it sucks knowing that flameforger's this year is likely to be just as disorganised as it was last year. i was one of the many people that raised feedback about the issues surrounding what fire dom was doing last year and even went to the lengths of running an event that used to run at least once last year. making sure that i could give fire what it really needed but it's REALLY disheartening when I get dreams telling me to move to other flights because it'll end up just like last year. it sucks, guys. like fire's GREAT, but i can't keep doing this.
like sure there's been SOME improvements but you can't tell me it's not discouraging as hell when you notice like the majority of the dom team's on hiatus or just coming back from hiatus less than a month from the push, the fact that the team only pinged foddart and made the raffle attending sign up thread after users were talking about it in the discord. it's not a good look at all and does not bring me confidence.
maybe this year's flameforgers WILL be different and I hope so, because if it's not then I'm leaving after the fire vs water battle, since I have made a committment in that regard to run an event for the battle. maybe to earth, so I can get projects done and actually be able to expand my lair, or to another flight with a more active dom scene that my skills would be useful in.
like i know this is a few weeks before flameforgers but it's not looking good again, and idk. I'm skeptical. I'm hoping that we've learned from last year's mistakes with the fest push and that we're not leaving oof people high and dry like what happened last year. admittedly there's probably not gonna be as much drama like what happened last year but yknow.
if its any consolation, anon, most dom teams do not start to kick it into high gear to plan for the festival until a month before. they'll likely passively plan before that point but only really start getting ducks in a row a month before, so fire dom might be about to get really going.
as much as i would say it's the case, it shouldn't be a reactive measure. only when people were asking in the dom channel "where do we go to sign up?" and commenting that the stuff they thought they needed to sign up at was severely out of date. most dom teams make the effort even within the last month prior to their push to be proactive and actively keeping in touch with interested parties. my experience has shown that this isn't really the case with fire dom - we had basically no communication about anything that was concretely planned for flameforgers, and when some embers asked about helping out with running old events that used to be associated with the team, there was just silence afterwards, even when people volunteered. to me that's a problem, especially when they came out and said "oh but no one is stepping up to run events" last year, so when people now are trying to help and put their hand up, it feels like you have to wring their hands for them to give you any sort of pointers as to where you can help. i don't think that's fair for either party. (and it WAS a big issue last year re: communication. we're still being left wondering what's going on.) i've been in other flights where the teams have been pretty proactive, asking people for help, checking in about events, etc. and i'm sure that's what the usual trend is for the month leading up to the push. not just dropping the threads and then just maybe the one person responding to everyone, and it being intermittent at best.
and i'll be honest with you. even if it wasn't ridiculously last minute (like pinging people for attending the raffle 3 days before the big push last year, during WW, when they should've done it at least a month before. thankfully they pinged earlier this year so people can actually organise time to help out) the direction and the communication is still very lacklustre. there's no hype generated by the team. it's been maybe a few people who remembered last year's mess, trying to steer away from that happening again that have been trying to drum up hype, but even then you can feel hestiancy. i don't blame 'em. maybe i'm going on a tangent at this point but surely most people should feel like their dom team has their backs, even if they're busy, right? like there's a balance in both the flight and the dom team that they're equally as hyped and rearing to go. i don't feel any of that from the AA. it sucks. it's probably why people still feel so demotivated in fire to do more pushes - because they don't feel adequately supported by the team that's meant to lead them, but that's my personal opinion.
Not sure if this makes you feel any better, but a lot of flights don't put out the sign ups for raffle attending until a week or two before a push. There isn't really a need to do it earlier. Same with foddart. Most flights have an established routine for those things that don't need weeks of prep work in order to get them up and running. And even then a good chunk of the prep work is on the spreadsheet end of things.
