White Flag

[Artemus Kurgen]

-The veterans tend to not respect DoM because, in the past, it has encouraged power-gaming. For various reasons, Magic has tended to be the nursery of this forum. The new RPers flock there first, for various reasons. DoM has a very strict code that it's spells are to remain within the boundaries of Twilight Isle...unfortunately, many characters in the past have not noticed this. Furthermore, some of the veterans that *have* dwelled in DoM have not helped.

--Now, to everyone else, I will honestly say that DoM has improved in this regard, and I really do encourage everyone to give it a try, like I have. But the fact remains that this forum is based on volunteerism. We have to go with the flow, and anyone who protests otherwise...has been very misled about the nature of life.

I got to looking through old threads for other tidbits of discussion and ideas related to current topics and threads which led to me coming across this and I have to say I agree with Anubis's player. Numbers are reflected by caller's volunteering their time to officiate. No Caller's = No Dueling.

Right now we have these callers. Druid, Thorne, Topaz, Wyh, Kheldar, Misty, Imp, Corlanthis, taking regular shifts. (those are just the caller's off the top of my head, I"m well aware of more). And backups we have Jaycy, Tass, Xeno, Roman, Sai, Sin, Destre, Rory, and a whole slew of others.

Given that list, I 'myself' see we have caller's in spades, and the dueling numbers are on the rise, but I"m curious what we can still do to generate more interest in sports like DoF and DoM. DoS being the most popular with the highest turnover rate doesn't really need a leg up but if I've checked things right, using Max's numbers from the same thread Anubis posted in, DoS gets double the head count the other two sports have. As players, is there something we can do to generage more interest in the other games?

[Amaltea]

No Caller's = No Dueling.

This is the most important part to generate interest. When players go to the room and find there isn't a caller at hand they leave. Yes, we have callers that have taken on regular shifts, but they are not always available to work due to whatever life throws at them.

Yes, we have many callers at the moment, but not all of them work for all three venues. I believe that DoF is in need of callers.

[DUEL Tass]

Forgive the official name.. it's what I'm logged in as.


Soon as some things settle down with IRL, I'll be takin up the DoF on tuesday nights again.. and perhaps Fight Night on Friday as well.. after Misty/Sarah close up shop.

[Artemus Kurgen]

I'm beginning to realize that today I have been idea happy across multiple threads, but on this one I want to express that it has been said over and over that special events for the sports are not solely up to the officials and coordinators of those sports. Any and all Players can submit or come up with events to hold before, during, after dueling hours.

I would wager that if we got more West Coast players to become officials the dueling hours could possibly be extended beyond what they are now. At one point there was Late Nite DoS and similar evenings where a sanctioned caller would come in at the end of the final shift for an evening and run things over much like Tass has been doing lately. It is doubtful more people like Tass stepping up would be unwelcome, however that is just me.

I am proud of how far the game has become and our RDI cross over. The talks Panther and I had OOC and then our characters IC having led to the prosperity of our two forums is something I'm glad has happened. The Duel of Swords started in the RDI basement run by Kairee has become something I"m sure she never expected.

[Scotty]

Put this in the wrong place. >.<

[DUEL Imp]

I'm beginning to realize that today I have been idea happy across multiple threads, but on this one I want to express that it has been said over and over that special events for the sports are not solely up to the officials and coordinators of those sports. Any and all Players can submit or come up with events to hold before, during, after dueling hours.

I would wager that if we got more West Coast players to become officials the dueling hours could possibly be extended beyond what they are now. At one point there was Late Nite DoS and similar evenings where a sanctioned caller would come in at the end of the final shift for an evening and run things over much like Tass has been doing lately. It is doubtful more people like Tass stepping up would be unwelcome, however that is just me.

Couldn't have said that better. (Also excuse the official name, was just posting the shift report.)

[Red urThorne]

Just to throw this out there... some of us on the east coast wouldn't mind *earlier* shifts. Waiting until 10pm on a work night doesn't really encourage me to come out and play. :/ I realize it's volunteer and I certainly appreciate ANY time people give to this forum! Still, it'd be nice...

[Kheldar]

Just to throw this out there... some of us on the east coast wouldn't mind *earlier* shifts. Waiting until 10pm on a work night doesn't really encourage me to come out and play. :/ I realize it's volunteer and I certainly appreciate ANY time people give to this forum! Still, it'd be nice...

Well I almost always am in the Outback for the Wednesday shift by 8 eastern. I almost never get any duels the first hour plus. It's gotta go both ways. Most callers won't stick around if there's no reason too.

[Red urThorne]

I can understand not sticking around if no one is there, but on the flip side of that I've come to the rooms at the scheduled times and had to wait 30-45 minutes for a caller to show up. I think at this point people don't expect anyone that early so they don't show.

