[Jezebel Hawthane]

Okay, I've been noticing that the activity level here basically sucks. Speaking as someone who has seen a dozen boards fall and has therefore searched dozens of boards to join them I can tell you that the number one reason boards fail is because of lack of IC activity and the number one reason new comers choose not to join a site is also lack of activity.

So I was thinking - why don't we all brainstorm some ideas to get the site more active and bolster intrest in it?

Here is one idea I had - a posting competition. When I first started roleplaying I was on neopets. When we RPed there we didn't have the luxury of taking even a few days to reply to a post because the board disapeared within 24 hrs. Of course we 'literates' still had our post length and proper grammar standards - our posts were well written but they were written fast (sometimes we only had a few hours - and the acceptable waiting time for the average post was 10 minutes) - and this rather than burning us out actually increased our desire to roleplay and create new characters. Now of course LS is much more mature than Neopets was but I don't see why some speed writing wouldn't work for us too

So - for the contest I was thinking the rules could be
1. The contest must take place over a 24 hour period in which all participants have guaranteed they will be on the site and roleplaying
2. the roleplayers would be divided into teams of two
3. To prevent favortism the teams would be randomly chosen by the admins - probably by drawing names from a hat. If desireable we could even have the characters chosen randomly too. (I would say let's do the same for the place the RP would take place but I could just see demetrie mondragon ending up in the caverns with Gabriel Sabau's mate or concubine. Oo
4. The parters would then have to complete at least one roleplay from start to finish.
5. The 300 word minimum would still apply and so would grammar rules.
6. Exactly 24 hrs after the start of the contest an admin would close all the participating rps preventing aditional posts.
7. No killing of course - unless the prer wants that
8. The winning team would be the one who managed to produce the most posts while still meeting the minimum post length and following the grammar rules for the site.
9. Prizes would also be given for best plot and so forth.
10. Prze would be bragging rights, something on the board telling everyone your team won and maybe a cool graphic you can post under the signature of the character you used.

What does everyone think?

[Mercedes Torres]

As much as I think that is an interesting idea, a lot of people who aren't here are absent because of real life, which should always take precedence. For example, Minksy's work moved offices, Tash and I restarted school, my husband is deploying to Iraq shortly so I am spending more time with him, Chels is looking for a new place to live in a completely different city. Things like this keep many of us away from LS. I do not see it as a lack of interest or ability to post but that priorities are set and maintained. As much as I absolutely love LS, my family comes first, and many others have similar priorities that put something above LS and thus the activity of LS is a bit lax.

Yes, it may suck that because of these things, we don't get new members right now because they think we are inactive, but this contest wouldn't really help matters as the foundation of the reason for inactivity remains the same, real life is taking members from LS. A contest won't suddenly erase all the real life situations that take precedence over LS. I appreciate your idea and think it'd be fun to do later, but for now, it's really just a period we have to get through that seems to arise after the end of summer every year.

I know that it's never fun to wait for posts, and that it can get boring if you're one of the people that doesn't have anything holding them up, but please have some patience and consideration for those that can't control the real world like they can aptly control the world of LS.

[Chelsea]

I couldn't have said it better myself, Taz. Bravo.

Yes, not all of us can spend 24 hours on the computer roleplaying. Some of us are mothers, some are wives, some are working mothers, some go to school etc. I would NEVER ask the members of LS to choose LS over their real life. Life is so short and every minute should be spent with friends and family. Roleplaying is a HOBBY, not life.

Sure, I'm worried about LS going to go to crap whenever I move, but I know real life is most important. For those of you who are bored with how things are going - ADVERTISE. ADVERTISE, ADVERTISE. Seriously!!! The last few new members we've gotten are from -ME- advertising on certain sites, putting up a few canons on Wanted Character boards. It's not hard at all!

And nmiss, you are a talented writer, but some of us get tired of hearing you nag about how inactive the site is becoming. I'm not trying to be mean but if you want something done, sometimes you have to do it yourself - advertise. It's also a way of a possible promotion, yah know? Trust me, Taz, Minks, myself and Tash worked our asses off to get the positions we have now.

The idea you gave is interesting - but honestly - i don't really see how it would attract members to begin with. It rushes people and sometimes, we don't have a muse to work with (mostly because our minds are elsewhere in the real world). Thanks but no thanks.

[Britannia Kemp]

Okay so yeah I'll admit 24 hrs is a bit long for such a contest - reality would probably be just a few hours and the most active times for most sites is February and March.

The problem I have with the advertising to other sites suggestion is that if too many people do this it can start to be a spam problem - especially if they don't check the advertising section to see if the add has already been posted. (trust me on this - I used to be the advertising admin on an old site. My first problem was to find a way to stop the sites which advertised several times a week from doing so. I did this by organizing the advertisements into categories and making a rule that an ad could only be posted if it did not already appear on the first page of the particular category it fit into. This cut the advertisements down from as high as twenty per week to as low as one or two per week. No that's not an exaggeration - there were three sites that advertised on our site almost every day.)

Sure I'll post advertisements if you want but this is still a concern for me - I don't want LS shunned for spam anymore than I want it to go inactive.

As for nagging I don't mean to and I don't really see it as nagging. Voicing my concern perhaps but not nagging. Remember I said that almost every site I have been on that has died has done so because of inactivity (a few have been closed down suddenly by the owner for no apparent reason) and I recognize the pattern.

