Thoughts on new gang and group proposals ...

Over the past week or two, I received quite a few applications for groups in CD. Almost all of them were for gangs or groups based in violence. They're all pending in review and BeBe's been away on a family emergency for the past week so I don't intend to go any further with them till she returns anyways.

However, I do want to put this out there for the community to ponder in the meantime because I have not accepted any groups in a while and I feel the need to clarify why that's the case. I'm inundated with a lot of things at the moment, so I am just going to throw this out in points ... please don't mind the messiness 🙂

1) Most applications we receive are for new gangs. 90% of them were auto declined because they were half baked to begin with. The other 9% usually doesn't get past the "what makes you unique?" question.

2) Did I mention too many gang applications? Seriously, there's a balance that needs to be maintained.

3) The basis for some of the requests is "because I need something new for my character or RP" -- the basis of any group should be to enhance and provide a unique character development for the community to take part in. Also, if you're bored with your RP, you need not start an official group to spice it up; there are plenty of opportunities if you actually try.

4) Following up on the previous point, I need to emphasize that groups need to encourage newcomers and become a window of opportunity for them to feel more welcomed in the community. We have an influx of them and that is our number one priority at the moment.

5) We have a ton of groups as it is; does your group really need to be "official" so you can have a special title over your head? Ponder that... I am actually still looking at ways to cut down on titles, despite axing a lot of them over the past couple months.

7) I welcome new organization applications, but they need to focus on the value it provides to the community and be convincing as to why the Den absolutely needs it.We've been doing this for nearly three years now and as a community, we have evolved significantly. No longer do we have the days where gangs stand in the middle of the street bickering and voiding hours worth of scenes because they can not agree, police blatantly siding with gangs, etc. etc.

Upcoming projects ...

6) On an unrelated note, I have been reviewing the feedback provided in the CU subforum, as well from individuals to roll out role and group changes at the university. We're going to be encouraging people to start organizations (greek, cultural, social), as well as emphasizing the "adult" nature. I will also be adjusting the build to include medical supplies on campus with a few other things that come up. I am planning to get this done by the end of this week.

7) The transportation and map system is nearly complete; I'm going to see if I can roll this out by the following week.

Creating a more welcoming environment in the community ...

I've tried my best to be transparent with you all; my focus is on getting the support of RP managers and you guys to create a more welcoming environment for newcomers. This is absolutely paramount -- I can't tell you how disheartening it is to read so many feedback statements with people explaining how CD is intimidating or that the players ignore them. If you don't already know, I collect feedback directly from people when they apply for IC jobs; it helps us understand see what peoples "first impression" is of CD when they apply in the OOC area, and what it might be a bit later when they find themselves applying for job. Of course, this doesn't apply to EVERYONE, but it is the most popular point being brought up.

There's something wrong with some aspect of the community and it's another challenge I am very confident we are going to figure out and overcome. We've done it before on many other issues; we're going to do it again.

I'd like to really get some good group think about how we can engage newcomers into the city, make them part of your role-play, and realize the spontaneous fun both newbie and established member can have.

Random ideas:

1) cops encouraged to "harass" newcomers
2) Misti proposed a really neat concept w/ managers on a "noob week"; perhaps she can enlighten the rest of the community!
3) construct "smart" emotes-- it's great you can para-RP, but challenge yourself to the next level where you can craft emotes into short and sweet statements, taking into consideration the amount of people that are into the scene. Remember less is more!
4) following up on the smart emotes, the turnaround times on emotes w/ large groups has to be cut down. I mean, c'mon guys, 8-10 minutes per post? I wouldn't mind that w/ a 1-1 session, but when you've got 4-8 other people, it really slows things down. I know some people don't mind it, but a lot do and I'm asking you to take it into consideration.
5) continue to be the great players that you are -- I can sit here and write all the guides in the world, but at the end of the day, it's your role-play people observe and take example of.

thanks for making it through this post !