How to improve the community element?

Phonehead · 24-03-2014 5:20pm #1

As you know a lot of the older members have gone or just given up helping and generally we now have a tiny group of 3 or 4 people doing everything. Despite the theory that there is a clique it's very far from the truth with just a few people keeping things somewhat organised. So I'm looking for opinions and views on how we can get Ireland back up, making things more accessible for people. The problem I have at the moment is that a few hold all the knowledge and frankly that's just wrong.

Obviously some things need to be kept secret from other nations so the offiste does offer the match tactics & player development location but we need something more social to get people interacting more? would an open facebook page where friendly tournaments and nt matchdays can be discussed.

Somewhere where can we get the Inter Provincial tournament going again etc

throrm · 24-03-2014 8:14pm

I'd love to help out any way I can

westman1 · 31-03-2014 2:35pm

the flood of replies says it all i dont mind helping when i can but cannot log onto off site (long story)registration mess up also i play by the set of my pants

eoferrall · 31-03-2014 7:25pm

to be honest, I think is it also a reflection of the changes in the game. while welcome they do not suit the casual gamer anymore. it seems each season there are changes that are significant and need to refresh your skills/knowledge.

I know personally I kind of zoned out a few seasons ago ticking along in div II already knowing to get to division I would mean massive investment in time etc.

even now I am killing DIV III i was relegated in but its all a bit meh! you can't set your team in a couple of minutes now with a quick review of the opposition, it all takes too much time and with the amount of games (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday) I only play the permanent ones (let default play Thursdays now).

This was great for when I was free with long periods of studyleave etc to fill up but now I am barely on for 2/3 hrs in the week and it is not sufficient to compete so you lose interest.

Don't think there is anything "Ireland" can do, other than continually have people who have the time to spend involved. I am more than happy to train etc as that does not take huge time, but the tactics and so forth requires serious investment!

Phonehead · 01-04-2014 1:42pm

Interestingly I have played the very same tactics only changing defence since the zonal tactics came in, granted I spent weeks playing anytime friendlies etc when the zonal tactics came in just to get to this point. And I think that's why being part of the community helps as all my findings are there on the offsite, the ME is a maths game, there are no perfect win 100% of the time tactics as the random element is quiet significant but having a good set of tactics can win the majority of games I think.

That's why I would love to see more people involved, there is so much to learn from the National teams, you quickly discover when J has made subtle changes (he is always changing % effectiveness of things around) Last season I went unbeaten and then at the start we quickly discovered that J changed something as what was so effective was now ineffective.

That's essentially why having an active community is good, people sharing knowledge to help others stay involved or give the leg up to get a grasp.

eoferrall · 01-04-2014 2:30pm

Hmmm you do have a point, I am fairly happy now with my tactics now. however that might be due to dropping to DIV III!!!!:pac:

I wonder would including the link to the site in a sticky above for various sections as I do personally find it can be hard to know where I am going...but maybe that is as I am not there enough.

crisco10 · 02-04-2014 2:53pm

This is a tough one. Speaking from personal experience....

I quite like being involved in the national/u20 setup but as Eof said, it is tough to make the time. Out of interest, I followed fetch's campaign last season quite closely to see if I had the time to do what he was doing. And to be honest, I just didn't! I couldn't have posted as often as he did on the offsite, nevermind the legwork behind every post.

The changes do make it a challenge because there is a heavy time investment required each time a change happens, and frequently that is all within a week at the start of a season! I can just about keep MWSAG afloat with my time unfortunately, which as a 15 season manager is a bit of wasted resource.

So I'm not sure there is much to do, other than welcome new managers and hope some of them have lots of time!

Oh, and I hear you about "group" learning on the offsite Wex/Phonehead but the offsite is dead since the chatbox came in. When I first joined the offsite, I lurked on the national team tactics thread to pick up odds and ends which were intersting/valuable. I even read back on match threads for the same thing. Frequently, these threads would only have been 2 or 3 people chatting but at least it was there to browse. I think a lot of the conversation happens in the chatbox now, which then gets cleared. Thus thee activity is never recorded or there for lurkers to get drawn in by...
So my suggestion, bin the chatbox!

Davyboy. · 02-04-2014 3:25pm

Originally the chatbox was brought in while there were big games on (World Cup games, League playoffs etc) so managers could have a natter in real time during these games, it was only supposed to be used in those rare times when there was interest in how the NT/U20 etc were getting on because to have it on constantly would mean other managers who didn't log in all the time would lose out on possible valuable advice/information. This appears to be the case now.

eoferrall · 02-04-2014 3:29pm

Davyboy. wrote: »

Originally the chatbox was brought in while there were big games on (World Cup games, League playoffs etc) so managers could have a natter in real time during these games, it was only supposed to be used in those rare times when there was interest in how the NT/U20 etc were getting on because to have it on constantly would mean other managers who didn't log in all the time would lose out on possible valuable advice/information. This appears to be the case now.

Is there a way of turning it on and off easily? ie put a new article up for a big match that the chatbox is available between x and x for match chat as it happens.

But that all tactics and so forth should be in the threads.

Phonehead · 02-04-2014 4:14pm

interesting regarding the chatbox feature, I suppose that's why I was thinking of a public place like facebook where chat can be had easily and nobody clearing conversations

Gelio · 03-04-2014 2:21am

Phonehead wrote: »

interesting regarding the chatbox feature, I suppose that's why I was thinking of a public place like facebook where chat can be had easily and nobody clearing conversations

Yeah but then the chat is only there to be viewed by a few select people.

I genuinely think the main problem is the workload of the Nat and U20 managers. There are just too many games. This (a) Devalues each individual game for any supporter journo etc and (b) scares people off from getting involved as there is just too big a commitment.

It seems to be just too hectic for any casual manager to follow with any consistency

cclampett · 07-04-2014 5:05am

OS chatbox is now deactivated again

daheff · 07-04-2014 9:07am

Gelio wrote: »

I genuinely think the main problem is the workload of the Nat and U20 managers. There are just too many games. This (a) Devalues each individual game for any supporter journo etc and (b) scares people off from getting involved as there is just too big a commitment.

It seems to be just too hectic for any casual manager to follow with any consistency

I agree...I can barely keep up with my team not to mind NT & U20s.

From my time on the OS, there wasnt much happening on it. If people log on infrequently and see nothing happening then they wont be back.

Plus like it or not there is a sense that the OS is run by the inner circle. Unless something is done to remove this impression it'll be same problem different season.

Zagato · 13-04-2014 12:20pm

daheff wrote: »

I agree...I can barely keep up with my team not to mind NT & U20s.

From my time on the OS, there wasnt much happening on it. If people log on infrequently and see nothing happening then they wont be back.

Plus like it or not there is a sense that the OS is run by the inner circle. Unless something is done to remove this impression it'll be same problem different season.

Well the restricted access on the offsite is not a help. There are not a lot of users to begin with, before restricting access to so many areas. Just tried to post on the a U20 S24 discussion thread, but apparently not allowed, even though I have a player accepted into the training program.

FewFew · 20-04-2014 5:19pm

It's a tricky one. I think many of the older managers don't have time for it anymore/are finding the new tactics off-putting because the time isn't there to relearn them. Key is probably to start tapping into the new players that are just learning the tactics for the first time and have the spare time to invest in the game.

Also, I think we're really missing out on the old list of example tactics. Remember the old Safe-I-way and GAS or what ever they were called. Showed you samples of how tactics worked and then you could tweek them. When you're starting off, you ask around but you still have misconceptions from the actual sport.

How to improve the community element?

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