[Poll] Let's all play on a specific time every Friday (solving the player count problem)

[Plague]

Hi Athios community,

A while back I posted this in the server discord. It was about solving the issue of a declining player count and unpredictable peaks. I propose that we all hop on at the same time every Friday night to play the game.

Currently, most players hesitate to be the early ones to join the server because they dislike waiting a long time for the player count to reach a decent number where it's worth playing, which itself causes the player count to stay down (a self-fulfilling prophecy, if you will). This can be combated if everyone agrees to join within the same time so that no one has to wait around; the player count reaches from 0 to 25 in a matter of minutes (but for that to happen we must first find which time is most suitable - which is what this thread is for!)

Secondly, there's the very annoying problem of a lack of predictability of exactly when there is going to be a peak. Right now, people have to repeatedly open minecraft or check discord to see if there's a peak, which is a real chore if you ask me and other people. The peak varies too much, and we lose out on players that don't repeatedly check it through out the day. If all players know when the peak is, that makes our lives so much easier.

IMPORTANT: [Now onto the poll: Check all the time slots in which you are willing to play. So let's say you're available all the time except 9-10PM EST where you have dinner, then select all but that. The data collected will help us in making an informed decision. I've (1) restricted the day to Friday since that's the most popular day (though, due to the unpredictability I just talked about, it was Wednesday the past week for some odd reason which I missed ) (2) restricted the time options to 7-12 PM EST since that's when peaks usually happen.
I'll mention in this thread the designated time by Friday morning. I might choose two times on the day, one for pre-dinner and one for post-dinner (for North Americans). So that if someone can't show up for one designated time, they'll show up for the other. Though I strongly recommend showing up for the earlier one.]

Now I want to address the elephant(s) in the room that are the rest of the days of the week. What about Sat-Thu? Won't this cause a dip in the player count on those days? I personally think is a non-issue since the player count is usually so low on most other days anyways. We've had sub-20 peaks on 4 out of the past 7 days. Furthermore, if things go well, I will make another thread for a secondary day where we can do this thing again. And this is more of a personal opinion, but I think it's better long-term if we only play once a week; it's unhealthy to play for many hours everyday and it will easily lead to a burnout where players get sick and tired of playing just one gamemode everyday.

To the Staff
I am of the opinion that we should make Friday night a party (make it eventful) so that players have a lively time and look forward to playing it. This can be done by hyping it up and only adding update waves on Fridays and playing some forced kit matches (and forced map matches ) on that day too.

On a closing note, I want to stress that keeping the player count up, even if it is only one or two days a week, is absolutely crucial to keeping the server alive. RedWarfare 2.0 died not only because it expanded too fast and gave out lifetime VIP, but also because it couldn't retain the interest of it's own player base in the long run. And RWF2 had even more players show up in it's launch party than Athios', so we must think very carefully about making sure the current base doesn't lose their interest in this wonderful gamemode.

 

[toomuchzelda]

this reminds me of something

 

[Pandu]

this reminds me of something

 

[Woaxa]

Hi Athios community,

A while back I posted this in the server discord. It was about solving the issue of a declining player count and unpredictable peaks. I propose that we all hop on at the same time every Friday night to play the game.

Currently, most players hesitate to be the early ones to join the server because they dislike waiting a long time for the player count to reach a decent number where it's worth playing, which itself causes the player count to stay down (a self-fulfilling prophecy, if you will). This can be combated if everyone agrees to join within the same time so that no one has to wait around; the player count reaches from 0 to 25 in a matter of minutes (but for that to happen we must first find which time is most suitable - which is what this thread is for!)

Secondly, there's the very annoying problem of a lack of predictability of exactly when there is going to be a peak. Right now, people have to repeatedly open minecraft or check discord to see if there's a peak, which is a real chore if you ask me and other people. The peak varies too much, and we lose out on players that don't repeatedly check it through out the day. If all players know when the peak is, that makes our lives so much easier.

