Relax your time active requirement first off. I could get sick and miss a week and a half without blinking. Not to mention if I simply decide to make a round of my alts and burn patrol xp. Take a look at the number of people you have, the number of people you recruit, and the number of people you've booted for inactivity. If those numbers aren't pretty much in order from highest to lowest, you're suffering from Churn, which is not a good way to maintain.
Don't expect too many people to make your SG their main one, and allow for work/school/life. 30 days would be more realistic.
Apart from that, set up a Teaming Day. Also consider a team of specialty characters, or a Level Pacted Team (8+ players, 8+ offline alts). Use the powers of an organized team to speed up/smooth out leveling, and give people a definite advantage in that they're getting 2 characters at once.
In other words, give something people to do, instead of making rules that basically just say "stay and play or get booted"
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
I agree with Lemur. The best way to make a SG active is to create SG teams or events. Set up a day every week where you only team with SG mates. Create a SG team where each character only plays with that team. Create a SuperTeam and run that once a week. When you have regular events scheduled that people can get into they stick around longer.
Good luck.
Also, encourage other people to do things like Teaming Day. Not many will, but those who do are your officers. The key to any good active SG is officers.
You can't do it all yourself, you just can't. You should probably be doing at least one event (such as a TF or a "teaming day") every two weeks or so at minimum, but where things will really take off is when other people are also doing events in about that timeframe. This way nobody feels pressured (no one likes to think of their SG as a second job) and yet there's still plenty of stuff for the average member to log on and do during any given week.
If you can manage get just a couple reasonably reliable folks on board with you, you're good to go. Just keep in mind that most of your recruits (the ones who even stick around) will be of the 'log on and play' variety and won't be looking for the added time investment that officership represents. It may take wading through several dozen recruits to come up with one decent officer.
Also beware of anyone constantly asking for promotions. Good officers want to get involved and don't do it so they can have a different meaningless title next to their names. Someone pressuring you to give them a promotion may have serious entitlement issues and bring needless drama into your group - or they may just be trying to rob you blind.
Iscariot's Guide to the Tri-Form Warshade, version 2.1
I'm sorry that math > your paranoid delusions, but them's the breaks -- Nethergoat
P.E.R.C. Rep for Liberty server
What is a "Teaming Day?"
[ QUOTE ]
What is a "Teaming Day?"
[/ QUOTE ]
Like say, you always have free time to play on Saturdays. You talk with some others in your SG and they do also. So, you set a time to meet and play together on Saturday each week. That's a teaming day.
[ QUOTE ]
Relax your time active requirement first off. I could get sick and miss a week and a half without blinking. Not to mention if I simply decide to make a round of my alts and burn patrol xp. Take a look at the number of people you have, the number of people you recruit, and the number of people you've booted for inactivity. If those numbers aren't pretty much in order from highest to lowest, you're suffering from Churn, which is not a good way to maintain.
Don't expect too many people to make your SG their main one, and allow for work/school/life. 30 days would be more realistic.
Apart from that, set up a Teaming Day. Also consider a team of specialty characters, or a Level Pacted Team (8+ players, 8+ offline alts). Use the powers of an organized team to speed up/smooth out leveling, and give people a definite advantage in that they're getting 2 characters at once.
In other words, give something people to do, instead of making rules that basically just say "stay and play or get booted"
[/ QUOTE ]
30 Days seems like it's far too much. Keep in mind we're bringing in a lot of lowbies that play for a day, then never play again.
I think the key is getting to know the people behind the characters. Get global names. Make friends with the people.
[ QUOTE ]
I think the key is getting to know the people behind the characters. Get global names. Make friends with the people.
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
30 Days seems like it's far too much. Keep in mind we're bringing in a lot of lowbies that play for a day, then never play again.
[/ QUOTE ]
Like I said. Stop focusing on bringing in as many people you can, and focus on making things fun for the people who are there, so they stay.
You're the victim of your own procedures right now. You have to recruit and kick so many people because there seems to be very little reason for them to stay.
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What is a "Teaming Day?"
[/ QUOTE ]
Like say, you always have free time to play on Saturdays. You talk with some others in your SG and they do also. So, you set a time to meet and play together on Saturday each week. That's a teaming day.
