Post by A Ghost in the Wind on Jan 11, 2007 21:17:31 GMT -5
Sorry for the delay in getting this message up. I’ve been trying to figure a few things out while weighing out options as well. But let’s get to the question that I’m sure has been on everyone’s mind (and if it hasn’t been, it should have been!).
What is happening with the PCW?
Before I can begin to tell you of what I want to happen, and whether it could or will happen, let’s look at what had went on for us to even get to this point.
Basically, activity went down the toilet.
There was a time where we averaged about 30 roleplays a week for over a two-month period, and we even reached 40 roleplays one week. But even with all that activity, I would have been content with 20-25 roleplays a week, which is what we normally averaged. The sad thing is, the weeks leading up to the Holiday Hiatus, we dropped from about 20 roleplays a week to 8 or so a week. So the question’s now…
Why did activity take such a dramatic dip?
While I can’t speak for everyone and give exact reasons, I will theorize for you all.
For me personally, PCW began to be a chore and a hassle. People within the community started to flame me and each other, which caused things to become tense and less fun. The aurora of the PCW which I always thought of as a fun place where everyone either got along and if they didn’t, they didn’t cause problems with one another, completely changed.
With everything becoming more and more tense each and every week, and with me feeling I was being attacked at every turn but couldn’t do anything about it because I didn’t want people to think I was making a bad decision, my desire was completely relinquished.
What just kept happening was things just continued to snowball. I was not having fun, which caused results, storylines, and angles to become stale and/or not fun for handlers, which could have caused people to not want to roleplay as much, which caused activity to dip and dip and dip. Let’s not forget though, that the OOC Boards started to dip as well, because of all the tension.
But we tried to fight our way through it. I mean, we were the PCW. We were open for going on two years and we never had any sort of real turmoil before. We seemed determined enough as to not let something we worked so hard for so long for just die. I even gave up running the fed in order to try and get some new, fresh ideas going, but even that didn’t seem like it was helping.
Then came the LOAs.
Now, there’s not much I, nor anyone else, could do if something goes on in someone’s personal, offline life that is more important than this little game we play. Hell, there’s not much that can be done if someone is feeling burnout either.
We were then faced with having to try and recruit people as quickly as possible to make-up for all the leave of absences and no-shows. And unfortunately, we weren’t able to bring in enough consistent new faces to replace those requesting LOAs. With that said, there was not much we could do.
Ultimately, I had to decide whether I wanted to keep the fed up during this stretch of bad luck or close it down until we found a solution to fix the fed. I choose to not further subject everyone to the misfortune and cease all In-Character related PCW action.
So now where do we go from here?
Let me first state that it was never my intention to cease any sort of PCW operations for any period of time- it just happened that way. Also, I have no intention on keeping PCW in the state it’s currently in.
The problem I’m having now is trying to get the roster back in order to resume operations. Right now, and this information may not be 100%, but the remaining roster we have looks like this:
Grimm
2Guys
Jade
Rick may or may not be remaining, though I do hope he stays. I mean, he is only the two-time winner of the Most Reliable Roleplayer Icey Award. I’m pretty sure both Silence and Joshua Megtorlas are out, though I can be wrong on that one. Drew resigned from VP and it is uncertain whether he’ll stay on for anything other than the OOC Board. I wish Drew would stay as well, but from the talks we’ve had, it appears he really wants no part in the active side of things- atleast for now. Tom is AWOL. Jacob is LOA. Jase is who-knows. Justin bowed out a week before our last show. I’m uncertain of what’s going on with Jenn [better known as Nina Arcania]. Gravedigger went on LOA, but I doubt he’ll be back, though I hope he does; he was active.
And that really only leaves one person left…Joe [aka Kaden Keene].
I’m sure he’ll read this, either before I cast my decision or after, but I am considering in releasing him from the PCW. I know, I know. I was talking about how I was in need of people staying or coming in, and now I’m talking about releasing someone who, atleast for the most part, been active since he’s been here.
But I have reasons.
There have been more than a handful of people, both before and after the hiatus, who have came to me and voiced their concerns and displeasure with Joe. I’m not going to put all the blame on him, but if he’s the common denominator in all the equations…well, you could make it out for yourselves.
This may shock people but I would like Joe to remain apart of the roster, but both him and I know that Joe is Joe, and if he’s not changed now, or hell, if he doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong, then he’s not going to change and he’s going to continue to cause problems within the community.
So as for my decision concerning him, I am uncertain. Hell, he may see this and resign, but who knows. All I do know is that I’ll have to ultimately make a decision about. It may be a decision not all may understand, but I’ll have to ponder.
