Staffing The Struggles of an Unusual Board [advice needed, please]

[Uaithne 543]

Hey, I need a bit of advice.

 

My site is an adventure RP that has two parts:

 

1. Characters (called “Subjects”) are taken from the outside world and put into a testing environment similar to the arena from the Hunger Games.  It has many of the same survival/fighting mechanics, but ultimately characters can be of any age, and there can be more than one “winner.”

 

2. The isolated town of Mistwell that watches the above in the Documentary.  Because they believe the Subjects are volunteers, these Mistwell residents don’t have many concerns for the wellbeing of the Subjects while they’re in the testing facility more than you would for any person on, say, Survivor.  The living Subjects are sent to Mistwell to live where they are welcomed into the community like celebrities.

 

The issue I’m having is that it’s a bit of a hard sell when it comes to getting people on board.  It’s a very bizarre concept, and although it’s like the Hunger Games, it’s not.  All the people who want these mechanics go instead to an actual Hunger Games site.  Everyone else just doesn’t join because these mechanics exist, and it’s so foreign to play-by-post forum RPers.

 

I love both “parts” to the site, and one can’t function without the other.  If you only play the Reserve (#1), it would get so boring since you’re just in survival mode all the time.  And if you only have Mistwell (#2), it’s pretty much the same as a small town RP.

 

It’s about time for us to start another Reserve sequence since our first one ended, but I’m struggling.  I want more members aboard so that we’re not just RPing with the same couple people and we can RP a wide variety of characters.  But I’m considering stalling it so that we can build up the town of Mistwell.  I’m even thinking about marketing the site mainly as a “twisted small town” sort of thing just to get people aboard.  I don’t believe that everyone needs to play the Reserve if they don’t want to, and I’m perfectly fine having people play just in Mistwell.  I'm concerned that if we don't get new blood, we'll stagnate.

 

What are your thoughts?  Do you have any advice?  If you do think I should market it temporarily as a “twisted small town” RP, do you have any additional suggestions?  Please feel free to ask questions if you need clarification on something, or check out my board (link in sig) if it helps.

 

 

Edited June 12, 2017 by Uaithne
Clarification

[Morrigan 1,826]

Well this is a difficult dilemma. On one hand I can see how it's a hard sell (re-hunger games) however it is doable. I would broaden your fandom scope a little and include fandoms like "Battle Royale" (it is like Hunger games but older movie and a little bit different as far as the way the "kids" are treated):

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266308/

 

There are plenty of other "survival" type things out there that you can express in your advertisement. The recent movie "Belko Experiment" may actually tie in a little as well.

 

I believe twisted town would work it sorta if you are only trying to beef up the town's numbers but I'd say play on the strengths.and intrigues that the plot potential has.

 

You've stated that after they survive they go to the town. Are they debriefed that they aren't allowed to tell anyone that they were kidnapped? That they aren't volunteers? What sort of repercussions would they ensue if they did tell someone? Do people just "disappear" if they find out? If they find out will the people not care because it's entertainment?

 

There are a lot of ways to really sell it but you have to know what you want from it. It sounds like you have two ideas but nothing that "truly" brings them together as a cohesive plot map for people. Why does it matter that they go to Mistwell after? What if they have families? Are their families moved to Mistwell if they survive?

 

Sorry I'm just ideaing at you but I'm trying to get a better idea of what brings your site together.

 

@Uaithne

[Uaithne 543]

Questions are perfectly fine!

 

We are marketed as “Inspired by Hunger Games, Battle Royale, and Running Man.”  No knowledge of any of these things is necessary since we are just “inspired” and not “based on” any of these fandoms.  Sometimes I say that it’s a “fight to the death” or “survival” RP.

 

Upon being removed from the Reserves, Subjects are told that they were part of an experiment.  They are sent to Mistwell to live out the rest of their days.  The “outside world” is not a playable area, and no characters other than the Subjects are brought to the Reserve.  To the “outside world,” all of these people are missing persons cases.  The reason that people are brought to Mistwell is because they can’t go back into the “outside world” or else people would find out about the Reserve and close it.  And probably arrest a helluva lot of people.

 

The Subjects can scream until they’re blue in the face that they didn’t volunteer, but people don’t believe them.  Partially because the first few groups of people were volunteers (thus cementing it into people’s minds) and partially because the Mistwell residents are told that the Subjects can’t remember volunteering because their memories were wiped in order to make the testing process more authentic.  It’s entirely within reason that the Subjects themselves might wonder if they really did volunteer since there is a gap in their memories between the “outside world” and arriving at the Reserve.

 

I hope this answered your questions, @Morrigan.

[Morrigan 1,826]

That sounds very Cube of you (or more accurately Cube 3 where they explain such rules).

 

Are there mandatory deaths in the reserves like in Hunger Games/Battle Royale etc?

[Uaithne 543]

19 minutes ago, Morrigan said:

That sounds very Cube of you (or more accurately Cube 3 where they explain such rules).

 

Are there mandatory deaths in the reserves like in Hunger Games/Battle Royale etc?

Each Reserve is different.  In the last one, no.  But in future ones, there might be.

 

I've never seen Cube, so I don't know how similar or different we are to that.

