Membership Encouraging Others to Read You Posts

[Uaithne 543]

I was thinking about @Elena's thread about whether we write for audiences or not, and I began to wonder if there is a way to encourage people to read each other's threads on forums (if the individual likes that stuff, that is).

 

For example, instead of just a plain old thread tracker, one can have a thread tracker in which one writes a brief summary of the thread.

 

I, personally, don't read a lot of other people's threads. Part of it is the fact that reading on the computer is hard for me, so it takes lots of time and I miss many details. Part of it is that I'm not really invested in others' characters. It's hard to know which threads are "worth" reading verse which ones have lots of filler or "get to know you" posts or end up dying partway through.

[anthrxmilkshake 86]

To be honest, even if there were an incentive to reading other peoples threads, I don't think I'd ever really bother. It isn't that I don't enjoy those peoples roleplay or writing, it's just that I'm not invested in those characters or their storylines. I have been known to check on one or two threads of characters I am invested in, or if the thread somehow impacts my own storyline, but all around I'm just not interested in other peoples ins and outs of their storylines. If I need to know something, I tend to ask or am told. Part of my also relates to it in my characters view. If I didn't read it, I don't know it, and there's no threat of crossover in how my character acts around someone.  It's the same reason why I actually do NOT read full character histories unless I really have to or AFTER the information has been given to my character ICly, I just don't want to know it until my character knows it. It helps me a lot to get into, and stay in, their mindsets.

Edited April 4, 2018 by anthrxmilkshake
Fixed some grammar....definitely still a lot of mistakes in that. xD

[CovertSphinx 710]

I always thought that people either liked to stalk other threads, or focus solely on their own, and that there's nothing anybody can do about it. 

 

What I've begun doing, is where I keep the bigger plot updates, is link to threads associated with those World-Important moments in case anybody had the drive or curiosity. 

[Guest TheHales]

I have to agree with the others that I don't spend a lot of time reading others threads, though if it's something important, I will put a link in announcements or plot updates or even spotlight it on the tumblr. It's usually accompanied by a note about if it's common knowledge or tied to a particular group and a brief summary of what happened. There's no obligation to read it, but it does sometimes help! In other cases, I do get invested in a character or ship or subplot and care enough to skim the thread and see what's happening, but I don't really concern myself with who reads my threads or keeps up with what's going on so long as they don't directly conflict it.

[StormWolfe 557]

Well, if players want to have their characters involved in our episode plots, they need to read posts. If they want to stay in their own little sandbox, that's entirely up to them. This is where I turn into something of the Evil Killer Bear GM. If someone wants a scene with my character that relates to the episode plot and they start asking me questions that was covered in other scenes, I give them the links to those scenes to go and read.

 

Summaries are written when each episode ends. Evil Bear Game Manager will then update a timeline with major events. However, Evil Bear Game Manager is not going to spend her time spoon feeding everyone else. Evil Bear Game Manager feels like everyone needs to make an effort to be involved.

 

Note: Evil Bear (Me) will happily answer relevant questions in situations where an event is still upcoming or details were not covered in previous posts.

[Uaithne 543]

What about a place where people can submit threads? Like a directory of threads that are completed / influential / interesting?

[StormWolfe 557]

Hmmmmm....

 

I can't speak to other RPGs, of course, but Sagas is too small to go to that much effort. Our current episode is written in one sub-forum. As each scene is completed, it is locked. The sidebar has an auto-feed of Open Scenes (i.e. those still in progress). Since we use IPS, it is very simple to navigate from one scene to the next to read it. In fact, we have a mod installed that allows navigating between previous and next topics even if you have read them.

 

I won't join a site that requires me to write summaries, manage trackers, plotters, shippers, etc. For me, that's just making me do the work for everyone else. As a GM, I feel like if I keep the main episode plot updated and keep the plot points for everyone to read so we're all on the same page, I've done my job there and it's up to everyone else to keep up.

 

Sites that use and mandate these things probably have a good system and good reasons for doing so. I am not dissing them for it. We don't use them, but we are a storytelling type of RPG....more of an interactive novel-writing mindset, if that makes any sense.

[Kazetatsu 263]

As a site admin, I read most posts so that I can help make plot connections around things that happen in any thread and bridge players together. In the cases I don't read a thread its because I can't follow the writing for various reasons.

 

The readability of the posts is important for me. I look for clear lines of thought and action that make it easy to see what's going on and why. Paragraph breaks are also pretty important for readability, Long or rambling paragraphs make it hard to find the key points of what is actually happening. Strategic paragraph breaks vary up the pacing of the reading enough to make complex things easier to follow and indicate changes of ideas or moods. Just a few small things can make a big difference sometimes in if a thread is inviting to be read or not.

Writing summaries to me, is mostly useful for big events or plots, things that most of the characters on site might be involved in and be able to know about icly. if people really wonder about what happened in a specific thread that happens to be more private in terms of characters and events, members of my site ask, and often get hilarious retells from the involved parties as a result.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Kazetatsu

[Winter in Bohemia 19]

I have started getting into the habit of reading other peoples posts now. The forum I run we have Character Spotlight of the month, usually one of the more active characters that have been in play and actually I find I learn a lot as well as enjoy the emotional turmoil that other people put me through on their character journey. It seems to me that by doing a character spotlight each month too it does encourage our members to reach each other's posts more often too. It's encouraging, or at least I think so

[anthrxmilkshake 86]

I feel like what I said might have been missunderstood, so just to clarify: I have no problem reading other threads if the thread someone directly relates to me or the world I'm rping in. Public broadcasts on tv, big explosions in central park, huge plots that involve the whole lot of us. These are not the kind of threads I mean when I say I 'don't read other peoples threads'. The ones I mean are personal threads of personal rps that in no way impact me, my characters, or their world that they live in.

