Why do you need more notice? Events are spur of the moment when a GM feels like it. If you're doing something else at the time, don't join the event. There are plenty of other times there will be events as well.
Well, they are random... GMs choose when to host events with several factors: If they have time to begin with, the amount of active players online at that time, the time passed since the last event, etc. Edit: Ninja'd by John.
So what's wrong with scheduling events ahead of time? A quick post stating that an event will be held on this day at this time doesn't take a lot of time away from someone's day. Events last between 15 minutes (ex. T/F) - at most, an hour. Correct me if I'm wrong. Figuring out the time passed since the last event wouldn't be difficult either, it'll literally all be on the forums. It'll also show newer players that the staff is active in it's community in terms of hosting events. i.e. Assuming I was a GM: Knowing that I'm not busy this coming saturday, I'll post somewhere on the forums that I'm hosting an event that day and a specific time. It'll bring in more players since, they're given notice way ahead of time. Have a GM in another time zone do the same thing so that no one's left out. Doesn't mean it has to be the same day, but sometime during the same week. Is that not the purpose of having staff members in multiple time zones(besides helping players when other staff members aren't online)? There aren't a lot of events held besides those of the newer GMs. I haven't seen many other staff members host events. TL ; DR I don't see the harm in scheduling something for a day you aren't busy. What are the negatives in scheduling something on the forums to inform players? i.e: Scheduling event on X day at X server time. It doesn't need to be an elaborate post.
Scheduling events doesn't sound like a good idea to me while we're having unscheduled server lags and crashes. We'd just have people moaning if an event started late and insisting on it being rescheduled if it had to be cancelled.
Other than that fact, you're saying you'd be for it then? Assuming it gets fixed sometime in the near future.
I didn't say that. I was simply observing that under the current circumstances, scheduled GM Events would be somewhat problematic. Whether or not it would be a good idea under better circumstances is really something that is up to those who host events to decide.
As someone who's had experience with this very topic before, I can tell you that having scheduled events is harder to successfully implement than it seems. The most important issue is that if events are indeed scheduled, even at a time where a GM *suspects* that they'll be available and something comes up and they can't make it to the event on time, all of a sudden, there's 300+ people upset over it. It's just not the most practical thing to do. Events of this nature should be seen more as nice surprises sprinkled around, rather than potential letdowns to the community. Just a thought.
It's not that simple, lol. You would still need to figure out the logistics of prizes and such. What would be given away? How much of it? How would it work? Etc, etc. A whole system needs to be set before someone can just say "herp derp lulz just automate them!"
Event points get awarded. You exchange those for prizes from an NPC. I've seen multiple other servers implement it - i'm not claiming to know the logistics and specifics of how, but it's clearly possible so no need for the smart ass comment.
I think we all knew the possibility of having them automated existed, that needed no confirmation. I simply stated it wasn't simple and things would need to be figured out before that happened. Regardless of how you took my comment, nothing else constructive is being said, so I'll stop here.
I like how our event system is. There are 300+ players online daily and only a selective few GMs. Scheduled events will be hectic if lets say 10-20+ players need assistance during the time of the event. Events held when GMs want them to be will be less stressful for them, knowing how difficult it is to cater to 300+ players. BTW, what do you mean by automated? How can an event be automated? Is automated only for prizes or the whole event?
