03-24-2019, 01:40 AM
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alright everyone! so buckle in because this is going to be a long post, including the results of both surveys and what i have to say on the results.
[align=center]the flintlock survey
alright everyone! so buckle in because this is going to be a long post, including the results of both surveys and what i have to say on the results.
[align=center]the flintlock survey
1. what is your current fl character status?
- 4 people said they currently roleplay here.
- 0 people said they do not currently roleplay here.
- 5 people said they roleplay here, but are not yet/not very active.
[sup](one person said yes to both)[/sup]
2. what are your thoughts on the ooc community?
- good, seems very quiet though
- friendly, if fairly cliquey. in the discord especially, it feels as though characters who fit certain criteria automatically receive more love and attention than others.
- i like it! can be a little too cliquey sometimes and/or exclusive but other than that it’s good.
- not a whole lot of people seem particularly interested in plotting with me, but other than that it seems fine.
- i believe that the ooc community is a bit cliquey. certain characters are favored over others.
- people are nice, but the whole community feels distant and insular.
- amazing people, i'm really enjoying it
- it's okay, more or less
3. what are your thoughts on the hp's?
- 6/8 people said we need more hp's
- 3/8 people felt it was too difficult to get promoted
- 3/8 people thought some of the current hp's aren't active
4. would you like to elaborate?
- i honestly think maybe one more but also the board isnt totally active so its hard to say
- it only says there's one hp on the guide, and if there are more, i don't know who they are - the only reason i ticked the second box was because i feel like there must be something blocking more people from becoming HPs, hence why the number is so low.
- as harsh as it is, in my opinion some hps don’t deserve their spots. there’s also not a lot of them.
- it doesn't seem like most of the s/hps aren't really around that much, and getting past representative seems really difficult.
- other than hayley, i don't know who the other hps are. if there are other hps, they need to be established better.
- it seems like people get promoted at random.
- maybe a second-in-command in the future
5. do you think there should be clear outlines for hp requirements?
- 6/8 people said no
- 2/8 people said yes
6. would you like to elaborate?
- some people struggle with muse or time to write + the board isnt super active
- i feel as though commitment should be increased with authority, but i don't think post quotas are a good idea.
- if flintlock is ever super duper inactive or has a slow week (like right now), there’s no way you can expect your members to post as often. plus, this method puts a lot of stress on roleplayers and defeats the purpose of roleplaying.
- i said yes because i'd be open to it. it might be good because some people seem to be able to be promoted with hardly any posts in open threads but long-term s/hps can't move past representative when that's the main place they post.
- i don't personally feel like the hp space in flintlock is competitive or quick enough to warrant specific activity requirements, and it might cause annoyance if normal members reach the hp goals and don't get promoted for other reasons. i don't entirely oppose having requirements though, but they might need to be kept private within the hp team.
- i think it's for the leader to decide whether someone's character is still appropriate for a certain position
7. what do you think needs improvement?
- 4/8 amount of thread replies
- 3/8 speed of thread replies
- 3/8 hp activity
- 7/8 internal plots
- 3/8 external plots
- 3/8 more open threads
8. what do you think does not need improvement?
- 2/8 amount of thread replies
- 3/8 speed of thread replies
- 3/8 hp activity
- 0/8 internal plots
- 3/8 external plots
- 5/8 amount of open threads
9. would you like to elaborate on either question?
- people are eager to post around in flintlock from what i've seen, but there's rarely any real traction or meaningful interactions unless it's forced.
10. would you be interested in seeing the lodge acquire a form of groupwide power?
- 2/8 said no
- 1/8 said yes
- 5/8 said yes, but only with a plot to go along with it
11. would you be interested in seeing more ic "events" or "competitions"?
- 0/8 people said no
- 8/8 people said yes
12. what kind of interaction would you like to see with flintlock and other groups?
- 6/8 people said more social events
- 2/8 people said more violence/conflicts
- 3/8 people said more trading
- 2/8 people said none
clique survey
13. what would you say best describes the cliquishness of flintlock?
- 0 people said everyone was cliquey.
- 3 people said a majority of the members were cliquey.
- 3 people said a few of the members were cliquey.
- 2 people said no one was cliquey.
14. what do you think are problem areas?
- 5/8 people said people only respond to threads/posts within their clique
- 6/8 people said people only plot within their clique
- 6/8 people said people only chat within their clique
- 1/8 people said they don't think there are any cliques
okay, so, i'm going to start with the last bits first: the cliques. i've tried the soft, general, "let's all be inclusive!" approach a few times before, and it's clearly not working. i don't want even one person to feel unwelcome here, and the fact that 6/8 people feel like there's a clique problem? is a big problem. i got a lot of recommendations on how to handle this situation, and i'm going to be following the ideas put forwards from here on, which more or less consist of approaching people privately, and demoting any hp's who participate in cliquey behaviors.
someone also mentioned they'd like to see the on site ooc section used more, instead of just the discord and it's channels. while i agree with this, especially for the sake of any members on site who cannot get to the discord, i can't demand anyone do so because i, personally, can't. i love writing on forums, but i'm just personally not comfortable posting oocly and chatting on a forum for various reasons, something i've talked about a few times before. i do my best, i try to post games and pop into the chatting thread on occasion, but just as some people aren't super comfortable on discords, i'm not super comfortable on sites oocly. still, it's an important note, and i'll try to force myself to bite the bullet more, and i'd love to see other people hopping in over there if they're interested. if a member isn't in our discord, our ooc community looks pretty dead, and i understand it can put people off.
