It's war time! Spoiler: What's up? I have a controversial opinion that friendly wars are the best way to have fun and get to know people on PIMD. Friendly wars are mainly used to celebrate birthdays, weddings, and holidays, or prove whether boys are better than girls! They can have 200 participants and are completely free! They are the BEST thing to do on here AND sadly most of you are missing out BUT it's because organising them is a mystery SO let's change that! Spoiler: Some history🤓 Friendly Wars have been a feature of PIMD since it was first published. The most famous series/tradition of friendly wars were BoS (Battle of the Sexes), which were originally hosted by @CharlotteAnne and @IceShardz starting in 2011 and ending with BoS 5 in 2013. Note relevant for later: BoS5 had 6 admins on the girls team and 7 admins on the boys team. Even their spin-off had 10 organisers. Here's a tribute thread to these wars. The series was rebooted in 2015 by @QUINN, @-_A_-Legwarmers, @FootIongSandwich, @hsq, Tweak, @CaptainEliee, MeatPuppet, Pooh, and @DeckTheHallsWithBoughsOfAhli ). I have some threads and excerpts below that demonstrate this reboot but this was not just a struggling revival. This was a golden era. These were wars with almost 400 participants! 'Kens' and 'Barbies' flooded campus, the hype at the time was electric, the great leadership effort was impressive, and the aftermath was so much joy! The reboot was driven by the passion and joy these wars bring every. single. time. I liked Quinn's retrospective that she shared in PIMD HISTORY https://forum.partyinmydorm.com/threads/war-mixology-mayhem-a-bos-tribute.146434/ https://forum.partyinmydorm.com/threads/bos7.112028/#post-3987269 As good as that is, PIMD wars have yet to peak Spoiler: How to organise a war! 📚 A poorly organised war can be stressful and boring, and sometimes even infuriating. We gotta keep those bad vibes away! 🫳🫳 The following 4 aspects are the most important for organising a war successfully. Spoiler: Large and Cohesive Admin Teams💪 HOW TO GET THIS? I think BoS5 was so successful because they had 13 organisers! Organisers can fulfil many roles in a smoothly operated war. Here are some but definitely not all. a) advertising (and looking for leaders) b) providing warnings/enforcing rules c) contacting players d) balancing rosters e) managing chats/clubs/servers. The war host should make sure that there is an admin chat where all organisers can talk together, make sure they know the timeline, and what their roles are. Every war benefits from a large roster of organisers and this, I feel, is what is the most common weakness in wars. This is the main purpose of this thread. Please comment below if you would be willing to help organise a war so that we can keep the flame alive. Spoiler: Specific timeline and checklist ⌚ A strong timeline is important for providing clarity for players and ensuring everyone makes it to the war prepared and on time. It is more an art than a science and everyone will have their own ways but I’d like to provide a blueprint. I think ideally, you leave 2-3 months from date of announcement until day of war. Most of that time is advertising and signup time in which you don’t need to do very much. I think 2 months is possible with perfect prep but 3 months is safe. As you gain experience, your estimates for how long these things take will change. Week 1 - Getting admins and preparing to announce. Day 1- Make admin group chat Day 1- Get timeline Day 1- Pick theme and decide on the character of your war Day 2- Write announcement thread Day 3-5 Allocate roles to organisers: Advertising, finding leaders, contacting roster, handling complaints, team balancing, etc. Day 6- Make a spreadsheet for the roster. Day 7- Publish sign-up thread. Cut-off date for sign up/upgrades should be approximately 2 weeks before war. Weeks 2-6 - Sign-up phase remind people of dates/expectations, make banners, update and balance roster. Week 7 – Sign-up cut-off day. Send confirmation posts to all entrants, including time and date in both time zones, notifying them of upgrade cutoff, and asking them to RSVP within 24hrs. Find replacements and handle cancellations. Publish rosters. Week 8 - Preparing for war. Make war clubs, fill team group chats, send formal wall invitations with a final notice about late cancellations. 24 hours before war - open clubs contact all rostered players with the war start time and asking them to join club before they sleep. 