Survey Results
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 6:14 am
Link to full results document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KrO ... sp=sharing
My conclusion is at the bottom of the doc, but I will also post it here.
Conclusions and Soapbox
This survey and recent events highlight the need for positive, drastic change to Underlight. These changes must be in all areas: mechanical, communal and content/GM related. Of these three, the mechanical changes are mostly the easiest. While they are time consuming they are possible: code can be written, people with knowledge can be found, updates can be made within the current framework (or within a completely new one although updating the engine/graphics would be an enormous task, it is stll a finite one). Let’s put those aside for a moment.
The levels of toxicity in the community - from GM down to the simplest player - are unsustainable. From GMs of the past that are hurt, to players that instigate, to GMs that act wantonly, to perceived or actual censorship: there have been wrongs committed by everyone. While it is not required that we all like each other, we must all tolerate each other and operate within a framework of mutual respect and understanding. The community is too small for grudges, mud-slinging and the current levels of instigation.
However, it is one thing to say that the levels are unhealthy and another thing to take real, proactive action. I will present a number of recommendations here. These recommendations are my own, based on a number of factors: the results of this survey, my interaction with members of the community, my interaction with GMs and my own personal opinions on where I think Underlight should be. You are free, of course, to draw your own conclusions, just as you are free to conduct your own survey. We are all in this to make the community stronger. Over 90% of us agree that Underlight can be great.
1. Elimination of all Koi- monikers.
GMs should simply be members of the community that also have a GM character. There is no reason for the anonymity, and it only creates more toxicity and more division. The only reason I have ever heard of having a Koi- nick is to avoid people bothering you on your PC. However, that very attitude: the belief that others in our community can’t separate demonstrates a misplaced attitude of superiority. If we work under the assumption that most people can separate, and those that can’t will learn to do so or be ignored, we can move forward.
As it currently stands, the outing and guessing of who is behind a Koi- moniker has become a toxic meta-game in our community. Additionally, there are no secrets: everyone knows who everyone else is, but it is somehow verboten to say so. Let’s eliminate that entirely. The existence of these nicks simply creates a division that should not exist. The Koi- moniker is not an honorific; if we are all truly members of the same community let us not create Out Of Character guilds.
2. Elimination of the “official” Underlight Discord.
Simply put, this communication medium is not something that GMs should have to police. Bannings from the Discord have created conflict where none should exist. Replace it with a player-run Discord with a link from the Underlight website. The only requirement for getting your Discord link on the Announcements forum should be that you must have a disclaimer stating that anything that happens on your server will not be policed by Koi GMs and that any complaints of misbehaviour on said server will need to reported to the server owners.
The Discord server in question should NOT be run by a GM, however GMs can -- and should! -- join it, however GMs will be expected to hold themselves to a higher level of conduct. Whereas non-GM players will not face repercussions in Underlight for poor conduct in player-run Discords, GM players will.
If requirement 1 is enacted then GMs should join the new Discord under their preferred nicks and no Koi- nicks should exist anymore.
3. GM players shall not be entitled to non-GM characters.
I realize this rule is somewhat impractical given the current size of the community, but if the community grows this must be a requirement. Being a GM represents an obligation to the community: you can not run the asylum and be a member of the asylum. You are either GMing or you are not.
4. More GM functions should be granted to the players.
How this happens should be discussed together as a group discussion with the community, however GM-forgeable ornaments, AEs (to some degree), Trip Items and Raw Emotes should be abilities that certain players have, or that players can purchase (with RP points), or abilities that players can use on a limited basis.
There is definitely some concern around the raw emote capability, as any raw emote immediately becomes “canon.” That being said, with oversight, limiting of power, limiting of the audience capable of utilizing various capabilities I am certain that we can reach a compromise around all GM abilities.
5. Advancement overhaul
Advancement depends far too much on the presence of others at a mutually agreed upon time. We need to make it so that:
* MTs can honor all tasks, even for arts they can’t learn, don’t have or capabilities which are currently beyond their level, or
* All teachers can honor any other teacher’s quest, or
* Tasks can be reported and accepted via the quest boards.
