Recruiting

[Iyapo1]

I think many players would like to leave their fs, but feel guilty in doing so. Thus provides as guilt free option. Of course you will have the option to re-up to you old fs.

How does this provide a guilt free option? People who feel guilty about leaving would feel guilty about not "re-uping". Same guilt just moved.

Me, I feel no guilt. You cant poach happy players and booting everyone out of a fellowship just to make them unhappy sounds like a bad plan.

 

[Aritra]

What about a want ads page? There would have to be an announcement in game though to let folks know its there.

How is this different from the "members seeking FS" / "FS seeking members" page?
Your in-game announcement could just be periodic reminder to check it out.

 

[Darielle]

I think one of the hardest things to do in Elvenar is Recruiting Members to fill a void when someone leaves.
Sadly the Forum postings to Fellowship Seeking New Members, or Member Seeking New Fellowship may sound like a good place to start looking, but in practice the posts are useless. There are tons of FS seeking Members with virtually no replies, and post for Members seeking FS are usually very old, and have every fs jumping to respond to it.
I am one of the main recruiters in my fs, and have no good solution, or advice I can offer. I'd love to hear suggestions for others.
I do have an idea I doubt could ever be implemented, and I will share it soon.

I joined my first fellowship based on a "fellowships seeking members' post on the forum, so it does happen.

My advice if you want to attract good members is to have a GREAT Overview. I'd say most players check out the overviews of fellowships to get vibes. State exactly what your goals are in concise but interesting language. Throw in a friendly offer to help new players (if you accept new ones) and say you'd be glad to help them grow their cities. Most of all, be congenial, upbeat, and make it so inviting that people will love to join your group.

Once you have a great overview, make a great post. Don't say what everyone else is saying, "So and So group would love to have you join, blah blah blah." It's boring! Go with a theme. For example, if your group caters to newer players and its name is "Starwood," (just an example ... I do not know if there is any group by that name and I am not plugging anyone) then write something like this:

The woods are calling from afar
The paths are lit by the brightest star,
To all new Elven, destiny awaits,
Starwood has an opening place.

Bring your talents and you will find,
The Starwood sages are wise and kind,
they'll help you grow your city and then,
You'll magically transform from stranger to friend.

You need so little and will gain so much,
In Starwood, all of us started as such,
Come and join us, Come and see,
The perfect fellowship is waiting for thee.

Starwood awaits!


Anyway, that may be a bit long winded, but at least it isn't the same old same old. With a great forum post and a great overview that speaks clearly to what you want, you should be able to draw players.

 

[able99]

How does this provide a guilt free option? People who feel guilty about leaving would feel guilty about not "re-uping". Same guilt just moved.

Me, I feel no guilt. You cant poach happy players and booting everyone out of a fellowship just to make them unhappy sounds like a bad plan.

Leaving a fs requires a proactive step to click on Leave. This is different, you are out automatically, and have to stay out for 7 days.

Players are automatically booted out (I call it released) on the the anniversary of joining. Everyone for the most part has a different day they joined, so you are not releasing everyone at the same time. on average it should be about 1 per month. Its just another thing to be managed. I never suggested booting everyone out. Disagree if you like but please dont state my possition incorrectly.

Also consider that some AMs are reluctant to expel anyone even if they want to. Since this happens automatically, it is different than a proactive expulsion. They can then opt to do nothing ie inviting them back in. Doing nothing is different than proactively expelling someone.

Keep those arrows coming.

 

[able99]

Darielle,
I love your poetry and it will work for you . You are right, so many overviews sound alike, and when one gets a little original it is quickly copied.
I do have a letter and technique I use to identify potential members thats been successful, but I admit it is getting harder.
I am not surprised you found your first fs from Fellowship Seeking Members. As A newbie I did too.

 

[Iyapo1]

Disagree if you like but please dont state my possition incorrectly.

I did not state your position incorrectly I simply used a negative synonym.
A feature that results in the "mandatory release" of players from a FS sounds like an auto boot feature to me. Applying said feature to everyone except the AM and maybe mages is not everyone, so I exaggerated. You want to auto boot almost everyone...except your mages(maybe).

I stand by my comment. You cant poach happy players even with an auto boot, they would just re-up.

