A Meta-Friending/Clique Discussion.

[Hollandaise]

Even more so, there were times I started my own little projects like building bars, little restaurants, gardens, etc. or tried singing or a few other gimmicks yet no one ever really went out of their way to see me beyond one or two random people/really close friends. This ended up being the reason I stopped doing these projects and gimmicks since it was just wasted effort with no real payoff. More so, I always felt like I'd go out of my way to do my job really well or somehow run a large portion of the station alone like being lone doctor, lone engineer, lone QM, etc. and get no praise for what I do. On the other hand, other people would get a lot of praise for doing simple tasks. One time as a janitor I got thanked out of the blue by someone via public PDA message and felt genuinely touched irl. It was the only real time anyone even just went out of their way to praise me.
Really felt like I was just being ignored at that point or actively excluded.

With elaborate gimmicks like that, i found this problem as well. What i found, though, is that people tend to oversee stuff and don't register different things happening. Like people arem't paying that much attention to the radios. They don't look much into the next room even though there are free ranging cluwne or raptor chickens there.

What i learned is that you actively need to grab attention. Don't set up the bowling alley in a seperate room, make it right in fromt of the bar. Don't send 1 PDA, send 5. Have a market? Fill the hallway in fromt of it with big crayon letters. Have a synthflesh rafflesia you want to provide to medbay? Run with it to the MD so they can see it in action (and call a janitor to get rid of the gibs everywhere). And if you have have any other gimmick: actively go out and talk to people in the wild.

The problem is, I usually would though. When I'd sing I'd decorate the bar or create a large stage area in a hallway. When I set up bars/restaurants I'd usually mess with the lights and keep everything very open and exposed. I'd often make seating areas in the hallways too and completely redecorate them. And more so, I'd constantly send PDA messages over the Party Line mentioning where I am and what I've set up, sometimes I even get a command member to annouce things. 

I've seen similar things set up before with far more attention even though I'd figured out about it late into a round. And again, I've seen people make and do similar things to what have with little recognition or attention. This seems to be a larger scale problem than just one person being ignored.