How to organize and promote events on Star Wars Galaxies
(By: TheRightOne Brazuca / Basilisk; former Hipolito Santos-Dumont / Bloodfin)
This a translation from an old manual I’ve wrote, when I was playing on Bloodfin on a Brazilian guild. Just to you have an idea... I’ve posted it in our forum on October 1st, 2006! (Yes, almost 12 years ago).
Before start, read this:
https://www.swgemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149773
Then read the current SWG Events Guidelines:
https://www.swgemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121061
If it will be a PvP, read these guidelines:
https://www.swgemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89152
So, let’s go to what really matters...
HOW TO ORGANIZE AN EVENT ON SWG
There are several steps and ways to do it, but I will write – obviously – as I prefer to do:
1. First of all, define what kind of event you want to do
This is the most important step of all... and the first one! The options are, virtually, unlimited! You can do tournaments, searches, olympics, huntings, marriages, racings, grand openings, fisheries, parties, PvP, and tons of other options.
I remember when the former SOE event’s guy – Pex – made a bridge to help crossing a river inside a battlefield. You can do triathlon (running, crawling/swimming and riding pets)... I remember a crazy person that crawled all over Tatooine.
You can run beauty competitions, dance and music, thematic parties, recruitment events (a tend with every speciality on the guild, and a player to explain how the guild deals with that special branch), patrols, intelligence and counterintelligence actions, flag catch, fireworks (who makes the best show), poetry declamation, philosophical debates, metalanguage (an event, inside game, to discuss the game itself), trivias, resource searches (who gets a specific resource in lesser amount of time), building decorations, etc etc etc...
Remember... the kind of event is merely a excuse to gather people and have hours of fun!
I remember a guild mate, Odranoel, who use to suffer from several lag. When this happens, he just sit wherever he is, and talk on guildchat.
2. Define context and history
First... it will be a RP event or a non-RP?
Second... Nothing in the universe happens randomly. There are no such things as coincidences. Everything happens because there is a “before”, a “now” and will have an “after”.
So locate your event on time and space. It won’t happen for nothing! And will not pass as a blank sheet... People you remember it for long time!
(Who can’t remember Balgosa inviting people when he was going to record his dance videos?) –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z9XTeeA43o and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT0JMO3tSyM
Write a context! Write a history for your event! It is important and will improve the immersion.
3. Define the size of the event
You already have “what to do” and “why to do”. Next step is decide the size of the event.
Will be something with intimacy? For few friends? Medium size? Guild size? Open size? Something truly enormous, with the presence (maybe) of some important person on the Galactic Civil War?
After all... who will you invite?
4. Define the place
Now you have a theme, a motive and a expected amount of people. Now you must decide where do you want your event.
Of course... there are specific events that have a specific location! The grand opening of a tavern can not happens on the shuttle port (but you can have a “welcome team” there).
There are no rules about the order of items you want to define. As I told before, this is the sequence I use.
Do not try to be perfect about locations. Sometimes you tries to make something perfect and waste so much time planning that you lose the window of opportunity.
Just select three possible locations (if you have problem with one, there are alternatives).
5. With the location, set the exact spot
Now you have a prevision of where it will happen, define the exactly location of things:
Where the players will stay?
Where will be the special guests? (Luke, Leia, Solo, Vader...)
Where will stay the special items? (Crates, resources, drinks...)
Where will be the rest of items and decoration?
Try it, test it, rehearsal it, change positions if you need. Do whatever it takes to make your event as pleasant as possible.
Save the waypoints, and, as backup, write it down in a real life paper.
6. Decoration and special items
Will you need special decoration? Special food or drinks? Special clothes (theme party like St. Patrick’s day online: “only green clothes allowed”)?
What will you need that you don’t have now?
What do you need to buy? Did you already find an Architect? Artisan? Tailor? Chef?
Check the needs and order everything in advance. Get items in advance. Do not let everything to last hour.
To get some ideas, take a look at:
http://vescas769.wixsite.com/emudeco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMyf53AuhJM
http://swg.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Housing
http://swgcraft.org/dev/schematics.php?mode=view
http://www.swgcraft.co.uk/dev/schematics.php?mode=view (same as above)
https://galaxyharvester.net/schematics.py/home?
7. Define the day
Check, according to the event theme, decide: which week day is best to your event?
Is it a guild event? Do my guild use to gather every Tuesday? Or every Saturday?
Does the Event Staff Team will be available that day to help with your event (if you need them)?
If you run a pool, prepare to be long and inconclusive. Unfortunately not everyone can attend to every event.
And... check your human calendar! If you get a day as Easter or Christmas, expect low attendance to the event. Religious and national dates use to have very low amount of people playing.
If you need special publicity to the event on SWG site/forum, please tell the admins with – at least – two weeks in advance.
8. Now define the initial time
Which is the best time to start your event? If it is a guild’s breakfast, you can not schedule to 18h... And if it is a dinner, try to schedule around 21h, not 02...
If it is an open event, always remember to post GMT, so everyone can check – in their current time division – the correct event time.
Again... remember to check – if you need Event Staff Team help – if they can on that specific time.
9. And... how long it will be?
Events that are toooooooooooooooo loooooooooooooooooooooong use to get people tired and bored, and gets schedule problems to people whom have family, work, and other kind of real life interaction.
Another problem concerns to, again, Events Staff Team – as real persons, they have their personal lives too. Pex, for example, use to attend events up to 45 minutes. Not more than that.