[/ QUOTE ]
Pretty much this, but you can adopt any definition that works for you. It might be TF Saturdays, or Tuesday Night Missions, or whatever. The point is to have a regular event you can put in your MOTD so that members, even those who have just joined, can see that there's stuff going on and have a chance to get in on it.
I'd also agree with Lemur that a high turnover broadcast recruiting strategy may be a big part of your woes. If you recruit in that way, you're going to get a lot of people that join and then quit, or join and then never log in again. You'll also get a few that are on at odd hours or run in hide all the time. Probably 10% (and that's generous) of those you recruit will actually stay with the SG as active, contributing members. And that's just members - of those, most aren't going to want any further responsibility and will look to you to do all the work of setting up events and organizing playtime. It's a largely thankless, behind-the-scenes task. Focus on building a strong, small SG first and push for expansion once you have a solid corps of officers behind you. Trying to run a large SG all by yourself will burn you out (or drive you insane).
Iscariot's Guide to the Tri-Form Warshade, version 2.1
I'm sorry that math > your paranoid delusions, but them's the breaks -- Nethergoat
P.E.R.C. Rep for Liberty server
[ QUOTE ]
I'd also agree with Lemur that a high turnover broadcast recruiting strategy may be a big part of your woes. If you recruit in that way, you're going to get a lot of people that join and then quit, or join and then never log in again.
[/ QUOTE ]
This.
You'll get a lot of members by broadcasting in zones, but most of them, frankly are going to suck. You're better of recruiting by teaming with people and approaching folks who don't have an SG that are solid, interesting players. Recruiting via the forum also has a higher chance of getting somebody who's willing to stick around.
Broadcast recruiting is probably the worst way to get members and you get a HUGE turnover rate.
Finding quality members should be your priority. 1 quality member is worth 10 broadcast recruits.
Once you get quality members, the activity can work itself out as they enjoy playing with other people in the group. But you need to try to get people who are going to stick around and not use your SG as an alt dumping ground. If new people are constantly coming in and leaving it's hard to build that sense of family that fosters a state of activity.
To play Devil's Advocate, however, I'd say that broadcast recruiting isn't necessarily the worst method. All methods have their pros and cons and so long as you understand those, it's all fair game.
If you have a solid SG with stable, drama-free leadership and dependable officers, then broadcast recruiting makes sense. At that point what you're looking for is bodies to fill the ranks. Hopefully some of them distinguish themselves and stick around as friends and longtime members, but if most don't that's fine too so long as they bring in the Prestige.
You establish a clear-cut system for activity and promotion, you have regular events, and everybody's happy. Members recruited in this way are regularly kicked for inactivity or just up and vanish, and that's fine. They're easy enough to replace and you pick up a few more long-term folks each round if you're lucky.
The benefit of this system is that it creates the impression of a large, active SG and it's a great Prestige earner. The downside is that the signal to noise ratio is quite poor and a vast majority of the players you recruit will be duds.
On the flip side, a teaming system in which you extend invites only to solid, interesting players whom you've met and played with has a much higher retention rate. You know them, they know you, and you have a far higher chance of keeping those people. Those people are also far more likely to care enough about the SG to take on extra responsibility as officers and help you run the things. The downside of this approach is that it's very time-intensive. It's high quality but low quantity.
There's other methods as well - hosting events such as costume contests, badge tours or various TFs gets your name out there and may win you some recruits that way, with varying quality. Forum-based recruits tend to be more reliable than broadcast, but can run the gamut.
Iscariot's Guide to the Tri-Form Warshade, version 2.1
I'm sorry that math > your paranoid delusions, but them's the breaks -- Nethergoat
P.E.R.C. Rep for Liberty server
Firstly, that 10-day activity requirement is kind of obnoxious. I bet that has cost you some potential members. We have NO activity requirement. Once you're in, you always have a *HOME*. We're not herding cattle. The only time we kick for 'inactivity' is when we're full and want to add someone new.
Second, having X number of people in the SG online at once isn't necessarily your goal. My SG has our own global channel and all members (and some non-members) are on it. We might have 3-4 people *online in the SG* but 15 or 20 *on the channel*. You're recruiting PLAYERS, not specific characters. When we have SG events, people can bring any character they want. They don't need to bring the toon that happens to be in this particular SG.
