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Survey (sort of) about joining 21c
Topic Started: Jul 20 2009, 12:36 AM (611 Views)
United States [Sel]
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The Creator
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A few weeks ago, someone joined but said 21c seemed sort of closed or hard to get into. I asked him what made this so, but he never responded.

So I am curious, what has made it difficult to join 21c, if anything? In your own experiences. What is the wall in front of you that is hard to climb over?

I want to figure out how to make it easier to join 21c and get involved, but we always seem to reach a ceiling of 40-60 players, with about half that daily.

This is more aimed at finding the problems than figuring out solutions. That can come afterward, ie do not say "We should have events".
[align=center]United States of Trump
President DONALD J TRUMP
Vice President MIKE PENCE
Attorney General JEFF SESSIONS[/align]
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Senders
Warrant Officer
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Some walls to joining:
Lack of nations to play (preferable nations...).
The wall of text that seems to present itself to new players.
The sense of how the game is already in too deep to jump into to.
The sense of a closed community.

Really its just the intimidation factor that somethings in 21c seems to present. I really have no solution to it, as its mostly a psychological thing.
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CM08
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self motivation. 21C requires alot of work if you want to rp rather successfully.

Interest in one of the following areas is an advantage:

Politics, Military, Patriotism
Posted Image

->Cabinet D/N<-

->Defence Shop<-***->Defence R & D<-

->Foreign Ministry<-***->Defence Ministry<-

->Internal Thread<-***->Current Nation's Timeline<-

->Military Budget<-

I dont RP on weekends usually. Forgive my lack of response if that's the time.
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zzchernobl
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Wel when I joined I had ZERO RPing ability and I felt like I was being treated almost like an outcast. I had no real grasp of political correctness or anything of the like. Though I will say, 21c has been one of the most educational parts of my life.
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Reforma | Foreign Affairs| National Defense[/align]
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Greece (TheOne)
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Perhaps create a "How To Get Started" guide, pin it, or have it PM'ed automatically(I think you can do that, not sure) to newly registered players, with links to everything they need.

I think one of the problems that person may have faced, is not knowing where to go and start from.

Senders
 
Lack of nations to play (preferable nations...).


That really can't be changed. On a rl nation based rp forum, it's first come first serve.
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zzatuns
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Starshina
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*Ukraine [Atuns] points to lack of free cookies and slinks away.

But no seriously, >.> I think it may have something to do witth the Incredible realism. most people want to rp to fuck around, not become a politicion.
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Greece (TheOne)
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You can fuck around. There are just some boundaries you can't cross. And that is a good thing, because if there were no boundaries and everyone could do what they wanted, everyone even Bangladesh would be flying DeathStars.
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He's dead Jim...
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Sweden [Senders
 
,20 Jul 2009 06.47.43] Some walls to joining:
Lack of nations to play (preferable nations...).
The wall of text that seems to present itself to new players.
The sense of how the game is already in too deep to jump into to.
The sense of a closed community.

Really its just the intimidation factor that somethings in 21c seems to present. I really have no solution to it, as its mostly a psychological thing.

Lack of nations to play (preferable nations...).
The sense of a closed community.

I'd agree with those two.
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zzskye
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Well, I joined mid last round (I think) and ended up playing Belgium and Norway, before I went inactive.
Primarily I think its because it takes a lot of effort to actually get into what has happened in the world if you join in the middle of a round. I found it way easier to rejoin at the start of a round, as I can gradually read things as they happen, it's not some huge block of text...
[align=center]
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Forsvarsdepartementet, Import/Export || Utenriksdepartementet, Foreign Affairs || Forsvarets Forsknings Institutt
Factbook || Dagbladet.no, News || Forsvars Budsjett, Defence Budget
"Limiting the freedom of news 'just a little bit' is in the same category with the classic example 'a little bit pregnant'."
-- Robert Anson Heinlein, "A Rabble in Arms"

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Zactarn Prime
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It takes alot. I have more reasons for going inactive instead of joining.
Now Presenting:

USA
President: Marco Rubio
Vice-President: Luis Fortuno
Secretary of State: TBD
Secretary of Defense: TBD
Head of Joint-Chiefs of Staff: TBD
Allies: UK, Israel, Japan, RoK, Canada
Strained: Iran, Syria, Mali, Santo Domingo, Pakistan
At War:
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Recon
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The Village Kvetch
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Obviously with some of us playing together for now what 3 or 4 years, there is a sense of community, which for a new player can especially be intimidating. But that’s very understandable; the great benefit of 21c is the community. If we didn’t have the community there would be no game, its equally important as the Rping. Players can enter different communities. I mean a few years back I entered TAR only with Mike to help me. I had to learn the ropes and a wholly new community. Everyone does it, even if they knew one person before they entered.

Can we do more? Yes. We should be a lot better at giving new players help, however sometimes that’s hard to do from activity to otherwise. I bet the most intimidating thing for a new player is joining this game in 2011. They will not know about Mongolia etc or the massive changes many have made to their own countries. The best thing we can do is open a thread, like

Pop in and say hello”, so new players can register they have arrived and they can get advice over PM, also we need an up-to-date global timeline. Not whether Obama took a dump but what major events have happened. If a new player already knew the situation they would find it easier to jump in.
[align=center]Head of State (President): Moncef Marzouki (Congress for the Republic)
Head of Government (Prime Minister): Hamadi Jebali (Ennahda)
Population: 10.6 Million (2012 est.)
GDP (Real): $44bn (2012 est.)
Organizations: Arab League (AL), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), African Union (AU), International Criminal Court (ICC), International Monetary Fund (IMF,) Non Aligned Movement (NAM), United Nations (UN) & World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Strained Relations/War: Saudi Arabia, Libya and Israel /None

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zzdusty
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Some things that made it hard include
Not knowing what to do. When I first joined I would ask Skye what to post where. To solve this we need a thread with links and what to do at that link.

Like someone said, you don't know what the past guy did. Or even you're unsure of the state of the country in 2011.

since I have your ears I'll bring this up too as a turn off that would make someone stop playing, a weird economy in 21c. No matter what a person does their GDP goes up. Sometimes GDP goes down like the eastern bloc in the 90's. We need to make that realistic.

I'll think of more.
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Recon
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The Village Kvetch
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Venezuela [Dust Bunnies
 
,20 Jul 2009 07.58.06] since I have your ears I'll bring this up too as a turn off that would make someone stop playing, a weird economy in 21c. No matter what a person does their GDP goes up. Sometimes GDP goes down like the eastern bloc in the 90's. We need to make that realistic.

I'll think of more.

Some economies go down, but most people like posting everything is rosy. It’s a fact unfortunately, Hey I did it as Japan, however I felt I had a reason to have such growth. For America I have just followed the normal expectations, weak growth out of the recession.

On the wider point, if only we had an economics team which could post every two quarters.

Get a list of every nation or active ones at least

United States +2% Due to revived customer spending.
Germany +3% Due to the return of world trade.
Japan +4% Due to the return of world trade.
Canada -3% Due to poor government decisions (Just an example I have no idea what Canada is like in RL)
India +10% Due to the return of world trade.
China +9% Due to Economic Stimulus.

Etc

Thus what a player does effects what they get in return, if you do nothing you suffer for it. However the time needed would be a bitch and the dedication of course.
[align=center]Head of State (President): Moncef Marzouki (Congress for the Republic)
Head of Government (Prime Minister): Hamadi Jebali (Ennahda)
Population: 10.6 Million (2012 est.)
GDP (Real): $44bn (2012 est.)
Organizations: Arab League (AL), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), African Union (AU), International Criminal Court (ICC), International Monetary Fund (IMF,) Non Aligned Movement (NAM), United Nations (UN) & World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Strained Relations/War: Saudi Arabia, Libya and Israel /None

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zzdusty
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Our actions should decide our GDP, and sometimes is the breaking factor whether we go up or down. It sounds like a great idea, but we need to have an unbias'd team, and a team that understands economics (even at a basic level, college not needed).
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zzBugs
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Just get the attack dog (Schwer) to watch the economy thing lol. Have people post what they think is their growth and just have someone give a stamp of approval sorta.
We've tried to fix the orgasmic economics thing before...and whoever is in charge kind of...dies. Or something. I don't see a point in trying again...

For the sake of staying on topic though....
I occaisionaly PMed a new guy last round. Not so much this one.
I think that someone who may look like they need some help, should probably get a Pm from a more experienced player as to what to do. Sure it can be a bit of work, but its only taking a few minutes out of your day to point out some links and a quickie on "how to." That mostly assumes that someone actually claims.

As for claiming, I think we should have a disclaimer thing, reassuring a nu dude that someone will help them out, and that he is free to join in on any discussion. We should point out that...this is the internet afterall. You can be...NOT yourself if you want for a time being. Enough so, that you get out of your shell faster than you would in RL.
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zzdusty
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Venezuelan Socialist pushes has increased my GDP by 300%, is that cool? :P

Perhaps also, guides and starting help (such as an already made Belgian Factbook with political info and such) should be made for the minor nations.
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United States [Sel]
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The Creator
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Sweden [Senders
 
,20 Jul 2009 00.47.43] The wall of text that seems to present itself to new players.

I'll work on slimming down the walls of text. I can imagine it being intimidating. I also think it may be a bit confusing where to start.

Quote:
 
The sense of a closed community.
That's one of the things that was said by the person I referenced. The welcome wagon needs to be improved.

I think this all also presents the case for a test RP forum that I suggested awhile ago. The exact form would have to be worked out, but I think I'll put something together.

Thanks everyone. Being on top, it can be hard to see what is at the bottom.
[align=center]United States of Trump
President DONALD J TRUMP
Vice President MIKE PENCE
Attorney General JEFF SESSIONS[/align]
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Recon
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The Village Kvetch
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Israel [Sel Appa
 
,20 Jul 2009 11.44.51]Being on top, it can be hard to see what is at the bottom.

That's scary seeing you say that Sel. But my respect for you has gone up 1000%. :)
[align=center]Head of State (President): Moncef Marzouki (Congress for the Republic)
Head of Government (Prime Minister): Hamadi Jebali (Ennahda)
Population: 10.6 Million (2012 est.)
GDP (Real): $44bn (2012 est.)
Organizations: Arab League (AL), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), African Union (AU), International Criminal Court (ICC), International Monetary Fund (IMF,) Non Aligned Movement (NAM), United Nations (UN) & World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Strained Relations/War: Saudi Arabia, Libya and Israel /None

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J.B. Hemlock
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I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the problem isn't so much the wall of text as it is the absence of a "kinder, gentler wall of text".

I don't know about the rest of you, but I RP here because of the walls of text. This isn't NationStates, or any of the other random geopolitical RPs. 21c hews to a higher standard. It's not the sort of thing that appeals to everyone, but we don't really want to appeal to everyone. We want to appeal to folks like us, who like this style of RP.

I do think that we can do something to help ease folks into that wall of text. When we first started the round (or at the end of last round, I don't remember which), we discussed having mods distill things down into regional outlines of history, with another mod taking from that and creating a global outline of history. I strongly feel that there is value in that. With a tool like that, new players would be able to spend about 15 minutes reading, and have a strong handle on what's happened so far in the game.

Senders does a really great job of putting together his regional history, with links and all that. I do a much more half-assed job that still manages to capture the essence of what's going on. As far as I can tell, we're the only ones doing this. When the round started, we'd decided that it would be the responsibility of the regional mods to do this. I would love to see the other regional mods start writing their regional history (or delegating that task to someone else who will). At the very least, we could then just create a global page with links to the regional history pages, and have a useful history. Were we to have someone handle writing a global outline of history, we would be in even better shape.
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Factbook (with important linkies)
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zzalexi
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The fact that if your a small country your royally screwed, and pardon my french.

It is quite realistic, and the problem I would have is that if I was a large country I could never RP everything: I honestly think that Large countries such as China, Russia, Germany, France, US, UK, Australia even get two or more players each: I mean how hard is it to RP Cyrus compared to the juggernaut that is the US.
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Amzi
Captain
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I agree with pretty much everything everyone else said but I am going to elaborate on a few points.

-----Not knowing anybody-----

If you just stumble on to here, like I did, you dont know any one on here. For the veterens and the people who come on here everyday, it almost feels like coming to work (Good way) You know every one, and have a really good sense for personality, but if you just come on to here, unless you really want to get to know people, it is difficult. At least for a while, and I think that just not knowing people is a daunting things.

----As others said, Us being already tangled in a game.---

This is pretty much self explanatory

----Lack of 'important' nations to play----

This one is a problem, but an unavoidable one. When I first came here from nationstates (A game you can do pretty much anything you want to your nation) I was like 'WOO, I AM GOING TO BE CHINA...MAYBE RUSSIA....MAYBE THE U.S'

I though I was going to be playing a big nation, but it was shocking to me when I first saw that they were all taken, and for the people that come from Nationstates, that is a bug adjustment to have to sacrifice.

-----The Format--------

The format is great on 21c, very easy to use and clean, but to alot of people if they have never been on Invisionfree, it is revolutionary. People just get flabbergasted and just that initial shock of looking at the board, even if it is really easy, can deter a potential RPer.
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zzcrackzilla
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When I first joined, the rules and introductory wall-of-text seemed very exclusive and... elitist. It seemed as though you had to know somebody to get accepted in your 'application', otherwise you'd be relegated to some crap hole 3rd world country.

That's what I would assume they're talking about.
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Recon
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The Village Kvetch
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We are one of those snooty Golf clubs lol which don’t let in Jews or black people :(

I must agree with Hemlock, one of the huge benefits for me is having these walls of text. I like Rping internal news, to a crazy extent, as other people enjoy Rping Wars or diplomatic meetings etc. We each have our own styles however I don’t agree at all with anyone suggesting we dumb down anything to bring in new players. That would be a community-destroying move and would make me leave immediately.

We should have a "Introduce yourself" page, fully up-to-date global events, and better help for new players even the long considered “Buddy system”. A quick Q and A session and an explanation pinned so new players can read it. I would suggest we might target events at new players if they feel isolated or bored. Maybe ask them to host a big international meeting etc. Make them feel important.

One huge failure of this round has been the lack of events, much as promised and little delivered. Hell last round it was never plain sailing however we busted our guts to do the events we could.
[align=center]Head of State (President): Moncef Marzouki (Congress for the Republic)
Head of Government (Prime Minister): Hamadi Jebali (Ennahda)
Population: 10.6 Million (2012 est.)
GDP (Real): $44bn (2012 est.)
Organizations: Arab League (AL), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), African Union (AU), International Criminal Court (ICC), International Monetary Fund (IMF,) Non Aligned Movement (NAM), United Nations (UN) & World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Strained Relations/War: Saudi Arabia, Libya and Israel /None

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Amzi
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^ Those ideas in the 2nd paragraph are excellent
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Recon
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The Village Kvetch
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India [Amzi
 
,20 Jul 2009 16.49.44] ^ Those ideas in the 2nd paragraph are excellent

:) Thanks Amzi
[align=center]Head of State (President): Moncef Marzouki (Congress for the Republic)
Head of Government (Prime Minister): Hamadi Jebali (Ennahda)
Population: 10.6 Million (2012 est.)
GDP (Real): $44bn (2012 est.)
Organizations: Arab League (AL), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), African Union (AU), International Criminal Court (ICC), International Monetary Fund (IMF,) Non Aligned Movement (NAM), United Nations (UN) & World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Strained Relations/War: Saudi Arabia, Libya and Israel /None

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United States [Sel]
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The Creator
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India [Amzi
 
,20 Jul 2009 12.38.20] -----The Format--------

The format is great on 21c, very easy to use and clean, but to alot of people if they have never been on Invisionfree, it is revolutionary. People just get flabbergasted and just that initial shock of looking at the board, even if it is really easy, can deter a potential RPer.

I hate IF. I am used to in now though. If (although it's more when IMO) we go offsite, I really want to get vBulletin, which although a bit pricey to license, is awesome. phpBB I haven't used in years, and I think I remember the interface is good. There are others I'm not very familiar with though.



Anyway, I started working on a sort of one-stop welcome shop to get people into the game better. Should be posted this week at some point. If anyone wants to help, send off a PM.
[align=center]United States of Trump
President DONALD J TRUMP
Vice President MIKE PENCE
Attorney General JEFF SESSIONS[/align]
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Dax
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Il Duce
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Having a more detailed or more "realistic" economics aspect of 21c isn't going to make things better/easier for new members. If anything, it's going to exacerbate the problem. Imagine: many people have a hard time figuring out their economy at the start of the round. Just think when they have to calculate - taking into account IG actions that may or may not have effected them - their economy, GDP, and budget three years or more in the future. That alone could make someone turn tail and never look back.

I am strongly, strongly, strongly against a stringent economics standard, an economic engine, or any sort of strict economic module for this game. Most of us here are not economics exerts; in fact, very few of the people here even have a rudimentary sense of economics. Secondly, economics is boring as hell for about 99.75% of the population. Yes, it's important to keep track of your economy, and have an elementary sense of whether it's good or bad, or how to make it do what you want. Those are things that are important to note. However, forcing players into endless rounds with calculators in order to make a change in their economic atmosphere, lest they face a stigmatizing Realism Complaint, is going to make lots of people lose lots of interest in very little time.

Economics is important, but we're lax about it. What we try to do here is create a balance, emphasizing economic awareness and allowing people who are great at economics benefit from such knowledge without requiring every member submit a budget, or have their economies left to the fate of the mods or admins. We could, in theory, have each nation's economy reviewed every year, and have the admins and mods determine your GDP, growth rate, budget, and military budget, but I doubt that'd be very popular with new or existing members.

[/end economics rant]

A lot of the problems that I see seem to stem from just one or two general issues: community acquaintance, getting started, and RP skill. I propose the following methods of dealing with these issues:

I am a firm believer that we should instate a mentor system. We've discussed it numerous times, and every time, it never got past discussions. We've never actually sat down as a community and decided how a mentor system would work. I believe that a mentor system would help to integrate new members into the community by giving them one person that they are close with automatically, helping them to build confidence in the face of what seems like an intimidating community, and a mentor could help new players, or less experienced players to improve their RPing abilities. This would also take care of the concerns over the layout or "intimidating structure" of the boards, where a mentor could point new players in the right direction until they are familiar with the boards.

Secondly, an introduction thread is certainly in order. We used to have one; I'm not sure where it went.

I've also been working on a Players Guide to 21c. It's been sort of halted for the last couple of weeks or so, but I've slowly been working on it. I suppose I'll kick that into high gear.

Also, i really like someone's suggestion about an automatic email to new registrations that tells them where to get started. I have a feeling that a lot of people register and then have no idea what to do.
[align=center]"The only problem is, we don’t often actually care about people’s quality of life in 21c." -- JCU
We are all citizens of the planet

Il Duce, starring as . . .

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21C Best Foreign Affairs RPer 2009, 2011, 2012
Best Overall 2009, 2012

Administrator to end all administrators.
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Recon
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The Village Kvetch
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Dax while the first part was a little dramatic and somewhat different then what we said earlier. You are right on the second part. Now I think its time we put our "Time" where our mouth is (none of us have money). We all agree on these things so lets just do them.
[align=center]Head of State (President): Moncef Marzouki (Congress for the Republic)
Head of Government (Prime Minister): Hamadi Jebali (Ennahda)
Population: 10.6 Million (2012 est.)
GDP (Real): $44bn (2012 est.)
Organizations: Arab League (AL), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), African Union (AU), International Criminal Court (ICC), International Monetary Fund (IMF,) Non Aligned Movement (NAM), United Nations (UN) & World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Strained Relations/War: Saudi Arabia, Libya and Israel /None

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Amzi
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I think it is pretty much unanimous that we need an Intro Thread and I doubt many people are against a Mentor System
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CM08
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I have to say that there's always the likelihood of the "mentor" imposing total control over the protege resulting in i dont know what happen.
Posted Image

->Cabinet D/N<-

->Defence Shop<-***->Defence R & D<-

->Foreign Ministry<-***->Defence Ministry<-

->Internal Thread<-***->Current Nation's Timeline<-

->Military Budget<-

I dont RP on weekends usually. Forgive my lack of response if that's the time.
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Recon
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The Village Kvetch
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Singapore [CM08
 
,20 Jul 2009 19.26.40]I have to say that there's always the likelihood of the "mentor" imposing total control over the protege resulting in i dont know what happen.


Imposing total control? A scary thought. I must admit there would be a temptation to steer the protégé a certain way. If I were a mentor, I would also be a person. I like internal Rping, general realism and consistency. It would be near on impossible for me to ignore those traits when speaking to the person I am helping. I can’t turn myself off like a robot etc.

A way around this for me at least would be a bit of a production line for Rping.

Lets imagine “Mr Ben” joins the community as an Rper. After introducing himself and learning a little about what we do here. Before he can apply for a nation he does an RP. Can be anything from a drunken man driving home from the pub to a news article on the effects of global warming. Something we can assess their ability with, I would stress that example situations and similar Rps already on 21c should be linked too. Creatively is a bitch sometimes, you don’t want people quitting because of writers block. Then an admin or the group of mentors review the material and give it a grade out of ten. Now this would allow early tips and advice. I would stress sensitivity and care, no one likes having their RPs criticised, so it would have to be a broader, “We are here to help” message. Positive reinforcement, confidence is everything.

Then after the current player ability is determined, we split the basic traits of Rping on 21c into Five Characteristics, in which each area the player gets assistance from a single player.

1. Making Friends and getting established.

The ideal candidate is someone like Amzi who has rode the rough waters. I can remember my joining of 21c but that was 3 or 4 years ago, hardly relevant now. Simply it’s a job, which gets people into the game and gets past this games scary exterior. So that while we all look scary and mean, people find out we really are… worse :P

2. Picking the Right nation.

A difficult balancing act. As a first time player many will want to jump in at a big nation, which are usually already claimed or the admins are rightly reserved about giving such a massive influence in game to what is at the time an unknown element. So you need to find a nation, which is small enough to allow a player to get settled, yet interesting enough so they don’t quit because they are bored.

Picking the right nation is half the battle, if you pick a nation which interests you or you can learn to love its far easier to get up in the morning and type out a new Rp then at a nation you hate. For me at least I would like to see a player such as Bugs Bunny or JB Hemlock in this role. You need someone who cares and can be something of a “Big brother” (Not 1984) figure to the new player and help him or her make the right decision for him or her.

3. Internal Rping

Now I like to think of Internal Rping as a two-pronged attack. First is the standard news format. The “here is what’s happening in ---“, then there is the whole, “Army officers plotting to kill the President” or “a minister preparing to resign from the cabinet.”

Both are essential to any Rper. Internal Rping, which may indeed on 21c be the poor cousin to its international relation. I believe is even more important to whether China and Russia sign a big deal. You want to show the world that your country is progressing, whether in good or bad.

So I would offer myself as a mentor for internal Rping on the matter of News and such items. That’s my strong suit. I like doing it.

For those tricky internal Rps, the mystery, the suspense, I can only recommend Schwer. He does have a talent for slimy characters and secret plots. Suits him :P

I would have a special position especially for Moorington, an Rper in which I think many of us share a special admiration. He would offer a course on how to destroy your nation (lol) and generally add to both other methods of Rping. He has the ability as shown in the past and a predilection for the eccentric, something I think would suit many new players well, to get them out of the herd, which we are all part off.

4. Diplomatic and International Rping

From G8 meetings, to regional trade parties to eyeball to eyeball arguments. I can only think of one player for this. It’s Dax. The master class he has shown this round has been breathtaking, in international relations. I can think of no one better especially when that talent is combined with his helpful and kind personality to help players through perhaps the most crucial method of keeping the game going.

International Rping is quite self-explanatory tbh

5. War ! What is it good for? Rps. (Oh and general military Rping)

War. The folly of youth is something we must have here, as it seems everyone is ready to run someone else over in a tank over the smallest dispute or the most minor infraction. Warfare or the threat of it has been the heart of international and domestic politics since the start of time and it dominates here as well. I would consider asking X to take on this position. To help new players with what kind of equipment their nation has to helping them Rp a solider in a fire fight, a pilot in a dogfight or a submarine captain stalking another submarine.

X is another player with a helpful personality and a good attitude, someone who can help others and steer them in the right direction.
__

How would this work? I would suggest it would be something akin to homework.

For internal matters etc. “Mr Ben” could be tasked with creating a post on elections, which could be sent to me, or a post on a Presidential meeting sent to Schwer etc, where we could edit and point out where to improve and give positive reinforcement.

This is a wild plan, I just thought up now at 2am local time. However I can’t help thinking if a player got the best this community had to offer (If I haven’t included you. Don’t think I am a dickhead it is 2am, my brain isn’t fully working.) they would be both a better Rper and a better member of the community. We are all smart people and each of us has something special and unique to offer. If this kind of production method could ever work. The new player or “Mr Ben” in this case could go on to be the greatest player 21c has ever seen.
[align=center]Head of State (President): Moncef Marzouki (Congress for the Republic)
Head of Government (Prime Minister): Hamadi Jebali (Ennahda)
Population: 10.6 Million (2012 est.)
GDP (Real): $44bn (2012 est.)
Organizations: Arab League (AL), Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), African Union (AU), International Criminal Court (ICC), International Monetary Fund (IMF,) Non Aligned Movement (NAM), United Nations (UN) & World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Strained Relations/War: Saudi Arabia, Libya and Israel /None

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zzcesilia
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Hey I know how to put your nation on a one way train to Shitsville too! remember Mexico?
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Now playing: The Republic of Uzbekistan
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Dax
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Boy, do we.
[align=center]"The only problem is, we don’t often actually care about people’s quality of life in 21c." -- JCU
We are all citizens of the planet

Il Duce, starring as . . .

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21C Best Foreign Affairs RPer 2009, 2011, 2012
Best Overall 2009, 2012

Administrator to end all administrators.
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zzcesilia
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Ah fond memories....... *sigh*
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zzcrackzilla
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The easiest way I can think of for applying a mentor system would be to pair them with their nation's major ally. So, for instance, a new player joins as Belarus, we'd pair them up with the Russian player. That way they can work together IC and OOC.

This implies trust in the big players, though. And to ensure that Dax and Recon don't wind up with 99% of the map, we'd sub-divide it by region. Sure, everyone in South America (Except Venezuela...) is an American stooge. But there's Brazil closer by - so if someone joins as Bolivia, they could work with the Brazilian.

It's not perfect, and if you want to take your nation to a different side (Like maybe having Honduras side with Venezuela over the US, or somethingl ike that), it could be harder. But I'm not sure there's a perfect solution.
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CM08
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above posts make sense.

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->Cabinet D/N<-

->Defence Shop<-***->Defence R & D<-

->Foreign Ministry<-***->Defence Ministry<-

->Internal Thread<-***->Current Nation's Timeline<-

->Military Budget<-

I dont RP on weekends usually. Forgive my lack of response if that's the time.
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zzmaikeru
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Singapore [CM08
 
,20 Jul 2009 21.46.50] above posts make sense.

Agreed. Although Bolivia would be better suited to be with Venezuela.
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United States [Sel]
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Saudi Arabia [Maikeru
 
,20 Jul 2009 21.39.51]
Singapore [CM08
 
,20 Jul 2009 21.46.50] above posts make sense.

Agreed. Although Bolivia would be better suited to be with Venezuela.

Yes.
[align=center]United States of Trump
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Senders
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Morph Recon's suggestion of having a mentoring program for those specific areas, but morph it into more of a help desk, I say would work the best. Like sticky a Help Desk in the Mess Hall (actually a subboard would be better imo, but whatever) and let people ask them for help there. I think this is best because A. their PMs won't get full, and B. possibility of output from anyone.

And the mentoring system itself, I personally think that the use of regional powers is the best idea.

Or you know, stick em all with Cres and we're bound to have RP events everywhere :P

Actually t be honest, I think the best idea could also be force-feeding ideas. I mean it worked for Hitler, look how well that turned out. But really, when I say force-feed, I mean you know, give the people that join a little kick to get started with their country. Most of the time, many of these people know where they want to end up (kicking the shits outta their neighbours in just about everything from wealth to ass kicking), which is the whole point of the "list your goals with this country" question when its asked. But another intimidation factor to this game that really is overlooked is the fact that they don't know where to start. which is completely different to where I want to end up.
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