Staffing Choosing IC sections

[featherstone 69]

I think everyone agrees having too many IC sections isn't a good idea because they're going to look empty. If your setting is a fairly large city, however, simply having one for each neighborhood is going to be a long list.

 

How do you avoid that, especially on a new forum?

I'm considering having sections just for the most "interesting" areas, but I'm afraid it'd look and feel messy. I also know some divide locations by types (shops, houses etc) instead of geographically. What do you think? What good solutions have you seen around?

[webs 14]

I'd say utilise forums and sub-forums well. So, say you're in a city, and it spreads across the whole city: North, East, South, and West. Then sub-forums for the main districts/neighbourhoods there, plus any 'special interest' places. Alternatively, a category for each, then forums for the neighbourhoods, and sub-forums for points of interest. The struggle is definitely knowing how much is too much, but categorising it in a way that makes the most logical sense (like for a site that spans across a world, it can have a forum for each country, categorised by continent).

 

Another thing is think about is growth. A small site won't need as many forums in, but over time you'll start to notice that the forums are going into pages upon pages of threads. Do you want that? Look at what's currently around and where they're set, then consider adding sub-forums to help clean it up so it's not so murky. It's something to monitor closely, depending on how much. Of course there's a thing such as 'too much', and everybody had their own opinion on how much that is, but as long as you're aware of that and ensure that it's organised by a system that works (like areas within areas) then you shouldn't have too many problems.

[Kit the Human 758]

I tend to go:

 

Category - City Name

- Forum - the rest of the city (if you can't post in the category itself) 

- Forum - a meeting place (like a Cafe)

- Forum - another notable public area that you want to be a focal point

- Forum - another notable public area that you want to be a focal point

 

Category - Rest of the world

- Forum - rest of the world (if you can't post in the category) 

 

As people RP, see where they're RPing and add forums as necessary. 

 

Another forum I've been on divided by North City and South City and then had notable locations within the north and south areas. 

 

Personally, my aim is to guide player characters to the same area and thus increase the chance for realistic interaction. I choose what forums I make based on that. 

[Icewolf 258]

What I've done is create all the sub-boards I think I need, but have them hidden until I get enough activity to make them visible, so only the main areas will members be allowed to post in at the start. I plan on opening them up when there's a need for them. It will mean that older posts might look a bit messy, though, but I am aware of the problems that a forum with lots of boards but little activity have so I think it's a good compromise for now.

[Uaithne 543]

Sometimes when there are lots of areas to play in but not enough activity to warrant individual forums for everything, I'll pin a thread in the main forum with a list of places within that forum.

 

Example:

 

Forum: Forest

Pinned Thread:

 - cabin

 - sacred meadow

 - river

 - field

[StormWolfe 557]

IMHO - and I'm sure it won't be popular - I dislike having to figure out where to write IC. Having a multitude of IC locations to write in is not a deal breaker for me if I'm looking for a site to RP at. However, it greatly reduces the probability that I'll read everyone else's posts which I actually enjoy doing. Having to track a post down before killing it and consuming it is not something I enjoy.

 

With being able to include in a post's header where it is set, it's not an issue keeping everything in one forum. When that story ends, archive the forum and open a new one.

 

Of course - everyone has their preferences. Not sure there's a totally right or wrong. 

[Quell 249]

I like to use overarching neighborhoods/districts and make lists of the important features of said district. 

 

Forum: Manhattan

Pinned thread: locations in Manhattan

Subforum: NYU

Subforum: Broadway

 

And then all other role-play in Manhattan would be in the main Manhattan section (if you start to notice that Manhattan is getting specific areas/locations used that you didn't subforum, then add that too)

 

--

 

My personal preference is no more than 5 forums per category and no more than 5 subforums per forum. 

[Indra 4]

On a forum I was on, they had a category of "Base" and then forums showing dormitories, training area, kitchen, etc. Obviously not everyone associated with that base would be in all of those forums, so that base looked dead. But after the Admins decided to make Base its own forum, and all the areas inside the forum sub-forums, it made the board look much more active from the front page.

 

Like some have mentioned, subforums are the way to go.

[Kazetatsu 263]

I dislike having a board for every location within a location. especially when starting out, it is better to use fewer boards, and expand based on what's needed as needed. If location really matters players can mark in thread titles or first posts where an activity is taking place.

I prefer having one board for each major location on a site, for example to represent countries, if the setting is a warring world, or different planets in a space rp and so on. After that i prefer subboards for either major important locations within the larger ones, Ie places where there will be be a lot of ic and plot driven traffic, or for groups, for example, having a board for a mafia in a crime themed rp, or one for an animal clan in an animal  rp. that way members related to ic groups can easily find threads and plots going on based on group activities.

Edited February 12, 2018 by Kazetatsu