The Effort That Doesn't Go Into Events

[cat danny 25]

Hi, all. 

 

I just wanted to express some thoughts of mine regarding how we run human enemy events on the server. I feel like the administration team - namely the 'B and C event teams' need to start going the extra length in actually writing down some of their ideas and reading them out loud to someone else before they run their event, because h'oh boy, do I feel like an sst vet when I can say "Boy, I've sure seen some shit."

 

There are a lot of major inconsistencies when it comes to execution compared to the setup. The people hosting events for us seem very intent on telling us how bleak and depressing the environment is, though do absolutely nothing to try and portray this in a way that's either compelling or at least partially realistic. We always have these shitty ragtag groups of guys who are described as low in number and disorganized, yet tend to do things that no militia or informal fighting group ever would. We just sit and fend off wave after wave of npcs with rifles, and look out for turrets and mines. Now let me tell you why that's bullshit.

 

i. Ragtag militia groups do not have tanks, helicopters, tac fighters and missile launchers. This shit is neither just laying around, nor is it available to just 'buy'. Even if it was all bought, who the fuck is funding the 9000 different groups? Make one big one and actually work together as admins and coordinate how these guys work. You have admin forums. Use them.

 

ii. The admins tend to oversaturate numbers when it comes to these kinds of events. If you're fighting a galactic superpower like the federation, you need to look at it from a perspective similar to star wars. A resistance cell should be maybe 300 guys at most in the entire cell. Especially since we mostly see them on colonies and other random planets nobody gives a shit about. When you don't have numbers on your side, you need to be working with tactics to compensate for the fact that you can't fight conventionally against someone with better everything than you. I also wanted to point out that admins running at you with sawn off shotguns is total bullshit. Play your event chars with the proper mentality and people will stop calling you the B and C admin team. You know who you are. If you don't, then just look at who I give shit to in TS after a Tommy Wiseau event happens.

 

iii. Make the atmosphere realistic to what you want to portray. There's currently no distinction between any rebel groups. Bandits, pirates, they all act the same in your events. Bad guys with guns. We should be seeing distictions here depending on what they are and what the purpose of their group is. Pirates should be stealing and raiding things. Deploy us to a hijacked ship, a freight yard, an asteroid base. Make muggers mug civs only to be caught red handed by the infantry, instead of a bunch of "bandits" who just show up with better "ragtag" equipment than us, who wage a ground war against the MI because they're just really hungry, angry civs. Have us race against the clock while they're drilling or trying to steal something of value. Actual pirate things. If they're deserters, they should act like soldiers or militiamen from a planetary defense force. Give your bad guys a goal and the server might start taking them seriously. At present, I feel like I can speak for the majority when I say "we don't give a shit about what's going on in your event because it doesn't matter at the end of the day."  It's all SSDD stuff that every one has seen before. Work together and make something meaningful.

 

This sums up my feelings for the moment.

 

P.s

 

You have admins and players stating that several (2 specifically) non admins run better events than your 'usual suspects admins'. This is a problem. Recognize talent and apprehend garbage. Put it in the dumpster. You wouldn't leave spoiled food on the countertop. So why would you continue to deliver a shitty service when you have better alternatives? Or at the very least, better people who are already admins.

 

P.P.s.

 

The admins who I speak with about this regularly need to step the fuck up and actually coach their colleagues. You agree that shit is bad but will not take steps to fix it. The XAs should also have quality control.

[El Excellente]

you dont like fighting rebel group abc who run around in AKs and manage to fuck you up somehow?!?!?

[cat danny 25]

@Xalphox

@Mr Marijuana

@Tonic

[TheLynch]

 

[ryu]

 -- I think the key to making events quality is to stop every drop lead and squad lead typing like this.

 -- I mean, seriously.

[ryu]

also can we stop killing recruits off

[Cronk]

33 minutes ago, ryu said:

 -- I think the key to making events quality is to stop every drop lead and squad lead typing like this.

 -- I mean, seriously.

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/dash/

[ryu]

1 minute ago, Cronk said:

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/dash/

-- Stop

--They're always overused -- and incorrectly

[Xalphox]

I'll address all of these in an upcoming state of the union style post - in a sentence though we are having to rely on newer admins who didn't have the advantage of being mentored by more experienced and veteran staff members and thus have had to learn on the job. A disproportionate number of veteran staff for example entered university for the first time this year and have understandably decided to make their future their priority. Plus a couple were thrown out after getting too big for their boots - a necessary evil as nothing kills a community like admins that act more like patricians than servants of the community (there are still some who seem to think they are irreplaceable but the reality is after ten years whatever role you hold has been held by tens if not hundreds of others before you or by now - my role has been held by no less than 5 people).

 

It is essential I think to recognize that whilst these newer admins might not be replicating the same production quality of events put together by some of our more experienced staff members, they are making an effort - and they are the reason we are still alive. Quantity over quality makes for a poorer community, but neither quantity nor quality makes for no community at all. @Cipher in particular deserves special mention - although he has a bit of an over active imagination, his introduction into the admin team a couple of months ago has been a bit of a baptism of fire, but still he has gone out of his way to help in every way possible (including taking over my campaign last night whilst I was afflicted with a rather stereotypically British debilitating toothache) and he has done a ton to mentor the newer admins. These are the kind of admins that are remembered for years after they eventually leave - it's a quality that makes admins like Davio so well known 5+ years after they left the community.

