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SiegeRPG
So to start off, let me give you some background information.
I am 19, and I started my current server in February of this year. The server is completely customized, spanning from the mobs players fight, to the drops they drop, to the maps they play on, and the items they use. I would even go as for to say that It’s a budget Wynn Craft. This server is my life for the moment. I work on it every moment I can, I spend at least 6 hours a day working on the server. In the beginning stages I worked a concerning amount of 10+ hours a day. I am passionate about my server.
The server is in its later stages of beta development and I’ve been looking for ways to bring it to the attention of more people. I have already tried a number of things; posting on Reddit and Planet Minecraft, setting up voting websites, and sharing shout-outs with other small server owners like me.
My recent problems mostly concern my inability to bring my current development teams to help work on the server. I do have a select few who carry everyone else's work load, but I don't want that to continue. The inactive staff don't respond to my DM's and haven't helped in the past few months. The obvious answer would be to kick them out and find new people to fill them in, but I've already done 3 or 4 cycles of that. I believe the issue is that I'm not cultivating as much of a fun environment for my volunteers as I should be. How does one do this?
I hope that people can share their inspiring and helpful advice below!
If you are interested in checking out the server, the server IP is play.SiegeRPG.net
My questions are:
I am 19, and I started my current server in February of this year. The server is completely customized, spanning from the mobs players fight, to the drops they drop, to the maps they play on, and the items they use. I would even go as for to say that It’s a budget Wynn Craft. This server is my life for the moment. I work on it every moment I can, I spend at least 6 hours a day working on the server. In the beginning stages I worked a concerning amount of 10+ hours a day. I am passionate about my server.
The server is in its later stages of beta development and I’ve been looking for ways to bring it to the attention of more people. I have already tried a number of things; posting on Reddit and Planet Minecraft, setting up voting websites, and sharing shout-outs with other small server owners like me.
My recent problems mostly concern my inability to bring my current development teams to help work on the server. I do have a select few who carry everyone else's work load, but I don't want that to continue. The inactive staff don't respond to my DM's and haven't helped in the past few months. The obvious answer would be to kick them out and find new people to fill them in, but I've already done 3 or 4 cycles of that. I believe the issue is that I'm not cultivating as much of a fun environment for my volunteers as I should be. How does one do this?
I hope that people can share their inspiring and helpful advice below!
If you are interested in checking out the server, the server IP is play.SiegeRPG.net
My questions are:
1. What are the most effective ways to advertise with little or no cost?
2. How are RPG servers able to retain players?
3. How does a successful owner collect a talented group of individuals to help run the server?
4. How does a successful owner keep staff, developers, and builders in check? (Keep them active)
5. Any other advice you could give to me?
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1. It's my belief that exposure on PMC is still worth more than most server lists, so maintaining a thread and posting here is a start. Otherwise it's a difficult question. True exposure is often luck, or getting the right people to see it (first obvious answer, a serious YouTuber). Essentially both. Snaring in the few with potential is wise, even if you might need to chase a little to acquire them.
2. They're not flavor of the month, but I would say a good formula is the key. By that, a relatively gripping idea and doing it decently. Coherent vision, etc. There's not much else to go for except to say, keep the gameplay flexible enough that there's enough to do even with nobody else on, and refine the feedback loop. Don't just add more, but integrate it more cleanly into the 'starting experience', where you are aware of how it works as a player from start to finish. They will notice unpolished details. Not always care, but it's a chance.
3. Much in the way of players, including dedicated advertising clearly written by someone who knows what they want, but also can reasonably negotiate. A lot of this is also interpersonal contact and getting someone 'in your camp' beyond flat advertising, which helps build that culture from the start.
4. Typically there is a deep comradere and a bit of baked in culture with teams that see success. If you are not in the thicket with the team and people are being left behind, there is no culture. Ideally in my mind there are persistent tasks and persistent goals, and you as the manager are aware of what each individual can do in a given time period and expect based on what they report. If they're unreliable from there is your problem, but the first otus is keeping on top and not letting them slip into nothingness. Eventually this comes to the blunt question 'are you still in, or nah'. It's not a job, but it can be run better than ad-hoc.
5. It's a long road, especially if you have the Big Dream. Hard work doesn't pay off. Good opportunism and work in the right place do. The right place changes by the market (I myself have been out too long to really know the key here either) and the details differ from person to person. Success comes with the adaptable leader who doesn't think too hard, but does give everything in his sight a good think regardless.
All rambling bits of wis-dicism, but maybe there's a nugget in there to help. Might look at the server later.
2. They're not flavor of the month, but I would say a good formula is the key. By that, a relatively gripping idea and doing it decently. Coherent vision, etc. There's not much else to go for except to say, keep the gameplay flexible enough that there's enough to do even with nobody else on, and refine the feedback loop. Don't just add more, but integrate it more cleanly into the 'starting experience', where you are aware of how it works as a player from start to finish. They will notice unpolished details. Not always care, but it's a chance.
3. Much in the way of players, including dedicated advertising clearly written by someone who knows what they want, but also can reasonably negotiate. A lot of this is also interpersonal contact and getting someone 'in your camp' beyond flat advertising, which helps build that culture from the start.
