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How to get board activity back up?


Jaxx
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So I started a site in September 2018. I was aware it was going to be harder to get members since it's a relatively niche concept, being AU medieval fantasy fandom, but I got a fair amount of interest when it started and things were great at the beginning with plenty of threads and characters. Now, almost eight months later, the board's hit a serious slump. There hasn't been any posts in almost a month and we only have a handful of players that obviously aren't writing any more. I've done some serious advertising on directories, bumping site ads and posting want ads, and only gotten one new player out of it. I've asked members about what they like and don't like with the site, and requested sitewide reviews, and nobody's brought up any issues. I feel like I keep hitting a wall when I try to communicate with my players and I have no idea what to do next to get us active again, but I'm not willing to give up on the site yet. I plan to commission a new skin and sitewide templates to shake things up and give us a fresh face, but I'm wondering - what else can I do? What else have you done? 

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If people aren’t posting, I doubt a new skin will make a difference. Sometimes in my experience sites try too hard to look good and focus less on actual play. 

 

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Sites always have slow seasons. Maybe members have thing irl getting to them and are a bit shy to say or something. The best thing to do isn’t to try super hard to boost activity. keep posting, advertising and rping. Even if it’s only a few people around if you look like you are invested it’ll help for when members are interested again. Also try to think up some plot events that you can do even with a small group of players. Often when something novel is going on in the board it gives the rp a bit of a boost as members start wanting in on the events. 

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All sites have slumps, as was mentioned before. For me, dusting things off with a shiny new look does sometimes help in getting new blood. It MIGHT boost energy in older members (but there's always that one member that insists on using the old stuff because they hate change so much). 

 

I think you can try PMing members with new ideas you have and get people pumped up for some fun new plots and threads. That can help, getting something new up and running.

 

And if nothing anybody has said works and it's just you plodding along for another half a year, I'd say maybe it's time to try something new altogether. If you love the original idea, maybe try remaking it with a different or new trendy twist that might lift it from its niche place, maybe? Of course, don't do ANYTHING just because it's the IT thing, do it only if you can get behind it and love it, too. Otherwise, you'll be experiencing burn out or hate your own site, which is never good. 

 

Good luck, though! I know how it is, so much. I'm currently revamping a site of mine that... um, yeah. Didn't quite go anywhere. lol 

Reality is an illusion. 


 
 

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In addition to the above, start RPing with yourself. It can be boring but if I saw a forum that hasn't had activity for a month, I wouldn't join it because I assume the admin has given up.

 

Other things to consider:

You have lots of empty forums. Can you condense them? Empty forums promotes the general air of nothing's happening.

 

Your header hasn't been updated since you opened. Again, promotes the air of nothing happening.

 

Suggested characters. These don't need to be fully fledged wanted ads but simply ideas that would help the forum's plot progress. This just helps prospective guests generate ideas for their first character. It also helps to highlight that OCs are welcome and can have an impact on the plot.

 

Hope that's helpful! And good luck!

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I agree with Kit. If there is no activity, getting people to join back in (new skin or no) will be extremely difficult to impossible. Role play with yourself. Log in with all your accounts daily.  And if you only use one account for all your characters spread them out between different ones so your board can look more fleshed out.

 

You could message members with plot suggestions, put up opens, etc. if no one is having fun, not even you, then all the ads in the world won’t make someone join who wants to jump right in and play too.

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My current board is a trial in its effectiveness, but on my site I've vowed to use the Staff Account(s) to create "random encounter" type threads/posts targeting specific characters (as well as general open threads) based on what sort of plot they were already following. For example: There's two Vampire-esque creatures (player characters) engrossed in a deal to create a way for Vampires to walk in daylight, and in the Worldlore there happens to be an Organization of Clergy who's entire existence is to hunt unholy monsters (No player characters part of it at the moment) - so I decided to create a little NPC headache for the Player Vamps... This line of "poking the bear" so far in has led to at LEAST 3 renewals of muse for several characters between the three members. 

Edited by CovertSphinx
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Try some new things, like events or random events like CovertSphinx suggested, maybe some sub-plots. And people LOVE secrets! I think my site's most well-received event was running a masquerade where we gave everyone event accounts under an alias, so no one knew who was who.

 

Do character or want ad spotlights, as it might trigger some plotting.

 

Definitely log onto all your accounts. Bump your own want ads. Do some character development (if you have a board for it--if not, that'd be a good board to have!). It'll help the place look more active.

 

Have OOC events, like fun stuff. Like I do Cards Against Humanity nights every so often (you can find a CAH simulator online)! It helps build community.

 

These are just a few things that have worked for me. I hope they'll work for you if you try them out! Good luck!

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