Staffing Site-Wide Events

[misfit 0]

I have my fair share of Administrative experience, however one thing I've always struggled with is Site Events. Usually drumming up interest isn't a problem but the execution is.

 

So I'm wondering:

 

Have you done site wide events?

 

What kind of events did you do?

 

How successful were they?

 

Do you have any site event suggestions?

 

What's been your overall experience/What's your overall opinion?

 

One type I usually see is a masquerade. Do you think it's a good idea or overdone?

 

One thing I did that I thought was a good idea was like a mixed bag thing. People signed up with whatever characters they wanted and then would get randomly partnered with another and they had to do a thread. People liked the idea but it seemed like not a lot of threads were completed. Should I judge it's success on completion of overall feedback? What do you guys think of site rewards for participation? Or is just the involvement in the plots reward enough? Many questions!

[xexes 108]

I feel like the second set of questions is more important as you are a seasoned admin so I'm just going to talk on that.

 

It's easy to doubt your sanity with events because there's always this great interest and then a great waning when it comes to actual participation.It's heart-breaking, but it's normal. Personally I don't feel like you should judge an event by the flakiness of others, or whatever else was going on in their lives. Judge by the initial participation and feedback.

 

Sometimes it's possible to make some tweaks to meet specific goals. For example, sometimes flakiness can bother me, so I'll purposefully make the events much shorter so that it can be completed faster. Maybe I'll explicitly say you can end your thread after two responses, for example. Maybe I will purposefully say you can only enter one character to try to limit the amount of work the author can do in hopes they don't peter out nor cause their partner to. I never do signups for this very reason. Whatever floats your boat.

 

Sometimes too you don't get any free feedback, no one comes to you and says it was good. And that's ok, too! No news is good news. But if you're super interested, you can always ask someone you trust.

Edited March 30, 2017 by xexes

[Uaithne 543]

One of the very best events I ever ran was called "Oregon Trail Days" on an old high school RP many years ago.  It took these high school kids and put them into family groups where they had to pretend to be the parent/child/whatever in a group of kids.  So you'd have a senior who was the dad and another senior as a mom, a freshman playing a 10-year-old child, etc.  It was so fun and all the members had a blast.  It was so successful that they still hold this annual event years later (I long ago left the site).

 

What made this event so successful was putting these characters in a vastly different world that was still within the realm of acceptability.  So it was realistic, I wasn't asking the members to put their characters in a situation that was against their will because it was a school project, and the members just got to have fun with it.  I'm not sure if I could replicate this sort of event on another site, though.  It might be interesting to take that concept and see how it could apply to other sorts of boards.

 

What makes site events so challenging is that members get really excited for them and then the interest quickly dies off.  You can't really blame them.  They're enthusiastic about it but then they have to wait for other people to post, or the threads just don't pan out in an interesting way, or something happens that doesn't meet their expectations.

 

So here are some thoughts on what would make a successful event:

 

STARTING IDEAS

- Find something different.  Choose a topic that will engage your members and pull their characters out of the normal day-to-day doldrums.  A masquerade would work on many sites, but if your site is about parties on the norm, it might be just the same ol' thing.

 

- Make sure that it's not something totally crazy that would break the setting or upset members.  If you have a real life site, don't have the spaceships come down and abduct people.  Or do.  Maybe everyone suffers from the same mass hallucination.

 

- If possible, allow people to opt out of it.  That way if someone doesn't want their character to suffer from the mass hallucination, they don't have to.  But if its an event that affects the entire land (the world floods, maybe), there needs to be a reason why it didn't affect these characters.

 

- Choose a setting that's a little different, but not entirely out of the way.  People wouldn't have a reason to make their teenaged character hike to Mt. Everest to witness the rap battle of the century.

