How to get new guests up to speed?

[fer]

Here's the scenario:

• You've been invited to folk by an existing guest*
• You've read the invite pages and still want to come along (amazingly)
• The person has sent their email to folk@ferstaberinde.com (which I'll set up for hosts to be able to check)

Now, what's the next step in this process?

Option A
We could have a standard email that contains absolutely everything a person needs to know (such as timings, software versions, server addresses, log-in details etc.), which ends with a call to action: register your account on the forum.

Option B
Alternatively, we could have a much shorter email which just explains the folk ethos, when the session happens, and ends with the call to action: register your account on the forum for more information. We could have a single START HERE thread in the forum, or we could have a special forum area with a number of key (locked) threads covering various topics.

What are people's thoughts on this? Is one option preferable, or are there other approaches we should consider? Also, what are the key bits of information? My list so far includes:

• Ethos (the longer what is folk? text)
• Session time(s)
• How we communicate (forum, session alerts?)
• Setting up ArmA2:OA (i.e. any addons we use beyond vanilla)
• Setting up TeamSpeak2 (assuming we're going to use this, and not TS3 until they fix CC)
• When (and how) you can invite your friends

* See this post for what I mean by guest.

[Oakley]

The fact that the person was invited by an existing member, and has taken the time to look at the site and write you an (I assume) decent e-mail...I feel like they deserve to get all of the information right then and there. I guess I'm favoring option A because I just don't really see the need for having to make the guest run through another hoop to get all the info, when in an environment like this we are supposed to be very welcoming.

[fer]

The fact that the person was invited by an existing member, and has taken the time to look at the site and write you an (I assume) decent e-mail...

Hmm. I wonder if I should alter the invite pages slightly - I don't really want people to think the email they send is akin to an application email. It's great if people want to tell us something about themselves, but the objective isn't to make it into an audition-by-text. Really, the objective is just to get their email address!

Edit: I updated the relevant page in the invite; please see: http://www.ferstaberinde.com/folk/invite/07.html (you may need to refresh).

I guess I'm favoring option A because I just don't really see the need for having to make the guest run through another hoop to get all the info, when in an environment like this we are supposed to be very welcoming.

That's a fair comment. How would you feel about this for an option C: they get an email which tells them the key stuff (what is folk, what they'll need, how to get into our servers), but which isn't too long and is 'backed-up' by slightly more expansive (and illustrated) threads in the forum? We'd still end with the call to action: register your account on the forum for more detailed / extra information.

[Xiathorn]

I'm extremely pro-B on this one. I feel all of this sort of information should be in an accessible form to all members and is the same for all members - what happens if something changes? Do we email all of our older members the updated email? Headache.

I think, so long as the forums are laid out in the easiest-to-navigate way possible, then it's perfectly fine to have the details on the forum. However, option C is rather nice - give them the information they need to get up and running, but also direct them to the forum for a more indepth kind of thing (For example, a full ethos and how-to-invite-friends should definitely be on the forum, not in the email, especially as circumstances can change. Our mod set should also be on the forum, but I can see an advantage to putting that in the email so long as the recipient knows mods could change over time.)

WRT Vital information - Comms, Game Configuration, IP addresses, TS2 binds, basic comms use

Basic comms use is in italics. There will be some stuff we need new guests to know, such as how to react to a break break break call. This doesn't need to be anything indepth (For example, I doubt we need to go into too much detail about Fireteams, the guests will learn as they go) but there's probably a list of things we need people to at least be aware of from day 1.

However, I do feel it's extremely important we streamline as much of this as possible. Suggesting a guest read the TTP2 if they want to is fine, even recommended. Implying that they need to read it is absolutely not.

[Medve]

A massive amount of Information thrown to people's face in an "A" type mail might be a bit demorailzing too. I'm for B as well.

[Oakley]

Good points. I think I may have been visualizing option C from the get go, but didn't articulate it enough! In any case, I'd be in favor for option C.

[fer]

Have come back to this task, and after some more thought have come to agree with Xiathorn and medve more. My current thinking is that we actually do want to drive new guests to the Administration area of the forum (and two threads in particular), where we can centralise all the vital information in a single-system-of-record.

In that context, the purpose of what we email back to the new guest becomes more about introducing the folk proposition (what is it, what's in it for them etc.), and ending with a call to action that drives them to the forum. The What is folk? thread is how I've introduced most of you to the folk concept, so I thought: why not put it all on one side of A4 and send it to them as a PDF? Obviously, it's slightly different to the version on the forum, but only because it includes instructions on how to register. So here it is:

whatisfolk.pdf

(119.72 KiB) Downloaded 154 times

What do you think of this as a way forward?

Note: If we adopt this approach the A2:OA server IP etc. would be in the Gettng started with Armed Assault 2: Operation Arrowhead thread.

[fer]

I'm going to go ahead and consider this one ready to go, unless anyone has any last minute objections?

[LiddleFeesh]

Speaking as one-such 'new guest', option B is by far preferred. I can take my time over the 'Administration' forum to read the stickies. May I suggest renaming 'Administration' or calling it 'Newbies' or 'Get Started' instead? I didn't think of clicking 'Administration' until I read this particular thread earlier this evening. I suspected that that particular sub forum was for hosts and server admins, not for lay gamers like myself...

[fer]

May I suggest renaming 'Administration' or calling it 'Newbies' or 'Get Started' instead? I didn't think of clicking 'Administration' until I read this particular thread earlier this evening. I suspected that that particular sub forum was for hosts and server admins, not for lay gamers like myself...

Really good point. I like "Getting Started", but the danger is that established guests may not think it applies to them once they're up to speed. We certainly need to ensure that people know that anything posted to that sub-forum needs to be read by everyone. "Administration" is certainly too clunky (what was I thinking?), so let's agree on something better. How about one of these?

• Important Announcements
• Official Threads
• Announcements
• Critical Information

Or can others suggest some alternatives, please? Would like to make this more accessible.