Poaching of players should be banned

[ajqtrz]

@Deborah M I sort of agree. You can't easily maintain your high ranking without replacing top notch players with other top notch players. And since any top notch player good enough to be called top notch is probably always in a fellowship you can't afford for them to leave, sit around, and wait for your call. By the time you get to that top notch player he/she is probably already snatched up. So, while I wouldn't like it if my top notch players were "poached" I do understand. I once had my top two players leave to join one of those fs's and it hurt. But then I realized that the fault was mine, not the "head-hunter." My fs had not moved/improved/set goals in over a year. In other words, no goals, little growth and a lot of just maintenance. A recipe for the "greener pastures" idea. So they moved to greener pastures and are happy there and I got on the ball and got our fs to 10 chests, (now 13) and did some weeding of our roster. For the last two years we've not lost a member to another fs.

So here's the "take-away." Keep moving your fs forward, however you measure that. Ranking is one way, goals are another, building relationships between teammates is a third. There are probably a lot of ways, but a stagnant fs is going to suffer by attrition if nothing else. That's what I learned from my "poaching" experience, anyway.

AJ

 

[Queen of Beltane]

Small cities can def pull their weight. I'm just finishing Chapter 4 in one of my cities and I hit Silver in Spire every week. Tourney is harder because I only have 9 tents open. But I can benefit an FS even if I'm the "weakest" member, and I'm sure there are plenty of other players just like me.

 

[Myne]

Small cities can def pull their weight. I'm just finishing Chapter 4 in one of my cities and I hit Silver in Spire every week. Tourney is harder because I only have 9 tents open. But I can benefit an FS even if I'm the "weakest" member, and I'm sure there are plenty of other players just like me.

Yes they can! You are exactly the kind of player smart fellowships look for!

 

[Henroo]

Small cities can def pull their weight. I'm just finishing Chapter 4 in one of my cities and I hit Silver in Spire every week. Tourney is harder because I only have 9 tents open. But I can benefit an FS even if I'm the "weakest" member, and I'm sure there are plenty of other players just like me.

Do you have cities in either Arendyll or Winyandor? If you are looking for a good home there, I have fellowships with an opening. We care much more about activity than about what level you are.

 

[Tehya1]

lol Until very recently, I was the baby among giants in one of my higher ranking fs, and by a long shot! I had a small city. They took a big chance on me, and except for a few weeks with unavoidable rl stuff to deal with, I have topped the spire and maintained at least 10-15 provinces in the tourney weekly. I mention this for two reasons. First, I don't know that any of those giants visit the forums. Second, taking me in did not drop their ranking, because they had a vacancy, but they could have filled it with another high ranking player. They took a chance on me. That was my third fs on that server because the first two suffered from inertia. I was too small to be poached, but I would have gladly gone, and glad that I made the choice to leave those other fs behind.

I happen to be in henroos khel fs, and we do gold pushes (no pressure but lots of encouragement!), 10+ chests, but we aren't top ranking. Would I leave his fs if I was approached by the top alliance on that server? Hell no! I love that fs. We have a lot of fun and Henroo is the one to thank for that. I have never seen anyone in that fs leave to go to a higher ranking fs.

 

[Henroo]

One last thought I have on this: if you are not happy with your current fellowship then you have 2 basic choices. You can either: 1. find a new fellowship or 2. become more involved in leading your current FS and help fix it. I have been playing in 3 worlds since early 2020 and have NEVER switched fellowships, so I guess you can figure out where I fall on this spectrum..

 

[Queen of Beltane]

In my main city, they did take a chance on me and another player a year and a half ago. I was in chapter 2 or 3 and the other player was a chapter and a half or so ahead of me. Now, we're both in Chapter 16 and we're also two of the top 5 in our FS.

The FS that took me "weak" though I am, is in Arendyll (2nd city)and I haven't started a city in Winyandor yet. I have my main city in Felyndral. My 3rd city is in Ceravyn, and my "playing around, because I'm waiting on things to finish in my other cities", is in Sinya Arda. If I start a city in Winyador, I"ll be happy to let you know.

 

[free-spirit]

if it were easy to keep a fellowship viable everyone would be doing it .. we started with the "we play for goodies as a team" from day 1 and grew .. the top 1-5 fellowship would constantly try to poach members (and still do btw), because they knew we built good players, the only people i have ever seen poaching are the fellowships on page one because they are ocd rank freaks (had to clean that word up) who are to scared to drop from 3rd to 4th or 4th to 5th etc and to lazy to develope their own players

I'm AM of the #2 FS in Felyndral and we've never once poached a player. We're mostly ranked #2 because a lot of us have been together for 6 years so we're all endgame. We don't have a problem taking ambitious small cities though, which means we rarely need to recruit.

