Are Houses Worth the Trouble?

Mannimar

Vasool said:

I know that Vasool would try to tailor the questions and requirements for each examination to the individual.  Many of these were done to intentionally trick the unwary student into making the wrong move, or answering incorrectly. 

To be fair, I never failed anyone for screwing up on the trick questions; they were mostly designed to ferret out those people who had above average critical thinking skills and could surprise me with an appropriate response.

Another thing that I do is ask overly simple questions, to see if the person is detail oriented or big picture oriented. Especially as I'm trying to prepare them to enter into a house of ritualists. This is important because it tells me what mistakes I'll need to look for and address in the future.

Vasool said:

I know that Vasool would try to tailor the questions and requirements for each examination to the individual.  Many of these were done to intentionally trick the unwary student into making the wrong move, or answering incorrectly. 

To be fair, I never failed anyone for screwing up on the trick questions; they were mostly designed to ferret out those people who had above average critical thinking skills and could surprise me with an appropriate response.

Mostly, I felt it was important to scare the student into thinking each question could be the one they fail on; this made the sense of achievement of passing that much more real and cherished, I believe.

Trick questions are a great way to find the critical thinkers, and help you foresee where you'll begin training them for leadership roles (If they have the appropriate personality). Keeping a student on their toes is a wonderful thing, it really gives you some insight on the player (Character if they're really good with separation). One way I work with this is long silences after they answer, and perhaps some emotes to up the mental pressure. This really milks some interesting reactions, and sometimes you get some interesting (and frankly good) answers when they go into panic mode. 

Wynedere said:

In typing all that, I strongly feel that even in a dictatorship, a checks and balances system would be very beneficial for those times in which people are excessively wrong.  

In Achaea, dictators made it into that position because they did something right throughout the course of their time in said organization. If you think someone is doing something "excessively wrong" then approach them and try and find a resolution. In Mhaldor if it's combat related (whether you want to learn fighting or not), and you are too weak or simply don't want to do it for your character then speak with the person and tell them something along the lines of you being a measly slave who's total worth isn't even that of a meat shield. There is always an IC way out of extra tasks if you put your mind to it... Unless Sartan says you have to capture the paradigm of the butterfly effect in Boplopia... then you're SoL.

In a dictatorship it's best to assume that the leaders always have a reason for making you move those boxes from one side of the city to the other side of the city and back again. In Mhaldor, you're a worthless slave who will never be privy to such proprietary information. In the Spirit Walkers, you're a rustling bush (yes, I know it doesn't mean that) that doesn't even know the names of the forest spirits, and will never understand what goes on in the head of the loony Prophet who says the spirits "speak" to him. 

If you have a problem, either bite the bullet and address it yourself, or find a House/City that you, the player can handle playing in.

tl;dr I feel like a broken record

Ruth

I actually favor those who dare to speak up and tell me I'm wrong. Within reason, of course.

Reihaneh

I should preface this by saying I don't want to belong to a ruthlessly dictatorial House (or Guild for that matter) and I never have, which is the main reason why I avoid Mhaldor. I played a long time ago when there were Guilds and I prefer Houses because I feel that the multiple class options, and even the combination of class and city if you do choose to go rogue, allows for a lot more interesting roleplay.

Recently I've made several alts before settling on a main (Reihaneh) and I've tried the Druid House a couple of times and found it incredibly frustrating. I've gotten the feeling from interacting with people there, and in a couple of other Houses, that there are Houses that just want to discourage new members and keep them from advancing. Other experiences I've had have primarily been struggling with the lack of activity in Houses - I've tried Mojushai, CIJ and Bards (both of which I enjoyed but just wasn't right for), Priests, and Sentinels primarily, a couple others briefly. I'd say my best experiences so far on alts have been with the Priests - they're active, the requirements are clearly laid out, and while difficult, they are not rigid or pointless.

I considered being a rogue Druid for awhile, then I finally gave up and joined the Sylvans, figuring I'd give it a try since I'd never experienced the class or the House before and the skills are similar to Druids.

I wish I'd done it sooner. I'm absolutely in love with the Sylvans. It's pretty much everything I've ever wanted in a House. There's a lot of activity, the requirements are straightforward and not ridiculously hard, and the leadership is very active and accessible. One of the biggest things I've appreciated is that if I put myself out there, I face acceptance and not reproof or rejection - which as a novice has always been a struggle for me. I'm shy and solitary both in real life and in roleplay - if no one interacts with me, or the interactions make me feel unwelcome, I'll just buckle down and level grind and check requirements off the list and do my own thing until I need a test. This is the first time I've ever had a lot of meaningful interaction and roleplay since I returned, especially so fast after starting a new character. The other thing I absolutely love is that the kind of requirements and the flexibility offered allows a LOT of leeway when it comes to roleplay and character direction. The requirements for HR3 and even HR5 might seem more lenient than other Houses, but you also have the opportunity to take them in different directions or go deeper into them, as well as to get involved in other ways. I already have a million ideas.

To me the biggest issue is that it's important to make novices feel like their presence is valued and welcomed, even if you're not the most lovey-dovey house in the realms. It's also important that there are active people in the House, and seeing novices as a waste of time means that an inactive House is never going to grow to be active. It's the standard chicken-egg dilemma, though - novices don't want to advance because the structure is rigid or they feel a lack of community, and older players don't want to bother engaging novices because they think there's no point.

I have seen that whatever the Sylvans are doing is working extremely well, though - we've had novices lately who advanced quickly and some who have really needed more time and attention to get the hang of things, but they are sticking around.

tl;dr Sylvans rock, it's nice when the requirements have a point and allow for varied kinds of roleplay and you don't have to wait forever for learning or tests, making people feel welcome and feel a sense of community helps to keep us around.

Reihaneh

Also, I really really feel the whole "If you think there's a problem, get to a point where you can fix it," but I like spending money and time on Achaea, and quite frankly it sucks to spend months or even years, possibly plus credits, feeling like your soul's being sucked out and you're never going to make it to a level in the organization where you can influence things. Especially for people who are new to the game - if I were brand new and I joined the Druids right now I'd never play again. If you want people to invest that kind of time and energy, you have to at least give them some indication that it's worth bothering.

Antidas

Ruth said:

I actually favor those who dare to speak up and tell me I'm wrong. Within reason, of course.

Queue influx of slaves correcting you and calling you out on everything you say

Mannimar

Reihaneh said:

Also, I really really feel the whole "If you think there's a problem, get to a point where you can fix it," but I like spending money and time on Achaea, and quite frankly it sucks to spend months or even years, possibly plus credits, feeling like your soul's being sucked out and you're never going to make it to a level in the organization where you can influence things. Especially for people who are new to the game - if I were brand new and I joined the Druids right now I'd never play again. If you want people to invest that kind of time and energy, you have to at least give them some indication that it's worth bothering.

My first character was in the guild... I didn't play again for 3 years. I didn't last a month...

Mishgul

The reason was entirely IC and it will remain entirely IC. If you cba to work that out, then you probably shouldn't be in the house. If I didn't want you in the city or house I would have booted you. I'm not the kind of person to not boot you.

Oceana

If you have any complaints or suggestions about the Druids, please message me personally. I am willing to invest my time and energy in the improvement of the house for its current and future members.

Azor

This is all kind of inside baseball, but my feeling is that the mentor system Nizaris put in promotes more, not less flexibility. I personally have modified/excused requirements for proteges, for any of a variety of reasons, and less highly ranked mentors can recommend the same. Because we're insured of having at least one person who knows the novice more than passingly, we can do this. And it's good. Usually.

Tvistor

I keep wanting to excuse my proteges from the explorer rankings but I (deservedly) lost HoN for going dormant, and the Naga system doesn't allow for that much flexibility at the moment.

Now I just make Dreadborn hate me by spending hours trying to understand venomlocks and assuring them they are worthless. (but they know we're cool -- sometimes, when they aren't being worthless)

Jurixe

I have been known to make exceptions for some requirements, or alternatives.

You might get something harder than the initial requirement, but (hopefully) more fun/worthwhile.

Reihaneh

Thanks, Oceana! I messaged you with some info and ideas.

One thing I didn't mention that I also love about the Sylvans is that Lucine (the house leader) is extremely accessible and helpful. I don't recall if this was a huge issue in the Druids but it is something to think about. The HoN in the Sylvans is not usually around when I am, but Lucine is, and if my mentor or someone else isn't there I know I can go to her for anything. For most novices I think it's extremely intimidating to approach older house members, especially in a very hierarchical house, and this is the first time where I've had such an awesome experience with that issue. I think there are benefits to maintaining a stronger hierarchy for RP purposes but at the same time, knowing that you can approach people can be profoundly helpful to retention. (At least in my humble opinion.)

Edited to add: It's been really interesting to read more about how novicehood works in Mhaldorian houses. I think for RP purposes it's great to make novices feel like they're a worthless speck of dust beneath your boot, but in an OOC way there's still a necessity to make them feel valued and wanted in the house or they won't stick around. That doesn't necessarily require snuggles and kittens. I love hearing about the great novice RP in Mhaldor.

Thaumas

@Reihaneh: Mhaldorian novices aren't treated as 'worthless speck of dust'. More like recruits, only worthless if they do nothing to move forward. Snuggles aren't done, but the fact they are wanted and valued is expressed by time devoted to their advancement.

Arlanda

Houses are worth it, if the houses still exist. HAHAHA