We currently have a lot of dispatches (you can see a full index here). I think we can cut these down to focus on getting new players oriented with our community.
My main goals here are to simplify our dispatch system, focus our dispatches on getting people involved with the things they’re interested in, and get people to check out the forums (where a whole welcome wizard is ready for them).
So here’s what I need from you as staffers right now:
If any of these materials look interesting to you, feel free to start writing them! Just let everyone here know what you’re working on so we don’t duplicate work (though also feel free to make arrangements among yourselves to work collaboratively if you prefer).
Yes, yes, and yes! I’m very supportive of simplifying the dispatch system, but in general, simplifying the region for new players. It can be overwhelming, so having an easy-to-read and easy-to-find go-to starter dispatch is extremely vital, in my opinion.
Oh and also I love the map visual, so thanks Pronoun for making it
I think it is a good idea, and the flow chart will definitely aid in our understanding of the process we should follow.
I think that any dispatch creation we do should be as brief as possible (and spoilers at the ready for more in-depth info should the reader want to read it).
The potentially revamped mentor system could/should be tailored to each area of the flow chart that the reader claims an interest in (for instance, if someone wants to roleplay, then a roleplay person should be at the ready and not another non-roleplay person).
Lastly, I think it is vital that we treat the dispatchs as if we made it from the perspective of a new player. The first step shouldn’t be “what brings you to NS?” “Is it Legislating, R/D, WA drafting, Roleplay, or etc.”. Nearly every time, a new player joined because they wanted to use a nation simulator. They only just discovered that you could do many, many more things with the nation. Perhaps telling them that there are other things they could try is enough.
Later on, we (if a good enough infrastructure is developed) could touch base again with them (perhaps after a week or two) and ask them if they have any questions or want to get involved (since they have now had a chance to explore for themselves what the game is all about.
Feel free to keep the comments rolling in, and/or to incorporate those ideas into drafts for these materials! I’ll start writing too in the next couple of days (just waiting for my finals to blow over) but in the meantime feel free to call dibs on anything that looks interesting to you
I’d cover some basic information to orient new players with our regional community (since up to this point, they probably have only seen NationStates described as a game where they can create their own nation) and then appeal to their particular interests. Other considerations like endorsing the Delegate/Coral Guard can go there too, but I think even those are made more appealing with a bit of context.
As promised! Here’s a first draft of a new welcome dispatch to pin on our WFE.
Comments, feedback, criticism, and edits are all welcome in equal measure — everyone with the link can comment. Message me privately (here or on Discord, whichever you prefer) with your email address to get editing access!
Please add whatever you’re working on into the folder. I strongly encourage everyone to take a stab at whatever they’re interested in. Rough or incomplete drafts are okay! Any draft is better than no draft
Lovely comments ! Certainly plenty of constructive criticism to consider. I’ll claw out some free time to do some more comprehensive revision, and after that, I think it may be worth releasing a draft publicly if you all are on board with that.
One of the common threads I saw in our brainstorm was the value of engaging with players through our community rather than just dispatches or other static content. Many of the ideas brought up there, such as promoting the forums, encouraging mentorship, or involvement in roleplay, revolve around bringing players into the community so that they can interact with, play alongside, and learn from existing community members.
In that spirit, I’m not too sure anymore about how many more dispatches we really need aside from this one. I could be convinced otherwise, but it’s not clear to me that those ‘more information’ links would provide that much more useful content. After all, if readers have questions, they can just hop onto our forums or Discord server, and that seems more in line with our overall engagement strategy anyway.
How do you all feel about that? I know I’ve just given my take, but feel free to love it, hate it, or anywhere in between
It’s been a minute — I’ll get the current text formatted and sent to the public in the next few days, so if you have any further comments/suggestions/edits/etc. now’s the time!
Unless anyone here has more comments, I’ll likely raise the idea of just a single dispatch (at least for now) with that public request for comment. But feel free to (and please do) speak up if you see things another way
Echoing what Evinea said, it looks good. I like how straightforward, simple, and reasonable the dispatch looks.
I’d also like to apologize. I could have been way more helpful during this period however due to an emergency, that didn’t happen. I’d call it a New Year’s resolution – being more helpful and active in this particular ministry.
Just a heads-up that in the interest of keeping a faster feedback loop (and since I have the free time on hand at the moment), I’ll be releasing revisions to the new dispatch directly to the public topic. Feel free to voice any questions, comments, or criticism either here or in the public topic; and feel free to keep editing the document with your own ideas as well!