Serial site creator?

[Anonymous 234]

So this is a concern that's been stopping me from doing anything to flesh out some current ideas I have for a site. I've opened three sites in the last year. My first site was active from August to November 2018. My second was active from September 2018 to March 2019. I opened my third in March 2019 and it's still going, albeit with some ups and downs.

 

For my first two sites, the same thing happened. People complimented me as an admin and writer left and right, and dozens of people joined the first two months. Then a few months later the member base as a whole stopped posting and wouldn't respond to any attempts at communication. I posted on my own, both opens and threads between my characters, in an attempt to generate some activity and attract new members. When there were no new members (or posts besides my own) for 2-3 months, I officially closed each site in their turn. 

 

As far as I know, I did everything I could to keep sites open. Frequent advertising, plotting with all members, posting, talking in Discord, quickly handling admin duties like apps and claims. Members had nothing but praise for me, but simply never posted or communicated after the new-site-shinies wore off, and I was never able to get things active again when I was the only person posting. 

 

I'm worried that, in the future, people may see me as a serial site creator. What are your thoughts? The current idea I have is something I wouldn't do anything with until the fall or so, because things are about to get busy for me in real life and I want to let them calm way down before I even think about doing anything new with roleplay. But I suppose I'm a bit discouraged at the thought that people might avoid a future (or even current) site of mine because I've had several in the past. 

Anonymous poster hash: 1b1bb...d99

[Rhindeer 217]

I think you’re fine. The sites ran their course, after all, and were dead when you closed them. I’ve really only seen people get upset with “serial site creators” when those creators actively ditch active communities while whipping up another game they’re also going to ditch once they get some members.

 

i wouldn’t consider what you’re doing to be “serial site creating”. ;D

Edited July 2, 2019 by Viscount Rhi-Rhi

[Somniac 207]

Sounds like you’re working alone, learning a lot of things at once in order to fill all the roles needed to run a site, and probably burning out fast in part to this. You’re running a site on hard mode: you’re going to have more KOs on average. And you know what? That’s alright.

 

If someone is looking for staying power right now? Honestly, that admin is probably not you right now. For players who are looking to dip their feet into something new and see what sticks, though? It’s perfect.

 

We’re never going to win ‘em all. What gives you and your site(s) life? What's your site missing that you wish it had, and what do sites that have it do to draw that in? It's a learning process, and I have yet to hear of anyone getting it down in one fell swoop.

[Anonymous 234]

5 hours ago, Somniac said:

Sounds like you’re working alone, learning a lot of things at once in order to fill all the roles needed to run a site, and probably burning out fast in part to this. You’re running a site on hard mode: you’re going to have more KOs on average. And you know what? That’s alright.

 

If someone is looking for staying power right now? Honestly, that admin is probably not you right now. For players who are looking to dip their feet into something new and see what sticks, though? It’s perfect.

 

We’re never going to win ‘em all. What gives you and your site(s) life? What's your site missing that you wish it had, and what do sites that have it do to draw that in? It's a learning process, and I have yet to hear of anyone getting it down in one fell swoop.

 

I don't think I was burning out but perhaps we have different definitions of the term? I was active, invested, and energetic until the day the site closed and never stressed or tired because of my admin position or responsibilities. I just wasn't able to get anyone to join (or join and post more than once) and eventually decided that it was the best choice to close, as I didn't think anyone would join in the future. 

Anonymous poster hash: 1b1bb...d99

[Keaton 133]

I agree with what's been said that I wouldn't label this as "serial site creating" in the common understanding of the term, which to me implies admin who get 1000 ideas and can't settle on a single one, and so flit from one to another to the detriment of virtually everyone who decides to join their games. It sounds like you've just kind of had crappy luck.

 

However, I think you owe it to yourself to conduct a post-mortem on each of your sites. While I know games can and often do burn out quickly, to me these are very short active periods you've listed for each game, and perhaps more importantly, there seems to be a very short turn-around from one example to the next. That to me suggests you might be not creating the sort of fulsome site infrastructure that would incline people to want to invest in your game. Because that seems to be the biggest thing you're missing: A few core players who are enthusiastic about the concept and want to help build on it. When you lose those or don't have them to begin with, my experience is that your days are numbered no matter how attentive an admin you are.

