Tyr thoughts about reasons for peoples leaving PGoH

[Tyr Antilles]

Due to the last resignations of the guild members I was trying to figure some of the causes of this typically happen and maybe some proposals of solutions:

1. Even if they are not discontent of anything they feel like they want to try something else, or because RL, and about this is nothing to be done.

2. Because the guild is not large enough to find companions inside to adventure with (champ spawns, PvP, dungeons, quests, etc…). For example Sars told me that in the guild he is now are like 10 ppls online on evenings.

3. Because of uniform. Many ppls want to wear the clothes they like the most and not be limited at one uniform hard to wear, manage, replace and some just don’t like it. Maybe a solution is to require this uniform only on official PGoH meetings and official occasions. Many different guild mates complained because of uniform.

4. Because of skipping the RP events like Bard’s Night, Jousting Tournament, and Virtue Dungeon crawl, and maybe not enough interaction with other RP guilds. I know this is difficult for guild leaders and require lots of time, money and dedication, but at last 2 events per month to be kept regularly will help a lot, first for the entertaining of our guild members, second for PGoH to become known better in the community. With fame more ppls will want to join. After they join, in the first month when they are squire guild leadership will decide anyway who will enter the guild and who is not worthy for that.

5. Because they get in fight with one or more of the guild mates. This happen often in any guild and is not much to do about it but to try to keep a friendly environment.

6. Population of the shard dropped drastically. Less peoples = less RP’rs = less guild mates. I heared there are other shards more dense populated like Atlantic for example. Is anyone thinking to move the guild on other shard or is just a crazy ideea?

[Piper]

This is a good post, Tyr. Or, shall I say, "nicenice." It needs to be addressed, so here is my long-winded response!

As we already discussed, these are some good ideas that Thom and I have gone over multiple times before. However, executing some of them has become increasingly difficult with both of our weird schedules. Her hours at work are long and often irregular, and my own schedule is all over the place since school has started. We need help from members to make some of these things happen on a regular basis since a lot of the time, she and I have a hard time telling exactly when we will be available. I know that you in particular, Tyr, are always willing to help, and I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we appreciate that very, very much. :3

Now and then, the guild goes through fluctuations like this when everyone has to get busy with real life, thus spending less time on the game. This is unavoidable in some respects because sometimes circumstances dictate that there's little we can do when time is a problem, and real life should always come first. I've seen this happen before, and the good news is that it doesn't last forever. Just hang in there.

However, one thing people need to keep in mind is that if they don't log in, this makes having events much more difficult since when we schedule things, most of the time, no one shows up anyway. As I said, though, this time of year is hectic for a lot of people, especially students with classes, midterms, and final exams, not to mention the holidays, so I understand the lack of activity on our roster. At the same time, we need people's participation in order to be successful. (I know you're with me on this, Tyr, I'm just repeating it for everyone else as well.) For instance, no one really shows up for meetings anymore.

And I don't want you guys to feel like you're not allowed to hold your own events! If you want to do something, go for it. If you're bored some night, round up a hunt. Tyr is great about this with his treasure hunts, and Katherine is good about rustling up things to do at the last minute. If we had a few more people helping out with little things like these, that would be a step in the right direction. If there's something you want to do, just ask us about it, and we'll do our best to set it up. If one of us can't be there, appoint someone to lead it in our absence. Don't feel like an event or outing has to be "official" in order for it to happen. Spontaneity isn't a bad thing.

Like you, I've also recently found myself wanting to get more involved with other guilds again. This fell by the wayside when, again, real life took precedence over the internet in terms of scheduling and being able to attend events. I personally am not usually able to attend interguild functions on a regular basis, although I would like to be able to more often. In my own case, I've fallen out of contact with some folks from other guilds because when I do find myself able to be in-game for any length of time, I choose to spend that time with you guys. This will be something I'll have to try to work out for myself. And yes, the activity of the entire Catskills community has seemed especially slow lately, and I'm sure this can be said of some other RP guilds as well. The RP Ring forums have had hardly any new posts in a while, so I think everyone may be experiencing this same lull in activity to some degree.

