Community Events Suggestion

[Aaryanna_Mom]

In light of the current event to choose a new Event Master and everything I have read from the actual events to the concerns from the various members as to the type of events that were created. I have decided to voice my opinion or rather suggestion in regards to this whole affair.

I?ve been putting a lot of thought into it and it occurred to me that simply choosing a new Event Master is not enough as it seems to me that even this lacks a certain amount of inclusiveness as far as the entire member base goes. Because in the end it?s still down to the actual Event Master to come up with an idea and then prepare it and present it to the community.

My suggestion is that instead of putting this responsibility solely on the Event Master, that instead it also be placed on the actual members as well. Now I?m not talking about making other members an Event Master, rather I?m talking about creating some type of thread where people can put forth their suggestions for an event.

Kind of like the Avatar submission thread in that members can contribute, and yet what they suggest still has to be approved by the Event Master. I suppose a good place for such a thread would be in the actual Community Events section of the boards.

Then if an event a member proposes, [I]and by proposes I mean the member in question would essentially run the event and thus prepare everything for it[/I], was approved it would be run by the member who proposed it and the Event Master would essentially keep an eye on it and offer advice when needed.

Personally I think such a system would open up OtakuBoards to a wide variety of events instead of expecting the Event Master to come up with everything and also run all of the events as well. They would still run events of course, but members would have the chance to also run events as well.

I mean no offense to the current Event Master or to those who are applying, but my past experience as homeroom mother for my children?s grade school classes has taught me a very valuable lesson. That working alone can be detrimental to your creativity. Because you end up working with what you yourself are familiar with.

I say my experience as a homeroom mother helped because often there were anywhere from three to as many as six of us charged with this duty and we worked together to organize and prepare the activities for the holidays for the kids at school. And often we would take our ideas and then turn around and ask the kids for what they would like to do and in many instances, their ideas were better than what we had come up with.

Anyway, I hope I am making sense with this. And I hope no one takes offense, as I am not trying to imply that one person can?t do it, only that by opening it up to the whole community, we would see more variety in the actual events.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. :)

[James]

[font=arial]You know, I think this is a fantastic idea. But I'd like to suggest a slight ammendment to it.

In order to run an event, we need to essentially turn the member into a Moderator. Event Masters have the ability to delete posts/threads, to close threads and to create sticky threads.

If we make these changes to each member to runs an event, it might get a bit messy.

Perhaps a good compromise would be to have the member work with the Event Master - the Event Master could implement the member's idea and the member could write up the thread and be involved in any judging or key decision making. This would occur on an event-by-event basis I guess.

But yeah, I do like your idea a lot. I don't want all events to be poetry and RPGs - there is a laundry list of other stuff that can be done and barely any of it has been touched on yet.[/font]

[Sandy]

Actually, now that the subject is on the table, I've had some thoughts on how to make Community Events forum much more interactive and open to ideas, and I'm pretty much on the same tracks with Aaryanna_Mom. It's not like other members haven't been able to make suggestions as events before, but [I]maybe[/I] they haven't been encouraged enough, I can't say. :/

[I]My[/I] thoughts took me as far as transferring all the popular game threads that have been popping up lately at the Lounge into the Community Events forum. They would have to have the acceptance of the Event Master first, of course. Because anybody can practically create threads at the section, nobody would have to worry about making anybody a moderator or anything like that - the Event Master would supervice it all like you suggested, James.

That way the Community Events forum would become a much more lively place than it is now, with multiple smaller games being held there instead of the Otaku Lounge, as well as the occasional bigger events organized by the Event Master. Well, that's at least my [I]vision[/I] which I was hesitant to bring up before, but it's good to hear other people have had similar thoughts.

[Boo]

[size=1]Please don't bring the game threads in the Community Event part. It's horrible enough that they even exist.