 

SETTING IT UP

- Use rapid fire.  I know I know.  Some people really hate rapid fire.  But I swear to you, if you allow people to use rapid fire for the very first thread at minimum, things will go so much smoother.  This is because the first thread--that big group thread everyone jumps into at the beginning--is normally where the event dies because it never really gets started.  You have 10 people with 25 characters signed up, and now everyone's writing longer posts and taking turns and it takes forever to get around to you.  So make it rapid fire with no post order.

 

- Have more than one thread available so that members can have their characters in the big intro thread with everyone and then smaller threads as they wish.

 

- Give the members something exciting to work with.  So you think that maybe having a murder at the masquerade would be interesting.  Wrong!  Because how are members supposed to incorporate that into their individual character plots?  They're not.  It doesn't really engage the members and it doesn't give them anything more to work with besides mentioning that someone that they probably don't know got killed.

 

- You might need to give characters personalized situations/events to work with.  For example, give Bob and Susan a thread where they've been locked in the closet together with the bloody murder weapon, while Joe and Linda are trying to figure out why the dead guy's shoe is in the fruit punch.

 

FOLLOWING THROUGH

- You might need to bribe or give incentive for your members to follow through on this event.  This could be as simple as giving them a button for their signature if they complete one thread or make 10 posts.  In-game items might be helpful.

 

- Technically you could also tell them that people who sign up but end up screwing their RP partners over might not get to RP in the next event.  But that might be a bit touchy, so be careful with that one.  Positive reinforcement works better than negative reinforcement.

 

- If your members are expected to follow through, the staff needs to follow through, too.  If you say you're going to do something, do it.

 

- Make sure that you eventually give the event an end date.

 

 

It's really hard to do site events on a board where characters are spread out across a large region.  In that case, you're going to have to give characters some IC excuse to travel because even if a member wants a character to be at the event, it might be impractical.  I saw this a lot on Hunger Games sites.  You have like 5 characters of 50 in a given area, so you can't really have a site-wide event, and the areas individually were too small to hold their own events.

 

Hope this helps in some way.  Makes me want to hold an event on my own board.

Edited March 31, 2017 by Uaithne
Typo

[Elena 546]

Have you done site wide events?

 

Yes, I have.

 

What kind of events did you do?

 

Besides masquerades, other kinds of public festivals, battles, hurricanes, epidemics, a prison break, a kidnapping and exchange of prisoners, a mutiny followed by court martial and execution, weddings... there might have been others too and I don't remember.

 

How successful were they?

 

Some more successful than others. But they all met their plot purpose, because no matter how many flakes who wanted the plot then never posted (or posted once then vanished), there were some dedicated people to seek them through, to completion.

 

Do you have any site event suggestions?

 

I think @xexes and @Uaithne gave good ideas.

 

What's been your overall experience/What's your overall opinion?

 

Site events are good, they achieve much. But you need a few determined people, especially the staff, to be active all the time, to impulsion the others and to be ready to carry the heavy load to finish in case of abandonment.

 

Should I judge it's success on completion of overall feedback?

 

For me, the completion always counts. I hate unfinished threads and I try my best to have them finished even if one or two of the writing partners abandons them. This is why in almost seven years of my site, our rate of abandoned threads is only of 4%. For me an unfinished thread which remains unfinished, is a failure. If we finish it somehow (be it with a new twist or with having it implied, in the last post, that the scene continued offscreen) it is a success.

 

What do you guys think of site rewards for participation?

 

I do give prizes in certain occasions for participation in sitewide events. Contests are good for festive moments.

 

[Sage 289]

I LOVE site wide events. I think they're great and challenging and provide avenues and scenarios your characters might not otherwise encounter. So I'm a big proponent of them. 

 

Have you done site wide events?

 

Yes. It's my belief that events promote activity and that you should always be having some sort of event (either IC or OOC) to keep motivation and muse for everyone. So I'm a fan of doing them often.

 

What kind of events did you do?