most people? overall seemed to think that i'm doing a good job, which was a relief, although one person did mention that it doesn't seem like i plot with many people, and i'd like to apologize if i ever seem like that to any of you guys? i try my best to include everyone, but when most people say "plot", it's synonymous with "thread"; at one point i threw out the offer of plots, and within an hour i had a list of eight private threads to make, only one of which i've been able to get to. as a leader, i have to respond to all of the joining threads (and continue responding to them to get through the joining process), i try to respond to all of the open threads, i have meetings to post, she has to visit other groups, i have to plot out events and politics, i have to spend three hours posting threads like this, and maintaining 1x1 plots can be very difficult, not even mentioning the fact that hayley, as a character isn't exactly the most approachable woman. she's nice, all things considered, but she isn't friendly or sociable, and her general opinion of other people is very much "meh", and she, in general isn't someone who makes friends very easily. it's difficult to stay true to her character while also plotting with other people, but that's not to say i don't want to or can't, only that, while i try to approach as many people as possible, it'd help if anyone interested in plotting with me or her popped over into her channel, or dmed me. i promise i don't bite, and i'm always up for a thread with anyone, it's just next to impossible to find the time to make eight threads on top of the other hundred threads i have to make. responding to threads isn't very hard, especially when they're one on one, but making them is difficult.
on the note of hp's, which i kind of touched on in the meeting, most people felt like we needed more hp's, and about half of voters felt like it was too hard to get promoted. i'd just like to say that promotions are very much an ic thing; people who get promoted need to be people hayley trusts, and people she's willing to put in charge of things. when she looks for an advisor, she normally looks for:
1. people who are over eighteen
2. people who don't seem like they're going to leave any time soon
3. people who seem responsible and level headed
that's not to say that not fitting any of these will mean you won't be promoted. brendan is fourteen and a senator, tomorrow was promoted when hayley wasn't even sure he'd stick around, and hayley was entirely aware of blake drinking alcohol for breakfast. but she trusts all of these people, she trusts their opinions, and she trusts they won't run the lodge into the ground if they're left in charge. trust is really the only requirement, and for her to trust someone doesn't mean that she needs to know them -- she's hardly interacted with michael, but he seems trustworthy to her.
oocly, i look for activity first and foremost, and thats kind of non negotiable. i don't expect anyone to spam the board daily, but i look for consistency. if i see people posting a few times a week, for multiple weeks, and being present in other peoples threads, then there's a great chance they'll get a promotion. i also like to see people being present oocly, whether on site or in the discord, but it's not so much a requirement as it has a pretty solid correlation to whether or not they're actually going to stick around. there was also mention that someone felt getting higher than a representative is difficult, and in general i look for less activity for representatives than senators. so odds are, if you're stagnant in the representative position, it's either because you're not active enough for a higher rank, or your character icly doesn't seem like they'd fit into a higher authority (too young, has a disability limiting their abilities to go outside or give orders, etc.). people also seemed to think there was inactivity among the hp ranks, and while i've always hated demoting people because i don't want anyone to be offended, i'll definitely be stepping up on warnings and, down the line, demotions if there's inactivity.
there was also a mention of the lack of a second in command, which, while i agree with, isn't a position acquired easily with just good activity. this would need to be that hayley quite literally trusts to take care of her home and keep her children safe should she die, or be out of commission for an extended period of time. while i'm very eager to fit someone into that role, it isn't something that hayley would hand out over night, and as of yet no one has quite fit the bill in her eyes. that's not to say that anyone in flint right now can't be, or that there isn't anyone i'd be interested in seeing in the role, only that, as of this moment, there isn't about to be a promotion for the role.
there was a pretty solid agreement that we don't need more open threads, which i've interpreted as the amount that we produce regularly is fine. there was also an overwhelming agreement that we need more internal, group-wide plots and events, which i also agree with. most things thus far have involved other groups, and while it's nice to interact with other groups, i also think it's important to have events for flintlockers to be able to do things with other flintlockers. people suggested a lot of events, which i'll be keeping in mind planning forward, but for now we have the camping event coming up in april, and i'm going to try to have at least one event go on monthly or bimonthly? not just fine things, but other things too, for the sake of angst and development and all that.
a lot of people seemed interested in seeing power with a plot, and since the tnw electricity plot has seemingly died off, i'll spend some time coming up with a cohesive plot for some electricity. as for outside interaction, people seem to be largely interested in social events between groups rather than conflict. i'm always down for more social events, though no one tossed out any ideas, so they'll more or less appear only if i or any of the others get ideas. not too many people seemed interested in conflict, which isn't to say we'll never have any, only that it's not my primary focus at the moment. as of right now, we have a lot of younger members, and i won't be placing flintlock in any conflict plots until we have more battle-capable adults, since in the past flintlock has always pretty much automatically lost because of this.
a few people also complained in the comments that we have too many characters in their teens or younger, which, while true, i can't do anything about. people make the characters they desire, and hayley isn't the type of woman to tell a teenager or a child to get out.
someone also mentioned that we're not active enough, which is another think i'm not sure what to do with. i know i'm definitely not the most active, but i do my best to respond to things as soon as i can and post open threads when i can. i'll try to step it up a bit more, but there's only so much i can reasonably do day-to-day. i think we're the most active atm, and i think it's important to keep in mind that bb activity as a whole isn't crazy high? the site has higher times and lower times, and while there's always room to be desired, i can't force anyone to post ten times a day. the oldest thread on our front page is only twelve days old, which is pretty good, especially compared to activity we've had in the past. like i said, i'll try to post more often as i can, but our activity is pretty good for bb standards.
anyways, this is really long and took three hours, but i think? i addressed everything? if anyone has anything else to comment, i've numbered the questions to make reference/addressing them easier, but yeaH here it is.
[b][i]make your girlfriend mad tight, [color=#4A272E]might seduce your dad type
