Guilds/zFree/Zfree Tale 8 Planning

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In Tale 7 the zfree elders worked hard early on to set up zfree. We expanded quickly and became a large guild of over 150 members! The collaborative way that guild members work together is amazing, and has helped us be pretty successful. Our guild has most importantly become a social hub for members to share being part of this unique community.

As we get close to the end of this tale we need to think about getting going again for Tale 8. Your thoughts about what worked, and could be done better would be very welcome!

There are some starter questions below, to get things going, based around some key topics. Feel free to add whatever else you think is needed.

If you are not confident updating the wiki, please personal chat me <cate> or any of the zfree elders in game and we can post your comments for you.

In the beginning

1. In the beginning: the small group of founder elders used the initial 24 hours to scout for a location and set about establishing the guild headquarters and initial compounds.

• Any thoughts about location next tale? Should we aim for somewhere closer or further out from the centre?

Any closer, and you may have problems with the size the guild buildings get. 
Any further away, and it starts to get troublesome to get between guild and the centre. 
I think the guild location was just right in tale 7. Silden 07:53, 24 July 2017 (EST)

• Camp layout - How can we better manage pollution and lag?

Camel Pens and Greenhouses - need to leave a bigger space, as we ran out and had to rebuild in tale 7. 
Of note, we need to remember to keep space for drying straw, as that was an after-thought this tale. 

Brick production, need to have it closer to mud and sand, 
and further away from the trees in case  pollution mechanism in tale 8 is similar to tale 7. 

Glass production, need to be closer to sand (we had to get camp decoration to put some in during tale 7). 

Space out the chemistry, rock, and cafe compounds a little more, as when small warehouses went up, 
it started to get cramped very quickly. 

Chemistry building needs to be bigger next time, as it ended up feeling claustrophobic in that compound.

Kitchens, tale 7 had two groups (MPs and everything else), tale 8 I suggest three groups 
(one for sink/dex/end, one for other dishes, one for MPs)

When placing 'ponds', need to weigh up the benefits of having more watermines with the negative that 
they impede getting between buildings easily.

Need to 'reserve' space near the flax houses to allow flax growing.

Space out the warehouses rather than having them all stacked next to each other 
as it gets harder to quickly know exactly which warehouse you need.  

Location of doors on compounds needs to be better considered, as we had problems this tale 
with doors preventing proper expansion of buildings. Silden 07:53, 24 July 2017 (EST)

• Do we grow slowly by invitation, or quickly and ask member to help provide the resources to make that possible?

Asking members to help has the effect of both helping the guild grow quickly
and help players feel like they are a big part of the guild Silden 07:53, 24 July 2017 (EST)

• How should we manage the membership and access equitably?

• We are anticipating there will be lots of lovely players wanting to join us again next tale.

How big should we aim to be?

How do we go about getting stuff together fast enough to meet expectations?

Do we have a 'joining contribution' again to cover guild expansion costs?

Having people contribute boards and bricks helps in the early part of the game
When full, keep one space free so that applications can continue to be taken
Keep applications open, players should not see a "Closed" sign.  Silden 07:53, 24 July 2017 (EST)

Do we establish teams to focus in on the key priorities like animals, flax, bricks, metals?

From personal experience, in the past I wanted to help, but I couldn't just say "Yes,
I'll help do X building" because it would involve something I'm no good at (for example, 
a building that needs a cut gem). As a result, I didn't get involved with it at all. 
I had to wait until someone discussed making something I was good at, and I thought
"I can chip in there", and break the ice, help make some of the component parts, and find
that I'm now well and truly involved. I'm sure I'm not alone feeling like that! 

Someone might not mind making end products like nails and bars, but don't like 
getting ores or not be able to make charcoal. Another player may love the challenge of 
getting ore or found how to make lots of charcoal quickly and easily, but hate turning it 
into metals. So to say "you're on the animals team, start building the farm" may not
necessarily be the best answer. Silden 07:53, 24 July 2017 (EST)

• Did the guild purpose and guidelines affect your attitude towards being in the guild?

• How about the guild wiki? Was it useful?

May need to be a little more organised, be more willing to put details on sub-pages
instead of trying to cram it all into the main page.   Silden 07:53, 24 July 2017 (EST)

• What should the role of the zfree elders be next tale?

Mid-Tale

We started setting up specialist guilds to help coordinate the effort around specific tasks and tests, like 'zemples', zThrone, zBread, for example. We made decisions on projects to contribute towards releasing technologies for all Egyptians, like the Pyramids, and installing new and improved machines around camp for zfree members.

• How can we better involve guild members in the decisions about guild projects and enhancements?

• xxxtbc

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