Official Suggestions Thread!
- Thread starter Kevin
- Start date
1. Dealing with "clones":
Having multiple accounts will be harmful to the economy as we start out and therefore should be disallowed or at least limited to a small number. If I had to pick a number of accounts that we are allowed, I say the sweet spot would be around two. You posted in the thread about clones that they would be hard to manage and keep track of. Here is my suggestion. With the proper staff, taking care of excess clones shouldn't be a problem. All we need to do is have someone on staff inspecting the trade logs to ensure that a) no one has more than the allotted number of accounts, b) if they do have more accounts than are permitted, they are punished accordingly on the grounds of gaining an unfair advantage. You mentioned in the other thread about this subject that tracking people with multiple accounts to see who is abusing them is difficult. It isn't. All you need to do is check the IP address for multiple accounts, then check the trade logs between accounts and see if they're giving items to one central account. If they are, you can bet they're abusing their secondary account(s) to gain an unfair advantage.
2. Economy:
The issue of the economy is an important one, but one that should not be pushed immediately. The economy needs to be built up over time. This means there needs to be a schedule for when items are released, when items are removed, and what items will be exclusive to contests and events. I think that starting off, items should strictly be added. After a brief period of time, possibly a week or so, items can begin being removed on a scheduled basis. This schedule is not to be made public, and I recommend keeping it to one person (and of course all those above said person) who will be in charge of the aforementioned duties. Creating an economy is an important part of the game, but it is something that needs to come over a gradual period of time and cannot be done overnight.
3. Events:
One of the biggest problems with Open VMK was the way they handled events. With MMK, events should be held off until we're certain that the server can handle the maximum capacity with little to no lag. When events DO happen, make sure to announce it first ahead of time via the forums and other official channels of communication so as to avoid backlash and keep the community informed. When we start having events, that is when we'll need an event calendar. The event calendar should be located on both the forums and the game's main page to keep as many people informed as possible. Most importantly, before you have any events make sure to have a test run. Make it clear that it's a test run, and provide an official thread for feedback whenever a test run is attempted. With this feedback, you can tweak the events so as to make them as fair as possible and keep the community happy.
4. Staff:
When hiring staff, there needs to be a clear criteria and everyone needs to go through a screening process. On the application form, ask applicants questions. What would they do in a certain situation? Get to know them, make sure they're personable. Don't stop at qualifications, read over applications and take interviews via Skype. Keep the applications open to anyone and everyone and make it known you're hiring staff beforehand so everyone has the opportunity to apply. Ensure that every staff member knows their job description, that they can maintain a standard level of professionalism, devote their time to the game and/or the forums, and take their position very seriously. If they step out of line, punish them accordingly and let them know that poor behavior will NOT be tolerated.
5. The rules:
On the forums, try not to be too strict. Allow for open discussion, criticisms within reason, and most importantly feedback. Sit down with the staff, discuss what the rules are going to be, and separate the rules on the forum from the rules in the game. The sooner the rules are laid out, the better. The clearer the rules are, the less they'll have to be enforced. One of the things I didn't like about OVMK was that not only was their moderation subjective, their rules were vague. If you are going to use social media to communicate, DO NOT enforce "PII".
6. Social Media:
MAKE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA. Ensure that you have and maintain all of the official channels. Tumblr and twitter were both very active and continue to be for OVMK, so I suggest using those for MMK. The goal here is to keep as many people up to date as possible and avoid rumors and misinformation. I recommend having a separate staff to handle social media. The less people in more roles, the better.
I will update this with more as it comes to me.
Having multiple accounts will be harmful to the economy as we start out and therefore should be disallowed or at least limited to a small number. If I had to pick a number of accounts that we are allowed, I say the sweet spot would be around two. You posted in the thread about clones that they would be hard to manage and keep track of. Here is my suggestion. With the proper staff, taking care of excess clones shouldn't be a problem. All we need to do is have someone on staff inspecting the trade logs to ensure that a) no one has more than the allotted number of accounts, b) if they do have more accounts than are permitted, they are punished accordingly on the grounds of gaining an unfair advantage. You mentioned in the other thread about this subject that tracking people with multiple accounts to see who is abusing them is difficult. It isn't. All you need to do is check the IP address for multiple accounts, then check the trade logs between accounts and see if they're giving items to one central account. If they are, you can bet they're abusing their secondary account(s) to gain an unfair advantage.
2. Economy:
The issue of the economy is an important one, but one that should not be pushed immediately. The economy needs to be built up over time. This means there needs to be a schedule for when items are released, when items are removed, and what items will be exclusive to contests and events. I think that starting off, items should strictly be added. After a brief period of time, possibly a week or so, items can begin being removed on a scheduled basis. This schedule is not to be made public, and I recommend keeping it to one person (and of course all those above said person) who will be in charge of the aforementioned duties. Creating an economy is an important part of the game, but it is something that needs to come over a gradual period of time and cannot be done overnight.
