As a staff member, what would you like to see more of in the roleplay community?

[Sora 29]

On 6/19/2019 at 3:21 PM, Morrigan said:

For me it would be my members talking out their differences or finding ways to co-exist if they can't come to a reasonable solution.

 

Oh my goodness, YES.  It's so frustrating when members have a go at each other and then staff is left in the middle trying to fix the damage before the members involved are too stubborn to talk it out. Like... I feel like a babysitter. It shouldn't be my job to teach members how to play nice with each other, but yet... ALL THE TIME.

 

Something that I really wish members would do more is member-driven site plots. Where members work together to move the plot and not rely on the staff to keep things going. It can be so exhausting when it feels like people only get involved when we beg and plead them too.

[Spangles 35]

I would love to see more cohesion between different characters and the setting they're being played in. I've been in situations where there's been numerous "lone wolf" characters who have very little in common and the people who play them seem to be singularly unwilling to plot with each other. By the same token, they're completely uninterested in taking a canon or someone else's want ad, insisting on creating yet another OC who's being thrown in with all those other OCs no one's playing. 

[ArizonaRaspberry 35]

I really like to see people put actual effort into the characters and plots they're playing. I think anyone who joins the site independently already does that, but sometimes you'll invite somebody you know and they'll just join because they think they're throwing you a bone by putting a warm body on the website, and that's just not true. A warm body with a personality and some ambition would be better.

[Sara-Zorah 18]

I want to see members communicating with staff if there's a problem/ if someone is creeping them out. 

 

I can't banhammer creepy assholes if I don't know they're creeping on my players. 

[Rune 1,099]

Sites working together.

Someone not working out on your site, but you think another might be a great fit for them? SUGGEST IT.

Talk to other staff, communicate problems and ideas.

@Verridith and I have wildly different sites, not within the same genre, and not at all connected. And we still communicate, offer assistance when we can and generally chit chat. 

 

I'd also love to see the oldschool webring kind of thing pop back up. It's kind of there with affiliates, but I think having a general collective for all sites of a certain genre (Akin to Perneseonline for Pern boards) would be nifty. Even if its just a button that sends you to a random site on the ring or an agreement to affiliate together. Goes with that 'working together' bit from earlier.

[Seravian 50]

I'm 100% on board with the sentiment of sites working together, closing sites offering places to go, especially if they are on good terms with them, and supporting each other.

 

Instead of complaining about of lack of activity, members pulling together and working with each other to help create an ideal place.

 

Members speaking up more often, before shit hits the fan and a lot of people are upset over one or two members being an ass, making the site look bad, so things can get settled quicker. 

[Muse 121]

On 11/14/2019 at 9:41 AM, Sil said:

I'm 100% on board with the sentiment of sites working together, closing sites offering places to go, especially if they are on good terms with them, and supporting each other.

 

Instead of complaining about of lack of activity, members pulling together and working with each other to help create an ideal place.

 

Yes and yes.

I dislike the accusation of "poaching" among RP forums—people are allowed to write where they want to, on as many sites as they want to, and in whatever genre they well please. If some folks find a certain place distasteful but enjoy writing with each other, it's not a crime for them to travel together, nor is it a crime to invite your friends to come write with you somewhere new. When forums close, I don't see the harm in welcoming the dispossessed! They still love writing! Give them all the things! I'm totally on board with working together instead of creating unnecessary conflict in every possible situation.

And I do so love it when members roll up their sleeves and get involved in something they love, whether it's in creating storylines for other players to get into or whether it's developing part of the world itself. This stuff really warms my heart because I can very much be a "do it yourself" person, prone to burning myself out attempting to be a plot device or developer of things, and so when other folks come alongside me and say, "Hey, let me help!" it feels really good.

As a staff member, I like to see helpful, passionate players who just love writing with each other. When my Active Topics is on fire on my forum, my heart is very full.

[CovertSphinx 710]

Most of it's been said before, but.... 

 

More Member-Member plotting/threads without Staff having to be involved at every turn.

More DOING and less complaining about "nothing to do/play" - There's PLENTY of plot hooks laying around, pick one up instead of expecting staff to spoon feed you everything.

More trying to fit the scene a little better - a setting that uses a "masquerade" trope as an important rule isn't going to be a good fit for thoughtless high-fantasy type public magic displays. 

Character Arcs, Character Arcs, CHARACTER ARCS! BUILDDDDD with your character, make them verbal flesh! Roll with your threads and grow instead of playing a flat stereotype who barely interacts on a humanistic level with other characters. 

[Verridith 66]

On 11/12/2019 at 4:31 PM, Rune said:

Sites working together.

Someone not working out on your site, but you think another might be a great fit for them? SUGGEST IT.

Talk to other staff, communicate problems and ideas.

@Verridith and I have wildly different sites, not within the same genre, and not at all connected. And we still communicate, offer assistance when we can and generally chit chat. 

 

I'd also love to see the oldschool webring kind of thing pop back up. It's kind of there with affiliates, but I think having a general collective for all sites of a certain genre (Akin to Perneseonline for Pern boards) would be nifty. Even if its just a button that sends you to a random site on the ring or an agreement to affiliate together. Goes with that 'working together' bit from earlier.

 THIS SO MUCH. <3

This October, I actually did a crossover event to bring a few sites together for some great fun; another fantasy site and an equine site joined in, and we had a month-long plot where the universes of these sites were briefly joined. It was a totally awesome feeling to see members from all three sites interact, write, and have fun together - and some members stayed even after the event! I loved putting it together and totally want to do another one someday later. We need more inter-community events and working together for sure!

[Zelkova 12]

It really depends on the community, but for the animanga community I see a lot of persistent negativity towards RPing and while they complain about wanting this or that or feeling jaded towards RP, they refuse to post more than once a month because they "have a life and other interests."

 

Having been in that mindset for a few years myself, what I would like to see is the (animanga) RP community being more positive by working towards RPing on a regular and more frequent basis (then they'd get progressive plots and missions and character development, then they'd get the same excitement from forum RP as they do from DnD, then they'd overall have fun). At the same time, if they really hate RP that much, then they should drop the habit and go elsewhere. Find new hobbies. It's okay to lose interest in something and move on (but don't drag the rest of us down, yenno? "Feels bad" as they might say.).

Edited December 2, 2019 by Zelkova