Increasing Diversity - Demographics

Joined: Jan 11, 2002 Posts: 3054 Location: USA

This is the current demographics for our characters here. I know the character system isn't up fully yet. I'm still ironing out the bugs.

Code:

GE Active: 285
GE Awaiting Stats: 94
GE Total: 379

RA Active: 136
RA Awaiting Stats: 26
RA Total: 162

HS Active: 79
HS Awaiting Stats: 14
HS Total: 93

Code:

Gender (Active and Awaiting)
Male: 578
Female: 60

Code:

Race (Active and Awaiting)
Human: 521
Bothan: 6
Falleen: 13
Gand: 9
Hutt: 14
Mon Calamari: 17
Neimoidian: 2
Rodian: 5
Trandoshan: 17
Twi'lek: 13
Wookiee: 21

Code:

Class (Active)
Fringer: 19
Noble: 112
Scoundrel: 46
Scout: 94
Soldier: 239
Tech Specialist: 61

What do you think we can do to improve diversity?
(Note that active does not mean active in this game, rather just having a character developed)

Yellow Joined: Mar 22, 2004 Posts: 36 Location: Classified

had this nice post all written up, and in the time it took me to write it and the time it took me to post it, Evaders had changed my username.

*Shakes a fist* Razz

Anyway, the only way I can see character development going anywhere, is to increase this Galactic Civil War. When I was Jaftroy Blighton in the GE during SWS, we barely worried, let alone talked about the RA. There needs to be more galactic news posts about the RA making attempts against the GE, and the GE destroying cells of the RA. Once that happens, it'll open up doors for us to lead RP campains against eachother. I think people will become more active and their character depth will grow a whole bunch more. Also, if we have them write up a character BIO before they can become part of a MG, that'll provide them direction of where they are going.

Ultraviolet Joined: Sep 29, 2005 Posts: 353

Evaders that's the old list....

What about the current people?

What I've noticed from my own experience and what I've seen so far is that people choose classes that get them in a certain way. A lot of people going after combat, so you see a lot of soldiers. On the other hand a lot of nobles, which means a lot of people want to be important.

Normally in the d20 system you have small groups (usually 15 maximum), so you need a variety of skills. Because there are a lot of people in here and few actual skill to pick from, people tend to go for the same things (also mainly because they don't know how there new group is going to be build up or what that group needs).

Usual d20 game groups have player fill each other in, it would be nice if that would be able to happen in here as well. However I don't know how anybody would be able to change this game so much that people will leave there choices (of either been good in combat or being important) and focus on other aspects.

What it does lack is that there are little benefits for being an excellent mechanic (so far as I know, neither the GE or RA has an engineering/mechanics department), or a scout (who needs to scout anything, when you have a bulk of ships with sensors all over and pilots to fly them).

Like I've said before we are crossing the boundaries of the d20 system and come into a field where the actual rules get obsolete. Large Capital Ships where largely absent in many d20 games I've seen so far. In this game most fleet people command such Capital Ships and they have a load of NPC doing there small tasks, which normally would be done by the people that use the skills that few people have (no mechanics, no pilots, no gunners, no linguists, no medics). The actual community is destroying there own diversity and that's only regarding classes.

Now as far as species again, Humans are easiest to play and so everybody plays them. I for one don't really have a feeling with the currently available races (and maybe not with any of the d20 races), so that puts me up with human again and again. Maybe other species should be given advantages or the human advantage (more skillpoints) should be removed.

Again gender is hard to change. I can't portray a girl, so I don't even try. Some think they can and cross the boundary, so with success others with less.

Joined: Jan 11, 2002 Posts: 3054 Location: USA

Once the character system is back up, there will be time for people to claim their old characters or decide to create a new one. Then inactive people will be purged

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 12:29 am

Actually, there are other reasons for taking the Noble class besides wanting to have an important character. The Noble class is the best class for command skills. Now, as for having a character that excells at combat, it is possible to do so without taking the soldier class route. It's a good way to go, if you're wanting a character that is very adept with various kinds of weaponry. If a player is wanting a character that excells at hand to hand combat, the scout class is actually a very good way to go about it.

As for the breakdown, it would be interesting to see how things broke down as in how many members of each MG were female, and what the basic racial mix worked out for each MG as well.

Btw, my retired character is one of those 94 scouts, and 60 females. *evil grin*

Ultraviolet Joined: Sep 29, 2005 Posts: 353

I'm a scout as well, but that's besides the point. The point I was trying to make was that this game is somehow heavily on the combat side, rather then a diverse mix. I have a good hunch on why that is, but I don't know what to do on changing that.

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 2:31 am

I don't think it's going to be possible, to tell you the truth.

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 12:54 pm

I agree that the combat-heaviness of the game is in large part responsible for the lack of character diversity, and I also agree that the large scope of this game is another factor in that. I just don't see a way around it right now. "Star Wars" is, after all, Star WARS, and I think a lot of people are drawn to the combat aspect and the chance to blow things up.

