[Old] Small Update | Opinion Needed

[Orochimaru]

EDIT: Okay, I'd like everyone to read this post, and also the following two, because I think important things which concern you all were brought up there.


Okay, everyone. I don't know, I think it's ironic that, even though we're supposed to have something near 40 different members (and even more characters, obviously), only the same 15 people or so are really active. So, once again, I'm trying to do something about it.

I'm not deluded that we haven't always been slow here. I think that was always the whole purpose of this place. To be a community, too, not just a role-play site. So people didn't mind slower posting than they were used to from other sites, since it was also a regular hangout. However, looking around the place now, I notice that mostly everyone is very unmotivated to post. Even I am.

Well, I want to attempt to change that into at least a little bit better. I've just deleted three members who hadn't logged onto the forum in over a month. These were people who hadn't even posted or finished their applications, and had never talked to any of us. Therefore, I owed them no consideration whatsoever.

Now, my question to you is what to do with those members who DO have approved applications, but also haven't logged in in over a month? I could delete them the same way. Or I could try to send them an e-mail first, and only delete if they still don't log in after a week.

Or, if you guys want, I could hold yet another activity check, although those hardly ever seem to seriously solve anything. Either way, I'd like to see your choice in the poll above. And you can also post in this topic if you would like to explain your choice or say anything.

Thank you.

[Hitamatori Akuma]

I voted to send an Email first to at least give them a warning. But really this isn't even a band aid to the problem. What does it matter how many accounts there are? I can see the problem if one was a Canon character that someone else wanted. But as of now we rarely get new members and half the time it is just an alt for one of us that are already here. And even then that said alt doesn't get used.

The problem is in fact the lack of RPing. Don't get me wrong here I love the community and I love talking to you guys. But if no one Roleplays then why not just have a hang out site?

In my opinion there are several problems to this and I understand that this is just my opinion and I am not saying that doing what I outline here would fix anything. But it is something to think about.

The first one is the motivation to post, honestly thats something that has to come from the RPer themselves. There are a few things that staff can do to help. Such as make IC events. But that honestly wouldn't work in this site.

Another problem is once again the 1 thread rule. Don't worry I gave up a long time ago to have this changed. But I am going to use myself as an example. Right now I would LOVE to get Akuma's story going and I have been since last November? But due to this rule combined with the lack of motivation from the other RPers to post tends to leave me stranded. I mean to be honest it is frustrating to know that I have been trying to move to this plot since November and here it is July and it hasn't even gotten started cause the threads move so slow. @_@

Another one is exposure. You have a thread on Proboards support. Thats great and all but people come and look at the site and they don't see a lot of activity, to be blunt that is going to turn a lot of people off. And the activity that we do have is dwarfed by the sheer size of the site. I think it is great that you guys have like every place ever mentioned in the manga and some that are made by the players, but it makes the site look even more inactive. I mean look at some of the villages with no people even in them.

So just the fact that the site is so slow and looks even slower then it is probably turns a lot of people off to the site. I know when I showed my friends they all said that the site was too big and too inactive. They didn't want to wait because most of this do this as a get away and it is hard to get away when you can't RP.

While I do understand that some of you feel that the community is strong enough and anyone that has a problem with how things are done are not really what you want here anyways, well thats fine. You are more then welcome to feel that way. But the truth of the matter is that over the months this site has gained and then lost a lot of people because it didn't move fast enough to hold their interests. Because once again using myself as an example. It is really frustrating to have a storyline for your character and over half a year later not having been able to even finish 10 threads let along get that story underway.

My suggestion is not to worry about the inactive accounts and think more about how to draw and KEEP them her coming back for more. Find a way to not only get the roleplaying on this site going but maybe build up our community as well?

[Orochimaru]

Well, you expressed yourself several times and made some points, but this was more than you ever told me, so I'm glad you replied. Thank you. ^^

Now, you get me wrong on one thing though. It's not the number of accounts that I'm concerned with. I know that many of those are alts of people. But before posting this poll, I counted the members... as in... the people behind characters. And we have roughly 38 different people or so. Out of which I only really see some 15 on here. So this is exactly what you say: it's the people, not the accounts.

