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.
