School Faction Discussion

[Ecocide]

IGN: Ecocide
DATE: 10/19/22

WHAT YOU WANT TO SUGGEST OR MENTION: School faction dying

HOW WILL THIS BENEFIT THE SERVER/COMMUNITY?: hopefully revive the school faction.

I wanted to post about it since it seems to be something everyone is talking about, but no one is trying to help fix it. The school faction is dwindling. I'm sure everyone has noticed the death of the college side while the high school side is currently thriving, with Imara and Rini spearheading the high school side with events that have active players attending those events. Both sides want to start another rivalry between schools, but that becomes impossible with the activity and leadership faction-wise.

With Spartans last event (the camping trip), the event was announced a week in advance for all teams, but no one showed up despite waiting for people. This led to the event being announced to the entire Spartan server outside just teams, which, even after that, not many bothered to show. Stuff like this is discouraging for people like Jayla, who are trying to make events but have no help or guidance.

Possible fixes to make the school faction seem more alive?

Maybe we could switch around the faction leads. I think a significant part of high school success is Maria's willingness to help out with every little thing Bobcats wish to do, something the Spartan leads aren't doing. Maybe switching faction leads around to different members of the staff team will help bring new ideas and better support, or making the teams' faction one faction again and just letting maria lead the whole thing, which would put a lot on Maria's shoulders.

You could also reset teams. Maybe it'll get more active players and bring more ideas, but I'm also aware that's something the player base despises, so it'll only cause drama and complaints for staff to deal with.

Maybe if the school needs more events, the council can be given back the power to create more events for the school. Some events might get repetitive, which isn't a bad thing! Players should be given a chance to experience events and activities older players got to have.

Maybe removing the limit on how many people can be accepted into college will bring new players so that way tryouts for the college side are more active and have new people. It is easier to get in as it is already being worked on, but maybe limiting players could also be a problem.

I want to open a discussion within this feedback to encourage the player base to help the staff team/community team with ideas on how they can fix this. So this isn't something you guys should be commenting "+1/-1/netrual"; just post your ideas on improving the current state of the school faction in your own words.

 

[zerie]

revives it

(the faction hasn't been the same since last year PLEASE!!)

 

[Demurity]

bring back 5/6 SLT

4 is nowhere nearly enough

 

[rinis]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE more school events. I'm so tired of hearing "we can't do that bc so and so did that a year ago". Especially in the rivalry sense. I want dances and more things to do at school! I want to see SLT supporting these events and being more active in their faction! I remember getting on college cheer in 2021 and I was SO HYPED for the sports banquet BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED AND I WAS SO UPSET!!! I swear, I'll take a bullet for Maria because whenever I need help she is AT. MY. SIDE. while when I was a spartan I felt like all my hard event planning and work went to nothing and it just made me want to do more events and lose complete and utter drive. I had no help!! I get like SLT have lives outside this and so I won't attack directly mainly bc there's no point in that either!

But I will say since becoming a Bobcat, I have received nothing but support from Maria and Bobcat's around me. But!! Even if my side is thriving, it's sad to see the other side not! How will rivalry work if the other team is inactive and boring?!?! Mar is constantly throwing ideas around with me (for those who don't know, he's the college cheer cap while I'm high school just for context) but sadly, he struggles even getting a decent turn out but he's doing LITERALLY EVERYTHING IM DOING so it makes no sense! But even before mar and even when I joined college cheer back in spring 2021, tryouts were dying. Not just cheer but all college sports and my best guess is that it has to do with exams. We're just not getting the numbers we use too maybe?!

Overall, I feel like this is something SLT needs to put more focus on. Its SchoolRP and the school part is struggling!

 

[lamby :3]

PLSPLSPLSPLS !!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE more school events. I'm so tired of hearing "we can't do that bc so and so did that a year ago". Especially in the rivalry sense. I want dances and more things to do at school! I want to see SLT supporting these events and being more active in their faction! I remember getting on college cheer in 2021 and I was SO HYPED for the sports banquet BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED AND I WAS SO UPSET!!! I swear, I'll take a bullet for Maria because whenever I need help she is AT. MY. SIDE. while when I was a spartan I felt like all my hard event planning and work went to nothing and it just made me want to do more events and lose complete and utter drive. I had no help!! I get like SLT have lives outside this and so I won't attack directly mainly bc there's no point in that either!

