Future of the Guild

[Tbone]

I posted this in the Staff forums, but I thought it was time to have an open discussion about it:

In SWTOR
In reality, I feel like we are holding a decent player-base for SWTOR. We don't PvP as much as I'd like, but the game didn't help us develop that part of our community very well. At any given time of the day, we have a few people online in TS. Our peak times are obviously raid nights, and that seems to be keeping people coming around. This is actually BETTER than in MxO, where I feel we had about 6 months of live and then it became a ghost town, save for the few of us who still logged in to kill reds. Even making the movies, we had to coerce people to log in to use their avatars. I'm not sure how much longer the game will sustain us, but for now it is keeping people logging in. There's not much in the way of new recruitment, but there's not really any new "subscribers" to the game.

In EVE
I feel like this is worth addressing since it seems that, as SWTOR fades on people, they seem to be moving towards EVE, whether temporarily or not. I've seen enough people in the EVE channel that it warrants a conversation. I fear that if we don't add more support for EVE soon, those playing will splinter off, chopping off a quarter or so of our community or, at the very least, causing them to join a different EVE guild or use a different TS. I don't have any plans to play it, but we may want to consider adding an official forum for it and, if those guys want to recruit, a way to do that.

I know initially the fear was that EVE players would be poaching SWTOR players, and you could argue whether or not that happened, but that moment has passed and we just need to decide whether to keep those people in the fold or cut them loose. I think all of our current members are playing what THEY want to play, so there isn't much risk of screwing over one game for another as long as both sides don't act like it's a competition and treat it more like choices (this means no bashing the other game).

The Future
This is probably the most radical departure from what we're all used to, but it is an enticing place to go for me. The Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset, is slated to release in 2014 at some time, with plenty of PC content to support it. There's something poetic about a guild devoted to playing an avatar that goes into a virtual world becoming a guild that actual goes into a virtual world 10 years later. Because of our roots in the Matrix, I feel like our core group would fit well with becoming one of the world's first VR guilds.

Ideally I'd like for us to be pioneers in what I consider might be the new generation of gaming. For a while, we might be a multi-game guild, providing a place for Rift users to group with other Rift users to play, for example, TF2 in Rift-exclusive servers. In the long run I'd like for us to find a Rift-compatible MMO to become our "main" game while supporting casual play in other Rift games. We could become a resource for developers of VR and the Rift, giving them feedback on what's missing from a teamwork/communication perspective in VR. We could help set the standards of a whole new way of gaming.

There are some risks with this. It isn't clear yet whether the Rift will really become the "next big thing". There's at least a $250 investment to own a Rift, so members partaking in this would have to at least invest that much. If the Rift does fail, however, I feel like it will take a year or so for it to take place, and by then maybe we'd have another game plan setup. If SWTOR and EVE are still going, we'll still support those games as well, so those not looking to get into the Rift will still have reason to stick around.

All of this is at least a year out, but it's worth talking about now to see if it's really something that does appeal to all of you and our members, and, if so, what steps we should take to start preparing.

Thoughts?

[Longboard]

I'm all for the testing the Rift....maybe we could get a group discount if we agree to test it as a guild.

[Broin]

I'm all for the testing the Rift....maybe we could get a group discount if we agree to test it as a guild.

Oh good point... That may be something we might want to officially bring to them.  We have this many people in this guild and want to be the first all  Rift guild type of thing.

[Sared]

I mentioned it in the staff forums and this is exactly the kind of thing I wanted to hear T.

I don't think that any one of us are as strong as all of us, and if we're really interested in doing group research with the Rift then I think there are incredible things to be done.

[Zooey]

Is it ironic that to this day, I never knew that FA was a PvP-oriented guild.  I joined for the raiding... and the free cookies.  Sorry I ate them all.  You have to wait for the next batch.

Interesting thoughts though, T.

[Erathaol]

I fully support the idea of being the first Rift guild, and $250 isn't that bad when you consider it as another game console.  Sure it also requires a PC, but we already all have one of those.

Regardless of which direction we take or which game(s) we play, I'm sticking with FA until the very end.

[Tecknik]

I had typed out a big long response about my feelings on FA in TOR, but decided a short response was easier.

TOR - I wouldn't call our current player-base "decent".

EVE - I play TOR and I play EVE.  Both receive all the attention I can give them.  In TOR, I have two characters at 55 both wearing 61/66/69 gear.  In EVE, I'm trained up for Battleships and currently flying my third Battlecruiser.  My point is, I'm pretty well off in both games.  Playing one is not screwing over the other, and I don't feel players will be poached from TOR to play EVE.  EVE is not for everyone the same way TOR is not for everyone.

Future - I planned on buying a Rift whether FA adopted it or not, so... All set there.

[Tbone]

TOR - I wouldn't call our current player-base "decent"

In MxO, we'd maybe have 3-6 players on to just run around and PvP with by this stage in the game. In SWTOR we have 6-12, especially on raid nights. The fact that we're still able to put together an 8 man group is "decent" in my book, since most other guilds that started out in SWTOR don't exist anymore, have moved on, or are severely depleted of numbers.

"Decent" is a matter of perspective, though, so compared to our MxO Beta days and our SWTOR launch, yes, it leaves something to be desired. I think my point here was that SWTOR is acting as game content that is keeping a core number of players active and around, which is more than I can say for Darkfall and, to some extent, MxO. Is it a ticking time bomb? Possibly. But that's one reason we're looking towards the future.

We could push SWTOR recruitment, if that's something that members believe would improve quality of life at this point. If we begin recruiting in EVE, that migh tget more actives around as well, though not necessarily in the game of your choice.

[Strod]

I am 100% behind the Rift and I agree we should fully embrace it as a Faction.

TOR: I'm happy. I get to play with FA and that's what it about at the end of the day, a happy positive experience with friends.

EVE: I'm staying away from that game, because I believe it would consume me.

Future: Rift, Rift and more fucking Rift. I personally am a GUARANTEED PURCHASE, so count me in for anything we do with that delicious system.

With regards to recruitment, I'm all for seeing more members online in any game we are officially apart of. The Majority of us core members are still here (MxO Days), and yet since TOR we have gained a decent amount of great members who still play today.

I only hope it doesn't create a divide in members, if some are EVE and others are TOR. I'm not worried about poaching too much because, I don't think we have any ass hats that would do that in the guild. I am a little worried about not knowing "so and so" because they don't play TOR or vice versa.

This can be fixed with a simple hangout night, (TF2, CS, Rift and so on) so I'm not too worried about it. It should be kept in mind I think though.

[Manic Velocity]

TOR:  I have my qualms with TOR as a game.  It's WoW with lightsabers, and I've exhausted myself trying to figure out how anyone could find it fun.  

I'm predicting the game will fold up within the next 3-5 years.  Interest will peak slightly whenever Disney releases a new movie, but I think it will just become a refuge for die-hard fans who want to play a Star Wars MMO regardless of quality.  Hell, that's pretty much what happened with MxO.  

EVE:  Considering FA's history in MxO, EVE is a no-brainer to me.  Both games were built around the concept of allowing the players to directly impact the course of events in the game.  And with a steady increase in popularity over the last decade, EVE has shown itself to be future-proof, where most other MMOs generally are not.

With only three or four FA actively playing EVE, I would like to open up recruitment for the EVE corporation as an experiment.

Rift:  I've already started setting money aside.  

General future stuff:  We need to bring our website out of 2004!  Please, for the love of god!

[Zooey]

General future stuff: We need to bring our website out of 2004! Please, for the love of god!

This, plz, ty.

[Longboard]

General future stuff:  We need to bring our website out of 2004!  Please, for the love of god!

Agreed!!!!!

[Mharz]

General future stuff:  We need to bring our website out of 2004!  Please, for the love of god!

Agreed!!!!!

Isn't retro cool?  Oh, wait, we are going for retro right?

[Lithium]

Before everyone complained it was slow. Now it's fast and we are still complaining! geeze!

[Jeyk]

As always, I will be on board for any destination we set forth.  I will most certainly be putting money aside for the Rift!