Keeping Parties Motivated

Parties are one of the social features of the game where players can cooperate on quests to earn rewards. They can be a fun way of interacting with the game, can help with accountability, and can provide support and encouragement.

After time, though, party members may lose interest or experience burnout. In addition to challenges, these are some ways to keep your party members interested, involved, and motivated.

Questions
Ask general questions that everyone can answer. This gives a starting discussion topic and lets party member share ideas. Avoid asking questions that are too personal. Some players do not feel comfortable giving details about their life. Some examples are:


 * In what country do you live?
 * What is your favorite color?
 * Do you have any pets?
 * What is your favorite food?


 * What books are you reading?

Scavenger Hunt
Organize scavenger hunts to find pictures around the site. You can give clues to help find them.

Party Page on the Keep
In the Keep:Armory, each party can design a page where they can describe and give more information about their party. This would be useful for congratulating the winners of any games or challenges the party has finished. Completed quests can also be listed as well as future questing plans and goals. A good example is the page created by the STAG Guild.

Screen Shots
Take screen shots of your party in different costumes and special gear to celebrate events throughout the year. It might be fun for party members to use the same tiling background so everyone can appear to be part of the same scene. You could share these on your party page in the Armory or on user blogs.

The HabitRPG Party Screenshot extension will remove player names and your stats bars from the header to allow you to take an avatar-only screenshot. The Hide Level Numbers extension will remove the level numbers.

Challenges
While there is an official challenge system associated with parties, less formal challenges might offer more interaction. Since your party members may be different ages and different life stages, it is helpful to start with general challenges. Some examples include:
 * Post a motivational quote in the Chat every day


 * Say "Good morning" in the Chat when you login for the day

If your party is more advanced, you could try more gameplay challenges that don't use the official Challenge System. Such examples include:
 * Tell a joke in the Chat
 * Rebirth entire party and see who can reach level 100 first
 * Go on an adventure quest marathon (e.g. finish all the pet quests currently available) and challenge the party to finish it within a certain time frame
 * Split your party into teams for some intra-party competition with aims to see which team can get the highest cumulative levels by a certain date or which team can deal the most cumulative damage to a boss quest

Cards
Players can send party members cards by purchasing them from the market for 10 gold. There is currently a greeting card and a thank-you card available all year-round that can be sent to greet or thank party members. The acknowledgement through a greeting and a thank-you card can be enjoyed by everyone and can keep them motivated.

Altering Friends' Avatars
During the Grand Galas, there are items available for purchase that you can use to change your party members' avatars (or your own). Any of these can be bought and stored up for use at any time of year, and they are a great way to acknowledge your party members and share some enjoyment to motivate them.

If one of these items is used on you by a party member, a 5 GP Reward will appear in your Item Store that you can use to return your avatar to normal. Otherwise you can do nothing, and your avatar will return to normal at your next Cron, leaving the cheery reminder of your friend's antics for the rest of your day.

Note that if you want your party member to see the effects of your item, you will want to wait until after you know they have logged in for the day. Otherwise, their Cron will process when they log in, and they won't see that you've changed them because it removes the effect immediately.

Trivia Game
You can ask questions where the players have to search to find the answers. Your party can decide if they should be about Habitica or real-life events. Some examples include:
 * Who was the King of England during 1732?
 * How much XP do you earn with the Vice Awakens quest?
 * What is the highest cost weapon earned by a Rogue?

For lists of questions about HabtiRPG with clues and answers provided, see Trivia Questions.
 * In what country is the Pyramid of Giza?

Compliments
Paying compliments, giving congratulations, and cheering accomplishments is a good way to keep party members motivated. Everyone enjoys encouragement and recognition, so thanking a helpful party member is always appreciated.

Virtual Prizes
On your party page in the Armory, you could keep a leaderboard of winners with a screen shot of the party members to post on the page. Another suggestion is monthly superlative awards such as:
 * Most Encouraging
 * Most Damage to Bosses
 * Most Creative


 * Most Levels Earned

To be inclusive, try to find superlatives where each party member would be recognized.
 * Most Pets Found