Resolved Timezone-friendly event scheduling

[Top_Gun]

First off, I fully appreciate that everything that happens in this community does so because of the amazing work of a bunch of dedicated volunteers. I also realize that it's only possible to run games and events when the people who run them are available and have the time to do so. That being said, it was kind of a bummer to look down the entire schedule of the spring events and see everything set to start in the afternoon to early evening UTC. On weekdays, this means that almost every member living in the Americas would have been at work or school while those events were going on, and therefore would be unable to participate in them. I totally would have participated in one of the Great Lore Tour sessions if I'd been able to, but since they were held at the exact same time each day, all I could do was see the alert for them during a bit of downtime at work and realize I wouldn't get the chance to. Again, I know you can only schedule things when there are people around to actually run them, but hopefully in future events there can be a bit more of a spread, so that more of us can get the opportunity to participate.

(Huge shout-out to @Wyattrox03 for running a few quizzes for the late-night contingent last night!)

 

[Givet10_]

I can definitely see your concern,

but as you said most people who run the events are available in the European afternoons and evenings. In these times we also have relatively more people joining than in the late evening, which is nice for the hosts and the majority of the people. I agree that there should be some more events in the late evenings when people from your time zone can join more often tho. We will try to take your suggestion in to consideration and try to spread the events more often so Americans can enjoy them as well.

Thank you for telling us, hopefully we can arange more events in the later hours in the future.

 

[Archimdes]

Hello @Top_Gun

Firstly I am really thankful that you appreciate the events which happen on the server and I'm sad that you missed out on the Spring Events this year.

When planning/scheduling the Spring Events or indeed any event we have to take account everyone from all over the server. So please don't think that we just forgot about our friends across the pond.

Now, specifically for the Spring Events we had 10 activities across 14 days, this means that naturally we had to put them on weekdays and also account of rest days (days which don't have events) so that people aren't overwhelmed with events over the 14 day period. I also needed to take in account to allow time in which just normal tours, minigames, jobs, building or PVP usually take place, as for many people worldwide it was Spring Break/Holiday, meaning that they would be off work or school.

When planning the exact times, I looked at what's the latest time that the event in question could end as I wouldn't want an event ending at 11pm or 12am for European timezones, as I am sure you are aware this is where most of the MCME player base is situated. I do try and plan that there is at least 1 to 2 hours of an event that takes place in the afternoon for American timezones, however, planning an event starting at 5pm EST just isn't a viable option for the majority of MCME players. Thus we try and find times that allow for some timezones to overlap- so most MCME players can actually be present for the events. This only becomes a slight issue when it comes to events that take over 2-3 hours, I think its unfair on the event host to be presenting after many hours as it can be quite a demanding task For shorter events that take between 1 - 2 hours its less of the issue, and the golden time which most of our consistent events start at are 6pm UTC (Summer Time). This allows for the best overlap of timezones in my opinion. I've also found that actually many American players can find the time to join the events, speaking from experience with the Spring events, and we even had some people from across the pong running events over the past couple of weeks, so I do believe that the current event times are relatively suitable for the majority of MCME players, including those from different timezones to Europe.

I do hear you and understand what you are saying, however, the job its to be able to get as many people to the events as possible; in my opinion the system we have in place and the times in which we schedule events currently is very suitable and encompasses most of the MCME player timezones.

However, there may be a solution to what you have perceived to be a problem. I've had an idea/concept for a while but just been rather preoccupied and haven't found the time to flesh it out in full. But now has the team has grown I think its much more possible and plausible idea; this idea being that we could create some timezone specific events, which would be particularly suitable for our Aussie members of the community who are often the main timezone who cannot attend the normal events on MCME. However, this is still a very WIP idea but hopefully with some planning I can flesh it out and get back to you on it.

I hope this explains things better and I do hope we can make a timezone specific events a reality in the future. If you have any questions feel free to send me a message via Discord.

Many thanks,
-A

 

[_Iru]

Hello @Top_Gun

Firstly I am really thankful that you appreciate the events which happen on the server and I'm sad that you missed out on the Spring Events this year.

When planning/scheduling the Spring Events or indeed any event we have to take account everyone from all over the server. So please don't think that we just forgot about our friends across the pond.

Now, specifically for the Spring Events we had 10 activities across 14 days, this means that naturally we had to put them on weekdays and also account of rest days (days which don't have events) so that people aren't overwhelmed with events over the 14 day period. I also needed to take in account to allow time in which just normal tours, minigames, jobs, building or PVP usually take place, as for many people worldwide it was Spring Break/Holiday, meaning that they would be off work or school.

When planning the exact times, I looked at what's the latest time that the event in question could end as I wouldn't want an event ending at 11pm or 12am for European timezones, as I am sure you are aware this is where most of the MCME player base is situated. I do try and plan that there is at least 1 to 2 hours of an event that takes place in the afternoon for American timezones, however, planning an event starting at 5pm EST just isn't a viable option for the majority of MCME players. Thus we try and find times that allow for some timezones to overlap- so most MCME players can actually be present for the events. This only becomes a slight issue when it comes to events that take over 2-3 hours, I think its unfair on the event host to be presenting after many hours as it can be quite a demanding task For shorter events that take between 1 - 2 hours its less of the issue, and the golden time which most of our consistent events start at are 6pm UTC (Summer Time). This allows for the best overlap of timezones in my opinion. I've also found that actually many American players can find the time to join the events, speaking from experience with the Spring events, and we even had some people from across the pong running events over the past couple of weeks, so I do believe that the current event times are relatively suitable for the majority of MCME players, including those from different timezones to Europe.

I do hear you and understand what you are saying, however, the job its to be able to get as many people to the events as possible; in my opinion the system we have in place and the times in which we schedule events currently is very suitable and encompasses most of the MCME player timezones.

However, there may be a solution to what you have perceived to be a problem. I've had an idea/concept for a while but just been rather preoccupied and haven't found the time to flesh it out in full. But now has the team has grown I think its much more possible and plausible idea; this idea being that we could create some timezone specific events, which would be particularly suitable for our Aussie members of the community who are often the main timezone who cannot attend the normal events on MCME. However, this is still a very WIP idea but hopefully with some planning I can flesh it out and get back to you on it.

I hope this explains things better and I do hope we can make a timezone specific events a reality in the future. If you have any questions feel free to send me a message via Discord.

Many thanks,
-A

In essense we cannot please everyone but we will go with the majority. However for future planning's sake we will aim to hold events that will cater to players from different timezones, planned by those within that timezone.