How are you recruiting? If you're broadcasting or posting on the forums, I don't think people take that seriously. If there is no entry requirement beyond "Invite me?" "You're in.", people don't feel they're committing to anything. They may decide your base isn't big enough or the SG name isn't cool enough and leave. After all, what holds them there? At that point, they don't know anyone.
We don't specifically 'recruit'. If we meet someone in-game AND they don't have an SG AND they're fun to play with, THEN we'll try to recruit them. At this point, you've gotten to know them and have become friends (at least to some extent). True, this means we add members very slowly. But it also means that they are likely to stick around for a hell of a long time. I don't recall if we've ever had 20 online at once, but if we got 12 to show up for a *SHARD* TF, we must be doing something right.
As for specific things to do to increase activity. Schedule stuff. If people log on at a random time and see two people on, it doesn't make an impression. If they log on for something planned and see a dozen or more, they'll take notice. You need to have the players get to know each other. Once that happens, they'll start to make plans to team even when nothing is scheduled. If you get multiple SG members on a team and a new player sees them playing together, it tells them it's an active SG. This helps you find new members. You need to work hard to get this sort of thing started but, once you do, it builds on itself.
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
30 Days seems like it's far too much. Keep in mind we're bringing in a lot of lowbies that play for a day, then never play again.
[/ QUOTE ]
Like I said. Stop focusing on bringing in as many people you can, and focus on making things fun for the people who are there, so they stay.
You're the victim of your own procedures right now. You have to recruit and kick so many people because there seems to be very little reason for them to stay.
[/ QUOTE ]
I took your advice for a day...decided NOT to recruit in Atlas and on Saturday, completed 3 4 hour task forces, mostly with SGers.
Each one though had 2-3 non-SGers too, and nearly all of them wanted to join up.
Of course, we're full, so I had to remove people that were inactive 14 days or had no Prestige after being in hte sg for 7 days or more.
[ QUOTE ]
Firstly, that 10-day activity requirement is kind of obnoxious. I bet that has cost you some potential members. We have NO activity requirement. Once you're in, you always have a *HOME*. We're not herding cattle. The only time we kick for 'inactivity' is when we're full and want to add someone new.
Second, having X number of people in the SG online at once isn't necessarily your goal. My SG has our own global channel and all members (and some non-members) are on it. We might have 3-4 people *online in the SG* but 15 or 20 *on the channel*. You're recruiting PLAYERS, not specific characters. When we have SG events, people can bring any character they want. They don't need to bring the toon that happens to be in this particular SG.
How are you recruiting? If you're broadcasting or posting on the forums, I don't think people take that seriously. If there is no entry requirement beyond "Invite me?" "You're in.", people don't feel they're committing to anything. They may decide your base isn't big enough or the SG name isn't cool enough and leave. After all, what holds them there? At that point, they don't know anyone.
We don't specifically 'recruit'. If we meet someone in-game AND they don't have an SG AND they're fun to play with, THEN we'll try to recruit them. At this point, you've gotten to know them and have become friends (at least to some extent). True, this means we add members very slowly. But it also means that they are likely to stick around for a hell of a long time. I don't recall if we've ever had 20 online at once, but if we got 12 to show up for a *SHARD* TF, we must be doing something right.
As for specific things to do to increase activity. Schedule stuff. If people log on at a random time and see two people on, it doesn't make an impression. If they log on for something planned and see a dozen or more, they'll take notice. You need to have the players get to know each other. Once that happens, they'll start to make plans to team even when nothing is scheduled. If you get multiple SG members on a team and a new player sees them playing together, it tells them it's an active SG. This helps you find new members. You need to work hard to get this sort of thing started but, once you do, it builds on itself.
[/ QUOTE ]
Having people in the SG online "in the sg" is exactly the point in our case. We're faced with trying to make the Top 10 on the hardest server to do so (Freedom).
Using the current method, we are nearly always full, and about 20-30 toons are logged on daily...but I suspect many of them are alts of a limited few.
I see your point on the Global channel, and I actually joined an SG on Virtue that did this...the result in that one was the SG itself was very inactive...like 3 people on daily. That's something I want to avoid.
My goal is to successfully make the SG a proud place to play...friendly and enjoyable.
