So, following a lengthy discussion on one of the TEF discords, it's come to our attention that there are things worth bringing up, discussing, and voting on. Many have expressed disappointment in the overall tone of the event, finding the interactions unsatisfactory particularly in the area of actual competitive game-play and realism.
While the Rut is already intended to support serious and realistic play styles, it was distinctly lacking this year for a more party based atmosphere. This isn't intended to condemn such however, but we do need to try to strike a balance that leaves as many, if not all participants, happy with the event.

In the conversation we've managed to come up with some suggestions and critiques. I'll first begin with well meaning suggestions that were bought up by community members, for community members, in how we might be able to try to help accommodate the event overall. Please bear in mind that this is not an attempt to tell people exactly what to do, or how to play, but recommended ideas that might help the event as a whole succeed better in future, for everyone.
The biggest problem seemed to be that many members were AFK and unresponsive. This is something that we as a community have been used to and comfortable with for a long time. Unfortunately, during the Rut, especially while gathered in groups, this proves to be detrimental to everyone else's experience.

The most common suggestions to help in this area are:
* Asking people to, if they can, move to the no-rut zones to AFK so that no one needs to expect anything from you.
* Let your deer sleep when AFK, so again no one expects anything from you.
Alternatively:
* Try to rely less on Discord. Or at least check in more often if you're able.
* Try to be less hesitant to contact one another outside the game.
* If you don't see anything going on, then try to be the one to start something. Yes, anxiety is a big key factor to acknowledge in this, however it might help to know that many members are probably in the same boat. Try your best to push aside your shyness if you can. This is a big part of what the Rut is for.

On a less related note, but still a community-wide suggestion; in future we also would like to see a lot less focus on substance abuse in characters. Yeah, a little bit is fine, but when it overwhelms the events theme, it gets unpleasant for a number of reasons.



As for suggestions on what we can do to help encourage things ourselves; we've discussed a few ideas, all with pros and cons. After reading thoroughly what these ideas are, please proceed to vote on what you think is best, or suggest any ideas you might have. Please understand that as organizers, there's only so much we can do. At the end of the day the Ruts success is and will always be defined by the combined efforts of the community.

First of all and most significantly, there have been calls for a second "sister-event" for the Spring. So far, the concepts and formula is much the same as the current Fall rut. It will use combat and judging to bring people together, however the tone is to be significantly less serious with focus being towards sparring and teaching the inexperienced on how to participate. At the very least, we can start a trial attempt of this event in Spring 2019 to see if it works out.
One of the intended purposes of having two events is that the Spring event will be more toned down, so that the Fall event can focus more on serious gameplay between players and characters.

One other significant idea is splitting the forest arenas in two. The theoretical idea is that the First Forest could be a place for more laid back rutting while the Birch forest could become a place for more serious and realistic participants to gather and find others looking for a similar experience.
This is NOT to be mistaken as being a strict separating border, as players and characters will be able to seamlessly travel between both halves depending on what sort of Rutting experience they're after.
However there are still some concerns that this might cause some form of segregation in the forest.

A similar and less dramatic idea would be implementing "Activity Hot spots" again and hoping it works out better. These are areas (usually pre-defined by the community throughout the years of rutting) which encourage serious herds and gatherings. This is NOT to be mistaken as "Rutting can only happen here", as with the exceptions of red-zones, the rest of the forest remains a free for all in the event.



And on a smaller note; during the event Aivilo and I discussed the roles of Competitors and Challengers. We contemplated the idea of merging the two roles into one to Combatants, leaving all different playstyles and flexibility to the player to decide on how their character will participate. There will still be great variables between character types.
This is an idea drawn from how fluid both these roles tend to be. A challenger may hold a herd and a Competitor may not compete with a show of strength. Merging the roles will theoretically open up even more fluidity and dynamic playstyles, but the expense may be that people will be slower to know what to expect out of their rival.
But that being said, even with the roles in place a rival can still be unpredictable.
This is entirely the community's call.



And last of all, did you feel like the Rut was long enough? Was it too short? Too long?

Vote on all issues here!

-V