I'd just suggest opening up the opportunity for event-suggestions after this current event. Just for everyone to react to, even if the ideas are still really sketchy. [/size]

[DeadSeraphim]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial][QUOTE=Sandy]Actually, now that the subject is on the table, I've had some thoughts on how to make Community Events forum much more interactive and open to ideas, and I'm pretty much on the same tracks with Aaryanna_Mom. It's not like other members haven't been able to make suggestions as events before, but [I]maybe[/I] they haven't been encouraged enough, I can't say. :/

[I]My[/I] thoughts took me as far as transferring all the popular game threads that have been popping up lately at the Lounge into the Community Events forum. They would have to have the acceptance of the Event Master first, of course. Because anybody can practically create threads at the section, nobody would have to worry about making anybody a moderator or anything like that - the Event Master would supervice it all like you suggested, James.

That way the Community Events forum would become a much more lively place than it is now, with multiple smaller games being held there instead of the Otaku Lounge, as well as the occasional bigger events organized by the Event Master. Well, that's at least my [I]vision[/I] which I was hesitant to bring up before, but it's good to hear other people have had similar thoughts.[/QUOTE]
It's Community [I]Events[/I], not Community [I]Games[/I]. What part of "Choose what you'd do out of two awful choices" strikes you as an event? Or, how about, "Add a funny caption to my stupid picture"? Events are carefully planned and processed to involve the whole community, games are spur of the moment rubbish. Fun, yeah, but they hardly deserve to be elevated to the level of an event.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[James]

[font=arial]It might help if I explain my philosophy with Community Events.

Basically the idea is to have one large event occurring at a time. We can create links to the event (or different parts of it) from the OtakuBoards home page.

While it's fine for RPGs to also be events, I want this to remain the exception to the rule. RPGs are a very specific type of thread and their entry requirements are usually higher than other types of events.

I would prefer most of our events to be unrelated to RPGs - events like OB Yearbook, Nifty Fifty and Otaku Awards are examples of fun events that are extremely inclusive. Even something like the Avatar Submission Thread could be turned into an event...events do not (and should not) always need to involve lengthy creative writing submissions.

This is why we have an Adventure Square, to accommodate those types of threads. And for the most part, that's where I'd prefer they stay.

Of course, we can have certain events that are RPG-based (like The Legionnaires, which worked well)...but as I said, I'd rather it be the exception than the rule. I really want to see some new ideas in the Community Events forum.[/font]

[Shy]

[size=1]This is a great idea, A_M, and I definitely support it. I will be sure to discuss this idea with the winner of Otaku Idol 2, but even if there isn't a winner to OI2, I'll be sure to discuss it with myself.

I imagine I'll be very welcoming to the suggestion.

-Shy[/size]

[John]

I think getting member input for new event ideas is great, and even having the member who thought of it playing a strong role in the management of the event as well. The Scavenger Hunt has shown us that much, at least.

Where I see the problem come in, though, is pretty close along the lines of what's already been said. If we let people just come in and start their own events (even if they're preapproved by the Event Master), the effect will end up being strongly diminished, and the whole forum will turn into a grounds for slightly-dressed-up forum games. And DeadSeraphim has already summed up nicely why that's a bad idea.

Also, the Event Master position was created with a certain line of thought in mind, when it comes to event structure. While user input has always been welcome, it just feels much more like an official event to be taken seriously and participated in when it's presided over by forum staff. Don't know if I can properly articulate the reason why, but it simply ends up feeling more complete that way.

Since James seems to have the intent of sticking to his philosophy of one large event at a time (something which I agree with), and I don't think it's a great idea to let members start and run events by themselves, I think the best idea for gathering member input on creating events is to simply put more emphasis on the fact that if you've got an idea for an event, then hey, share it with the EM. If they like it, they can let you be the main tool in its construction, just like White in the Scavenger Hunt.

And simply making a thread on possible events would be a great thing. We'd get greater productivity, event refinement, and much more member inclusiveness, but not at the cost of structure or officiality. Everyone wins.

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR=DarkOrchid]I think it?s a great idea, especially if you take in account what James, DeadSeraphim and John were saying. I know that when the ?do you want to be an Event Master? idea went up, the biggest turn off to me was that although I could see possible creating and running one or two events, I couldn?t think of anything beyond an idea or two. So in the end I didn?t apply, as it just seemed like something that would frustrate me instead of being fun.

