Republic of Folk

So, after two months, countless deaths, and much to the consternation of the Takistani Army, it seems as if the quiet revolutionary activities of folk have not yet come to an end. So, comrades, it actually might be time to talk about what happens next. Wait, who were we over-throwing again? Oh. Them? Really?

Right. Anyway. I thought it might be good to kick-off the discussion by offering up a few talking points. However, I think absolutely everything should be open for discussion! Even Tigershark's sexuality. Maybe especially that.

1. It would be great to have a few more guests in each session ...
We're averaging about 8 guests (or 2 fireteams) right now, which is great; but in the session where we had around 15 guests, I felt we had a few more options tactically. Being able to count on having around 12-15 guests in most of a session would, I think, make a good thing even better.

2. ... but that's probably solved by having more people on the invite list
If we want to avoid making anyone feel obliged to turn up (which is kind of the point of folk), then I suspect we need a larger pool of potential players. If there's something about they way things are set up that makes anyone worried about bringing their friends along, can we change that?

3. We should think about moving to TeamSpeak 3 ...
Let's see how tomorrow's session with MARSOC goes, but as TS3 becomes less of a beta-fest, it's probably time to look at transitioning to it.

4. ... possibly with a simpler channels set-up
This will make Tigershark laugh, but unless we suddenly have 50 guests, I think there may be a case for not worrying so much that TeamSpeak 3 doesn't do channel commander properly (yet). Assuming a continued use of the various VON channels as well, we might not need CC for a while.

5. Does anyone else want to try their hand at being a host?
Running the sessions, picking the missions, dealing with invitees etc., there's no reason it has to be me doing those things. If anyone wants to run the show, or work on any aspect of folk, I'll do whatever I can to support you.

C'mon, folks. Somebody has to have something to say, no? Oh God, I can't bear the silence ...

Seriously, though, I'd be personally grateful if guests could be a little more forthcoming here. I realise that folk is low friction, and I don't expect novels from everyone. However, Tigershark and I have invested a significant amount of time (and money) to make folk possible, and guests' feedback - even if it's negative - is what motivates us to continue with this endeavour. So if you can spare just 5 minutes to post, you'd be helping a great deal.

I've been swamped lately, so I don't know precisely what the situation is other than from forums but - I like what I'm hearing about joint sessions. However, it'd be good to see if we can have more guests, and to that event I'll be sending out some invites when I get a chance.

I think the co-op focus is possibly worth modifying if we can get extra players though - from what little I've managed to play of OA, the AI seems A2-esq still. On the subject of TS3, I've said in the other post that I think it's a good time to migrate.

Finally, to cover your other questions - I'm down for hosting as soon as I get set up. However, for those who don't know I'm currently job-hunting after recently graduating, and have broadened my search to include all of Europe. Ergo, I won't be able to really dedicate much time to folk until I'm in a position to know what I'm going to be doing and, most importantly, WHERE.

Tigershark doesn't have a sexuality, so I'm not going to discuss it much. However, what would be cool for us to discuss is some real-life events. The TZW LAN is going to be awesome, and I really hope I can go to that - if it's a success, perhaps we can consider doing another event during the other half of the year? I'm thinking something similar to the ShackTac event that Fer and I organised for a few years running, that always happened in Febuary in Birmingham. What do people think? That's something I can actually organise without my main system too! Obviously it's a long-term goal, after the TZW LAN.

How do folk members feel about having a wildcard game night? Maybe switching OA out for something else one week, or perhaps scheduling one day a month (say, a Saturday) for other games? The thing I like most about folk is the people are great no matter what we're doing - it gives us huge flexibility in the missions, but perhaps that can extend to other games every so often? Note that I'm not advocating a change from OA as the standard - it's the only game that will offer the flexibility and immersion that we crave.

There's more to write, and so more will be written tomorrow. I've been looking at C++ all day and I want to stop typing now!

Yesterday only Tiger and myself showed up which was a bit disappointing, maybe it was due to Fer being away, or because the event with MARSOC had been so much fun that people didn't want to play a normal folk session.

I think we really need some more people as the nature of the sessions means that we aren't going to have the same people each and every week. All the ArmA players I know are in ST but I haven't had contact with any since January, so I'm not the best person to invite them, I'm also aware of the sensitivity that groups can have in regards to their players playing elsewhere...

I've tried to contribute by making some missions, but honestly don't have much interest in doing any hosting. I attend most sessions as I don't play with another group, so making TS easier etc doesn't really bother me!

I meant to play yesterday...

I got distracted by the Dallas Cowboys football game....

that was a heartbreak...should have played games instead..

If only two people managed to make last weekend's session, then it's entirely feasible that the folk concept - at least in its current form - is just not working. I don't think we should be afraid to aknowledge that, nor to consider some potentially radical alternatives (including, perhaps, the conclusion that it isn't worth continuing to invest time and dollars in the whole project).

I've got a few ideas to suggest, but before I do that it would be wonderful to hear from many of the other guests. To be clear: this is not a case of asking for anyone to justify why they aren't showing up (the whole concept of folk was that nobody had to feel obligated to participate all the time). Instead, I'd like to understand why the sessions aren't attractive enough to make you want to participate more often. In another thread, messiah has already been very candid about his burn-out on coop missions, and it's exactly that kind of feedback that would be hugely useful to Tigershark and myself.

Please don't be afraid to be honest, you won't hurt anyone's feelings.

I thought the concept was more casual than the "it all falls apart if people dont turn up to every session"?

Aside from being able to shoot Tiger in the back occasionally, the whole "you dont have to turn up every session" thing is what attracted me to folk (that and Fer wouldnt shut up until I said yes )

Posting AARs, "having" to turn up to every session, etc feel all too much like work, and not enough like casual. I love the concept, I especially love not playing bluefor ALL the time. The missions are great, the players are too, its just all the other stuff that goes with it that sucks the fun out of it...

Despite it not being the point of the thread, I will apologise for not being there on sunday, I had spent the weekend getting VERY drunk, and was in no frame of mind (or stomach) to be playing anything.

That being said, we are a small group at the moment, so if a few people fail to turn up it hurts the numbers badly. BUT, do we want to be like that other place and have xbox-huge issues everytime the tinyist of things doesnt go 100% according to the plan? Or did I miss the point about it being casual?

I love the sessions. Seriously. I do.

It's actually something that I look forward to during the week in hope that I can make it for half-way through the session (I'm usually only free from 8:30pm). I haven't yet played ArmA II:OA on any server other than Folk and if Folk stopped, I would probably have to hang up my Mosin Nagant/Springfield/Scorpion for good.

What could be improved?
This is purely my opinion from my point of view, I'm happy to defer to the majority (or minority rule). Is this a democracy?

• Session Time. The session runs from 7:30pm to 9:30pm. I'm putting my son to sleep between 8:00pm and 8:30pm so usually only show up after then. I have also invited a few American players who usually are only available after 9:30pm. I'm pleased to see Wolfflight has made it despite the time zone differences.
• Smaller missions. 4 man co-op. 5 man co-op. 6 man co-op. 7 man co-op. You get the idea
• Player numbers. The session with MARSOC was fun, largely because of the increased numbers of players which gave a real feeling of immersion and enabled us to play along multiple fronts with ever-changing tactical lines. This is somewhat different to the usual strategies we use and was a fun way to mix things up. Could we open our doors officially to all players from MARSOC such that they can come and join us too when they're off?
• Mixing it up. If any players want to get together for a little bit of Alien Swarm, Left 4 Dead (1 & 2), CounterStrike, TFC2, MW:2 or take it to a different genre altogether, that could be fun too. Hell, it would be fun just getting a beer and playing Texas Hold'em online for an hour.
• Having an informal "drop-in" time midweek. Friday or Saturday night could be a good option.

I'm not suggesting we should do any of the above, it's just a thought. One thing we perhaps should consider is inviting more players to join. There are enough AA:2 players in TZW to make a viable squad and combined with a few from MARSOC and other similar squads, we might have enough critical mass to make regular (larger scale) gaming a reality.

Not a proper / full response from me (afraid that will have to wait a few days), but I wanted to comment on a few things:

First up, thanks to everyone for their comments so far; it's great to see people being both candid with their views, and imaginative in suggestions for how to proceed. Already a lot of useful ideas to begin thinking about!

DM wrote:I thought the concept was more casual than the "it all falls apart if people dont turn up to every session"?

Fair challenge; it's always been the case that guests aren't expected to show up every week. The issue was that because our pool of active guests is really quite small, just having a half-dozen of the usual suspects stay away from one session effectively torpedoed it. For those of us hosting, making missions or paying for the server, that only has to happen 1-2 times per month and the picture starts to look a bit worrying.

DM wrote:Posting AARs, "having" to turn up to every session, etc feel all too much like work, and not enough like casual. ... its just all the other stuff that goes with it that sucks the fun out of it...

Also very fair; I'm sorry if I've been too heavy-handed about asking for people to post to the AAR threads. I've just been keen to try and demonstrate what the sessions are like and generate some excitement, with a view to motivating more guests to participate. To add some context, the forum has 40 members, but our regular guests number less than a quarter of that.

LiddleFeesh wrote:One thing we perhaps should consider is inviting more players to join. There are enough AA:2 players in TZW to make a viable squad and combined with a few from MARSOC and other similar squads, we might have enough critical mass to make regular (larger scale) gaming a reality.

Increasing the size of our guest pool is one very straightforward way of tackling the issue of playercounts, whilst retaining that casual nature which is at the heart of the folk concept, and is also clearely valued by many (see DM's earlier comments).

To date, folk has been invite-only on an invidual basis; partially (and somewhat brutally) that's been about a level of quality control. However, it's also been about showing sensitivity to the fact that many communities/groups react very negatively to anything they regard as 'poaching players'. We can certainly revisit this approach: perhaps we feel that, in the case of a group like MARSOC, we have faith that anyone trusted to join them is someone we'd welcome at a folk session. That's losing a degree of control, but perhaps a trade-off worth making? Assuming we want to pursue that idea (on a group-by-group basis), there would be at least two other issues to address:

1. The political dimension: as much as I believe, on an individual level, players are independent adults with their own free will etc., once we start to explore any kind of bulk invitation process I think we'd be foolish not to do so in a constructive, collaborative manner (with the other group's leadership). Drama and subterfuge serves nobody.

2. The practical dimension: taking MARSOC as a very real example, its primary gaming night is now Sunday (so Tigershark, to run last weekend's session, had to make a deliberate choice to drop out of that). Realistically, we would need to think about re-scheduling the folk sessions to make any bulk invite meaningful.

I think Feesh's suggestion is defintely worth exploring, and would love to know what others think. However, that's by no means the only route to expanding the pool of guests. What are your thoughts?

Sorry for the quietness I have been away on holiday so I missed the last 2 sessions.

All I can say is I really look forward to the Folk sessions in any format as Sunday is officially my least favourite day of the week (by far) and if I didn't have the chance to shoot some electrons at Tigershark and blow up my own side's trucks I would go nuts

I haven't used TS3 yet but if you guys have been having favourable experiences then I am all for it.