But I will say since becoming a Bobcat, I have received nothing but support from Maria and Bobcat's around me. But!! Even if my side is thriving, it's sad to see the other side not! How will rivalry work if the other team is inactive and boring?!?! Mar is constantly throwing ideas around with me (for those who don't know, he's the college cheer cap while I'm high school just for context) but sadly, he struggles even getting a decent turn out but he's doing LITERALLY EVERYTHING IM DOING so it makes no sense! But even before mar and even when I joined college cheer back in spring 2021, tryouts were dying. Not just cheer but all college sports and my best guess is that it has to do with exams. We're just not getting the numbers we use too maybe?!

Overall, I feel like this is something SLT needs to put more focus on. Its SchoolRP and the school part is struggling!

 

[Yume_]

Something I've always had interest in on SRP is player dynamics and player interests, and what concerns me most about this is the fact events are happening (little cute ones ran by Jayla) are struggling to pull people in. Not as many people are trying out either, and I haven't been able to pinpoint any specific cause. I don't want to derail the thread either, but I do want to ask all the people who are not on teams what are your interests in the school faction? Teams, events, social life etc

But back on the actual thread at hand, I think the school faction needs more mundane life to it. I may be the odd one out but I want silly mundane stuff. I love the horribly mundane and practically pointless announcements that go "good mawnin y'all we got breakfast out!" because it adds life to the school. (Kudos to whoever does it, I acknowledge you). Give me those boring events, we all know real life school IS boring. That's like a key element of it, lame school assemblies that tell you not to do drugs, spirit week, etc. I wish we could break away from realism as well, bring back the space fair! Lets send students to space with the levitation debuff again! The school needs to have stuff happen inside of it again, right now there's a few teachers and professors who draw in player attention and they are godsends. I'm talking about the Hallwards, and the cooking professor, etc. Let me hear someone argue over the radio and get fired ICly!!!! Let me see the faculty drama (if there is any) or maybe a councilor can go rogue and make an announcement to commence a watergun fight in the middle of December where everyone catches colds!

QUICK EDIT: Abandon realism for school events, obviously keep them in the realm of realism but don't be afraid to do something because "a real school wouldn't do that" because realism is a weak reasoning when we're working with fiction. SchoolRP is fiction, not historical fiction.

Another thing to highlight, right now the school has the lovely @Aania playing Satomi Kato, which is doing wonders for getting players excited and you know, involved. I love that I've seen so many new faces inside Hallward's classroom. I was literally BLOWN AWAY by the thread that theorizes about her.

I'm with Rini that it's fine to repeat events as long as you have some new ones in the mix too. I know I have a backlog of event ideas that are just difficult to pull off singlehandedly. Also, for all of you lurkers who read replies to these threads but aren't on a team/group and you want to be, try out! It's a super fun way to get into a roleplay group. (Also also, when players get involved with an event it makes the person who created the event excited to do more of them, just a pro tip)

(Also for events... I just want all you new college graduates to know I'm planning a graduation party for you guys. It just takes a lot more than I thought lol)

 

[barbs]

Maybe if the school needs more events, the council can be given back the power to create more events for the school. Some events might get repetitive, which isn't a bad thing!

this is exactly how i feel. the power to create events should not be restricted to just SLT, and in turn, they should put a little more faith in the groups that were designed to draw interest to the school faction. shaping the school into a more fun and engaging roleplay environment should be a shared effort between faculty, clubs, teams, council, and SLT.

+1

 

[will!]

Just this as a little suggestion, but ever since Tori was the School's Inspector, nobody else had acquired that role since, and I think it's a great way of reviving the roleplay inside the school, where the inspector can interview students, team members, and faculty for them to give in-character feedback that is well-developed and I think it's just another great way of motivating general roleplay inside of the school, it makes things more exciting and interesting and it could bring few changes or events to the school in-character, as well as things out-of-character too, but I think the use of the Inspector role had a lot of potential, and now it is rather wasted, which is quite sad to see in my opinion.

 

[HATOLA]

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY AS A TEACHER??????????
council/club faction is fine.

I think it's not only supposed to be in put only on the SLT hands, captains should have the option to host events like how clubs can do(with a prove of the faction lead)

 

[Latte]

Take this in a meaningful tone, not an angry one. This is a serious reply.