I might do the global thing though. It would actually come in handy if the newer members don't have alts in the SG.
We have a themed sister SG...it never really caught on because of the theme. Maybe I'll make that an Alt sg.
Some ideas I was thinking about:
TF Saturdays
SG Farms on 1st and 15th of each month.
A monthly Costume Contest in Atlas (though with all the spamming going on there these days maybe another zone would be better).
Teams, Themes, and Help
Teams: Take that new recruit on a few fun missions with a full team. SK that lowbie for an hour and give them some pointers. Call out teams in SG Chat. Get a free forum and advertise it in message of the day. List times and events there. Teams give people a sense you want to play with their characters and them. Notice what times people come on and make a point to come on and see them.
Themes: Different people like different things. Set nights to organize AE, or Oroboros, or 50s night, or blaster night or TF night. Again, advertise them in forums.
Help: Notice members who like to organize teams and help others and promote them and help them back. They can be huge in organizing events. Tell the lowbies what to take from the base and where to find it. Let them HAVE stuff. Offer stuff in SG chat. Ask if anyone needs anything.
Make it fun, helpful and be vocal.
Also, it helps to have a stellar recruiter, but those are few and far between.
Last but not least... let other people lead. Not just an elite few. They don't have to have all the priviledges, but they do have to have a say.
With the new resource of the mission architect at your disposal an SG initiation arc introducing the officers of the sg as npcs/ contacts along with an introduction to some themed rivals may also be helpful in building a meaningful commitment to the sg. It may take some effort to build an arc with some prominent officers in it but fostering the feeling of belonging to the SG is what keeps SGs active. Something like this would go a long way to making the SG more memorable than say the uber team Z who broadcasts for recruits.
QR
1. Quality over Quantity - use a recruitment period. We have an established 30 day recruitment period for all new applicants because we care about our members and not their prestige.
2. Event - People like to be involved. Players/members may not initiate many events but if you have a Task Force Friday and/or Strike Force Saturday...you won't have trouble making a full team.
3. This is a social network - SGs, are for the most part, a social network. Treat it like such. Get to know your members personally. This also ties in with the recruitment period.
4. Website - this is a huge plus. It gives members another medium to be focused around your SG, a place to plan events, make silly posts, talk about one another, and to send possible recruits for membership.
5. Clear concise rules - It's your SG, so your rules. Be sure to enforce them for everyone or no-one. Most players will pick up on favoritism and that only promotes ill-will.
Feel free to check out our SG at www.doomheroes.com for an example of a website, etc.
[ QUOTE ]
QR
1. Quality over Quantity - use a recruitment period. We have an established 30 day recruitment period for all new applicants because we care about our members and not their prestige.
2. Event - People like to be involved. Players/members may not initiate many events but if you have a Task Force Friday and/or Strike Force Saturday...you won't have trouble making a full team.
3. This is a social network - SGs, are for the most part, a social network. Treat it like such. Get to know your members personally. This also ties in with the recruitment period.
4. Website - this is a huge plus. It gives members another medium to be focused around your SG, a place to plan events, make silly posts, talk about one another, and to send possible recruits for membership.
5. Clear concise rules - It's your SG, so your rules. Be sure to enforce them for everyone or no-one. Most players will pick up on favoritism and that only promotes ill-will.
Feel free to check out our SG at www.doomheroes.com for an example of a website, etc.
[/ QUOTE ]
I've started introducing events and announced them on the website.
We have both a website and a forum (your's rocked btw)
Website: http://cohlegends.com
Forum: http://cohlegends.com/legendary-bbs/
(Note: The Forum shows much more once registered and logged in)
Got a question for you though...
...how does your website roster work? Does it update according to the actual SG membership automatically? Do you have members register?
If you use a database tool, could you share it?
[ QUOTE ]
With the new resource of the mission architect at your disposal an SG initiation arc introducing the officers of the sg as npcs/ contacts along with an introduction to some themed rivals may also be helpful in building a meaningful commitment to the sg. It may take some effort to build an arc with some prominent officers in it but fostering the feeling of belonging to the SG is what keeps SGs active. Something like this would go a long way to making the SG more memorable than say the uber team Z who broadcasts for recruits.
