Post by Msasi on Apr 21, 2007 16:34:10 GMT -5
This announcement.. post.. thingy.. has been brought on both by our staff meeting and by things brought up in the New Pride? thread on the Prides board. I've tried to touch on everything, but knowing me I've probably forgotten some stuff. I do apologize in advance for that (and for any incoherence, as I haven't been feeling well the last few days and I'm chugging Nyquil like crazy XD).
I've already mentioned in the New Pride? thread that the staff discussed it and no, we will not be adding a 4th pride at this time. We will consider it again sometime in the future (late summer at the earliest) but as for now we do not think the MUCK can support it.
We have agreed that all group leaders - and by this I mean both pride and non-prides - need to be more active. And they need to be out and about more where they can be reached ICly, not holed away in the heart of their lands all the time. They need to be out in their groups encouraging and stirring up RP and coming up with plots for their group. And if they want a TP with another group, the group leaders need to talk to each other. However. That said, group leaders are not responsible for all RP in their group. If people are relying only on the group leaders to stir up RP, the group will not last long. And group leaders, while they are expected to shoulder more responsibility for their groups activity, are only human. They have lives outside the MUCK just as we all do. Expecting them to be around 24/7 is unrealistic and unfair.
On RP in general, our stance is thus: there should be no one - NO ONE - who just sits there and EXPECTS the RP to come to them all the time. No one. Old player, new player or in between player. Everyone - EVERY ONE OF YOU - if you want RP, you should be actively seeking it. And "actively seeking it" is NOT just sitting in a room set LRP or IIC and asking on the pub chan. Did you know not everyone always has pub chan on? People turn it off if it gets too spammy or if they're trying to focus on a scene and forget to turn it on later. Even I don't have pub chan on all the time. So what can you do? PAGE PEOPLE. Go into the rooms people are in and ASK FOR RP. If everyone, when they want to RP, is out there actively seeking it.. there will be more RP on the MUCK. You will get turned down sometimes. It's unrealistic to expect people to always be in the mood to RP. Sometimes it's fun just to log in and chat with people about goofy stuff like which Harry Potter house is the best (HUFFLEPUFF!). Rest assured, my office is always open and I like to chat about goofy things. Obviously we want more RP than chatting to be going on.. but it's unrealistic to expect it to be RP 24/7. But. If everyone who wants RP is out actively seeking it.. you'll all find each other! You won't be sitting in five different rooms of the same lands all just WAITING for the RP.
Now, I understand.. new players can be shy. And rest assured we're working on a thing or two to help the new folk settle in and make sure that they don't feel like they're being ignored or being overlooked. But. I'm not going to say it's OK for new players to expect the RP to come to them all the time either. If you come to expect everything handed to you on a silver platter, you're going to be disapointed. Or you'll become so used to being approached.. that soon we'll have a MUCK full of people WAITING and nobody out there actually OFFERING. Nor is OK for old players to think that they should be approached for RP all the time just because they've been around longer.. or that they should do ALL the approaching just because they're old hats. This is a GROUP EFFORT, guys. We will get NOWHERE if people don't all pitch in. Joining a group can be helpful as the groups tend to be centered in one place or another. Or have an alt that can move /anywhere/ to take advantage of RP in any spot on the MUCK. That is totally personal choice there, and I won't force the issue either way. I personally like having multiple alts to scatter about the MUCK.. other people prefer to keep one or two that can move around. Different strokes for different folks.
And speaking of that. Lions and non-leonines. It's the nature of the beast, guys. Lions have always - in my 9, nearly 10 years of MUCKing on African-themed MUCKs - always been more popular than the non-leonines. Like I said, nature of the beast. I'm sure 99% of the African MUCKs that do exist and have ever existed did so because of the movie The Lion King. Some MUCKs have more active non-leonines than others. Our official stand here on Sunrise MUCK is.. we are completely, totally 200% in support of non-leonine characters and groups. We support them and we encourage people to have them and form non-leonine groups if they wish to do so. If a non-leonine group is trying to form and you would like it to have a mention in the MOTD, or if you would like myself or one of the staff to give a MUCK-wide shout if a bunch of you are RPing or if you would like me to put something in the news fader here on the forum or if you want Sho' to mention something on the website.. COME TO US. We will do any of that GLADLY. However. I will not put into place anywhere that players need to have certain kinds of characters. I will not force people to get a non-leonine if they have so many lion characters.. nor will I force people to get a lion if they have so many non-lion characters. Everyone likes different things. If people prefer to play lions.. fine. If they prefer to play non-lions.. fantastic. I will never, ever, EVER force an alt onto someone they don't want. Perhaps such rules have worked in other places.. but I won't do so here. If you want to see more non-leonines on the MUCK, get one yourself and be active with it. That might encourage other people to get some too.
