[War_ooc] Potentially Dumb Ideas

[John Penta]

Just because today is a slow-ish day for me, I'm going to put out some
ideas I've been having. I really want to hear feedback, even
(especially) if you think it a dumb idea.

In short, I'm pondering a rewards system for accomplishing needed OOC
tasks, referring new players (that stick around!), etc. A way to take
the load from being completely on my back, and spreading it around.
Helps to reduce burnout, and helps to make the game more yours, less
mine.

Some of this stuff that needs doing falls under "Will make the GM's
life easier", some of it will fall under "Stuff that needs to get done
anyway that the GM has no clue how to do."

My pet name for it at the moment is "Improbability chits", though a
better one is certainly welcome:

You would still be limited by game balance, probability, and just
plain story, but if you were trying to pull off a dramatic action
where there's no real clue for me how to decide if it's a success or
not, an Improbability chit would enable you to at least a 50/50 shot
(versus my typical methods, rolling dice against a somewhat-guided
target number or number of hits, which gives a smaller chance).

Key point: You would only get a limited number of chits at any one
time, and they would expire (after, say, 30 to 90 days).
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If people like the idea, I'll come up with detailed rules of
application, but this is how I envision earning and spending would
work.

Earning would be accomplished by being helpful to the game OOCly:

For instance, at this moment, I'd award the best design for a WR
template a chit.
Similarly, once we get the web presence set up, I plan on going on an
ad campaign, wherever I can find (that we fit) on the web. Finding
places for me to advertise (note to Lisa: I know about the Yahoo
groups - I mean besides that) would be worth a chit if I ascertain
posting an ad there is allowable and haven't stumbled upon it before
you bring it up - and writing a new Standard Ad (the one I currently
use is kinda bleh, I wrote it myself) would be worth one too.
Advertising, yourself, would also be worth one - especially if you
cross into RL and get us notice from more than the usual PBEM types -
you could do this by spreading flyers (after approval from me of the
flyer), where you're allowed to, for example. I would measure this by
including a "where did you hear about us" question on the join form.

Referring new players to WAR would be worth chits if they stick around
and are active. (I'd probably set some sort of activity standard for
this beyond the minimum activity requirement being mentioned in
another thread - as well as cutting off the supply if I felt we were
getting too big.)

Once we get our web presence up and running (I'm bashing my head on
the Wiki every day and not getting anywhere, so I may take up Bryan's
offer to help with a Joomla-powered website once he gets back
Stateside), adding info to it could be worth rewards in targeted cases
(for instance, assembling a WAR FAQ for people who stumble on our web
presence).
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Spending (draft rules, I reserve the right to change them for the sake
of game balance - and to control "inflation"):

Not applicable to tech projects - those are governed more strictly, by
notes I keep for myself as to what's possible and plausible, my gut
opinion of game balance, and so forth.
However, you can privately spend them on virtually any other action
you take. If I decide it's a "spendable application", I deduct a chit
from your account and switch from dice to a coin at random.org.

Chits would expire after a period of time, probably between 2 weeks and 90 days.
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Like I said, it is a potentially dumb idea. If people want to do it, I
can do it. If there's no interest, or if it's thought a probably or
definitely dumb idea, it's something I can set aside.

John