[/ QUOTE ]
We actually have a SG Policies mission that includes NPCs of our leaders. At the end of it, an Architect Souvenir is given to the people who complete it. It's a fairly each arc, one mission.
Number: 63384
(in case anyone wishes to check it out)
And we also have a series of missions called "Legends" (Supergroup name is Legendary Superheroes of Paragon)
Legends #1: Coming of Catalyst #4811 (currently bugged, tech support is patching sometime this week)
Legends #2: Crimson Dawn #35986 (Working)
And have another coming out soon.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Firstly, that 10-day activity requirement is kind of obnoxious. I bet that has cost you some potential members. We have NO activity requirement. Once you're in, you always have a *HOME*. We're not herding cattle. The only time we kick for 'inactivity' is when we're full and want to add someone new.
Second, having X number of people in the SG online at once isn't necessarily your goal. My SG has our own global channel and all members (and some non-members) are on it. We might have 3-4 people *online in the SG* but 15 or 20 *on the channel*. You're recruiting PLAYERS, not specific characters. When we have SG events, people can bring any character they want. They don't need to bring the toon that happens to be in this particular SG.
How are you recruiting? If you're broadcasting or posting on the forums, I don't think people take that seriously. If there is no entry requirement beyond "Invite me?" "You're in.", people don't feel they're committing to anything. They may decide your base isn't big enough or the SG name isn't cool enough and leave. After all, what holds them there? At that point, they don't know anyone.
We don't specifically 'recruit'. If we meet someone in-game AND they don't have an SG AND they're fun to play with, THEN we'll try to recruit them. At this point, you've gotten to know them and have become friends (at least to some extent). True, this means we add members very slowly. But it also means that they are likely to stick around for a hell of a long time. I don't recall if we've ever had 20 online at once, but if we got 12 to show up for a *SHARD* TF, we must be doing something right.
As for specific things to do to increase activity. Schedule stuff. If people log on at a random time and see two people on, it doesn't make an impression. If they log on for something planned and see a dozen or more, they'll take notice. You need to have the players get to know each other. Once that happens, they'll start to make plans to team even when nothing is scheduled. If you get multiple SG members on a team and a new player sees them playing together, it tells them it's an active SG. This helps you find new members. You need to work hard to get this sort of thing started but, once you do, it builds on itself.
[/ QUOTE ]
Having people in the SG online "in the sg" is exactly the point in our case. We're faced with trying to make the Top 10 on the hardest server to do so (Freedom).
Using the current method, we are nearly always full, and about 20-30 toons are logged on daily...but I suspect many of them are alts of a limited few.
I see your point on the Global channel, and I actually joined an SG on Virtue that did this...the result in that one was the SG itself was very inactive...like 3 people on daily. That's something I want to avoid.
My goal is to successfully make the SG a proud place to play...friendly and enjoyable.
I might do the global thing though. It would actually come in handy if the newer members don't have alts in the SG.
We have a themed sister SG...it never really caught on because of the theme. Maybe I'll make that an Alt sg.
[/ QUOTE ]
You mention wanting to be in the "top 10" and I just have to ask ....why? The ranking system is based purely on your prestige numbers, and I have to say, that literally means diddly-squat to me if I were a prospective member. In fact, I usually point this out to people who advertise their SG as being "Number 27 in the server" so the people they're trying to pick up aren't confused about what it means. Now, I'm not saying you're trying to use this meaningless ranking as a tool to get new players, but it's what I see most frequently on Champion. With the changes to base pricing, the amount of prestige your group has for a base means even less than it did before.
Creating a global channel for your group is a very good idea. People make new characters all the time, and they may not want every single character of theirs physically in their main's SG. Just as an example, I'm an extreme altaholic. Our SG channel will probably show me as being online at any given point, but not all of my characters are in our SG so the SG might appear "dead" if it weren't for our global channel. I'm constantly switching characters and some sit untouched for 2-3 weeks at a time. Having a global channel with your members in it will show that while they might not have used a particular character in a while, they're not actually an inactive member and kicking them out because they (people like me, now) can't stay on one character for more than a few levels (or less) is just silly.