[anthrxmilkshake 86]

I can see your problem here. Now, I'm never really in the market for anything remotely hunger games. It just never really interested me...or, at least, I should say that I've never found it done well enough to pique my interest for more than a scarce few moments before I'm a little sore on the whole play. That being said, your concept sounds fun, and unique, and offers players a fun little twist on the 'hunger games' concept while including a number of other variables, like older characters, and the like. 

 

I believe it could be pretty important to continue pushing onwards with your forum. While you may want to wait for more players, it could prove detrimental to the story flow of it if you're pushing off a scheduled "retreat" when you have players in existence ready to play just that. I feel like if I were a new member coming into the site, knowing that there is a huge event being put off in the wait for new members can be an overwhelming feeling. Not knowing how to perform in said environment, while having people specifically fingers crossed that I'll want to be a part of it. Almost like shepherding me in that direction, even if it's not done on purpose.

 

That being said, I feel like your advertising options can definitely be open to other interpretations. Twisted small town could work, I think. But I would say try not to use the 'hunger games' reference. For one, like you said, you're going to get a lot of hunger games crowd who will just be unhappy it isn't hunger games. And for two, another thing you pointed out, people, like me for instance, would be weary even clicking on it to give it a chance just because it claims a hunger games element.

 

 

Just my opinion. I wish your site the best of luck. The concept is pretty nice!

[sid 5]

I agree with what's already been said. I honestly think that at this point if you put a "hold" on the thing your players are enjoying, that's a surefire way to kill the site. Running a site means balancing two things: what your players want, and what you want. 

On one hand you can't just go around changing everything to suit your players, because that just makes it seem like you don't know what you're doing and don't have a good concept on what the world your creating is. I would avoid making any major changes to the lore that is already in place.

 

That said, you need to listen to your players. And not necessarily to what they've been saying, but what they're showing. Clearly their interest is more towards the game aspect than the town aspect, which kinda makes sense... generally the target audience for HG style roleplays have little to no interest in small town roleplays, and vice versa. So I think the trick here would be to bring something to the Mistwell portion of the game that makes it less "small town" and maybe adds a layer of intrigue. Are there positions available in the government? Can residents start finding out that players actually aren't volunteers? Maybe rumours start going around, information is leaked, etc? 

 

Personally I think the concept is really cool and interesting, you just need to find a way to make the gap between the two portions of the game a little smaller. 

[Sage 289]

When it comes to dilemmas like this, I find the best resource is your existing member base. They know the game as well as you do - and they'll know how to market it. They know what works, what drew them in, what aspects made them stay, and what areas they want to build on. Get together and brainstorm! 

 

But if you feel what you're currently doing isn't working, then it's definitely time to take another approach. I also run a forum that's something most play-by-post roleplayers aren't familiar with, that uses mechanics that can seem intimidating or weird. And I market it different ways to different people. Sometimes I market it as a Sailor Moon site, sometimes as a sort of urban fantasy style, sometimes as real life abilities site, and sometimes as a tabletop game-style site. It just depends on the medium I'm advertising on. If it's a reply to a personal ad, I market it towards what they're looking for. If I'm advertising on an animanga site, I market it as a sailor moon site. If I'm on a supernatural/abilities/real life site, I try to market it as supernatural/abilities/real life with a twist. If I'm on a site with mechanics, I'll play up that aspect. I do have a general ad that I use as well that tries to cover all my bases. But I find that having several different marketing strategies is very helpful, too.

[Uaithne 543]

You guys are awesome. Thanks for the advice. I've been able to mentally formulate some plans based on what you said, and I'll be asking members what they want. In my experience, however, members don't always reply to these things, and since there's only about five of us, Im not sure what the results will be. Plus it's always good to have the insight of a third party for these sorts of things.

 

@anthrxmilkshake, I'd love to hear more about why Hunger Games appeals to you but you never join. Actually, anyone can answer that if they feel similar. Perhaps there are things I can implement on my site that will address this. Or not. 

[anthrxmilkshake 86]

Hmm. That's a good question. I think it  has something to do with the way the events tend to be run. To fast paced, to hard for me to keep up with, underage children characters (I feel highly uncomfortable playing underage characters). I love the idea of them, I really really do, but it's always so difficult for me to keep up with fast paced structured RP events...HOWEVER that being said I've NEVER come across a hunger games site that wasn't specifically run by "clique" members. What I mean to say is that a ton of people who already know eachother, love eachother, and have RPed together for a long time, who tend to solely RP with eachother. The Clique experience always turns me away from sites. 

[Uaithne 543]

@anthrxmilkshake, thanks for the insight.  Do you not like playing underage characters personally or you don't like when your RP partners play them, too? (Like uncomfortable with them entirely?)

 

Unfortunately HG sites have to be very structured and move at a fast pace or else they're just miserable. I tried that once . . . There weren't activity rules, and people didn't post routinely and it pretty much wasn't successful. I'm going to be playing with a few mechanics for my next Reserve, so maybe I'll discover a new way of doing things. If you ever have any suggestions, feel free to send them myway.

 

I'd like to think that my Hunger Games site wasn't cliquish (Sixth Station). But it's hard to tell from an insider's perspective sometimes. The problem is that it's a bit of an incestuous genre and it's hard to get new people into it these days since there are no new movies or books. I'll be taking people's suggestions and not outwardly marketing my site as Hunger Games partially for this reason.