Dominions: Lower Acceptable Post Minimum

[Malok]

So, I've been hearing that Dominions are not the most loved thread type on the board. Some see them as grindy. Some see them as boring. And sometimes newer factions look at them as daunting feats. For larger factions, it's been said that "it feels like all we do are Dominions."

I feel like, as a community, we'd like to have Dominions opened up more without breaking the game entirely. So here's my suggestion:

Lower the "acceptable" post minimum from 50 to 25.

Now, in the rules it says that there's not a hard minimum and that 50 posts is an acceptable effort. But, overall, it's very rare that a Dominion is turned in that isn't at least hitting this minimum. Lowering this "socially acceptable" minimum would have the following affects:

- Newer factions have the ability to better take advantage of the "new major hype" and get situated in their corner of space better. Expansion becomes more accessible to them - especially factions with niche ideas.

- Bigger factions can focus more on stories that last longer than one month or fifty posts. It would also conclude the dilemma of "do we focus on getting our Dominions finished, or do we try and do an event with another faction?" Factions wouldn't have to "choose" between expanding or writing other things.

- The amount of expansion would still be the same monthly. Every faction has the ability to shoot for three Dominions a month as it is, bigger factions already hit this goal so it wouldn't make the rich richer. Slower factions who don't put up more than 75 posts a month wouldn't magically get swole either. But overall, it would make expansion more accessible.

- RPJs would only have to read through 75 posts per major a month, as opposed to 150 per major a month. Less work means less burnout.

What do you think Chaos? Would this work for you?

 

[WolfMortum]

I guess I wouldn't complain if the requirement was lowered, but at the same time I don't think it needs to happen.

With the current guideline for fifty posts, three objectives per Dominion fits the pace nicely as opposed to the likelihood of 25 posts requiring only a single objective per dominion, limiting the story.

This is of course, dependent on faction planning and personal ambition but Dominion's don't presently feel overly difficult for major factions to achieve.

 

[Kaleleon]

I like the idea, but would like to add some other ideas just to play devils advocate.

If you go the route of 25 posts for a dominion, then after the third one, you cannot claim a SSD as you didn't perform a Third Dominion with 50 posts or more. So if you want your SSD, then that last dominion will need to be 50 posts. Keeps the idea of needing to perform three Dominions in a month, but if the faction wants an SSD, the last one is where they go for it.

Or, this could be a Faction Mandate of some kind to the effect of.

Guerilla Warefare
Pros: Faction is allowed to only be required 25 posts for a dominion with all other stipulations being accounted for as well.
Cons: Cannot fleet SSD's, in fleeting battles, and/or, All of their dominions are open for Rebellion.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

50 posts is hardly a challenge, in my opinion. Hell, Dominions already get approved at less. If a faction struggles to reach anything close to that threshold, they have bigger problems.

Dominions are as interesting or as dull as faction staff and faction members make them. It's up to the faction to make things interesting for its members.

 

[Malok]

[member="Veiere Arenais"]

Definitely see where you're coming from!

Whether or not the Dominion has a 25 or 50 post minimum, the factions decide how to craft the thread and the participants typically write until their story(ies) are finished. I don't think limiting the acceptable minimum would limit any of the stories the factions write. Currently, most Dominions from larger factions go over the 50 post minimum as the writers keep going until their plots are resolved. I don't think that would change, nor do I think this would limit/impact stories whatsoever.

 

[Malok]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

I personally agree with you - however, the feedback I regularly see from other factions and other suggestions point to Dominions being a sore spot for the board at the moment. Sure, you and I came from the era where you posted 100 times to get a dot, not a hex, and then the era where it took 150 to get a hex. Yes, 50 posts is a hell of a lot easier than that, and is easy to me and mine to accomplish.

But, if that were the case overall, I wouldn't hear the rumblings about them regularly. I think this is an easy way to make things accessible to everyone without breaking the game itself.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Darth Metus"]

I can see your point in that regard.

At the same time, if we hypothetically lowered the minimum threshold even further, sooner or later we will have yet another drawn-out (and probably sodium-high) debate about how invasions lack teeth because, even with certain mandates, it's super difficult to achieve a breakthrough in a faction's influence cloud because Dominions got even easier. Unless multiple factions band together against another one and repeatedly invade it (and there's a mandate against simultaneous invasions now).

Overall I think things are fine the way they are. Trying to totally satisfy everyone is impossible, so at some point one has to prioritise.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​What's to stop people from doing 6 dominions a month and just having an overcast of dominions rolling on?

​25 is too low. You could do 25 in a couple hours.

​If we have to lower it, maybe go 40 or 45.

 

[Tefka]

"it feels like all we do are Dominions."

I hear and understand the complaint, and realize it's validity.

I do not claim total responsibility for it. Inspire your peeps to go do other stuff! You can roleplay without the map.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

To start and finish a dominion in a month, start it on the 1st and do two post per day for just over three weeks within the month. If a major faction can't deliver that, do they have any business remaining a major faction? That, of course, is before counting that a major faction can take months to complete a dominion if they're not after an SSD or the fourth hex mandate.

I find that people lose track again and again of what a Dominion is supposed to be – a story. The objectives make it easier for many, but they're not part of the demands. I'd love to see dominions go wilder with what they can offer, both in story and construct. We all love to go with the flow but if anyone's bored with it, there's literally nothing that keeps anyone from changing it up as long as it remains a story with a start and ending.

 

[Zak Dymo]

[member="Kaine Australis"]

We've seen what that looks like, and more indepth stories wasn't the result. With a 100 or 150 post requirement, people just aim for putting a check in the block. The Primeval used to do "speed doms" that spammed through 100 posts in less than 24 hours, and we were one of the smaller Major Factions on the board.

That said, I don't see 50 posts as unreasonable for a Major Faction event thread. There's no requirement that a Major Faction be able to complete 3 dominions per month, that's an expectation that faction staff put on their factions. If the feedback that results is that dominions are grindy, then that faction team needs to evaluate what it is that they are doing.

 

[WolfMortum]

[member="Darth Metus"]

Fortunately, for a Major Faction to retain it's major status, it merely only needs provide evidence of it's activity.

Sometimes (And this is just a personal assumption), I feel like we as a community tend to forget that successful Dominions don't necessarily make a successful Major Faction. A large color on the map, sure but it's activity that drives the faction on and this can be found in any variety of thread types.

Dominions don't seem overly difficult to achieve, so when a faction's ready or wanting to grow then they will find the incentive for it. Otherwise take part in campaigns or faction-to-faction activities, would be my suggestion. There's plenty of time to grow on the map, providing the faction stays active.

Does this solve the issue for Dominions specifically? Probably not but it's a possible alternative, and for Dominion specific content, try something new in the objectives or story content used to complete them.

 

[Zak Dymo]

[member="Kaine Australis"]

If you set the benchmark at 150 posts, you're going to get the same story that you are right now. The only difference is that people will make smaller posts in order to get from Point A to Point Done With This Chit as quickly as possible.

Particularly because you'd be raising the expectation for those Major Factions that want a SSD from needing to generate 150 posts per month to 450 posts per month.

I'd say it would be unreasonable to expect that you could raise the quantity that much and not expect quality to decrease as a result.

 

[Ria Misrani]

[member="Kaine Australis"]

It's been done before, even the FO managed to speed dom with two back to back 150 posts dominions with a cohesive story but it was just as Boo mentioned.

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

*remembers when dominions used to be 150 posts minimum*

 

[Malicar]

As a small Major Faction, I can say that we do not have the stable of writers that the Silver Jedi or Sith Empire have. As such, it is a much greater challenge to grind out Dominions at 50 posts. I do agree that substance in the post would be a much better approach with less posts. But I just come at this being a new Major Faction with not near the numbers of other Major Factions that can field Doms fairly easily.

 

[Gilamar Skirata]

[member="Scherezade deWinter"] I've tried instilling this "Dom's aren't homework they can be literally any story you want" schpeal but it doesn't work. Dominions have and always will be considered "homework" and nobody wants to do "homework" just to role-play in a "galactic power"

We've already gotten rid of dev threads, *technically* nothing needs approval anymore except planets and SSDs. You can start as a Jedi Master or Sith Lord. We're already getting rid these archaic ideas stopping new comments from jumping right I to the meat of general roleplay, why not lower the gates a bit more to help the little people out.

Like Metus said, it's easy enough for Y'ALL to do it, but even factions with "new faction hype" can't sustain 50 post dominions month after month. And the ambiguous way "activity" is held up for majors it is difficult for new factions started by veterans and new members alike to stay afloat, this forcing them into other groups which like the CIS and SJO where they are either forced to conform their arcs, stories, and characters or the faction they join becomes so loosey goosey that they lack real identity besides "we pass activity every month and get Dom's done"

I would love if Dom's were shorter because then they could take a back seat to other roleplays. Dom's would become " a quick weekend thread" rather than a month long slog.

Either way there are two different Dominion Cha he suggestion threads up on recent thread topics with two wildly different solutions do Dominion Fatigue. Either way I think staff should have a serious discussion about how Doms and the "map game" are handled

 

[Gilamar Skirata]

*new comers not new comments

 

[Ria Misrani]

Maybe not necessarily have a dominion post count, perhaps - a quality check. Making dominion criteria match certain elements a lot like invasions do? So now you have to hit certain metrics to get it and so it's less about post count and more about quality of the story. Does this story make sense to the objective, are what the members doing pushing the narrative? So we can have what we're looking for and that's quality and we can also do without a post count 'minimum' which let's be honest is a guideline, since I know for a fact TSE has submitted less than 50 post dominions.

>.>
<.<

 

[Ria Misrani]

You don't need map game to make a story or drive faction threads.

It is, however, a measure of how a dominion is doing on activity.

Still, I will agree with Sio. We really don't need to change the number of posts for dominions, we don't 50 is a give me already.