 

So look back at each of these sites. Be brutally honest about what you might have missed or missteps you might have made. Look at other sites that are active and have been around at least a year, and use them as research. Take notes on things that strike you -- Good ideas to get people posting, how other folks handle plot, site protocol, etc.

 

I also think it's worth seriously asking yourself why you're focusing on your next game when the one you currently run has only been open 4 months. The fact that you aren't looking to create another site until the fall is good, but also I wouldn't hold yourself to that time frame, and take longer if you need it. Given the history laid out here, I would recommend focusing on your current game and applying what you learn there and seeing how that pans out before you go creating yet another game. You want to be as informed as possible, with as many tried and tested methods for building and running a site in your toolbox as possible, so that you know going in that you have the best chance of success when it finally is time to start your next game.

[Rune 1,099]

I don't think I'd judge a site seeing you as the admin and, presumably, having seen the previous sites. IF the sites weren't all the same. If you were rerolling the same site with the same genre, plot, etc over and over again in hopes of catching that new site smell, then I'd judge. 

 

I really only have an issue with "serial site creators" is when its several sites all at the same time or site after site after site with barely weeks between. OR when its the exact same thing again and again. Or, something I saw recently, all at the same time. Because who could dedicate enough time or energy to the exact same site spread across four different boards.

[Somniac 207]

On 7/2/2019 at 8:13 PM, Anonymous said:

 

I don't think I was burning out but perhaps we have different definitions of the term? I was active, invested, and energetic until the day the site closed and never stressed or tired because of my admin position or responsibilities. I just wasn't able to get anyone to join (or join and post more than once) and eventually decided that it was the best choice to close, as I didn't think anyone would join in the future. 

Anonymous poster hash: 1b1bb...d99

You’re right – that doesn’t sound like burnout to me.

 

It sounds like the slow periods of a site look like a failure to you. They’re not: every site has its ebbs and flows, and new user initial excitement versus settling in.

 

What if you made a goal of keeping a site up for a year and keep posting and advertising for it, even when it’s quiet?

[dusk 106]

37 minutes ago, Somniac said:

You’re right – that doesn’t sound like burnout to me.

 

It sounds like the slow periods of a site look like a failure to you. They’re not: every site has its ebbs and flows, and new user initial excitement versus settling in.

 

What if you made a goal of keeping a site up for a year and keep posting and advertising for it, even when it’s quiet?

 

This very much. I've seen it before where the admin panics because things are slow and just shuts the site down. There are a lot of trends in activity throughout the year, and in the life of an rp. You have the excited "omg new site!!!!!SHIFTONE!!!!!" phase in the beginning. Where everyone is soooo pumped the site is just exploding in new characters, plots, and posts.

 

And then things slow down as people settle in. That really hectic feeling passes. People begin to settle into their normal posting patterns, whatever those may be. This looks like a decline in activity. Technically, it is, but its not a death knell. Deep breath.

 

Then you have the fluctuations with school. With weekends. Holidays. Finals. All the things that alter your RL schedule do the same to an rp schedule. Most sites I have been on are quieter on the weekends. It straight up looks like the site suddenly died on Friday lol. Monday rolls around and it is back to business. Deep breath.

 

Don't be one of those admins who takes the slow period, flips shit, and closes the site. Whether that slow period is a weekend or a couple months. I would suggest you get yourself a buddy to write with. That way you are not doing all the work. You have someone to plot and be excited with. You do it in the open. You post. People will follow your lead. 

 

I also agree with Keaton. Your current site is alive and well with admitted ups and downs. I would make sure that site is stable before opening a new one. Your activity is likely to dip while you launch a new site and get it rolling, which can cause some panic on the current site. Also, be honest with your members that you are opening a second site so they know why your attention is suddenly split 2 ways and they don't assume you are talking a walk on them.

[Anonymous 234]

5 hours ago, Somniac said:

You’re right – that doesn’t sound like burnout to me.

 

It sounds like the slow periods of a site look like a failure to you. They’re not: every site has its ebbs and flows, and new user initial excitement versus settling in.

 

What if you made a goal of keeping a site up for a year and keep posting and advertising for it, even when it’s quiet?

