Community events, admins, guides and our feedback

This post is meant to serve several purposes. For one I am ingame a lot, have been around for several years and get a lot of feedback from other players.

This thread is meant to provide information, to start conversations and to provide feedback for both players, guides, admins and devs.

The devs added admins and guides ingame and began having ingame events. The admins/guides have asked for feedback re specific events and they have received it, some good some bad.

A guild conversation re events led to some guildees discussing the issue in more depth which led us to reach out to current guides to get a feel for what they can and can’t do and to try working together across guilds to brainstorm and come up with some good ideas for events.

I am going to break this thread up so it’s not one long wall of text.

One of the first comments/questions I received was:

Who are our current guides ingame??????

I am providing the current list with a link to the wiki so that info is available.

http://wiki.projectgorgon.com/wiki/Volunteer_Guides

Volunteer Guides (2019)

Hubris was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2019.

Nebelwolf was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2019.

Seya was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2019.


Volunteer Guides (2018)

Andrij was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2018.

CoinSpender was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2018.

Daimes was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2018.

Greyfyn was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2018.

Manwar was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2018.

Nightz was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2018.

Niph was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2018.

Rowina was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2018.

Rummencola was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2018.

In August of 2018 Rummencola became an Elder Game employee with an admin alter-ego named Jackencola.

Sims was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2018.

In October of 2018 Sims became an Elder Game employee with an admin alter-ego named Lemons.

Zeiss was invited to be a Volunteer Guide in 2018.

A comment for the devs I think it would be a great idea to post what the admins can and can't do and what the volunteer guides can and can't do as far as event functions go.

Providing the player base with this basic information will cut down on people expecting more than what is allowable via the tools made available to the admins/guides.

Next comment I hear often after the "Who are the admin/guides?" is:

They aren't ingame often!


We are all human and have real life things going on. People also get bored, take breaks from PG, play other games, etc.

The ingame events are noticed and people notice who is and isn't doing them. People also know that some on the list from above are not active in the game.


I am simply repeating a comment I've heard many times, although I happen to feel the same way. Many players do this type of work in real life or have done it for other games. If a person is going to commit to being an admin or guide then they need to be playing the game and not simply logging in occasionally to toss out some bread crumbs (aka mobs) in serb and say there I did my job.

As an employee and as a volunteer in the past for organizations, showing up sporadically was not acceptable.

And frankly people don't like or respect it.



How do you determine "active?"

That is something only the devs can do but absent admins/guides = no admins/guides.



In all fairness if you hold the title of admin/guide and you are not logging in regularly and/or playing the game then the title needs to be removed and this has been voiced by everyone I've spoken to.

Several of us met with one of the guides today and had a wonderful brainstorming session.

At the moment it involves 2 very active guilds working together to come up with interesting event suggestions and ideas.

What we're asking is that the player base please read this thread and give suggestions re what you'd like to see regarding community events.

Please be realistic given the player base and dev team size, but yes throw out ideas.

Regarding comments on past events, feedback I've received and things we discussed today.

Please admins stop throwing out mobs in the center of towns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

People that are afk end up with broken bones, dead, etc. There's a reason why the devs created other areas, so that Serb wasn't the center of it all.

Since some of the event content is limited to/has to be in low lvl areas then move it to Serb Hills or outside of Serb town. Logging in, throwing down some orcs and logging off is just an asinine move on the admins part.

And based on all the comments I've heard, no one is happy with it.

I've also been told that people have asked you in the past to stop doing this but the request was not heeded.

Based on the guild discussion and then the discussion we had with others today, we are going to try to work together as guilds to come up with some interesting community events.

My case in point is this: the poetry jams have always, always been a successful community event and popular. So we just need to work on things that people are interested in.

And we'd like to get these things going on a more regular basis, maybe a couple small events several days a week within certain time frames so all time zones can benefit.

Please utilize this thread to let the devs, admins and guides know what you do and don't want to experience, what you have and haven't liked about past events.

Thanks everyone in advance for your input and suggestions!

I didn't play AC only AC2 but a good example of a community type event I have from my AC2 days.



The CE run. We usually did it on Sundays, it was something you could do weekly and you were able to utilize the crystal for several things. And everyone showed up, just like they do for the poetry jams.



Devs - you finally put in the dailies which people seem to appreciate and do.



As one of the members of the discussion we had said....KISS....is the key for these community events.

Heya!

First of all, thanks for posting this! I really hope we can get a good discussion started on community events.

In the spirit of openness, I was the Guide in the discussion earlier today. I became a Volunteer Guide in early 2019, though my play style hasn't changed much since then.

In this post, I wanted to address some of the points mentioned about the Guides, and (I hope) help clear things up. I apologize if this comes across harsh or attacking, that is most definitely not my intention.

This has been a common thread here and from other players:

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They aren't ingame often!

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We are all human and have real life things going on. People also get bored, take breaks from PG, play other games, etc.

