DeletedUser
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US server - a dedicated teaching server.
While reading through forums I thought of couple aspects regarding .us server and "designed" concept of an idea. Just for the kicks and sake of discussion, and maybe this will come handy, I decided to post this here. Considering that some of the aspects I'll be talking about are aimed towards us6 and as this is the most "active" forum section, so I hope for some respondents, I'd ask not to move this if possible. Tho' if moderators decide it's going to serve its purpose better in general section, so be it.
I'll start with a painful, but honest statement.
Why?
Suggestion.
US - A teaching server.
I know that this is nothing new, and might prove to be difficult to apply in practice, yet this is something that potentially could do good for the server in long term.
Question - If the players don't come here for competitive gaming, then why do they come here?
Answer - They come here to learn.
Premise - US server is a relatively small, yet tightly knit and friendly community. It lacks numbers and most importantly quality. Thus' dedicated players of proven track record will form, let's say 4, teaching tribes for every world (considering how often worlds open up it's not much of a strain). And teaching, starting from basic game mechanics and upwards to more advanced techniques, should go through for an amount of time. Let's say tribes will disband after the world reaches mid-game, as an example. Then graduates move on to use their newly gained knowledge, friends and contacts further in their tw carrier.
So instead of focusing all talent in one group, we'll have smaller groups of competitive players and people who are willing to learn and make this server more interesting. That makes world more fun and interesting + it has its function.
Questions.
Ideas.
Summary.
An idea is to make this server an efficient and fun platform for new players to learn the trade. In order to raise the average level of the server and add more fun and life to the .us worlds. Teaching tribes and other activities that encourage learning will be run on regular basis, hopefully. Consequently forming a tight knit, friendly and competitive community.
Open for suggestions.
If there is a general approval then we could go through with starting to gather people willing to learn, etc.,etc..
Let the discussions begin!
Ask more questions and add more suggestions. So we can shape this thing.
Cheers!
While reading through forums I thought of couple aspects regarding .us server and "designed" concept of an idea. Just for the kicks and sake of discussion, and maybe this will come handy, I decided to post this here. Considering that some of the aspects I'll be talking about are aimed towards us6 and as this is the most "active" forum section, so I hope for some respondents, I'd ask not to move this if possible. Tho' if moderators decide it's going to serve its purpose better in general section, so be it.
I'll start with a painful, but honest statement.
- US server has never been a place where players turned to for competitive gaming, and most likely it will never be.
Why?
- Lack of motivation. The appeal just isn't there. Even if some top players join then most of the time it's an half-arsed attempt before a more interesting/competitive world opens up. They know that there isn't much to play for on .us world, they simply lack motivation.
- Classless import. Then there are people coming from Brazil, Dutch, etc.,etc. servers promising to bring down the server to its knees, but have failed every time without bringing a single bit of quality. Their only investment is classless spam on external forums and further degrading their own server reputation in peoples eyes, leaving after a short period of time. (This is not aimed at players from these countries, who play here on regular basis)
- Premium features. Knowing how everyone has been tired of this topic, and knowing that this is something that most likely won't change, I'll keep it short. Even with the old features people were reluctant to join, it didn't matter if it presented some advantages or not, they simply despised such option. Now, it's their worst nightmare and this is the last place where they would want to end up. Remember about individual psychology and the fact that no one wants to be in disadvantage just because someone has more digits in bank account.
- Lack of numbers. This is a small server. There aren't too many players, there aren't too many semi-decent players. Why Russia can be competitive in all sports, while a place like Luxembourg struggles. Numbers, it's a simple math, but from vast quantities of players you could dig up some gems.
- So called super tribes. In such a small server it has a destructive force on community. Like a vacuum cleaner they suck in all the quality there is left in particular world to make it morbid and unplayable for neutrals. This concept can go through on larger servers, due to number of people and quality ratio, here however it's a form of monopoly and same as premium features downgrade the server.
Suggestion.
US - A teaching server.
I know that this is nothing new, and might prove to be difficult to apply in practice, yet this is something that potentially could do good for the server in long term.
Question - If the players don't come here for competitive gaming, then why do they come here?
Answer - They come here to learn.
Premise - US server is a relatively small, yet tightly knit and friendly community. It lacks numbers and most importantly quality. Thus' dedicated players of proven track record will form, let's say 4, teaching tribes for every world (considering how often worlds open up it's not much of a strain). And teaching, starting from basic game mechanics and upwards to more advanced techniques, should go through for an amount of time. Let's say tribes will disband after the world reaches mid-game, as an example. Then graduates move on to use their newly gained knowledge, friends and contacts further in their tw carrier.
So instead of focusing all talent in one group, we'll have smaller groups of competitive players and people who are willing to learn and make this server more interesting. That makes world more fun and interesting + it has its function.
Questions.
- How would we define an appropriate teacher?
- Where will US find these teachers that will be ready to dedicate themselves to this good cause? We do have fair bit of moderators that could take on teaching. But will that be enough and will they be willing.
- How would premium features possibly be a problem during the teaching period?
- If my memory serves me right previous teaching tribes, on different servers, haven't done too well, but correct me if I'm wrong. The question is, how to make this work then and what where the downfalls of previous teaching tribes?
Ideas.
- Encourage new players to visit external forums and inform them of a possibility to join teaching tribes by sending automatic IGM with directions as they join the new world. Or if possible implement in IG tutorial.
- Redesign the "Guides, Pointers and Strategies" section to something along the lines of "Teaching". There should be the same designated section of guides, but with added Teaching tribe section (Where you can apply to particular tribe and find general info about these teaching tribes). Question section and FAQ database, similar to what Doctor Jeroen suggest:
On the Dutch servers there's this project called the TW Mentoraat, or as it was called earlier: Noobs in Need. Experienced players can apply there to become a 'teacher' and the 'chief' of the project decides who would or would not be suitable for the job. New players could apply there to ask questions to the experienced players, to co-play experienced players who volunteer for this task, and you can actually help people straight-out without turning around the entire community.
- A moderated skype chat room, where people can ask for an advice and hope for quick reply.
- When new world is announced, available teaching tribes should be also written down with the settings.
Summary.
An idea is to make this server an efficient and fun platform for new players to learn the trade. In order to raise the average level of the server and add more fun and life to the .us worlds. Teaching tribes and other activities that encourage learning will be run on regular basis, hopefully. Consequently forming a tight knit, friendly and competitive community.
Open for suggestions.
If there is a general approval then we could go through with starting to gather people willing to learn, etc.,etc..
Let the discussions begin!
Ask more questions and add more suggestions. So we can shape this thing.
Cheers!
Last edited by a moderator: