Currently there is no news of Warcraft IV and seeing as Sheeptag will not be feasible on Starcraft II, I have given up hope on a 'fresh start' for sheeptag. The current state of the community is depressing but there is light at the end of the tunnel. 2014 will be the year of the sheep. I have been part of this community for a large part of my life and I wish to see it thrive as it once did. As a community we have leaders, programmers, game developers, website designers, video-editors and streamers. Most of us have grown up now and I beleive we need to start showing that. I understand that people have much more important things to do in their real lives but if everyone does a little, no one needs to do a lot.
There are many factors to a functional community (such as competition, well-managed clans, productive forums etc..) but in this thread I would like to primarily discuss ideas in which we could expand the community.
The current state of the sheep tag
I would lke to use a quote to start this section.
When you suck you will be hated and discouraged - it's very difficult to establish yourself in our community such that you're not insta-kicked from games and flamed to oblivion. New people essentially need incredibly thick skin or a guardian - someone with status in the community to shield them for the first while as they enter the community.
I think it is nearly impossible for a new player to enter the community, and even if they did, they wouldn't want to stay. This needs to change. Please take a stroll down memory lane and try remember how you began playing sheep tag. Reflecting on my experience:
Played a 'fun' map on RoC. Enjoyed it and constantly watched the game lists for a chance to play. Met someone from a sheep tag clan in a game. Asked how I could join. After lots of practice I passed a test. Spent months playing that map until it was not challenging anymore. Heard there was sheep tag on TFT via Videos on Youtube, practiced lots on the new map until I was offered a spot in a TFT sheep tag clan. It is that simple.
(I think that the most important parts in my experience were the first map I played and the first clan I joined.)As you can see: There was a map I played for months until I had reached the highest skill level I could and it just got boring
but that map is what got me into sheep tag. I was playing with people around the same skill level as me so I was not getting flamed and discouraged. It may have been a low-skill clan
but that clan is what got me into sheep tag.
My solution
At the start of next year I will get to return to sheep tag and I am determined to do my bit for the community. I thought that I would post my solution in an effort to inspire you all and hopefully do something similar.
a) Develop a new map which will be fun for people who are new or in the lower skill levels.This map will be used only for public play and most likely be 8v4 (so more people can learn sheep at the same time). I will be hosting this map through a bot 24/7 so people can freely enjoy sheep tag and it will direct them to my new clan channel if they are interested in joining a sheep tag clan.
b) Create a clan to teach the basicsThis clan (lets call it sTc, sheep tag clan, for explaining purposes) will be used as a channel for people to hang out in when playing sheep tag. It will be sheep tag all day. Maybe not the map most of you like, but never-the-less, its sheep tag. If someone wishes to join sTc I will happily observe them in a game, if they have potential they will be added to the clan - it won't be easy for new people to get in to the clan which gets them playing more and practicing.
I will try hide all new players from you guys because I am 100% sure you will flame and discourage them. Once they are added to the clan, they will be half-decent at the map. They will have a tag such as sTc.Airwalk so all the people in the public games will see the people with the sTc tag and think "wow they know what they are doing, I want to be like them" = even more players.
This will create a channel and a clan full of people (who won't have any idea how to play ReVo) but are in love with sheep tag.
THIS IS ALL WE NEEDI know a lot of you will think I am silly for wanting an 8v4 map but ReVo cannot be hosted publically. We need a map which can spread sheep tag by itself. Once members of my clan are at a skill level where this 8v4 map isn't fun anymore, I will personally introduce them to ReVo, teach them (basic theory, map grid, wolfing, bridging etc...) that way, I will give them an option. They can either choose to be a shaman in sTc and help me teach more players, or they will have an option to join a real sheep tag clan (e.g. CsB, StH, SoR). At this point I will introduce them to the forums and the rest of the community, I will also explain that you're all a bunch of mongoflamers and to not take any of you seriously.
This, to me, seems like the only way we can have a flow of players come into our community. I can promise, although my method with an 8v4 map sounds silly, that when a NEW player leaves sTc, he will be good enough to play in private games with you guys on ReVo.
So, a lot of you have been playing sheep tag for years and I really want to know what you think, please EVERYBODY throw your opinion in this thread. Do you think I will fail/succeed? Is there a better way to do what I am proposing? What kind of features should be in this 8v4 map? (e.g. should we add things purely to make it funner?) Do you think there is enough people playing wc3 for this to work? Does anyone have any better ideas to expand the community? Do you think this method will take too long?
I would value all your replies, this is an issue we will all have to deal with for sheep tag to continue.