 

IC-wise, I've only ever staffed sites where plot is a big thing. I don't usually just do general real life or fantasy inspired sites, they all have an active plot everyone is working toward. So the events I run usually have to do something with that. These can include parties (like the masquerade you mentioned), battles, secret society meetings, shared dreams, natural disasters, etc.They all had a purpose that moved the plot forward in some way that resulted in a consequence that would effect everyone.

 

OOC-wise, I'm a fan of writing prompts, scavenger hunts, graphic challenges, etc. Fun stuff to keep morale, interest, and muse up.

 

How successful were they?

 

It really depends on the event and who was involved. I judge success on how many threads were finished out of how many were started. And that really depends on the time of year the event is run and what members have going on irl. For events, I usually encourage 3+ people per thread, so if somebody disappears, at least two of the characters can still keep it going. That's how we run events on my current site (we currently have threads with 4-5 characters and institute a three day posting rule, so if someone doesn't post within that window, the next person knows to skip them and go ahead and post) and it's working out really well. Currently, all of our event threads are on track to be finished soon, so I'd say our first event is going to be pretty successful!

 

I'd also suggest giving an incentive for participating - and finishing! - an event. On my site, people are awarded points they can spend in our shop (to buy stats, new characters, perks, etc.), plus character buffs and skills. I would also be interested in awarding people badges/trophies, maybe giving them a special recognition in the OTM awards or something, pinning their shippers or wanted ads, etc. Get them invested in making the event successful too!

 

Do you have any site event suggestions?

 

I think I'm going to echo what's already been said here, but pick ideas that are unique to your setting and relevant to your characters. Don't arbitrarily choose an idea and run with it. In my experience, unless that's what the members want, that's usually how you lose interest in the event. So if you want to do a masquerade (I love masquerade events I think they can be awesome as long as they're not just generic), make it fit with your setting. Add some jazz to it that's relevant to your characters and throw in a twist to make it interesting! @Uaithne's post is stellar. You need to have your characters and members engaged in the event. Make it have IC consequences! Don't just make it an event, make it a turning point. I find giving your characters a task to perform during the event (like defeating a monster, building an alliance, discovering a secret, etc) helps keep people invested in it as well.

 

Also, I am totally behind rapid fire posting in events. Like 100%. Nobody wants it to drag out for forever. Let people do their own thing and don't restrict posts there.

 

What's been your overall experience/What's your overall opinion?

 

Overall? Site wide events can be great. Especially when your members are interested in other people's event threads! That's always my goal going into an event - make other people want to know what's going on in the whole event, not just the threads they're involved in (unless they're like me who has a character in literally every event thread whoops). 

 

If, for some reason, an event doesn't go well? Don't let it get you down. It happens. See what you could've done better and use that for your next event. Chances are if you're excited about the event, your members will be too.Just keep that enthusiasm going and stay optimistic and you won't fail at running an event!

[Bishop 172]

Have you done site wide events? Yes!

 

What kind of events did you do? A good deal of things, mostly parties or disasters (storms, floods, ect)

 

How successful were they? Very! A few more than others, but the mask event we had was for sure the biggest and best.

 

Do you have any site event suggestions? I really loved doing this event (which I haven't done on Venice yet) where guests and your players can make accounts with 'Mask' names like 'The Hermit' or 'The Ace of Spades' and no body knows who they are and they get thrown into a room together and tag each other and all these epic things come from it!

 

What's been your overall experience/What's your overall opinion?

 

**Here is where I'm going to lose some brownie points**

 

I was very careful in when I asked the whole board to pay attention to something and when I didn't. The mask event was optional, the storm? Not so much, but how it hurt your character or not was up to the player. Some people just are not group players and don't have a lot of time to keep up with things and that is ok!  (There isn't a right or wrong way to play!) There isn't such a divide on my board now that I feel the need to try and get them to mix up together so that people get ignored. 

 

On my current board even wanted-ads get snatched up by players in an attempt to write with everyone! Big events at this moment are just not something we need, OOC events either. For that I'm thankful, it makes me feel more like a writer than an admin.

