Ideas for Expansion

[Valakin]

The Role-playing Forums are at a crawl. I have a plan to stop this, and I’d like your input: Restructure the approval process, and recruit more than ever.

Here is my idea for the restructuring – eliminate the bio stage completely. Before you begin to disagree, finish reading. I propose we start off new role-players with a starter’s thread in the discussion forums to see their role-playing ability. This could be set in a tavern or another place. Then, once given the thumbs up from some of our already accepted role-players, the moderators take a look at them. If the moderators see their role-playing is good enough, they approve them. The moderators can then decide how they become an experienced role-player who can approve new recruits. The bio stage should be completely optional. After all, what is the point to role-playing if not to learn about others’ characters? It would be no fun knowing a stranger’s mom died when they were four and everything else that has happened to them. This would encourage less experienced people to join because they don’t have to learn all the lore needed for a bio. I believe biographies should be an optional thing for feedback on a character idea.

I also think we should step up recruiting efforts. We have some mod friends in the General Forums now, so they could more than likely spread the word. I don’t think a lot of members know about the forums because the pages don’t appear on the main page (which filters a lot of trolls, I know, but it also loses us members). One suggestion is to try and get one of the higher up moderators to perhaps do a small main-page article on our forum, perhaps with an interview with the Madgod or something. Another thing we could try is spreading the word in-game, or even in real life if you have friends who like to role-play. Whatever we do, we need to increase our members. I’m tired of this sluggish pace, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Whatever your opinions, please share them. Also, I’m not looking for unneeded comments without reasoning, such as, “This is so dumb!” Please give reason to why you feel a certain way.

Sincerely, Valakin

[Vadoor]

We are all tired of the sluggish pace, but I think bios should be standard. I like the idea of the entrance RP but after they've showed that they can RP I think a BIO should be standard so that a character can be finalized and so that the roleplayer can show if he or she has some knowledge about WoW lore.

[trulte]

It sounds like good idea and i also think we need more active members here on the RP forum, too many threads nearly not moving at all. But i am not sure if the tavern idea would be the best option. It could attract lots of trolls which would destroy the thread, the new rpers would maybe (not saying it will happen) make their characters have very different personalities from thread to thread and different back story because of the lack of an bio. Also when setting up a new closed rp thread if one does not got any bio how are the one creating it going to know if that character will fit in (they could write a little paragraph explaining their character, but it would maybe be a bit taxing to do it in every rp thread you want to join, idk this may not be a problem i am just putting it forth) Also i personally like to read the bios of those i am in a rp thread with (Not that i am in a lot of rp threads though), but that is just me :P

I could see this option work as those problems i have mentioned may not be anything at all and we do need some new rpers here, that's for sure.

[Khorianas]

Well Trulte and Vadoor named all my concerns but a heavily moderated "Sandbox" RP Thread (in Discussion) would be kind of cool imho;

Also Bios could be reviewed faster if we did that partly in the IRC maybe also an idea to consider.

Not really much more to say.

[Valakin]

Vadoor: I have spoken to some on IRC about this a while back, and Maddy also wanted to keep bios. I don't mind these too much, but I think there should be a starter thread to work on a character first.

trulte: The tavern idea was merely a suggestion, it could be somewhere else or we could possibly even have multiple threads. Also, to prevent some trolls, I think we could set some rules in the initial post and possibly have quicker banning for trolling in those threads (key word - possibly).

Khorianas: That actually sounds like another fairly good idea, reviewing bio's in IRC. If we could get the writers in there, then I'm sure they could get approved much faster.

Also, this starter thread will help filter the dedicated so we know who is more likely to stick with us than review bio's of everyone who may or may not stick with us.

[Aramore]

I don't like the idea because an important part of RPing with someone is being able to read their bio to try and judge what sort of character they are, to predict how they'd react to a given situation.

It doesn't matter if they're the best RPers in the world without a bio to back them up it can be incredibly difficult to RP with them.

What you say about knowing everything about a character, your character doesn't know it. It's just what you know. It gives you a point of referance but you can still RP discovering the secrets of their past.

[Sunshine]

I'm not an RPer, but here are some thoughts from an outside perspective:

1. Right now, the requirement to post a bio before starting any RP is a big hurdle. I don't know wow lore at all, right now, so personally (and I'd guess this holds for at least some other outsiders as well), I don't want to invest the time in looking everything up and fleshing out a reasonable character if I'm not sure I'll enjoy RPing at all in the first place.

An open RP thread that doesn't require bios sounds like a great solution to this. There might be some trolls, but that's what the mods are for. And if someone comes in with a "bad" character, who cares? Let it be an anything-goes (except trolling) type RP (or CRP). You want to RP an undead druid? Fine, as long as you're making an effort!

A tavern or other static place is a nice setting for something like this, I think -- that way, people are free to come and go, and there's opportunity for people to RP in a small subgroup within it (say, a shady conversation at the table in the corner).

2. I think bios are still a good thing for those who want to participate in "real" RPs. Forcing yourself to think out your character in a detailed way before participating is probably a good thing, and writing out a bio makes sure this happens.

If people want a "secret" bio, so that other participants in the RP have to discover their traits rather than having them spelled out, maybe the mods can receive them via PM and approve/reject the character. That way, there's proof that the character is fully thought out (not just "make it up as I go along"), yet the "mystery" still remains.