We had a minor chat about this between event team, more events in total. If you wanna make a big change, go to the leaders of the col teams, club leaders, council, faction lead, and professors. You want more events but don't offer a suffice for events. Go to these people with your ideas, events that might work, and what we can do to preform them. This is for everyone, not just the maker of this suggestion. Now, back to the suggestion; I'm not disagreeing with the entire thing, in fact, I have some things I agree with.

1st, I feel like sports are biased—not all, most. I'm putting that plain and simple because something has to change in that aspect, since that is why some teams are inactive. Yall, start being more inclusive - the world doesn't revolve around you. I could point people out, but I won't, because that's rude. 2nd, yes!! Council should be helping out with events!! But we should not entirely rely on them, they just gotta give a little push.

Alright, here's what I disagree with. Teams will never be nuked just to fix activity (on account of the faction leads) because then no one will want to join, that is up to the team leaders, which ties into my prior point. They will also definitely not switch around faction leads, they're doing fine as is. Number count. It's not a bad idea, but this could be heavily abused and could cause arguments among everyone (Spartans and more specifically, Bobcats) as people will see bias and blah blah blah. I don't think bringing the team faction back is needed, and Maria is pretty busy at the moment, but something does have to be done and I agree with that.

All in all? This is a player/community problem, not one for the staff. We've got to find a solution for the teams and I am sorry for responding to this like a +1/-1 but its just my response to your ideas. Tbh? Idk.

 

[Customable]

the council can be given back the power to create more events for the school.

they already do have this power, they just haven't planned anything major

Most dances and things are off the list but they can still create their own events, fundraiser, etc

 

[Tippie]

Neutral / +0.5

---

Whilst I do agree that the school factions are not like they used to be and things need to happen, it is good to note that this issue is not at fault by the current faction leaders as a whole, yes, we can try to put in an extraordinary amount of effort trying to make everyone happy and active in the faction, but we cannot look inside the brains of the community knowing what they would want. In fact, as college dean I have tried many many things to make the College faction more attractive, think of college only events, rivalry, team events, and go on.. But sadly none of what I said seemed spark the light:
- College only events: got some complaints from the council at that time, didn't finish it (definitely worth a second try one day soon)
- Rivalry: Really fun, tried to help all captains reboot it MANY times.. Never became what we wanted it to be..
- Team events: teams never came with events...

All problems above have one thing in common: Lack of community ideas.
So instead of saying school faction dead, leadership sucks. Start collaborating your ideas with the leadership creating greater things more fun for everyone (In the last 6 months or so I have only received like 2 DMs regarding event ideas or faction suggestions for college / sports AT ALL, so tell us what you want!!!).

---

bring back 5/6 SLT

yes i agree

You could also reset teams

We can try, but finding new suitable captains will be hell of a struggle, a bit chance that the teams will become worse than they already are.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE more school events.

Give us ideas and we will surely (help) host(ing) them!

captains should have the option to host events

They can do so if they wish, they just need to DM their respective lead.

All in all? This is a player/community problem, not one for the staff.

Agreed, but the community needs to know the leadership of these factions will accept their ideas and all.

 

[Ecocide]

All problems above have one thing in common: Lack of community ideas.

I agree 100% I'm hoping this discussion helps everyone in that sense

BE MORE CREATIVE SRP COMMUNITY

 

[rinis]

tippie brings up the BEST point of like the community should be more involved. maybe a solution can simply be finding captains and leads that take more of that initiative. captains should be in the spot to lead a team to be active, not just host practice 4 times a month but to be creating a fun environment for the team. i know I try to encourage like captains to reach out to me when I was a spartan for events just as I do now for bobcats! I want to give them that chance to reach out! So maybe holding captains to a higher standard? I mean if you don't have the time or effort to be a captain, then it should be given to someone who does.

I don't know, just an idea!

 

[Sean]

+1

Absolutely, I couldn’t have said it better. I don’t play much anymore but seeing activity rise with the teams is such a great feeling, and it encourages myself among others to join back onto the server. Things like rivalry and events keep the teams together and fuel character progression. Captains like Jayla actively make events and bond with their team, further engaging the team members to stay active and attend events. This is definitely the most important piece of feedback right now. Let’s bring the teams back to how they used to be!!!!!

