Too much peace - Part Deux

[Buffalkill]

Title: Boredom index for realms

Summary: A rating system for realms similar to Netflix where the user rates films on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. Players would be able to rate how much fun their realm is. Players can also change their rating whenever they like. The average score for each realm would be public.

Details: The idea spawned from Tom's "Too Much Peace Revisited" discussion on how to address boring realms. He suggested a "this realm is boring button" that would allow players to protest against their ruler if things get too stagnant. If enough players click the button, the ruler incurs some penalty and the only way to reverse the penalty is by declaring war. That thread is posted here: http://forum.battlemaster.org/index.php/topic,5065.0.html. With the "boredom index", there's no need for a built-in penalty because everyone would know in real time how much fun any realm is according to its inhabitants. A low score will nudge not only the ruler but everyone in the realm to shake things up. Whether they do that by starting a war, or by some other means, is up to them. A realm with a consistently low score will eventually see players leaving for greener pastures. The scores should also display the number of voters to give an indication of how accurate the score is.

Benefits: It gives realms candid, anonymous and real-time feedback. It gives all players a real-time indication of how a realm is doing in terms of fun. Unlike the "this is boring" button, which puts all the onus on the ruler, the boredom index would be a reflection of the overall fun-ness of everyone in the realm. After all, it's everyone's job to make the game fun. Even if the ruler has more responsibility than most, he shouldn't bear all the responsibility. Also, instead of requiring a specific action from the ruler, like starting a war, this feature doesn't limit what players can do to make things interesting. We all love wars, but hasty, meaningless wars with no context don't make the game more fun, but an intra-realm rivalry, a new religion/guild or newspaper may.


Players could compare scores across realms and make informed decisions about which realms to join, and whether or not to stay with a realm. Currently, a player might be bored but still hesitant to leave his realm because the next realm might be worse. On the other hand, players looking for a challenge might be drawn to low-scoring realms to try and revive them.

Possible Exploits: The average scores might skew one way or the other if, for example, only the haters or only the cheerleaders vote. People who are content might forget to vote, while people who are unhappy will want to register their unhappiness, causing the score to skew negative. On the other hand, players might try to inflate their ratings in order to attract new players, causing the score to skew positive. This should not be a major problem as long as people are aware of the index's limitations. A consistently low score should prompt some discussion to get to the root of the problem, while a consistently perfect score should prompt some scepticism. The number of voters should display next to the score, which will give an indication of how reliable to score is. The more voters there are, the harder it is to manipulate the score. E.g. A score of 4.1/5 with 80 voters is probably more accurate than a score of 5/5 with 2 voters.


Addendum: I changed the name of the thread because 'boredom index' is too boring.

[egamma]

I'd say we put this on hold until the TMP request is completed, as it is a prerequisite.

[Buffalkill]

What's TMP?

[Penchant]

What's TMP?

Too much peace

I'd say we put this on hold until the TMP request is completed, as it is a prerequisite.

I haven't quite caught up on the forum discussion of lately but I don't recall hearing any decision to work on something like TMP. Care to explain? Do you mean the cycles thing Anaris is working on? If so, I wouldn't ever mention as being TMP as it somewhat is attempting to fix the same problem, but it is not like TMP.

[Buffalkill]

I'd say we put this on hold until the TMP request is completed, as it is a prerequisite.

This is a TMP request. The only reason I created a separate posting is so I wouldn't be shot at for "hijacking" the topic.

Too much peaceI haven't quite caught up on the forum discussion of lately but I don't recall hearing any decision to work on something like TMP. Care to explain? Do you mean the cycles thing Anaris is working on? If so, I wouldn't ever mention as being TMP as it somewhat is attempting to fix the same problem, but it is not like TMP.

Tom suggested a "this realm is boring button" that would allow players to protest against their ruler if things get too stagnant. If enough players click the button, the ruler incurs some penalty and the only way to reverse the penalty is by declaring war. http://forum.battlemaster.org/index.php/topic,5065.0.html. This feature request is a refinement of that idea.

[Buffalkill]

Something like this is what I have in mind. The colours could be changed to match the BM motif.

[Indirik]

If something like this is done, and I'm not saying it should be done, then there needs to be some serious thought put into the description that accompanies the feature. It *must* be rated from a player perspective, and not related to the fortunes of your particular character. It's whether the *player* is having fun playing a character in the realm, and should be completely unrelated to that particular character's fortunes or status. We shouldn't be seeing things like players rating the realm as bad because they are losing a war, or because their character got banned.

[Tom]

Agreed. The basic text needs to be one sentence, however, and then probably a footnote.

"How much fun are you having playing in this realm, not just right now but in general?" would be my suggestion.

[Buffalkill]

It would also be a valuable analytical tool for the Dev team, as they could monitor trends and changes in the fun level over time. For example, when you introduce a new feature, you can monitor how it impacts the fun score, instead of relying on anecdotal feedback from the forum. Or you might find, for example, tweaking the number of peasant militias causes the fun score to go up or down, and eventually you'd find the optimal level.

[Azerax]

This game is indeed more engaging when you are involved in a war, but when you become Ruler you are inclined to try to protect your realm through peace.

I don't want to derail this thread, but what about limiting the number of other realms you can have an alliance/peace/neutral with?  This would mean that by default, you are at war with more realms that you are at peace with.  This would also fix some of the very long boring wars that are a wandering gang up on the next target.

[Buffalkill]

This game is indeed more engaging when you are involved in a war, but when you become Ruler you are inclined to try to protect your realm through peace.

I don't want to derail this thread, but what about limiting the number of other realms you can have an alliance/peace/neutral with?  This would mean that by default, you are at war with more realms that you are at peace with.  This would also fix some of the very long boring wars that are a wandering gang up on the next target.

I think when you introduce too many limits into the game, they limit creativity. We all agree war is the good part that everybody enjoys, but it's also fun to see what other creative things people come up with. Also, there will always be situations where the limits inhibit players in some unforeseen way that's not intended.

[Buffalkill]

It would also be a valuable analytical tool for the Dev team, as they could monitor trends and changes in the fun level over time. For example, when you introduce a new feature, you can monitor how it impacts the fun score, instead of relying on anecdotal feedback from the forum. Or you might find, for example, tweaking the number of peasant militias causes the fun score to go up or down, and eventually you'd find the optimal level.

Some more visuals:

[Buffalkill]