Hey there... newbie here as this is only my second season, and my first COMPLETE season. From my perspective starting out in Div 3 and at the bottom is a deterrent for me at all. What IS extremely frustrating is that I get turned down from so so many contests. There are a few things going on here, but I think this is where most of the trouble is with keeping new players. I get that leagues want to have their own events just for league members, that part is fine. However there are so so so few marching band contests that maybe one day there are only 2 contests, one is a league event, and the other turns everyone down who doesn't have a really high prestige score. If this happens a couple days in a row, I feel no need to come and check in on how I did because I wasn't in any contests, thus I also forget to rehearse. This is also a bit unrealistic. In the real world marching band, bands don't get turned down. They go to contests that are close to them or have bands that they need to compete against to see how they stack up. That part of the competitive aspect doesn't exist here. I don't get to choose which contest I want to go to based on who else is attending, or my current schedule, I just sign up to everything I can and hope that one will actually accept me. It's also odd to me that there are application limits. Again, in real life this doesn't happen. I'm not even sure why there are such limits here as I have never once even come close to hitting those limits because there are far far to few contests for me to apply to anyway. in REAL marching band invitationals the host doesn't have the luxury to turn down anyone who applies to attend. They take anyone because that is their motivation for a larger monetary return. They don't turn others away because of how prestigious a certain group may be. Because of these things here are some changes I think could be made to make the game more enjoyable for EVERYONE, and get new players to not leave so quickly

#1 - Revamp the prestige system so that it can no longer be a motivator for how hosts turn down or accept applicants. Prestige could still be used to base how much money a contest brings in, but let the hosts sweat it out to whether the top groups attend or not. Here is a random thought/idea.. use prestige to allow league leaders to turn down applications to their league


#2 - Don't allow hosts to turn down applicants.This will force groups to work more towards building funds to host bigger events.... and more events. This will add just a bit of randomness to the game (as in real life) so that the system can't be gamed in favor of the groups who have been around forever

#3 - EVERY contest day there should be ONE(just one and one only) contest that pits everyone against each other who have not signed up for any contests that day. This will help get people back to the site to check how they did even if they couldn't get into a contest.

#4 - Every season take off some of the prestige from EVERY band that participated. Someone good at math can come up with some percentage or formula for this that makes sense. In the real world, prestige only matters so much. Sure a MB that one their state championship one year are statistically more likely to return to their finals the next year, but that is not always a case.

#5 - Add RANDOMIZED "issues" that occur at random times throughout the season to random groups. Things like "Tour bus broke down, you must pay $200 this week for repairs. If you can't pay, you don't attend a contest until you can get that bus fixed" or "a member breaks their leg, loose so many points on your visual score for so many of the next contests". This again brings randomness and more excitement to the game because these are real world scenarios that happen. These should all be randomized in occurrence and amount that it would effect the groups it happens to.

#5 - Continue to brainstorm ways to get more people to host more contests.

#6 - Don't allow EVERYONE to join a league. Start an application system to join a league instead of league invites. Use the prestige system for this instead. Allow league founders/board of directors to turn down any one who applies to their league based on prestige or other factors.

Again I'm just a newbie, but I really do enjoy this game. But as a newbie I have some perspective that maybe other long time players don't. These are things that would help keep me coming back season after season and give the game a fresh new, and more realistic appeal.

We all have that perspective because we all went through it when we first started. If you view it as real life, most of the open class corps do not perform at every show that world class corps perform - open class corps for the most part have their own shows. I know, also, that newer groups reject other newer groups because they want the high influence groups to join and boost the funds for their events. It's the nature of the beast (the game). That should motivate you to want to grow faster. I've taken off seasons just to raise funds to hire staff and host higher tier shows. I've not competed in seasons just to boost my influence.

At this point, what I am seeing is new players complaining that they can't start out at the same level as someone who has played on this site for several (real) years. When you start hosting tier 6 shows, I highly doubt you will want to host several players with 1000 or below influence because you'll quickly realize, you won't make much money off of the event to stay competitive. Again, it's the nature of the game. If it's my event with my funds that I raised to host it, it's my decision who I want at my event :-) Nobody should be able to tell me who I can (or cannot) host at my event.

