Future of SK Sky

Our attendance had been dwindling, to the point where we're getting shorthanded.
I'd like to hear some discussion from the members on how we should proceed.

Our attendance has diminished because:
a) some members have left the game
b) some have gotten everything they want from sky, and have moved on
c) some have moved on to other ls (often HNMLS) that also do sky

We have not kept pace with this attrition by recruiting new members. Consequently, we are often short-handed.

I'd like to see some fresh faces in sky. In our last few Gods runs, many items were basically given away because nobody there wanted/needed them. This means that new members could get items very quickly, since the oldtimers already have those items.

Is the problem that SK just doesn't have enough members interested in sky? Do members need help getting sky access?

Somewhat related: We tend to see much higher attendance when fighting Gods than when farming. On the one hand, this is OK since we need more people for Gods. On the other hand, people putting in the effort to farm the pop items often feel exploited by others that show up only to claim God drops. There has been some discussion that lotting rights should be suspended for people who don't help farm the pop items. What do you think?

My personal goals for Sky are simple:
1. Have fun
2. Help people get items they want from Sky

I'm really pleased with our current core of members. We have very little drama, members do their job well, are good sports, and we have fun.

The problem, I think, is lack of attendance. If changing the rules will help, I'll support that.
Do we need to make attendance mandatory? (We''ve historically avoided doing that.)

Bottom line:
I think we need a few more members to participate.
The alternative is to cash out the treasury, distribute the proceeds to the active members, and close up shop.

This has been an ongoing issue for quite some time. I myself am one of the ones who has been lacking in attendance but I think my circumstances are slightly different then most.

For those of you who don't know I lost my father last month very unexpectedly and have had quite a few items to deal with. We own a small vineyard and farm that I need to step up and take care of now so my time is limited to say the least. I am not sure if I can return to full time FFXI due to real life responsibilities.

I would like to see the people who are helping continue to acquire the gears they desire however I do not think we can expect Sky to live forever without expanding and recruiting. I have watched the new members we bring in and most of them dont make many runs. I am not sure if recruiting is the best way to resolve this as adding more sporadic participants does not resolve the issue.

I think I will be able to return for Sunday runs starting this weekend but I am still not sure yet. We have lost quite a few members mainly because they got the gear they want and moved on or they simply got bored with Sky. We still have a significant treasury built up that we can discuss splitting up if Sky is no longer feasible.

Aricant and I can discuss this in more detail this weekend to see where we want to go with this.

Where to start? Personally I joined SK Sky to obtain a haidate so obviously I'd like to see Sky go just a little longer. Granted I have not made every run but I have put a year into this shell. Forgive me if this post is meandering, I'm just going to toss out some ideas and see if they have any weight. Just trying to think outside the box.

I think Sky is still a viable event but in order to keep shell members interested maybe it is time to open up events other than just Sky. Small member farming runs is fine as long the pop items don't go to waste, even if it takes longer to complete a pop set. Maybe it is time to start rotating in ZNM as one of our weekly Sky nights and try to drum up interest that way. A few weeks back we did Tatami Shield which broke up the routine a bit. There have to be more people in SK that still need those types of force pop mobs. Not every SK event needs to be point driven. The motto of my dynamis ls is "Friends helping friends." If we can get the regular ls more involved with endgame events we may be able to get more people to show up in Sky. Kind of you scratched my back now I'll scratch yours.

As to mandatory attendance, I don't see that working, the entire concept of the shell was set up as a part time optional event. I think that is one of our greatest traits, but it does have drawbacks as we are all seeing lately. I think a better option at this point in time would be to keep Sky optional and focus solely on farming. Those who need points have an incentive to come anyway. Once a month we could have an all calls type night where the main focus is popping Gods. And we should aim at popping the same God multiple times to limit down time and travel. This night should be broadcasted on the website and shell. Once a month we may be able to attract those members that have been doing Sky for years and are tired of it.

Other options

1) About seals required to pop Kirin: At this point in time I do not see us being able to pop Kirin any time soon. As an incentive to longtime members maybe we could offer these seals as compensation for members to do with as they please. Keep them or sell them. I know I would gladly let Joe Blow keep a byako seal if it meant we had another shot at haidate, and maybe he gets 100k when he bazars the seal in Rolanberry. Anyone lotting a seal for personal use would not get any attendance points that night.

2) Continue farming but letting individuals keep pop items. Example Despot is killed and those lotting spend points on the gem as if they were lotting god drops. The individual member is then responsible for putting together a date/time/ group to pop his god. And drops from that kill are not part of our normal Sky schedule. As an example: If Icewaesel acquires a Genbu pop set he can decide to pop Genbu on Saturday with help from his Limbus/Dynamis/Salvage/random people. He would be responsible for discussing loot distrubition for that single God Kill.

