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Posted 02 February 2008 - 09:24 PM
But most of us seem to think it's hard to find... As if there's a mysterious force holding us back, or even a slight collective inferiority thing going on. How can new factions get started, how can we increase the activity of our current factions, and how can we increase activity in the community? These seem to be the questions now. Contrary to what many believe, however, it would NOT be difficult for us to get everything back on track. We just need to realize what is holding us back, which is why I posted this thread...
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The Problem of Standards
I'm sure that many of us can see this happen. If not, try to look at the big picture right now. Many of us are expecting something close to perfection from anything that can affect our guild and community. This is definitely a problem, and I'll break it up between specifics.
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Spam seems to be a huge worry. This goes back pretty far, but it's still not a healthy thing to dictate everything that influences posting habits. Anything that is intended to provide incentive to post seems to bring worries about spam, which is very heavy baggage when one looks at how it influences everything. Many will be looking around for it, and every time something short or pointless is found, it's evidence that posting incentives are bad. It doesn't matter if there are three instances of spam out of a hundred posts... It seems like the mere existence of spam is enough for us to be considered spam-ridden. That's a problem.
It nullifies the positive effects of incentives, makes some members reluctant to post, and just causes everything to get quieter. We've had full-blown tribble hunts in the past as a result of this sort of thing, which turns posting into a science and makes everyone feel like they're being judged by some sort of tribunal. That also makes spam into a problem, when otherwise a pointless post is just considered pointless (and realistically harmless). It also tends to broaden the definition of spam, so more and more posts are categorized that way. This sounds like an exaggeration, but it's really not. It starts with simple things, like "Soandso is just posting for Credits", or "Here's an example of spam that was caused by Soandso's contest".
Just be realistic about spam, and also realize that spam happens on any open community.
Anything that provides incentive for posting should also increase other kinds of posts, which actually helps the community. The moderators are here to take care of it if spam is an issue somewhere. It doesn't need to be blown out of proportions.-------------------------
Recruiting also seems to be a worry. There seems to be a fear of doing it the wrong way. I find it somewhat troubling how we analyze methods so heavily, putting so much weight on the potential issues. It's true that certain methods are more prone to find players who won't really fit into our guild, but really how big is the issue? You have to be trying to mess things up, for any kind of recruiting to bring longterm (or even short term) problems. So we get a few members who don't fit in... They are most likely going to leave on their own. If they don't? Remember that this is an open community, and just like spam, stuff like this is going to happen anyway. When we need to recruit, which is becoming a bigger need the longer we wait, we should allow members to anything they want to do to help.
Also, about "open recruiting"... It's not fundamentally any different than posting a recruiting thread on another site. Both will be viewed by random players. What makes either method work is the description. It doesn't matter if you're heard by random people, just as long as you appeal to a certain kind of player. Before 2003, which our oldest members often consider our best year, we didn't complicate recruiting at all. Recruiting was recruiting, and we turned out alright because of it. There's no need to devise demanding or complicated strategies to reduce the potential issues of recruiting.
It can be very easy.
Lastly, on a similar topic, what about merges? I would not recommend that we go around seeking merges, but sometimes guilds will ask to merge with a larger guild instead of disbanding. Merges are not fundamentally flawed, although it seems that many of us are against them because of UFF. That was a very strange situation originally, but there is no reason to think that merges tend to end up like that. Before UFF we didn't shun the idea, and we've had small guilds merge into SeeD a couple times before 2005. It's not really a bad thing, so along the same lines as recruiting... There's no need to over-complicate it.
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The Problem of Priorities
This is parallel to the issues with standards, but fundamentally it's a different issue. Our issues with priorities are not as deep, and are easier to see, but should still be mentioned so we're all aware of them.
Activity is widely considered our biggest issue right now (which is quite justified). The problem that I'm referring to is specifically what about activity is our priority. There are many elements that go into it, such as increased posting, increased recruiting, and increased events. We need to realize what we're lacking, and not focus on our lesser problems.
