Sadrienne 242 Share Posted June 3, 2018 I know as a community we love things that are open and free, but stick with me here. Would you pay for a thorough, in-depth review of your site? I don't mean a few paragraphs on what looks good, what doesn't---I mean a fully developed report covering a wide variety of sections, including screenshots and actionable items that could improve the user experience, marketability, and function of your community. Three things I'd really like to focus on are: Advertising strategy (Suggestions on how/where to best market the site, the target audience, etc) Documentation analysis (up to 4 informational topics looked at in-depth, looking for tone/clarity/usefulness -- extra items by request) Action points (a summary of improvements that could be made, in a nice little list) Other sections might include: Navigation systems (and ease of use) Design features (colour, structure, images) Site performance (loading times, page size, etc) Cross-platform experience (mobile, tablet, different browsers) Community impressions (what the overall interactivity level appears to be, the general vibe as picked up from OOC areas) It's very much designed to give admins a solid base of advice, and perspective on their community -- plus some ways to move forward and continue building what they've got. I also want to help people really consolidate their vision of what their site is, and what it should be... most importantly, how to get there! And as usual, there will be space to look into any specific concerns/questions the admin has. Because it's such a detailed report, and I would intend to spend around 2-3 hours on each one, I don't feel it's something I can offer for nothing. I'm considering the following pricing structure: Full report as-is: $35 AUD (roughly $23 USD today) Additional documentation for analysis: $5 AUD for 2 (about $4 USD) In terms of time and effort, it's a ridiculously low price---but I understand that the RP community isn't exactly cashed up either. I want a price that is accessible, but also reflects the work that will go into the reports. Prices are in AUD as I need to know exactly what the income is on my end, to work out fun things like tax etc. The price does include 10% GST, so no additional sales taxes will be added on. Is this a fair price? Is this something you would pay for (if you had the money to do so)? Are there other sections that you think could/should be included? 1 the australian potterverse | we're back in black CREATION GUIDE | HOW TO APPLY | PLOT | POSITIONS AVAILABLE | NOT AUSTRALIAN? | JOIN US ON DISCORD | TUMBLR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Morrigan 1,825 Admin Share Posted June 3, 2018 Being that I value my time and effort that I put into anything I think that's a low price 😉 (re my theming pricing). Plus reviews of sites often cost hundreds of dollars for good feedback, including whether you have decent SEO etc. That said I don't think it's unreasonable. I think it's actually reasonable. Want to review the Initiative for me? I give good tips. 😉 Profile set made by myself and original Artwork by Fae Merriman, my daughter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gota 45 Share Posted June 3, 2018 I'd definitely do it after we are far enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit the Human 757 Share Posted June 3, 2018 In a word: yes. This is very cheap and you're offering so much valuable insight and feedback that I feel like I'd be remiss to pass it over. PSI: an Occult Investigations RP Roleplay Architects: Grab a friend (or many friends!) and just write. You can also find me at: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormWolfe 556 Share Posted June 3, 2018 Catch 22 for me here! I am always willing to pay when someone is performing a service for me, even when friends do it. That way, I don't feel like I'm taking advantage. The Catch 22 part is that, right now, my sites are way too small for more than a cursory review of them. However, should they start growing, I'd happily request and pay for a full review. Of course, to get to my golden membership number of 8 or 10 individual writers, I need a review so that I can optimize my sites and while they are brand new is a good time. It is likely I would pay because I want my sites to be the best possible so my players enjoy writing there. Someone somewhere went to sleep and dreamed us all alive. Dreams get pushed around a lot, and I doubt if we'll survive. We won't get to wake up, dreams were born to disappear. And I'm pretty sure that none of us are here. ~ None of Us Here by Jim Stafford ~ *your one-stop RPG resource site! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icewolf 258 Share Posted June 3, 2018 Probably not, to be honest. The things that makes a site successful are the very thing that you can't buy and that's members who are active, staff who are friendly and approachable, how members interact with each other and admin who stick with what they're doing. I've found browsing resource sites and looking around forums have given me a good idea on what to avoid. Having a fresh pair of eyes look at something might pick up something that's not obvious to the site owner, but you can ask in forums so I'm not sure if you'll get many takers on it. 1 1 Legends of Arda Character Archives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazetatsu 263 Share Posted June 3, 2018 Probably not, I'd look at free options first and mix and match free services If combined they could provide a similar amount of data or if I didn't feel like I needed that much data My Characters can be Found on Toyhouse Of Being Human, Modern Small Town Supernatural rp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huskerdust 625 Share Posted June 3, 2018 (edited) I wouldn't but that's because I'd rather buy a new theme or mod instead. And I spent a LOT of money on a show I'm going to in July and on pet healthcare so this year the credit card is maxed out. Not supposed to be buying extraneous things until we pay it off. T^T If that wasn't the case, possibly? But then... still, probably not because I feel like the info I'd get isn't going to help. Like somebody else said, the things that make a site successful aren't bought. There's no cheat to having a great forum atmosphere/players. Edited June 3, 2018 by Zozma Reality is an illusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shieb 47 Share Posted June 3, 2018 If I had the money, yeah, I'd probably drop $25 on a high-quality review. It's good to get other people's opinions, especially if that person has been around a while. As I'm an inexperienced Admin, I'd definitely appreciate more than just spellchecking. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CovertSphinx 710 Share Posted June 4, 2018 If I had the memberbase (I'm trying to still get "established"), I would definitely drop a few bucks on a high-quality review that I could showcase on my site's FB, Discord, or other advertisements (giving us both free publicity, yay!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VirusZero 176 Share Posted June 5, 2018 I likely wouldn't for a few reasons... Money is tight for me and I've got some big expenses looming. (The summer is always where I have to work a lot and save up money because all my big expenses come due in September.) Beyond that I don't think there's much in the way that someone could tell me that I either don't already know or couldn't find out on my own. I've been an admin for a while now (going on 13 years) and I have a fair bit of experience in a variety of places. (Review services was something I had considered offering as part of my own selection of web services. Alongside hosting and a few other small services.) Does this mean don't try it though? No. Go for it if you want. Just go in with reasonable expectations. Like alluded to I don't think the roleplay community will be all that receptive. For the most part roleplayers are averse to paying. (It's only kind of starting to open up now with the release of paid mature options on free hosts.) But for things like hosting, plugins, themes, reviews etc... Most want free options and refuse to go for anything when money becomes involved. And you know, I get it, for most roleplay is just a hobby and they don't necessarily want to spend a lot of money on it. (Maybe they don't have much money either. I mean sometimes roleplayers are students without a lot of disposable income. Or if they are working the jobs either don't pay much or offer a lot of hours.) 1 "There are three sides to every story... Your side, their side, and then somewhere in the middle is the truth." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sadrienne 242 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 5, 2018 I think the key part of the question here is "if you had the disposable income, would it interest you". I'm more interested in whether people would pay the money if they could, as opposed to whether they could realistically justify the purchase. Basically trying to get a feel for whether it's a service that people would find valuable or not. I'm also considering a modular structure, where more focused aspects of the report can be supplied rather than the report in full. All items combined would be less than the cost of buying all items individually. This would also mean that document analysis would be offered as a stand-alone service, which is (in my opinion) one of the more valuable inclusions. It's more than a spelling and grammar check, it's ensuring that there's consistency, clarity, usefulness, all of those good things that can actually make or break a person's decision to join. There's no cheat to building a community that is welcoming and appealing to join, no -- but you'd be surprised how many people accidentally shoot themselves in the feet by making their documentation too cold, overbearing, or just plain difficult to understand. I can't sell you the secrets to running a successful roleplay, but I certainly can help provide a little extra polish, give you some ideas on what makes your RPG unique and how to capitalise on that in your advertisements, and tips to realise your vision of the community you want. Sometimes what people want to achieve and what they've got isn't the same thing, and I'd love to be able to help people pull their boards into line with what they set out to create. And yeah, there are free options out there. Plenty. The perks of paying for a service would be: Guaranteed review, with a time-frame (not all review threads are answered) Guaranteed quality (not all reviews are useful) A thorough look at what makes your RPG tick (not all reviewers take the time to really go through a site, it does take hours to do properly) Personalised approach to discovering your goals as an admin, and how you could achieve them (no two sites are the same, no cookie-cutter reviews) Guaranteed set of actions designed to push the board toward your goals as an admin (many free reviews pick up what is good, and what is not---not all give ideas on how to improve things) 4 1 the australian potterverse | we're back in black CREATION GUIDE | HOW TO APPLY | PLOT | POSITIONS AVAILABLE | NOT AUSTRALIAN? | JOIN US ON DISCORD | TUMBLR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sage 289 Share Posted June 7, 2018 This is totally something I would pay for! Not currently, my site and I are having some differences, but if I was looking to expand, revamp, or do a major update, this is definitely something I would look into. This service is something I'm assuming is geared more towards established sites looking to improve or new sites with a serious staff team dedicated to last. At least, that's what it sounds like you're marketing it towards. If you did basic free reviews but also offered much more detailed, in-depth reviews for a fee, I think that's something that might catch people's attention. Having a webpage or a tumblr or something where you can publish your services would also help you be able to lay out everything clearly and consistently. Idk, this is something I'd totally consider. You could potentially advertise this with a lot of independent theme creators and get your name out there. 1 a dark, urban fantasy; inspired by sailor moon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothic 307 Share Posted June 13, 2018 If I had more of a disposable income? Absolutely. Especially if it was done by an RPer with Rpers in mind. I tend to have a lot of lore and information on my sites, so, potentially finding ways on improving this and site userbility is always helpful. A lot of professional reviews for other sites have other things in mind rather than RPGs. I think it could be a pretty valuable service. Active, fun, established 2008! Come join us. Aeterna Roma Sites I am on; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 64 Share Posted June 15, 2018 I would have to talk to my staff to see if they'd also be interested. But if we had the extra money I think we would do it, if for no other reason than to just get a full, honest impression of the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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