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Wulf Waters
Acolyte
Australia
40 Posts |
 Posted - 15 Oct 2010 : 13:53:56
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Hi all, this was written by Daron, a new member of my Faerun role playing website. She put this up on an rpg directory. I think it is quite clever, and have used it in conjunction with many other materials to improve my website. Although, I don't condone the playing of cannon characters. Candlekeep have done very well with the guesty fish's criteria of what make a good forum.
What I would like to know is what you think of it, and is there anything else you would add to the guesty fish diary?
FROM THE DIARY OF A GUESTYFISH., BECAUSE WE ALL ARE AT SOME POINT.
I suppose that everybody else, who is searching for a new roleplay board or is currently playing on one or more boards, occasionally, mostly at full moon and when gaming is slow, involuntary transforms into one of the elusive and highly prized guestyfishes.
Checking out other boards seems to be just in our nature, even if we have no intention of joining another game.
So I am swimming leisurely in my were-guestyfish form through the tidal waves of the internet and stop for a moment to sniff at a tasty-looking rpg board.
Now it is up to you, the admin to make sure that I stay.
First off, what is tasty-looking to the guestyfish?
(To "sniff out" a site means to merely click the provided link. If it is not tossed at me by someone I know, it will be most likely a clickable banner that attracts my attention.)
That is the "Oooh, shiny thing!" reaction of the common guestyfish.
But then, is it edible? If guestyfish wants to join a Star Wars Rpg, the most glamorous Twilight forum does nothing for it. Bleh. Not edible, guestyfish does not even appear.
Therefore:
- eye-catching banner and
- genre of interest
Guestyfish sniffs:
Personally I like simple, neatly arranged sites. If it blinks, glitters, sparkles and pops up from every direction, it might scare away some guestyfishes, others might use this visual distraction for camouflage and thrive in this environment.
Netspeak on the front page, except of OOC and IC scares me, too. My mind somehow associates that with a bunch of squealy, hyper fangirls. It is an involuntary reaction and I can't help it. Others, though, might like it, although I never heard of anybody who does...
If the introduction on the front page is friendly and non-threatening, along the lines of "Welcome to our xyz site, enjoy your stay and click through our subforums at your leisure." the shy guestyfish might feel comfortable enough to snoop around a bit... that is, if you allow it to do so.
If every forum is locked, even the rules or game descriptions, there is no way for the guestyfish to find out what in the world are you actually doing on your site and ponder, if it could build its nest there (in case fishes would build nests. Maybe we should call it a guestybird...). And a chatbox with posts like "Hi there!" and "What's up?" is not really helpful.
- polite and encouraging first words on the front page
Bait the guestyfish:
Every guestyfish needs to get comfortable in its new environment. It likes to poke and sniff around, make sure that there are no hidden dangers and evil predators. Therefore it enjoys the opportunity to do so.
Hidden boards that can only be seen by members are standard and are sensible.
But give something to the guestyfishes as well... something that won't get you in legal trouble, in case you attracted a very very small guestyfish, but something that gives a glimpse on all the goodies on your board.
Game synopsis is always a thing I dive in immediately.
Also, Rules . After all, your guestyfish will have to live inside these boundaries, or about, if it decides to stay and transform into a member. It would be blatantly unfair to keep Rules hidden.
Canon chars are sometimes an irresistible bait, both if you already have them (if they are *good*, guestyfish would certainly love to interact) or not (with good food and good care, guestyfish might even transform into a canon writer to bait even more guestyfishes later on...).
Make sure that both the "Available Canon char" and the subboards of the canons are visible to guests.
Original characters are, in a manner of speaking, the fascinating and unique patterns of scales, every guestyfish has. The more OC profiles that are visible to be admired in all their glory (or sometimes, I sadly have to say, in the complete opposite), the more impressed and entranced your guestyfish will be (or scared. Depends on the chars.).
- access to several subforii
- access to character profiles
- access to these "Ask a canon" categories
Guestyfish *nibbles*:
If a new member signs up with a simple automated process (enter nick, password, email adress) it does not mean that guestyfish will become a contributing member. But it is the next step to actually write something. Therefore, if you managed to get guestyfish to sign up, you are doing something right!
Now, like any good fisher, don't make a mistake. It hasn't bitten yet... you can still scare it away very easily and end up with a deserted account. Offer a little treat... like a warm welcome, but allow the nesting fishie some time to completely sniff out the page, including all the holes and corners it couldn't get to as an anonymous guestyfish.
Guestyfish *bites*:
Since nesting in a new place is always difficult, help out your nesting fishie. Offer nesting material (sample charsheets, tutorials on every aspect of character creation and gaming) and company.
Perhaps your guestyfish is tired from the journey through the abysses of the internet or it has never built its own nest before. Experienced memberfishes should be available to show by example or gentle nudging, how to build a soft and comfy nest, that will suit your guestyfish for a long time or until it decides to enlarge its family. Every new nest it builds will be neater and better adapted to the environment of your board than the one before that and your board should become a thriving habitat of guestyfishes, newbiefishes and memberfishes alike...
To sum it up without the long text, here is what I as a guest would like to see on my first visit to a rpg forum:
- genre of interest
- polite and encouraging first words on the front page
- simple, neatly arranged layout
- access to several subforii
- access to character profiles
- access to these "Ask a canon" categories
- no drama or a short drama before admin intervention
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Guesty Fish
