Fleet strategy
Hungry Dog DDM
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in The Bridge
I putting this on The Bridge and maybe it belongs in Fleet Central (although that really just looks more like a recruitment center for fleets). Feel free to move it if so inclined, admins.
When I first started I joined any old fleet because they didn't seem to have much impact on the game. Then along came starbases. It was obvious that an active fleet was important. So I ditched the squad I had started, ditched the fleet I was in. I joined a slightly more active fleet and started a new squad there. Fast foward a few months. The fleet is now less active. Over half the people haven't played in over a month and even my squad is not playing as much.
It's clear that it's time for me to move on.
However, I have two choices. I can join a very active fleet, there are plenty recruiting.
Or I can start my own, on the premise that members must be active (whatever that means).
What has been your experience starting a fleet and recruiting active members? Have you tossed members for not being active? How much work is it to manage a fleet? Would I be better off joining an active one already in place? Thoughts are appreciated.
When I first started I joined any old fleet because they didn't seem to have much impact on the game. Then along came starbases. It was obvious that an active fleet was important. So I ditched the squad I had started, ditched the fleet I was in. I joined a slightly more active fleet and started a new squad there. Fast foward a few months. The fleet is now less active. Over half the people haven't played in over a month and even my squad is not playing as much.
It's clear that it's time for me to move on.
However, I have two choices. I can join a very active fleet, there are plenty recruiting.
Or I can start my own, on the premise that members must be active (whatever that means).
What has been your experience starting a fleet and recruiting active members? Have you tossed members for not being active? How much work is it to manage a fleet? Would I be better off joining an active one already in place? Thoughts are appreciated.
Drunken Dahar Masters is recruiting active players.
PM for details.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
PM for details.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
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Comments
But, if you want to start your own fleet, at least try to recruit a handful of committed, active players first. The fleet I'm in was started by a friend from the first fleet I joined. That old fleet also had participation drop off. So my friend -- now our Admiral -- recruited the 5 or 6 of us who were active to start a new fleet. Then he set a high threshold for new members to join. He's also now vigilant about kicking players who don't sign in for a couple weeks (unless they notify him of vacation plans in advance). While not every squad is as high-ranking as the one in which I participate, most of our fleet members are active and we achieve almost all the fleet rewards each day.
Captain Level: 95
VIP Level: 12
Unique Crew Immortalized: 525
Collections Completed: Vulcan, Ferengi, Borg, Romulan, Cardassian, Uncommon, Rare, Veteran, Common, Engineered, Physician, Innovator, Inspiring, Diplomat, Jury Rigger, Gauntlet Legends
I feel like once a week is a pretty good standard for "active". But I would hope that during events, particularly for squad purposes, that they would be more active than that.
I was wondering if I should bring some people along with me. Last time I tried to bring my squad with me and none of them cared to, or at least they didn't respond.
I get that. Obviously jumping into a fleet that has a lvl 96 starbase is going to be advantageous immediately. But then, their squads are probably full or near full. I kind of like the idea of being at least a squad leader for the advantages that brings in Faction events. But the work of standing up a fleet does make me pause.
And that's the thing. I've accomplished what I think is a fair amount in this game. And it's still fun. But I'm wondering if I can get more out of it. And I'm wondering if that path to getting more is in starting my own fleet.
It's always a game at the end of the day. And if games aren't kept fun, then they aren't a game.
PM for details.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
9RS fleet is recruiting, PM me for more information!
I hadn't considered that. Thank you.
PM for details.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
I agree it is a game and when is is not fun people stop playing. I use my method of under and over 40 because the more someone has invested, the less likely they will completely abandon the game.
That is true. And people have lives, and things happen, and we certainly need to be considerate of that. And heck there are events that we just don't care for, so we skip 'em.
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So long and thanks for all the fish.
I had one squad member who wanted to take the weekend off. I said not a problem, but I was interested in the crew. He ended up playing the event anyway. Not worried if he had not.
There are many members of the fleet who ranked 0 (did not enter). The fleet was still ranked in 373.
Just show up and play / participate style. And we have been a Top Ten Fleet just about all year long.
Different strokes, for different folks.
― Musashi, Japan's Greatest Swordsman and Samurai
Starting a new fleet is easy. Making it strong is a challenge. It's going to be difficult for a new fleet, even with one or two strong players, to attract quality recruits. My main fleet started a sister fleet late last year, and it was very slow going at first (even just inviting level 20 newbies, I kept getting responses like, "What's in it for me?"). We built it up a bit starting with secondary accounts of folks in our main fleet, and then a few enterprising members did big-time recruiting drives in UC, and eventually we got mostly full up. A few months later, we started doing decently in events, and we had built up our starbase a wee bit, and suddenly it was much easier to attract decent players.
We only requested a few things from new recruits — mainly that they be active, that they be communicative, and that they have fun. Our fleet leaders worked with lower-level players to give them advice on how to grow more quickly and efficiently, but we did end up releasing a number of folks from the fleet along the way.
We've got some very strong players in that fleet now (including one who took 1st in a recent event), and the fleet as a whole has placed in the top 100 in several events. But there's still some work to be done, and probably a few players who may be sent on their way for lack of activity and/or communication. So, it can be done, but it's a rather daunting task unless you've got a group of good folks who are willing to devote a lot of time and effort to helping to grow the fleet. Without that, I'd suggest it's far more painless to join an existing fleet.
Could you please continue the petty bickering? I find it most intriguing.
~ Data, ST:TNG "Haven"
No pressure - We don't care what anyone's VIP or captain levels are, don't care what kind of crew you have, don't care what your average event rank is.
No required socializing - If a player just wants to log in, collect bonuses, and play the game, that's cool. We have members who seldom, if ever, chat. We do have an external site set up for certain things, but it's not used much and it certainly isn't required for anyone to use.
Participation - Our only actual requirement for fleet membership is that the player intends to participate in most events. We all skip some from time to time, and that's cool. We just don't want someone sitting out all of them.
Absenteeism - We give a one-week grace period in the event we don't know anything and a player hasn't logged in. After that, it's up to that player's squadron to decide whether to continue waiting or remove them and try to recruit a replacement. If a player knows ahead of time they'll be gone for awhile (say, extended vacation), we hold their place for however long they tell us it'll take before they return.
We've maintained a chill atmosphere, managed to be competitive enough, and are perfectly content with the way things have been. Only once has my squadron changed leader, and that was because one of the other members is a really big fan of Seven of Nine and I wanted to try to help her get a 4/4 Tsunkatse Seven in that event. It worked, which was nice. Otherwise, we don't do things like rotate membership just to improve our squadron or fleet ranks.
I personally believe that these conditions are why we've remained full and active. But this is the kind of fleet that our members want to be in. Other players have different priorities.
[Incidentally, we have two vacancies at present we'd like to fill before this week's event, hint, hint!]
As I said above, there are varying priorities among players. Our fleet is lax about it because our core view is that this is just a game and not terribly important. People have unusual work schedules, kids involved with extracurricular activities, volunteer commitments, etc. Could they squeeze in a log-in to the game? Sure. Is it important to our fleet that they do? No. On any given day, we'll have a few players who don't log in. We still hit all our starbase targets for the day. Why sweat it?
As admiral I'm finding it challenging to recruit new members that will be active and contribute. Any recommendations or advice to be helpful.
If anyone would like to join us you would be welcome.
That's definitely becoming clear. But it still might be worth it to me.
Travis S McClain - I feel like I would have similar policies for my fleet, if I start one. The one thing about participation, the more I think about... Events are clearly important on the squad level, which means participating at least weekly, depending on the event. But max daily rewards mean, well, daily participation. And I don't want to pressure people to play daily. If I can even get enough people in a fleet to reach the max daily rewards. I'm sure that will take a little bit of time.
Usually it's not that hard, but I've certainly had days - maybe even a few days in a row, where it just wasn't possible.
I've also considered asking the current admiral of my fleet if they would just hand me the reins. They are active, but not very. I've been playing since closed beta and while I don't know very many players I would be perfectly happy with group of 49 brand new players if they all played on a daily basis.
PM for details.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
Good to know
PM for details.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
PM for details.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
The one to the admiral did disappear. I'll keep that in mind.
PM for details.
So long and thanks for all the fish.