4. Typically there is a deep comradere and a bit of baked in culture with teams that see success. If you are not in the thicket with the team and people are being left behind, there is no culture. Ideally in my mind there are persistent tasks and persistent goals, and you as the manager are aware of what each individual can do in a given time period and expect based on what they report. If they're unreliable from there is your problem, but the first otus is keeping on top and not letting them slip into nothingness. Eventually this comes to the blunt question 'are you still in, or nah'. It's not a job, but it can be run better than ad-hoc.
5. It's a long road, especially if you have the Big Dream. Hard work doesn't pay off. Good opportunism and work in the right place do. The right place changes by the market (I myself have been out too long to really know the key here either) and the details differ from person to person. Success comes with the adaptable leader who doesn't think too hard, but does give everything in his sight a good think regardless.
All rambling bits of wis-dicism, but maybe there's a nugget in there to help. Might look at the server later.
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Hello!
First of all, thank you for the amount of detail you crafted into your response. It means a lot that you care about the wisdom you gave.
I stand by each point you mentioned. I find that most of the players who join the server are from Planet Minecraft or are friends of the current community. Shout-outs and server listings (except Planet Minecraft) have done little to help. Each of them require a higher standing to even get a couple players in the door. In my roadmap of Siege's advertisement sector I note the idea of creating Tik Tok videos to bring more players in. What do you think of this idea?
To respond to your second point, I believe that I do present a clear, consistent goal to the player. The core concept of the server is simple; collect materials by breaking blocks and killing mobs to craft stronger gear that you can use to collect more materials. Compounded on this idea are some of the other features players can enjoy:
I believe that volunteers I find should be from my community where I already have an established relationship. However, the issue is about 1/10th of my discord community has been a staff member at some point. It was due to my inability to keep them interested in development that most slipped away.
One of the critical reason why I lost staff was because of my inconsistency with scheduling and maintaining workflow. Sometimes I forget a meeting, and sometimes it's because people haven't shown up to previous meetings. For example, I hosted weekly staff meetings where everyone was debriefed on what we accomplished in the past week, and what we would be working on next week. After we would play Hypixel, scribbl.io, or another game together. Each week attendance dropped by 2-3. By the fourth meeting only two people showed up. This was in July.
I share this with you to show that I am trying and I realize that with your advice I can shape up my staff team so that their initial excitement of working for Siege will last them throughout their time on the team.
Your last answer gives me some thought. I believe I do work too hard. I am practically all over the place doing the jobs that my teams should be doing. There was a time when the staff team was active enough to work in groups on projects, and voluntarily drop into voice calls to work together. The reason why that activity dropped was because I decided that they didn't do a good enough of a job, and took it upon myself to do it. That is what I have been doing since.
I have a meeting with my staff tomorrow, and we will be re-writing our roadmap of goals we want to accomplish. My question to you is, if the code the developers produce or the builds the builders create are not high enough quality, how should I respond?
Again, thank you for the response.
I appreciate the wisdom and I have learned much from you.
- Wrys (discord tag is Wrys#8935)
First of all, thank you for the amount of detail you crafted into your response. It means a lot that you care about the wisdom you gave.
I stand by each point you mentioned. I find that most of the players who join the server are from Planet Minecraft or are friends of the current community. Shout-outs and server listings (except Planet Minecraft) have done little to help. Each of them require a higher standing to even get a couple players in the door. In my roadmap of Siege's advertisement sector I note the idea of creating Tik Tok videos to bring more players in. What do you think of this idea?
To respond to your second point, I believe that I do present a clear, consistent goal to the player. The core concept of the server is simple; collect materials by breaking blocks and killing mobs to craft stronger gear that you can use to collect more materials. Compounded on this idea are some of the other features players can enjoy:
- Dungeons
- Fishing
- PvP Arena
- Item Quality (items have a certain percentage that denotes how strong of a version it is. Ex. A 50% Uncommon Shank is weaker than a 100% Legendary Shank)
I believe that volunteers I find should be from my community where I already have an established relationship. However, the issue is about 1/10th of my discord community has been a staff member at some point. It was due to my inability to keep them interested in development that most slipped away.
One of the critical reason why I lost staff was because of my inconsistency with scheduling and maintaining workflow. Sometimes I forget a meeting, and sometimes it's because people haven't shown up to previous meetings. For example, I hosted weekly staff meetings where everyone was debriefed on what we accomplished in the past week, and what we would be working on next week. After we would play Hypixel, scribbl.io, or another game together. Each week attendance dropped by 2-3. By the fourth meeting only two people showed up. This was in July.
I share this with you to show that I am trying and I realize that with your advice I can shape up my staff team so that their initial excitement of working for Siege will last them throughout their time on the team.
Your last answer gives me some thought. I believe I do work too hard. I am practically all over the place doing the jobs that my teams should be doing. There was a time when the staff team was active enough to work in groups on projects, and voluntarily drop into voice calls to work together. The reason why that activity dropped was because I decided that they didn't do a good enough of a job, and took it upon myself to do it. That is what I have been doing since.
I have a meeting with my staff tomorrow, and we will be re-writing our roadmap of goals we want to accomplish. My question to you is, if the code the developers produce or the builds the builders create are not high enough quality, how should I respond?
Again, thank you for the response.
I appreciate the wisdom and I have learned much from you.
- Wrys (discord tag is Wrys#8935)