 

[Darielle]

Well, I just poached a player last night and I'm glad. I have a feeling she's going to work out great. I don't care about scores half as much as whether people communicate and participate in the tourney with a decent score. I found her in a fellowship where nearly all players were inactive, including the archmage who hadn't changed her score in several months ... it's the same fellowship I'd considered poaching from months earlier (though I didn't), and I keep records so I know. My recruit earned less than 2 chests per week despite having a consistent 2400 average in tourney. That simply wasn't fair to her, and so I was happy to give her the fellowship experience that she deserved. I think she's going to be much, much happier with us.

When people use terms like "poaching," they seem more centered on the AM and his or her needs than they are on the player. Most of the people who hate poaching are AMs who get angry when they discover that players are not their "possessions". The players' needs must be considered. If you aren't giving them the kind of experience that they deserve, then you are doing them a disservice and simply being selfish by wanting to keep them. As I said before, happy players cannot be poached. So keep them happy or let them go.

Conversely, last week I lost a player to another fellowship. I understood completely ... he wanted a weekly gold spire experience, something we could not yet give him. We do gold spire once a month or a little more often ... I believe we'll be switching to every other week within the next few months. That wasn't quite good enough for my former player who wanted more, and I once made that same choice too. But after I left and went to chase gold, I returned to Thornwood and eventually became its archmage. I'm hoping that he will return someday just as I did.

Instead of getting angry, upset, or disturbed by his leaving, I encouraged him to do it. My last message to him, in wishing him well, I sent him this poem that I had written years ago. He answered with a heart icon, and I know he was happy with the way he parted. He may very well return, someday.

Thornwood is a magical place,
For those who play with vigor and grace,
Your efforts rewarded, your time well spent,
Among family and friends with an ethical bent,
And if you should wander far away,
The light will stay on, day after day,

The children of Thornwood, they come and they go,
No feelings of guilt, when they wish to know,
What's out there. .. Go try it! And then come back,
Our light will beckon to this familiar track,
And when you return, your friends will smile
Glad you're here for however long a while.

Thornwood will capture your mind and your soul,
While granting you freedom to try another goal,
We do not cling; we do not keep,
And yet, we remain in your mind, very deep.
Once you've known our camaraderie within
No matter your travels, your heart, we will win.

 

[hvariidh gwendrot]

i stand by my post and described motivations of the poachers, to weak and lazy emotionzally to develope a player from the start, and scared to drop a rank so they steal

 

[Iyapo]

People are not things to be stolen. Free will is a wonderful thing.

 

[dacrete]

The happy or loyal can't be poached. I always say it's a game if you think you'd be happier elsewhere fly little bird. If they find it's not what they thought, they'll be back.

 

[Ashrem]

i stand by my post and described motivations of the poachers, to weak and lazy emotionzally to develope a player from the start, and scared to drop a rank so they steal

Why should they develop players from the start? Fellowships are a contract. They have something to offer, the player should have something to offer.

Fellowships belong to players, not the other way around. If fellowship leaders think they own the players, they are setting themselves up for failure. They should just get get over it.

 

[Myne]

Well, I just poached a player last night and I'm glad. I have a feeling she's going to work out great. I don't care about scores half as much as whether people communicate and participate in the tourney with a decent score. I found her in a fellowship where nearly all players were inactive, including the archmage who hadn't changed her score in several months ... it's the same fellowship I'd considered poaching from months earlier (though I didn't), and I keep records so I know. My recruit earned less than 2 chests per week despite having a consistent 2400 average in tourney. That simply wasn't fair to her, and so I was happy to give her the fellowship experience that she deserved. I think she's going to be much, much happier with us.

When people use terms like "poaching," they seem more centered on the AM and his or her needs than they are on the player. Most of the people who hate poaching are AMs who get angry when they discover that players are not their "possessions". The players' needs must be considered. If you aren't giving them the kind of experience that they deserve, then you are doing them a disservice and simply being selfish by wanting to keep them. As I said before, happy players cannot be poached. So keep them happy or let them go.

Conversely, last week I lost a player to another fellowship. I understood completely ... he wanted a weekly gold spire experience, something we could not yet give him. We do gold spire once a month or a little more often ... I believe we'll be switching to every other week within the next few months. That wasn't quite good enough for my former player who wanted more, and I once made that same choice too. But after I left and went to chase gold, I returned to Thornwood and eventually became its archmage. I'm hoping that he will return someday just as I did.