IMPORTANT: [Now onto the poll: Check all the time slots in which you are willing to play. So let's say you're available all the time except 9-10PM EST where you have dinner, then select all but that. The data collected will help us in making an informed decision. I've (1) restricted the day to Friday since that's the most popular day (though, due to the unpredictability I just talked about, it was Wednesday the past week for some odd reason which I missed ) (2) restricted the time options to 7-12 PM EST since that's when peaks usually happen.
I'll mention in this thread the designated time by Friday morning. I might choose two times on the day, one for pre-dinner and one for post-dinner (for North Americans). So that if someone can't show up for one designated time, they'll show up for the other. Though I strongly recommend showing up for the earlier one.]

Now I want to address the elephant(s) in the room that are the rest of the days of the week. What about Sat-Thu? Won't this cause a dip in the player count on those days? I personally think is a non-issue since the player count is usually so low on most other days anyways. We've had sub-20 peaks on 4 out of the past 7 days. Furthermore, if things go well, I will make another thread for a secondary day where we can do this thing again. And this is more of a personal opinion, but I think it's better long-term if we only play once a week; it's unhealthy to play for many hours everyday and it will easily lead to a burnout where players get sick and tired of playing just one gamemode everyday.

To the Staff
I am of the opinion that we should make Friday night a party (make it eventful) so that players have a lively time and look forward to playing it. This can be done by hyping it up and only adding update waves on Fridays and playing some forced kit matches (and forced map matches ) on that day too.

On a closing note, I want to stress that keeping the player count up, even if it is only one or two days a week, is absolutely crucial to keeping the server alive. RedWarfare 2.0 died not only because it expanded too fast and gave out lifetime VIP, but also because it couldn't retain the interest of it's own player base in the long run. And RWF2 had even more players show up in it's launch party than Athios', so we must think very carefully about making sure the current base doesn't lose their interest in this wonderful gamemode.

I believe the major reason RWF2 failed is because there was little to no attempt to advertise. Athios has been slowly growing, sure we aren't hitting the huge day 1 numbers YET but we are getting new players that are sticking to the server. I believe setting up a dedicated time to play would hurt the server as no one would ever play outside of those times. We keep up pretty good numbers on the weekend and most weekdays with the exception of like Monday/Tuesday. If ya'll want more people on the server then just get on. The staff team has already shown their efforts to getting advertising going in several different forms.

 

[Plague]

I believe the major reason RWF2 failed is because there was little to no attempt to advertise. Athios has been slowly growing, sure we aren't hitting the huge day 1 numbers YET but we are getting new players that are sticking to the server.

Yes the lack of advertisement contributed to it’s downfall, but it would have still survived if it’s relatively large base of veterans (i) kept coming back (ii) kept donating. And from the way things seem, accumulating players from advertising is a slow process and thus retaining the old player base’s interest and togetherness is of the utmost importance. I’d say that should be priority number 2 for the staff, after advertisements.

We keep up pretty good numbers on the weekend and most weekdays with the exception of like Monday/Tuesday.

This actually isn’t the case anymore. Case in point, look at the stats section of this page: https://minecraftservers.org/server/587565 . 5 of the past 7 days had sub-20 peaks, including the Saturday and Sunday and only one day in the 30s amen one in the 40s. The week before the previous week had better numbers, but IIRC, even these were smaller compared to the preceding month. There isn’t a clear trend towards smaller, fewer and more random peaks.

I believe setting up a dedicated time to play would hurt the server as no one would ever play outside of those times.

I already addressed this in the fifth paragraph, but I’ll reiterate. Player count on most days is quite low anyways and will most likely get even lower. Asking such a small community to play just one gamemode over and over will just lead to them getting burned out and THAT is what’s going to hurt the server the most over the medium-term (in the long-term, we’ll hopefully have a lot of new blood).
Secondly, if things go well on Friday, I’ll make these events twice a week thing and if that goes very well then thrice a week. But anymore lead so to burnout and is unsustainable, so I’ll stop at 2-3. This quarantine is going to to end some day and that means people’s lives will get busier and they won’t get to play as often anyways.

