. Better Moderation.
This is not meant to degrade current staff by any means necessary. We as a player base just want better and fair moderation. I've known several people who have been in trouble for things they A. Didn't do, B. Miss-typed in the wrong chat, or C. Didn't know you couldn't say. We've all read the rules. We've seen them in game despite the text being ridiculously small. I got talked to for having a certain acronym in my bio when many others have said worse acronyms in Local.
We also need more activity from staff. We understand you are busy. But if you are too busy to moderate, why are you a moderator? Again going to repeat this; This is not meant to degrade current staff by any means necessary. I am just trying to help with things.
As for punishments. Give a public list of what action gets a what consequence. A great example of this kind of list is from a site called Art Fight. They have a maturity rating system that works a lot like this list. See this link (https://artfight.net/info/guide-maturity) for more info. Warning: Cartoon blood and more.
Example From Art Fight.
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/337272549509431296/730138880094896158/unknown.png?width=1443&height=557)
My Example for FH
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/337272549509431296/730140081020469308/unknown.png)
Now, any other suggestions comments and concerns? I'd love to hear y'alls ideas!
I can't say much as I am only in training, but I'd at least like to throw my own views and such into here.
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So this is something that actually comes up quite a bit ~ more communication between community and staff. This has especially come up quite recently and has been on a lot of the staff member's minds. We actually are listening, as stated quite a few times, and are trying to communicate more. When it comes to the update, we cannot say anything but that in all honesty is not quite the staff to blame on that one. Lord Sura said not long ago that this game is run by Raz, which means that he has the ultimate say in what the staff can give out to the community and what they cannot. That being said, I know that the argument will come up about just going and doing so anyways or just leaving the staff, but we want to respect Raz's wishes and we also don't want to leave the game that we love so dearly.
It is our goal to make sure that we have everything that you guys want, and we do apologize that we can't show you more of what is happening behind the scenes. But we are also trying to hype for the update while also respecting Raz and his wishes. Take a look at the podium winner! That is actually going to be implemented into the game with the upcoming update! I want to say this as a community member and not a staff member: I absolutely love to see this in particular because it is the way of showing that the staff are using the community. Also, take a look at the submission boards - another great way to get community input on all of the stuff to be updated in the game.
All-in-all, the staff are trying to work on the communication between community and staff, and the best thing that we can do in the meantime is to be patient (on both sides) and keep giving us ideas. While we can't say anything about the update, I can say that community input is going to be a heavy influence!
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This is actually another thing that we see popping up quite often ~ more descriptions of the rules along with what could be the punishment attached onto it. I can't talk about bans specifically cuz you know... rules and such, but this honestly would be something nice to give the community members more of a peace of mind.
As for the activity of the staff, that has been taken into consideration and actually has been on the rise recently. To be fair, this does depend on time zones and such, but a lot more staff members are making themselves available in the game. Also, sometimes a staff member will be on and the other people in the game won't notice them. Always watching... huehuehue. Many staff members have jobs, school, and other aspects of life which keep them from being on the game all the time, but they are trying harder to be on the game a lot more often.
All of this being said I'd like to add in a bit. The staff members are listening to the community and are trying their hardest to keep things calm. While it may be difficult at some times, you'll never see any of the current staff members giving up on this community. They are trying their hardest to keep the community happy while also having to play the "mean parent" when they don't actually have control over some things. Thank you Cilantro for posting this ~ it does help us in finding ways to improve within our boundaries.
Thank you so much for your response. I apologize for my leaving comment earlier.
Now! Considering your comments. I've heard about the new update, and I am a little frustrated about it. I won't give explicit details on who told me what and details about said update. I understand where y'all are coming from though with it. I'd be willing to give my input within PMs if you'd want?
As for activity of staff, I do agree that the moderators have been on more. I was just stating my suggestions for those who cannot be on actively because of said business. I understand Hiatus, though they can only be on it for so long. The reason why I suggest this is to gain new moderators and new opinions. I am not saying to replace certain moderators, I(and probably FH) just want some new faces.
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I can't speak about most of this because most of it I understand the staff's view but moderation and such could defiantly be better.
I personally think the punishments need to be fixed and used more professionally, I know many users who have left because of the harsh and sudden way they are applied to them and more often their friends. There needs to be a defined system that won't make the mods look harsh especially to such a small community. Warnings are important, communication between staff is important. I have made suggestions about the matter in the past but my thread was deleted.
My tiny experience as a mod in training on another game has taught me a lot and I'll be more then happy to share my thoughts if they will be listened to.
Thank you for this input as well Chips!
I personally agree all of this. My friends and I have been given kicks as warnings. This isn't fair. Same with the thread you made being deleted. I'd be happy to hear your input in here as well <3