Difficulty with recruitment

RykerStruvian · 2012-12-26, 11:55 AM

I was just wondering if any other outfits are having problems recruiting people. My outfit is relatively new, nearing about a month old now. The problem is that the initial recruitment was successful and I had about 15 active people. Now, the numbers been bumped down to around 4 daily active people. I understand its the holidays and such, so that isn't necessarily an issue.

What is an issue is that I'm having a lot of difficulty recruiting people. I have posts here and on the main PS2 forums. I've been talking with other outfits as well and they have been having problems with recruitment. Is recruitment currently in a decline? I don't have any data yet (I'm starting a spreadsheet at least for my outfit) and I was curious on how I might be able to encourage recruitment.

bpostal · 2012-12-26, 12:50 PM

As hamma said in his latest Instant Action, alot of players are already in an outfit and those that aren't, are not exactly looking for one.
Couple in all the disincentives to play in a small outfit and you've got one giant shit sandwich.
Personally? I offer free blowjobs for every new recruit (but I don't mention the herpes) Your results may vary

GL!

james · 2012-12-26, 01:07 PM

As bpostal said, 90 percent of people who want an outfit are already in one. On the activity front, the honey moon phase of the game seems to be over and the new game feeling is starting to go away. The game when you sit down in look at it, lacks a meta game, has some serious balance issues, and right now its a crappy bf3 times with 2000 players, where no one wins. Then add some major stability issues. So seeing pop number drop is not surprising.

Tooterfish · 2012-12-26, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by james

As bpostal said, 90 percent of people who want an outfit are already in one.

Agreed. Not sure why you added all the other stuff though.

Rolfski · 2012-12-26, 04:05 PM

Bpostal is hitting the nail here. Crappy blowjobs and already having an outfit is what makes people reluctant to look for a new one.

DirkSmacker · 2012-12-26, 04:27 PM

I don't know your specific situation apart from what you mentioned, but merging with similar outfits could be a solution.

Sledgecrushr · 2012-12-26, 04:34 PM

Ok so I looked at your website. I looked at your promo on the official website. Your website needs some love man, its hard to take a group seriously with a "under construction" sign on your website.

Also if you are going to advertise for new recruits then you should try and keep your outfit on the front page. I noticed the last post on the recruitment page was a week ago. Show humor and excitement in your posts and the new recruits will feel that as well. A halfhearted attempt and a lack of effort bringing in recruits will hamstring you from the start.

Good luck, and finish your website and keep hammering away at your http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/i...recruiting.43/ page. Make funny videos!!!

james · 2012-12-26, 04:37 PM

Originally Posted by Tooterfish

Agreed. Not sure why you added all the other stuff though.

Less people playing equals less people looking for outfits. Plus i think in the beginning he said how his outfit only had 4 people active vs 15 normal

StumpyTheOzzie · 2012-12-26, 04:42 PM

give it another month and we'll start to see the generalist outfit amalgamations. Then you'll get 3-5 big zergy outfits per faction and the "specialist 1337 ninja blackops" outfits who are really just RL buddies making alliances.

Graywolves · 2012-12-26, 05:04 PM

We just list our squad and put "recruiting" in the description. Got a few decent guys over the course of the week.

Rolfski · 2012-12-26, 05:18 PM

On a more serious note, Sledgecrushr is having a point here. Profile is everything, make sure you stand out. Publishing high quality Youtubes is an excellent way to make people interested in your outfit.

Hamma · 2012-12-26, 05:26 PM

Sledgecrushr definitely has a point as does bpostal. It's hard recruiting for an outfit right now especially with the game essentially supporting huge outfits that are already well established.

robocpf1 · 2012-12-26, 06:05 PM

If you're up to the challenge, just start sending people without outfit tags /tells and ask them if they'd be interested in joining.

I did that for years in PS1 when the game was in decline and managed to swell our ranks enough to keep us alive. I did that even when my outfit was one of the most well-known outfits in the game. For the years between 2007 and 2011 I talked up almost every No Outfit player I saw.

As a new outfit looking to expand, you cannot afford to wait for people to come to you. Go out and grab them.

Other than going out and actively hunting down No Outfit recruits, take the other advice in this thread. Clean, smooth website, a couple of good videos, "recruiting" squads, etc - but I'm telling you, while those things will certainly help, as a new small outfit there is no substitute for going into the field and recruiting people yourself.

TheMarz · 2012-12-26, 06:08 PM

out of 137 total members Ive only seen max of 10 on at a time if that for the last month or so.

OCNSethy · 2012-12-26, 07:21 PM

I generally play for a few hours once a day or every two days... as time allows. From my perspective, Im am not time rich. I enjoy hooking up with a squad with the insert function but here is why I havent joined an outfit.

Given my time constrains, I feel I would not be adding any benefit to an outfit. Im on at weird times and when i have to log off... I really have to go. I dont think that is fair to the outfit. I would seldom be able to be online during major ops or training given the times they are usually run.

Maybe some outfits would be okay with that, maybe not. I like being part of something bigger than just me but I would not like to be thought of as being inconsistant or unreliable.

I would suggest there are many people out there in the same boat as I am... Just my 2c worth as a 'pub / zerg' player.