And, although I've already mentioned it in the other thread.. yes. We have realized it seems like it's the same people - and mostly staff - that have ended up leading groups the last generation or two. And believe me when I tell you that it has been in our plans to make sure that changes. This generation was supposed to be one of big change.. but then because of the MUCK moving and people leaving and new staff being hired.. we didn't get AS far away from that as we had planned. But we are aware of it and we are going to make sure that changes. I know it might not seem like it, but we do very much enjoy seeing new faces in the leadership roles of the groups.
As for Prince/Princess/Lord/Lady.. those titles aren't hard to get. Litters for those characters are publically advertised 99% of the time.. and they are because we want to see new people in those litters instead of the same old faces. All you need do is keep your eyes open and get in on a litter when one pops up. It's not hard at all. And hey, if you've never played such a character before, mention that when you respond to the request. Kings/Queens are big ol' softies at heart and want to give everyone a chance.. if you've never played such a character before and you say so, I'm sure they'll welcome you with open arms. 
I think that's it. If I'm forgetting something.. well, maybe I'll remember it eventually. And hopefully I'm not forgetting anything important. XD But I would just like to say.. YES, we are always open to hearing suggestions and concerns from you, the players. ALWAYS. But please keep in mind: "you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time." And that is a quote I live by. We listen to every suggestion and concern we get. But we can't change the MUCK to suit everyone's needs and demands because there are people who would then hate those changes and demand we change it to something else and.. it'd be a big never-ending cycle. I ask that you continue to approach the staff with things though - that is what we're here for! - because we can't do anything at all if we aren't told what problems there may be. :/ I'll be the first to admit that Sunrise isn't perfect. There are things we need to improve. But I also realize we will never be 100% perfect. That's impossible to achieve. But we will make sure that Sunrise is the best that it can be. That's all we can do.
Well, and RP, have fun and enjoy hanging out together, of course.
-- Anubis, Sunrise MUCK Co-Head Wizard
I've already mentioned in the New Pride? thread that the staff discussed it and no, we will not be adding a 4th pride at this time. We will consider it again sometime in the future (late summer at the earliest) but as for now we do not think the MUCK can support it.
We have agreed that all group leaders - and by this I mean both pride and non-prides - need to be more active. And they need to be out and about more where they can be reached ICly, not holed away in the heart of their lands all the time. They need to be out in their groups encouraging and stirring up RP and coming up with plots for their group. And if they want a TP with another group, the group leaders need to talk to each other. However. That said, group leaders are not responsible for all RP in their group. If people are relying only on the group leaders to stir up RP, the group will not last long. And group leaders, while they are expected to shoulder more responsibility for their groups activity, are only human. They have lives outside the MUCK just as we all do. Expecting them to be around 24/7 is unrealistic and unfair.
On RP in general, our stance is thus: there should be no one - NO ONE - who just sits there and EXPECTS the RP to come to them all the time. No one. Old player, new player or in between player. Everyone - EVERY ONE OF YOU - if you want RP, you should be actively seeking it. And "actively seeking it" is NOT just sitting in a room set LRP or IIC and asking on the pub chan. Did you know not everyone always has pub chan on? People turn it off if it gets too spammy or if they're trying to focus on a scene and forget to turn it on later. Even I don't have pub chan on all the time. So what can you do? PAGE PEOPLE. Go into the rooms people are in and ASK FOR RP. If everyone, when they want to RP, is out there actively seeking it.. there will be more RP on the MUCK. You will get turned down sometimes. It's unrealistic to expect people to always be in the mood to RP. Sometimes it's fun just to log in and chat with people about goofy stuff like which Harry Potter house is the best (HUFFLEPUFF!). Rest assured, my office is always open and I like to chat about goofy things. Obviously we want more RP than chatting to be going on.. but it's unrealistic to expect it to be RP 24/7. But. If everyone who wants RP is out actively seeking it.. you'll all find each other! You won't be sitting in five different rooms of the same lands all just WAITING for the RP.