I'm always in favor of a flight switch if you aren't happy with your flight's dom though. Sometimes 6 months somewhere else can give you a chance to come back with a fresh perspective. And sometimes that time shows you that you might fit better in a different flight.
i mean i agree, usually a month beforehand is great. but i think with fire, because the push week ends up in a VERY tricky time for a lot of people in flight (people getting ready for school/college/university, holidays are over, etc.) i do think there needs to be a bit more prep time in that regard to make sure that there's enough people covering the relevant events. what adds to the issue is when communication isn't clear, so people are then having to scramble last minute to get things together - which is why last year's FF was a bit of a disaster. lack of adequate communication, especially in terms of what our funds were like, items, etc. and what was needed for events. (that and the uh. expose on the AA that happened in FRD. that didn't help either.)
i mean i gave fire a chance after last year's mess, because i did sincerely hope that the team would've changed tune and be more on track and up to par, taking on feedback from last year. but my experience has shown that we're trailing back on the same path, and it's not comforting in the slightest. i've already got intentions of changing flight after the fire vs water battle because of a few obligations that'll take precedence before i switch flights.
it's not the first time i've moved flights because of this issue, because communication to me is a big thing, because if nothing's properly communicated, then it's not a surprise when things go terribly wrong and people aren't understanding what they need to do or where to go. that's why i prioritise good communication in regards to dom - pushes and dom bonuses are extras to me in this regard. even if things don't go to plan at first for whatever reason - if the team can communicate well with their flight about what the next course of action is, and the flight feels supported in that regard, then that's better than a team that doesn't really communicate with their flight and thus the flight doesn't feel as greatly motivated to take part in the pushes - effectively a feedback cycle.
that being said, i'm not the only one that's felt this. i've talked about it with a few other embers who feel more or less the same way I do and it's pretty disheartening when they're like "yeah it's like a repeat of last year at this point". not exactly a good vibe.
i've got my eyes on earth as a first point of choice, but i'm keen at looking at how other flights in regards to their dom efforts, etc. i want to feel engaged with the community in and out of dom so i'm happy to hear people's options
well fwiw i've been happy in water. the dom team is verrry well organized and communicative. i do think we'll be the underdogs in the battle with fire though, and yall are smaller than we are so there's an advantage fire can work with there. i think you'll be happy in any of the flights that have strong dom tho, like plague or light or ice or earth ofc.
Flight change is always a good idea if you're unhappy in yours and issues aren't fixed quickly. And it certainly sounds like the case for Fire since feedback was raised? At that point you have to put yourself first.
I feel you, anon. I'll also be heading out after Fire v Water if things end up sideways again. I don't think I'll start worrying just yet but it's worth keeping an eye up I guess.
Kinda sad that after last year's drama, the only thing that came of it was folks stepping down and not a ton else.
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Re: Dom Thread
(Anonymous) 2023-07-27 04:08 am (UTC)(link)like sure there's been SOME improvements but you can't tell me it's not discouraging as hell when you notice like the majority of the dom team's on hiatus or just coming back from hiatus less than a month from the push, the fact that the team only pinged foddart and made the raffle attending sign up thread after users were talking about it in the discord. it's not a good look at all and does not bring me confidence.
maybe this year's flameforgers WILL be different and I hope so, because if it's not then I'm leaving after the fire vs water battle, since I have made a committment in that regard to run an event for the battle. maybe to earth, so I can get projects done and actually be able to expand my lair, or to another flight with a more active dom scene that my skills would be useful in.
like i know this is a few weeks before flameforgers but it's not looking good again, and idk. I'm skeptical. I'm hoping that we've learned from last year's mistakes with the fest push and that we're not leaving oof people high and dry like what happened last year. admittedly there's probably not gonna be as much drama like what happened last year but yknow.
Re: Dom Thread
(Anonymous) 2023-07-27 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Dom Thread
(Anonymous) 2023-07-28 06:56 am (UTC)(link)as much as i would say it's the case, it shouldn't be a reactive measure. only when people were asking in the dom channel "where do we go to sign up?" and commenting that the stuff they thought they needed to sign up at was severely out of date. most dom teams make the effort even within the last month prior to their push to be proactive and actively keeping in touch with interested parties. my experience has shown that this isn't really the case with fire dom - we had basically no communication about anything that was concretely planned for flameforgers, and when some embers asked about helping out with running old events that used to be associated with the team, there was just silence afterwards, even when people volunteered. to me that's a problem, especially when they came out and said "oh but no one is stepping up to run events" last year, so when people now are trying to help and put their hand up, it feels like you have to wring their hands for them to give you any sort of pointers as to where you can help. i don't think that's fair for either party. (and it WAS a big issue last year re: communication. we're still being left wondering what's going on.) i've been in other flights where the teams have been pretty proactive, asking people for help, checking in about events, etc. and i'm sure that's what the usual trend is for the month leading up to the push. not just dropping the threads and then just maybe the one person responding to everyone, and it being intermittent at best.
