Post by Trigor on Mar 15, 2016 10:11:37 GMT
Before I begin, I want to stress that you guys have built a great community. The MMO aspect makes it possible for a larger, more enjoyable and more enriched atmosphere within the Pathfinder universe. It seems to be to be the best and most fitting out there for me personally and it is in that interest that I write this letter. I have been an active member of the community since I joined and I have a great deal of interest in joining the ranks of the DMs once I have learned the game enough to run a game.
Now to the point. I've had a problem in that I spent 24 hours over the past 4 days trying to get a game with no success. Over this past weekend (Friday - Monday) I've spent more than 6 hours a day waiting in Discord, constantly announcing that I am looking for a game with little response from any DM. Frustrated after 6 hours I will move on to doing other things only to have a game announced LITERALLY 20 minutes or less later. This has happened on multiple occasions and it is incredibly off putting. Furthermore, it is something that the DMs should want to address in order to evolve into a better community.
Players other than myself have mentioned this before and the most common response received from the DMs is "You should be happy you get a game more than once a week." This may be how it used to be but the community has grown and just because something is the way it is, doesn't mean it's fine the way it is. Another comment I received was, "I guess you're just unlucky." Maybe I have been unlucky but the amount of time I've spent trying to get a game, a full 24 hours over 4 days, should counter that. That is 6 hours a day just trying to get a game. Hopefully that shows the passion I have for the game because it has been so incredibly refreshing for me compared to video games of late.
The final comment made was along the lines of "Just go do other things." Which is probably a good idea but in that event, I would never be able to get a game because I would just be able to pop my head in every hour or so to ask if anything is going on. At the current rate, it seems even when a DM is planning a game nothing is said until 30 min. or less before that game, so it would be almost impossible to just randomly line up a game without waiting in Discord.
Like it or not, this community has grown to a point where PUGs are not going to fully satisfy it's needs. Quite often seems that games will start on a whim, gather 6+ players and last for 6 hours, with some tying up multiple, if not all of the DMs all at the same time while a games worth or more of players wait helplessly in the queue with no word of when a game might begin for them, so they just have to wait and hope "maybe tonight, I guess maybe tomorrow night."
I am still new but it has been said the community has grown quite rapidly recently and in a short amount of time. To support that, I foresee a need to be a bit more structured. I feel like 6P-12A CST should be a popular time to get a game started but it hasn't been the case since I joined. I see enough DMs in discord every night to start at least 1 game during that time. This seems to have begun happening organically, but only in such a way that regular players can do nothing but wait for a game and hope one starts before having to log off.
My first thought that would benefit everyone (including the DMs who wanted to play games as well), would be to have each DM take a day and run 1 scheduled game on that day. It may be at any time during the day but so long as it the game is on the same time each day it would allow those who wanted, to be assured they could play. If my count of the current number of DMs is accurate, there could even be 2 scheduled games per day. That would allow players some planing, and with only 2 DMs obliged to run a game on that day (and of course life will come up, they could trade days if needed) that would mean there were still 12+ DMs available to run a pick up game at any time. This is just a quick solution off the top of my head but it is A solution and not just an excuse.
Being part of a larger community requires sacrifice in order to make that community work. I realized that DMs are volunteering their time and I respect that but it should not fall all on 1 or 2 DMs to make the experience enjoyable for everyone. Unfortunately, volunteering my time as a DM is not something I feel I am ready to do. In the interest of helping the community, I am willing to volunteer my time to create and maintain a schedule if the DMs would like to ping me with the days and times the would be available to run a scheduled game. I implore you all to be proactive in creating a community that will work for a large number of players before it gets bogged down with them all. If you do that, I promise the community will continue to grow and what you have designed will be able to support the amount of people it will inevitably draw.
Now to the point. I've had a problem in that I spent 24 hours over the past 4 days trying to get a game with no success. Over this past weekend (Friday - Monday) I've spent more than 6 hours a day waiting in Discord, constantly announcing that I am looking for a game with little response from any DM. Frustrated after 6 hours I will move on to doing other things only to have a game announced LITERALLY 20 minutes or less later. This has happened on multiple occasions and it is incredibly off putting. Furthermore, it is something that the DMs should want to address in order to evolve into a better community.
Players other than myself have mentioned this before and the most common response received from the DMs is "You should be happy you get a game more than once a week." This may be how it used to be but the community has grown and just because something is the way it is, doesn't mean it's fine the way it is. Another comment I received was, "I guess you're just unlucky." Maybe I have been unlucky but the amount of time I've spent trying to get a game, a full 24 hours over 4 days, should counter that. That is 6 hours a day just trying to get a game. Hopefully that shows the passion I have for the game because it has been so incredibly refreshing for me compared to video games of late.
The final comment made was along the lines of "Just go do other things." Which is probably a good idea but in that event, I would never be able to get a game because I would just be able to pop my head in every hour or so to ask if anything is going on. At the current rate, it seems even when a DM is planning a game nothing is said until 30 min. or less before that game, so it would be almost impossible to just randomly line up a game without waiting in Discord.
Like it or not, this community has grown to a point where PUGs are not going to fully satisfy it's needs. Quite often seems that games will start on a whim, gather 6+ players and last for 6 hours, with some tying up multiple, if not all of the DMs all at the same time while a games worth or more of players wait helplessly in the queue with no word of when a game might begin for them, so they just have to wait and hope "maybe tonight, I guess maybe tomorrow night."
I am still new but it has been said the community has grown quite rapidly recently and in a short amount of time. To support that, I foresee a need to be a bit more structured. I feel like 6P-12A CST should be a popular time to get a game started but it hasn't been the case since I joined. I see enough DMs in discord every night to start at least 1 game during that time. This seems to have begun happening organically, but only in such a way that regular players can do nothing but wait for a game and hope one starts before having to log off.
My first thought that would benefit everyone (including the DMs who wanted to play games as well), would be to have each DM take a day and run 1 scheduled game on that day. It may be at any time during the day but so long as it the game is on the same time each day it would allow those who wanted, to be assured they could play. If my count of the current number of DMs is accurate, there could even be 2 scheduled games per day. That would allow players some planing, and with only 2 DMs obliged to run a game on that day (and of course life will come up, they could trade days if needed) that would mean there were still 12+ DMs available to run a pick up game at any time. This is just a quick solution off the top of my head but it is A solution and not just an excuse.
Being part of a larger community requires sacrifice in order to make that community work. I realized that DMs are volunteering their time and I respect that but it should not fall all on 1 or 2 DMs to make the experience enjoyable for everyone. Unfortunately, volunteering my time as a DM is not something I feel I am ready to do. In the interest of helping the community, I am willing to volunteer my time to create and maintain a schedule if the DMs would like to ping me with the days and times the would be available to run a scheduled game. I implore you all to be proactive in creating a community that will work for a large number of players before it gets bogged down with them all. If you do that, I promise the community will continue to grow and what you have designed will be able to support the amount of people it will inevitably draw.