Similarly, advancement until orbit 29 should be streamlined such that no sphere tasks are required until sphere 3. This makes sense from a story-perspective as well, since one can not access the rifts until orbit 30. Arts should auto-imp until 29.
6. Advocate Program
This feedback comes directly from Starling:
I think that the marketing and PR team do a great job for the size that they are, but I feel like they could recruit some “advocates” to help spread the word about the game.
These advocates, who are not part of the GM team, could help spread the word by writing reviews on gaming sites, talking about UL on their own social media pages and general gaming chats. Going to gaming events (local to them) with flyers and swag and info on the game. Passing out flyers at game shops. They could have a goal to try to recruit x players per month. They could be rewarded with RP points and/or experience. The advocate with the highest # of recruited players per month could win a prize (T-shirt, tote bag, etc).
Again, advocates don’t need to be part of the GM team, but they would need to be in the KNOW about upcoming changes and updates that would be attractive to potential new players, so a weekly email or newsletter from the PR/Marketing person in charge of the advocates would be a good form of communication to them. Or, a separate section for them on the forums.
7. Connectivity Fixes
This one is pretty tough, but we need to start investigating the cause of these persistent disconnects. There’s a bug somewhere in the server that causes it to deadlock at some point, which creates ghosting/lag.
8. Democratize the GM selection process
Currently known as the “Jade plan.” Allow players to elect their own GMs to serve some term - i.e. 3-6 months. This may still need some work, but at least in this way players can feel involved in the GM selection process as well as in understanding what goes on behind the curtain.
9. Democratize the DEV request process
Players should be free to submit their own game suggestions and requests; perhaps even publicizing the internal “Underlight” project in Gitlab where GMs currently submit tickets for Dev to work on. If players feel like they can submit requests here, and see when they are done, who is working on them, everyone can feel like they are part of the development and enhancement process.
10. Open Source the Client (and maybe the Server)
I will never stop banging this drum. There is no reason to not do this. Literally: NO reason. This needs to happen.
My conclusion is at the bottom of the doc, but I will also post it here.
Conclusions and Soapbox
This survey and recent events highlight the need for positive, drastic change to Underlight. These changes must be in all areas: mechanical, communal and content/GM related. Of these three, the mechanical changes are mostly the easiest. While they are time consuming they are possible: code can be written, people with knowledge can be found, updates can be made within the current framework (or within a completely new one although updating the engine/graphics would be an enormous task, it is stll a finite one). Let’s put those aside for a moment.
The levels of toxicity in the community - from GM down to the simplest player - are unsustainable. From GMs of the past that are hurt, to players that instigate, to GMs that act wantonly, to perceived or actual censorship: there have been wrongs committed by everyone. While it is not required that we all like each other, we must all tolerate each other and operate within a framework of mutual respect and understanding. The community is too small for grudges, mud-slinging and the current levels of instigation.
However, it is one thing to say that the levels are unhealthy and another thing to take real, proactive action. I will present a number of recommendations here. These recommendations are my own, based on a number of factors: the results of this survey, my interaction with members of the community, my interaction with GMs and my own personal opinions on where I think Underlight should be. You are free, of course, to draw your own conclusions, just as you are free to conduct your own survey. We are all in this to make the community stronger. Over 90% of us agree that Underlight can be great.
1. Elimination of all Koi- monikers.
GMs should simply be members of the community that also have a GM character. There is no reason for the anonymity, and it only creates more toxicity and more division. The only reason I have ever heard of having a Koi- nick is to avoid people bothering you on your PC. However, that very attitude: the belief that others in our community can’t separate demonstrates a misplaced attitude of superiority. If we work under the assumption that most people can separate, and those that can’t will learn to do so or be ignored, we can move forward.
As it currently stands, the outing and guessing of who is behind a Koi- moniker has become a toxic meta-game in our community. Additionally, there are no secrets: everyone knows who everyone else is, but it is somehow verboten to say so. Let’s eliminate that entirely. The existence of these nicks simply creates a division that should not exist. The Koi- moniker is not an honorific; if we are all truly members of the same community let us not create Out Of Character guilds.
