Regarding the Tuesday DoM and DoF Combo Night

[JewellRavenlock]

Thank you for the numbers, Spell!

All and all it seems that solo-nights are doing ehh for the days they are on, while Fight Nights prove to be the breadwinner. Though I can easily assume this is due to Tuesday / Wednesday / and Thursday being work nights. While it could be interesting to see all 3 turn into Fight Nights, I'm not sure there would be much of a change. We can look at the data from the last attempt at DoM / DoF merge and see that while we did see a small increase on Tuesday night ( though more DoF then DoM ), Wednesday really didn't have much change at all.

tbh, for me personally, I'd like to wait and see how things are after a couple of months when the new chat is brought into play. Since it's going to be ONE shared chat between RDI/ROH and everyone will be on the same client.

Italicized the one line because that would be my personal preference if the callers (notably the callers on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday) are agreeable to it.

My reasoning is along the same lines of Spell's. It makes sense that these nights are slower when people have to wake up in the morning (or were up early that morning). I'm not saying that's why they are slow, but it can certainly be a contributing factor.

I'm hoping that the combined chat client will actually give those nights (all nights) a boost. I think that part of the success of events is simply that they are most often held on the RDI side of things. This gives them added exposure. People who may be heading to the Inn for the night see people in the dueling rooms and go there instead. People who are just checking those forums see people in the dueling rooms listed on the bottom of the forums and pop in to check out what's going on. The RDI forums simply get more foot traffic, and while I have major reservations about the new chat and combining the client, there are also some potential perks.

[Kalamere]

Your implication that duels decline with Spell/Apple calling again in 12/2016 after the switch of shifts with Kruger is classless and tasteless. You’re better than that. Be better.

Why?

If that's what the numbers imply, then it is what the numbers imply. Though, I could also read that as saying that Kruger is just a rockstar and people want to duel when he's there. Monday is actually still a pretty good night with him at the helm.

I think Apple does a ton of good around the site and should be commended for sitting this shift week after week despite the total lack of attendance and without a single complaint. That doesn't mean the implication should be outright ignored though. It actually makes a little bit of sense.

Again, I don't mean to insult Apple's player, but it's no secret that he and some of the old DoM regulars aren't best buds. If the people who would normally participate on Tuesday's aren't doing so because he's got the room - and let's acknowledge that Rachael is one of them - then it's worth while to at least know.

I'm not inclined to scatter already scarce caller resources and time, nor to punish someone who brings as much to the site as he does. I don't want to see the mud fly or get into flaming over the past, but I think we can recognize there have been/are tensions there that could be impacting things without diving into the underlying reasons.

But, maybe there's some other means of approaching things that could be worked out.

For example, we could try a night switch. Could be its a personality issue, could be that it's a day of week issue with folks who might otherwise play except that Tuesday sucks for them. We could swap DoM and DoS nights and turn Tuesday into an arena shift and see if the Isle does any better on a Thursday.... though I would note that Thursday does not presently have a full time caller since Sylus got a new job. Still though, given subs or a new volenteer, it might be worth trying. (though naturally that would be up to Claire and Sylus).

[DemiBob]

Can of worms. If we're going to start talking about people not playing because other people are in the room, we're going to upset a whole lot of people. IMO, be an adult and either go out anyway or keep it to yourself. Awkward's right about people needing to be above that.

[Kalamere]

Can of worms. If we're going to start talking about people not playing because other people are in the room, we're going to upset a whole lot of people. IMO, be an adult and either go out anyway or keep it to yourself. Awkward's right about people needing to be above that.

You're not wrong. I don't want to see a bunch of flames on the topic.

That said, having dealt with things by keeping it inside and just going away has left us with a completely empty dueling room. Some things are unsavory and normally best avoided in conversation, but when you also get to a point where if you don't recognize all the potential issues around a thing, nothing ever changes.

[Claire Gallows]

I'd just like to throw it out there that should there be an issue with any caller on any night, I strongly encourage people to reach out to any of the admins. Dris, our caller coordinator, is a good one or any of the sport coordinators are more than happy to hear you out too. Things can't be addressed if they're left to stew and though I can't necessarily speak for the other teams, I know that myself, Rena, and Specter are all glad to listen should the need arise.


As for the rest of things, I'm here reading, don't worry. I don't necessarily have anything to contribute just yet, but I am reading and paying attention.


ETA: Not sure who to contact? Coords can be found here.

[Arla Carna]

It would not hurt to alternate solo nights for the Magic sport, at least temporarily, to see whether this would be feasible or not in increasing the number of duels (since numbers have been mentioned).

A Caller that I did address my issue with an administrator about, I was advised to avoid dueling on the night that particular Caller is present. I hope that issue I had with the Caller will no longer be present when I do eventually return (avoid speculating if you can, please, I don't wish to "flame" anybody) but admit to experiencing a lingering wariness.

::Which I hope to return by sometime in September. Knock on wood.::

[Mason]

I don't think the numbers can be seen as a legitimate way to compare callers. There are far too many factors that could be responsible for the difference.

