arkaz.org

I posted the following today, in response to an event announcement by ForsakenPlague:

"Just to let you know, this event conflicts with an event on Hala. I don't know if this will create a conflict for anyone in this specific case, but I do know that many of the Arkaz players also play on Hala. I have noticed that these conflicts occur regularly, and I wonder if there is some way to try to ensure they don't, so that all planned events can have all the players attending who wish to, and they won't have to make a choice between one or the other. I know this may not always be possible, but I think it can certainly be improved upon a good deal. When I shedule an event, I do always check the Arkaz boards to see if there is anything scheduled on Arkaz already, but maybe something could also be worked out between the DMs of both games; sharing what they have planned and scheduled? Thanks for listening."

I think from the response I received from ForsakenPlague that my post must have been removed, and I was told I could re-post it here, which I am now doing, as I do think it's important.

This is one of the reasons we try and post information regarding planned events in advance.

Rudiki I PM'd FP to ask we could change the date and time of the event as Hala had been kind enough to do the same for us. No word yet on if that has changed.

Tre, FP tells me the Arkaz event has been cancelled (and will hopefully be re-scheduled when I can attend. )

But this happens way more than it should, and it's so easily and painlessly fixed, hence my post.

Arkaz
Legion Events: Tuesday afternoon
Mage School Events: Sunday Evenings

Ysgard
Defenders Events: Saturday Afternoons
Amazon Events: Friday (I think?)
Tower of Iron Will Events: Thursdays

Various Avlis guilds: Sunday afternoons, Tuesday/Wednesday afternoons

I have listed the events I am aware of on the various servers in a feeble attempt to illustrate a point. I like the idea of trying to schedule for times that players will all be available, but I am quite sure that at some point, a line needs to be drawn. This is doubly true considering the events I have written there are private guild events.

I suppose that is up to the team. My recommendation, at the least (and I have no say and shouldn't have a say) is that private guild events on other servers not be factored into public Arkaz events.

Another recommendation I have is that if people want to post player-run events that Arkazians are free to join, it should be on these boards as well as the boards where the event is to take place. This should help prevent the poor DMs from having to check 4 boards to know what's happening when. DMs already do a lot of work for the players at no profit, and we ought to try and make their situation pleasant.

I think it would be a shame if there were less events on Arkaz due to scheduling conflicts with other servers. We have plenty of people who play here, and mostly here, and some people that (for IC or OOC reasons) do not plane travel.

I hope that helps. Again, this is all up to the team. I've tried to schedule (player run) events before, and I know how much work it is to try an ensure players are involved. I finally had to learn to hold events if one or two people couldn't make it rather then not have events altogether. Having to choose between events is way better then not having one!

To quote from what I sent tp FP in a PM:

"The Hala event was announced well over a month ago, and my point was that it would be a good idea, and a courtesy, to check before scheduling events to make sure they don't conflict if possible. It's simple to check the forums, but it would be even better if the DMs of both games had good lines of communication to make sure big things could be scheduled without conflict before they're announced, given that there is such a big player overlap between the two games.

I know that Ysgard does already take into account, to a great extent, the Arkaz events, and does by and large schedule events around Arkaz ones.

As I said, taking into account the other game's scheduled events is always a good idea, even if conflicts cannot be avoided in every case. Since the Defenders meetings are held during prime event time, and since they are guild events and not always DMed, I don't expect Arkaz to make sure never to schedule anything during Defenders meetings. What I and the other players would I'm sure appreciate is a serious effort not to schedule open DMed events against each other wherever possible. The two games aren't rivals. They should help each other where they can, and this requires so little effort that it is, to my mind, a no-brainer."

In addition: I didn't include Avils, because there seems to be a particularly large player overlap between Haha/Ysgard and Arkaz, which makes conflicts particularly common. It would definitely be a good idea to announce Hala/Ysgard events on the Arkaz forums and vice-versa; there could even be an OOC thread set up for this purpose, since it doesn't always make sense to announce events on the other plane ICly. Also, while I agree that guild events and the like should not carry as much weight as open events, they should be taken into account where possible. If I were a Hala DM, for instance, I would still try to avoid scheduling something on the same day and time as the weekly Legion event.

Thanks.

I know that the Amazon training is open to anyone who turns up and doesn’t annoy the Amazons

I postponed an event I was going to co DM in favour of Corwin’s event as that was something special that a lot of people wanted to attend, myself included.

How about a section on the boards for invites to off world events? I know I would certainly post a general invite to the Amazon training (which is usually a player only event) and specifically note when it is likely to be a DM thing that most folk wouldn’t be interested in. You know the events where there is a whole lot of story you know nothing about and every one stands around and talks to NPCs and no one gets killed and you wonder what is going on. Those sorts of events

I would also post invites to my open events and currently don’t because I’m not sure if it is appropriate of me to do so. I enjoy playing with you guys and would love a chance to DM for you guys from time to time. Nastr0nd and I are planning a little something for next week I think (hint hint).

In saying all this, DMs can only DM when they are available. There are going to be conflicting events and players will just have to decide which one they want to get to. I think there could also be an issue of players event farming and popping from server to server just to be part of events and then running back home to do their proper gaming.

I think it its important for who ever is in charge of events posted in an off world list to state what a character is expected to do in order to be part of it. Weather it is turn up on the day, be there early to get an IC invite or perhaps even stay on the server for the duration of the plot.

If the Arkaz staff like the idea, I can certainly take it to the Hala team and see about getting an off site section for the board there.

I'm fine with anything you guys think we should do to make it better for players. We use to have a calender for posting events but it seems to have been dropped during one of the forum upgrades...I'll look into getting it back in as well.

Oh nice, a calendar would definately be useful for scheduling my mage lessons Thanks Terry.

Thank you Terry! A calendar would be far more useful then trying to keep track of one more thread.


I did think Zombie's event move was very thoughtful and I did notice. 8) I do try and be courteous to another world's events if I am made aware of them and enough of the player base would like to be involved in both places.

It would be unrealistic for me to promise I would be able to avoid conflicts completely. As "easy" as it looks for some players, there are literally close to 100 forums I can see between the four CoPaP boards and posts are missed. Also, sometimes I just have to pick something that works for my personal schedule or I won't be able to do the event.

Again, it comes down to communication. Please don't assume I know of a conflict. PM's are preferable to posts if I need to be corrected on something. I can usually work it out quicker too.