As for the lack of role-play, that's exactly what I'm saying we have, as well. But that's partly because many of these people came here, made their applications, and then never role-played. They didn't make one post. It's only part of the problem, I agree. But if more people were role-playing, perhaps the ones that actually tried wouldn't lose their interest so quickly either.

You make a point about the size of the forum as well, but by this point there's little we can do about that, since it would mean revamping pretty much the entire board to remodel locations.

Your other two points are actually well within the staff's awareness, and have been considered. This means even the one-thread rule has been. We *did* bring up the possibility of giving it up. However, it doesn't seem to me yet that this has such a big role in the inactivity. It does play a part, as well, I agree on that. But it's not the most important thing, since if people actually *posted*, threads would usually be over in one-week or two, so you still would have been able to set your plot in motion by now. I hope you agree with me that there's not much of a difference between having one inactive thread to be stuck in, and having three of them. xD So once again, this is why I'm so concerned with the motivation to post.

As for events, we're struggling to find something that might stick and entertain people, and we do have one idea that might actually work. Although you're right, this is very tricky business due to the nature of the site. So it's only experimental right now, it might take a while until we get it going. But once again, we'd need everyone's actual interest and motivation to get any such large scale thing to function. We'd need you people to get posting and the likes. And yes, we're conscious this includes us.

At any rate, Akuma raised some good questions and made me realize you people need to know what's going on. So that's why I thought everyone should read these two posts as well, in addition to the first.

Thank you, again.

[Uchiha Sasuke]

I also voted for sending them an e-mail. If anything, for the fact that they might actually stay if they return this time. Although I doubt it, since most of these people didn't intend to be active in the first place when they joined. I think that's the problem with the difference between who registered and who actually logs in, so I support your decision of either getting them active or deleting them fully.

As for the rest of the problem, I have quite a different take from what the two of you seem to think. I believe the size of the site is inconsequential for most people, given that there should be activity on here. As Akuma says, people are turned away by the slowness of the site, but that does not necessarily imply the number of boards. I think that as long as we post, it doesn't matter -very- much that we have emptier places. And for that matter, neither is it the -most- important that everyone is in just one thread at a time.

What I think is at fault is that people make accounts and characters they have no idea what they're going to do with. This applies both to people who claim canons they don't intend to do anything with, and to people who make OCs just to display them. You shouldn't claim or create anything if you don't intend to actually use it. It doesn't work that way. If you don't need a character or you don't plan to use it, then just leave it be and don't apply for it.

Akuma himself is a very good example of what it should really be like to give here, since every time I've seen him make an account, it was with a clear purpose in mind. Unlike the majority of you. And when he lost purpose for his accounts, he gave them up.

I'm sure we all agree that when you are excited about getting something done with a character, you will post faster, because you anticipate the great things you're going to write. Despite that, most of you people don't plan anything. Your characters seem to be there just for show. I think that out of all the OCs on this site, only Akuma and Satsuki have managed to create some sort of plot around their characters, using NPCs and a background story. And I think Arina and Haru have some sort of small indefinite plan as well, and maybe, just maybe, I've seen Hayato mention having something in mind as well.

The rest aren't really thinking of anything as far as I know. To be honest, I would have no motivation to post if I didn't know what I was doing, either. So I put at least part of the problems off on this. Maybe everyone should start thinking of what they want to do with their characters. And I do agree that the staff needs to come with a large scheme which will allow the OCs to be involved in a general plot like the ones the canons, maybe, have.

I am not casting the blame, and I am not trying to insult anyone. This is just what I believe.

[Anda Maeko]

i'd like to add my two cents here.i would like to sugest a new option with the people who are inactive. here an idea that had been floating my head about how to fix it.

If there inactive for [insert aproprate amount of time here]without posting or logging in at all, send them a warning/reminder via email.something with a defant time limit attached. that way they have chance to respond. If they do not answer within the time limit send the a second warning this one saying something like log on asap or you will be deleted.again with a time limit. if they still haven't responded or contacted one of you, delete them.

[Orochimaru]

Thank you for making a point and stating your opinion. ^^ This is pretty much what I was going to do, minus the second e-mail.

And personally, I find sending a second e-mail rather pointless, since it would be a little like forcing. I don't want to force people to log in, since they probably will only do so in order not to get deleted, and then they'll just go inactive again.