Treefrog Toadhopper
12-05-2009, 01:57 PM
It seems to me that we are in a chicken and egg situation with regard to our boss runs - we need to get the word out about our new schedule for the runs to be successful, but we need the runs to be successful while we are in the process of getting the word out. I have a selfish interest in this because I like the idea of having more choices for boss runs, and I don't think I am the only one.
I have thought and still think that it's just a matter of people finding out about us, but I also worry it will take too long and that at least some of what they find out about us now is that our runs are hit or miss. Last night, after only three of us showed up for the 11:15 ceo run, I came up with an idea that I'll summarize here to find out if it seems doable. This will take a while - my apologies in advance for the long post.
First some arithmetic. We have 23 runs in each boss per week for a total of 92 runs. I'm going to arbitrarily state as a premise that it takes four good toons for a successful (and by that I mean everyone dances AND it takes a reasonable amount of time for that to happen) vp or cfo and six toons for a successful cj or ceo. Yes, I know they can be done with fewer and that those are often the most fun, but I'm talking about the kind of run that a casual player will not run away from.
So 92 runs - half with four toons and half with six, average of five. That's a total of 460 toons needed to assure that every run can happen as scheduled.
My suggestion is this - we get volunteers to "own" those 460 positions. You commit to showing up for 2 or 6 or 20 runs every week for as long as it takes to make our runs credible - whatever you are comfortable with. For example, I'm not a real heavy duty player - maybe two hours a night and an hour more or less in small pieces during the day. I can comfortably commit to one of each boss per week, which is four of the 460 slots - maybe I can handle five or six. I have a friend that I am pretty sure will do the same. So already we are 2% of the way there before we even start.
A word about commitment - we won't all make everything we sign up for. Though I play late at night, there are some nights that sleep deprivation catches up to me and I just go down for the count. I don't plan it, it just happens. If that happens to be one of my nights, then I will miss. Or maybe there will be other reasons - travel or whatever. If we know about them in advance we can cover for each other, but if it's just an "I forgot" or whatever, there is still a chance enough will show that it doesn't matter. And if the run doesn't happen, then we are no worse off than we are now.
Another minor point - if the only toons who show up are the ones who have adopted the slot, they can agree among themselves not to do the run - no harm done.
Finally, I would suggest that we appoint a run reporter for each group. I have never done run reports, but I'd volunteer to learn for one or two of the runs I "own". A thread full of good reports will also help to publicize our runs.
If this idea gets discussed and we decide to move ahead with it in some form or other, it will require some organization - specifically, keeping track of who owns what and what slots remain unfilled. I volunteer to take on that task if we get to that point.
That's it. Comments and suggestions are welcome. No point in volunteering until something happens, though I suppose it would be useful to get some idea of the numbers that could be filled from those who would be willing to do something like this. If we can marshall the resources to make this (or something like it) work, then almost 100% of our runs will happen as scheduled.
I have thought and still think that it's just a matter of people finding out about us, but I also worry it will take too long and that at least some of what they find out about us now is that our runs are hit or miss. Last night, after only three of us showed up for the 11:15 ceo run, I came up with an idea that I'll summarize here to find out if it seems doable. This will take a while - my apologies in advance for the long post.
First some arithmetic. We have 23 runs in each boss per week for a total of 92 runs. I'm going to arbitrarily state as a premise that it takes four good toons for a successful (and by that I mean everyone dances AND it takes a reasonable amount of time for that to happen) vp or cfo and six toons for a successful cj or ceo. Yes, I know they can be done with fewer and that those are often the most fun, but I'm talking about the kind of run that a casual player will not run away from.
So 92 runs - half with four toons and half with six, average of five. That's a total of 460 toons needed to assure that every run can happen as scheduled.
My suggestion is this - we get volunteers to "own" those 460 positions. You commit to showing up for 2 or 6 or 20 runs every week for as long as it takes to make our runs credible - whatever you are comfortable with. For example, I'm not a real heavy duty player - maybe two hours a night and an hour more or less in small pieces during the day. I can comfortably commit to one of each boss per week, which is four of the 460 slots - maybe I can handle five or six. I have a friend that I am pretty sure will do the same. So already we are 2% of the way there before we even start.
A word about commitment - we won't all make everything we sign up for. Though I play late at night, there are some nights that sleep deprivation catches up to me and I just go down for the count. I don't plan it, it just happens. If that happens to be one of my nights, then I will miss. Or maybe there will be other reasons - travel or whatever. If we know about them in advance we can cover for each other, but if it's just an "I forgot" or whatever, there is still a chance enough will show that it doesn't matter. And if the run doesn't happen, then we are no worse off than we are now.
Another minor point - if the only toons who show up are the ones who have adopted the slot, they can agree among themselves not to do the run - no harm done.
Finally, I would suggest that we appoint a run reporter for each group. I have never done run reports, but I'd volunteer to learn for one or two of the runs I "own". A thread full of good reports will also help to publicize our runs.
If this idea gets discussed and we decide to move ahead with it in some form or other, it will require some organization - specifically, keeping track of who owns what and what slots remain unfilled. I volunteer to take on that task if we get to that point.
That's it. Comments and suggestions are welcome. No point in volunteering until something happens, though I suppose it would be useful to get some idea of the numbers that could be filled from those who would be willing to do something like this. If we can marshall the resources to make this (or something like it) work, then almost 100% of our runs will happen as scheduled.