By opening it up to give members a chance to be a part of it I think that it would greatly improve the variety of events being held here at OtakuBoards. And at the same time help who ever is the current Event Master as I imagine it?s a lot of work to come up with an idea, prepare it and then run it.[/COLOR]

[Sandy]

[QUOTE=DeadSeraphim][COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial]
It's Community [I]Events[/I], not Community [I]Games[/I]. What part of "Choose what you'd do out of two awful choices" strikes you as an event? Or, how about, "Add a funny caption to my stupid picture"? Events are carefully planned and processed to involve the whole community, games are spur of the moment rubbish. Fun, yeah, but they hardly deserve to be elevated to the level of an event.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

That's exactly why I didn't bring up my idea before - because people seem to have a very narrow concept of what Community Events [I]should[/I] be like. Something grandiose and groundbreaking, I assume. I, for one, would like to see the Community Events Forum as much more community-involving and [I]living[/I], and not just in the terms of participation, but creation as well. Of course it's James's decision in the end if he would like to change the concept of Community Events, but what thing concerning OB wouldn't be? ;P

Whether people like it or not, those "rubbish" games really [I]are[/I] events - they gather many people together to enjoy themselves in an organized matter. I really don't see how they differ from something like the Scavenger Hunt, except perhaps quality-wise. Really, why can't "spur-of-the-moment" -games and carefuly planned
events exist side by side in a same forum?

Anyway, I strongly agree with the idea of an event suggestion thread, but I just see we could go much further than that in the path of community involvement.

[SIZE=1](Note that I'm currently having studies on community work at school, so that might affect to my thoughts.)[/SIZE]

[John]

[QUOTE=Sandy]Really, why can't "spur-of-the-moment" -games and carefuly planned
events exist side by side in a same forum?[/QUOTE] On the other hand, why [i]should[/i] they? Forum games fit well in the Lounge anyway. And if we did move them to the Events forum, I think we can all agree that the place would quickly lose its class. It's a slow-moving, deliberate forum, and if people were simply allowed to put their forum games there, it'd overrun it and quickly redefine it as the "Games Forum". And chances are, many or most of the games would end up too spammy and get closed, like they do in the Lounge. After that it'd just be the butt of a new series of OB in-jokes, lol.

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Mm... I'm not quite I'm in total agreement with you there, Sandy-dear.

While spur-of-the-moment games can be fun (since everyone knows they've had their kicks off of one some time in the past), you also have to take into account the level of expectation that past events have set up. Am I saying that one specific event has to be awe-inspiring? Not at all. But I'm not saying you can just go throw something in there all willy-nilly, either.

I suppose that I'm saying that it has to be thought out on some level; in other words, some actual effort has to be put into it. Not blood, sweat and tears, mind, but a bit more than general spur-of-the-moment things typically have.[/color][/size]

[James]

[quote name='Sandy']That's exactly why I didn't bring up my idea before - because people seem to have a very narrow concept of what Community Events should be like. Something grandiose and groundbreaking, I assume. I, for one, would like to see the Community Events Forum as much more community-involving and living, and not just in the terms of participation, but creation as well. [/quote]

[font=arial]John and Kei pretty much explained it, I think.

Let's remember that Adventure Square is specifically designed for RPGs (or "games") and Otaku Lounge is essentially our miscellaneous discussion forum, where various simple word games and stuff work just fine. These threads work well in such areas because, as has been said...they are "spur of the moment" - if they fail it's no issue and they don't really need to be heavily-moderated in general.

The Community Events forum has a specific purpose; it's not an RPG forum or a caption game forum. These subjects are well-supported by existing forums.

I created it because I wanted to have large-scale site-wide events on a regular basis. Such events don't need to be highly complex, but they [i]are[/i] designed to be inclusive of as many members as possible. Some people don't visit Otaku Lounge and some don't visit Adventure Square - but the Community Events forum is there for everyone. It's designed to pull the entire community together as much as possible, no matter which forum is your favourite.

