Submitted by CryingKnight on Mon, 07/21/2003 - 18:25
Posted in
OK this has been raised in MSN chat by myself already but I thought I'd post it to the board
Discounting those members of the board who haven't posted for whatever reason we have approximately 20 players.
The question is this do we have too many players, too few or about right. Even if we get a reasonable character proposal do we have the space for any extra characters.
My personal opinion is we have too many (not that I feel we should kick anyone out but we do have a certain amount of Natural wastage during the course of a season)
Are we in danger of being the victims of our success?
Anyway just a thought...
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When is enough too many?
**raises hand timidly**
Ok, so most of you "Members" might argue that I don't have a true position in which to voice an opinion. But I will speak my mind anyway. I stand behind Robin on this particular issue. I find all of our current members to be quite fascinating and each special in their contribution to our family. But that is the problem right there. By letting a multitude of new players in, we are losing our family's close-knit bond. The more wide-spread our board becomes, the fewer stronger and intimate bonds we can create. And I for one, would not like to see this board split into two story lines.
I hope that each member makes a contribution and shares an opinion on this one. This is after all, a group effort and everyone's feelings and ideas are unique.
my two cents...
I'm beginning to agree with this opinion and I hate myself for it, but I can't help feeling that as the number steadily grows, I can't seem to keep track of everyone or feel like I'm connecting with new members. I don't discount the thought of splintering off though. That might be a very good idea. If there were a new city, perhaps, that would be a good way to control the growing size concern. And it would allow for cross-overs to occur from one board to the other perhaps. I don't want to lose or alienate new players, is the thing, so it is an issue we are going to have to address.
When is enough too many?
I may be inclined to say the same thing :?
I guess i have no other reason than what Jean said...She stole the words from my mouth. Ahwell, just my 2 cents (Send all the extras over to Legends lol, we need more people)
When is enough too many?
I'm pretty much in agreement with what has already been said. Having said that, at this point, we should at least consider a moratorium on new applications. Give the new people time to integrate into the story and the group.
Then after a couple of seasons, we can revisit whether or not we want to accept a player or two. Or even if we think we'll be able to handle it story-wise - which might be kind of doubtfull, without running two or three big bads in a season.
When is enough too many?
I was actually going to post this very subject, but felt since I hadn't posted since the four parter Origin of the Cadre, I hadn't a soapbox to stand on. As I said in my very kind response to Miss Maude's diatribe against we of the filthy minds, it was hard enough to keep up with the Board when it was 14-17. Now is just plain scary to me. I haven't been on MSN because it distracts me from all the stuff I have to do (unfortunately besides LABN) and because I just don't know the newer players. I've been embarassed to say that I haven't been able to read what they've written. My own neurosis, undoubtedly, but it's still a concern of mine.
I vote that we take a moratorium. I'm sure we'll lose players; I haven't seen Fate for example. Perhaps Parasol and I'll take a vacation for a bit. I relish my membership here, so here's my opportunity to beg that you don't oust me. Totally unrelated thoughts this paragraph, but was running through my head.
Also, exclusivity breeds desire. I'm from LA -- I know this. If those who submit a character get an e-mail saying that the Board is closed to membership for a while, please keep up with the story, and keep an eye on the main page for info for when we are accepting submissions again, think of the throngs that'll clamor for inclusion then.
When is enough too many?
im sure if you all just got to know me and the other newbies you would liek us just a matter of talking to us enought
When is enough too many?
We aint talking about you dude. We're saying that AFTER you guys, maybe we should stop accepted people cause its getting very crowded.
When is enough too many?
hum ok it is quite crowded
When is enough too many?
This whole issue is something that's been on my mind off and on since the middle of Season One when Nick and Graham were discussing the player limits. It seems to me that as it gets larger it does get more impersonal. And there seems to be a natural limit in that some of the new players we've had recently have come on for a bit and then seem to lose interest or drop out for whatever reason.
Whether that's because they don't get that same sense of community we all felt at the start, I don't know. Or maybe we were just lucky with our first group of players and since then it's been more hit and miss. For every Aron or Logan we've had, there's also been a Darian or Tarix. But yes, there's definitely a point where it gets too cumbersome for the story AND for the community.
Some of that has already been reflected in how we operate. We have been extremely fastidious lately about who we've allowed in. Backgrounds that would have been accepted in the initial stages of LABN have been rejected of late. The two newest members have been accepted on the basis of obvious committment and interest, and a willingness to take suggestions on board for character development (in Jamie's case) and outright brilliance of concept and writing style (in Ana's case). With both of them the indications are that the second element (a good story from Jamie and connection with Ana - in fact, while writing this she's come online with the msn name Ally) will be forthcoming.