3. Events:
One of the biggest problems with Open VMK was the way they handled events. With MMK, events should be held off until we're certain that the server can handle the maximum capacity with little to no lag. When events DO happen, make sure to announce it first ahead of time via the forums and other official channels of communication so as to avoid backlash and keep the community informed. When we start having events, that is when we'll need an event calendar. The event calendar should be located on both the forums and the game's main page to keep as many people informed as possible. Most importantly, before you have any events make sure to have a test run. Make it clear that it's a test run, and provide an official thread for feedback whenever a test run is attempted. With this feedback, you can tweak the events so as to make them as fair as possible and keep the community happy.
4. Staff:
When hiring staff, there needs to be a clear criteria and everyone needs to go through a screening process. On the application form, ask applicants questions. What would they do in a certain situation? Get to know them, make sure they're personable. Don't stop at qualifications, read over applications and take interviews via Skype. Keep the applications open to anyone and everyone and make it known you're hiring staff beforehand so everyone has the opportunity to apply. Ensure that every staff member knows their job description, that they can maintain a standard level of professionalism, devote their time to the game and/or the forums, and take their position very seriously. If they step out of line, punish them accordingly and let them know that poor behavior will NOT be tolerated.
5. The rules:
On the forums, try not to be too strict. Allow for open discussion, criticisms within reason, and most importantly feedback. Sit down with the staff, discuss what the rules are going to be, and separate the rules on the forum from the rules in the game. The sooner the rules are laid out, the better. The clearer the rules are, the less they'll have to be enforced. One of the things I didn't like about OVMK was that not only was their moderation subjective, their rules were vague. If you are going to use social media to communicate, DO NOT enforce "PII".
6. Social Media:
MAKE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA. Ensure that you have and maintain all of the official channels. Tumblr and twitter were both very active and continue to be for OVMK, so I suggest using those for MMK. The goal here is to keep as many people up to date as possible and avoid rumors and misinformation. I recommend having a separate staff to handle social media. The less people in more roles, the better.
I will update this with more as it comes to me.
I would like to see all items available to all players by having every item in the database available in the shops at some point. This would encourage players to work to earn credits and have a fair chance in owning items they may not have had a chance to in VMK. For example, once NPCs and at least one minigame is up and running, perhaps have one new clothing or furniture item in the shops each day for one day or longer. With the amount of items VMK had, MMK could rotate through all items for a long time.
And there could be quests where you could earn item(s) when you complete the quest. The Lights, Cameras, Engines! quests gave players the chance to earn the four different Autopia Racing Magic pins. My favorite VMK quest was the VMK's Hunt for Captain Blackheart's Treasure! because it was challenging and awarded multiple items.
I agree with the idea of Hosts having games where buyables could be won. Please publish a schedule of Host events and limit only Hosts, not staff, to be able to give players items. I don't believe it would be a good idea for rares to be given out by Hosts. Another possibility is Hosts could award items a month prior to their in-game release. I think even with inexpensive items being given out in Host games, the events would still be popular with players.
If the focus on accumulating items is by earning credits to purchase them, there may be less of an incentive of players to create mules. If we have games like Host Hunts, Host Quests, and Host Teleporters which give out rares that cannot be purchased, it only encourages players to create multiple accounts.
If this game is in "Beta" when it opens, I would like Day 1 badges given to all players who register and play during the Beta period (not just Day 1 of Beta) like how VMK awarded their Day 1 badge.
And there could be quests where you could earn item(s) when you complete the quest. The Lights, Cameras, Engines! quests gave players the chance to earn the four different Autopia Racing Magic pins. My favorite VMK quest was the VMK's Hunt for Captain Blackheart's Treasure! because it was challenging and awarded multiple items.
I agree with the idea of Hosts having games where buyables could be won. Please publish a schedule of Host events and limit only Hosts, not staff, to be able to give players items. I don't believe it would be a good idea for rares to be given out by Hosts. Another possibility is Hosts could award items a month prior to their in-game release. I think even with inexpensive items being given out in Host games, the events would still be popular with players.
If the focus on accumulating items is by earning credits to purchase them, there may be less of an incentive of players to create mules. If we have games like Host Hunts, Host Quests, and Host Teleporters which give out rares that cannot be purchased, it only encourages players to create multiple accounts.
If this game is in "Beta" when it opens, I would like Day 1 badges given to all players who register and play during the Beta period (not just Day 1 of Beta) like how VMK awarded their Day 1 badge.
