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How to fix the Streets - By BUDDY Started by: Buddy on Jul 17, '14 13:54

I did this on OOC, because Streets would require me to stay in character and I hate having to say shit like 'this thing of ours' and 'coffee shops' and also because I can. Also because it gives me experience, I think? I don't even know. Anyways I am going to single-handedly fix the streets by giving you all wonderful ideas which you will most definitely use as they're pretty much fool-proof and also because I'm sick of you guys crying about the streets and maybe you'll find something new to cry about that I like. Like how terrible people look when they use a green top with a blue bottom. So doesn't match, am I right?

Okay now off to the fun part where I pretty much fix every single issue the streets have and I'll start this off by saying nobody likes debates outside of twenty or so people, and even then those people can't seriously enjoy arguing about a game in which should be less than twenty percent of your life at all times. Well, okay, those people enjoy it, but I can tell you from first hand experience that there are many who would rather not do that. Most of them are probably new players, players who hardly know about the game and the first things they see on the streets are fifty "Congrats Bloopy on getting a crew!", some inside joke, and then four debates which end up in a stalemate in the end 95% of the time anyways.

How do we fix  this? Make debates 100% illegal. No? Okay, fine. What we really need to do is...

Prizes for going out onto the Streets - Yes, loads of people will hate this idea just because they don't believe people should need to be bribed and the game to be made easier, but they're stupid and so I'm ignoring them. We already have a billion freebies on this game and a small one which actually helps the thing people complain about most is probably for the best, now this could be done a few ways, but the ones that make the most logical sense to me are...

Admin-Given Prizes - Maybe every six hours or so, the game looks at everyone who has written at least two paragraphs or thirty lines, or whatever it is the game looks for to give VIP and XP and a random person (or persons) is given a credit or 500k, or something?! I really don't know what exactly would be given, but anything to entice people to post and post something with volume to it rather than a few lines. If this is too hard to implement or would take time out of things that are more important at the moment then...

User-Given Prizes - Yes, as Buddy the Bear always says, only YOU can prevent stagnation. This would be pretty much the same as admin-given prizes, but instead select users would scour all of the roleplays and hell, even debates or Congrats! posts and pick a random person to give things too. I feel this would be abused by friends, so perhaps a vote? I don't really know, all I know is giving things away would be a good way to at least force a few people onto the streets to possibly get something. You as the users would have to iron out this idea more. Maybe a pot everyone important puts something into and the end of the week, weeks, month; people vote on their favorite post and it wins the pot? I don't know. I'm just one person, damn you. 

Crew Wide Roleplays - Out of everything, I believe actual roleplaying would be the best to get the newer users out and about, and newer users are more important at this juncture than the older players who have proven time and time again that they will not enter the streets no matter how many things you dangle in front of them. Unless that person were a rabbit and you were dangling a carrot? Anyways, I've seen this done before, but maybe make it a weekly affair which they all know happens every week? Maybe give away 5 credits, or a CA. Get together with a few crews or cities, put together a huge pot, and then the crew with the most posts every week gets it and can share among their crew members? Just spit balling here, but this is what I do best. I like to make spit balls. Also sometimes paper airplanes. One time I fashioned a necklace out of nothing but loose change. Just a few fun facts for you.

I've ran out of stuff, mostly because I personally believe no matter what that people will not go onto the Streets without proper motivation, and even then most of them will still stay out. Targetting the new players and shoving the streets down their throats as quickly as possible sounds like the best way to go, and I hope people use this thread to hash out more ideas and improve on my own. Instead of a debate, hopefully this one can be an actual attempt to make things better while using our minds rather than lots of block quotes and complaints. If the key to the games success is truly in the Streets, then should we not work together to make this thing happen? Lets do it, my friends.

LETS DO IT FOR MOTHER MAFIA.

PS: I didn't really single handedly fix the streets at all, but I'm hoping this can be a venue for discussion within the actual game instead of using IRC which most people seem to use while having these sorts of debates. More people can join in this way, and hopefully some new people join in with their ideas as well.

PPS: Uh, hi.

RANDOM BLOCK QUOTE FOR MORE XP. SUP?

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instead of using IRC which most people seem to use while having these sorts of debates

You've struck the nail on the head there to me. This is where I feel the game is really being let down, important discussions that relate to the game are often held on IRC. Because its easier obivously to discuss this there, I get it. But it means that your only reaching a portion of the userbase for their thoughts and opinions because not everyone can be, or is willing to be, on IRC.

Anyway that was the only non discussion point I wanted to make. Like you said, its best this not turn into a debate but more a chance to express ideas to move forward.

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Tyrion explained my thoughts on IRC better than I could, so I'm going to focus on the secondary issues at hand. But I agree (and I am a perpetrator of this problem, I'll admit) that things should be circulated in-game more.

I hate to sound like a broken record here, but it's a cultural shift. We have a very different demographic than we did 8 years ago. Not saying we have more kids, or less adults, or more people from a certain place; just saying that the priorities for this group seem to be different. I don't want to speak in generalities, but I personally know a whole host of people who have left that were very prominent Streets speakers. They were, to some degree, a different level of player than what I see now (I have no doubt someone will take offense to this, but I mean none).

I think the solution should come in the form of encouragement. Encourage your friends and fellow crew members to think originally about something and vocalize those thoughts (and I'm not saying no one does this, I'm just supporting this behavior). Many are afraid to "require" Streets activity for promotions or CL positions, but I think it's less about contributing to the Streets and more about being able to think for yourself. I mean, I recall countless CLs in my past whose only presence was in the form of auth speeches and RPs written by another member of the family.

Sure, prizes are nice, but it cheapens the experience. I think participating in the Streets is its own reward, and we've even added in functionality like the info boosts, durden mapping, and the tips feature, and we still aren't content with the Streets' quality. I don't think throwing money at it is going to change anything.

I wholeheartedly agree with encouraging crew RPs. 100%.

I'm going to write up a thread to properly vocalize my thoughts on our change in culture, because I think a lot of the problems we observe are problems we've allowed to show up because we were too focused on preserving other things. Thanks Buddy for bringing this up.

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I agree with Denam - regarding the cultural shift. When I first started playing, The Streets pulled me in much more than anything else - and I was confident that was the reason the majority of others where regular visitors to this site. The buzz was unique. I was always given a helping hand, because the quantity of players wanting to participate in writing and RP was so high.

 

In regards to IRC, from my perspective - the difference I note is that less and less information is relayed to the general user base. I think it makes sense that important discussions are conducted on IRC, but I recall thoughts and decisions would always be summarized in The Streets one way or the other. This enabled those players who were not in a lucrative position to still be able to understand and witness important developments and scenarios (which can be very enjoyable); the reason why X was killed, the reason why X <font color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)">went rogue. I think it can be frustrating for many of the new players to invest time, and then be killed with no </font>explanation<font color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)">. </font>

 

There were less incentives to post in the past, and although, I think your ideas could encourage some - I'm not sure whether rewarding people this way would decrease the quality. I suppose, I want the reason people to post is because they simply enjoy it. I'm sure there are players out there, new or old, that with some verbal encouragement would love to get their feet wet - it's just finding those people.

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Apologies for some of the bad code that has found it's way in the above post!
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Streets definitely need more actual roleplaying.
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It is very easy to make the streets important again, simply by....making them important again.

However, the impression I get is that a handful of people are still very passionate about posting, expressing their opinion and developing their character; a small portion give lip service to wanting to make the streets great without really doing anything to make it happen, whilst the vast majority of people don't really give a shit about the streets being important and could care less about posting there. 

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Exactly.