 

So my overall opinion is don't feel you have to do them. A few things have worked for me, and a few things haven't. I've learned that large dinner parties where everything is planned and everything is needed to be written in a certain way doesn't work, but tossing a storm out or an informal (formal) party does!

 

Don't be discouraged if something doesn't take off or people don't want to take part.

[Krank 0]

I'm fairly new to site events but I've given them a go with my own place. The first one's getting some pretty positive feedback, but it's still very early on in it's completion. It's basically a text adventure relayed out via NPC accounts, the entire event hinged on decision making within a small group. You get to pick up items, choose directions, and encounter other NPCs along the way. The entire thing is pre-scripted and tucked away in a word doc, but choosing different options at different points changes the course of the story. So far, it's a blast and all our current members are giving it a beta test pretty enthusiastically. As an admin, I'm having quite some fun with it too. Although it was definitely a large project to start, I'm happy it's being received so well. The event does present prizes for participating but you only get those prizes if it's completed. 

 

As far as masquerade events go, I agree--I've seen them everywhere. I've never actually hosted one or even participated in one, but I don't quite have an appeal for it like everyone else does, I suppose. 

 

I much more like the idea of random pairing events, but at the same time, I will admit there are some rpers that if I were randomly paired with a character of theirs, I wouldn't be too thrilled about it. Although the idea itself is great, and I even think it's a really inventive angle, it really boils down to the members. The only thing I could think to combat that would be participating members having the option of 'blacklisting' certain players anonymously to prevent being paired with them. But really though, I do like the idea of random pairing threads. Again, I like the 'idea'. I can't say for sure I'd like the event itself since I've never been on a site to use it.  

Edited April 4, 2017 by Krank

[flawnt 0]

Have you done site wide events?

 

Of course.

 

What kind of events did you do?

 

I'd say we have sort of three categories of events: thread roulettes (members are assigned a random partner with a starting topic), writing challenges (some sort of idea or concept that they have to include in a thread within a set time for a site award), and plot-based events (that's your mascarade-type stuff)

 

How successful were they?

 

Honestly, the first two are very successful. Our thread roulettes are very popular with our members and, since our site is a sandbox, it increases the interconnectedness of characters in sometimes unexpected ways. Our least popular events are things like opening up a temporary forum and calling it a temporary, holiday event. That requires a lot of work on the member's side to find a thread partner, find a reason for their characters to be at the event, and get all that together in conjunction with the sometimes chaotic business of life at the time of whatever holiday it's celebrating :\

 

Do you have any site event suggestions?

 

To explain the thread roulette in detail: we allow our members to enter some or all of their characters, over the course of a week. We admins pair together the listed characters (making sure not to put people rping with themselves) using a randomizer, and then, depending on the event we pair them with some sort of trigger. In some cases we write specific prompts for the pairings (The Minister needs you in diagon alley to alleviate a fire, or something) or in some cases we give a very generic prompt (i.e. incorporate  "unicorns" and "baklava") and let our members wow us with the creative part.

 

It's got a bit if front-end admin work to do but it is very fun.

 

What's been your overall experience/What's your overall opinion?

 

I think there's a temptation to be "surprising" as an admin. Like, surprise, we've presented you with an event plot-point and it is shocking. I think a good event comes from talking to your members. Is now a good time? What would you like to see? Shock-value doesn't necessarily equate to participation or even satisfaction.

[Seahorse 79]

Have you done site wide events?
 

Yes!  I have both participated in, and helped to create them.  Site wide events are great for three reasons: 1) They can provide a way for characters to mix, mingle, and play! 2) Oh, the glorious plot opportunities to be inserted as the main reason for an event!   It can be the whole event's purpose, or a way to showcase a specific part of a plot-web. The best part? New extension form! 3) They are just good fun!  I can't tell you how it thrills me to think of details for these things. My characters have some incredible period place settings, let me tell you!  Or the music that'd be on the air. What would they whisper behind their hands or fans?  Who is a monster, who is a man? Then seeing people throw in their things!  The surprises?  Yes!  Bring it! 