1.5 hours before war declare and accept war challenge. During war Handle complaints and investigate rule breaches. Organising requires the creation of some resources: This may make for a handy checklist Spoiler: handy checklist✅ ◻️Organiser group chat ◻️Official timeline ◻️Announcement thread (including rules list) ◻️Organiser team roles ◻️Balanced roster spreadsheet ◻️Sign-up thread ◻️Banners ◻️Team group chats ◻️Roster ◻️Confirmation posts ◻️War Clubs Spoiler: Law and Character 👮🌟 Games are defined by their rules. Your war will, essentially, be formed by the rules you pick for it. Choosing good rules requires some experience and knowledge from other organisers, and experience as a participant. Wars have previously come under attack from saboteurs and bad faith actors so the rules try to combat these efforts while also keeping things manageable for organisers, and fair and fun for participants. Spoiler: How to lay down the law ⚖️ Here are some sample rule lists: Spoiler: BoS 5 rules list 1.Players are NOT allowed to upgrade/downgrade after the Deadline given by Organizers unless instructed to do so. 2. No Name Changing before the war start and No ALTS are allowed to join BoS. 3. No Stripping of BoS players before and during war. 4. Do not ask others from Outside to hit players in the War. 5. Whatever happens in war, Stays in war. Do not carry it on after war. NO DRAMA ALLOWED. 6. Be Respectful to All Players in BoS. Any vulgarities or rude/hate/homophobic comments used by either clubs (The Boyfriends and The Girlfriends) on Campus, Walls or Forum will not be tolerated. 7. Any BoS player who is caught posing as their opposite sex's gender will be disqualified immediately. 8. Strictly NO VISITORS allowed before and during war. (Only the official participants are accepted inside the club) 9. No rejoining after leaving the club when war is in progress. 10. Players whose name are listed in the roster, need to inform Admins 2 days in advance if you can’t join the war. 11.Any dispute or issues in war, please refer to the Respective Admins of the BoS club. Any questions regarding BoS – Spoiler: BoS 7 rules list 1. NO upgrades/downgrades allowed after the deadline unless instructed by organisers to do so. 2. Only one (1) account per player is allowed to join war. If caught, ALL accounts will be kicked. 3. Name change only allowed once you are inside the war clubs. 4. NO hiring of other BoS players’ tutors during war. 5. Do not ask for outside hits to help you in the war. 6. Whatever happens in war, Stays in war. NO DRAMA ALLOWED after war. 6. Be respectful to All Players in BoS. Any vulgarities or rude/hate/homophobic comments used by both war clubs on Campus, Walls or Forum will not be tolerated. 7. Do not spam in campus to avoid unnecessary silences. 8. We follow your gender in real life and not based on your avatar. You will be disqualified if you cheat about your gender. 9. Visitors are strictly prohibited before and during the war. No parties will be allowed in the war clubs. 10. Once war starts, you cannot leave the war without valid reasons or emergencies. 11. If you can't make it for the war, inform any admin at least 48 hours before the event. 12. We reserve the right to kick you for any inappropriate or intolerable behaviour that may not be listed in the above mentioned rules. 13. Organisers reserve the right to reject any sign up for war with good reason. Organisers decision will be final. Spoiler: My most recent rules list 📝Drafting 1. Sign up according to format 2. All sign ups and confirmations must be done yourself. You cannot speak on another's behalf. 3. You MUST confirm each time it is requested to make it to war and enter club on time. If you do not meet confirmation deadlines, your replacement will be swiftly sought. 4. NO NAME CHANGING after confirmation until you are inside the war club. 5. Only one (1) account per player is allowed to join war. If caught, ALL accounts involved will be kicked. 6. No special treatment. We cannot guarantee that you will be on the same team as your RS. We cannot guarantee that you will make it out of wait list. We cannot guarantee any of these things. Hit with your friends OR hit your friends, it's all for fun. ☁️Mechanics☁️ 6. NO upgrades allowed after the UPGRADE DEADLINE and UNTIL the war ends. 7. NO hiring of other players’ tutors during war. This especially includes your own team members. 8. NO macros, botting, or piloting permitted during war. Perpetrators will be kicked and reported. Sleep. 👄Loose lips:👄 9. Do not ask for outside hits to help you in the war. 10. Whatever happens in war, stays in war. NO DRAMA ALLOWED after war. It is not cool. 11. Be respectful to ALL Players in war. Any vulgarities or rude/hateful/bigoted comments used by both war clubs on Campus, Walls, GC’s, or Forums will not be tolerated. 12. Visitors are strictly prohibited before and during the war. No parties will be allowed in the war clubs. 13. Complaints are to be directed to organisers/captains, not leaders. 🚫Cancellations:🚫 12. If you can't make it for the war, inform any admin at least 48 hours before the event. 13. Once war starts, you cannot leave the war without valid reasons or emergencies. Even with a good reason, leave = replaced. If you cancel less than 48hrs before war, or mid-war, you will be blacklisted and kept at the bottom of wait list. 14. We reserve the right to kick you for any inappropriate or intolerable behaviour that may not be listed in the above mentioned rules. 