Community involvement has been declining recently, at least in terms of the new players we've seen on the forums. The average player simply doesn't even realize this forum exists (or, if he does, he doesn't care). This is troubling because the best way to keep a community alive is to ensure active social relationships exist between players. So how do we fix this problem?
I would recommend two strategies to ensure our community survives:
- Conservation of existing game materials
Decentralization of community assets (redundancy)
And three things to ensure it thrives:
- A commitment to improved gaming standards
A shift in culture, where older, engaged community members encourage and aid new players in getting involved
A commitment to expanding the playerbase
This is long overdue. We need a central repository of maps, scripts, and old clients so that we don't lose them forever. What we need to be on the lookout for is old scripts (I'm still trying to find Badmin and Tribes from when LDRship was around), maps of all sorts (old and new, which should be cataloged based on their game type), and old game clients. This all need to be indexed and documented so that we can search them easily. It would be preferable for this list to be on a P2P network, or at least hosted on multiple servers so we don't lose anything permanently.
Historians Society
This sounds a bit lofty. What I mean here is we need to get to writing some history behind the game so people can be aware of what Build and Shoot is. Interviews with older players, staff members, etc, would all be helpful. Historians would be a group of interviewers and archivists who would maintain the map servers and perhaps run a blog or two. I would suggest some sort of historical logbook be put into play, wherein each major event was logged on
The important thing here is retention of the players we already have by making them remember the emotional stake they have in Build and Shoot ('Remember when the shotgun could snipe across the map?
'). The retention factor is important because these people tend to be more involved, more willing to contribute to the communityMore Inclusive/Casual Leagues and Tournaments
Tournaments these days are usually older players playing older players. This is a problem for a few reasons, but chiefly because it makes it hard for new players to get involved with more elaborate community functions. I would suggest some sort of mailing list be utilized to alert players to upcoming games.
Leagues ought to be better publicized, which could be the prerogative of the Historians Society. Having a speccer for each team record the action and put it on Youtube with commentary would be interesting, but keep in mind, being the niche community that we are, the videos themselves should NOT be long (5 to 10 minutes at most). Feel free to upload the full match, but remember that a 5 to 10 minute video, well narrated, is much more likely to pull in new players.
A Mumble Tutorial
Mumble ought to be made a bastion of our community. While not everyone has a mic it is still a great way for players to get more involved (if only by idling in the chat). The trouble is, the average user doesn't have any idea what Mumble is much less how to set it up. A tutorial to setting up and connecting to Mumble (as well as encouraging users to do so) would greatly aid community cohesion.
Encouraging Community Involvement On Server Announcements
If you're a server admin, why not change your announcements to something more informative? Say something like:
'Check out the forums at buildandshoot.com/index.php :)!'
or
'Try connecting to our Mumble!'
Youtube Tutorials
I wrote the original (though unofficial) guide for AoS back in 2011. It's outdated to 0.70 at the moment but I've been hesitant to upload it again because I simply don't feel that our average user even has the attention span for it anymore. Instead, we need endorsed Youtube videos, 60 to 90 seconds in length, which will explain key game concepts, strategies, and etiquette. This should be a project that is done with some planning. Amateur videos are fine, but we need to give a good impression. This means high-definition video (at least 720P) and good audio from a narrator with a clear voice. No 30-second long dubstep openings.
A Featured Server Network
Simply put, most servers have no standards of operation. The votekick limits are usually set to the default which is impossibly high. Rather than regulate servers, we simply need to reward the ones which are well-moderated and well-functioning (meaning the votekick limit is set lower, scripts are active to detect hackers/griefers, and bans last for longer than 15 minutes).
A featured server page would simply put the well-managed servers at the forefront of player's attention (regardless of whether or not they are full). Other servers would be located in a general list and would operate much as the system does now. In short, page 1 would feature the best servers, and page 2 would feature all the rest.
Conclusion
The importance of all this is that it must be community driven. The recent stagnation as of late has been the result of waiting on the admins to fix problems and what we've found is that the complaining has only result in more unrest and division amongst the community. Even when Dan was around it was impossible for him to fix everything himself. Decentralization of both game assets (maps etc) and community efforts (IE this list) is of paramount importance if we want to survive.
So what do you say gang? I know we can do it!
