Please Stop Clearing Out Our Message Threads

[Tauriel Dragonwood]

Some of us can remember when Elvenar first started. There were not too many features to understand. It was easy to fight, gain land expansions and build your city. With all these new features, it can be overwhelming and a wee bit too much to grasp at first for the new players. That’s why you join fellowships. To help you learn all the features and overcome the challenges in this awesome game. Please don’t get discouraged. You will eventually learn everything there is to know about Elvenar and might even teach your Arch Mage a thing or two.

Included in my welcoming message to our new recruits, I've written a poem.

Periodically messages are cleared out by Elvenar’s pixies.
I cannot catch them for they are as fast as a breeze.
Sit a spell & read the information I have gathered at your leisure
but if you take too long to find out what they're about,
Elvenar’s pixies will come along later and clear them out.
​

I like going the extra step for my fellowship and doing research to explain the many features of Elvenar so everyone understands how to trade, what their boosted goods are, where to find rune shards to build Ancient Wonders, understanding the new battle system, etc. The newer members may be a bit overwhelmed understanding Elvenar. If I can help them understand something they’re confused about, they may not leave because they’re getting stressed out.

Every 30 days, I need to resend the topics I've researched to help our new recruits. Please stop clearing out my important messages. It can take almost an hour for me to repost all my message threads.

 

[Ashrem]

Since storage and bandwidth to present it to users cost money, maybe a longer message storage time should be a premium item you can buy with diamonds.

In the meantime, some options include:
A facebook page for your group
A publicly accessible Google (or other) document. (they can be either shared as read only, or published so they appear as a web page.
A blog your members can be pointed to, where they can subscribe if they like for updates, and you can link other items of note.

 

[DeletedUser]

A blog your members can be pointed to, where they can subscribe if they like for updates, and you can link other items of note.

This.

 

[Ashrem]

and remember, sites like bit.ly and bit.do are your friend if you want to share info in game, ie, telling them to go to bit.do/phoeniX instead of https://www.gamersgemsofknowledge.com/phoenix-cult

 

[Gorion]

Our FS uses the Discord gaming chat app. It's anonymous and easy to setup. You can easily share screenshots and links. Definitely recommend it over the inconsistent in game chat that most of our members cant even load.

 

[Tauriel Dragonwood]

Thank you everyone for your advice. It seems to me that animations use up more bandwidth and memory than text messages do, and I don't know how safe websites like Discord, bit.ly, bit.do or Facebook are. The ArchMages who go above and beyond their call of duty by researching and posting informative messages are helping new and long-term players stay interested in the game of Elvenar. We are in the long run helping Inno too because more Elvenar players mean potential customers who buy diamonds. Clearing out an ArchMage's message threads every 30 days defeats this purpose.

 

[Ashrem]

Graphics are downloaded once and cached. The code loads the graphics locally and cycles the animations without any need for bandwidth. The server only needs to have a single copy of hte graphic for each level of each building, which it sends out to each person that requests it. Every message is unique, and besides the content of the message has to include all of the headers as to exactly who gets to see it. Even though we can send to all members by picking a check box, that inserts (up to) 25 different copies of the message, because the message does not go away once you leave the fellowship.

How safe do you need your "Please help everyone at least 4 times a week and put C/B/MH in your city name......." to be? Are you exchanging secret or illicit information that you are concerned about it's safety?

The developers don't know which messages you think ought to last longer. "Can I join your Fellowship" does not need to be kept forever, but who decides which is which?

 

[DeletedUser]

Honestly, Facebook isn't really worth the bother, IMO, especially with everything going on. It used to be they didn't care what name you registered with; when I was a Beta tester for Pottermore, most of my House registered for accounts under our Character names, and there wasn't a problem. But now, since they're selling everyone's data, if the name you're registering with sounds even a little fishy, or you try to change your name once you're in and they think it's fishy, they flat don't allow it.

At any rate, my partner plays Star Wars The Old Republic, and his groups use Discord. I mention this because he is extremely careful what he downloads, so if he trusts it, I'm more inclined to.

Blog-wise, I still use Live Journal, though there are other great blog services out there.

 

[Ashrem]

But now, since they're selling everyone's data, if the name you're registering with sounds even a little fishy,

The secret is non-fishy sounding names, and going out of your way to like stuff you don't even like to mess with their algorithms. Set up a gaming profile with a standard name out of hte phone book, follow a few truly loathsome profiles, along with some you like, and let them sell the results to anyone they want to. Until it stops being profitable, that's what they're going to do.

 

[Tauriel Dragonwood]

How safe do you need your "Please help everyone at least 4 times a week and put C/B/MH in your city name......." to be? Are you exchanging secret or illicit information that you are concerned about it's safety?

That was a very sarcastic response. I never thought that would come from you Ashrem. Thought you were more intelligent than that. You have no idea the work I do for my fellowship, and the work I've seen other ArchMages do, taking time out of our busy lives to share helpful information with our fellowships.

This is what my Welcoming kit consists of (only 4 pgs).

Welcome Message to new recruits
The Dragon’s Inn
The Great Library (Info re Forum & Wiki)
How to Trade
Our Ancient Wonders
Our Boosted Goods
Spells; Inspiring Meditation Spell
Neighborly Help
Guest Races
Where to Find Rune Shards
Which Wonders to Build
Tournaments & Battle Tactics for Elves & Humans
Elvenar’s Bldg Sizes
How to Finish an Event
Hints & Tips

 

[Ashrem]

I can't imagine why you wouldn't expect me to be sarcastic, I do it all the time. If sarcasm is a sign of lack of intelligence I must be very unintelligent.

What is there in those things that you feel is secret information that you need to be worried about the safety of apps that hundreds of thousands of people are using to run guilds with millions of people in them, some of them in games where the value of those communications is such that thousands of dollars is regularly exchanging hands for accounts and goods that are only virtual?

 

[Tauriel Dragonwood]

I'm not even going to waste my time replying to your response. I can be sarcastic too.

 

[Ashrem]

Deflection. You implied I lack intelligence because I used sarcasm, without making any effort to back up the assertion that sarcasm somehow indicates a lack of intelligence. You then listed a bunch of material which in no way indicates a need for concern about the safety of the suggested methods, without providing any counter about why you have safety concerns. So I presume you have no counter to the fact that there are many thousands of people using the suggested external services for storing and sharing documents or for chatting, in games that are much more prone to espionage than Elvenar.

 

[SoggyShorts]

Honestly, Facebook isn't really worth the bother, IMO, especially with everything going on. It used to be they didn't care what name you registered with.

Yep, they locked my SoggyShorts FB account that I've had for years because it's not a real name. I own a company in RL, and it wouldn't be much fun if I had to keep all of my gaming interactions professional, so that was the end of FB for me. I know I could have made a John Smith account, but I couldn't be bothered.

That was a very sarcastic response. I never thought that would come from you Ashrem. Thought you were more intelligent than that.

Big surprise, you said something rather....let's say "silly"...and got called out on it and now you're a victim and lash out calling someone unintelligent.

https://www.lifehack.org/303037/researchers-find-3-reasons-sarcastic-people-are-more-intelligent
https://www.elitedaily.com/life/culture/sarcastic-people-proven-smarter/792826

 

[hvariidh gwendrot]

pfft this game is a breeze