 

Things are however getting better. The newer admins are learning on the job and getting better. Roleplay quality has improved drastically. The Mobile Infantry under Durango seems to be in a much healthier place (indeed they are outpacing the admin team) and statistically the server is seeing a resurgence (though that is to be expected - Sept-Nov tends to see our player count tank thanks to the first term of school but the Christmas holidays tends to see things revive before peaking in the summer).

 

As for your PS's, I only can think of one of the two players that have been allowed to run events - and unfortunately whilst I recognize that player is making an effort, their recent history at SSTRP serves as a bar to them making staff in the immediate future. 

[cat danny 25]

I think the main issue that needs to be addressed out of all of this is the inconsistencies that arise from the "event runner is king" rule. There needs to be some kind of universal standard - and I think that some of our older administrators need to take extra steps to mentor some of the others a little more directly. I notice a lot of bickering happens behind closed doors but then we have the same recurring issues because these problema never tend to come up in conversation.

 

For the first time in a long time, I think I can successfully say "I think I really like the admins on sst.net", I just think that they need help. While I'm willing to acknowledge that my post may have been worded a little harshly, I don't think for a second it wasn't a necessary stir of the pot. 

 

Fixing this is actually very simple. The admins who push out solid, quality roleplay and events should be put in a position that allows them some form of authority over new admins because of their seniority. Maybe not for server wide decisions, but they should be able to look over the shoulders of new admins and be capable of directing them without question in order to maximize the efficiency of the newer party's learning period. To name a few, I think the following administrators deserve recognition for their efforts, and should be listened to by all newer staff members;

 

@Mr Marijuana; I used to think Durango suffered from "too big" syndrome when it came to his events. In the months I've been away, his ability to push forward both excellent rp as well as events has increased almost three fold. He knows what he's doing and I couldn't ask for a better xa.

 

@Tony; Tony probably puts forth my favorite missions on the server. They're usually meticulous and very interesting. He displays very good judgement and improvises when necessary while keeping a believable atmosphere. I think that anyone who struggles to portray a certain element should be coached by him, be-it horror, suspense or an overwhelming sense of "we are probably all going to die", Tony is able to accurately do all of these things.

 

@Cronk; No one can tell me bigger=better so long as Cronk exists, even if he's upside down. While very simple and often mundane in goal, that is precisely what makes his events so enjoyable. We aren't out saving the galaxy or doing any fancy shit, he treats us like a rifle platoon who do rifle platoon things and I love that. There are also underlying nuances to his missions that tend to give everyone a small role to play so that they all feel incorporated and engaged into whatever we might be doing. Everyone please appreciate the simple things.

 

@F r a n c o; Like Tony, your style is more grimdark than the usual suspects in my original post and I love you for that. When you and Tony team up for events, I go so far as to stop what I'm doing just so I can come experience it. I think that you tend to have very good ideas and would act as a very good filter with the rest of these names when it comes to idea management. You have a good sense of what too much, or too little is and I appreciate that.

 

I feel like speaking to one of these people before you run an event, or asking them for their input during the brainstorming phase (If I'm not getting ahead of myself and we actually brainstorm) would go a long way for this community as a whole. No one is going to get better if someone with a good track record isn't telling them what they need to hear. Player feedback is always good, but no matter how many times I tell people about their recurring mistakes, they keep on happening every other drop.

 

Help me, good admins.

You're my only hope.

[Deckers]

Unless things have changed, I do believe the trend was always those with things to say always stuck to saying instead of doing.

 

So first of all, kudos to you for stepping up and making this post to engage the conversation of getting admins to train the admins who lack the ability to help themselves. 

 

Second, I do believe @Tonic made a sheet for admins to train other admins if I remember correctly from my youthful days as an XA. 

 

Third, hopefully your post actually and definitely gets the admin team in motion to fix themselves in terms of quality over quantity. A problem that has long existed.

[Bospy]

tony is my protege.

 

in your "rebel group" thing, you mentioned many things i personally took into perspective for my missions (but you probably were never there to experience them since i'm inactive) and i return once in a blue moon with a very thoroughly planned out idea in my head revolving around a primary central theme/organization. you'll probably see more variety coming up especially with my planned campaign (but i am inactive and can't guarantee when it'll happen)

 

railroading players or establishing a linear environment basically makes things 10 times more difficult. giving people the option to go anywhere and do anything is the best bet. reactive missions are the best in that regard.

[cat danny 25]

There's no meaning to what we do when we go into slipspace every other day for the sake of mission diversity. We should pick a system (those groups of like 7 planets at a time from mass effect) and be there for like an ooc month doing things there, and then the admins can all work around that. I've seen it done successfully several times and know that it is definitely a functioning idea so long as the admin team is willing to work together. With five minutes of creativity, you can also tack in more than one enemy. 

 

For instance.

 

Drop into X system on the aqz border. One planet is taken over by bugs, it was a mining colony for precious minerals. Do bug missions. Neighbouring colony has an uprising bc they don't feel safe under the govt regime because their sister planet was taken by bugs, so they riot and do some civil unrest bullshit. Now we suddenly have organized seps with a cause and bugs nearby without crossing half the galaxy. Now we can tack in pirates or smugglers taking advantage of this if you want to mix up the bad guys, because criminals and profiteers prosper during civil conflicts. Want to tack in a plot twist? The coup is funded by the guy in charge of the planetary defense corps so he can initiate and establish his own government and turn the planet independent. 

 

These are just top of my head ideas, but it just goes to show.how simple the event creation process really is and how there's really no excuse as to why we can't be smaller scale. If we were more focused on something specific, then everyone involved in these events feels like it is more than just filler garbage that means absolutely nothing.

 

Ily btw bospy