Now, I understand.. new players can be shy. And rest assured we're working on a thing or two to help the new folk settle in and make sure that they don't feel like they're being ignored or being overlooked. But. I'm not going to say it's OK for new players to expect the RP to come to them all the time either. If you come to expect everything handed to you on a silver platter, you're going to be disapointed. Or you'll become so used to being approached.. that soon we'll have a MUCK full of people WAITING and nobody out there actually OFFERING. Nor is OK for old players to think that they should be approached for RP all the time just because they've been around longer.. or that they should do ALL the approaching just because they're old hats. This is a GROUP EFFORT, guys. We will get NOWHERE if people don't all pitch in. Joining a group can be helpful as the groups tend to be centered in one place or another. Or have an alt that can move /anywhere/ to take advantage of RP in any spot on the MUCK. That is totally personal choice there, and I won't force the issue either way. I personally like having multiple alts to scatter about the MUCK.. other people prefer to keep one or two that can move around. Different strokes for different folks.
And speaking of that. Lions and non-leonines. It's the nature of the beast, guys. Lions have always - in my 9, nearly 10 years of MUCKing on African-themed MUCKs - always been more popular than the non-leonines. Like I said, nature of the beast. I'm sure 99% of the African MUCKs that do exist and have ever existed did so because of the movie The Lion King. Some MUCKs have more active non-leonines than others. Our official stand here on Sunrise MUCK is.. we are completely, totally 200% in support of non-leonine characters and groups. We support them and we encourage people to have them and form non-leonine groups if they wish to do so. If a non-leonine group is trying to form and you would like it to have a mention in the MOTD, or if you would like myself or one of the staff to give a MUCK-wide shout if a bunch of you are RPing or if you would like me to put something in the news fader here on the forum or if you want Sho' to mention something on the website.. COME TO US. We will do any of that GLADLY. However. I will not put into place anywhere that players need to have certain kinds of characters. I will not force people to get a non-leonine if they have so many lion characters.. nor will I force people to get a lion if they have so many non-lion characters. Everyone likes different things. If people prefer to play lions.. fine. If they prefer to play non-lions.. fantastic. I will never, ever, EVER force an alt onto someone they don't want. Perhaps such rules have worked in other places.. but I won't do so here. If you want to see more non-leonines on the MUCK, get one yourself and be active with it. That might encourage other people to get some too.
And, although I've already mentioned it in the other thread.. yes. We have realized it seems like it's the same people - and mostly staff - that have ended up leading groups the last generation or two. And believe me when I tell you that it has been in our plans to make sure that changes. This generation was supposed to be one of big change.. but then because of the MUCK moving and people leaving and new staff being hired.. we didn't get AS far away from that as we had planned. But we are aware of it and we are going to make sure that changes. I know it might not seem like it, but we do very much enjoy seeing new faces in the leadership roles of the groups.
As for Prince/Princess/Lord/Lady.. those titles aren't hard to get. Litters for those characters are publically advertised 99% of the time.. and they are because we want to see new people in those litters instead of the same old faces. All you need do is keep your eyes open and get in on a litter when one pops up. It's not hard at all. And hey, if you've never played such a character before, mention that when you respond to the request. Kings/Queens are big ol' softies at heart and want to give everyone a chance.. if you've never played such a character before and you say so, I'm sure they'll welcome you with open arms. 
I think that's it. If I'm forgetting something.. well, maybe I'll remember it eventually. And hopefully I'm not forgetting anything important. XD But I would just like to say.. YES, we are always open to hearing suggestions and concerns from you, the players. ALWAYS. But please keep in mind: "you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time." And that is a quote I live by. We listen to every suggestion and concern we get. But we can't change the MUCK to suit everyone's needs and demands because there are people who would then hate those changes and demand we change it to something else and.. it'd be a big never-ending cycle. I ask that you continue to approach the staff with things though - that is what we're here for! - because we can't do anything at all if we aren't told what problems there may be. :/ I'll be the first to admit that Sunrise isn't perfect. There are things we need to improve. But I also realize we will never be 100% perfect. That's impossible to achieve. But we will make sure that Sunrise is the best that it can be. That's all we can do.
Well, and RP, have fun and enjoy hanging out together, of course.
-- Anubis, Sunrise MUCK Co-Head Wizard