I think host games would be a great idea, just make sure they get announced to everyone so people have a fair chance of participating. Giving rares out during host games would be fine in my opinion, but they shouldn't be able to give them out randomly as they see fit. That's when people start saying you know the person in real life and saying its unfair.
For host rooms, please set a limit on the time that players can stay in the room and fraternize with the hosts. In VMK, it was hard for players to go into the host rooms for the special prizes because the same 5 - 10 people would sit in there during the entire event. Making a rule that they must go after a quick hello will allow many more players the option to visit the host/room and get the special items.
-There should definitely be a more lax set of rules: the majority of the people wanting VMK back are around 15 and older; we can handle a much more mature setup for the game.
-While I do think staff should be on the older side to avoid pointless immaturity, the staff should at the very least not be power-hungry. They should be fair and do their job as staff: working the game, answering questions, and creating an enjoyable environment. People should not be given consequences for something as simple as expressing their opinions :|
-Rare items should be available on the first opening day for those of us on, but rare items shouldn't be just handed out for an hour or to random people constantly. It messes up the economy and leads to unstable ideals in-game. Rare should be treated as such: RARE.
-I love the day 1 pin idea: for day 1 of beta (or no beta however its being done) only
-BIRTHDAY PINS!
-And of course, original ideas and content. While we miss VMK, it would be nice to see some advancement on it
-While I do think staff should be on the older side to avoid pointless immaturity, the staff should at the very least not be power-hungry. They should be fair and do their job as staff: working the game, answering questions, and creating an enjoyable environment. People should not be given consequences for something as simple as expressing their opinions :|
-Rare items should be available on the first opening day for those of us on, but rare items shouldn't be just handed out for an hour or to random people constantly. It messes up the economy and leads to unstable ideals in-game. Rare should be treated as such: RARE.
-I love the day 1 pin idea: for day 1 of beta (or no beta however its being done) only
-BIRTHDAY PINS!
-And of course, original ideas and content. While we miss VMK, it would be nice to see some advancement on it
Queen_Kathleen said:
-There should definitely be a more lax set of rules: the majority of the people wanting VMK back are around 15 and older; we can handle a much more mature setup for the game.
-While I do think staff should be on the older side to avoid pointless immaturity, the staff should at the very least not be power-hungry. They should be fair and do their job as staff: working the game, answering questions, and creating an enjoyable environment. People should not be given consequences for something as simple as expressing their opinions :|
-Rare items should be available on the first opening day for those of us on, but rare items shouldn't be just handed out for an hour or to random people constantly. It messes up the economy and leads to unstable ideals in-game. Rare should be treated as such: RARE.
-I love the day 1 pin idea: for day 1 of beta (or no beta however its being done) only
-BIRTHDAY PINS!
-And of course, original ideas and content. While we miss VMK, it would be nice to see some advancement on it
-While I do think staff should be on the older side to avoid pointless immaturity, the staff should at the very least not be power-hungry. They should be fair and do their job as staff: working the game, answering questions, and creating an enjoyable environment. People should not be given consequences for something as simple as expressing their opinions :|
-Rare items should be available on the first opening day for those of us on, but rare items shouldn't be just handed out for an hour or to random people constantly. It messes up the economy and leads to unstable ideals in-game. Rare should be treated as such: RARE.
-I love the day 1 pin idea: for day 1 of beta (or no beta however its being done) only
-BIRTHDAY PINS!
-And of course, original ideas and content. While we miss VMK, it would be nice to see some advancement on it
1. No random staff giveaways or inadequately announced or short-lived sales! One thing that bugged me the most about ovmk was how the staff would keep releasing exclusive items away on their live streams. If you don't know someone who had the code you were out of luck. If this no random giveaways is a well known rule, people may not attack the staff as much with unnecessary "can i please have XXX".
2. Allow clones but not excessively. Many people are suggesting 2. I'd like to see it higher. I have a few ideas of characters I'd like to play as but with 2 I'm limited to my boy and girl characters and couldn't bring back any of my other clones I use to use on vmk that I enjoyed playing as.
3. Above all, try to restore and uphold the integrity, feel, and magic that vmk once held. More on this on #4.
4. Work on aspects of the game, NPCs, mini-games before new content that wasn't on vmk originally is developed. New stuff is cool but we just want our pirates and fireworks back before we develop that new awesome amazing hat! How will we even pay for it lol. Are the pixels going to be released again? I know many people liked them but I felt they resembled items that might be found in VFK over vmk. I'm not sure why they couldn't have just been like colored ice cubes or something. We have plenty of items to go through before we would even have to start developing new ones to keep players interest.