2. Elimination of the “official” Underlight Discord.
Simply put, this communication medium is not something that GMs should have to police. Bannings from the Discord have created conflict where none should exist. Replace it with a player-run Discord with a link from the Underlight website. The only requirement for getting your Discord link on the Announcements forum should be that you must have a disclaimer stating that anything that happens on your server will not be policed by Koi GMs and that any complaints of misbehaviour on said server will need to reported to the server owners.
The Discord server in question should NOT be run by a GM, however GMs can -- and should! -- join it, however GMs will be expected to hold themselves to a higher level of conduct. Whereas non-GM players will not face repercussions in Underlight for poor conduct in player-run Discords, GM players will.
If requirement 1 is enacted then GMs should join the new Discord under their preferred nicks and no Koi- nicks should exist anymore.
3. GM players shall not be entitled to non-GM characters.
I realize this rule is somewhat impractical given the current size of the community, but if the community grows this must be a requirement. Being a GM represents an obligation to the community: you can not run the asylum and be a member of the asylum. You are either GMing or you are not.
4. More GM functions should be granted to the players.
How this happens should be discussed together as a group discussion with the community, however GM-forgeable ornaments, AEs (to some degree), Trip Items and Raw Emotes should be abilities that certain players have, or that players can purchase (with RP points), or abilities that players can use on a limited basis.
There is definitely some concern around the raw emote capability, as any raw emote immediately becomes “canon.” That being said, with oversight, limiting of power, limiting of the audience capable of utilizing various capabilities I am certain that we can reach a compromise around all GM abilities.
5. Advancement overhaul
Advancement depends far too much on the presence of others at a mutually agreed upon time. We need to make it so that:
* MTs can honor all tasks, even for arts they can’t learn, don’t have or capabilities which are currently beyond their level, or
* All teachers can honor any other teacher’s quest, or
* Tasks can be reported and accepted via the quest boards.
Similarly, advancement until orbit 29 should be streamlined such that no sphere tasks are required until sphere 3. This makes sense from a story-perspective as well, since one can not access the rifts until orbit 30. Arts should auto-imp until 29.
6. Advocate Program
This feedback comes directly from Starling:
I think that the marketing and PR team do a great job for the size that they are, but I feel like they could recruit some “advocates” to help spread the word about the game.
These advocates, who are not part of the GM team, could help spread the word by writing reviews on gaming sites, talking about UL on their own social media pages and general gaming chats. Going to gaming events (local to them) with flyers and swag and info on the game. Passing out flyers at game shops. They could have a goal to try to recruit x players per month. They could be rewarded with RP points and/or experience. The advocate with the highest # of recruited players per month could win a prize (T-shirt, tote bag, etc).
Again, advocates don’t need to be part of the GM team, but they would need to be in the KNOW about upcoming changes and updates that would be attractive to potential new players, so a weekly email or newsletter from the PR/Marketing person in charge of the advocates would be a good form of communication to them. Or, a separate section for them on the forums.
7. Connectivity Fixes
This one is pretty tough, but we need to start investigating the cause of these persistent disconnects. There’s a bug somewhere in the server that causes it to deadlock at some point, which creates ghosting/lag.
8. Democratize the GM selection process
Currently known as the “Jade plan.” Allow players to elect their own GMs to serve some term - i.e. 3-6 months. This may still need some work, but at least in this way players can feel involved in the GM selection process as well as in understanding what goes on behind the curtain.
9. Democratize the DEV request process
Players should be free to submit their own game suggestions and requests; perhaps even publicizing the internal “Underlight” project in Gitlab where GMs currently submit tickets for Dev to work on. If players feel like they can submit requests here, and see when they are done, who is working on them, everyone can feel like they are part of the development and enhancement process.
10. Open Source the Client (and maybe the Server)
I will never stop banging this drum. There is no reason to not do this. Literally: NO reason. This needs to happen.