If you want to sell a product you put right up in the front of the store. DoM needs to be sold. People need to be reminded it's there. Having a dual sport night can help that. (though why isn't every night fight night right now?)

[Spell]

Again, I don't mean to insult Apple's player, but it's no secret that he and some of the old DoM regulars aren't best buds. If the people who would normally participate on Tuesday's aren't doing so because he's got the room - and let's acknowledge that Rachael is one of them - then it's worth while to at least know.

Since I was specifically brought up, in my defense..

From 1/10/2016 to 7/22/2016 when Rachael was Archmage and I was calling Tuesday she was happy to provide 16 duels out of a total of 35 called; only 7 of those 35 duels were not called by me (2 which I had been involved in against Mew and John Cole, while 3 of Rachaels duels were called by sub-callers.)

Upon losing the title of Archmage she began to no longer participate during the Tuesday solo-night. From 7/22/2016 to 9/26/2016 eighteen [18] Tuesday-only duels took place during this period: none of which she participated in. She returned during the caller swap, dueled off and on throughout, and also dueled twice with me calling when I returned to officiated Tuesday nights after the swap concluded.

Clearly there are personal issues between players, but I'm willing to call for anyone because I have the time and energy to do so, regardless of those issues. It appears this is not reciprocated by individuals in the community, who are only willing to put aside these differences when it benefits them.

[Rachael Blackthorne]

I apologize for my previous post.

I was more active with Rachael on the Isle during her reign as Archmage for two simple reasons: I wanted to be a visible presence as a Title Holder, a positive example for the sport, and so I put in more than just the bare required minimum amount of duels to maintain activity.

I also attempted to boost activity on the Isle by (with Coordinator approval) running three weeks of events during Rachael's reign which, sadly, did not see as much activity generated as I would have wished to have happen.

Once I was no longer a Title Holder in Magic, I did not feel as strong a need to maintain that presence on the Isle with Rachael.

I am trying to maintain the more than minimum required Title Holder activity standard that I have set for myself with Rachael's current Swords title.

[Eden Parker]

Having interpersonal tension is sort of inevitable in such a small community. We can't really accommodate all of the different issues that might arise when it comes to the schedule. We currently have five dedicated callers for eight shifts.

Jesse, thank you for offering to hold open the queue for an extra hour on Tuesdays for west coasters. Just speaking for myself, I don't think that would improve my ability to attend Tuesday DoM with enough regularity to make it worth your while. But maybe there are others that would find this helpful.

As for the larger question, I see this more in the context of the overall depression of dueling numbers, so like Jewell and Jesse, I'm inclined to wait and see what happens when the sites are combined (so long as that wait is not indefinite), especially in the absence of more meaningful steps to improve overall dueling activity.

[Sabine]

I am for every night being a fight night, just mixing up the locations.

Once upon a time I could see the reason for keeping them separate. At this point it just seems silly to me.

I do believe it'd give an overall up swing to the duels simply because one person goes in to fight magic, no one is there but so and so wants to fight swords and so they they end up dueling once another and compromising on the sport.

Is it guaranteed? No, but I think it's worth a shot.

That being said... I suck at calling magic. I need a refresher. Thanks Apple and Queen for always being available to answer my questions when a DoM duel pops up.

It may also be worth it to wait until we know what we'll be dealing with after the site updates.

And just to back up re: caller v. player tensions. Rachael and I, we've had some tension in the past but she's always been incredibly courteous and thankful to me as a caller/host/event creator. She in room IMs me to personally thank me. As do many others. That's really appreciated. So thanks to those who take the time to send a nice message

While there will always be some issues between players and what not, I would hope that people can get over themselves when someone is volunteering to spend 3-4 hours sitting in a room to serve the community every single week. Sometimes more than once a week. Unless there is a SERIOUS issue that the Coords/Admins need to be aware of.



P.S. I should know in the next two weeks or so if my schedule is changing or going to be the same for a while. I might be able to pick up a regular shift again now that I'm not getting up at 5:30.

[JewellRavenlock]

I am for every night being a fight night, just mixing up the locations.

Once upon a time I could see the reason for keeping them separate. At this point it just seems silly to me.

I do believe it'd give an overall up swing to the duels simply because one person goes in to fight magic, no one is there but so and so wants to fight swords and so they they end up dueling once another and compromising on the sport.

Is it guaranteed? No, but I think it's worth a shot.

I'm leaning towards this as well, but I would like to see if a merged chat makes single nights still viable since I know (when added fight nights were originally proposed) that there was concern about the settings, the history, the individuality of the sports.

I like Fight Nights. I like making bargains for duels, "I'll fight you in DoF if you'll give me a DoS after."

[Rachael Blackthorne]

I've been thinking about the combo nights and I could support Fight Nights across the board for the week, but only held in the Annex.

What I would then propose would be that any and all single day tournaments and challenges for each sport be held in their specialized settings. This could actually make those tournaments and challenges more interesting because it would be treated as a special event. It would also preserve the integrity of each specialized setting.