Along with those who I believe are remaining with the PCW, there are a few people I have signed since the hiatus and a few people who will be returning to the PCW. Both Johnny Vivacious and Lantlas have voiced interest in returning, and it’s almost a certainty that both will. Bob Diehard and Crazy Boy have recently joined the community, so that adds two more to the list.
Combining those projected to still be with the PCW and those who will be new/returning, our count is seven (7). That’s too small of a number to run a successful efed. Oh yeah, I may or may not have failed to mention it up to this point, but the PCW WILL be reopening once we have enough members to run it properly. The number range I’m looking for and projecting to start back up would be around fifteen (15), but I could probably work with twelve (12); no less.
Also, as much as I’m pressed for talent, I’m not going to let any Tom, Dick, or Harry join. We as a whole had certain standards that helped with our prestige and to get us to where we were at. Now of course, beggars can’t be choosers, so the overall quality of the guys MAY dip a little bit, atleast until we’re back up to our feet. But I’ll still be primarily looking for those whose skill-level is, at the very least, decent.
As for storylines, angles, champions, and things of that nature, I’m currently brainstorming for ideas and up for suggestions. I have a few things hatched in my mind, but I will not reveal those until the actual show. I am, however, interested in hearing everyone out, so any suggestions that any of you may have, please be sure to get ahold of me, either by PM, IM, or Email.
Allow me to try and wrap this with these few points:
•We are not closing down the PCW nor have we closed down the PCW. We’re just on a continued hiatus until we have enough members to run things properly.
•Once we have enough members, whether it is tomorrow or a week or a month or whatever from now, I’ll begin to put the wheels in motion and we shouldn’t have to wait longer than a week or two to begin.
•If you know anyone who is interested in joining the PCW (or if you yourself are interested in returning to the PCW), please be sure to have them (or you) contact me. The more the merrier.
•All suggestions that one may make concerning how the IC return of action with the PCW should happen, whether you’re new to the PCW or you’ve been here since day one, will be deliberated upon and given consideration.
•If you have any questions or comments, especially those concering this, please feel free to ask them either through Private Message, AOL/AIM/MSN/Yahoo, or Email.
I appreciate those who have read this in its entirety. I also would like to say thank-you for those who are staying, thank-you to who may come, and thank-you for all those who have helped make PCW the way it was and the way it will be again.
-Luis
What is happening with the PCW?
Before I can begin to tell you of what I want to happen, and whether it could or will happen, let’s look at what had went on for us to even get to this point.
Basically, activity went down the toilet.
There was a time where we averaged about 30 roleplays a week for over a two-month period, and we even reached 40 roleplays one week. But even with all that activity, I would have been content with 20-25 roleplays a week, which is what we normally averaged. The sad thing is, the weeks leading up to the Holiday Hiatus, we dropped from about 20 roleplays a week to 8 or so a week. So the question’s now…
Why did activity take such a dramatic dip?
While I can’t speak for everyone and give exact reasons, I will theorize for you all.
For me personally, PCW began to be a chore and a hassle. People within the community started to flame me and each other, which caused things to become tense and less fun. The aurora of the PCW which I always thought of as a fun place where everyone either got along and if they didn’t, they didn’t cause problems with one another, completely changed.
With everything becoming more and more tense each and every week, and with me feeling I was being attacked at every turn but couldn’t do anything about it because I didn’t want people to think I was making a bad decision, my desire was completely relinquished.
What just kept happening was things just continued to snowball. I was not having fun, which caused results, storylines, and angles to become stale and/or not fun for handlers, which could have caused people to not want to roleplay as much, which caused activity to dip and dip and dip. Let’s not forget though, that the OOC Boards started to dip as well, because of all the tension.
But we tried to fight our way through it. I mean, we were the PCW. We were open for going on two years and we never had any sort of real turmoil before. We seemed determined enough as to not let something we worked so hard for so long for just die. I even gave up running the fed in order to try and get some new, fresh ideas going, but even that didn’t seem like it was helping.
Then came the LOAs.
Now, there’s not much I, nor anyone else, could do if something goes on in someone’s personal, offline life that is more important than this little game we play. Hell, there’s not much that can be done if someone is feeling burnout either.
We were then faced with having to try and recruit people as quickly as possible to make-up for all the leave of absences and no-shows. And unfortunately, we weren’t able to bring in enough consistent new faces to replace those requesting LOAs. With that said, there was not much we could do.