Maybe, if callers become available, posting something asking when people would like to see hours open up would show if there is enough support for an earlier time slot?

[Goldglo]

What Amal said is correct - DoF's in need of callers (full-time ones).

Mondays went from 2 to 0 (I've been subbing where I can, but I can't get there when the early shift is suppossed to start and I can't always stay until when the late shift is suppossed to end). Tuesdays currently has 0*. Wednesday has 1 (Kheldar).

*Wyh kindly opted to swap her Tuesday shift on RoH, since Tuesdays are usually deader than a doornail, to take one of the Monday shifts in the RDI; the situation isn't ideal for her and I'd like to get 2 callers back on Mondays (one for each shift). Tass, getting you back in will be great; just make sure it's all good on the family front first

--Matt

[BardGallant]

Just to throw this out there... some of us on the east coast wouldn't mind *earlier* shifts. Waiting until 10pm on a work night doesn't really encourage me to come out and play. :/ I realize it's volunteer and I certainly appreciate ANY time people give to this forum! Still, it'd be nice...

This is something I have been thinking about too.

What Amal said is correct - DoF's in need of callers (full-time ones).

Mondays went from 2 to 0 (I've been subbing where I can, but I can't get there when the early shift is suppossed to start and I can't always stay until when the late shift is suppossed to end). Tuesdays currently has 0*. Wednesday has 1 (Kheldar).

When I first signed up to be a caller, I opted to help DoF because I knew they were in desperate need of callers. It worked well for a while, but as I informed my "colleagues" certain changes in my life have made it impossible for me to promise my time on Monday nights like I used to.

And to go back to the suggestion about opening up earlier shifts, that would be nice. When I duel or role-play period, now, I don't like to stay up any later than 2:30 AM. Even that late is pushing it for me now, but I just can't resist the addiction completely. I think it would be nice if there were an earlier shift, but in order for that to even be reasonable we'd need a caller who was willing to be there earlier and a number of players who regularly showed up on time to participate. Like Kheldar said, sitting there for hours with nobody coming in can put a real damper on one's willingness to call and/or participate.

I wish I could promise another set time and day to help out, but my online hours are readjusting themselves and I don't know when I'm most often available. All I know is that Mondays are out now, and my weekends generally get claimed by life too.

[Neo Eternity]

This reminds me of an idea Harris proposed to me a while back, and that I never followed through with due to apprehension. I still remember how things went in the very thread that Artemus quoted. Since this thread is called "White Flag", hopefully I can put the idea out there and get it approved or shot down without starting another flamewar.

Duel of Magic shares its only shift with Duel of Fists, which is potentially harmful to both sports. Harris proposed that I talk to Matt and see which days have the least activity, and see if he'd be willing to cancel that shift, then we'd move DoM to that day, thus giving it a little more room to grow. This would also require Topaz's approval at least, and I haven't talked to her about the idea either. I've been really apprehensive about it, and I still am now, but since we can all talk about it here as opposed to just Matt and I, and we're already talking about DoF and DoM, I figured I'd go ahead and bring it up here.

Matt said it himself: Tuesdays are deader than a doornail. Since that's the day that is already shared with DoM, would it be a good idea to cancel the Tuesday DoF shift? I still remember one of the big points that were brought up in the old Balance thread. People want to be able to choose what they do each night, and we used to have the level of activity where we could have two sports on one night and both would have good levels of activity. But we don't anymore. Our activity levels are increasing, but we're not there yet. And sside from the Fight Nights, Tuesday is the only day people get to choose anyways, and both sports just hurt as a result. And also, having two shifts on one night also requires more callers.

So, that idea's out there. Discuss it. Approve it if you like it, shoot it down if you don't. But please, let's try to stay civil this time.

[Artemus Kurgen]

I read through that thread completley Neo. You wanted DoF to give up a night but were not willing to offer up anything in return to compensate for the other sport losing a day. You then made the mention that you would be willing to call a shift for DoM but saw no reason to do so if no one would show up. That is a contradictory statement, I, and Topaz, have noted that in many discussion threads you tend to "show your age". Everything exists on a give and take to balance itself out, if you want to take something from DoF, then DoM must be willing to give something in return.

DoF needs full time callers. So The logical thing I can see would be that if Fists are willing to give up a day then Magic pimps out its callers to the other sport.

[Rekah Illyriana]

Well, I'm not a caller. But, I was thinking about putting my name in to be one.

And I'd be willing to help out on Monday nights if needed. I don't know if that helps any. But, I'd be all over it like white on rice. : )

[Artemus Kurgen]

Here Rekah

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