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Is a site's age an issue?


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Is a site's age an issue?  

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You thought I forgot, didn't you?

 

Are you turned off of older sites? Or do they get your engine purring? Is there anything you prefer about a newer/older site in particular?

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Not really. Apart from what @SithLordOfSnark (also known as male me) said, about the site opening and closing, sometimes without warning, I don't have any issues with a site's age. Both have their advantages for me.

 

New sites make it easier to immerse yourself, and if you join on soft opening, you can help shape it somewhat;

Older sites are less likely to simply poof, and already have an established community.

 

With that said, I'm super picky re:sites I join, but age is not a big factor for me.

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Part of what drew me to 'Souls was just how old it was - it was around 9 years old when I joined, so I knew it wasn't going anywhere any time soon.  I would be able to plot there and have characters and think of long-term plots without it collapsing from under me, and there were amazing and dedicated roleplayers on the site (and many of them are still there!)  I think older sites have a lot of benefits and always seem to be very welcoming to new members.

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For me, it depends on the genre. For a big fandom like Harry Potter, I think I'd prefer something that will definitely stick around, because there are so many out there, and I'm glad I chose TNI to join because there's constant activity and consistent member changes (growing, mainly, every site loses members gradually but in such a large fandom I believe that you need people coming in more than leaving to keep driving plots forward).

 

In a small fandom, I prefer something that's just begun so I don't end up being swept to the side or lost in the site-canon. For instance, I joined @Ulmo's AoT site partly due to it being fairly new, and partly because it was just starting up again (plenty of other reasons, of course, and I love my timing of coming across the site the day things were kicking off again). Because I'm new to the fandom, if ignoring all other pros and cons of sites, I would have stuck with RH because I didn't immediately feel like I'd get lost in a sea of faces - with a smaller member base and slipping in before too much site lore was established, I feel more comfortable than if I had to catch up on all sorts of events that didn't happen in canon, because reading all of that... I would have struggled more, and felt less inspired to write.

 

So I think it depends on how familiar you are with the fandom. I have no experience with original roleplays so I'm not sure on my opinion there.

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Oh man, I hate when you have an established site and you have the fine details worked out and then people outright refuse to join because you're "too old." C'mon, you punks wouldn't join my site earlier because it wasn't active enough. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

That said, it makes me wonder what people can do to make an older site more appealing (less threatening - I agree with @Elena about people thinking that they're cliquish) to the new members. There's validity in the fear that some sites are scary because they have so much history that you'll never figure it out, or that all the members have been friends for years and it'll be tough to break into the circle. So I can't blame people for being wary or hesitant.

 

To actually answer the question, age doesn't matter much to me because I can see the pros and cons to young vs old. Age might factor into whether I join, but it's a piece of something bigger: is the character group I want packed full because there are 63728 members who have been there for years? Is there potential for me to get involved in a deeper level without stepping on toes? Are the administrators habitual board makers? Etc.

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I'm good with old or new, but ultimately it depends on how the site functions. If the site is older and seems very close-knit and I'm not welcomed, I'll assume they're a bit cliquish and move on. If it's new and the staff is clearly struggling on keeping up already, or if the organization is poor, I'll probably assume that it's not going to stick around long, and I won't bother.

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There are advantages and disadvantages to both, so I chose no.

 

New sites: Advantages

 

- If a fandom based forum, nearly all the canon characters are open.

- Members have more freedom over what they write (they aren't restricted to established story-lines that those who came before them wrote.)

- From a technical stand-point, a new site can take advantages of new forum software that might be easier to use than old forum software. You don't need to deal with upgrading an old site and keep everything intact. (I've been present on boards when they've tried to change software to a newer one and it's never gone well. You either lose the old stuff and have to start from scratch, or you have problems like truncated posts. The Force.net forums had a massive problem with that when they switched software and hosts, and most of the old fan fic and role-play threads from before the move were affected.)

- You can try something new from it from an admin standpoint and scrap things that you don't like before the board opens.

 

New sites: Disadvantages

 

- You aren't established, potential members don't know if you will stick around or not.

- You've not got a reputation yet, which could make people weary to join.

- It might look empty, even if the admin is active on the site.

- It might be difficult to find role-play because there are very few members on the site. You, the admin, might be the only member at the beginning.

 

Old Sites: Advantages

 

- People know about your site.

- Being established, people know that your site is stable, and will stick around. Unless something drastic happens, it's unlikely to disappear overnight.

