Riyana
Operations
Administrator
Professional
Governor
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Event Coordinator
UNLEASHED
Campaign Patron
Let’s talk about EM events.
The UO.com page about live events describes EM events as “a great place to meet up with your shards community”. According to the description on this page, “Event Moderators, EM(s), are on most shards and run unique events to bring community together, tell a story, and build interest in the game.”
Is the EM program fulfilling this purpose?
In my opinion, it is not.
There is not a single word in the official description of EM events about rewards or drops, yet EM events have come to be dominated by the pursuit of them. Discussion here, on other forums, and in game is dominated by them.
To make a long-winded deconstruction short, I think it is safe to say that people who want the experience of participation, RP, and story are frustrated and resentful toward people who want drops/rewards. People who want drops/rewards or just big fights are frustrated and resentful toward people who want the experience of participation, RP, and story. People who may want both are forced toward one side or the other. These are conflicting goals that cannot be reconciled without someone getting the short end of the stick. Increasingly, the participation, RP, and story side is getting that short end as events become more and more centered around drops.
The purpose of this post is not to point fingers, but rather to point out that no community most interested in EM events is really satisfied with the status quo, and none is or indeed can be served fairly the way things are currently run. The EM program, per its official description, is supposed to "bring community together, tell a story, and build interest in the game". In reality, it is doing the very opposite.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Many suggestions have been made for adjusting EM events--and most of them revolve around changing something about drops. Some adjustment would help, but I think a more fundamental re-thinking of what is currently being done, who plays how, and what different groups of players are hoping to get out of events is well overdue. Change should come from that, not from focusing just on drops.
When the EM program is fully staffed, there is an EM assigned to every shard, but the program increasingly serves a small community of cross-shard collectors with little or no ties to most of the shards on which they collect drops. Meanwhile, the individual shard communities all rely on a single PEC for shard-specific support.
If EMs are there to serve their shard communities, then what is the point of having an EM on every shard when the events they run are dominated by a single crowd that does not regularly play on that shard? If the PEC is supporting shard communities, why isn’t there one for every shard?
This is a baffling and backwards setup that, regardless of intent, actually disadvantages shard-specific communities in terms of regular support and content.
So let’s flip it around. I propose the following:
What would this accomplish?
Divorcing the rares factor from one-off live event content would be the simplest way to push to program back toward what it should be, what is officially described to be. It would separate the conflicting goals of players who want to participate and players who want to get a drop or or just a novel fight, and allow both to be served better without antagonizing one another.
There is the seed a productive program that “builds interest in the game”, as the official page describes, but the program has gotten off course. It does not have to be a matter of adjusting game mechanics or changing code or increasing GM oversight or shard-binding, but rather a practical re-focusing on the stated purpose of the program and re-aligning its operation to better reflect that purpose for everyone.
The UO.com page about live events describes EM events as “a great place to meet up with your shards community”. According to the description on this page, “Event Moderators, EM(s), are on most shards and run unique events to bring community together, tell a story, and build interest in the game.”
Is the EM program fulfilling this purpose?
In my opinion, it is not.
There is not a single word in the official description of EM events about rewards or drops, yet EM events have come to be dominated by the pursuit of them. Discussion here, on other forums, and in game is dominated by them.
To make a long-winded deconstruction short, I think it is safe to say that people who want the experience of participation, RP, and story are frustrated and resentful toward people who want drops/rewards. People who want drops/rewards or just big fights are frustrated and resentful toward people who want the experience of participation, RP, and story. People who may want both are forced toward one side or the other. These are conflicting goals that cannot be reconciled without someone getting the short end of the stick. Increasingly, the participation, RP, and story side is getting that short end as events become more and more centered around drops.
The purpose of this post is not to point fingers, but rather to point out that no community most interested in EM events is really satisfied with the status quo, and none is or indeed can be served fairly the way things are currently run. The EM program, per its official description, is supposed to "bring community together, tell a story, and build interest in the game". In reality, it is doing the very opposite.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Many suggestions have been made for adjusting EM events--and most of them revolve around changing something about drops. Some adjustment would help, but I think a more fundamental re-thinking of what is currently being done, who plays how, and what different groups of players are hoping to get out of events is well overdue. Change should come from that, not from focusing just on drops.
When the EM program is fully staffed, there is an EM assigned to every shard, but the program increasingly serves a small community of cross-shard collectors with little or no ties to most of the shards on which they collect drops. Meanwhile, the individual shard communities all rely on a single PEC for shard-specific support.
If EMs are there to serve their shard communities, then what is the point of having an EM on every shard when the events they run are dominated by a single crowd that does not regularly play on that shard? If the PEC is supporting shard communities, why isn’t there one for every shard?
This is a baffling and backwards setup that, regardless of intent, actually disadvantages shard-specific communities in terms of regular support and content.
So let’s flip it around. I propose the following:
- Instead of allotting one boss drop per month per EM, allot one clicky item per month per EM. They can put it wherever and carry on with their events without having to fight impatient people who are just there for the drop, therefore benefiting both the EMs and the players who just want to play.
- For the rares- and big battle-oriented players, have a few roving EMs going shard to shard with just drop boss fights (ideally tied in to the EM content of that shard, but not necessarily) with minimal RP/story.
What would this accomplish?
- It would stimulate shard communities while still serving players who primarily want rares or big battles.
- It would alleviate some of the division of shard communities vs cross shard eventers, roleplayers vs rares collectors, and "memento" vs "special reward" philosophies on EM items.
- It would reduce disruption on shard events by making clear that there will be no rare drop, allowing participants to better focus on and follow the event.
- It would continue the practice of EM drops, which have become important to a lot of players, while allowing players uninterested in more in-depth or lengthy aspects of the event to avoid it.
- It would reduce an individual EM's influence over a drop event--which in turn would reduce corruption/favoritism complaints that the devs have to spend their limited and valuable time addressing.
- It would keep the more sensitive and most cheat-attracting aspects of the EM program--the rares--confined to a much smaller selection of EMs, making it easier for the devs to monitor.
Divorcing the rares factor from one-off live event content would be the simplest way to push to program back toward what it should be, what is officially described to be. It would separate the conflicting goals of players who want to participate and players who want to get a drop or or just a novel fight, and allow both to be served better without antagonizing one another.
There is the seed a productive program that “builds interest in the game”, as the official page describes, but the program has gotten off course. It does not have to be a matter of adjusting game mechanics or changing code or increasing GM oversight or shard-binding, but rather a practical re-focusing on the stated purpose of the program and re-aligning its operation to better reflect that purpose for everyone.