In my last blog, Recruiting 101 - Current Methods, we looked at the 3 current mechanisms you have available to advertise your co-op: in game list, Facebook pages and word of mouth.
The problem with a better method of listing, sorting and searching co-ops is that you need to be able to define and label a vast collection of unique co-ops into distinct categories with distinct levels.
Going through these categories should also help you start to define your co-op so that you can better advertise it to the world and better understand your key focus and values.
Lets tackle the easy ones first.
Name and level: as easy as it gets. Easy to filter a min and max level and search by part of or all off a name.
Time zones: again, fairly easy to look at the map of internet usage by time zone and break the farming community into 10 sortable zones. You can list your co-op as EST, CST, BST and any player looking for a CST time zone will be able to find your co-op.
West (-8 UTC) & Central (-6 UTC) & Eastern (-5 UTC) USA
West (+1 UTC), Central (+2 UTC) & Eastern (+3 UTC) Europe
Southern (+5 UTC) & Eastern (+8 UTC) Pacific
Asia Pacific (+9 UTC) (Australia)
Eastern Australia (+10 UTC)
Merger: It is pretty easy to add an option for co-ops open to the idea of merging. And it is just a simple to search for only co-ops looking for a merge. ("It is easy..." famous last words... nope, needed to be creative on this one)
Description: It is fairly easy to keyword search a description, but your results are now purely dependent on the person that wrote the description. We can skip this one.
The problem is when you start to add lots of information, your 'advert' will become really large. So lets split the description into something short (256 characters) and flashy displayed in a search result list and then give lots of room (4000 characters) to add all the nitty gritty details you want in a large description.
Language: BFMH is a global game. It would be mean for us to keep this to just the English speaking community.
Min Level to Join: Again, another easy to add searchable field. The key here is that if the listings odds of showing up on the list are not dependent on the min level, then it can actually mean something. So, min level stays out of the sort algorithm and it means something.
Application Process: I think it important to be able to tell people what you are looking for and how they should join. Some co-ops are happy to just have someone pop in and say hello. For others it is a month long process of chatting with the leader and fully understanding the schedule and culture, and how you will fit into that.
Secondary Communication: Some of the really social groups have their own chat groups outside of the game so they can use emojis and post pictures. Others have Line, Discord or Facebook for those days when chat goes down on the last day of tourney... If I don't have Messenger and your group uses Messenger, I may not be the best fit.
Next up is the slightly harder to define qualities of a group. After lots of input from a couple focus groups, I came up with the following qualities and options.
Age (Age of the co-op)
Just Starting
Young
Rebuilding
Mature
Maturity Rating (I see lots of listings for Family Friendly or Adults only.)
Family – this is family friendly co-op
General – we generally try to keep things clean
PG – Our content is a little more mature
Adult – Our content is very mature
Social Level
We just exist in the same spot. Chat is never used
There is some light chatting and project strategy
The group can be social at times. We chat about projects
The group is fairly social and chats about projects and life
The group is like a family. We're very social and share life together
Leadership Style
Autocratic – Leader makes decisions without consulting
Collaborative – Leaders gather insight and feedback and make a decision
Democratic – Decisions made by the participating majority
Main Focus
Co-op Tournaments (immediate entry)
Co-op Tournaments (delayed entry)
Individual Tournaments
Growth – Teaching players how to play
Blended – Grow and compete Co-op and Indy
Relaxed – No pressure place to relax
Loyalty Points – Just send and collect
Retreat or Vacation – Come and recharge
Schedule
Anything goes, no schedule
A general idea that changes on the go
Long projects most of the time
Long projects with intense when people are free
Fast intense projects most of the day
Specific Schedule - set your alarm
I'm fairly confident that you can describe most co-ops inside this framework. There are a few other things that did cross my mind during this processes, and they may be included in v2. You are more then welcome to put your suggestions for v2 in the comments below.
I am hoping that this little exercise will also make you think a little more about your co-op's core values and focus. Practical So how do you make it fair that all co-ops have equal opportunity to have their listing displayed? By going completely random. Now, I'm of the mindset that co-ops that write a really good advert should be slightly rewarded, plus better adverts will get more views anyways, so why not skew the search results slightly, but keep it so no one can dominate the listings. I am also not the type of person to be contained to just 30 co-ops... if there are 400 co-ops on the list, I want to see all 400.
Now head over to the Co-op Listings and either add yours, see how your leader did defining yours, or have a look for a new set of friends to play with. You need to be a site member to add your co-op.
Happy Farming! Smart
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