As a side note, as Thom and I have stated before, the uniform will not go. It wasn't implemented by us and isn't our place to make any changes to it; it's been around for a long time and won't be going anywhere. This is one of the very few rules people agree to follow upon joining PGoH, along with following basic RoE and staying in-character as much as possible. It's a guild tradition. A lot of RP guilds have uniforms of some sort, and ours is not all that different. In fact, we're a lot less restrictive than some guilds you may find elsewhere when it comes to what you're permitted to wear, particularly as it pertains to armor and artifacts. Plus, wearing the uniform only at meetings or special events would defeat the purpose of the uniform, which is to make us immediately recognizable as members of PGoH. Remember, IC, characters can't see your [PGoH] guild tag floating above your head.

Much in the same vein, Catskills is and always will be PGoH's home. This is a very old guild. Keep in mind that PGoH has been a presence on this shard since the beginning of the game. Who are we to end that? Catskills is where PGoH belongs, and it's where it will stay. The population of shards rises and drops; Catskills has seen busier days, sure, but we're not going to up and leave just because of that. If we did, we would just be contributing to the problem of people leaving our shard. We've acquired a lot of new property in the Olympus area (props to Katherine). Our "town" is expanding again. Now we just need some more members to populate it. We need more characters "living" in this area rather than just visiting it; Thom, Piper, Katherine, and Calli are the only active characters living in and around Olympus. While I feel that this is a major hindrance to us as a guild and significantly decreases the opportunity for interaction, this is an issue that I won't really get into right now. But I will add that if you'd like to have a house in the Olympus area, please please please get in touch with Katherine or me, and we will hook you up with a decent plot, maybe even an 18x18. We need more people around, and we both keep an eye on the area for any spots that open up. Moving closer to everyone is one thing you can do to help.

This last part isn't directed at you, Tyr, since I know you already agree with what I'm going to say. It comes down to this: It takes everyone to make the guild successful. It does little good for us to set up events if no one ever shows up for them. I think one person showed up for the last meeting I was at. People stopped attending Bard's Night and the jousts, and it wound up being just us and maybe one other person. A part of this may be because we're sometimes around at times when other people find it difficult to be, but in some cases, there's little to be done about that due to extenuating circumstances. That's when we need you guys to take the initiative and set things up among yourselves if you find yourselves bored some evenings when there's nothing scheduled. There have been some very serious things going on in my personal life these past several months - actually, this past year - that only a couple people are aware of. I don't feel comfortable sharing the details, but I can tell you this has contributed greatly to my own inability to be in-game as much. Such is life. And this is part of why I need your help keeping PGoH fun until things get back to normal. Increased visibility of the guild will increase our membership as well.

We do currently have a few RP scenarios going on within the guild, one of which also allows for the possibility of PvP - the storyline involving "Sam" and her assassination attempts, as well as a new one I'm just rolling out today involving Piper's disappearance (info on that: http://www.thehonorempire.org/forums/index...showtopic=12839). Along with continuing the hunts we've been doing, your participation in these scenarios would be a good way to get involved. Give it some thought, and if you get bored, jump right in. One thing is that people are often hesitant to take an active stance in RP when they're first starting out because they're afraid of doing something wrong or coming across as silly. Don't worry about this; we just want your participation. If you don't really know how to RP and make a mistake that needs to be corrected, we'll point it out to you in a constructive way so you'll know for next time. It's not a big deal, and it happens to almost everyone. Don't feel embarrassed. Remember, we are first and foremost a roleplaying guild.

Ultimately, guys, this is not super-serious business. It's a game to be enjoyed. Remember that and have fun with it.

TL;DR version: IAWTP, mostly, and Tyr rocks.

Edited October 23, 2008 by Piper

[Thom]

I'm going to start out by saying that Piper's reply covers my thoughts on this topic as well. As she said we've talked a lot about some of the things Tyr brought up in his post. Between her school and my overtime lately we aren't around as much as some people would like. But, the guild doesn't need any specific people to be around in order for things to happen. If you have specific ideas for things to do or want to try and set up spawns or hunts the forums are here for that. It would be good for everyone to register and start using the forums for this type of thing. And the only other thing I really feel I need to say is that if people only log on long enough to see if something is happening there will almost never be anything happening. What I see happening a lot lately is people log in for 5 or so minutes to check if anything is happening then they log off and miss the other people doing the same thing.