 

[Myne]

How is this different from the "members seeking FS" / "FS seeking members" page?
Your in-game announcement could just be periodic reminder to check it out.

Oh, sorry. What I had in mind is a page that is reachable from within the game. Since only a very small percentage of players come here.
Maybe from the horn or something?

 

[AtaguS]

I don't necessarily agree. Most poaching (I think) is done for oddballs. E.G. if you see someone getting 2500 tournament points every week in a 4 chest FS they are a fair target for poaching because your FS might actually be a better fit.

This is one of the ways I recruit and it has been successful a good number of times. I scout Elvenstats for players scoring high in the tourneys but in a fs that doesn't reach 10 chests, and offer them a place with us.
With some back and forth between elvenstats and the in-game search bar, something similar can be done with the spire. I've recruited high tourney averaging players from an all bronze spire fs by offering silver spire, etc.
Score or city size isn't really a consideration as we aren't fussed about world ranking so long as they have reached chapter 3.

I am one of the main recruiters in my fs, and have no good solution, or advice I can offer. I'd love to hear suggestions for others.

-If tourney and spire aren't your fs's thing then I'd suggest defining what is your thing and then target your search to a pool of players who would enjoy that. Are you a fs that likes to help cities grow? or chat? or not chat? Say so in your intro message to them.

-Always put "Recruiting" in your city title and polish every single city in your NH to up the chances of them polishing yours and seeing your sign.

- Reach out to the newest previous recruit to your fs and ask them if they know anyone from their old fs (and just the game in general) who may like to join them there and would be a good fit.

 

[Tehya1]

Staying with the same FS with the same people can get old and lead to players leaving the game. I am just trying to stir things up to keep things interesting. Before shooting arrows at me, think about it a bit then shoot away.

I just don't see the point. Unhappy players who still love the game don't stay in fs that they aren't getting enough out of, and i doubt that being in a fs that you don't like is the primary reason that most players who quit, quit. I can't be recruited from three of my fs, and people have tried. the fourth is too early to tell, but it is a no stress fs and I am happy to be there, at least for now.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

This can't possibly be true, please stop spreading it.

Of course it is true. You were even tagged in a reply about this on the Beta forum. Here is the reply you got there from Aug 31 of last year:

Unfortunately SoggyShorts has hit the nail on the head with this.

This is exactly why we do not have anything in game that lets anyone know when a player is logged on or were last logged on, as this is personal privacy and all of the red tape and laws that come with that these days.

 

[crackie]

I propose make joining a FS a maximum 2 year hitch (Like the army). As you approach your anniversary. you will get warnings that you will be automatically released from your FS and will have to be unattached for 7 days. AMs and possibly Mages will be exempt from automatic release.

During the week, you can explore other FS options and maybe meet new people. I think many players would like to leave their fs, but feel guilty in doing so. Thus provides as guilt free option. Of course you will have the option to re-up to you old fs.

I agree recruiting is aboslutely THE WORST part of running a FS, but I am a HARD NO on "enlistment with a rumspringa" idea. I rarely plan anything weeks in advance anymore. Hells NO to committing to anything in years. While we're at it, why not add a Retention Dept to fellowships and make the FS experience even more miserable, like trying to cancel your cable subscription

Fellowships do not own players, period. Restricting player movement is absurd! How has anyone here earned the rights to my time (let alone not compensate me for it)? Feel free to speak up so I know to avoid your fellowships like the plague! If your players are being poached, figure out why they're leaving and patch the holes in your own sinking ship, starting with using the pointing finger currently busy directing the blame onto others to plug the hole.

I would like that they add individual Spire results so it can then be accessed by the API and scraped by sites like Elvenstats if Inno is not interested in giving us actual tools to help us recruit. The right fit is crucial to the game experience. Some people like a really difficult challenge and push their cities to the limits every week. To others, that does not sound fun at all and feels more like work, which they don't want in a gaming experience. There has to be better ways for players to filter themselves. The current trophy stickers are a total joke. An old, but casual fellowship that has been around a long time might have the same amount of Spire trophies as a hyperactive new fellowship. Even showing the average instead of totals would be a more useful data point, so maybe start there.