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Yes indeed! There are about a dozen Guides, and like with anyone, real life can throw surprises at us, causing us to be out of the game for an extended period of time. Our number makes it easy for there to be "coverage" when any of us is away.
Some of us on the list posted previously may also have Alts. Some known, and some not so much. For example, if you can find me and tell me the name of my Alt, you can get bragging rights. :)

Also, anyone has the option to go into "incognito" mode (using /incognito), meaning they won't show as "online" on Friends lists, Guild list, or `/who`. I do sometimes use this feature when in-game only as a Guide (such as on days when I'm working from home). I'm still available, but would likely not be able to group or join events, etc. It's kind of my way of popping in to say "hi".

That said, I tend to be more vocal than some as well, often answering questions in Global or other public chats, though there are Guides who handle Guide duties in Tells instead.
Essentially: No two guides handle the same thing in exactly the same way. And I think we work better that way.

In a similar vein, not all Guides need to do the same things. As with any team, each member has their strengths, and I can say from being a member of the team that we each play to them very well.

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In all fairness if you hold the title of admin/guide and you are not logging in regularly and/or playing the game then the title needs to be removed and this has been voiced by everyone I've spoken to.

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This bit rubbed me the wrong way. I respectfully disagree with this. It seems unreasonable and unfair for there to be an expectation on Volunteers to be constantly playing. I can only speak for myself, but I'm doing this because I love the community and want to help keep the fun and friendly environment we've all grown to love. I've definitely been on vacation a few times since becoming a Guide, meaning that I wouldn't have been able to be active.

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I think it would be a great idea to post what the admins can and can't do and what the volunteer guides can and can't do as far as event functions go.

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To be honest, this may be a little much. Though, the final call may be over my head. I think I can summarize it here by saying that Admins have many more options available than Guides.
If anyone is wondering whether a Guide can do something for a given event, please ask one of us. :)

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If a person is going to commit to being an admin or guide then they need to be playing the game and not simply logging in occasionally to toss out some bread crumbs (aka mobs) in serb and say there I did my job.

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This read a little harsh. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that we don't (or shouldn't) see for a variety of reasons. Only Admins can spawn any kinds of mobs, and the Admins are also handling all sorts of other issues including (but definitely not limited to) Customer Support, Bug replication/verification, or processing Suggestions. We don't really need to know everything that goes on.
That said, one of us may be able to help clear things up. I don't mind helping to direct questions, either.

Finally, I know I have lots of room for improvement. If you have a suggestion of ways I can improve as a Guide or ways I can help with events, definitely find me and we can discuss them. I've heard some great suggestions already today in the brainstorming session.

I will have another post here soon related to player-run event ideas.

Guides are players. We volunteer on our own time. Although this may change in the future, the current team received invitations to be guides based on our various contributions to the game and our in-game demeanor. Our participation in global chat and other activities isn't a requirement of the job. Many of us whisper players; that's just fine. The guide team communicates in a variety of ways not seen by the general populace and we often negotiate who will address a need or issue at any given time. We're very good at taking turns!

In regards to player perception on the presence of guides, know that someone is almost always present. While the list provided on the wiki shows the names of our main characters, it does not reflect our multitude of alts, nor the fact that sometimes being incognito is a useful thing. Also note that guides also monitor the official forum, the Gorgon steam page, the reddit, the Gorgon's Head discord and other pertinent media. We're here!

Most days if we were all wearing our guide/moderator tags both in global and on our player persons, it would be somewhat overwhelming! If guides are in their normal player mode, that's a good thing, especially when we have many helpful players to answer questions and step up to assist other players. Too much guidance suppresses a community. Allowing other players to lead and initiate activities grows opportunities for everyone.

Many aspects of the guide program require confidentiality and cannot be discussed in an open forum. Specifically it would not be appropriate to discuss the work of specific guides, or to directly discuss the actions of any individual player. A robust discussion without a complete understanding of the program might not be possible in this format. Some of those comments could be too personal. Possibly reframing some of the expectations already listed in this thread and redirecting them to the admins would be a positive step.

Suggestions for improvements to the guide program probably should go to either the ! button in game or directly to support@projectgorgon.com to be addressed by Rummencola, the admin in charge of the guides. Finally comments about other aspects of the game, including admin spawned events might need to be separated out as a different topic and addressed independently. Guides just don't have those powers! :cool:

Let's start things off with this disclaimer: I am not a guide nor do I log in right now (mostly because I am still pouting about what happened to Lycan) But I will return someday, But I do still keep in contact with certain friends I made from the game and still read the forum at least once a week. Now with that out of the way....

Lileth, aka Zthali aka etc etc etc etc etc etc .... this is for the most part meant for you:

I realized quite some time back ago that you like to cause drama when there is none. You like to talk about people in tells, put people down etc. you are always questioning everyone's authority. Holy Shit girl this is a game.. chill the hell out. You would not make a good guide-admin because you are way too judgmental and you would just find reasons to gag or kick someone. I am not saying this to slander you (because I know that is what you will say next) but I am saying I know because I once fell for your bullcrap and attacked a certain admin. I still have all the screenshots of all the nasty things you would say about some of the people in game, especially the guides, admins, developers, and guild leaders. Maybe one of these days you will grow up and quit trying to cause trouble and drama in a game that is there for us to log into and relax. Oh and this is NOT AC or AC2... let it RIP, I miss it too but its time to move on and quit bringing it up.