Why should a new player begin and be accepted as a player who has put in the time and the effort to improve over the years? Also, why should we take away "prestige" from players who have made the effort to improve over the years? If that ever happened, I would flat out quit the game for good. Then, you could have a game with just division 3 players as it seems some of you want, anyway. Better yet, with so many ideas, start your own game because I highly doubt that those changes ever will be made.

I’m not suggesting a site reset as others are. That right there would be the nail in the coffin for this game for all the veteran players. I’m not saying take away everything they worked for all these years like others are suggesting. My suggestions are more even handed. They not only allow those who have played every season to still reap rewards for their time and dedication, but also allow newcomers some excitement as well. These changes would not destroy all that hard work you’ve put in. And apparently not every one does have that perspective... you certainly don’t anymore. My suggestions offer a fresh new take on the game while also making it more realistic to what really goes on in real world scenarios,

My suggestions in NO WAY promote an all division 3 game. It just promotes more balance.

Personally I think you are just against any changes at all to the game... but it’s become very apparent that changes are needed. Keep things the way they are now and the game will certainly die a slow death.

For me, starting out in D3 with little acceptance rates was very fun to grow. Scoring my first 60, interacting with leagues and the competiveness was (and is) very fun. It's not comparing yourself to people who played for years, but striving for the same success. I've only been around for 6 seasons but I've grown massively. You aren't going to do amazing your first 1-2 seasons. It may take a season or two of fundraising, as you can see by groups like Synchronicity or Perihelion, who shot up like crazy after fundraising.

As for the declining, you don't need to compete every day. And it's up to you to decide when to compete. Groups need to make money, some conferences do allow people to decline.

I agree with Aaron, these changes are too extreme. If you want to add changes, message Alex, but he's mostly moved on. Tbh, I think you're being a little snarky to Aaron, he has one of the biggest legacy's on this game. He's been here a long time. He probably know what's better for the game. Don't play a game for a little bit and then say it's going to die.

All I was doing was offering suggestions and my personal take.., this is EXACTLY what the OP wanted from his original post. It seems to me that you and Aaron are being the snarky ones, not I. The whole point of this thread was to discuss ideas about how the game could change to possibly increase activity and interest. If those aren’t things you wish to discuss, then why are you discussing them?

I’ll say this AGAIN, I have no issues with starting small, in div 3, with low scores. And that’s also NOT what my suggestions address either.

What a warm welcome to a new player just offering some input.... and you all wonder why new players don’t stick around? And I AM the snarky one? Wow.

This site has already died my man. The community is ancient and non existent, the owner is never around, and the competition truly isn’t that interesting- especially when people never even TALK about it. I know I’m not one to talk because I’m barely around myself but I think if we really want to make the game better we need the same amount of enthusiasm that we did years ago. In all truth, I haven’t truly participated in recent seasons because I’m just kinda bored.
This isn’t a hit at the greats like Aaron or Gary (ect) I truly appreciate everything you guys have and still put into this site, but it’s been kinda a drag cause nobody else has been around to actually enjoy and acknowledge what the greats put into it. Before we can better the game, we gotta better the community.

How about a thread for each season? I can make a thread for the current season right now. I feel like that would encourage people to talk since there isn't really a general thread to describe your show, competitions, scoring etc

JStutsman, for the record, I'm not against change :-) I just believe that what you suggested wouldn't work for the way this game is designed, and I don't believe that making hosts "sweat it out" and not allowing them to accept whomever they want to host is a necessary change. Not having enough contests is an issue that has occurred off an on in this game. On the other hand, there have been seasons when we had too many events and not enough applicants - it can be hit or miss. I highly doubt that you would pass up on an applicant with 100,000 influence vs one with 100 influence - if so, you're hurting your sales. I know exactly where you're coming from because I, too, was denied for not having enough influence until I finally fixed it by taking off some seasons to increase my influence.

The accidents, busses breaking down, "ran out of food to feed the marchers," randomized issues, etc idea that you have is a decent idea - make it more realistic because things happen - but that's for a totally different game. I'd love to play it if you can design it.

I really do not understand why you believe that people should lose points for leveling up and competing. If anything, people should gain influence based on the number of people competing and their placement at competitions.

