『"Everyone wants to be a Mastermind" Syndrome』

[John Dark Souls]

『So, at this point at time where I am starting writing this post, we have 20 Mastermind Files. Among these 20 "masterminds", only 6 actually hosted at least a single season or at best have one already fully made in wait to be hosted. This amounts only to 30% of the all the "masterminds" on the forum. So, I am starting to feel like it is becoming a problem or might just become a problem in future.』

『You see, I do know that in order to apply as mastermind and make a mastermind application, you have to make a season application and have it approved, meaning all 20 of these have their applications approved (except for Satori, who actually doesn't even have that much). And looking at some cases, there are even mastermind applications denied but people still making mastermind their mastermind file anyway. (correct me if I am wrong and it is just Eclipse forgetting to edit his post in that MM Application) At this rate, it might give birth to quite a bit of confusion, and unfortunately not only confusion.』

『First problem is of course quite a bit of confusion. There are currently 20 Mastermind Files in there. So people who would look there will surely be wondering "Why are all these people here when they have never hosted anything and don't even have a season in Upcoming Seasons or in Hidden Seasons?" and then some of these even list traits and difficulty which are 2 points I consider being near-to-impossible to self-judge without hosting anything. Considering that these facts are there to tell what person can expect from the season they are applying for, having a dubious information like there can bring them to encountering some unexpected problems after they join and play that season and some or perhaps lots of salt. Albeit this this is not exactly the main current problem, its still a problem. Another is that once we reach 25 Mastermind Files (and with all the promising newcomers and this syndrome I expect more MM Files incoming), the old ones start getting pushed to the second page of the board, having people to actually flip pages because of useless MM Files to actually get to relevant ones.』

『And second problem is more severe though more rare one. Lets make an example scenario: Assuming one has made an interesting-sounding season, got an upcoming season board opened for them, opened the application the season with everyone hyped and everything, but, something didn't quite go as smooth afterwards. Maybe they got busy with irl, maybe they couldn't come up with other game details other than idea, maybe they lost motivation over it, or maybe they just got too lazy. In any case, they ended up in position with season being out there, but them unable to work on it. And as more time passes, and hype dies down, it gets harder and harder to work on the season. Maybe it is also their first season they make making it even more harder. The person starts thinking they should finish it quickly and maybe even not join other seasons before they do. Or if they in fact join other seasons, it might make progress for their own even slower. In some case they might just quickly rush it down to the end making the season kinda worse than it could've been. But in the worst case, they might continue on their spiral making it harder and harder for them to finish their own season or join other seasons to the point where they might even stop coming to the forum at all and go MIA without saying anything due to complete loss of motivation. With their season still in upcoming season out there... With people not knowing to expect it to happen or not... And preventing the person themselves from just having fun as player like they would normally have done if they didn't take this needless burden on themselves...』


『Now as to possible solution to that, I suggest to implement a change to the Mastermind system, and second encourage all aspiring masterminds to never be afraid to openly back down from mastermind path because all kind of stuff can happen and people would understand, and maybe just leave their season idea to other masterminds if they just want to see it happen. As for the change to mastermind system, I decided to draw a basic flowchart to help understand what I mean:』

『What do you think?』

[Falin Touden [Ven]]

*Highfives*

[Deleted]

*Highfives ven*

[King V]

The one problem I can see with this system is that some seasons require early applications, because a lot of work goes towards information that is personalized to the players. Although 1-star tier games usually are not so specialized, I can see this as something that limits the mastermind's season creativity. I do admit though, that it would be a good idea if people who wanted to host a game actually had a game prepared. I think it's a good idea that making a mastermind file should be done after the first game is successfully hosted, I just disagree that the first game should be completed before it's put on the upcoming seasons board. Maybe just require a high degree of completion before being able to open applications (many existing threads on the game board, or w/e).

[The City [EclipseZwolf]]

This is a valid concern and I agree with your opinion Sova. We have an obscene mastermind count and most of them applied for minor reasons. My goal in forcing early mastermind files was to link a person to it and get them into a habit of updating it.

Considering that not a single mastermind updated their file without having someone remind them I say that goal failed pretty miserably. So I'll just make it a habit to remind people after hosting to update it.

I would like to discuss some ideas on stricter first season rules in more detail before I declare a change anything (plus I am in a car on my phone).

I will definitely have to crack down on mastermind files and get more serious on rules, repercussions, and such. first I need to find a desk to setup my computer on though.

[Ryo Asuka]

I definitely agree that something should be done with masterminds that no longer do seasons. The whole role of a mastermind is to continue hosting.

[The City [EclipseZwolf]]

That is true Corvo, but the problem this time isn't that the old masterminds who quit are taking up space, its the quantity of new masterminds who are just swamping things and many of them have implied some desire to host, but very few have shown results.

You are a great example of what a new mastermind should be Jay. So allow me to praise you for your hard work. Your season board already has the highest number of threads on the upcoming board, even though you have been there the shortest amount of time.

(Ignoring Crown since that board was generated almost a full year ago and is being reused)

Other masterminds who have requested space there sometimes barely have anything besides a rules page and an apps page. I clean up the upcoming seasons board usually after every next game decision, contacting players who have not progressed there for long periods of time. Players without reason for this lack of progress have their seasons hidden away by myself.

So the issue now is that the mastermind files are taking up alot of space from masterminds of which many have not shown any desire(at least recently) to actually work on a season. One solution I have considered is clumping these people up and placing theirs in an alternative board, but I feel that is only a temporary solution.

Other options to consider are making becoming a mastermind initially more difficult or make the change after hosting a single season more rewarding to encourage it more effectively.

[Ryo Asuka]

Ah, I see what you mean. Thank you for clarifying!