When is it appropriate to close a game? Not just one that's dead and collecting dust - but one that still has players on it? IS it appropriate to close a game when there are still players on it? Have any of you had to put down a MU* like ol' Yeller?
@JaySherman said:
When is it appropriate to close a game? Not just one that's dead and collecting dust - but one that still has players on it? IS it appropriate to close a game when there are still players on it? Have any of you had to put down a MU* like ol' Yeller?
Yeah. We closed Unlimited Universe (a comic book MU) when none of the headstaffers were interested in continuing it (and while people were still playing, it was down to maybe a fifth or less compared to peak). So we told people we were closing it and gave them a month, I think, to wrap up their storylines. Some of them did, and others just didn't log on anymore. Ultimately it was for the best, at least from my point of view. Other games cropped up. It was fine. I'm sure some people are bitter, but... eh.
"Excuse the hell out of you. He's a bag of dicks. I'm a carefully curated box of cocks." -- to @GirlCalledBlu upon being misrepresented.
I think it ultimately comes down to staff willingness to keep things moving forward. If there are plots, roleplay, and activity in general I don't think it's even a question that needs asking. If the head honcho feels that it's time for them to quit, the reins can always be passed to another willing individual or group.
When all of the roleplay is taking place in private rooms, stagnant, or otherwise stalled to the point of overall inactivity then I'd say it's time to either assess the reasoning behind all of this or close the doors. If people are only logging in out of habit and not due to actual purpose then I would say that I'd say close the doors.
@Coin said:
it was down to maybe a fifth or less compared to peak).
This too is a large factor of course. No sense keeping the doors open for the six persistent people who continue to log in when it was once a much higher population. That's a sign the game has essentially ended of it's own volition.
@JaySherman said:
When is it appropriate to close a game?
When it cannot be supported.
or
When its story is done.
Are you paying anything for it?
If so, immediately.
If not, what's it really matter? You could also make the active players new staff and give the place to them.
The game's running for free, so it costs me nothing.
The issue is that the game's population has dwindled into a group of people who are only logging in to harass the remaining staff and fight with each other. It has collected all the banned players from previous dead MU*s of the same theme, and they have decided to re-engage in their Hatfield-McCoy blood feuds. There is no RP here, only people who believe their hurt feelings demand someone be axed.
@TNP said in Old Yeller:
If not, what's it really matter? You could also make the active players new staff and give the place to them.
None of the players have staff experience, capability or temperament for the job.
@JaySherman said:
The issue is that the game's population has dwindled into a group of people who are only logging in to harass the remaining staff and fight with each other. It has collected all the banned players from previous dead MU*s of the same theme, and they have decided to re-engage in their Hatfield-McCoy blood feuds. There is no RP here, only people who believe their hurt feelings demand someone be axed.
Pull the plug. They have no right to impose on other people like that. If they want to do that, they can go make their own game and hate each other there.
Yeah, dump it. If you like the genre enough, find some like-minded people, wait a few months and start again.
Normally I don't make accounts just to do this sort of thing, but in this case I feel like it's necessary. I played on JaySherman's game and I loved it except for one of the staffers who would privately message me sexually harassing comments. This staffer also had a very sour attitude and has a history of problematic behaviour towards other players. I told him to stop and he posted a massive bbpost accusing me of sexually harassing his family and making me out to be some kind of predator. JaySherman, the head staffer there, assured us all that she would talk to him about it but never did and decided that it was on us as the players to confront him about his crappy behaviour. Now instead of doing anything a head staffer should do, especially when their playerbase is at risk, JaySherman is just going to pull the plug on the game.
There is always more to the story then what you think, but knowing this, does this just make pulling the plug a better idea?
@whirlyturd said:
There is always more to the story then what you think, but knowing this, does this just make pulling the plug a better idea?
Yes.
I guess that's really the only option at this point though I admit I am a little hurt that the head staffer would try to paint the few remaining players there as some kind of bloodthirsty monsters that only enjoy harassing staffers when that couldn't be further from the truth.
At this point, it doesn't really matter which is the truth. The environment is toxic for someone, regardless.
Someones would be more appropriate, hence why so many people have left (citing both the head staffer and the problematic staffer as the reason.)
I know I am probably coming off as snarky but I'm just a little shaken up by all this and I'm extremely insulted and hurt that I would be talked about in such a way because I chose to leave following these events.
@whirlyturd said:
I played on JaySherman's game and I loved it except for one of the staffers who would privately message me sexually harassing comments.
At the risk of being told that I'm promoting rape culture, I would have recommended leaving the game a long time ago.
@whirlyturd said:
Someones would be more appropriate, hence why so many people have left (citing both the head staffer and the problematic staffer as the reason.)
I know I am probably coming off as snarky but I'm just a little shaken up by all this and I'm extremely insulted and hurt that I would be talked about in such a way because I chose to leave following these events.
"Someone" doesn't have a plural, which is why I didn't use it.
@Ganymede said:
@whirlyturd said:
I played on JaySherman's game and I loved it except for one of the staffers who would privately message me sexually harassing comments.
At the risk of being told that I'm promoting rape culture, I would have recommended leaving the game a long time ago.
It's not promoting rape culture; it's just a facet of avoiding harrassment. I would have suggested lodging the complaint, letting everyone know, providing the logs or whatever is necessary, and then getting the fuck out. You were just less explicit and more to the point.
I am not on board with the demand that @JaySherman turn over his/her game to someone else. If s/he wants to shut down the game s/he made? Why shouldn't s/he?
I am not overly concerned about the reasons or what have you but I don't think fair to expect someone to hand over their 'world' to someone else just because some players want it to stay open.
It is @JaySherman's game so whatever @JaySherman decides is up to him/her not the players. S/he COULD just hand it over to someone if that's what s/he wants to do but demanding that be done does not seem to be the way to go.
@JaySherman I have a clear response to your original question after reading some of the replies to your inquiry. Close the doors, board them up, spray paint "DONT DEAD OPEN INSIDE" on them and walk away. If for no other reason than to watch @NOTuseless go absolutely loony. So please, I implore you, shut this game down.
Wow, this thread has everything I've been missing from the older WORA. A stupidly vague "question" that was painfully obviously an attempt to fish for a specific answer. More obvious twists than an M. Night ShamalyouthinkImgoingtobotherlookinguphowtospellhislastnameareyounuts film. More "dark revelations" than a Springer episode. This has potential to be true entertainment at last!
@NOTuseless said:
If my wording made it appear I was demanding, that's not my problem…
Um… I'm pretty sure that by definition if your wording makes it appear that you mean something you don't intend that it is very much your problem.
When is it appropriate to close a game? Not just one that's dead and collecting dust - but one that still has players on it? IS it appropriate to close a game when there are still players on it? Have any of you had to put down a MU* like ol' Yeller?