 

[Nylu]

big +1

Also, with the complaints on the spartan team, I feel that this could possibly change within the next few weeks due to us having WAYYY more college students (no literally, like A LOT). time will tell

 

[Joe.exe]

+1
The Council faction is thriving, and I wish there was a little more activity for the Councillors to get involved, including me, of course!

 

[dorian]

+1

Was asked to give my input on this, so here I am. I've only been a college student for around a week now and have yet to witness the supposed lack of events, so I think my opinion on the student side can be largely negated. I am, however, a professor who genuinely enjoys engaging in the faction, which I think is where one of the main issues with the college side of SRP lies. With the fact that students are made to attend any class they can, it's a surprise to see that it's not just the out of school events that are being neglected, but the classes themselves. The majority of people apply to college for a reason, and they get accepted for a reason. They're not just people mundanely running around filling the time, they're looking to have actual interactions and to surround themselves with people who are as interested in writing and roleplaying as they are. Their attentiveness comes to a halt when they're greeted by classes in which they're meant to sit around and listen, where acting out and trying to engage in a scene can land them in detention. The most important thing in the faction, and the first thing I say to every new member when asked, is to keep your classes engaging. It shouldn't a lecture, but instead a twenty-five minute writing opportunity for each and every member of the class to engage with. It's not too difficult to accomplish, if anyone's ever attended one of Hallward's classes you'll know that I really do leave the heavy lifting up to the students. All you have to do is give them something to work with! Karakura's an interesting town, to say the least, and the people that inhabit it are usually just itching to tell their stories. With something like that in the back of your mind, classes can go from lectures in which engagement is few and far between to interactions that range far outside of your allotted class time. You've got to play to your strengths. The focus should always be on the students, not actually having them learn something, we do enough of that in our time outside of SRP. Shifting the focus of classes, which are the most prominent reoccurring thing in a college student's life, is what I believe can and will bring life back to the faction.

I'd also like to note another small tidbit, something that doesn't entirely involve college students but still something that I think is incredibly important; the rejection of high school students in college classes, and vice versa, especially when no classes for their respective years are being hosted. I'd hope that a majority of people are on SRP because they enjoy writing, and discouraging those who are committed enough to seek out running classes just feels like a general hindrance. With that being said, Speech & Debate classes are always open to any student or staff member (or adult, if you find clearance) in Karakura. Stop on by, if you're so inclined.

Alright, enough of my rambling. These are just my own thoughts and opinions on the topic, things such as lectures or periods in which students remain to themselves can and have been well done, and I'm not fully disagreeing with their place in the school. I think the faction can easily be one of the most rewarding if you play your cards right, plus it's always nice to have students fully engaged in your classes. Gahhhhh

 

[Infi]

Make me slt ez fix

(But fr +1)

 

[Mariav]

Honestly, I am so happy with the bobcats finally rising up after all this time and I would lie if I say that this is because of me. The whole reason for the Bobcat's recent activity is that the captains are now active and instead of just talking about their ideas, they go there and make it happen. Yes, I support them and whatever they need they know my DMs are always open for it, but so do the other factions. Back when I had the Sports/Students faction I couldn't handle it. I'm so glad Tippie and Customable took over the other parts and made great work out of it (better than I could ever do), that's why we can't blame everything on SLT. Exactly as Tippie said, we are lacking in the community going there and being part of the events, ideas, and everything else. Hosting school events was something I always did and really like to do, but I cannot make it on my own. I'm glad now I have the support of the Event Team and I can assure you I'll be helping out every Spartan event Jayla or anyone else suggests because I also want to see that part more alive and more events for the community.

As a player, previous college captain, and college student myself, I will be honest and say that I've lost interest in the Spartans a long time ago. I don't know what is everyone's reasons right now to be moving to HS, but mine at the time was that I was simply tired of the RP's I was getting to. For a good while now I thought the Spartans had the same things over and over again, with nothing new happening. Maybe I am wrong but that was the feeling that made me quit football captain and start focusing on other areas on the server.

4 is nowhere nearly enough

Agreed 100%

I'm so tired of hearing "we can't do that bc so and so did that a year ago".

SAME. Honestly, I don't care about "we did this event before, it's not fun to host". If the community has fun with it what are some hours of preparations compared to them being satisfied and happy about the events?

So maybe holding captains to a higher standard? I mean if you don't have the time or effort to be a captain, then it should be given to someone who does.

I agree that captains have to be like that, that's what I look for every time I have to pick one