September Community Survey Results

[Dizzy771 900]

~Time for some Results~

 

Greetings lords and ladies of the realm of Athera. A little while ago I released the September Community Survey, so do you know what time it is? Yes, yes, it is still early in september that is true, but we got so much great feedback in such a short time we thought we would address what we can now. This will allow you guys to see the results of the survey early as well!

 

But before we get on to releasing the results, lets have a little chat now shall we? I know that many players don’t believe we read the results (one player even wanted me to send them a certain .gif to them as proof we do read them!) but I assure you….. we do. We take our time to read almost every single one. Don’t know what that means? That means reading 225+ responses, each response consisting of at least four chances to type a whole paragraph. Thats a whole lotta reading now, ain't it? With all the reading brings up a lot of issues to the team doesn't it?

 

I of course will be addressing some of the pressing issues that came up from many, many of you all. First of all, our new plugins are constantly being updated, patched, tweaked, and improved by our hard working tech team. They are always happy to hear your questions, comments, or concerns about the plugins. Secondly, many of our rules are being looked into by both the Global Moderator team and the Admin team. This includes our newly revamped, and infamous “War rules.” Last on our list of short updates is staff teams. Yes, many of our staff teams are getting looked over, from ET to MT. In fact many have already, or are in the process of, internal overhauls, regulation updates, and even roster changes.

 

Wait, what, thats it? Yes, for now anyways. There was a plethora of fantastic responses, all of which we would love to answer directly. However, we will be dealing with as many of the issues brought up as we can, even if we can’t talk to directly about it. We will try our best to keep communicating with the community of course.

 

Now finally, the results.

 

Charts:
 

(Unfortunately the timezones where a bit skewed because people didn't know what timezone was what. My bad guys)

 

What timezone are you in?

 

What race do you play on your main?

What nation are you affiliated with on your main character?

How do you rate our new plugins?

How do you rate our war rules?

 

How do you rate our new map, Athera?

 

 

And of course you can read all the written responses here:

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Pbvt-foPWkOoOanfgCitmVLyaxepZAHpjip-GY_OEQI/edit?usp=sharing

[bickando 3967]

I like the distances, I don't like removal of general status updates ;-;

 

plz gib bakc status update

[ℤ∃ʁ∅ 823]

Can't please everyone that is all I can say.... 

Edited September 11, 2014 by Zer0

[Aedan The Bard 350]

Anyway. Translate those results as to what needs to be done:
 

• Fix the damn nations. People are bored of them, to the point they're making their own and spreading RP all over the place.
• The races that get the least players need a boost. Make events focused around them. Make them interesting. Promote their RP.
• The map got burnt since day 1. People ran all over, found everything that could be found, and then proceeded to treat it like just another temp map. It's what happens when you change maps 7+ bloody times. People stop caring.

[AGP 3169]

I agree with Aedan, nations really do need a fix. Oren is currently doing this IC, but they might not be successful through IC methods because of the amount of OOC politics and control that goes into it. Haelun'or is great for Rp purposes but the racism drives away wood elves and dark elves, who have nowhere else to go. The Orcs are obviously going to be small simply because they're Orcs, and I think that Urguan is doing well at the moment.

 

I think that there should be an incentive to be in an organized nation, some benefit that would make people want to form their town underneath Oren or Urguan or something.

[Aedan The Bard 350]

It's ok to want to be racist (as elves) to make RP and all that, but keep in mind that kind of thing hinders more than it helps. OOCly, people are mostly chill. ICly, most people dislike it. Same goes for what the humans do ICly, and what every other major nation is doing. They forget they have to keep in mind it has to be enjoyable FOR EVERYONE.

My character, for example, is disgusted by the new generations of elves to the point he just avoids any elven settlement altogether. He's been like this since Asulon, and it has only gotten worse. This kind of thing leads characters to go elsewhere, or find places that are more peaceful and enjoyable, which often got raided before the war rules got updated. See where I'm going with this?


Sure, it's the way some characters are supposed to be, I get it. I have over a decade of experience role-playing, mind you. However, players do get upset by what they see ICly. A new player, eager to RP and make friends, faces the bigot, stern and rude high elves. What do you expect? You want them to like the RP and be interested in hanging around? They won't unless they're looking for that kind of RP, which is rare, or if they have friends amongst them.
 

[Telanir 6975]

"How do you rate our new map, Athera?"

 

Shows you the vote on war rules, should fix. :)

 

 

Oh by the way I read them as you guys added them, that's why the patch updates have been so frequent lately. :)

[Stag 3230]

The main reason the high elves are racist IC is to combat "edgy" or unorganize RP that otherwise plagued elven RP. At least that is my take on it. The problem that I see is everyone wants their own mansion. No one wants to be a peasant. Which leads to many players choosing an independent nation or faction where the promise of land is a real thing.


Also if people want this map to not be ugly then everyone needs to work together to stop requesting or taking pre-built ruins or event locations. I don't know why but since the start of the map I have had more requests to build over pre-built ruins than anywhere else.
 

[AGP 3169]

That is a very good point Kitten. People generally want to avoid playing peasants and want to get money/power/land. Those that don't tend to not care where they live and just hang out with their friends so they avoid the nations where people play politics because it gets in the way of their fun Rp. (Gimblewood is basically one of those settlements).

[Aedan The Bard 350]

The main reason the high elves are racist IC is to combat "edgy" or unorganize RP that otherwise plagued elven RP. At least that is my take on it. The problem that I see is everyone wants their own mansion. No one wants to be a peasant. Which leads to many players choosing an independent nation or faction where the promise of land is a real thing.