 

It wasn't a slow period. I've experienced those on other sites, and I know what they look like. With these sites, established members stopped posting altogether and wouldn't even engage each other OOC. I was the only person speaking in the Discord for weeks at a time. The only activity beyond my own posts was two or three people that would app a character only to disappear without posting (or after only posting once). That isn't a slow period to me. That's dead. 

 

I also don't know of anyone that would join a site that only had an admin posting, unless that site was brand new, because I think most people would see that as a red flag and assume that the admin was doing something to drive people off. Although I am curious now as to what you consider to be "dead" vs "slow" because maybe we simply have different ideas of what counts as what. 

Anonymous poster hash: 1b1bb...d99

[gelly 32]

I hate that no one wants to help out --- I feel like sites would last longer if people stepped up to help out so admins don't feel so alone. 'Cause even if the members went quiet, at least people would come around and see the staff is still trudging along and doing their best. It doesn't look so lonely and the admin doesn't feel like they have to shut down 'cause it's just them.

 

But it's been extra difficult to find any sort of help lately. That would honestly be my suggestion: find help so you're not going at this alone and you're not the last man standing. I remember when I had a co-admin and when we had our site highs, it was super active and it was nice to have someone to commiserate when you eventually get that 'bad apple' and when we had our site lows, it would just be the two of us but we were still writing and still chatting. People would eventually peek their heads back in and join again 'cause they were like 'oh snap, still kicking? noice'. People don't realize how necessary it is to have a partner like that 😕

 

Aside from all that, I wouldn't consider you a serial site creator. So don't feel bad. Sounds like you're doing all you can to keep your sites going. People try to act like lifespans aren't a thing, but they are lol. Some are shorter than others and yeah, a couple months is a legit lifespan. Pull the plug, take a break, and then move on when you're ready.

 

 

[ChrisOwl 59]

I personally would join a site that only had an admin posting (if I had time for another site lol), as long as the admin would plot with me and we had something to write together. Though I've been known to stick on sites until I'm the last member standing (even after admins go!) Which I why I ended up creating my own this go round, so I would know they would still be there. I'm blessed in both the sites I staff on at the moment to have co-admins devoted to the stories. Sites go through seasons, I always find them slower/less active in the summer, though that probably differs by the general age of the members.

As for the question of serial site creation, I totally understand the fear that it would come up as an issue, but if I were a member worried about that, what I would do is look at the dead sites and see if the admin stuck it out through the end. There is a difference in the admin abandoning a member base and going on to make something new as opposed to the member base moving on and leaving the admin alone. Then again some people are not as particular and might not think to dig into that. But you have just as much right to move on and make a new forum you love as anyone else does to go and join up the forums. I definitely would wait to open a new one until after your your real life stuff settles down a bit, but nothing saying you can't putter around on writing lore and things meanwhile, even if you just keep it private. If you have an idea on a place though maybe put up an interest check and see if there are other people willing to help admin at your current site or a new place? Even if you are still doing the brunt of the admin work, at least you would have someone to threads with and keep the site active, or throw plot ideas off of.

[xexes 108]

A long time ago, I was convinced that there was a pre-defined formula for success. That if you loved a place, invested time in it, took care of it, and advertised it... that if you built it, they would come. No matter how hard I tried to tweak the variables, I could never get it right. It took me years, and getting several sites hopes up, that there was no formula. Life isn't fair and success is never guaranteed.

 

You've done all the right things, you've done the best you can. Maybe someday when we all turn into higher forms of computer beings or aliens or whatever there is that grants you all the knowledge in the universe, maybe then you will get a glimpse into what happened with those members. Whether they had a falling out, whether they flocked to a newer, shinier, site, or if they just flat out flaked. In the mean time, you have to be content with not knowing. But I'll help you to know one thing: as long as you are learning, there really is no such thing as failure. Life is a journey and each unsuccessfull thing is just one more step along that journey where you learn something new or gain a new idea or meet new people. I can't say that eventually you'll make a rocket-launch of a successful site that makes 23894230 members in the first week. But you should eventually make a site where you'll have a stable handful who post for a bit and take vacations and  eventually come back. That's really all anyone can ask for.

 

I just wanted to address this part of your post, because you might be feeling discouraged.

 

I will tell you another secret, though. It's a lot easier to make and launch a roleplay when you're not all alone. : )

Find some friends and try, try again.

 

Don't be all alone
Find some friends and try again

It will be ok