There has been some discussion on the forums about a desire for more information as to what an event is about so that an individual can decide whether to attend, what gear to bring, or if you have enough time to see the event through to the end.
There have also been some good points made for not giving out *too much* information; indeed! Also, we don't always know beforehand how many will attend an event and how an event will go -- they sometimes end up very different from what was envisioned -- and sometimes it is desired to keep a certain element of surprise.
So, how to balance the need for information and the information that can be reliably given? Of course the information given should be as accurate as we can make it, yet if it is too vague the information is useless...
We thought about this and came up with a way to, perhaps, give out the information with the least disturbance for the "hardcore RP" type, while still useful for the "will there be fighting?!??!1" crowd :)
The method we have in mind would include a line at the bottom of every event announcement like this:
Content hint: <status>/<activity>/<estimated duration>
The meanings of the fields are:
status = official/unofficial/player
This specifies whether it is an official Ryzom event, an unofficial event from the Events team, or a player run/organized event.
activity = low/medium/high
How "active" the event is; low would indicate a low degree of player participation, for example, "sitting and talking", while high would indicate a high degree of participation, like intense fighting.
estimated duration = short/average/long/unspecified/n.a.
An indication of the time we expect the event to last. This is difficult to reflect accurately as most events depend on how the interaction proceeds and how well the participants react and organise. "Short" events are expected to last less than 30 minutes; "average", 30 mins to 1 hour; "long" over 1 hour; "unspecified" means that there is no way to predict the duration with any accuracy; "n.a." means a self guided or persistant event.
At this moment, this proposal is just that; a proposal. We are interested in what you think of this and if there is anything we can do to improve on this system.
There have also been some good points made for not giving out *too much* information; indeed! Also, we don't always know beforehand how many will attend an event and how an event will go -- they sometimes end up very different from what was envisioned -- and sometimes it is desired to keep a certain element of surprise.
So, how to balance the need for information and the information that can be reliably given? Of course the information given should be as accurate as we can make it, yet if it is too vague the information is useless...
We thought about this and came up with a way to, perhaps, give out the information with the least disturbance for the "hardcore RP" type, while still useful for the "will there be fighting?!??!1" crowd :)
The method we have in mind would include a line at the bottom of every event announcement like this:
Content hint: <status>/<activity>/<estimated duration>
The meanings of the fields are:
status = official/unofficial/player
This specifies whether it is an official Ryzom event, an unofficial event from the Events team, or a player run/organized event.
activity = low/medium/high
How "active" the event is; low would indicate a low degree of player participation, for example, "sitting and talking", while high would indicate a high degree of participation, like intense fighting.
estimated duration = short/average/long/unspecified/n.a.
An indication of the time we expect the event to last. This is difficult to reflect accurately as most events depend on how the interaction proceeds and how well the participants react and organise. "Short" events are expected to last less than 30 minutes; "average", 30 mins to 1 hour; "long" over 1 hour; "unspecified" means that there is no way to predict the duration with any accuracy; "n.a." means a self guided or persistant event.
At this moment, this proposal is just that; a proposal. We are interested in what you think of this and if there is anything we can do to improve on this system.
---
Onavar Event Manager