Villain Side Hami Raids

my $ .02
Have been atending the raids for a few months now. Being in contact with Kid I get privy to some knowledge others may not. The ammount of poeple who ask "well how many do you have now?" is amazing. People wont join because the numbers in the zone are low yet if they just came to the zone we would be close to filling if not full each and every time. This holds true for both side raids. As far as red side. We need bodies but we also need variety. The last red side raid we couldnt even get 4 Doms or their equal in holds. Hami requires diversity and if we can not find that we can not win. Making an alt to fill a gap you noticed is not hard and leveling is hardly a problem. We need to push away from this selfish attitude and work together for these raids if not for the HO's atleast for the comunity building that will help us come together for future raids which are likely in production now.

To be honest I would rather stab myself in the foot then play redside let alone a redside Hami raid. Blue side I would and have done 3 times a day! That being said if Kid asks me to help with one I would in a heartbeat. Why? Because I know how hard it is to get one together. The hours spent PMing everyone you know. Farming EOEs and Nukes. Its a pretty thankless job. So to say they don't try hard enough ... Anyhow in the end the Redside is just harder to put together. So thank you all for what you do to make them happen.

Back to my TF now

So what I am gathering is:

Lack of advertisement is why Villian side Hami raids seem to have less a turnout then Hero side.

I've been around for a while, though my post count would say otherwise. I spend more time then my wife would like in game and alternate frequently between both hero and villians, and EVERY time there has been a Hami whether it was red or blue I knew about it.

How? I browse the Forums, I monitor the global channels and word of mouth. The last few raids heroside I let my global friends know it was happening and encouraged them to come. The last couple Villian raids I have attended I was giving a friendly reminder by friends on my global.

There are a number of different ways that we as a whole can "get the word out" about raids blue/red and for the most part from what i've seen they are being used. Kid,Vega, T and the other raid leaders do a hell of a job both Red and Blue but they alone cannot get everyboby on protector to attend them.

Major T created a post for our next Hami raid those of us who browse and or are active on the forums replied with either a wooohooo i'll be there or a DOH! can't make it. Now as we are and yes we are "the select few" who actually parcipitate here on the forums it is up to us to spread the word in game. Be it by WoM to our friends, occasional zone broadcasts, reminders in the global channels and any other way we can think of to "get the word out".

That Mr. Grey is in my opinion the only way we are going to get more parcipitation for Red side Hami's. It's like bad customer service, you tell 10 friends who tell 10 of thier friends and so on, eventually everyone will know about it.

That being said since the next raid will be hero side I suggest we try a red side Hami after that, but wait there is more.........Kid, Vega, T and the other raid leaders hopefully you will honor us by taking charge the way you do and lead us to victory. Everyone else here on the forums who think we need more parcipitation in Red side Hami's your task would be to "GET THE WORD OUT" via Global channels, Global Firends, WoM, broadcasts throught the various Villian zones, hell take an add out in the paper if you think it'll help, bottom line is it doesn't matter how many times our Hami crew puts together a raid if we don't help them advertise it no one will come.

Disclaimer: I do not, and cannot, attend raids whether they be blue or red side. I sincerely wish I could, but real life prevails.

I can't believe I just read through all the preceeding posts and no one seems to have noticed a paradox here.

- It is agreed that blue side raids have adequate participation, while red side raids are lacking.

- Announcement and advertising of said raids have been blamed for this considerable short fall of participation

- Is is also agreed both blue and red side raids utilized the same methods of advertising.
(The same global channels, forums, and ingame channels are used for blue and red side raid news/announcements)

Hence, the differing results are due to some aspect other than the advertising. To put this another way, I use a hammer to drive a nail, then I use a stick of celery to drive a nail. Same nail. The nail is not the problem. In this case, same advertising. The advertising is not the problem.

The difference has to be elsewhere, and there are scores of possible contributing factors that could be considered.

Hami raids are tough. They can be time-consuming. Red side population is considerably smaller than blue side. Red side has the reputation for causing more people greater levels of lag. Some players just plain do not like being a "bad guy". This is to say nothing about player apathy for an event they do not fully understand, their friends are not already participating in, or a tough challenge they just might fail even if they try hard.