5. Make in game staff members have some distance from their players. I know people like to be in the know but this creates unfair advantages when your best friend becomes a staff member. If someone becomes a staff member who is a normal player, I'd suggest they get a new account as a host and not reveal who they are in the game previously. Remember on vmk? With a few exceptions, we really didn't know much about the staff members. They didn't even post on forums or anything. If they did it would quickly result in favoritism, jealousy, drama, etc.
6. Keep the community informed. We all saw what happened to ovmk and the crazed madness when we were looking for answers. Remember how Yavn speaks was hardly ever updated? I'd like to see weekly newsletters published by someone either a PR staff or Amy or even switch it up from time to time to hear what is being worked on. Publish all this information on the home page. Live streams are cool for behind the scenes looks and stuff but publish them all and do not giveaway items during them.
2. Allow clones but not excessively. Many people are suggesting 2. I'd like to see it higher. I have a few ideas of characters I'd like to play as but with 2 I'm limited to my boy and girl characters and couldn't bring back any of my other clones I use to use on vmk that I enjoyed playing as.
3. Above all, try to restore and uphold the integrity, feel, and magic that vmk once held. More on this on #4.
4. Work on aspects of the game, NPCs, mini-games before new content that wasn't on vmk originally is developed. New stuff is cool but we just want our pirates and fireworks back before we develop that new awesome amazing hat! How will we even pay for it lol. Are the pixels going to be released again? I know many people liked them but I felt they resembled items that might be found in VFK over vmk. I'm not sure why they couldn't have just been like colored ice cubes or something. We have plenty of items to go through before we would even have to start developing new ones to keep players interest.
5. Make in game staff members have some distance from their players. I know people like to be in the know but this creates unfair advantages when your best friend becomes a staff member. If someone becomes a staff member who is a normal player, I'd suggest they get a new account as a host and not reveal who they are in the game previously. Remember on vmk? With a few exceptions, we really didn't know much about the staff members. They didn't even post on forums or anything. If they did it would quickly result in favoritism, jealousy, drama, etc.
6. Keep the community informed. We all saw what happened to ovmk and the crazed madness when we were looking for answers. Remember how Yavn speaks was hardly ever updated? I'd like to see weekly newsletters published by someone either a PR staff or Amy or even switch it up from time to time to hear what is being worked on. Publish all this information on the home page. Live streams are cool for behind the scenes looks and stuff but publish them all and do not giveaway items during them.
1.) No Codes! Not even giveaways..people use duplicate accounts to abuse codes like we saw in OVMK where people had like 20+ pink stitch hats and 20+ churro carts! Then when I asked them how they obtained the items they would say, "I'm a good trader." IMPOSSIBLE. Especially with how limited we were in receiving credits and buying items. This can easily be prevented by removing codes entirely.
2.) No giving people free unreleased items unless its through an announced host event. There were so many people with dream shirts, blue stitch hats, cowboy pants, minnie hats (I even saw a black beret) on OVMK which were just given away. Ordinary players couldn't even trade for those items because we had nothing to offer of equal value. The value for these items were almost unrealistic. The benefit of releasing items on a fixed schedule would be that players can more or less determine the value of an item by how long ago the item was released and how scarce it is. In OVMK players did not really know the true value of items because they were randomly given away! There was no information as to when they were given, how they were given, and how many there were! There was constant threads of people asking for value of items. Giving away free unreleased items interferes with the games economy because it places unknown values on items. Therefore, it would be best to NOT give away any unreleased items, but instead release them to the public on a fixed schedule.
3.) With the exception of Amy, Grizzly, and Kevin, staff should have little to no involvement in the forums.
I hope my suggestions are taken highly into account when making final decisions, especially whats bolded in red. Thank you for your time!
-iTico
2.) No giving people free unreleased items unless its through an announced host event. There were so many people with dream shirts, blue stitch hats, cowboy pants, minnie hats (I even saw a black beret) on OVMK which were just given away. Ordinary players couldn't even trade for those items because we had nothing to offer of equal value. The value for these items were almost unrealistic. The benefit of releasing items on a fixed schedule would be that players can more or less determine the value of an item by how long ago the item was released and how scarce it is. In OVMK players did not really know the true value of items because they were randomly given away! There was no information as to when they were given, how they were given, and how many there were! There was constant threads of people asking for value of items. Giving away free unreleased items interferes with the games economy because it places unknown values on items. Therefore, it would be best to NOT give away any unreleased items, but instead release them to the public on a fixed schedule.
3.) With the exception of Amy, Grizzly, and Kevin, staff should have little to no involvement in the forums.
I hope my suggestions are taken highly into account when making final decisions, especially whats bolded in red. Thank you for your time!
-iTico