[Tyr Antilles]

Wow, thank you for the detailed answer Piper, I agree with you in most of the problems and I understand very well the necessity to concentrate on RL, I was lucky till now with my job that leave me a lot of free time but I am afraid this will end soon for me too. After all, like you said before we are here in the first place to enjoy playing, not on a second job!

On the other hand if will be more peoples in the guild, the problem with lack of activity Thom was talking about will be solved, everyone will find companions to play with if there will be enough peoples online. What do you think of a recruiting campaign? Or if more of us will have the right to recruit peoples in the guild, maybe our number will grow and from many new recruits, some can prove to be real RP-rs worthy to be full members.

[Katherine Elle]

One of the biggest problems with the rp world that won't get solved is that we are decentralized. Everyone wants to do their own thing and have people respect them for it; I've been working on a lot of big ideas behind the scenes, and hopefully one of them is going to pan out soon (I won't give any details yet thooooooooooough) and it will involve several guilds on various sides. I'll be doing a detailed write up with Thom and Piper's help, and then we'll send it ot the other guilds and see who wants to be on board ^_^.

As for recruitment, Let's do it! We can do a lot of things to get people interested such as hold a tournament open to those outside the rp community (but only if they act in a manner befitting a roleplayer) and we can work with some of the other places like UORadio and get our events out on the minds of people! We can also send in events to the UO.com Five on Friday and get posted there. I'll start a new thread asking for ideas, and I want everyone to pitch in!

[Piper]

...I've been working on a lot of big ideas behind the scenes, and hopefully one of them is going to pan out soon (I won't give any details yet thooooooooooough) and it will involve several guilds on various sides. I'll be doing a detailed write up with Thom and Piper's help, and then we'll send it ot the other guilds and see who wants to be on board ^_^.

Ohhh yessss I'd been wondering if you were still wanting to do this. We need to get on it when we can. Hit me up.

GUYS this is the link to Katherine's thread for event ideers.

GO TO IT

read it

POST IN IT

go go go go go

http://www.thehonorempire.org/forums/index...showtopic=12843

[Guest Charlie]

Im greatly pleased to see that people are sticking to tradition and continuing to want to see the guild thrive here are my thoughts .

1) if you need gold tell me if pip and thom dont have access yet to oly then pm me i am on THE forums EVERDAY,even if i dont get to log into icq i do check here all the time,it is set as my homepage on any computer i have so i WILL see it every time i log into the pc at all.

2) yes uniforms do not change,borg set it that way,the elders kept it that way so it will stay and im glad that it is agreed upon still.

3) Recruits i will say it again and i know ive told it a billion times to pip and thom, i had gotten pretty much every guardian to join how by talking to people everywhere. Niceness,kindness and being kind to every nublet that pops into haven...new haven... goes a heck of a long way. Help them training,with weps and armor or just make them feel welcome nublets or veteran UO people. Thom didnt even start as an rper, she hated it if i remember correctly;right mrs desi and same with me.. i came on just to fight monsters but i was opened to rp and i fell in love with it. I know the game has changed but the desire of more people than not are people that join the game to have fun in any way possible.

4) yes more events for rpers and non rpers are a great way to bring in new recruits also thats always helped

5) yes it is difficult when rl gets in the way or rp but that is pgoh's first rule rl before rp always will be.That cannot be helped.Yes it is correct that any guild member has the right to set any hunt or event up,events i would probably talk with pip and thom about.. depending on what it is,hunts go for it bring anyone you like to

6) if you dont have contacts with uo radio also let me know (sandman loves me ^.^ ) so if needed i can help out there also.

7) be involved with other guilds and their events too,i think that was mentioned already... too many posts to read hehe,anyway being mixed with other guilds rp or not (just no pking remember) also gets our guild out and recognised just remember too that you must remain ic even if with a non rp guild unless in party chat.

Again im incredibly happy to see that pgoh forums are utilised once again;ive not seen a new post in a bit of time;so great job to all the guardians.Continue to let pgoh live,breath and thrive.KD,Anfalas and I brought pgoh from 3 to 120 members so can you.

Strength and Honor!! ^.^