- There are lots of topics everywhere. There might be a few boards that are empty, but most will have something in them.

 

Old Sites: Disadvantages

 

- If it's a fandom site, most of the popular canons are more likely to be taken up, so people wanting to play them will have to go elsewhere.

- The board is more likely to be on older software, so that is a problem if you need to upgrade. You might also have problems getting people to join if the popularity of the software has dwindled over time, espeaically if hosting is also involved. It might even become obsolete over time. (I remember ezboards which was the first kind of forum that I ever joined. It's not around any more.)

- Your board might have had problem members in the past who then decided to disparage your site everywhere. Reputation can be both good or bad in the community, even if the bad rep isn't deserved because of problem members causing trouble.

Edited by Icewolf
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18 hours ago, Elena said:

They think they are cliquey, when in fact it is their own unwillingness to get involved and see there is no clique. They want a new site to get involved from the start :(

 

 

This 100% 

 

We have an incredibly welcoming community that loves when newbies join us and most people will offer threads right off the bat, but some of the work does really lie with the new person and working to get involved in plots and chats and whatnot.

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You know I do think that both new and old sites attract certain kinds of people. Which could meet that yes, a site's age is an issue because not everyone will want to join a new/old site. Often you find new sites are intriguing for RPers as they are able to get involved at the early stages, and are often deemed "the inner circle" at times. I suppose this is a desire for some, as you feel as if you are a part of the core structure of the site and have helped it build. 

Yet, older sites are often more established. You can rely on the fact that the admins have put in time and effort to keep a site going for an extended period of time. This can often attract people to join because they can be sure that the site won't disappear in a months time!

However, surely there is a fine line between what a "new" and "old" site actually is?! 

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Unpopular opinion time: I think the "fly by night" RP more of a self-fulfilling prophesy than anything else.

I've seen a shitton of boards that were upwards near a decade old dying off "overnight" in my hay-day. Even with an active core member base, a core admin would disappear or slowly become less and less active, and the whole site would crumble within a a few months. 

 

I think what SOME people really mean when they say "Oh well this site has been active for 3 years so I know it won't close up next month", is "Well I don't want to take the effort or do the legwork of building-up a community; I just want to jump in and then not feel AS attached if I decide to leave at whatever point." 

 

 

I don't look at how long a board has been around when I think about joining, at all. If I like what they have and the people seem low-key relaxed, I'm going to join whether there's 1 person or 50. If it dies in a month, oh well at least I tried. If it dies in a month, I can just go delete my char app if I'm worried about somebody stealing it - there's really no LOSS if a tiny site dies right away. And in respect to a larger site, if I find sometime after joining that the Admins give their core-buddies special treatment, I'll just pack up and go - no actual loss there either. Maybe I'm just a professional at leaving, idk. It never really seemed a big deal to me. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

No. I would join a brand-new site I like just as soon as several years old site I like. Basically all I care about is that the admin is active in admin stuff. It doesn't even have to be anything big or developmental - just that it shows on the site that the admin is still around and interested in running the site. Which means some news at least once a month or at least signing in on the board every week. Nothing else matters to me when it comes to sites in general.

But, of course, with brand new sites I also look at how much effort the founder/admin has put into the lore and building of the site in general. The more effort and time they seem to have put into it the more I trust that their interest and inspiration for it isn't going to die in a couple of months. Because I don't believe someone who has obviously put a ton of effort and time into the site to begin with would give up or lose interest on it any time soon. Such site could be only several hours old and I would join if it fit my needs and interests.

Well, okay, now that I think of it...With really old sites that have a moderate amount of members and a ton of game events already I would lurk for a while and follow the OOC boards. If it seemed like they'd become a tight-knit inside group I probably wouldn't join. Especially if their app was one of those monster-sized ones.

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I'm weary about joining a brand new baby site, only because of (like others have said) they die so frequently. I say, but the two sites I'm actually on are both less than 6 months old

 

I'm also sometimes weary about joining a really old site because the lore is often so expansive... But the age itself doesn't bother me as long as there are recent posts and moving plot lines to get involved in.

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I don't think I've ever looked at how old a site was before joining it. Ever.

 

I look for activity, community, and you know, gross rules. Age has never even been a factor. I wouldn't know where to look.

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Personally I prefer newer sites because I find that they are typically more eager to include the new person - they are more "guest-gungho" as it were. I won't turn away a larger/older site however, its all about environment for me.

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