It doesn't always achieve that, but this is dependent on each event. I'm fine with the occasional RPG-like event, but I [i]don't[/i] want Community Events to become an Adventure Square 2. I want to see Community Events taking full advantage of the multimedia capabilities of OtakuBoards as well.[/font]

[Sandy]

[QUOTE=James][font=arial]
The Community Events forum has a specific purpose; it's not an RPG forum or a caption game forum. These subjects are well-supported by existing forums.[/font][/QUOTE]

Alright, I got you. But I still say that the Community Events could be more than what it is now (a big event taking place once every six months), but maybe Aaryanna_Mom's could be the first step on that path.

Like you said, events can come in countless shapes or forms, most of which haven't been experimented yet, but people can't expect one person (i.e. the Event Master) to come up with all of them. I really think the section needs more events [I]from[/I] the community [I]to[/I] the community. That's [I]real[/I] quality, not fancy words or flashy graphics.

[Delta]

[COLOR=#656446]While the search for a new Event Master [i]is[/i] a community event, the events aren't. It's not a community event if only a few members can participate.

Don't rattle your brains making up of far-out rules that'll give them run-of-the-mill RPGs their much needed makeovers. It just makes you look like you're trying too hard (plus it makes them RPGs reaaaaally forgettable). [i]"Not fancy words nor flashy graphics"[/i], ain't that a call against gordian games?

Why not do a popularity contest instead? Sure it ain't creative but it's simple and fun and drama-riffic; that's why it's always a hit among the members. How about a Where's Wally/Waldo/Whoever type of contest where members will look for hidden quirks (intentional typographical errors, short notes from the staff) all over OB?[/COLOR]

[Sandy]

[quote name='Delta][COLOR=#656446]While the search for a new Event Master [i]is[/i'] a community event, the events aren't. It's not a community event if only a few members can participate.[/COLOR][/quote]

What about OtakuBoards Big Brothers, or the Otaku Idols, or the Legionnaires? [I]All[/I] of them had a limited amount of participants. It's not fair for people to put down the Otaku Idol 2 events for reasons that abide to past events just as well .

[quote name='Delta][COLOR=#656446']Don't rattle your brains making up of far-out rules that'll give them run-of-the-mill RPGs their much needed makeovers. It just makes you look like you're trying too hard (plus it makes them RPGs reaaaaally forgettable).[/COLOR][/quote]

Where did I say anything about RPGs? I'm confused... :/

[quote name='Delta][COLOR=#656446][i]"Not fancy words nor flashy graphics"[/i'], ain't that a call against gordian games?[/COLOR][/quote]

Sure, take my words out of context. That'll help.

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Everyone simmer down a bit before we have a repeat of recent events. Lord knows we don't need it, lol.

Anyway, while it is true that all of those events had a limited amount of participants, the fact remains that the RPG scene has been done repeatedly in the past in terms of events. As James and many other people have said, it's okay to branch out into things besides RPGs for events. It takes a little more thought and effort, yes, but at least it reaches out beyond the people that frequent Anthology and Adventure Arena, which frankly, most of those events didn't. That's why I was personally happy when the Scavenger Hunt came 'round; it was something everyone could easily get involved in and enjoy.

As for your suggestion of a popularity contest, Delta, while I have a strong inclination that it's a joke suggestion (and a small hope that it is), I feel it's a very bad idea since a) there are plenty of people here who don't need their egos inflated further, lol, and b) it causes unneeded animosity between people and starts a whole "No one likes me! X<" wave that no one needs to read through.[/color][/size]

[Charles]

[quote name='Sandy]What about OtakuBoards Big Brothers, or the Otaku Idols, or the Legionnaires? [I]All[/I'] of them had a limited amount of participants. It's not fair for people to put down the Otaku Idol 2 events for reasons that abide to past events just as well .[/quote]

The first Otaku Idol allowed the public to act as a judge.

