loner/pack problem!

[kerrighor]

anyu needs adeas on how to get people to join packs! because look at them D: i mean really, what's wrong with you people? -cough- anyway. a list of ideas me, chels, and avril had follows. if other people have ideas, throw em out there.

• stones for joining. we've done this before, but it didn't really have much effect. did people just not know, or what?
  
  
• fines. if you have more than one loner, you get stones taken every month from one of your accounts. just until the pack levels are higher
  
  
• ban. which is harder, since you have to leave both pack and rank e.mpty in your form. but still, before you are approved you have to join a pack so we can monitor it that way.
  
  
• buy it. if you want a loner you have to buy it from the store. all approved wolves should be joining a pack off the bat, no one should just be wandering around.
  
  
• blocks. if you have a loner you can't buy things from the store for that account. just until the pack numbers get higher.
  
  
• trade. if you make a wolf and have then in a pack, then you can make a loner.
  
  
• fun stuff. make it more interesting to join packs! make it common knowledge that these two packs are friendly, this one is trying to take land from this one, etc etc.
  
  
• plot device. make it so some migration causes the prey to move from loner to pack lands. or have it so lakes are poisoned or something as dramatic. this one is more farefetched, but it would force people to move their wovles to packs.

[pistolkiss]

I'm not an enormous fan of the fines, or the blocks, simply because punishing people for their character is a little harsh, no matter how limited the time. x) They'd probably be the most effective (for new members), but what happens when you can no longer afford your loner? Are you forced into a pack when you run out of stones?

The plot devices seem a little shaky to me--you're probably more likely to kill a wolf than force it into a pack. xD

I love love love the trades, the purchasing idea and the stones for joining. And of course, fun stuff is never a downside.

[c h e ℓ s !]

We're not trying to punish anyone for making their character, we're just getting ideas out there to figure out how to persuade people to join packs. Basically every member on this site, aside from a handful, are just wandering. I agree with the fine thing, I'm not really sure how we'd go about that, these ideas still need some revising, but we just posted them here to get some feedback, and get some additional ideas.

Thanks for your feedback, by the way :]. We need to figure out what our current members would like for encouragement, and what would encourage new members to join the packs. x]

[[A.n.y.u]]

Good ideas, luffs. I like them. Well, with the exception of bans and such. I can understand banning males or females, but I don't want to ban loners. That just makes things far too complicated.

Anyways, I have one idea to run by everyone.

What if there were a lottery each month available to those with wolves who are members of packs (a friend of mine suggested this)?

Here's an example of what I mean:

Say that none of my wolves are pack wolves just yet. Then Rostyn forms his pack, and that makes him a pack wolf. So, my name is entered into a drawing. Then Myu joins up with the new leader of Glacier pack and becomes a pack wolf. My name is entered again. So, my name is in the drawing twice. At the end of the month a name is drawn from a hat (or something) and the winner is given a prize. The next month it happens again. However, once you've joined a pack with your wolf, then your name is included in ever drawing until your wolf leaves the pack.



Of course, if that idea isn't appealing, we could combine other ideas. And we do need to provide descriptions of the packs and what they are up to so that it can be more interesting for people to join. I will start taking care of that now. Of course, packs need members in order to do things like steal territory or something.

Speaking of stealing territory, I do have another incentive for members to join packs. When a pack reaches a certain amount of members it is allowed to expand it's territory (claim new territory). This is an idea that Mutt and I played with a while back, but the packs were never really large enough to put that in motion. If the packs were to grow, then they could add subboards to their boards (packs can steal territory from other packs whenever they like, though that's not really out in the open).

[mutt]

Since you so nicely listed them, I'll list my thoughts on each; it makes sense, somehow~

stones for joining - I like this. Maybe it could be an allowance? If your wolf is in a pack, that account gets a certain number of stones per whatever block of time we set out. This idea could go farther, since those numbers could possibly go up or down, depending on the wolf's position in the pack (that would provide incentives to move up in the ranks, at least that's what I'm thinking)

fines/bans/blocks - I'm not sure I like these ideas. In theory, they're not too bad, but as soon as you start trying to make them practical, they stop working so well. What if someone buys things for the account before they make their character, just to get around the block? That wouldn't be fair to others, who didn't think of that. I agree with what others have said about these as well. I'd much rather have something positive pushing me into a pack than feel like I'm being bullied into it.

buy it - This sounds okay, but again, I don't think I would like feeling like I had to do something. What if my wolf doesn't want to join a pack right away, but I plan for him to eventually? It would limit players' options quite a bit, plot-wise, if we did this, since I certainly wouldn't want to buy a loner just to have a bit of extra plot before he joined a pack; it would be a waste of stones for me.

trade - I'm not sure how I feel about this, but that might be a fair deal.

fun stuff - I'm totally for this. I'll even start up a pack planning thread, for the alphas to plot in. I also need to touch up Kintla's rules and such, since Laya's changed quite a bit now that Malady's in her life again ._.; -bad for forgetting that- Still, I can see Laya having some part in future pack drama.

Another note for this one: Tok is a troublemaker. He isn't interested in joining a pack for security, but he'll definitely be hopping around and starting some troubles, so I can see some problems starting because of him.

plot device - I dunno if I love this, but it could be interesting. How would we implement them, though? I do agree with Cat; we'd be more likely to kill a wolf than force it into a pack.

lottery - I like this idea! -skitters off to suggest prizes-

stealing land - Obviously I like this one, since I suggested it xD But it would definitely be fun, and I know for sure that Laya would love to get her paws on something besides rocks and water!