Activity quotas- worth it?

[Mavelle]

I've noticed that some systems on our server have implemented activity quotas; I.E. signing in when you log on, signing out vice versa.

My question; have they been seen to work?

When I had an activity quota I personally became very unmotivated and never felt like coming on the server. Now, that could just be me.

However,

I would like to know people's experiences regarding quotas of the like. Have they worked for you guys, or not? How come?

[Pog]

I’m not a big fan of them. Can make the game feel like a job for a lot of people and often actually ends up decreasing activity. From what I’ve seen a lot of the groups that have activity quotas are the ones that struggle the most to have consistent activity. The only time that I think it’s helpful is in groups that are small enough that there is not a way to effectively monitor activity due to time zones etc. Most of these activity quotas also are based off of only time played, but in my opinion activity isn’t just logging on and staring at a wall for 4 hours. I’d much rather someone play for 1 or 2 hours and actively contribute and engage with the community. Overall, I’ve never been in an group that has activity quotas but I’ve certainly seen the problems associated with them

[Conrad]

Pog could not have said it better. I agree with every thing he said.

[Cox]

I try and keep myself at an activity quota to get my battalion in since usually I’ll get on at around 3 or 4 and the rest of my battalion will from then on and they get off around 8 or 9. See it isn’t forced here but we still except you to be active and even though I don’t have that constraint I feel like I some what need to

Edited April 15, 2021 by Cox

[Mitchell]

Regardless everyone has an activity quota on the server if they wish to hold any actual position within it.
Commanders have to have 40 hours over 2 weeks which is a little over 2 hours a day. SOBDE has 3 hours every 3 days, or an hour a day.

Sign ins are only really required for SO BDE so that they can keep track of your activity better because you are in a desirable position that others on the server want.
 

Ultimately, it's up to the BCMDs to make their battalions fun enough to where people don't feel like there is a quota for activity.
Also, I'd argue that merit systems and promotion requirements makes the server a grind and chore more than activity quotas.

[Caidoon]

SOBDE does them, I really dont think they're that big of a deal. It takes 10 seconds to sign in and 10 seconds to sign out. As for their purpose, obviously they cant track how engaged you are in game but do give a general idea of what times you get on the server and act as a vague activity tracker at least. So they kinda work. 

[Guac]

Even with a quota being met, the standards of these groups should be what you do within these hours, not how many hours you do. If you hold an RP heavy position and don't RP, but meet your 3 hrs, you can expect to be removed. It's difficult to gauge the quality of RP that a position does, that is generally the responsibility of the BCMD; specifically in SOBDE's case in which a BCMD doesn't really have any other responsibilities.

Quality > Quantity

Edited April 15, 2021 by Guac

[Willyworm1]

1 hour ago, Mitchell said:

Sign ins are only really required for SO BDE so that they can keep track of your activity better because you are in a desirable position that others on the server want.

Senators have to do it too, but in all honesty I usually just meet the required hours and don't log the rest, Sorry Robb <3

[Hanz]

I don't think Sign-ins are bad but quotas from those sign-ins are dumb. I think Activity Quotas make the game like a job as others have said but a sign-in system just gives others the knowledge of when you were on in a certain amount of days which is not bad if used correctly.

[Jovanovic]

As a senator, I can say It absolutely doesn't work as a quota, but might work as a tool for the commander to see how active his men are. Even despite the fact that I'm well in excess of it, having an activity quota for senator not only doesnt actually encourage 70% of us to get on, but it also makes it so the few of us who do get on feel a pressure to do so — it's not as fun. 

But on the other side having a sign in itself makes me get on the server more, as I know my activity is being recognized by my CO. 

Sign ins, good. Quotas, bad.  

[Mavelle]

2 hours ago, Curious_Beats said:

As a senator, I can say It absolutely doesn't work as a quota, but might work as a tool for the commander to see how active his men are. Even despite the fact that I'm well in excess of it, having an activity quota for senator not only doesnt actually encourage 70% of us to get on, but it also makes it so the few of us who do get on feel a pressure to do so — it's not as fun. 

But on the other side having a sign in itself makes me get on the server more, as I know my activity is being recognized by my CO. 

Sign ins, good. Quotas, bad.  

That's almost exactly how I felt with my time as Bail Organa, eventually leading to my leaving of the senate. That's a very good point. I most likely would have been motivated if we were just to log our hours and not have a quota.

This thread has been real informative, thank you fellas for your experiences and insight!

[Foxey]

SOBDE is the only thing on the server that has an activity quota that doesn't bother me. With Senate, it does feel like a job. With SOBDE, it's just logging hours most of us are on for anyways. With certain positions you just need to ensure that people are being active enough, which has its drawbacks, but eh- I think it's the best thing we can do right now.