If ya'll want more people on the server then just get on.

I already discussed on the first few paragraphs why this is unhelpful. Most people DO want to play, but when they look at the low player count they’re automatically repelled from joining since they don’t EXPECT more people to join quickly. By introducing predictability/dedicated time slots, this matter is solved very easily. Now the first ones to join the server will have the confidence and WILL EXPECT others to come at the same time they do.

 

[Lizardheart]

While I understand where you're coming from and think you make some valid points, Plague, I've gotta say that I think this would be a negative for the server in the long run. So I'm here to give my opinion as the person who's probably played the most S&D since Athios opened.

If we do these "dedicated times," a significant portion of players aren't gonna play outside those times. The thing is, it's quite hard to recruit new players if no one's on when they join. A lot of the new players who join show up earlier in the day, when not a lot of people are on. It's much easier to get new players to show up and stick around if there's like 10 or so people on at all times during the day, but obviously that's pretty hard to achieve when much of our current playerbase can't play til the evening or has weird sleep schedules and the rest of the playerbase that could play at that time is too picky to come on the server when it's got low numbers. This "dedicated playtime" stuff will make it a lot more difficult to get those numbers and thus more difficult to grow the server.

So, I get that you're coming from the place of a player who wants to play in big games. You probably find that more enjoyable. And yeah, big games are enjoyable (though I'll always enjoy playing with people I like in small games more than playing in big games without people I like ). In the short run, sure you might get some regular 30 player games with this idea. In the long run, though? Player count won't grow. Considering the fact that there is advertising happening, I'd say Athios was created with the idea of being a server for more than the old RWF community, with the hopes of recruiting new people. That cannot happen if people are only playing at these devoted times. (I believe Zelda mentioned something like that on Discord)

What I've been noticing is a greater variety in the player names online; it's just that the times people come online are quite spread out. So quite a few unique logins, but not at the same time. If anything, we should be trying to convince the "old guard" to come on at times that AREN'T 7 pm EST, instead of just trying to get everyone to come on then. Of course, that's hard with people's schedules and whatnot.

I kinda agree with the sentiment that's been expressed of "If you want more players online, then join the server" but of course we can't really force that. If people are too picky to be one of the early ones to join, that's their prerogative, I suppose. Also, we really can't be expecting everyone to play every day, and it's not a sign of "server ded omg" if people aren't playing every day. Those who come from the old playerbase are mostly adults now. Not kids/teens who totally wanna play the same Minecraft game all day every day. It's not necessarily a bad thing that this group of players isn't playing at all times every day.

If we want more people online, it's more important to grow the playerbase than to focus on the old/current players. "Dedicated times" are bad for growing the playerbase. You'll get some short term enjoyment out of this, but that'll be it. The new players who do show up aren't showing up at the times in your poll. They're showing up usually between 11AM and 4 PM EST, in my experience. (I mostly lurk in hub at these times while doing other stuff and occasionally join the games to play w the new kids, I SWEAR I'm not playing all day lmao).

I dunno, maybe we need some sorta compromise. Don't make this little "party" of yours official, but the old playerbase is gonna naturally gravitate toward playing at those times anyway, and a fair few still do join in the evenings during the week. But also, we need some players on during the middle of the day (and other times) when new players do join. Maybe we need some sorta ping group on Discord for people willing to come online when there's a new player to recruit.

Hope my thoughts make sense here.

 

[Plague]

While I understand where you're coming from and think you make some valid points, Plague, I've gotta say that I think this would be a negative for the server in the long run. So I'm here to give my opinion as the person who's probably played the most S&D since Athios opened.