 

What kind of events did you do?

Where I am, we do have three current styles of events:

 

1) OOC Contribution Events: these are used to encourage members to world build, contribute to resources, and develop plots. Incentives are built in as part of how the event works. Instead of having to have x amount of posts done before you get a subform?  Fill out the form, there it is!  What about a position you've been wanting to promote a character to?  Roll the story out! Members get their names applied to anything that they would contribute to resources, so there is the built in "credit where credit is due."  It is a nice, low key thing to do we've done when first starting out and again a few months later.  If we keep up this pattern then every few months or so there is something to help people develop and feel a part of where they write, a time to naturally clean up any loose ends plot or admin wise, and stir in fresh ideas via the "We see you!" style. 

2. On Site Events -- Thus far, we have done one event as a game challenge where members gathered in a park to play chess or snakes and ladders!  We also have things such as dinners, festivals, fights, and more planned for the future. These would be where your classic Site Wide Events come in to play.  These can be light fun or plot driven items.  To go further, I would say that we also seek to draw from member submitted Subplots to weave into these Site Wide features as we can!  

3. Cross Site Events - So this is a board wide, dual forum collaboration!  This is a work in progress so stay tuned for details, but we are figuring out how to carry over ideas, characters, and situations for limited play periods between two AU settings. The first up is going to be a Murder Mystery!   We're heading over there first! 

 

How successful were they?
 

The first On Site Event generated a lot of member interest!  It was actually rolled out because of a discussion some of us had in our Discord Server on that particular day. Our head admin saw the lead and took it! Despite putting in place a rapid-fire and full thread posting option, it was something that happened to coincide with busy periods for people all over the place! Threads may have moved slower than expected, but it created a lot of exposure for everyone involved. Tid bits from these games may even appear in later stories!   The take away was still a chance for writers to get to know one another. Any chance for that is a win- win!  We also were learning what and how as we went along for this setting, too.  How short or how long to run things, a feel for the people we play with. 

The OOC one is something that is very time friendly. If you extend that, it effects no major plots or persons. People have had ideas rolling around in their heads. Soon, we will see more member contributed world building and people are considering their resource additions. Big success there. In a style of hobby that can be time consuming despite being said to be time friendly, it's always nice to have something that gets people still thinking about where they are.  A great man said, "I think, there for I am."  I think I am creative, there for, I am!  You really find out your members strong suits and passions in a thing like this. 

The Cross Site AU Event is still in the planning stages and soon to be underway,but it is already successful because of the fact it will be highlighting a fantastic new setting that the staff of the site has just poured their all in to: The first quarter of 20th Century Imperial Russia with magic. Wowza!  Second?  It could be something going on, but I haven't heard of many Cross Site collaborations. This used to be something very common in live play settings on AOL, Yahoo, etc between guilds or kingdom style plays.   I am glad to see it here, people getting to know their digital neighbors, thinking outside of the box, and making the role play community as a whole kick ass!

 

Do you have any site event suggestions?
 

- Think about what types and styles of events best accentuate your setting, the members, and plots. They may be a series of mini events under one idea theme umbrella, like a King is being crowned!  Site Wide, you may choose to highlight a coronation and a war, but in order to expand out the theme? Members may have feasts or meetings.  You could elect to run these simultaneously or feature one or two at a time!  Something for everyone. I'll explain a bit more on the multi format below. It could be just one site wide event over one theme in one thread. Whatever is clever for you. A good event is like a good pair of pants or a dress. You feel sexy in it and it highlights all the best assets! 