I'm not certain where to find the answer, but if this conversation is to be fruitful, focus needs to be on issues other than "getting the word out".

I was more refering to those like myself that will have a character ride the fence simply to be accessable to all zones, rather than just one side.

As far as Hami being in GR, I was loosly referencing one of the devs stating that there is no plans for a Hami type event in Praetoria at this time. I just hope it isn't planned ever, cause 3 Hami events would just be overkill.

Well I am out of the forumns, I'll be over on the red side if anyone wants to run something.

/sarcasm, When things go wrong in game I like to remind my teammates that the first and most important thing to do is to assign blame, not to fix the problem.

All joking aside, we already know the solution is to efficiently and effectively advertise the Hami Raids in a timely fashion. That said, I'm fairly certain the next Hami Raid isn't currently posted in the STF Master's MotD. Advertising concerns will fade once we can get Raiding on a regular schedule.

A minor quibble with Ice9_'s assertion that blueside advertising = redside advertising. With a smaller redside player base, equal effort means proportionately lower redside attendance. For example, I sometimes team with a particular group of players that regularly support the blueside with 4-6 people but have no villains 45+ or no villains at all.

We'll have better attendance if we'd just remind one another. Ask your buddy if they're going to the raid. Ask the channel operator in your large, (Protector based), global to see if they'd advertise in the MotD or if they'd just mention it during the week. Lastly, mention it yourself in the channel throughout the week, "Hey, who's going to the Hami Raid this weekend?".
Get the word out.

Thanks to everyone that organizes or participates in events, task forces or teams. It builds our community.

I personally think population is the biggest factor. I just did a quick search 5 pm est 29 people on red side, 87 blue. I realize this isn't prime time its just some general numbers. I'll look again later tonight and over the weekend. Though i'm positive its a lack of communication.

Though this post immediately follows Elric's, it is in no way a response or retort to his comments. I would never want that. =)

Speading the word among friends, SG mates, allies, and others is a great way to communicate what is happening around Protector, or any server for that matter. But, this is an entirely different thing from what some others have said, that the organizers and leaders of said events need to communicate more.

It is a subtle distinction, but an important one. The effort put forth by the leaders of events, specifically raids in this conversation, has been and remain adequate for the task. This is evidenced by the amount of response received for blue side raids.

Spreading the word to people who do not use the global channels previously discussed, or who do not use the forums is important. However, that responsibility should not fall on the shoulders of a few motivated individuals leading and/or organizing a raid for the benefit of all participants. Rather, anyone interested in seeing the raid succeed should make it their own responsibility to pass on what they have seen, read, and heard about on global channels, in the forums, and elsewhere.

It is painfully clear to me, I was not concise enough previously.

Anyone, and everyone, interested in seeing successful raids regularly occur on both red and blue side should make it their responsibility to show up on time, be familiar with the tactics used, and do their best to bring interested friends along. I suspect these three things would go a very long way to bolstering the successes of red side raids.

Sitting back and telling Kid, Vega, BT, Sooner, Vyx, Major T, and others they need to advertise in this or that global, post more often in the forums, or chat ingame more accomplishes nothing. The same people see JS, PV, PW, PTF (globals abbv. 'cause I'm too lazy to type out entire names) when they play blue side or red side, they show up for blue side but not red side - that is not the fault of insufficient advertising.

If you know someone who goes to blue raids but not red ones, someone who doesn't read the forums, someone who thinks playing red side will make them "dirty"... encourage them to come with you, to try it out. Educate them about how Hami Raids work, and why. Then, show up, ready to listen and do your best. Who knows, with a bit of luck and little server lag, you just might win.

Though I might not know the chaos this may cause, perhaps more people in their perpective chat channels could be allowed the option to invite new people. I know I have from time to time wanted to invite some new person into a chat channel, only to be blocked by not having that authority.

Just a thought.

I've noticed that no one has mentioned the fact that some people (myself included) do not find Hami raids all that fun. Plus the fact that the risk vs reward really doesn't make it worth it as well.