If we do these "dedicated times," a significant portion of players aren't gonna play outside those times. The thing is, it's quite hard to recruit new players if no one's on when they join. A lot of the new players who join show up earlier in the day, when not a lot of people are on. It's much easier to get new players to show up and stick around if there's like 10 or so people on at all times during the day, but obviously that's pretty hard to achieve when much of our current playerbase can't play til the evening or has weird sleep schedules and the rest of the playerbase that could play at that time is too picky to come on the server when it's got low numbers. This "dedicated playtime" stuff will make it a lot more difficult to get those numbers and thus more difficult to grow the server.

So, I get that you're coming from the place of a player who wants to play in big games. You probably find that more enjoyable. And yeah, big games are enjoyable (though I'll always enjoy playing with people I like in small games more than playing in big games without people I like ). In the short run, sure you might get some regular 30 player games with this idea. In the long run, though? Player count won't grow. Considering the fact that there is advertising happening, I'd say Athios was created with the idea of being a server for more than the old RWF community, with the hopes of recruiting new people. That cannot happen if people are only playing at these devoted times. (I believe Zelda mentioned something like that on Discord)

What I've been noticing is a greater variety in the player names online; it's just that the times people come online are quite spread out. So quite a few unique logins, but not at the same time. If anything, we should be trying to convince the "old guard" to come on at times that AREN'T 7 pm EST, instead of just trying to get everyone to come on then. Of course, that's hard with people's schedules and whatnot.

I kinda agree with the sentiment that's been expressed of "If you want more players online, then join the server" but of course we can't really force that. If people are too picky to be one of the early ones to join, that's their prerogative, I suppose. Also, we really can't be expecting everyone to play every day, and it's not a sign of "server ded omg" if people aren't playing every day. Those who come from the old playerbase are mostly adults now. Not kids/teens who totally wanna play the same Minecraft game all day every day. It's not necessarily a bad thing that this group of players isn't playing at all times every day.

If we want more people online, it's more important to grow the playerbase than to focus on the old/current players. "Dedicated times" are bad for growing the playerbase. You'll get some short term enjoyment out of this, but that'll be it. The new players who do show up aren't showing up at the times in your poll. They're showing up usually between 11AM and 4 PM EST, in my experience. (I mostly lurk in hub at these times while doing other stuff and occasionally join the games to play w the new kids, I SWEAR I'm not playing all day lmao).

I dunno, maybe we need some sorta compromise. Don't make this little "party" of yours official, but the old playerbase is gonna naturally gravitate toward playing at those times anyway, and a fair few still do join in the evenings during the week. But also, we need some players on during the middle of the day (and other times) when new players do join. Maybe we need some sorta ping group on Discord for people willing to come online when there's a new player to recruit.

Hope my thoughts make sense here.

Wow, very well written. I think you make solid points and your input is especially valuable as you have the most playtime.

I think the original idea is to be amended rather than discarded. See, even if new players mostly come during slow times, they’d be hard to *retain* since they won’t find it fun to play with so few people. I mean, the server averages sub-12 players during daytime anyways. I also think, with the way things are, there will be a downward trend in the player count during daytime EST, so if we don’t do something, the situation will just worsen. The rest of this post is on making sure we counteract this:

Rather than ‘one dedicated day’, we need to have multiple dedicated days (like 4) in the week at different times, and of equal importance, to optimize for both keeping the current community around and also to keep it growing. A sort of compromise. What these dedicated days should be and what time they should have, I’ll definitely leave up to you and others more knowledgable. So, for example, we can keep Friday 7PM but also designate Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday 1 PM. A good portion of the current players, including me, itch to play multiple days a week (though not daily) and this idea should both serve that and facilitate the welcoming of new players.
Furthermore, we could make the non-Friday, daytime slots eventful (rather than Friday night) with updates and forced games to get the current player base to show up more often and earlier.

Yes, quite a few newbies who do show up on the off days and non-designated times of the on days fall through the holes of the net, but we already have way too few players on those times anyways and (i) if they try twice, they’ll likely find the server in a designated time, (ii) we could have ping groups in discord, like you suggested.

Thanks for taking the time to give your input.

 

[Plague]

Event on 7PM EST today! Show up - or else.