10. Create a “journalistic lead”
To help promoting event around, answer the questions bellow with shortest answers possible:
a) What (will happen)?
b) When?
c) Where?
d) How? (RP? PvP? Etc etc etc)
e) Who (can attend)?
f) Why (little context)?
g) What for? (the purpose of event)
11. Fill the Events Form
(If you want Event Staff Team support)
FORM
Subject line (to event’s forum topic): event request: server/ title / date
Server:
Level of support:
Date:
Public or private:
In-game contact name:
Preferred time & time zone:
Available/alternate times:
Planet:
Waypoints:
Synopsis of request:
Description of event:
EXAMPLE
Subject line: Event request: Bloodfin / Jedi Temple Grand Opening / June, 23rd, 2006.
Server: Bloodfin
Level of support: Interactive support
Date: June, 23rd, 2006
Public or private: Public
In-game contact name: Hipolito, Hildao or Daron
Preferred time & time zone: Friday, 23h GMT
Available/alternate times: Friday, 19-22h GMT
Planet: Talus
Waypoints: See the attached file where we ask to put the AT-AT and AT-ST inside Kadeena City.
Synopsis of request:
Live support with waves of high level stormtroopers, and interactive support with the presence of Luke Skywalker.
Description of event: (removed, it is not the purpose of this manual)
12. Translate everything to English
As not all guilds have English as language, remember to translate everything to English before posting it on SWG forums, and before post around social media.
You simply do not have what to do: If your event is public, or if you need Events Staff Team assistance, your need to translate everything to English.
13. How to send your support request to Events Staff Team
(Updated to SWGEmu forum)
According to https://www.swgemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44760
SWGEmu Player Event Request Form
To request a player event, please fill out this form and email it to event@swgemu.com. We will get back to you as soon as possible and let you know if an Event Coordinator is available to help you with your event!
Forum Name:
Character Name:
Guild (if applicable):
Event Date (make sure this is at least one week in advance):
Event Time (please give us a start time and general end time):
Event Location(s):
Waypoint of the Event:
Do you have the mayor's approval (if applicable):
Is there a specific Event Coordinator you would like to request?
Event Information
Please give us a brief description of your event idea. Keep in mind that we can create any in-game props that are not buildings with interiors, as well as spawn creatures that are implemented in the game only.
Please give us a detailed timeline for your event, including set-up time:
Will your event be open to the public? If no, who will be attending?
Disclaimer: Please understand that we cannot give badge, item, or cash rewards to private events unless supplied by the requester.
Will you require character enhancements? If yes, what values?
Any other information you can give us about the event?
Are there any questions you have as to what we can do/implement for your event?
14. Publish your event on SWG Forum
This will make your event officially public, and you can gather ideas on how to improve it.
15. Publicize it in-game
If you already posted on your guild’s forum, and SWG forum, and mailed the Staff, now you can send in-game mail.
A tip... if you put “GUILD” on “To:” field, it will be delivered to all your guild mates. And if you put “CITZENS”, it will be delivered to all citizens from your town.
16. The event was approved... now what?
You got your event approved and publicized? Congratulations!!!
Now let’s prepare the event:
If you promise some amount of cash to winner, get the money now! Do not trust that you will have enough inscriptions to cover the costs.
If it is a race, and the winner will be the person that completes the circuit and sits in a specific chair (to avoid problems with your own lag, when hosting the event), get immediately the chairs with colours and names you need.
If it will be inside a building, provide all decoration needed. Hire an Architect if you need. People use to like to help decorating things, you get some places real crowded when you ask for this kind of help.
But:
a) Only accept help from people you trust (people that will not steal your rare decoration pieces);
b) Have someone in charge (a person must have final word when deciding what goes where);
c) Be specific about what you want (or allow) and what you do not want/allow in the decoration; and
d) When you finish decoration, remove all building’s permissions, so nobody will mess the decoration.
And if it is... well... you got the idea: Be prepared with a few days in advance!
17. The event is about to start!
Everything is ready... the H hour is coming...
Connect! Be online a couple of hours in advance. At least one full hour before the event!
Go to the event location, check everything. See the decoration, verify your cash, answer the pending mails, confirm the presence list.
In a general way, you can set this “checklist”:
a) The place is correctly decorated?
b) You have the amount of money promised?
c) How many inscription mails did you get? And from whom?
d) You will have enough space to all these tons?
e) Do you need to send any specific mail to attendees? (specially with waypoints?)
f) Do you need to provide clothes? Do you have enough to 20% more people than inscriptions?
g) Do you have any special decisions and things to make? Are they already ready?
h) Will you work on team? Did your team is enough trained? Are they already online and ready to act?
18. Welcome the guests
Be a nice host! Welcome your guests as best as you can. Remember: Not the event, but the person are the most important thing!
If you do not have persons attending to the event, you can have the prettiest plan in the galaxy, but will be a failure.
Never let the guests unwelcomed. Greet everybody (have a team for this, if you need).
19. How to conduct events
Be kind but firm. According to the seriousness of the event, you can relieve some things or punish it according to rules.
Remember: Who attends to an event is there to have fun! Try to not screw up things with tons of rules.
I use to say that the need of rules is inversely proportional to attendant’s education.
20. Conclusion
Have fun! This is the bigger (and most important) rule of hosting or attending to an event!
Be gentle with everybody, give all the prizes you promise (and a few surprise too), and thanks everybody for the participation. If you can, mail everybody and list them on SWG forum. It will be a nice form to extend your thanks for the participation.
And remember to take TONS OF PICTURES! This register is very important to future. And remember to post them on forums, with correct subtitles!
AND HAVE A GREAT EVENT!!!
TheRightOne Brazuca