Instead of getting angry, upset, or disturbed by his leaving, I encouraged him to do it. My last message to him, in wishing him well, I sent him this poem that I had written years ago. He answered with a heart icon, and I know he was happy with the way he parted. He may very well return, someday.

Thornwood is a magical place,
For those who play with vigor and grace,
Your efforts rewarded, your time well spent,
Among family and friends with an ethical bent,
And if you should wander far away,
The light will stay on, day after day,

The children of Thornwood, they come and they go,
No feelings of guilt, when they wish to know,
What's out there. .. Go try it! And then come back,
Our light will beckon to this familiar track,
And when you return, your friends will smile
Glad you're here for however long a while.

Thornwood will capture your mind and your soul,
While granting you freedom to try another goal,
We do not cling; we do not keep,
And yet, we remain in your mind, very deep.
Once you've known our camaraderie within
No matter your travels, your heart, we will win.

I always send a message to those that leave wanting more than we can give that if they ever want a break from that, they should feel free to come back to us and will be welcomed wholeheartedly.

 

[Tehya1]

Its a game, yall. Its a builder, strategy, competition game. People change sides all the time in war games, and in strategy games. As many have pointed out, happy players don't bail for greener pastures, rank or not. Banning poachers is not the answer. If you are an AM, listening to your players, making your fs more democratic, ie, asking the team how they feel about changes, future stuff, spire, trouney, etc, talking about the game, encouraging questions and general convo, etc is a far more effective deterrent to poachers than a dictatorship, whether the dictator be the AM or Inno.

 

[Flashfyre]

In my main city, they did take a chance on me and another player a year and a half ago. I was in chapter 2 or 3 and the other player was a chapter and a half or so ahead of me. Now, we're both in Chapter 16 and we're also two of the top 5 in our FS.

The FS that took me "weak" though I am, is in Arendyll (2nd city)and I haven't started a city in Winyandor yet. I have my main city in Felyndral. My 3rd city is in Ceravyn, and my "playing around, because I'm waiting on things to finish in my other cities", is in Sinya Arda. If I start a city in Winyador, I"ll be happy to let you know.

And watching you guys climb up the FS rankings has been a lot of fun. Even though you all knocked me down a few spots!

 

[Queen of Beltane]

And I've loved being on our ship!

 

[Ariel Greensleeves]

You should be flattered, as should your FS members, by recruitment offers. Having your players solicited by other FS is a great honor, bc it means you are a successful group. The game allows a wide range of playing styles, and it is the players perogative to choose a FS that fits their personal style. This might not be the first FS that caught your eye. Players can even leave and then decide to come back if you still have room.
Turn on the TV- the big football leagues are doing this right now- negotiating for new players is called a draft and its a very big honor to be the player who is the top pick, as it is a big deal for the team that gets the chance to recruit that player first. Why would you consider this immoral? In Elvenar you can't even offer money, only the benefits that come from being in a great FS.

 

[Deborah M]

i stand by my post and described motivations of the poachers, to weak and lazy emotionzally to develope a player from the start, and scared to drop a rank so they steal

So they should jeopardize their other members' contentment so that someone like you doesn't sound like a jilted lover if a player decides to move on to greener pastures? It isn't like I haven't lost a member here and there because they outgrew my laid-back FS. Yes, I was disappointed. No, it never crossed my mind to get venomous toward the FS they moved to.

 

[Glorofindel]

[MOD EDIT] Name removed send this message to many of my members on 2 servers:

I see that your fellowship is struggling a little. I am looking for your boosts so I decided to message you. I have someone that just retired so if you decide to find a new home that is relaxed but still 10 chest tourney with blue prints. All without trying and a ton of fun plz come join me in Utopia Springs! If not then I wish you all lots of luck my friend!! (((HUGS))) [MOD EDIT] name removed

she doesn't even know how our fellowship works, laid back and enjoy the game. we have rule against no poachign in our disciption and yet when confronted with this she says this:

“Oh I'm sorry I sure did not read your Overview or I would not have sent a message. It is always up to you if you decide to stay or go though and I am always very polite. Right now everyone is recruiting because so many are leaving the game as it's becoming more work to play. So I still wish you the best of luck and hope that others read it and maybe your AM will recruit so your fs is not struggling. I always do when we lose one so people do not come poach my people. It seems to be the only way to keep an active happy fellowship now. Sorry I bothered you and again good luck.”

we have harsher words for her and still she trys to bother our members. she then admitted to send 110 messages out to different people just to fill one spot on her fellowship. we asked her to stop and she refuses. this is the thing that bothers our fellowship, wind dancers.