[Lucky Cat 83]

I think talking about each other's threads/plots/characters in casual convo is a good way to advertise these others threads/plots/etc. - as well as some games that high lights characters uniqueness (like "list 5 things about your character"). It's like reading the back of a book or reading some reviews. If something sparks an individual's interest, they might (or might not) read these other threads. Other than that, I think it's mostly up to the individuals themselves they want to (or can) follow other peoples' threads. I don't think it's necessarily necessary to go through the work of creating and maintaining something like a thread directory. People will read if they want to.

 

However, if it's something you really want to try: I say go for it. Should never knock something down until you at least try. Who knows? Might catch on with other boards, too, if it prooves to be successful.

 

Edit: maybe you could make a thread asking people to list X amount of their favourite threads written by other players?

Edited April 4, 2018 by Lucky Cat

[Bishop 172]

Ok...this may be long, but one thing that I have always loved and practice (or used to) is keeping story wide chronicles. Be they personal or event wide, I like that it helps create a path of threads that I can follow, because I do get invested in a story.

 

For a personal one I would do it like this:

 

 

And for a storywide one, it would end up looking kind of like this: http://skysails.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=1329

(posting the link as it is too large to take a pic, the board is inactive, if that isn't ok I'm sorry!)

 

But then you could also follow stories as they unfolded by finding where that one thread was in a person's personal plotter or by a search for a few key words.

 

The board that I'm running now has tags, which is nice because if I want to read other posts of that character I'll hit their tag and it will pull up their threads. If I hit their shipper name (Bradgelna) then it would pull up all of their threads together so I can swoon.

 

I also have to say that what has been really nice is having two different discord channels for plotting and one for every day chat. That has been a great way to drum up excitement for threads and ships that get the whole board involved and the others who just are not interested can stay in the main chat.

 

I hope this helps!!!

 

 

[Elena 546]

On 04.04.2018 at 8:18 PM, Kazetatsu said:

As a site admin, I read most posts so that I can help make plot connections around things that happen in any thread and bridge players together. 

Writing summaries to me, is mostly useful for big events or plots, things that most of the characters on site might be involved in and be able to know about icly. if people really wonder about what happened in a specific thread that happens to be more private in terms of characters and events, members of my site ask, and often get hilarious retells from the involved parties as a result.

 

This is how I see things too. One needs to read all the threads in order to find connexions for their own plots, because, in a way or another, everything is interconnected.

 

@Uaithne asked how this can be done. I have:

- a summary of each thread in the board calendar (where they are listed chronologically, with characters involved, summary, time and place) on one side, and 

 

- the Chronicles, which bring links to each thread, and gossipping on the facts in a far-fetched journalistic style (ie if two people were seen together, one would gossip in the chronicle about a scandalous affair, but they might have discussed business, or something else). So the curious can read easier the thread. 

 

I wholeheartedly agree with @Stormwolfe for the necessity of reading, because I see the story as an interactive novel where it doesn;t mean that you are rooting for d'Artagnan, you have to read the chapters with the King and Queen too, and those with the Cardinal, Rochefort and Milady, even if you hate these three,  if you want to get the whole picture - and why wouldn;t you? It helps also integrate your own characters' story part in the big puzzle right where necessary. 

 

@anthrxmilkshake , you are the writer, not your character. You need to know everything, in order to decide what your character can/ should know and how they could learn it. If you don't read other threads, how do you know when there is a new plot opportunity for your character? I still love the thread I have read on a site - now closed - that I had been a fan of, where the commander called the cook to report to him and it didn't write he had put the fire off. Therefore, in another subsequent thread, other two characters were trying to put off the fire in the galley, because it had escalated  Would that have happened if nobody read the others plots? No. Was it possible logically that on a cramped ship, many things to remain unknown by most of the other crewmates? Not likely. 

Edited April 5, 2018 by Elena
tags are functioning again. Yesterday they didn't, on the laptop.

[Kit the Human 758]

I have a site plot thing that I need to rename because I think there's a belief that only momentous events are supposed to go in there, rather than anything and everything. It's useful for me to have a kind of timeline, so we can all tell where each other is at. (That tool is completely underutilized at the moment however.)

 

I agree with @CovertSphinx in that if people aren't inclined to read threads, they're probably not going to. Personally, I'm not fussed, because things that are secret remain a secret and there's no threat of accidental metagaming. Any misconceptions about my character is part of the fun for me and I facilitate those misconceptions...which is a long winded way of saying I'm not honestly invested in influencing my community to read more.

 

In saying that! I do make a point of mentioning other threads that I'm not involved in. Partly to shift the focus off of shippy threads (they're fine, but I'm not setting out to create a romance or erotic forum), partly to shine the spotlight on different members and partly to indicate that people's threads are being read. Also and more importantly, to indicate that there's some lovely writing going on and more than just your RP partner see's that! I just think that's a nice way to appreciate your members.

 

If you did want to encourage your members to read other people's stuff. I would suggest simply leading by example in this case.

[Guest Parasite Eve]

I enjoy reading the work of others be it an opener or their own personal writing. It's one way to get engrossed into something and another to let me know how they are as a writer in case I want to approach them for a roleplay though writing is not always one hundred percent effective alone. Still, when I have time I'll take a look.