LFG I WANT THE PRESIDENCY

[Anárion]

So I posted something in the discord server not too long ago, something to that effect. I'm not here about specifics. I'm just here to pitch the overall idea and let us all sort it out together if it seems interesting. Here's what I'm talking about:

We could establish for ourselves a sort of, "event council." The number of which I don't know, I was thinking 3 but that's not important. I was also thinking we would elect such individuals via a poll. Anyone can nominate themselves, and then the top 3 (or however many) are awarded the seat. I figured too, again, these individuals could come up with story/plot ideas to run as the event. Then they issue a poll, and again we vote on which story sounds like the most fun!

I figured all in all, the council would be around for maybe 6 months? I think that's plenty of time but, again, I don't know.

If its something world changing then I'm sure the staff would issue oversight, but I'm thinking we don't need to go to these extremes.

The idea with this format is to give the mod team a bit of a break when it comes to all the story telling. We can do it too! Let me know what you think!

 

[Shrike]

Yes

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

I've been thinking about this and I'm not opposed to a 3 month rotation of an event team.

I think it would come with staff veto on who takes positions.

In fact I'd probably go top person gets event leader and they - with staff - choose two others

 

[Erën]

I counter with 4 months. My original thought with the 6 month pitch, was that if we had 3, not necessarily associated folks, they're gonna need some time to collaborate.

In fact I'd probably go top person gets event leader and they - with staff - choose two others

With this, we're looking at a situation with much more acquainted writers. But I still think they will need some time to collaborate and, draw on the board, so to speak. I think with this situation, less time, like a month to sort things out, would be needed, and then the other 3 to play out the plot.

Edit:

I think actually, given that this would be something someone is hopefully prioritizing, 2 weeks of collaboration and plotting would be all that is needed. And then, the final 2 weeks opens the voting period for the next event leader.

So the fourth month would be plotting and voting.

 

[thegraywatcher]

To add a bit to this in a more general sense for events more so than this specific idea, it would also help regardless of how long you give the teams if the events came with predetermined start and end dates. Would help with the pacing and keep them from turning into the month long slogs they often find themselves turning into because they get expanded into too big of scopes and everyone losing interest in them. Could have it so people can continue their story lines after in off shoot threads, but keep the main event into a manageable scale which is better to pace for everyone's sanity.

The ones running the events do tend to get burnt out by the events the fastest after all and having a goal to make it to helps with getting to the finish line.

 

[Erën]

I agree, having a dedicated time-frame is definitely one of the primary purposes of this format. Another hope with this format to help with the pacing is the idea of having 2 or 3 people all dedicated to running the story.

The ones running the events do tend to get burnt out by the events the fastest after all and having a goal to make it to helps with getting to the finish line.

In the past, the events have been led by our staff team, and they have a swath of other things to worry about as far as maintaining the site as well as their lives to carry out, let around driving a dedicated story. With the event team dialed into running the story, it allows the staff team time to keep an eye in the sky and not dig into it neck deep.

I think in this way, that will also help with the pacing of things, as well as the overall scope.

I think, too, we should maybe take some time to experiment with formats, as in, maybe something like this:
I'd almost run it like some kind of incremental session:

Primary threads run for about 2 or 3 pages, resulting in a round. Then start a new thread, summarizing the events of the previous, dialing everyone back into a home or center, and then carry on. .. or something.

 

[thegraywatcher]

Personally I'd go with a policy of "I'm going to post twice a day to this. Get your posts in before I do." Just need to be upfront about it so people aren't confused. Say I will post around a general time frame as well of like 8 central or something that way people are always aware of how much time they got to do things. Don't want to over complicate when larger numbers of people are involved personally. I also just like to keep things simple if I can in general so definitely more a personal opinion way of going about it.

 

[Erën]

I think a daily thing is a lot to ask of anyone. However, I like the general idea.

I think something better suited to this environment would be a weekly progression, or perhaps twice a week, giving those - like myself - with erratic work schedules and the like, the opportunity to be able to participate.

Edit:

I understand some folks have a more aggressive playstyle than others when it comes to timing, however - I think this is where these collective events often struggle. And the more I think about this, the more I'm liking the idea even more, though probably not in the same way you initially proposed.

But then, this is why I think a dedicated event council is the way to go.

Not only do you have a trio that can collectively work on the story and keep it in line, but you may also have those who are accustomed to different pacing. Some people like longer, more spaced out posts. Some like to have short bursts of posts.

I think that these are all things - if we intend on being serious about this - that we should be discussing and considering, just like how we are. And that said, when the event council or whatever we decide to call it is created, these are perhaps things that should be considered.