For example: characters who are really good mechanics, since it was brought up already. In a tabletop SW RPG I used to be in, I played an X-wing pilot in the Hoth timeframe. Another PC was my fighter's mechanic, and another PC was my astromech droid (yes, we had a strange group. Rolling Eyes

Add to that a bounty hunter and a couple Jedi...well...). It was a wonderful opportunity for character growth and interaction, especially when my mechanic would tinker with my X-wing's systems and not tell me, but for any "plot" type of storylines, that didn't cut it. For plot-advancing events in the game, we often found ourselves doing things that pushed the mechanic's repair abilities to the background and forced him to use more combat-oriented skills instead.

As cool as I think mechanics are and as integral a part to the GFFA as I believe them to be, RPG storylines revolving around fixing a broken fighter aren't nearly as interesting to me as storylines showing how the fighter got broken in the first place. While a great mechanic could be invaluable on a mission by fixing or sabotaging something at a crucial moment, what are they going to be doing for the rest of it? The way things are set up now, they'd likely need other set of skills (piloting, fighting, etc.) to carry them through in the meantime. I know R&D scenarios have been discussed, but with my background, I simply can't picture how an R&D scenario would be run compared to a "versus" scenario. *shrug*

~CC~

Ultraviolet Joined: Aug 15, 2005 Posts: 237

I think that the combat-heaviness is not really preventable as the others said above. In the tabletop game, however, even characters who were not soldiers were able to pitch in in a battle scene. Tech Experts can use Mastercraft to create superior weapons, scoundrels get "Lucky" and "Precise Shot", Scouts get a bonus feat that includes weapon proficiencies and the "Heart" special ability. The fact is, the d20 system is well-designed and even non-combat type classes can fill certain roles within a combat situation.

Ultraviolet Joined: Sep 29, 2005 Posts: 353

Vin the problem is not with the d20 system itself, but the way it's used in this game.

I've previously played and GM'd (SW) d20 games and between 'mission', we've usually reserved time. This time was used by people with craft skill to make new weapons, modify things to the ship. But also for diplomats to make new contacts. We just set a time jump and people could do whatever they liked in that time including training and getting new skills (from points they gained after the last mission). This way everybody could start the new mission with a full health and new weapons, contacts, skills, feats, etc.

Now in this game time is going at the same pace for everybody and we can't just skip forward. So these things need to be done during the actual games. So far I haven't seen anybody do any crafting or training IC (mainly because ToD never worked that way, nor was it allowed I assume). People have the necessary skills, but there is no way to use those skills. The only skills that are currently getting used as pilot skills, astrogation (probably not even) and combat skills. Everybody can see that spending points in things like Knowledge, repair, train, track or gamble.

When there is an actual use for those skill in the game then we will get people that invest in those skills, cause they see that there is something to be gained by having those skills.

If we don't get other skills going and allow people to use them, we will continue to have a combat heavy game with combat heavy characters.

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 12:57 am

Actually, my retired character, while designed for combat, never really saw "official" combat. She was more involved in diplomatic endevors, or commanding and plotting. The only time her combat skills truely came into use was when she would get involved in a moderated sparring match on IRC.

Dark Lord of Selur Joined: Sep 01, 2005 Posts: 641

One of the noticable problem of the simulation as it does plague the Combine, there are not enough moderators to do this. ToD suffered from the lack of moderators but there are plenty of mean for skills. Just that majority prefer combat and since it a Civil War, why not have combat???

However, I am sure once we get back to normal, we will see more use of other skills.

Ultraviolet Joined: Sep 29, 2005 Posts: 353

I know everybody likes combat, heck even I like combat at times. However there is a difference between having character that are all buffed up and triggerhappy and characters that are dedicated to other jobs, but have combat skills as well.

Even in the SW movies there is not a constant battle and not all the character lean heavily towards the combat side, but in this game there is an overwhelming number of character that are combat heavy.

Ultraviolet Joined: Mar 17, 2004 Posts: 211

It's a terrible thing when I get bored of reading long posts. :p

Well, what can I say...

Not to beat a dead horse, but none of this ever worked in SWS basically because of what Blighton said. The GE didn't really seem to care about the existance of the RA despite all the pushing and harrassment to make the RA a certain way, etc etc.

The key to diversifying the game, I think, is the story telling. The only time there was ever a scenarioback in SWS was to moderate combat. At some point, everything boiled down to a battle. Well, there's more than just combat that is dramatic.

What about the key diplomatic negotiations that earns the Alliance a new ally, or a source of materials, and maybe even recruits? What about the anticipation of having to transplant a rebel base before the Imps arrive? That's not combat, that's running before your arse gets cooked :p What about those evil weapons that the Imperials like to research? What about the massive amount of smuggling that goes on? The bounty hunters and assassins?

Yes some of these things might sometimes include combat, but it's not always mass combat. It might just be a handful of people, but there is other things going on as well. It's like Romance 8gag* and this insistant obsession with cyber-families. It's a nice element to have, but it's just near disgusting when people try to overdo it.

I think that little of it really has to do with what race or what class a character is. It is just a fact that really the majority of people you see in Star Wars are human. Not all aliens get up off their homeworlds and go gallavanting around the galaxy hehe.

Ultraviolet Joined: Sep 29, 2005 Posts: 353

Well that sums a lot up nicely, but what can we do about it, now we diagnosed the problem?