Thread and area limit discussion

[Espi]

Recently in chat, a few members brought up concerns that the V7 area limit is too small. Their argument is that the character-to-area ratio is too small, causing private threads to disrupt the ability to place characters.

Other people don't think this is an issue. They think that the larger threads this creates are a non-issue and that the perceived area crunch is manageable.

I have decided to post this thread to get a more fair, open forum for people to discuss their thoughts (pun intended). To wit: do you feel that there are enough areas for threads, or that there should be more?

It should go without saying that this is civil. We're all here to have fun, and the point of this is to make sure everyone is able to have fun. This is a subjective issue, so the outcome I hope to see is a general consensus on if something should be done or not. If not, great! We can keep going, and hopefully the people who don't like it are able to enjoy themselves in spite of their grievances. And if there is something people want done, it will likely be done.

Have at.

[Cactus]

Considering my topic in board suggestions, I agree with the supposition that the island needs to be a bit bigger.

Not a lot, but a bit.

Other people have stats and shit, go for it.

[Cactus]

y u double post ffs

[MethodicalSlacker]

I think Dodd's suggestion in the Support and Suggestions board should be implemented as soon as possible, as is. It's the most painless way to address these problems, and if these extra areas sit empty it hurts nobody.

[Sunnybunny]

I agree that it needs to be opened up a bit more. Not like, doubled in size or anything, just putting more spots for threads where it makes sense. Just enough where we can have all the different types of threads without stepping on each other's toes.

And maybe some rule allowing an extra thread for death threads if most places are full up?

[Mimi]

As it is now and as someone who hasn't had an issue finding threads because I've been in the same location since the beginning, I can confidently say that I don't remember congestion like this ever happening or being discussed as much. I think, for the time being, it's easy to open up a far of the larger areas to appease people and it'd be just as easy to lower the limits should everything work out.

[Jilly]

I also agree that this is an issue that needs a serious look at, or at least confirmation that it is currently being looked at.

I understand that it's a statistics problem that will correct itself over the course of the game, but I think even if it is determined to be a non issue this has been a thing that has been brought up regularly since V7 launched, and I think the general public feeling of frustration that there are no open places to put your kid that isn't already going 5 or 6 strong is going to stay bad without knowledge that this is being critically looked at.

[D/N]

Chatted about this in, uh, chat of course, but it is my belief that there are currently a few too, (uh, again) few areas on the v7 Island. There are a lot of students in limbo and not many open areas that aren't already taken by 4+ students, especially given the changeover from Day 1 to 2, the necessity of a dangerzone, etc. I think it's causing a bit of frustration and I'm hopeful it can be addressed in some fashion.

Obviously no one to blame for this since we can never plan the island exactly (v5 if I remember ended up being waaaay too big with some areas having like three topics in them all game long) since we don't know exactly how many kiddos are going to be there.

I think that the simplest way would be to use something similar to Dodd's suggestion on expanding a couple more areas, since it's not like it would be that difficult to implement and it's not as if the thread limits can't be tightened up in a couple days when attrition takes its natural toll. There are other options like allowing death threads and other threads to exist simultaneously, putting a momentary limit on private threadings, calling for all Day 1 threads still going on to wrap up at a certain date etc.

[Shiola]

I agree with Cactus' suggestion. I think giving people as many options as possible will yield better results than being forced into less than ideal situations in threads.

[Slam]

Going to add another vote on to the too small wagon.

- Quite often a two/three pages long thread can suffer from another character unrelated to the prior events showing up and needing to weave into the narrative. It can easily slow down momentum and split the focus in a thread in a negative manner, meaning neither the new entrant nor the existing members benefit.
- Some find it difficult to keep up with every thread in SOTF, and having to read multiple two/three pages long threads to find somewhere to put a character can feel quite demanding.
- Many people have specific scene ideas they want to play out, and being forced to put them on hold/drop them because there are no free zones is counterproductive, especially given the limited lifespan of these kids.

I'd say Dodd's suggestion is on the right lines, but I'd suggest it'd be better to count how many kids are between threads now to figure out the exact scale of the issue. I'm sure someone has a spreadsheet with this information.

Staff can then add enough threads to the most expandable zones to allow for the ideal average person per thread to occur, preferably going over rather than under to also allow some of those huge threads to deflate a bit if members want to leave. Once the numbers have died down (pun intended), the threads limits can be shrunk back down again to make sure we aren't spread too thin.


- It would be helpful if one of the SOTF historians could analyse whether too many zones/too high thread limits ever lead to issues of too small threads in the past, for future use. It would help to decide how much risk there is from going too high when planning zones and limits in the future.

[Ruggahissy]

I have to agree with a lot of the Slam sentiments. Normally I'm not much of someone to complain, but I've experienced looking around and being very limited on options (to avoid inactivity I popped a character into one thread and immediately out). Slam really encapsulated what I feel, mainly that I don't want to go into a thread with 3+ pages because things are already happening.

EDUT: Yaaaaaay

[KamiKaze]

Alright, thoughts time. For context, I'm a V4 era handler who has also been in shitloads of Minis (I don't feel like counting the exact number right now, don't look at me).

I've noticed something similar happen each and every time there's a new version, at least from my perspective. After a few days in OOCly, it gets trickier to find where to put people. Countless times I've either been ninja'd while writing an opening thread, while other times I've ninja'd other people. Whether way, maybe it's just me, but it's an issue with Day 1-2 in general? Of course, things clear up a bit once we get to Day 3. I think it's overall a common issue, but by the sound of things, it's getting more egregious than usual.

I think Dodd's suggestion works, really. And Slam's!

I might have more thoughts later, in a weird mood.