I am not a skilled coordinator. In every group I've been a part of, my role has been ideas--coming up with them, promoting them, troubleshooting them. Implementation--figuring out where the rubber meets the road--is something I've never been well-equipped to do. Playing to my strengths, I felt compelled to start a thread to address what may become a problem in the next few weeks.
The problem: Our efforts at Save Paragon City! are shaping up to be a marathon, not a sprint. I don't want to think about how tired TonyV, Guy Perfect, and the other frontrunners are right now. Some attrition is inevitable--and that's fine. No matter how much we love this game, it is only one part of each of our lives.
The proposed solution: To combat this, I propose that we will need a continued, strong, positive presence in-game and out. This forum does a very fine job with the latter half of that. I want this thread to address the first half.
I want there to be in-game events, like this Saturday's rally, we can use to charge, mobilize, and retain players. Ideally, we will work with groups like P.E.R.C. and Real World Hero to make this come to pass--they have wonderful infrastructure already in place that we could draw upon. I want Save Paragon City!-sponsored events to be visible, accessible, and easily understood. I feel they should showcase what is great about this game to remind uninvolved players what they're missing.
This would require good event coordinators who can maintain a positive message in the face of heavy skepticism. Remember, the most depressed people are the ones that are losing the most. If we can invert that--remind them of what we can save--they could become passionately devoted to our efforts.
Now, back to my strong suit: ideas.
- AE-a-Thon - No other MMORPG offers user-generated content on this scale. Let's block off a Saturday and celebrate that by running well-received AE arcs. Turn it into an event with in-game prizes, plenty of high ratings for worthy arcs, and potentially places on the writing staff for Plan Z.
- Real World Hero - Donation Marathon - Some time ago, Real World Hero put together a charity drive: players play the game, and donors pledge donations based on the number of hours put in by any one player in, say, a weekend. Let's showcase the community outreach of CoH by replicating this event again.
- Cross-Server Costume Contests - What better way to show off our players' visual creativity than with the biggest costume contests ever? Themes are optional, prizes guaranteed; the overall winner should definitely be immortalized in some way, shape, or form.
That's what I've got off the top of my head. Thoughts? Criticisms? Additional ideas?