I also have very little time for RPing. With my job search, writing a blog, and pretending to have a life I'm lucky if I have more than an hour to write each day. So I understand that everyone else doesn't have much time either. On LS as on every site there is always a small group of role-players who can be considered active - these people usually post at least once every two weeks and try to post once a week. When I say activity sucks I don't mean there aren't people posting but that in comparison to the apparent number of members it's not that high. It's great that those who are active post so much but I was hoping that this thread could be a brainstorm on ways to get those who aren't active because of loss of interest active (not those who have RL issues preventing them from posting). As I mentioned my idea was just one idea (which I pulled out of the blue) and I was hoping others might have some as well, besides just 'advertise' I mean.

Another idea would be to ask people to submit information for a chart detailing when they are most likely to be on on a weekly basis so those who do have control of their own schedules can schedule their RP time around the times when their RP partners are likely to be on or so that parties or contests can be more easily planned - like with what Minksy did for her party.

[Taz]

I really appreciate the sentiment, but I don't see this as "a pattern" leading to the falling of a site. Honestly I have been a member of several sites and EVERY TIME August/September rolled around activity went down because most of us are in high school or college. It's just how it goes. Sure there are a couple members that are just floating for whatever reason, but for the most part they've been silent for quite awhile, while plot and mayhem was running around freely. So if that didn't pull them in, not sure a contest or us going "PLEASE COME BACK" is going to do anything. But like I said, for the majority, as in 95% of our members are either starting school, busy with work or moving or something.

And to be honest hun, sometimes you really do come across as nagging, like in the CBox or at Minksy's party. I know you don't mean to come off like that, but poking someone even every few days can get on a person's nerves. If they could write, they would do it. So you need to be careful, because I don't want people to see you as a nag. I know you have the best of interest at heart.

Beyond that, we just need to get through this patch. I should be back at full strength after my husband deploys to Iraq as long as morning sickness doesn't claim me again. So hopefully that will help some. As for the "chart" that's only going to scare people off. If you want to know someone's schedule, ask them for that week, but most people don't SCHEDULE for writing because it is for fun, not an obligation.

One final thing, and I don't mean to be aggressive or mean, and this isn't directed just to you...but I am growing very tired of defending Luna de Sangre. Every day there seems to be SOMEONE going on about how they think LS is going to die for one reason or another. So I am going to say this one last time and then I am done with this, and I ask that no one else complain about it to me, not to be rude. Here is the thing, LS isn't going anywhere. So long as Jen and Ben are alright with me helping to take care of things, I REFUSE to let anything happen to LS. It will not die, it will not go away. So quit thinking the worst and have some patience please. Minksy and I have both said we will never let LS die, even if we are the only ones posting.

That's all I have to say on the matter. I am grateful for your enthusiasm, hun, and if you want to talk about ideas to better LS I am always all ears and you can PM or IM me or any of the admins or Mod whenever you want.

[Chelsea]

Yeah, i def. see the schedule idea scaring people off. thats getting too personal for some members. Also, I check on LS at random times of the day and am sure other people do as well. Remember roleplaying is a hobby, not life.

Taz you are a mind reader. :] and I know im one of those people that have grumbled about LS to you. LOL and im sorry.

and nmiss, there are ways to advertise that dont involve spamming. We can assign two people in charge of avertising and then make a special thread with the name of each site they advertised on - and only advertise ONCE on there. period. Taz, Minks and I will discuss this together later. but your making it sound more problematic then it really is.

[Minksy]

I can't believe I haven't seen this sooner. Then again, I have been going through a rough patch lately. Taz&Chels, thanks for keeping an eye out for me and stating it here. As it is, I agree with both of you - RL is more important. There's work, studying, family... RPing is a way to relax, and its when it becomes a 'job' or an 'obligation' that the fun gets sucked out. As much as I want to write and RP 24/7, I still have things to attend too.

Taz is right - LS will not die as long as we're around, even if we're the only ones posting. We love it here too much. (And we love you too, Chels! =) )The point is that LS is a place where we want to relax and give our muses some free reign to cause havoc in various creative manners. This is also a busy time for most people due to start of school, etc, and we understand that. We can't force people to come on and ignore the things that actually impact their futures.

To quote Taz, LS isn't going anywhere, and its tiring defending it all the time. If you're not happy with the lack of posts, feel free to go recruit friends and bring them on to play. Thanks for the concern babe, but we are just too dedicated to this place to let it simply die out, but we also have real life that has to be given first priority.

[Serenity Shadoan-Tepes]

I'm going to side with our Admins on this one. I know it's hard to deal with total boredom but RL is more important to any of us. I have a new boyfriend and I'm spending a lot of time with him to stay away from my family while I search for a second job (and an apartment and car.) so I can get the hell outta my parent's house.

Then there's work, too. We all love to RP but a lot of us have jobs that don't really approve of that during their hours. It's a great way to get the brain into gear and really pump out ideas but at the same time it's a challenge to get the muses to function when there's so little to work with. I know it's hard at times to meet the minimum requirements, but it's a lot easier when you've had a few days to mull over what your reply will be like.

And if I come across as a bit naggy at times in the Cbox or something, I'm sorry. I'm just used to having replies within a day or so...we're all in the process of adjusting to reality again. (Thursdays are now days to be out with an Indy RP Crew where I work. Sorry guys, sometimes human interaction is important...)

PS: I won't let LS die either. I love this site too much to let it die.

This post has been edited by Serenity Shadoan-Tepes on Sep 23 2009, 11:51 PM