15. Organisers reserve the right to reject any sign up for war with good reason. Organisers decisions will be final. Law is more than just rules. There also needs to be enforcement. For each rule, consider a consequence. A light infringement might result in reminders and warnings. For a severe punishment, you may have a black list in your admin/organiser group chat which will disqualify people from attending future wars. Of course: the more rules you want to enforce, the more organisers you will need. and the more severe the punishments, the more seriously you'll need to take your receipt gathering. Spoiler: Giving it character 🤠 When hosting a war, you have different options to customise it. This step basically comes first because this is what your war will be like. This is how you want to present it. Will it be rag tag or well knit? How long will it be? How many people are going to show? What are the teams? You need to have a pretty good idea about this so people know what they’re getting into. One of the wilder ones was the Zoo War Tournament which was literally a knockout style tournament which was 16 seaparate rosters fighting it out in 28 short wars and then a final 24 hour war at the finale. 4 key questions you will probably ask yourself about every war you organise will be: How many people do you want to attend? > If you want more people, focus more on advertising the war. > If you have a maxed roster (100 people on each side), you can talk to developers and ask them to increase the roster to 200 on each side; or more. > Offering prizes can increase attendance but bring drama, competition, and a critical eye on organisation. When and how long do you want it to be? I think this has a correct answer and you don't need to faff around with it. You want a 24 hour war starting at 0800 SGT/ 2100 EST on a given Saturday. That means it doesn't fall out of the weekend for basically anyone - and everyone gets about the same amount of sleep. > There are also default options for a 6, 12, 24 hour war > If you want a different time span, you can again talk to developers and ask them for a longer war. How do you mitigate drama? > Set up rules and expectations that reduce dramas that you have experienced, or look at rules from other wars which helped to mitigate other dramas. > Get more organisers and work together to enforce the rules you’ve chosen. > Ask the developers about disabling outside hitting in the war: this means that people in war cannot be hit by people who aren’t also in the war. How competitive do you want it to be? > There are some unequal and unfair game elements in PIMD which can, for some, ruin the vibe of the war… disabling miscellaneous bonuses with the help of developers, requiring people to use weak avatars, and having a balanced closed roster can help with this. > You may want full chaos. Open rosters, teams recruiting anyone they can, people transferring misc, etc. > Offering prizes can also up these stakes. Spoiler: Strong communication with participants🤝 Communication is super important with wars! Participants may speak different languages, be in different time zones, or be in different apps! Key parts of good communication are Clarity 🫧 The rule about name changing is important because trying to track down players who have changed name takes a long time and gets in the way of effective communication. Time zones are confusing for people: Almost as a rule, you should express time according to SGT (Most of Asia) and EST (Eastern US), Positive tone (expectations over rules) 😊 Expectations are best expressed up front in the ‘announcement’ and ‘sign-up’ posts and on wall posts. People shouldn't receive warnings before being reminded of expectations. Volume (frequent reminders, lots of ads) 📢 Communicating the key phases along the timeline is crucial: sign-up/advertising, upgrade cut off, club join period (normally 24hrs before war), and war start is very important. Along with any updates such as delays. Having enough organisers to reach out to players will help with this. I find advertising to be stressful and challenging but that’s because I’m a bit of a loner. Your perfect participant may be in a different timezone, on a different app, in a different chat, not know how to use forums, not want to download another app, etc. so I believe that using google forms can help with sign ups. There are other ideas on how to make this easier but I believe having a large team of advertisers is the most impactful thing you can do. Spoiler: Tl;dr 😩 The Tl;dr of this thread is that the most important and useful thing to have when organising wars is help. Wars are not much harder to organise than flashes. and are probably easier than BBB's because the stakes are lower. Many of you have that experience and can organize great friendly wars. I want to encourage and empower you to do that! I hope you’ve found the knowledge and the how-to in this thread but even with all the how-to, having contacts and people to help you organise friendly wars is crucial. Please post below if you would be willing to help someone organise a war or if you’d like to organise a friendly war in future.