Change Requirements for Asking Press Conference Questions

[Gustav 6,407]

Here's something I always thought should be the case, but I never decided to officially propose it until tonight, when @RunnerBert11 asked me what TPE there is to be earned from asking press conference questions. As most experienced members who have done a presser or two know, asking 5 questions will earn you 1 TPE, while answering 6 questions will earn you 2. WHY IS THIS THE CASE? Nobody wants to answer 5 (or 10) questions--5 won't get you 2 TPE and 10 gives you an extra 4 questions you don't know what to do with. So! Here's my proposal to fix the system, a thought that many have definitely had (and that someone's probably brought up here, though I'm too lazy to find out). 

What I'm saying is that we have two options...

 

1. Change the pay to 1 TPE for asking 6 questions and 2 TPE for asking 12. 

This is likely the less disruptive to the system out of both of these choices, though I must say that we do have something to consider here. 

 

Pros: This changes the system the least. Those who are already happy with asking 10 questions a week will likely be just fine with asking 12 (although I cannot claim to speak for anyone). Also, this brings about a HUGE improvement on the part of someone answering the questions. Under this system, anyone being asked anything at all will have at least 6 questions (to completely cover one week) and may end up with 12 (to completely cover 2 weeks!). No doubt about it, this is a great development for the answerer. 

 

Cons: Remember when I said we have to consider something here? Here's where I bring that up. The press conference tab is filled with people answering, and there just aren't that many asking. Individual press conference threads die within a week or two, unless you're pretty well-known around the league--I'd say I'm reasonably well-known, and even my first press conference thread died until Bert gave me some questions today (thank you Bert). In fact, the asker-answerer ratio is so unbalanced that two people came into my thread to answer my questions. The con here is not that this will make things any worse--which I don't think it will--but that it leaves another existing problem untouched. 

 

 

2. Change the pay to 1 TPE for asking 3 questions and 2 TPE for asking 6. 

Originally, I thought this was a bad idea, but the more I think about it, the better it sounds. 

 

Pros: Remember that asker-answerer ratio? This fixes the problem. I'd say that what's keeping people away from asking questions is the fact that they have to come up with 10 new ideas for 2 little TPE. I've tried asking questions in pressers before, and having the mental capacity of a glazed donut, I'm next to incapable of doing so. Usually, I end up asking 6 questions, because a) that's all I can come up with, and b) that's what the answerer actually wants. By making the number of tasks required to earn TPE the same, more members will be active in terms of asking. Individual pressers will become largely a success (especially for newer members who currently create them and are then either ignored or given one or two sets of questions). This also helps out GMs in team press conferences--asking your team 6 questions, so they'll earn 2 TPE, will only get you 1 TPE, and asking them 10 or 12 for the extra points is pointless. 

 

Cons: The one possible negative aspect of this is that individual pressers may just become too competitive with the team ones, which are still, for the most part, the most important. However, I really don't see this happening. Human nature (at least for anyone who is, like me, fairly lazy) dictates that we'd rather have things handed to us rather than working for those same things (read: TPE). Answers aren't entirely original thoughts, though questions must be. I can still see the majority of the league being on the answering side of things, but I do believe that this system would help to balance things out. 

 

 

If you're reading this and you have any input on the matter, please feel free to add to it. Let's make the VHL a better place. 

[omgitshim 900]

I do think that they should be equaled out more. The other option I would suggest is just bumping it up to 5 answered for 1 TPE as well so that they are in sync. I always felt weird asking someone 5 questions since it leaves them 1 short so I used to just ask 3 different people 3 questions each and one got a bonus question. Bumping it up to 6 questions asked while leaving 3 answered also works to at least make it less awkward.

[Gustav 6,407]

ALSO--something I just thought of. People (especially new guys) are always looking for league jobs, and the job market is highly competitive among the first-generation crowd. I've been hired for a few things so far (GM somehow included) and I consider myself lucky to have been picked for any of them.

So, I'm going to propose the introduction of a job that will not only be helpful to the individual press conference aspect of the matter, but will also introduce a basic league job that can be picked up by anyone, no matter the experience. 

 

(Hypothetically) introducing...the press. 

-Members needed: approximately 2-3

-Job pay: 4 TPE

-Tasks: Members of the press would have the same question-asking abilities as anyone else. There are, however, two main differences--number one, that they would be required to ask questions every week, and number two, that they'd be asking more questions than others--but they'd effectively be earning double press conference points as pay is 4 TPE, which would make it much more possible to cap during weeks where trivia isn't present (or during weeks when it is, if you're bad at it). 

-Though it would be difficult (or potentially foolish) to enforce it too strictly, members of the press would be expected to ask 6 questions in each of 4 different player threads every week--effectively taking idea #2 from above and doubling the amount of TPE that someone can earn. 

 

Let me know what you think!

 

[Da Trifecta 1,896]

I'm with 2. 1 is a no no.

[RunnerBert11 57]

Im on board with either idea, I could see how some would be resistant to option one since it requires any additional required energy or effort, but I do agree that the 5 and 6 are illogical. 

To me it's like a hotdogs and buns situations, where you get buns in packs of 8's but hotdogs in packs of 10's, doesn't work out for anyone and you end up having to get extra buns (questions) or throw out hotdogs (questions go unanswered).

 

When we originally were discussing the ideas and possible changes the presser job never came up, but I do like that idea since it would ensure that the press conference thread is always alive and active.

[Elmebeck 378]

I've seen a few asking ten questions in the Player Press Conferences, and then people who answer can kind of curate the six questions they'd rather answer. So I like alternative one, whether it should be 10 or 12 that is required.

[Matt_O 897]

asking is way harder than answering. They should be equally rewarded imo

[Steve 1,920]

Whatever helps keep new players active I am all for it. Coming up with 10 questions is kinda fun and 2 more wouldn't be that bad. The problem I see in the sim, in general, is the disconnect between the minors and the VHL. Seems dead compared to how most M teams are. I would like to see any positive changes that helps players interact more.