I also agree that having a 10-day inactive restriction is extremely restricting. Hell, 14 days is still pushing it in my opinion though that's a bit more reasonable. Not to drag another MMO into this, but I'm reminded of a certain player in WoW who wanted to do scheduled guild raids. He took it upon himself to try to set them up, which was good... except his schedule only worked with his own personal time openings. He had no job, no obligations, and his raiding schedule reflected this. He eventually left the guild due to "lack of raid interest" even though we explained that his schedule didn't let anyone but two or three others show up.
That's what I'm picking up here. Your policies seem to reflect a system that you, personally, can handle and you're not taking into account the variables of other peoples' lives. Things can happen, people might jump around on some alts for a couple weeks, or a life emergency occurs and they can't really log in for 2-3 weeks. Coming back and finding that the SG they had fun times in has given them the boot because of a inactive period that's far too short doesn't usually sit well with most people. My suggestion to you is to find a system that accommodates the largest possible selection of your members without being so lax as to allow the SG to become cluttered with throw-away alts.
Main Hero : Annilixxion -- Lv50 Blaster
Main Villain : Menkaura -- Lv41 Mastermind
@Laxx
"You will bend to my will, with or without your precious sanity." --Dragon Mage
[ QUOTE ]
You mention wanting to be in the "top 10" and I just have to ask ....why? The ranking system is based purely on your prestige numbers, and I have to say, that literally means diddly-squat to me if I were a prospective member. In fact, I usually point this out to people who advertise their SG as being "Number 27 in the server" so the people they're trying to pick up aren't confused about what it means. Now, I'm not saying you're trying to use this meaningless ranking as a tool to get new players, but it's what I see most frequently on Champion. With the changes to base pricing, the amount of prestige your group has for a base means even less than it did before.
[/ QUOTE ]
You may feel that way, but the vast majority put stock in it.
Also, if a SG goes from say, #50 to #25, in a short time, it shows that they are active (especially on Freedom; where it's hardest).
The fact that you call out recruiters like that is kind of rude...and something you might want to reconsider. You're talking to people that have worked hard to get it, and they have a right to be proud.
Shooting them down simply because it doesn't matter to you isn't right.
Still reading the rest of your post 
[ QUOTE ]
I also agree that having a 10-day inactive restriction is extremely restricting. Hell, 14 days is still pushing it in my opinion though that's a bit more reasonable. Not to drag another MMO into this, but I'm reminded of a certain player in WoW who wanted to do scheduled guild raids.
He took it upon himself to try to set them up, which was good... except his schedule only worked with his own personal time openings. He had no job, no obligations, and his raiding schedule reflected this. He eventually left the guild due to "lack of raid interest" even though we explained that his schedule didn't let anyone but two or three others show up.
That's what I'm picking up here. Your policies seem to reflect a system that you, personally, can handle and you're not taking into account the variables of other peoples' lives. Things can happen, people might jump around on some alts for a couple weeks, or a life emergency occurs and they can't really log in for 2-3 weeks.
Coming back and finding that the SG they had fun times in has given them the boot because of a inactive period that's far too short doesn't usually sit well with most people. My suggestion to you is to find a system that accommodates the largest possible selection of your members without being so lax as to allow the SG to become cluttered with throw-away alts.
[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, the 10 day restriction has worked out well for over a year. Your example of the player in wow doesn't really apply to this situation, but it is a good point.
In our situation, it's not hard, especially now that the character screen shows time offline, to quickly log a toon on...I'll admit, that's an illusion...but a valuable one.
Right now, we have no one that has been offline more than 14 days (I relaxed it since starting this thread). Most have not been offline more than 10 days.
We also have a section on our forums called "Member Vacations" in case someone needs to take time away longer than 10 days.
I'm re-evaluating the policy though. I like the idea of simply removing members that have been offline the longest only as needed for the roster spot.
I always look at their Prestige too...if they have earned more than 100,000 Prestige, I try to give them more time...or even over 50,000 if newer members.
btw, anyone...I know what a Task force is...what's a Strike Force?
I have a supergroup on the Freedom Server, and I want it to become more active.
I know there are groups that have 20-40 people on at any given time. Can some of you give me pointers on how to achieve this?
Right now, we have a 10 day active requirement and I'm always recruiting, there are times when we have 10-20 people on, but these times are uncommon.
How can I make it better?