3) LS Bank payouts. Another way of enticing members back to Sky may be to start letting members exchange points for gil payouts. I constantly hear people are broke, maybe these people would help farm if they knew they would get a cut of the drops even if they have every item they need from Sky.

4) Item flooring: With a large membership attending Sky it is importatnt to have a minimum point per item. However, flooring pieces doesn't do any good for morale when he have 12 people show up for a God night. If no one is interested in spending 10 points for an abjuration, open it up to lotting, starting at 1 point. Most of these abjurations are probably going to sit in storage anyway. I don't think this would hurt anyone.

Just some food for thought for keeping SK Sky alive. However, if we decide to shut down Sky operations, I think it would be a nice gesture to those still farming to at least provide them with a pop set of their choosing before we completely disband, whether we farm it or buy it out of the ls bank. I know I would rather see every one get a pop set then to hack up 5 mil gil 25 ways for a 200k split.

Just some ideas. I will continue to attend Sky as much as my schedule allows, until every one has the items they have been saving points for.
Flus

While my mind is still cranking: another event we can add to the Sky rotation is the new Sealed Container Quests in the beastmen strongholds in the past. Basically farm 8 pop items to gain entry to the bcnm, and a bunch of new gears.
Flus

Fluster,

I do think the best way to get this done is just to rotate it to other events as well. I personally need a truckload of assaults. A biggie is that our new members need to get up to (and thru) the ZM missions to even reach sky. I've been playing FFXI for 6 years and just got into Dynamis. I have no Limbus access, and I'm only PSC in Assault. That says something... and not that I don't play.

I am new to sky....at least in SK sky events....
I enjoy seeing people get gear they do not have....and there is little left in Sky that I want....with that said I come to help Blonda mostly....but it is fun farming and is decent EXP along with a shot at some things I missed my other 3 SKY LS groups I have been a part of in the past....I do think there is mention for other events (assult, salvage, limbus, kings, ksnm99, WotG missions, ToAU, ZM, COP etc) then just sky....and I would love to help others get sky and or sea access....basically once past a certain spot and on the hedgestones on ZM access to sky can be duoed by a nin and healer as I did this to get Blonda her access.....SKY can be very rewarding and fun....and death too LOL but no one minds dying right? KUPO

anyway a few words about attendance or lack there of....
the past few weeks other then on gods runs....I have noticed 6-10 on farming nights and mostly a 30 minute buffer to get there of those who do come....I realize many have left and or got what they wanted....leaving a few scrambling for some really kewl items....Iceweasel finally was up for his kitty pants only to see us wipe I want everyone to get the nice gear from sky....but I would also push for farming if lotting on god's items....at least somehow on a monthly basis if not weekly....

I'm encouraged that we were able to kill Kirin a couple times recently, even though the drops sucked.
I'm glad we were able to get some Genbu drops for Blonda.

I'm discouraged that Byakko has wiped us a couple times. It sucks to farm pop items for 20 hours, only to wipe. That's not helping members get their haidates.

Both farming and Gods runs have suffered from lack of attendance.

So....Here's where we're headed:
We're going to keep doing sky as long as members want to.

However, we're going to reduce the frequency of sky events. Perhaps with our members, less frequency will translate to greater attendance when we do go. While this may seem like it will prolong the wait for sky drops, wiping to Byakko isn't getting any drops now. I guess if you're in a big hurry to get a drop, this isn't the linkshell for you. What I'm hoping, is that reducing the frequency of Sky events will not mean it takes longer to get drops, merely that you'll spend less time in Sky to get those drops. My goal is to make our time spent in Sky more productive.

Also, keep in mind that members are always free to self-organize ad-hoc sky farming events. The rules (as I recall), are basically:
4+ members, all SK
pop items go into the SK stock (if you want to earn points for them)

So instead of always doing Sky on Wed and Sun, we'll be rotating some other events into these SK event times. Probably the first ones will be SCNM, led by Fluster. This will help break the monotony, provide some new experiences, and access to new sets of drops.

Sky points and lotting priorities will be kept independent of the other events, so members are free to mix-and-match which events they choose to participate in.

We'll still be doing regular (voluntary) SK events every Wed and Sun. But those events will have much greater variety than just Sky.
I'm excited about this.

Ari:
I should have read this post before I sent you a pm. Anyway. I will be ready to start the SCNM on Sunday Dec 14th. This should give members enough time to go through the info both Sil and I posted to become familiar with drops they may be interested in. Also before we start SCNMs I would like to see a push for all members with curtanas to make it a BB night. I know we have at least 3.(I have one, Ari has 1, and there is at least one other floating around, maybe Nik?)
Flus