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By far the biggest element that we're lacking is recruiting. In literally years, we haven't really organized to recruit. Some say that "we should be active first", but unfortunately that doesn't quite work. To say that basically means that we should push ourselves to seem more active than we are. No guild would ever get off the ground, because activity cannot physically come first. Recruiting is the first step... A guild should become active, instead of pretending to already be active. Recruit first, interact with the new members, have events (especially convenient spontaneous ones) relatively simultaneously, and you will see real activity rise. I guarantee it, at least from the perspective of a guild.
A guild should either already be active, or visibly seem to be growing, for members to want to stay. Otherwise if things are moving slowly and carefully, as seems to be our thing right now, recruits will (and visibly do) leave. They simply get bored.
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The next priority is posting, which is a somewhat more complicated issue, but no more difficult to solve. We shouldn't expect perfection (see above) because an active open community cannot achieve that. The issue with priorities here, though, has to do with balancing the positives and the negatives.
What do you consider more important... That we reduce spam, or that we increase "meaningful" posting? If something just increases posting, both spam and "meaningful" posts will naturally increase. Is it bad because it increases spam, or good because it increases "meaningful" posts? Is it neutral, and not worth commending or criticizing? Remember that increased posting on a forum is truly increased activity. Would you prefer an active forum, or a quiet one?
For that matter, how bad is spam in reality? It's usually just an isolated reply that takes less than three seconds to read, if it's not skipped to begin with. In most cases, the complaints are actually more annoying than the spam because they actually get attention, while most would just ignore the spam unless it's excessive in some thread.
Lastly, as another important priority question... Are you here for entertainment, or for something entirely serious? Would you really like CurvedSpace if we were all about entertainment, or all about seriousness? Why not relax and allow both to exist?
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The final priority issue is a small one, but probably worth mentioning...
Events don't always have to be scheduled ahead of time. They also don't need leaders, or even organization. Spontaneous events are just as important as organized ones, and lately we've been somewhat focused on organization. The way I see it, spontaneous events provide constant activity, while organized events provide burst activity.
Spontaneous events keep things happening all the time, such as PKing/PvP, random parties, PvE grouping, recruiting events, or whatever else. They are very easy to set up (basically just say "sign on now for this event"), don't really require leadership, can make friends, and can be fun. They also bridge between the bigger, less frequent organized events.
Organized events tend to be for big stuff like raids or floor-crashing parties. Only with a guild can you realistically get that kind of turnout. Some people join guilds just for this kind of stuff. These are awesome, and get better and better as a guild increases in numbers. However, they are not everything, and we shouldn't focus entirely on having them instead of the spontaneous stuff. We should have a balance between the two, while simultaneously recruiting, as this formula will lead to increased activity.
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So How Can We Grow?
It's really not that difficult! Please trust me when I say that, because I remember when growth was our priority the first time. Back when we had a really basic site and fewer than ten members in 2001, we managed to get SeeD moving. Events were small, we had little experience, but we had goals and focused on the right priorities. Anyone who says that our current situation is anywhere near that bad should go to the fridge, or if necessary the nearest 7-11, and pick up a box of Mountain Dews. Come back to the computer and chug one can of Mountain Dew (power up!). Watch E-Shrooms for five minutes. Then walk outside, listen to the birds, grab a stick, and whack yourself with it. Come back inside, ready another Mountain Dew, and sign back onto CurvedSpace.
That was excessive.
But it's really pretty simple. We just need to work together, especially within our factions, and do what a guild should do. Don't be discouraged by events with a low turnout, because it'll improve alongside recruiting! There are many ways to do it, such as inviting friends, posting recruitment threads, open recruiting, inviting group members, pillaging, and even collectively through events. It's easy for an individual if we work together at it.
Recruiting, befriending those who arrive, and just having a good time with your guild... It's that easy.
So let's get behind the goal once again, and work together to leave our activity problems far behind us. The longer we wait, the worse it's going to become... So let's find the way, starting with this month and going further into 2008. Who knows, this could be our best year if we make it so. What of the future? You could be remembered for building a better guild and community than we have ever had. That's much more feasible than it may seem.
This may have been a long post, but I sincerely ask for replies to this one. We can make our goal a reality if we act on the solution, so let's keep the discussion going, and this month organize behind it.
I'm sure it'll be worthwhile for anyone who wants his or her guild to succeed.
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