Search the Community

A thought turned to an idea... On another directory site, years ago, several people came together with the common thought that it seemed like far too many roleplays weren't making it these days. There were many modes of thought about this but it boiled down to (1) they aren't trying and (2) they just need a jump start in activity; after all, activity makes activity and it's a catch-22. The theory for how this would all work went on for months and spanned many people. It was interesting to see how many words were so carefully knitted in conversations alone because of all the hurt surrounding failed roleplays. But in the end, the core people came up with a three-step process for how this would work: Step 1: qualify. Step 2: get kickstarters. Step 3: kickstarters do the magic. Then, after all this, you would have an active roleplay, horray! We encountered a few bumps in the road, like expectations: Some people didn't want an active roleplay, they wanted a gigantic roleplay. We had to squash that - size seems to be a random thing. Next, people wanted guarantees that this process would work. That after all that work to qualify, they would get help. Well, the work required to qualify is really things you should be doing anyways Or, that kickstarter helpers would actually help them - errr.... Or, that kickstarters could be trusted - errr ..... Isn't it technically a lie to have these temporary helper members? Uhh..... Or, what exactly kickstarters would do in the first place? We had to say that if admins had specific things in mind, they should work with their helpers on that one. What if a kickstarter helper didn't announce themselves then the period ended and they suddenly just vanish? Members vanish all the time and helpers should be ... helping. Kickstarters don't have to announce themselves but usually they should? We didn't know and we kept things vague because supply <<<<<<<demand and these sites needed all the helpers they could get. Launch So things dragged on and finally a timeline goal was slapped up and people filtered out and core heros stepped up to do the work. It opened, and there was a pretty large response of people who loved the idea. A whole lot of roleplays who qualified with basically everything on the list. And some helpers. Some. We tried to make more helpers by encouraging people to post lists of genres they liked so sites would ask them personally and they'd feel more attracted to sites needing help of their genre. Beginning Some new sites filtered in and some didn't meet the requirements for help and promptly died immediately. Some sites struggled and finally got all the necessary qualifications for the program. But very few people were helping. It was almost like sites needing help were being outright ignored. Alerts! GHRRRR! We realized that the problem was that none of the helpers were getting alerts that there were sites ready that they could help! We did our best to fix that with tagging, and it helped a little. Collapse But the number of new people filtering in to help was miniscule and as more and more sites heard about the program, the number wanting help and qualified for it was growing exponentially. Our fear was confirmed, except that it was worse. Supply of helpers <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< demand for helpers. It was twice to four times as bad as we'd expected. So finally months down the line, some sites had gotten help and I was able to follow up with them. The ones that were barely making it continued to barely make it. The ones that were dead stayed that way. The ones that were dying did so. Every now and then, a helper was able to help attract a few more members, and maybe expand a few months of life, but overall, there really was no difference. Revelation Huh? This made no sense. Activity makes activty. All these sites need to get active again are some active members playing, right? So sites with helpers should be attracting members again and getting better, right? But, the data said differently. The data said that the helpers made no overall difference, and very little immediate difference. The axe And then the site's clubs feature was gone. Or they moved or something. I don't remember. But it was all gone. Futurama Long after everyone who had good intentions but never got around to it and forgot all about it in the first place, there came a site pleading for help. It was a Futurama site, based on a very popular animated television show with lots of love and following. It was the first roleplay of its genre. It checked all of the items on that qualification list so long ago. They were so enthusiastic, energetic, and even had a tiny staff team actively playing! But it was floundering and despite impressive advertising campaigns and a pretty good skin, it wasn't attracting any new blood at all. I scoured it for anything wrong and we attacked every possible badness together like an angry mother on a cleaning rampage. No difference. After months of trying - harder than I've ever seen anyone else try before - they gave in and closed. Jellyfish & Jewels I opened up a roleplay of my own and again it checked off all of the requirements but floundered and failed within three weeks, only attracting two other members who made a total of one post. It was weird and had jellyfish and jewels but the feedback in the cbox was great and it had a lot of popular culture and freedom. I realized that other people could 'smell' that my site would never succeed. That I would never succeed. And they chose not to join it. The reality We learned many things about roleplays. Many things, but none of them certain. Whether a site gets big or not is as random as what goes viral next Not all sites can succeed. Some sites have to fail to balance out the status quo - because players have choices, some choices will get all the 'no's. People can 'smell' death. It goes beyond the skin choice and offensive rules or a cbox that hasn't had an update in weeks. They can sense it in their gut A site can do absolutely everything right and still flounder Success or failure is relative; simply adjust your expectations to "win" Admins whose vision of the site is success (eg, rather than a specific genre and plot) will always fail. People can sense it and they run. Some people will never be successful admins because they are not admin material. Personality is the obvious here, but it can also be charisma - that the person has no "magnetic pull" towards other people "Build it and they will come" is not true