We can say that submissions are on hold, but I think we might still find ourselves tempted if someone does submit with an obviously superb character and a willingness to get involved with the LABN community. Do I have a conclusion? Uh... no. I think I'm just rambling now.
*gets off soapbox and slinks away*
When is enough too many?
I am a stong beleiver in equilibrium. The game will settle at the level with which we are comfortable. If you make noises about haing too many players get tougher about who you admit.
I am more than willing to sit on applicants and let them wait rhat er than ruin it with too many people. I am also willing to swing the axe and remove folks who aren't posting.
So what is the solution? I had at one time suggested a broader community with a tighter player group that wrote the stories.
I have been thinking of breaking off the "community" from the "game" and making a community board that anyone can join and then having a member based series of boards (like Legends and Mythic and LABN) that were true games seperate to themselves.
But I am not sure about that approach...part of LABN's attraction is the community which is different in character from Legends and the syles of the boards differ a lot.
Either way...Right now I think that we are at "critical" mass. Every season we bump up a notch to see how it holds and this year is no exception. Season 2 brought us great players like Sid and Saadia and Sherlynn and this season will have its share of stars too.
By the end of the season we will have settled back to a comfortable level and we can consider bringing on new players from there.
So for right now applications are considered, but unless its a superstar knockout its gonna get rejected.
When is enough too many?
I think that's what I was trying to say, except I started crapping on too much, as usual.
When is enough too many?
Oh, Heather... you make me blush!! As I said before, I hope I get to your standars. :lol:
When is enough too many?
Guess i'll put in a few words too. I have been barey keeping up with the new characters, hopefull i know all the names, but i even fear that if we do let any more people in it will feel like more...um...unknown people.
The decision to hold of new applications is good. I think we should give time for the new players to settle in and meet the group and have a firm footing in their story's and get to know labn better. That way we can retain the bond that labn is so proud of since the very begining.
When is enough too many?
Ok, so why am I bringing up this old thread you may all wonder...well I was chatting with someone today, and we came to the conclusion that there are alot of people registered who really dont do alot..er ahem anything....
Now I dont wanna start abig thing here, but personally i was wondering why we are being kinda exclusive with who we let in, when we have like atleast 5 people who have hardly, if every posted still listed as players (Ala Fate, who is probably not coming back)..
When is enough too many?
I used to be real tight about deleting players when they were too scarse or if they were non-starters, but frankly it got to be a hassle. So now they just sit there on the rolls and do nothing. They don't take up space and they don't eat any of my crackers so I don't care if they never disappear.
If it bug people that we have people that for whatever reason are ... um... sucking up oxygen in the system without paying their dues then I'll dump em. We ALL know who is and who isn't writing storyline and being an active participant.
The question is do we really CARE if they are here as sideline players?
When is enough too many?
Well, I dont know if I can really talk here, since I really dont know those people who are mentioned but not mentioned. They stopped writing before my time so I didnt make any attachments to them in anyway.
But as Dave said, they are only consuming oxygen... unless they are counted when it comes to accepting new players. I mean, we are being pretty exclusive when it comes to accept new players based in what? the official number of players or the number of players who are actually posting, albeit scarcely?
I think that after Dave created that "Dante's Circles of Hell" like organization of players it became pretty clear that we are only counting the latter. So why dispose of the former?
However, I dont think it would be a bad idea to send those people an e-mail or something asking them if they intend to get back to the game. Maybe they have been too busy, changed lifestyles, gotten married, gotten divorced, I dont know, and they just need some time, or maybe they are not interested anymore. Sorting that out it would be easier to decided whether to drop them or continue to drag them around.
Mmm, that was long. I have finished. :roll:
When is enough too many?
Well I can give my opinion here since I help moderate Fantastic Legends - though things are quite different over there in so much as we desperately need non-LABN players. I've sent quite a few e-mails to players who have signed up and then never posted in-game, then I sent a few more and I DO think you get to the point where you just have to delete them after so long.
The reason for this I feel is one of, um, how can I put it, memory? I find it tough to remember everyone on LABN, not so much on FL because there aren't that many players. Still, when it comes to PC's I like to know each character and the player and when you have like 5 or 8 people that are not posting and haven't been in contact for months it's a drain on the brain trying to keep remembering who they are. Now I suppose I could just forget them, but if I'm doing that (and everyone else is) then why bother keeping them around?
It's probably the same theory as having a 'self-clean' forum, because everything just gets littered up with extra stuff that no one looks at or reads or pays any attention to - but it's still there - like the mouldy banana peel under your bed. It has no function, you'd like to forget about it, but it's quietly stinking the place out hehehe
So while, true, just leaving 'non-active' players (those who've signed up and never posted, or those who haven't made contact in six months or so) on the memberlist isn't doing any harm, it's not doing any good either - remember, cleanliness is close to godliness ;)