Quite frankly, I see nothing wrong with the way leagues are set up. Nevertheless, I agree that people should be able to submit an application for leagues, and at one point in the game, people DID apply for leagues and awaited approval. Why shouldn't everyone be allowed to create and/or join a league? It's always been your choice whether you want to join one. It's really not even necessary to join a league, anymore. I think it would be cool if people actually got credit for winning a league competition - like a badge or trophy. The only point of joining a league is having an event to attend and helping a league raise funds to host events (and bragging rights when your leagues beats another one)

Every so often, Alex will create FMA competitions when events are lacking on the site. I haven't seen any since I started playing on here again. These FMA sanctioned events are for everyone regardless of league and influence.

We DEFINITELY need to change the scoring system in the colorguard circuit. Many people, including myself, have been screwed out of a medal because they peaked too soon and reached 100 - thus your score starts to drop. It shouldn't even be so easy to score a 100 in colorguard. My entire staff is maxed, and now, I'm just coasting until finals. That's no fun. Changing the scoring system in the division 1 colorguard circuit is totally doable.

Some of your ideas are interesting, but they just won't work for this game. A few of your ideas for change, I deem unnecessary. It's not that I am "against" change. I'm against changes that don't make sense and could potentially ruin an already declining game. However, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.

I definitely agree that we need to build up our community again, but FMA is approaching its 72nd season. Most of us never thought it would last this long. Without a stronger, more dedicated community, there's only so much we can do with the version of FMA that we have.

I’ve only been playing this game for a year and a half but I made my Corps move up the ranks so we were division two! And honestly, before we wererepared for it. I loved the challenge of getting prestige higher and all, it’s like real life where you are trying to get that fan base! And when you finally get it.... WOW!

I do wish that people talked about stuff on here more, and I’ve tried starting threads and all, but it doesn’t really work. But I truly believe it’s cyclical and we will have a rebirth soon. I do also wish that we had so,e way to neatly fit more intimate backstories for our Corps, and in a way that would make since on this universes “timeline”.

But honestly if anyone wants to try harder at recruiting people to come here or to talk and try and liven it up here, let me know.

But I think half of the issue of the forum dying is because all of the conversations are about improvement and they have argued that stuff for years so we all want to move on and talk about something else.

I have an idea for improvement based off of college sports that may help attract people and keep them interested in the game. It could also hurt the game disproportionately, but you decide. What if the game was updated to allow leagues a function to distribute money during the last two "post-season" days after finals? Like college sports and TV deals where the conferences distribute money to the universities at the end of the season. I know my league, ICE, is sitting on several million useless dollars, and I'm sure groups like FAME, CLASS, FLAG, DRUMS, PERC, PEARL, etc. have more than I do. This is where it gets disproportionate. If a league like CLASS or FAME decided to distribute money after this season, their corps would get more than the corps in my league because of history and membership. But, if we went to leagues Luke CLASS2, FAME2, ICE2, etc., we'd be able to build that money simultaneously. The presidents of these organizations - gcurrier, Aaron0316, and all else can place C-level non-competitive corps as president of the old leagues to preserve their history and keep them available if this experiment went wrong. That may invite more people and keep some people active - if they knew leagues actually had benefits, and would keep them active because leagues don't have to reward stagnant corps or new additions that create one group one day, then leave. It would encourage growth and sustainment in my opinion. Thoughts?

Hey, Thomas, I've always believed that leagues need more perks. I really like the money idea. Though, it already has been proposed a long time ago (I can't remember exactly when) and shot down by the community. The problem is that it's very easy for one person to create several accounts, create a league for all of their accounts, boost the hell out of their influence, and have all of these accounts join their league events quickly raising league funds; I won't mention names, but we've already had the problem of one person creating 20+ accounts to boost their primary ones and putting them all in one league. Of course, there should be a cap on how much you could distribute per group. FAME and ENCORE have ridiculous amounts of useless funds sitting around. Yes, we have the membership numbers but really only 15 to 20 are active, anymore.

Yeah, it would be have to be regulated NCAA style with a cap based off of group membership, not a minimum/maximum per group, but a rate like x groups = x amount of distributable funds. That would also make the president's job more important because they'd have to do finances and struggle with money. Which could involve more of the BoD as well in the decision making process for finances regarding events, distribution, and scheduling. But yeah, you do raise the point of certain characters, I've argued with them about their farming technique and its detriments to the game.

What about an app? That would require Alex's computer skills, but the possibilities...

An app would be cool, I'm not a fan of using my mobile browser to do rehearsals, and the possibilities are endless as well.

I threw in a proposal for a completely new game a few months ago. If there are any programming wiz's out there, feel free to build it. I'd play.