Server-Wide Events
From my brain
I'm writing this article initially for Callistana's reference for an article she's writing for MASSIVE magazine, but it'll probably be far too long for her to include all of it (I'm long-winded). She's doing a work-up of Sleeper Cartel following the article Pledge of a Legion in their December 2006 issue.
Calli: Boil it down however ya like.
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So, you want to throw a server-wide event?
Are you out of your mind? You must be if you're going to try to pull this off. It takes a bit of insanity to really attempt to pull this off from the get-go. If you really get the word out, if you really get people to come, if you really can hold them there...your game time will never be the same.
First, a bit of history...
History of Sleeper Cartel Events
Perenolde Footrace
Back in April of 2005, I recall seeing a post on the forum for the World of Warcraft server Perenolde about some guild doing a "Perenolde Footrace". Some guild was throwing this race that was going to start in Loch Modan and then race through Dun Morogh, Ironforge, the Deeprun Tram, Stormwind, Elwynn Forest and finally into Darkshire. It was a fasinating concept, but being that I was working second shift at the time, I knew I couldn't attend.
I heard later that it was a blast, and I remember thinking, "What a cool thing to do in the game." I mean, sure, you spend most of your time in the game, running around for Arch Wizard So-and-so and gathering herbs, killing a bajillion wild pigs to get a cooking recipe, or taking out High Warlord Mucketymuck. But these guys did something for people on their own. Player-created content. Nifty!
Later on that year, I found myself without a guild, and ended up joining up with Sleeper Cartel soon thereafter. Karin (the Guild Leader) ensured that the guild was a real family community straight-out. It was well organized and people had a good time.
The First Server-Wide Event
As Halloween approached that first year I was a member, we started discussions on holding a "Hallow's End" themed event for the server. This was going to be far bigger than what was pulled off for the footrace. We were going to have in-game food & drinks, costumes, contests, uniforms for guildies...and another footrace.
Even though I was a lower-ranking member at the time, I instantly went into planning mode. I was throwing ideas left and right (some good, some I was just plain out of my mind). However, my main thing was this footrace. You see, while I had missed the guild's original "Perenolde Footrace", I had attended a race called "The Cannonball Run" a month previous. It was VERY well run, and it contained a whole host of the concepts that later became core points in my race holding strategies.
As a guild though, we had to pick a purpose for the event, determine a location, how long we were going to hold the event, decide what were going to do at the event, and a whole host of other items. This required volunteers from our guild, and lots of them. People farmed up ingredients for food, clothing, and donated gold by the fistfuls. People put aside their normal dungeon runs at times even just to help out. It really was eyeopening to see how people -- IN A GAME -- could come together to accomplish a goal that had NOTHING to do with killing stuff.
In the end, on Saturday, October 29th 2005, we played hosts to around 150 people inside and around the Stormwind Cathedral. We had drunken scavenger hunts, costume contests, bobbing for skulls (gift-wrapped items...find a skull, and win 1 gold), free food and drink, costumes for sale and my race.
From there, to now, and beyond
It was a murderously crazy, monstrous undertaking...that we've done three times since. In March 2006 at the Loch Modan Dam our "Shamrock Shindig" had a similar turnout as we celebrated the guild's anniversary. Later that summer, we had an end of summer party in Red Ridge Mountains. For that...we had somewhere around 400 people show. Then, in October, we again held another Hallow's End Party, and again hundreds of people showed.
We Can't Do All That!
No one is saying you have to. However, if you're going to throw one of these things, it will take some leadership. It will take some (who am I kidding, a lot of) volunteers. Above all else...it will take planing.
The Planning
Ask Yourself Why
Before you do ANYTHING else, you have to ask yourself...why are you throwing this event?
Are you trying to recruit people into your guild? Are you trying to blow off some steam? Are you trying to just help people have some fun in the game? Whatever your intentions are, define them clearly and it will guide you throughout the rest of the process.
For our first Hallow's End Party, Karin had stated the purpose thusly: "This will be a reputation building event for the Sleeper Cartel, to further our esteem in the WoW world as a fantastic, helpful, fun and organized guild. This is not a recruiting drive, however undoubtedly people will want to join. Everyone will be directed to the website for details about us."
The flood of recruits that came in during this time was amazing. We knew some were going to come in, but that wasn't the why of our purpose for the party. It was showing people that we were a fun, helpful, organized guild. Your mileage may vary.
Theme
This isn't going to occur at the same level for every event you're planning. Sometimes you'll have a very distinct theme, but others, it may be the event itself that's the theme.
The "Perenolde Footrace" was just that, a footrace, nothing else. However, at Hallow's End, it was a Halloween Party. Our guild's anniversary is in March, so our party then is St. Patrick's Day themed. Our summer party is a little more loose, but it's still got that feel of a summer barbeque.
Location, Location, Location
A Halloween Party should be somewhere with a creepy look, summer party shouldn't be in a snowy zone, and a Christmas party makes no sense in the desert.
The initial party was at the Cathedral of Light in Stormwind. It's a big gothic cathedral (see right), so it really had the feel we were going for.
Temporal Concerns
You want to maximize how many people will show up for this epic event don't you? The day of the week, the start time, and the duration are important here.
Day of the Week
Saturday's typically work best for parties. True, some people work on Saturday evenings, but you'll have fewer then than if you schedule your party on a Friday evening. (In pre-Burning Crusade days, the only thing we used to run into here was raid-guild schedules. We used to just tell them: Come party with us and go to Blackwing Lair next week...it'll still be there, we won't.)
Start Time
There's no sense in scheduling a party at 9am server time. Sure, there's people on, but not as many as at 6-7pm server time. The TV networks know when prime-time is, and it works in the game too.
Duration
How long can you reasonably keep people's attention from leveling, questing, and PvP? A good target is anywhere between two hours and four hours. When you stretch too far over planned events for three hours, people are going to get bored and leave with a sour taste (better to go out on a high note).
I'm not sure how long the "Perenolde Footrace" took, but the parties have all been in that 3-4 hour range. Our parties (and most guild night events for that matter) start at 7pm server time, and run until around 10pm server time. Often we'll have a few "stragglers" that hang out with us, but for the most part, by 10 they all go home.
Activities
You know both the purpose and theme of your event. You know where it's going to be held. You have a general idea about how long you and your cohorts are going to throw the party for.
Umm...so what are the players going to DO?