Okay now that is off my chest, I liked the live events but I wish they had more of a schedule to them. Now a couple of reasons why I say that is for the complainers that are AFK when stuff gets spawned have an advance notice to log the hell out if they don't want to be around when it happens. Another reason is for people that are not logged in constantly to be able to log in and be ready for it. When I was logging in and playing, if I had nothing to do I would log out and go watch a movie or go outside or something.. but if I would of known that a live event was going to happen lets say sometime between 2-3 I would of logged back in to watch for it. But that is not a necessity just a personal request LOL.

The guides are volunteer, its not a job so why treat it like one. I personally think they have picked some very good guides for the game. I know when I was logging in game and people would be asking questions I saw the guides ALL the time! Sometimes it was a nuisance to me because I would try and help people and a damn guide would get it typed out first... lol. Finally I gave up on trying to help others out unless the question went unanswered for at least a few minutes. Rarely would I see them show the guide tag on there name though, but when I did see the tag is when it mattered, when asshats were in chat stirring crap up and they were handing out a warning. Now I do know of some of the guides that log on "incognito" so they can actually play and not get tells the whole time so they can not get anything done. But they are there watching, you just can not see they are online. I just want to say to the guides do not let one bad apple ruin what you are doing, keep up the good work :)

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Originally Posted by SassySusie

Let's start things off with this disclaimer: I am not a guide nor do I log in right now (mostly because I am still pouting about what happened to Lycan) But I will return someday, But I do still keep in contact with certain friends I made from the game and still read the forum at least once a week. Now with that out of the way....

Lileth, aka Zthali aka etc etc etc etc etc etc .... this is for the most part meant for you:

I realized quite some time back ago that you like to cause drama when there is none. You like to talk about people in tells, put people down etc. you are always questioning everyone's authority. Holy Shit girl this is a game.. chill the hell out. You would not make a good guide-admin because you are way too judgmental and you would just find reasons to gag or kick someone. I am not saying this to slander you (because I know that is what you will say next) but I am saying I know because I once fell for your bullcrap and attacked a certain admin. I still have all the screenshots of all the nasty things you would say about some of the people in game, especially the guides, admins, developers, and guild leaders. Maybe one of these days you will grow up and quit trying to cause trouble and drama in a game that is there for us to log into and relax. Oh and this is NOT AC or AC2... let it RIP, I miss it too but its time to move on and quit bringing it up.

Okay now that is off my chest, I liked the live events but I wish they had more of a schedule to them. Now a couple of reasons why I say that is for the complainers that are AFK when stuff gets spawned have an advance notice to log the hell out if they don't want to be around when it happens. Another reason is for people that are not logged in constantly to be able to log in and be ready for it. When I was logging in and playing, if I had nothing to do I would log out and go watch a movie or go outside or something.. but if I would of known that a live event was going to happen lets say sometime between 2-3 I would of logged back in to watch for it. But that is not a necessity just a personal request LOL.

The guides are volunteer, its not a job so why treat it like one. I personally think they have picked some very good guides for the game. I know when I was logging in game and people would be asking questions I saw the guides ALL the time! Sometimes it was a nuisance to me because I would try and help people and a damn guide would get it typed out first... lol. Finally I gave up on trying to help others out unless the question went unanswered for at least a few minutes. Rarely would I see them show the guide tag on there name though, but when I did see the tag is when it mattered, when asshats were in chat stirring crap up and they were handing out a warning. Now I do know of some of the guides that log on "incognito" so they can actually play and not get tells the whole time so they can not get anything done. But they are there watching, you just can not see they are online. I just want to say to the guides do not let one bad apple ruin what you are doing, keep up the good work :)

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Preach the truth, sister.

Just to clarify a bit:

Guides are volunteers who have agreed to help answer other players' questions, and to help keep in-game chat a civil and friendly place. There is no requirement that they put in a certain number of hours; they are volunteers.

Guides have very few special powers, and those are related specifically to their role. For example, they can turn their -GUIDE- tag on and off to indicate whether they are currently doing guide-y things. They can deploy limited short-term gags and bans if necessary to put out fires in chat. They do not have the power to spawn items or monsters, and they can't run what I will loosely call admin events.

Internally, we think of events as being either player-driven - like the Poetry Jam - or admin-driven - like the recent lemon-themed events. We would love to see more player-driven events like the Poetry Jam! Guides can help players get events like this set up and rolling. Admin events are much more unwieldy. These events require a lot of work and a lot of high-level special commands, so not something guides will be able to do on their own. (Sorry, guides!)

When we ask guides to do other things, we generally give them specific guide-only items - for example, the big pillars of light that guides can deploy to help players find them. And we give them access to some goodies like cauldrons to enliven player gatherings.

If you are putting together a player-driven event - whether that is something big and recurring like the Poetry Jam, or just a little one-time thing like a character's birthday party - you can ask the guides if they can help make that happen. The guides won't magically make it happen for you, and there may not be any guides available - they are volunteers, after all.

If you would like to give feedback on specific guide actions, please e-mail support@projectgorgon.com.

Hopefully that answers some of your questions. I am closing this thread.