Also if people want this map to not be ugly then everyone needs to work together to stop requesting or taking pre-built ruins or event locations. I don't know why but since the start of the map I have had more requests to build over pre-built ruins than anywhere else.

 

 

Hmmm... Perhaps you should try doing it differently. The High Elves have become more edgies than the old edgies, imo, not to mention their RP seems to kill other possible RP. It seems it's RP that is done based off of OOC reasons, so it's natural it won't feel right to other people, I suppose.

Regarding nations... Well, to be honest, I remember the nation leaders were less into politics and war, and more into developing their city, building housing for new people and listening to their needs. This came to an end with the ability to free-build in Asulon and the other maps, including this one (despite the plugins). People love ruins, they're cozy and a fantastic place to live in (I used to build ruins to live in myself).

Another detail is that nation leaders are practically unreachable, with the exception of Syrio, who pretty much follows the same Nation Leader behavior or etiquette people followed in Aegis-times

[Narthok 10416]

Can we give Aedan a staff position please?

[Stag 3230]

Hmmm... Perhaps you should try doing it differently. The High Elves have become more edgies than the old edgies, imo.

Regarding nations... Well, to be honest, I remember the nation leaders were less into politics and war, and more into developing their city, building housing for new people and listening to their needs. This came to an end with the ability to free-build in Asulon and the other maps, including this one (despite the plugins). People love ruins, they're cozy and a fantastic place to live in (I used to build ruins to live in myself).

Another detail is that nation leaders are practically unreachable, with the exception of Syrio, who pretty much follows the same Nation Leader behavior or etiquette people followed in Aegis-times

 

 

Each person that takes a ruin as their home removes the chance for any other group to get event RP from it. Not that it is always bad that a group moves into a ruin, just something to think about.

 

---

 

SupremacyOps plays Kalenz daily btw. I can only assume others are unhappy with the high elves because the high elves aren't like other elven RP groups but they want them to be and instead of accepting the RP and going with it they choose to try and change it. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it's a game of politics all on it's own. I reckon that goes along with the argument "players don't want to be peasants"

On a side note. High elves tried making a true elven nation but ICly the other elves were rude/direspectful to them and expected kindness in return. Then  (a select few) berated them OOCly for being ICly racist and giving them not enough land. Moral of the story is you can't expect nations to compromise if outside players aren't going to compromise as well.

 

I do agree with the overuse of political RP. I wish it was less world politics.

[Aedan The Bard 350]

 

 

Well, now that you share those details, I do agree there's been a lot of ooc plotting going on to change the high elves, but... Honestly? It's partially congruent:

To the eyes of elves, in character, who've been around since Aegis, the change the high elves undertook makes no sense. There were no racist elves (or at least not more than five or so) to make a whole nation out of them. In essence, it should not have happened, if we follow the storyline. Since, as you've mentioned, it was partially ooc, it's understandable it changed that abruptly (it happens all the time, so I guess it's normal).

Now, moving on from that, you've got that a lot of characters are going to dislike the change, and thus a lot of players are going to dislike it too, mostly those who know what the elves once were and what they should've been (or what they should be). I have to admit I, myself, have complained about how I feel they changed the lore and turned the high elves into something they weren't meant to be in the original lore, but that's just my personal opinion (don't mind it too much right now).

Overall, players, as I said, get upset (sometimes) over the experience they get from RP. If it was a bad experience, they feel bad, as they have to feel for their characters to make them seem realistic. Therefore, they tend to be actually upset, or mad, when they face characters or situations that hinder their RP, and it's no surprise that they think the players who RP the high elves have an evil plan to kill their RP and make them feel bad.

Mali'Aheral character players put up with a lot of OOC bs, to be honest. I wouldn't be willing to "cooperate" with the demands people make OOCly, either. But, well... Since the change was done through OOC or based off of OOC reasons, you've got to keep that in mind when people complain about it. If it originated from OOC reasons, people are not all that likely to try to solve it ICly (and it probably can only be solved or dealt with oocly, as far as some people's understanding goes). Perhaps these words of advice can help you guys out.

[WuHanXianShi14 0]

People choose not to RP in the main nations for this reason:

 

The Elves are now oppressive and generally a nation run by what DND would describe as Neutral-Lawful Evil characteristics.

 

Ditto for humans.

 

Bare in mind, I've RPed extensively in both Haelun'or, Oren, and other elven and human nations, and I have friends in both. However if they toned down the evil a bit and worked on being more ICly welcoming and well..nice, people would RP in them more instead of opting to avoid them and make their own groups, as the graph shows.

 

Of course, this post, if even read at all, will simply be responded to with "Deal with it in RP"

[Aedan The Bard 350]

Of course, this post, if even read at all, will simply be responded to with "Deal with it in RP"

 

The issue with this argument is that, if people aren't solving or dealing with it in RP, it's probably because they can't - and they can't because it's not an issue originated in RP, but in OOC. Therefore, the argument is rendered invalid, and a solution is yet to be found. Sadly, OOC has to be dealt with OOCly, and IC ICly, or else things start to fall apart (as they've been threatening with, as of late).

OOC functions as an anchor, so nothing can be done about it ICly, while trying to solve the free IC side can't be done by imposing an anchor. It's like the left and right sides of a human's brain, respectively: If you try to solve something that requires your left side with your right side, it won't work. Same goes vice-versa. If you try to solve it with both, hehehe... good luck!

This means that, if you try to solve something that originated in OOC through RP, you'll face a wall, and the problem just won't leave (take many situations as an example: factions that refuse to disband, groups of RPers who refuse, or refused, to move on; take the snow elves and the Adunains, from Anthos, as an example). If you try to solve an RP situation through OOC, you pretty much ruin everything, to put it bluntly.