Also it should be noted that people critique the Otaku Idol 2 events not just because they're RPGs but because in a competition, it's best for the contestants to bring something new to the table in order to stand out.

And for the record, Otaku Big Brother sucked.

[Sandy]

[quote name='Kei][color=darkblue][size=1]Everyone simmer down a bit before we have a repeat of recent events. Lord knows we don't need it, lol.[/color'][/size][/quote]

Don't worry, I've learned my lesson about that. ;D I was just genuinely confused about what Delta meant with his words.

[quote name='Kei][color=darkblue][size=1]That's why I was personally happy when the Scavenger Hunt came 'round; it was something everyone could easily get involved in and enjoy.[/color'][/size][/quote]

I agree, it [I]was[/I] fun, and I for one would be delighted to see it return some day (yay for split third place!), but it also required lots of work, like coming up with all those riddles, and the effort of several people. Some people fail to see how hard it is to come up with events that suit for everybody - if it was easy, then there would be dozens of contestants at Otaku Idol 2 instead of three.

However, I don't agree with the concept of RPGs not making good events that some people seem to have. Sure, there have been plenty of them lately, but they have been quite popular too. People shouldn't be afraid to jump into them and give them a try just because "RPGs aren't their thing", because what is life if not a constant play with roles? In my opinion all the RPG-type of events so far have been quite far from the games in the Adventure Square. They're not the most easily approachable as events, but when one tries them, it's easy to get sucked into them. ;D

But like many people have said in this thread already, there can be many different types of events, and I personally am not deadset on disapproving any of them (not even the "rubbish" word games). One has to be open to all sorts of things if one wishes to become an Event Master, right? ;D

One thing I'd like to change, though, is the way people put community events on some sort of pedestal. With too high expectations, one is surely disappointed.

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]The thing with "the way people put community events on some sort of pedestal," as you call it, is that things that are put into the Community Events forum are supposed to be something to be remembered. They help make up a significant amount of our history and colour.

Expectations are high for community events because they should be somewhat higher than normal. As I've said, things don't have to be awe-inspiring, but they do have to show that at least some form of effort went into them.[/color][/size]

[Aaryanna_Mom]

[QUOTE=James][font=arial]In order to run an event, we need to essentially turn the member into a Moderator. Event Masters have the ability to delete posts/threads, to close threads and to create sticky threads.

If we make these changes to each member to runs an event, it might get a bit messy.

Perhaps a good compromise would be to have the member work with the Event Master - the Event Master could implement the member's idea and the member could write up the thread and be involved in any judging or key decision making. This would occur on an event-by-event basis I guess.[/font][/QUOTE]Ah, I didn?t know that being a moderator would be required. So I can certainly understand why you would suggest this. I don?t understand how that works and my suggestion definitely did not include making others into moderators just so they could run an event.

I am in agreement with what others have said in regards to the game threads that pop up in the Otaku Lounge section of the boards. They are silly and fun, but in no way are they truly an event. They take no effort to start and I?ve noticed that since they have no real structure to them that they often end up closed for that very same reason. [quote name='James][font=arial']Basically the idea is to have one large event occurring at a time. We can create links to the event (or different parts of it) from the OtakuBoards home page.[/font][/quote]I definitely agree with this as well. Just looking at the current events shows how having more than one running affects the other. Even though Gavin took the time to redo his event, it still has not gained any support and I suspect part of that is due to members already being committed to another event. So having more than one event sort of defeats the purpose a little in it divides the members interests instead of getting all of them together in one big event. [QUOTE=John] Since James seems to have the intent of sticking to his philosophy of one large event at a time (something which I agree with), and I don't think it's a great idea to let members start and run events by themselves, I think the best idea for gathering member input on creating events is to simply put more emphasis on the fact that if you've got an idea for an event, then hey, share it with the EM. If they like it, they can let you be the main tool in its construction, just like White in the Scavenger Hunt.