[Teaa]

being a....former well rounded great activity SO BDE member. They definitely work for getting members on the server. Now how great they act on the server is another thing. They become pretty aids if you don't feel like you need an LOA, but you wanna just take a day off. If that day is the day you need to get your hours in, it can burn you out pretty handsomely. When I was Wrecker, I always thought of it as like an entertainment role, as should the rest of SO BDE. The character you play could be someone's favorite and if your RP is decent, it's definitely cool for someone to see on the server. So having a time quota should be justified. It all comes down to the person. If the person playing the character sees it more as "i get cool guns and armor" the activity quota may be met, but the time they put on the server isn't meaningful at all. When the person playing the position can see the influence that they can achieve, they work amazing for having an active, decent member in SO BDE. This goes for every other RP position with an activity quota. You're an entertainer!

Edited April 15, 2021 by Teaa

[Shake]

People are lazy so they made sign in and sign out 

[Sinister]

Monitoring activity with things like signins and checking hours are only necessary if the group is small enough that the Leader cannot monitor it themselves such as SOBDE imo. Like Guac said, I also prefer quality over quantity where people's hours are actually spent contributing to their group. When I was Guild Leader I had far less hours played per week than most, but got far more work accomplished. Because of this, I also judged the people below me based on things accomplished instead of hours played. If I judged based on in-game hours alone, I would've had to remove everyone including myself. 

 

I'd rather have a guy that plays 6 hours a week and does a damn good job roleplaying & contributing to my unit than a guy that logs 30 hours a week by afking or running laps around the map by themselves to fulfill a quota. This isn't a part time job at Wendy's, it's a game.

[Piff]

Activity quotas dont work, its a bad way of trying to see what people do, cause someone can be on all they want and not do shit, as well, its useless at the end of the day cause maybe someone cant be on for long, but during that short amount of time they might put in the work so its useless, sign ins just to see when someone gets on is fine, but making it a requirement to be on for so and so hours doesn't work and is useless at the end of the day.

[Ratio]

I can basically agree with the Pog man. Here's a bit of a story for context. If it's TL;DR, go read his post instead.

Activity quotas are a big part of what pushed me away from SOBDE after a campaign that lasted over a year and I wanted to make motions to remove the sign-ins, but that was when Fyi was a Regimental Commander and he wasn't a fan, so I dropped the idea. Then by the time I was ready to try again, my own activity had dwindled so I basically felt I had no ground to stand on because I couldn't get on the server and no life it as much as I used to. The SOBDE requirement is 3 hours every 3 days and people like Woeny have stated that if you can't do that then you're just plain inactive. I do agree with this, actually.

But I feel that psychologically it made me feel like I couldn't hit it. When I'd come home from work, I was tired as ass and had minimal time in the evening on weekdays. Shit just changed on me and I wasn't ready. So I rationalized that I'd spend my evenings on GMOD trying to get my SOBDE hours in every two days which would still be double the activity req. For a while, this worked, but then one day I came home from work just absolutely out of it, tired as fuck, and I hadn't signed in in three days. My Squad Lead was no doubt about to roll up and I had already been on multiple LOAs. It was then when I was playing SWTOR and having fun not being forced to get on my clone that really nailed the coffin down. I already felt fake as fuck saying I was having fun when really it just ended up feeling like I had to get on my RC all the time. I didn't want to feel like I should play the server for any reason because video games are supposed to be fun and people were already regularly giving me headaches on the server and I wasn't in the mental state to deal with it.

When I left, I felt like a huge weight was off my shoulders. Felt lighter than air, and once I also dropped my CG officer I've never felt like I've been obligated to get on the server. As a result of the lack of activity constraints, I've been on the server more. And I'm not just saying that to fuck with everyone here and make excuses for inactivity. I've genuinely had more fun without feeling the need to do all that extra stuff.

Bit of a conclusion here:

It's not just SOBDE but the server as a whole that has a toxic outlook on activity constraints and what it means to be an active leader (hell even an active trooper) on the server. Often the need to maintain numbers and keep slots full will eventually kill enjoyment for the person it restricts. That's why I'm a big supporter of the idea that battalion removals for inactivity should be pretty rare, and should only really occur when it's been a long time. Instead, people who are inactive should simply be stunted at a certain rank and be unable to move up until they can get things sorted. I still believe that leaders should be active, but not to the extent of them feeling pressured to hop on at every point. (Versocks please help make this happen thnx)

Thank you for making this post, never thought I'd see the chance to rant about this.

 

sorry 4 grammur mistake wrote in rush

Edited April 16, 2021 by Ratio

[Gadget]

Most battalion have a subconscious activity quota. 

 

You are unlikely to be promote or promote someone who is only active for 1 day a week or an hour a day, compared to someone who is one most days for like 3 hours or more.

Similarly to how Prime time activity and off-peak activity affects progression.

 

The more active you are, the faster you progress, generally speaking.

 

If you have low activity in a batt they may ask you to improve or post a ROA. As your rank and usefulness increases so does this quota.

 

A commander should be on most days  similarly to a BCMD.

A Private less so, unless he wishes to progress higher.