Ultimately, I had to decide whether I wanted to keep the fed up during this stretch of bad luck or close it down until we found a solution to fix the fed. I choose to not further subject everyone to the misfortune and cease all In-Character related PCW action.
So now where do we go from here?
Let me first state that it was never my intention to cease any sort of PCW operations for any period of time- it just happened that way. Also, I have no intention on keeping PCW in the state it’s currently in.
The problem I’m having now is trying to get the roster back in order to resume operations. Right now, and this information may not be 100%, but the remaining roster we have looks like this:
Grimm
2Guys
Jade
Rick may or may not be remaining, though I do hope he stays. I mean, he is only the two-time winner of the Most Reliable Roleplayer Icey Award. I’m pretty sure both Silence and Joshua Megtorlas are out, though I can be wrong on that one. Drew resigned from VP and it is uncertain whether he’ll stay on for anything other than the OOC Board. I wish Drew would stay as well, but from the talks we’ve had, it appears he really wants no part in the active side of things- atleast for now. Tom is AWOL. Jacob is LOA. Jase is who-knows. Justin bowed out a week before our last show. I’m uncertain of what’s going on with Jenn [better known as Nina Arcania]. Gravedigger went on LOA, but I doubt he’ll be back, though I hope he does; he was active.
And that really only leaves one person left…Joe [aka Kaden Keene].
I’m sure he’ll read this, either before I cast my decision or after, but I am considering in releasing him from the PCW. I know, I know. I was talking about how I was in need of people staying or coming in, and now I’m talking about releasing someone who, atleast for the most part, been active since he’s been here.
But I have reasons.
There have been more than a handful of people, both before and after the hiatus, who have came to me and voiced their concerns and displeasure with Joe. I’m not going to put all the blame on him, but if he’s the common denominator in all the equations…well, you could make it out for yourselves.
This may shock people but I would like Joe to remain apart of the roster, but both him and I know that Joe is Joe, and if he’s not changed now, or hell, if he doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong, then he’s not going to change and he’s going to continue to cause problems within the community.
So as for my decision concerning him, I am uncertain. Hell, he may see this and resign, but who knows. All I do know is that I’ll have to ultimately make a decision about. It may be a decision not all may understand, but I’ll have to ponder.
Along with those who I believe are remaining with the PCW, there are a few people I have signed since the hiatus and a few people who will be returning to the PCW. Both Johnny Vivacious and Lantlas have voiced interest in returning, and it’s almost a certainty that both will. Bob Diehard and Crazy Boy have recently joined the community, so that adds two more to the list.
Combining those projected to still be with the PCW and those who will be new/returning, our count is seven (7). That’s too small of a number to run a successful efed. Oh yeah, I may or may not have failed to mention it up to this point, but the PCW WILL be reopening once we have enough members to run it properly. The number range I’m looking for and projecting to start back up would be around fifteen (15), but I could probably work with twelve (12); no less.
Also, as much as I’m pressed for talent, I’m not going to let any Tom, Dick, or Harry join. We as a whole had certain standards that helped with our prestige and to get us to where we were at. Now of course, beggars can’t be choosers, so the overall quality of the guys MAY dip a little bit, atleast until we’re back up to our feet. But I’ll still be primarily looking for those whose skill-level is, at the very least, decent.
As for storylines, angles, champions, and things of that nature, I’m currently brainstorming for ideas and up for suggestions. I have a few things hatched in my mind, but I will not reveal those until the actual show. I am, however, interested in hearing everyone out, so any suggestions that any of you may have, please be sure to get ahold of me, either by PM, IM, or Email.
Allow me to try and wrap this with these few points:
•We are not closing down the PCW nor have we closed down the PCW. We’re just on a continued hiatus until we have enough members to run things properly.
•Once we have enough members, whether it is tomorrow or a week or a month or whatever from now, I’ll begin to put the wheels in motion and we shouldn’t have to wait longer than a week or two to begin.
•If you know anyone who is interested in joining the PCW (or if you yourself are interested in returning to the PCW), please be sure to have them (or you) contact me. The more the merrier.
•All suggestions that one may make concerning how the IC return of action with the PCW should happen, whether you’re new to the PCW or you’ve been here since day one, will be deliberated upon and given consideration.
•If you have any questions or comments, especially those concering this, please feel free to ask them either through Private Message, AOL/AIM/MSN/Yahoo, or Email.
I appreciate those who have read this in its entirety. I also would like to say thank-you for those who are staying, thank-you to who may come, and thank-you for all those who have helped make PCW the way it was and the way it will be again.
-Luis