And simply making a thread on possible events would be a great thing. We'd get greater productivity, event refinement, and much more member inclusiveness, but not at the cost of structure or officiality. Everyone wins.[/QUOTE]I like this idea as well. Although I knew what I wanted to suggest I wasn?t sure how it would work. And I can see what you mean. It?s part of why I suggested the event had to be approved, or it would have created chaos by just letting members start events without any form of supervision.

Anyway, I?m glad the suggestion was so well received. And I love the suggestions by everyone else since there are aspects of how the boards are run that I am not familiar with and that helped to clear up any flaws with my original suggestion. I really appreciate it as it helps to clarify what I was trying to say. Or rather it helps to take the original suggestion and turn it into something that could actually work. So thank you. :catgirl:

[James]

[quote name='Sandy']However, I don't agree with the concept of RPGs not making good events that some people seem to have.[/quote]

[font=arial]Nobody is making that argument though.

What we are saying is that we don't want Community Events to become a duplicate of Adventure Square. This would be to the detriment of all the other brilliant event ideas that are out there.

Yes, we can occasionally have RPG-like events, but we don't want another Adventure Square. It's as simple as that.

Also...I don't think Community Events are necessarily being held up on a pedestal. Believe me, we've had events that I haven't liked before and we've had events that haven't always lived up to expectations. It's not about that. It's about saying that community events are uniquely different from anything else we have on the boards and they have a growing role on the site. Rather than water them down and make various RPG-like clones, I'd rather grow their uniqueness and bring new ideas to the table - it helps to keep OB fresh and interesting, even if there are no discussion threads that interest people at the time.[/font]

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.

Personally I have to admit I don't see anything wrong with the Community Events forum the way it's currently run, though I do agree with the sentiment that getting a few more events out there designed by members is a good idea as the Event Master can't seriously be expected to provide a new event for the entire boards every month. Maybe a solution would be to have more than one Event Master, or even just promote someone to Event Apprentice or something along those lines to give them the power to run their event properly.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Charles']The first Otaku Idol allowed the public to act as a judge. [/quote]

[SIZE=1]Just a small note to anyone who may not know this, but Kumite's new system actually means that [i]everyone[/i] on OB can be involved via the voting system which allows them to act as judges along side me. Anyone who watches [B]Strictly Come Dancing[/B] will have an idea of what I mean as the system is somewhat similar.[/SIZE]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue] [quote name='Gavin][SIZE=1']Maybe a solution would be to have more than one Event Master, or even just promote someone to Event Apprentice or something along those lines to give them the power to run their event properly.[/SIZE][/quote]In addition to allowing members to submit their ideas for events? Or instead of? I'm kind of curious as to which direction you are going with this. Because when it comes right down to it, if we allow the members to contribute, as James already stated, they don?t need any type of moderator abilities or such to be able to work with the current Event Master. Especially if only one event is being run at a time.

And just to be clear on this I?m for the idea of opening things up so members can contribute ideas and then possibly assist the Event Master with the actual event. I don?t think there is anything wrong with the current event system, but there?s nothing stopping us from making it even better. ^_~[/COLOR]

[Gavin]

[QUOTE=SunfallE][COLOR=RoyalBlue] In addition to allowing members to submit their ideas for events? Or instead of? I'm kind of curious as to which direction you are going with this. Because when it comes right down to it, if we allow the members to contribute, as James already stated, they don?t need any type of moderator abilities or such to be able to work with the current Event Master. Especially if only one event is being run at a time.

And just to be clear on this I?m for the idea of opening things up so members can contribute ideas and then possibly assist the Event Master with the actual event. I don?t think there is anything wrong with the current event system, but there?s nothing stopping us from making it even better. ^_~[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[SIZE=1]I was thinking more so along the lines of people who's ideas have already been accepted for events and are in motion. The best example would be the Scavenger Hunt from a while back, I'm just thinking that if you're running or even part running the event in question you might need to be able to conduct some moderator activities.

The thing about multiple moderators was simply as an idea if we want a bit more activity in the forum, although as you pointed out it's as easy to just give people the ability to post and run the threads with the EM's help. I guess I'm just more used to the Adventure Square's way of doing things, heh. ^_^;[/SIZE]