 

[able99]

AtaguS,
You and I do almost exactly the same thing, recruit tourney and Spire players, and target members is a fs where they outgrew the help they can get. A top 10 FS, or 10 Chest FS is definitely a better fit for them, but the smaller players and newbies left behind, lose a teacher. Sometimes its about the help they can give.
I am not knocking the methods, techniques and styles we all use to recruit.
I am just trying to think of and explore some new and different ideas.

 

[Myne]

I wonder what the percentage of players is that uses elvenstats. Does anyone know?

 

[able99]

Crackie, Where did you get the notion that I suggested committing to a fs for 2 years? Everything I suggested leaves things exactly as they are except a player can stay in a fs continuously for a maximum of 2 years, at which time he is released for a week. He can decide to rejoin and continue on. He can leave sooner for any reason or he can be expelled at any time just as it is now. He can join any fs he likes as soon as he is released, except for the one he came from. That requires a 1 week wait period, and of course invite from fs. I would imagine it will be done almost always.
Please reread proposal. Nothing changes except after 2 continuious years in a fs you take a break for 1 week. If you go on vacation and ask to beleased while you are gone and accepted again when you are back from vacation, the clock would reset to your new joining day and you are good for 2 years again All is good. There is no 2 year commitment. I am just looking for a way to increase a pool of unattached players, and put them in a mind set to look at other fellowships. No requirement to do anything.
Just thought of it, under this proposal the released player could join any fs and give it a try for a week. Meet new people and see how things are done elsewhere. He could leave after a week and return to original fs. Kind of like a test drive without commitment to buy the new car.

 

[AtaguS]

AtaguS,
You and I do almost exactly the same thing, recruit tourney and Spire players, and target members is a fs where they outgrew the help they can get. A top 10 FS, or 10 Chest FS is definitely a better fit for them, but the smaller players and newbies left behind, lose a teacher. Sometimes its about the help they can give.
I am not knocking the methods, techniques and styles we all use to recruit.
I am just trying to think of and explore some new and different ideas.

Well that's what those bottom three suggestions were about, lol.

I hear you on the poaching thing but have recently discarded any concerns about it I may have once had.
The last 2 fellowships I was a part of poached me in and I was glad for it.
I made a lasting connection in one of them which transcends me leaving and I am still learning from them through the message system to this day.
I overstayed in my very first fs out of a sense of obligation to help the AM prop up a declining fs and ended up burning out of the game for a year. The bottom line for me these days is that each player must take responsibility for their own happiness in this game.
And never more so than in their choice of fellowships.
So I don't mind extending the offer and applaud any player who knows it's time to make a move, and makes it.

 

[Myne]

He can join any fs he likes as soon as he is released, except for the one he came from.

NO nope uh uh. Why? Because if you release him and another player joins, then he/she is out of the fellowship and MUST find another. You cannot keep building teams that way. It just doesn't work. It always takes a while for a new player to acclimate to a fellowship. What you are proposing is too chancy for a fellowship to go along with.

 

[Alram]

Some people spend years building relationships and FS. Why should they be locked out of their FS because other people can't find recruits?

 

[able99]

Myne, I would think when a player you want to keep and wants to stay with the fs is released, then you stay in touch with him/her. There is no obligation to accept another player. If you choose to do so to check someone out or have an extra body for the tourney/Spire, thats your decission and you can expel them when the wait period is over to reinvite your original member. All is good. Continue building your team.
The only way to know if they are on your team is to release them and see if they come back. Same as life.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

The hidden problem is all the fellowships where the AM and all the Mages are inactive, and the few remaining players are too settled in their ways to change fellowships or are afraid they will not find another one after they leave the mostly dead one. Along with all this player movement and deleting/archiving of inactive cities and accounts, any fellowship run by an inactive AM should just be disbanded when the AM gets archived. And in the rare situation it is a chapter 1-3 AM, I would assume the fellowship is automatically gone anyway when the AM's city gets deleted.

@helya can you tell us anything about this? Are inactive AMs given any preferences or exemptions from the normal deletion or archiving because they own a fellowship?

 

[able99]

Alram, You forgot the part about Blocked out for 1 week. And I repeat, they are only on your team if they come back. I imagine your Team would.