Why is the Mini Theme Queue unpopular?

[Ircher]

I think there's something wrong with the mini theme queue. It has moved very slowly over the past several months*, and as of right now, there are no mini theme games active. Two games are currently in signups, but neither seem that close to filling, and the queue also had a mod shortage for quite some time. Why is the queue so unpopular right now? Is it simply the types of games being ran? (I must admit--I have no interest in playing an open cop-type game nor a blitz game right now.) Is it the way it is ran? Discuss.

(* - I checked how many games filled since the start of the year (based on the queue thread), and I counted eight. That's a bit better than I thought, but I counted 17 filled mini normal games and about twelve filled large theme games since the beginning of the year. It's clear to me that the mini theme queue is rather unpopular right now.)

[Something_Smart]

Seems to me that the speed of a game filling is pretty much proportional to the popularity of the mod.

My hypothesis is that the mini theme queue is the only one that doesn't have a niche. The micro, normal, and open queues (and the newbie queue, of course) all have special traits that might make someone want to join a game in them without caring much about the game itself. And large theme games generally require so much effort that they're rare, highly advertised, and usually in high demand.

Also, the queue does not make it easy to find information about the games. Large theme games require mods to make their own threads, and they can stock the OP with as much information as they want prospective players to know. It's harder to give that in the mini theme queue because it only has a signup form, and even if you do provide it, it's harder for people to find it.

Plus, as I said, large theme games require a lot of effort; mandatory review, mandatory backup mod, you have to design your own signup thread and prepare for a game that could last months. Some of the unsuccessful/slow-filling games in the mini theme queue seem... not low effort, necessarily (though some of them probably are), but kind of not special, or gimmicky.

[northsidegal]

i think the two most immediate problems with the mini theme queue are information being hard to find and games not being pulled quick enough. compared to other queues where either you don't really need to know information about a setup when signing up (newbie, normal) or information about setups is relatively easy to find (open, micro, large theme), information about what setups are in-queue is kind of hard to find in the mini theme queue.

so, to put it bluntly, i don't think it's primarily an inherent problem with theme games, i think information is just harder to find in the mini theme queue, and games are left in-queue for probably longer than they should be. it may be the case that, all other things being equal, mini themes would be less popular than other games given the effort and all of that, but i think the

primary

problem right now is one of queue moderation.

[mastina]

Another possible factor: in the mini queue you can't just post /in for next; you need to specify which game you're signing up for.

In the Normal queue you just post /in mini or /in large; in the newbie queue there's also a similar thing of just posting /in (at least with the removal of ICs so that everyone is either a newbie or a SE).

The only other queue where you need to specify which game you're /inning for is the Open queue, a queue that is also, historically, one of the slower ones we have and has run into similar problems in the past to the mini theme queue now.

[northsidegal]

The only other queue where you need to specify which game you're /inning for is the Open queue

the micro queue as well

[Jake The Wolfie]

The Micqueue

[Cabd]

When I can run a 14P game and go into signups pretty much at will, or run a 13p game and wait potentially a month or longer for my game to go into signups (in a generic thread) the choice is easy. I have agency in the first case, and none in the second.

[Ythan]

Curiosity ego

[DkKoba]

people prefer their themes large

[Psyche]

I can think of a lot of reasons why people might not like mini themes, but have a harder time thinking up reasons why interest might be decreasing.

[fferyllt]

I think the mini theme queue is slower than it used to be. Maybe it's the types of mini themes being designed and run these days? Disorganization could be part of it, too.

[skitter30]

I think the fact that games that dont fill in a timely fashion end up staying in the queue for a very long time is part of the problem

[skitter30]

Some of the unsuccessful/slow-filling games in the mini theme queue seem... not low effort, necessarily (though some of them probably are), but kind of not special, or gimmicky.

And echo this point ^

[Jake The Wolfie]

I think people don't sign up for Mini themes because if you want to play a game immediately, you go sign up for a mini normal. If you want a longer format, you sign up for a large game.
Mini themes aren't as attractive because they aren't as standardized as normals, and moreover they tend to be more flashy and whatnot.

One solution is to intentionally plug the Mini Normal queue until a few Mini themes are released. Another is to just combine the two queues into one, merging the Large Queue threads into one and standardize Large Normals getting their own signup thread.

[Jake The Wolfie]

Restructuring the entire queue system would be a challenge, but it could be better longterm.

[fferyllt]

large normals used to get their own threads. I think the normal queue was combined because the individual LN threads took a long time to fill.

[skitter30]

One solution is to intentionally plug the Mini Normal queue until a few Mini themes are released. Another is to just combine the two queues into one, merging the Large Queue threads into one and standardize Large Normals getting their own signup thread.

I dont think this would work - the people who would be prevented from playing in a mini normal are not necessarily the people interested in playing a theme. I dont think that doing this would be effective in redirecting the playerbase, i think people would just be frustrated

[T3]

tbh I just join the games I think I won't have fun in under alts.

[Gamma Emerald]

A contributor to the information issue rn is that the Mini Theme listmod straight up doesn’t give a fuck about keeping the OP up to date

[Jake The Wolfie]

A contributor to the information issue rn is that the Mini Theme listmod straight up doesn’t give a fuck about keeping the OP up to date

Yeah..

Maybe someone should take their place.

[Ythan]

I think there's nicer ways to go about that!

[Jake The Wolfie]

I think there's nicer ways to go about that!

There are.

Like removing them from being a listmod with notice.

[Ircher]

Let's keep points constructive here. I think several good ones have already been raised like the information accessibility issue.

[NorwegianboyEE]

No anime games in signups

[zoraster]

A contributor to the information issue rn is that the Mini Theme listmod straight up doesn’t give a fuck about keeping the OP up to date

Can you elaborate (perhaps a bit more politely)? The OP seems largely up-to-date to me (the players are a bit behind, but both games in sign ups are accurate).