The majority of the players do not care and the ones who do aren't high enough in numbers to really do anything other than create a handful of threads per week, these are probably the first forums I've ever seen which are touted so highly and yet I don't think have ever moved quickly. Has there ever been a time where you could leave for an hour, come back, and then see a whole new crop of threads or posts which weren't there when you left? I've been playing for about eight years now, on and off, which isn't really shit compared to some; but I don't think I remember a single time when I've played where this happened. 

I don't think we could every get the streets to such a level again, if it ever reached such a level, especially seeing as how to most this game is nothing more than a simple thing o play when they're bored or doing other things. I know personally I hate posting in debates as they generally get nowhere, die, and then pop up a few weeks or months later by another person. This is why I'm trying to stray away from arguments in this thread and instead attempting to get a feel for what people think of the Streets and what they need more (or less) of.

Maybe someone already thinks the streets are alive enough themselves, I wouldn't mind hearing from their perspective either. Anyone who posts in this thread, would give a lot of people a better idea as to which ways to move in order to help the streets, or at least help get over them. 

I was more or less attempting to start an IRC conversation in OOC as to give people who think IRC is a waste, or that they can't really fully get their say in because everyone is typing so fast. to have some form of a voice that can be hashed out better than it would be on something which moves so fast as an IRC. This will probably get us nowhere, but hey, neither does not doing anything. So I'm already possibly ahead of the curve. Woof.

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I was more or less attempting to start an IRC conversation in OOC as to give people who think IRC is a waste, or that they can't really fully get their say in because everyone is typing so fast. to have some form of a voice that can be hashed out better than it would be on something which moves so fast as an IRC. This will probably get us nowhere, but hey, neither does not doing anything. So I'm already possibly ahead of the curve. Woof.

----

That entire paragraph is fucked and I should learn to reread, but I think you get the gist, if not, I meant to say, "I was more of less attempting to start an IRC conversation in OOC in hopes that people who think IRC is a waste, or feel they can't fully get their ideas across on something which moves as fast as IRC would come here and hash out their thoughts in a way they probably couldn't on IRC."

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Not sure how I missed this, but even though he's dead it still needs touched on.

Who was crying about the streets? I'm legitimately asking because I just ended a one month period of playing without a computer so I'm actually behind on a lot of things from the forums. And what are they complaining about? If it's just the debates, I hate to break this to people but long continued efforts towards increasing street activity has come from a very select number of people, many who enjoy having logical discussions and debates. The people who don't enjoy them really haven't made much of an effort. There have been some quality threads, but they tend to be one and done. It takes more than that to shift the streets. Ironically enough, the original speaker's words were worded in a way that seems poised to start a debate...  with people who like to debate about the value of a debate.

As for the main speaker's solutions, the admins already gave us incentive, VIP Mapping. I'll say the rest are alright but not really worth while for me because his ideas for enticing someone to write are missing a key component of the street speaking process. A lot of people don't write just for the sake of writing. You need an audience and a speaker. The same people who call for more RPs, usually don't show up to support the ones that are there. This discourages timid writers and many don't return because they think they were unfairly passed over or they can't handle someone not liking their work. If you want to see speakers thrive, pave the path. Create an audience if you have to. Give people time and space to feel out speaking publicly and let them build a confidence and a style.

The streets aren't quite where I'd like them but considering what they were not that long ago it's a huge step up. Because of the efforts it took to get them this far and the lack of assistance from many of the people complaining about the streets, I must admit this title and that stance infuriate me because what has been blatantly obvious about people who come out to state the streets are broken is that so few that speak about the streets being broken can be bothered to write more than 1 or 2 threads. Seriously? What speaker moved the streets with just one or two speeches? Or 15 total posts? You don't even have to write tons of threads or posts, either, you can be influential creating audiences to show speakers you like they have an audience and encouraging them to keep speaking. The streets have never and will never be made by group efforts. They're a group event driven solely by individual efforts, if you have a problem, it's your job to solve it because no one else and no other group is gonna see what the streets should be the same way.

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