AAHHH omg I loved the iron doe event orz I'd absolutely love to incorporate a little event like that into the spring "rut" / festival or whatever it ends up being called. I like the idea of different things, such as flower sparring, regular sparring, simon says and such.. and the dance bits too, BUT, for simplicity's sake I personally think it'd be best to stray away from having "organizers" for the specific events.

For the festival overall? For sure, but I think when we start needing to rely on certain individuals to keep things fun / interesting (aka waiting around for a certain character who's in charge of starting games), it might become more of a job for them than a thing to enjoy. Could I suggest instead maybe a temporary emote dialogue listed on the "event" page for when someone wants to do something? For example, doe X wants to organize a "simon says" kind of game with the deer in a certain area.. maybe a ground tap + surprised + head tilt could mean "simon says", whereas a ground tap + dance could be for a "dance" contest in which the instigator is the judge. That might be overly complicated, idk orz just tossing my 2 cents in.

Then again, could also go with organizers that update the event blog when there's going to be an event coming up. Such as, "doe X is hosting a "simon says" event at the crying idol at [time]" or what have you.. I'm bad at this but you get what I mean ;_;

I love the ideas everyone is suggesting about a spring festival. I think its good to have another event, because lots of people are busy around this time and would therefore miss out on the only event of the year. Something fun and relaxing to mingle sounds super nice.
Also I'm down for a dance competition 100%

Ooooh Jin I really like that idea >u<

There could be dances with different themes and like you said, gift giving (likes flowers, masks, or other stuff). Also cuddle piles and grooming sesions. Some people could bounce and run around, just enjoying themselves. No one would have to worry about being the strongest or most well liked, just spreading the love. It gives everyone the option to mingle and meet new people without the stress of sparring or judging. Oh man I really like this idea.

Ok i am loving these ideas haft to get a brain storm to get ideas as well lol.

So far my rut experiences have been going well. I've met plenty of wonderful people and interacted a plenty. Then again I was on for long periods of time without much rest-- that being said, I did take my competitor out a bit earlier as participating as a competitor was a tad draining OocLY. :'}

No other reason than I was growing weary and needed to call it off so I can still enjoy the event as is. I'm sorry to hear that you guys aren't having as much luck and I can't really voice for everyone.... THOUGH I do agree it has slowed down since the second week.

I've had a DANG good week, granted I'm.. on like.. all day every day |: bUT still, I think all the spars and herding have been super fun. It dwindled down a little bit towards the end of the first week, but the second has been suuuper lacking. I've been lucky enough to be able to involve my characters in the occasional spar and such, but aside from that, everyone seems to have split up again and have scattered across the forest.

I personally think that, content-wise, this has been by far THE best rut so far. I always enjoyed it, but this year just took the cake. I hope it's like this in the future. THAT BEING SAID, I gotta say I feel like it should really only be a week long. I completely understand wanting it to be longer than that so that everyone can participate (if they're busy for one week or another), but it always, always tanks in the second week. No matter what. I understand ChocolateTabbyKat in saying that it's OOCly taxing too, AND IT IS, because even when it's your character doing all the work it's high energy on the player's behalf too keeping track of all the insanity that's taken place. Don't get me wrong, it's super fun, but it's also exhausting after a while.

For people who can't make it in that first week, it's unfortunate but almost futile for them to try and get involved in week two since most of it's already "over" given how things seem to go, that downhill slide and all. It sucks, because it's a fantastic event and the more the merrier, so it's a shame that not everyone will potentially be able to take part. It's also extremely hard to cater to an audience as vast as the one on TEFc (and our community's tiny in comparison to most), and no matter what, chances are not everyone's going to be able to make it anyway whether it be for connection issues, real life, or other reasons. Just gotta do the best with what you've got.

tl;dr I know the votes came in and such but I think next year we should have it as a one week event.

I still maintain that a second week is good, or at least having more than 5 days. When the action dies down, that gives others a chance to participate who weren't able to get in with the bigger crowds. It may be slower, but the last time I participated (years ago before I disappeared from TEF for a while) it was that slow period that allowed for me to get in some decent interaction. Of course there will always be people who are unable to participate no matter what, but I think having more time allows for more people to participate than would without it.

Having said that, from my perspective it seems like things just came to a sudden halt rather than gradually slowing down, and it seemed to happen rather early in...

At least I thought it did. I just double-checked the starting date and realized it was earlier than I thought. I only brought this up because I was concerned the rut had ended early and without notification, because I thought it had only been a few days (maybe it just felt like that because I was busy for part of it). So, okay, I feel better realizing that it actually has been more than a week, so this is actually normal, even if it felt like a sudden drop to me.

Still hoping for something like a second wind, though.

Personally, I don't see why we can't just leave it at two weeks. Yes, it is not as active as the first week, people are tired, characters are tired. However, the point of having those two weeks were for those who can't get on as often or not at all that first week. It may feel like even less activity because of timezones but there is still some minor get togethers and the occasional spar.

People COULD continue on their own but being under The Rut title gives people the security of not only The Rut rules but also the feeling it's ok to go up to a stranger as long as they're still marked by The Rut title (ie; in the list, badges, etc).

I think those that can get on everyday, multiple times a day, forget that while they are burned out there are still others who can only get on after school/work/other RL obligations that still would like to get their fill.

Add on the fact that The Rut only happens once a year (unless we have a spring one?) it doesn't hurt no one to keep it at a solid two weeks.

If it wasn't for the fact that I am lagging so bad that it makes it hard to spar and that the hurricane may cut The Rut short for me, I would most definitely make the most of the last few days.

If anyone would like me to have Gustiro or another of my characters to stir up your Competitors/Challengers herds to spice things up, let me know. Just keep in mind that I am currently in lag hell because of the old computer I have to use (hopefully getting a new gaming computer soon, watch out for next year!) and keep in mind I might disappear if the storms knock out my electricity.

whoospie my b
completely misread that one sentence lmao