 

- Make sure you have what you would consider an event lined out for your site, and what that means!  I put this in because it varies from place to place. Someone might see a picnic in the park with multiple people as your typical  minor subplot, while someone might see it as a fixed, member led event that needs attention. Think to yourself: is it going to be board wide effect? Or does it also account for something smaller in someone's subplot?  Sometimes, a person could create a dinner thread only to find that you end up with 10+ people. Woah!  That's a compliment to not only the ideas of the creator, but the writers in general who sign up to play and support. However, will there be some momentum in major, board wide plot or upcoming events that this might run in to? Check in with your member in that case, and ask if they need help!  If there is something you need not advanced for plot reasons, say so.

- The best opportunities that are gold are those ones we don't always plan for. I've had a notion of thinking in terms of "Mini/Large" or "Major/Minor" when it comes to events of this nature, and also major/minor plot points of where they fall on radar.  A minor event's results can lead to a major one later or not at all,  or perhaps that mini event, growing as it does, gets a larger blip on the story map.  It can be overwhelming to admin when things like that happen, too. Keep that in mind as a member. No one is trying to ruin the fun, but setting direction, tone, and timing is literally 3/4 of what the job of an admin is.  Mini events, such as a dinner party, don't have to be site wide, everyone come here features with great effect. They can be just considered subplots that have a major following, that we acknowledge as admins in a larger way. You can also think of a Major event as "If you come to this dinner party, there will be an earthquake, and if you are outside, thre is an earthquake, you want to be present somewhere near location X to get in on it!  Either way, this has consequences across the board because the whole theme is natural disaster!"  I think the big thing to take away there with Major/Minor Events is also the same style in plotting. Major/Minor. 

 

-  A pound of prevention is an ounce of cure, too.  Having something like a directory of plots or info code to fill out and submit for mini events such as types, rsvp's, story points to cover can be really good in allowing movement and helping everyone keep track for later things. As an admin you could see, "Hey, I need you to wait on this because so and so is going ot happen, but we want it! " or "This looks incredible, tell me all about it!"  As a member, you know our personal plots are interfering in something larger or that your personal plot is so good the admin might tap you and ask if you want to be a part of the larger picture! 

 

- Some members are intimidated by board events because of what it could take to be involved in them such as post requirements, amount of information, and length of time. Variety is the spice of life, so keep things fresh in your wheelhouse  Things a person can participate in by say rolling a dice for a result, picking up an NPC versus their character for a quick post, choosing from some predetermined paths in a choose-your-adventure, can be as fun as rewarding as feature turn-based threads in the traditional post format. 

 

- That said, do not be intimidated by an event that may take you more time than you think anyone can handle with more information than one is used to, because you will be surprised what happens!  What you will need here is one soft set time frame and then a harder set one so between you have some cushion space. Pay heed to how time in your settings works when doing this!  Next, I recommend having this event roll out over different set segments.  Once you see who is participating in that segment, if needed, don't be afraid to get a post order rolling.  The great thing here is that if someone's turn comes up (Should you do the traditional post writing format) a person can say "I can't post yet!" or a mod can ask after a certain amount of time (x amount of days).  It is less pressure than it would seem, because 1) You get a thread rolling and not stalling, which is hard for long running evens to keep pace 2) You can use the lead character to throw in a little summary of what had happened before, in thread, or have an area for people to get some quick cliff note hits to get caught up. 3)The pay out is fantastic. Remember that dinner party I mentioned a bit back? WOW. Old loves met. People hid identities. We barely made it through the first course and there was a wiff of judgement and plot in the air.  I had opened up areas of the environment (it was a mansion) such as a palor, stair way, garden for offshoot threads from main ones. WOW AGAIN!  People were having fights in the hall, spilling in to a parlor where a cardinal was present. A cardinal was being entertained in a palor, and people snapped too!   All I'd wanted to do was have one character I had welcome another member of his family as society folk are want to do, and it turned in to a real show palace of talent. It's one of my favorite memories, and I will never forget the people who wrote in it. 