and i'll be honest with you. even if it wasn't ridiculously last minute (like pinging people for attending the raffle 3 days before the big push last year, during WW, when they should've done it at least a month before. thankfully they pinged earlier this year so people can actually organise time to help out) the direction and the communication is still very lacklustre. there's no hype generated by the team. it's been maybe a few people who remembered last year's mess, trying to steer away from that happening again that have been trying to drum up hype, but even then you can feel hestiancy. i don't blame 'em. maybe i'm going on a tangent at this point but surely most people should feel like their dom team has their backs, even if they're busy, right? like there's a balance in both the flight and the dom team that they're equally as hyped and rearing to go. i don't feel any of that from the AA. it sucks. it's probably why people still feel so demotivated in fire to do more pushes - because they don't feel adequately supported by the team that's meant to lead them, but that's my personal opinion.
Re: Dom Thread
(Anonymous) 2023-07-27 09:23 pm (UTC)(link)I'm always in favor of a flight switch if you aren't happy with your flight's dom though. Sometimes 6 months somewhere else can give you a chance to come back with a fresh perspective. And sometimes that time shows you that you might fit better in a different flight.
Re: Dom Thread
(Anonymous) 2023-07-28 07:13 am (UTC)(link)i mean i agree, usually a month beforehand is great. but i think with fire, because the push week ends up in a VERY tricky time for a lot of people in flight (people getting ready for school/college/university, holidays are over, etc.) i do think there needs to be a bit more prep time in that regard to make sure that there's enough people covering the relevant events. what adds to the issue is when communication isn't clear, so people are then having to scramble last minute to get things together - which is why last year's FF was a bit of a disaster. lack of adequate communication, especially in terms of what our funds were like, items, etc. and what was needed for events. (that and the uh. expose on the AA that happened in FRD. that didn't help either.)
i mean i gave fire a chance after last year's mess, because i did sincerely hope that the team would've changed tune and be more on track and up to par, taking on feedback from last year. but my experience has shown that we're trailing back on the same path, and it's not comforting in the slightest. i've already got intentions of changing flight after the fire vs water battle because of a few obligations that'll take precedence before i switch flights.
it's not the first time i've moved flights because of this issue, because communication to me is a big thing, because if nothing's properly communicated, then it's not a surprise when things go terribly wrong and people aren't understanding what they need to do or where to go. that's why i prioritise good communication in regards to dom - pushes and dom bonuses are extras to me in this regard. even if things don't go to plan at first for whatever reason - if the team can communicate well with their flight about what the next course of action is, and the flight feels supported in that regard, then that's better than a team that doesn't really communicate with their flight and thus the flight doesn't feel as greatly motivated to take part in the pushes - effectively a feedback cycle.
that being said, i'm not the only one that's felt this. i've talked about it with a few other embers who feel more or less the same way I do and it's pretty disheartening when they're like "yeah it's like a repeat of last year at this point". not exactly a good vibe.
i've got my eyes on earth as a first point of choice, but i'm keen at looking at how other flights in regards to their dom efforts, etc. i want to feel engaged with the community in and out of dom so i'm happy to hear people's options
Re: Dom Thread
(Anonymous) 2023-07-28 07:11 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Dom Thread
(Anonymous) 2023-07-28 07:54 am (UTC)(link)Flight change is always a good idea if you're unhappy in yours and issues aren't fixed quickly. And it certainly sounds like the case for Fire since feedback was raised? At that point you have to put yourself first.
Re: Dom Thread
(Anonymous) 2023-08-01 02:11 am (UTC)(link)Kinda sad that after last year's drama, the only thing that came of it was folks stepping down and not a ton else.