HelloMandie 4 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Hi guys, First: let me set up my situation: So, back in September, I went on my trip of a lifetime to Iceland and while I was there I left my co-admin in charge. I was gone for two weeks and came back to find that absolutely nothing had happened while I was gone. Complete, total crickets and not a single post in either discord or our forum. So, I thought it would be a good time to do some well-needed maintenance and put the game on a hiatus. The game is a supernatural modern fantasy/horror and we use a magic system, but still keep the game freeform to allow for maximum creativity. So, I dive headlong into a thorough revamp. Push storylines that nobody wanted to interact with to a behind the scenes conclusion, promote others as new overall story arc's, introduce a few new NPC's to enforce new societal mechanics, etc. I moved our forum to jcink premium because I wanted to take full advantage of a new 3/3/3 rating. I relaunched it in January, to a kinda blah response. My players say they are invested, they want to continue to play...but then never do unless I am there to lead them along. That all said, here is my dilemma: I've got too much time, money and emotional investment to let this hang by the wayside. Offering EXP for player involvement didn't seem to pan out for me, and enforcing some kind of coven involvement has also recently backfired (longtime Player didn't want to play even remotely nice with others, so he quit). I don't want to just throw my game up for review, because that has never really netted actionable steps for me other than "I don't like this wording of rules, If I saw X I would leave, but that's my opinion" . What are my options? I have so many more stories to tell, and I can't continue to burn the midnight oil pulling people along by the nose. I also need a damn hug. Thanks for reading! ❤️ Mandie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clipsed 231 Share Posted February 21, 2019 If your current players aren't giving you the activity/energy you want, why not check in with them and find out why? Also, strategic advertising is your friend when it comes to growing your ranks! The first thing I noticed was that you have an image advertising your board in your signature, but when I tried to click through, there was no link! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelloMandie 4 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 (edited) I have taken the time to reach out to players, individual and as a group to talk about activity and to get their feedback. For the most part, things are positive! Yet, when push comes to shove the only time that actual play happens is when I personally initiate it. I honestly don't know if I need an onslaught of new players. a) Advertising takes a lot of time away from being an admin. It's a pain in the butt! I need to get my post count back up so I can get back on sites like this one and RPG-D. b) What if any new players require more nose leading? I am having a hard time leading my current players by the nose, let alone new folks! Thank you for the catch about my profile! I have edited it to fix that error ❤️ Edited February 21, 2019 by HelloMandie forgot something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brie 51 Share Posted February 21, 2019 At this point your players are probably gun shy. Was there hand holding before or is this only since your absence (congrats on your trip btw)? New members can breathe life and hope into an otherwise ailing forum. If you can get even a few new members, then that will likely help. That said, considering even the discord was dead without you, you may need to work on your community in general. The vibe, the connection. Our boards are our own personal play places, but People should at least still be chatting while they wait for/work on posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icewolf 258 Share Posted February 21, 2019 It seems to me that while you were away, the person you left to take care of it didn't do anything and the players lost interest. Give it a chance to get going. It's only February, after all, and if you've been making changes on your site your current members might be waiting to see what's new before they commit. Also, if you've had a player that has made other people feel uncomfortable for a while, people might be reluctant to get involved in things. I don't think it's a case of players needing to be led by the nose - if you've been away for awhile and not a lot happened while you were away, they might think that the site could close. This has crossed my mind on a number of sites I've been a member of when the staff/admin don't appear to be doing anything and I've held off putting in effort when I am uncertain about things. There's a lot of supernatural/modern fantasy sites around in general so try to give yours something that is unique or isn't done often to draw people in. Ask around in forums what people would like to see in a supernatural site that isn't being catered for anywhere or often. Apart from this, all I can say is keep working on your site and put some love into it. 2 Legends of Arda Character Archives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelloMandie 4 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 I just don't know what else could make it more unique, we're witches only with a system of magic, so somewhat stat based. That is something I have put a lot of time into, and I don't want to change it just to gain some players. Do you think it would be enough if I got maybe a new staff member to help me drive activity? That way I could build more of the community, and keep things hopefully active while I am away from the computer. I really appreciate everyone's input. Thank you all for commenting and helping me out. ❤️ Mandie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marina 5 Share Posted February 23, 2019 Also, I think maybe you should take the time to advertise instead of just saying that it takes a lot of time. Get some of your members to help out if you can! And new staff that would help you push things along definitely couldn't hurt either. Bringing new people with new ideas and new characters might be your best bet to kick-start things again 😃 1 🦀🔪 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoCorsair 13 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Offer in-game rewards to players for advertising your board for you. You need more players! I looked at your forum and there are no active posts / threads anywhere in any of the boards that I can see. No one's even posted any sort of "witch walks into a hex shop for the first time arriving in NYC" or anything. I mean, crickets is right! However, you get some new players you are going to hopefully some get introductory threads and your long time players should want their characters popping in and influencing them to their side (or w/e). Also, a board always needs new players to bring in new ideas. I've been there on boards that don't get any new players for a while and it is boring rping with the same old people constantly. I know you don't like to feel like you are leading your players around . . . but I can tell you first-hand, lots of people hate initiating starting threads. When I was admin of a board - ESPECIALLY after a hiatus / reopening - YOU have to be the one starting a bunch of topics to get people re-interested in what you're doing. Sure, they say they are interested but behind the scenes they don't know how to / want to start the thread, or they are trying to find the right piece of art for the postscript table they want to use, or this, or this or this . . . you are going to have to at least get a few threads out there for people to want to reply to. They don't even have to be huge ol' plot threads, maybe even introduce a new NPC or something. You are the one that has invested the most in the game. Do you still enjoy it? If you do, then you will have to be the initiator for a while, whether you want to or not. It's all about whether you still enjoy it and want it to go forward. Most times, we are running these games because we enjoy it, let's be honest here. 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelloMandie 4 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 Thank you, everyone, for your thoughtful and honest advice. It is very much appreciated. ❤️ I went ahead and posted in the staff searching forum, and set aside some time per day to post and plot. ❤️ I hope everyone has a good day! Mandie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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