- The tools of writing help so much with forum rp no matter if it's rapid-fire or longer styles.  Having a plot arc handy, pin pointing major areas, some things you'd like to highlight, and other general information is invaluable to both admin and player in largest events .INVALUABLE  Gdocs are also fantastic because you can get all the finals of your thoughts hammered down for all to read on, or if in idea mode, comment!

- Communication lends to great creation!  Keep an open channel, and try your best to be clear. Keep an ear for any questions, answer them, and do your best to share that with all involved during planning and execution states.  Keep in mind that no one has the memory of an iron vault, too. I'd advise one designating system trump the other for viewing and posting finalized ideas.  I've recently checked myself going "Did I miss a pin?  Was that an idea or an iron clad settled thing? Who said what to who where?"   Chats scroll on. Pins collect in reverse.  Sometimes we all chat to one another outside of a thread or channel.  Hence why the value of using a gdoc, pinned forum post, etc as the list of final things could be helpful for all involved. No one wants to feel like their ideas got changed in the mix, nor does anyone want to feel like they were signing on to something they didn't expect. 

- During an event, communication still plays in!  A member may need help, or your co admin have a question. You may stumble upon something you need help from another person to fix.  So never feel you are alone in these things, either. It's a team affair!

- Lastly?  Have a great, great time. That's what it is all about, right?  Alot of us here are pretty passionate about our fictional worlds, be we members or admins.  In the end, you are doing something that you want to read again later and smile at!  Remember, don't see something that didn't turn out in the way you'd thought it wouldn't as a failure. Give yourself some room to learn as you go!  Even the most experienced among us still learn. See what was good, and what you may change for next time. Consider different formats if need be. 

 

 

What's been your overall experience/What's your overall opinion? 


I love them and get can't enough fo them!  I love to plan them, love to see others plan them, and love to participate!  I am a pretty social creature for the most part, so before I go recharge in my little sea horse hidey hole? I want to bask in all the awesome first! 

[nyx 164]

I'm a supporter of sitewide events. On my board now we're having a festival of fools event as an ice breaker for new members. I normally open a big mass topic for anyone to post in and when it takes off others make their own threads there. So far I've never ran into a time when it didn't work. We do have special skins and badges for the events and for people who actually rped in it so there's that.

[Zahhy 130]

These are some great questions! I'll do my best to answer.

 

Have you done site wide events? - Almost all of the events we plan for our forum (Sirocco) are site-wide events.

 

What kind of events did you do? - We do multiple types of events revolving around life in Pern, Dragon Flight, Hatchings, Egg Touchings etc. We've also done ooc site-wide events too, like competitions.

 

How successful were they? - They are very successful and are our bread and butter. 

 

Do you have any site event suggestions? -  Use a sign-up sheet if you expect a big turnout. We have the event, but because we get a LOT of responses in a thread, I've found it is best to separate people that want to play into groups and revolve that around special plot points. Sometimes we all start in the same place, but when our characters pair off or group up, then we move them to another thread to keep only a few posts in the "event".

 

What's been your overall experience/What's your overall opinion? - I think they are really great and I wish more players were interested in them. There is a lot to be said about how intimidating Site-Wide plots are and I have a bunch of complaints about shyer members saying they don't like entering a thread that moves too fast. Other times though they are an absolute hit and everyone gets involved at their own pace without issue. It just depends on how your players are feeling and what the mood for the event is.

[Robmin 10]

For We Are human they're rather a necessity - however these are less mandatory events and more opt-in flavors. So, for example, we have the blizzard that's currently pounding the coastline of coastal highway that's progressing through day by day. Equally we have wolves attacking and being far more ferocious then normal. This is something the staff bear in mind when they write up the randomised events that happen when the day changes.

 

So while these are site wide events, they're not a massive 'you must use these' but more 'hey this is all happening'.

 

Right now I'm doing some ooc events like monthly interviews allowing players a chance to learn more about characters but this is a new area I'm still working on. Right now I'm writing up the lore on just how you can unlock new areas. Because there's two I want to unlock and I can't decide which to go for first so let the characters decide!