[Valakin]

Alright, so far it looks as if the general opinion is to integrate the starter thread into the system, but keep bio's. Thanks for the opinions, keep 'em coming

Also, I haven't noticed too many of you responding to the recruitment suggestions. Any thoughts? Or possibly other suggestions?

[Aramore]

2. I think bios are still a good thing for those who want to participate in "real" RPs. Forcing yourself to think out your character in a detailed way before participating is probably a good thing, and writing out a bio makes sure this happens.

Thinking about it like this I suppose I can accept the idea of having a single thread for casual RPing but then for anything more serious they'd require a bio.

The problem ios the Casual Rp thread would have to be on the discussion forums because we don't want to open the main forums to anyone...

[Sunshine]

The problem ios the Casual Rp thread would have to be on the discussion forums because we don't want to open the main forums to anyone...

I don't see it as a problem to have it be in the discussion forums; we can sticky it or just make sure it stays active / on the front page (not that it will fall back to the second page easily given the normal thread creation rate).

The main thing I'd suggest is to make sure that the RP is kept friendly -- if someone does something out of character or is noob-ish or ignorant of lore, be careful not to scare them away by jumping down their throat about it. Friendly suggestions and pointers to resources will do much better.

[Valakin]

I propose we start off new role-players with a starter’s thread in the discussion forums to see their role-playing ability.

The problem ios the Casual Rp thread would have to be on the discussion forums because we don't want to open the main forums to anyone...

In the original post

[The Madgod]

the biggest reason why I like the bios is because they give us a standard. People tend to have different opinions on what's overpowered, and having a standard level of ability from the bio's really help with that, imo. Plus, they're key to keeping the forums relatively organized. We can cleanly connect people to their characters, no matter how many there are. If you're making a closed RP and you wanna bring a specific group of people along, it saves time for everyone to just be able to look at the person's bio and see if they're acceptable for your RP or not. As well, it's an excellent way to stop people from stealing the characters of others. In terms of changing it, I'm kinda thinking that Khor's idea of doing critiques over IRC would be good, if it was at all possible.

As far as recruiting, I would like to see more members... more ACTIVE members. Regardless, if we can do it in a way that doesn't make us look desparate for people, or in a way that'd not be spammy (Admin sanctioned, basically), then I would be all for it.

The starter RP sticky would also be a good idea... we've discussed all of this before, though, if I recall. Guess it just never went out of IRC till now.

[Valakin]

the biggest reason why I like the bios is because they give us a standard. People tend to have different opinions on what's overpowered, and having a standard level of ability from the bio's really help with that, imo. Plus, they're key to keeping the forums relatively organized. We can cleanly connect people to their characters, no matter how many there are. If you're making a closed RP and you wanna bring a specific group of people along, it saves time for everyone to just be able to look at the person's bio and see if they're acceptable for your RP or not. As well, it's an excellent way to stop people from stealing the characters of others. In terms of changing it, I'm kinda thinking that Khor's idea of doing critiques over IRC would be good, if it was at all possible.

As far as recruiting, I would like to see more members... more ACTIVE members. Regardless, if we can do it in a way that doesn't make us look desparate for people, or in a way that'd not be spammy (Admin sanctioned, basically), then I would be all for it.

The starter RP sticky would also be a good idea... we've discussed all of this before, though, if I recall. Guess it just never went out of IRC till now.

Yup, I finally followed up on that suggestion to make a post. Alright so it looks as if we want the starter thread, but to keep bio's. Then let's discuss where we want the starter thread, and how many to make.

Also, Sunshine, do you know what all....publicity, I guess you could say, could the RP forums have? Once people see we're starting to institute new ideas and things they may want to join.

[Khorianas]

Well IRC was already used as a sandbox for some characters, for example I tried my hunter and shaman together with blacky's ranger and they turned out quite well so we used them, I think we should offer a Forum and IRC Sandbox (maybe use the oh so silent RPRT Channel?)

the real SRPs should be strict and require a Bio but we really should open up to some less serious fooling around that would surely attract people and get them to join the serious stuff perhaps.

If the people join they will see for sure that Bios are very handy and will make them anyway.

Slightly of topic and an edit, but there was a really good quick Lore overwiew on the main page some time ago as part of the guides contest, we should get that into the useful threads stickie. There it is: here

Another edit since i was just thinking about it; Maybe we want to just apply the rules of the RPRT Channel to our sandbox and also get them into an extra sticky. We should put everything that is needed in the Explanation/opener of the new Discussion thread. I think everything should be in there to allow an interested user to get the idea without following any links; I must admit as handy as the link collections in the stickies are, a short plain text version would help alot, even i get lost somehow between the How to become a Role-player and the roleplaying useful threads Linklists.

[Sunshine]

Also, Sunshine, do you know what all....publicity, I guess you could say, could the RP forums have? Once people see we're starting to institute new ideas and things they may want to join.

There shouldn't be any problem with posting an ad on general forums (following usual rules of not bumping, etc).

[Valakin]

There shouldn't be any problem with posting an ad on general forums (following usual rules of not bumping, etc).

Also, I mentioned something about a front page interview and summary of the forums. That do-able or no?

[ELYPOP]

Firstly, I'm sorry about my drop of activity around here, as of late.

So, with this topic. