Staffing Activity Rules

[Morrigan 1,826]

So something I always think about as both a player and an administrator. Activity. Obviously if you want people to be active then the site has to be active. Proven to be true many times over. The question is:

 

Does enforcing it strictly work?

 

One thing as a member that often deters me is activity checks but on the flip side, in certain environments the activity of the member is key to the development of the site. Hopefully there has to be a balance somewhere in there that you aren't losing your members because the rules are too strict but not so loose that no one ever posts.

 

What are methods that you use that you feel works?

[Honorem 219]

In my experience having the rules themselves written down never seemed to deter people from sitting around. But yes, enforcing them and allowing no leniency does work and shows them they can't just get a free pass.

 

In terms of rules I just put a general 'make at least one post a month or you lose the character' type deal, with the addition of if you're going to be away just let us know and we'll put it on hold. Seems to be the best approach for me. Then I just check through the approved members for posts once every while to see if they've made the minimum.

 

So aside from that long-winded answer, yes I believe enforcing it strictly does work because it shows people you mean business.

[CovertSphinx 710]

I've never really set a "formal" activity mandate - my impression was that if people were forced to keep a certain "standard", they tend to want to do it less (same with word counts). I just put a notice as to how long I give people before I remove their character from being active. Usually to a Haitus board. 

[Guest Archaic Cyborg]

I use rules and I enforce them. To me, an activity requirement shows how active or how fast the game should be, generally speaking. If a game asks for daily posts, nope, I can't join. If it's one post a week, that's great!

 

Also, having the rule allows me to boot out people who don't use their character(s). I don't really want one post a month, because the characters don't often develop and the players tend to jump from one thread to the next because of their own slowness: they lose interest in X because it's been weeks since their last post, so they start a new thread. Rinse, repeat. Eventually, the game crashes. 

[Huskerdust 625]

I think it works for certain sites and is necessary for certain play styles, environments, and staff members. I personally don't have activity rules because it's just not conducive to how I play or how my life works now. I don't want to foster a HURRY HURRY site culture and I really, really don't want to lose people I enjoy playing with because they weren't around for an activity check. I've had people come back to my site two years after they signed up and I was so happy to see them back! And as a player, I HATE losing all my progress all because I was busy with real life for a month or two. So I don't join sites with strict activity checks anymore. 

EDIT: I skimmed and now that I read in earnest, I realize you're asking if ENFORCING activity rules works. I don't think so. I mean, I guess for some people but they've never worked for me. If anything, the stress of knowing I HAVE to post something or I'll lose everything just makes me go "Meh" and I wander away instead of doing anything. It might work for some people though. I dunno though. I don't think those kind of rules (enforced or not) actually MAKE anybody more active. It just makes them post things they didn't feel like posting because they had to make it past the check.

[Morrigan 1,826]

@Zozma If the rules were enforced but no actual consequences (people can skip you or your character goes a AWOL) does that make a difference?

[Huskerdust 625]

I JUST edited my post because I realized I wasn't talking about the rules.  

But tl;dr: no, it doesn't make a difference to me.

[Morrigan 1,826]

It may be environment related to. The reason I'm asking is because I need a more "fast paced" environment especially for what I want to do with this RP. I feel you though. I've personally always been against them but I think for the type of thing I want to foster/what is needed for the RP I have in the works a "once a week" post may be necessary. Primarily to keep things from stagnating and to make sure that things like "kill of the week" and "death of the week" are put to their best use.

[Elena 546]

Unfortunately I arrived to @Zozma's conclusion. No matter how quick-paced I wish the site to be, and notwhistanding my own exemple of activity, nobody can force my members to post when they don't want/ can't do it.  And many said exactly like Zozma, that pressure to post makes them to go the opposite way.

 

Speaking about myself, deadlines stimulate me to achieve them even if i wouldn't feel like doing it. 20+ years of working in project management, where deadlines are important, educated me like this. And i would never feel like doing the contrary from what is expected from me, especially when i know that my posts are awaited, and that the story can't continue without them. I also believe in writing discipline, in making time regularly for a hobby and in trying to write, at least a little, every day. I believe in teamwork, reliability and in doing to others only what i'd like being done to me.

 

Unfortunately, too many people don't think like me.

 

Yes, we have in the rules posting once a week. It doesn;t happen to some members, unfortunately. :( I know it by now, and i can't do anything about it. What use would it be to our story if we lose characters, instead of persuading them to post more often?

 

So, those who communicate are ok. After two weeks of silence, I send a message to inquiry if everything is OK and what can I do to help them write more regularly. If they reply, be it with an excuse if not with a solution, i can understand. If they ignore my message, they are sorted as inactive.

[Huskerdust 625]

2 hours ago, Morrigan said:

It may be environment related to. The reason I'm asking is because I need a more "fast paced" environment especially for what I want to do with this RP. I feel you though. I've personally always been against them but I think for the type of thing I want to foster/what is needed for the RP I have in the works a "once a week" post may be necessary. Primarily to keep things from stagnating and to make sure that things like "kill of the week" and "death of the week" are put to their best use.

 

Yes, some stories really need a faster pace. I was part of a site that was meant to be a horror game (with changing plots and characters and weekly events) and there was NO WAY it could work with a slow pace. It HAD to move at a smooth and regular pace. Sadly, it was far too slow because the staff went in over their head and everybody left. So I understand some sites need activity rules. I just don't know if there's any way to make people stay active beyond keeping them invested. 

[CovertSphinx 710]

When it came to large events, especially ones where several characters/members were involved, I always used to THEN put an activity condition. Mainly because of it then being mandatory turn-based when you have 5 people in one thread. It's always been, and will probably always remain - "You have ONE WEEK to make your post, and then your turn will be automatically skipped. If you have nothing to post, just write an ooc note saying "skip me". If you've been skipped, you MAY then interrupt the turn order." Usually after 3 unannounced skipped turns in a row, the character is automatically written out of the plot.

Edited February 16, 2016 by CovertSphinx

[Kieran 15]

I don't believe enforcing the rule strictly would work. Plus, I feel like other methods than rule enforcing are equally important.

I try to develop my site in a way that offers the members a lot of fun to do if they don't feel like RPing at the time or if it's not their turn in any game event. So that their inspiration and thus activity wouldn't suffer too much just because they can't play all the time. And I try to find ways to include them - as well as any interested visitors - into any special events or extras, to offer them a chance to impact in many ways and not only with their characters. While of course participation in such events and extras is completely optional.

The basic point is I try to cook up and offer people reasons to return to the site and do something there, no matter what their current situation with in-game threads. So that they might still be around when their personal inspiration rises up again or maybe even gain it back from something else they did there, or when the site wakes up from a possible lull period. And I try to be reasonably active myself as an admin and a player, in hopes that it might inspire others and give them faith on the site even during slower periods.

If none of that catches on with a player as in if they become frequently inactive for weeks at a time (especially with game posting), then I will enforce the acticity rule but usually not through activity checks. Those I tend to hold maybe once a year and even so only if the year has been especially slow. I prefer handling inactivity in a case-by-case manner where I personally contact an inactive member with a friendly e-mail and giving them some time to respond in whatever way they can or want to.
If it turns out their frequent inactivity is because of depression, other health issue, family commitments or crisis etc. - (which could be stated generally without getting into any details because I certainly don't want the sitaution to become intrusive) - I would not take action other than try to figure out with them a way to respect their real-life siatuation and needs but also free other players' character development from the unfinished events.

All this has for the most part worked for my sites, for many years, in my country's communtiy. I don't know if this will work here but I'm going to try.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Kieran

[Cat In Spats 0]

I also have activity rules and do enforce them but TBH to me, activity rules are not so much to force people to post, it is the point in which we as Admins say they are inactive.  People will post if they want to post, and those who are interested will post much more than any rule.  But at some point we want to be able to say ‘this person is not active’ to either remind someone their character is sitting around and also to let other people know that maybe there isn’t much point in bothering trying to get them to do anything.

 

I find in encouraging people to post it has been much more effective to simply reward people for doing it.  If you don’t post at all, you will be marked inactive.  If you post and reach a goal, you get something shiny.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Cat In Spats

[Cloud 0]

Real Life > Any Roleplay. Period. 

 

I despise any form of activity check. It feels so... I don't know, self-important. I get it, activity is very important to your site. But the rebel in me would push me away from any site that had a strict activity requirement. I'm a Husband, Father, Caregiver to sickly family members, I have a Job, a time-consuming hobby and a roleplay of my own. 

 

A site should cater to it's members, not the other way around. 

 

But that's just my opinion. 

Edited March 9, 2016 by Cloud

[Morrigan 1,826]

15 hours ago, Cloud said:

A site should cater to it's members, not the other way around. 

 

Well this is where I can agree but sometimes the needs of the few can't outweigh the needs of the many and where a few may need less strict rules it could potentially harm the health of the site depending on how much of it is character versus staff driven. I feel that if the rules are setup and clearly stated before you join then joining a site with an activity rule you are agreeing to adhere to it.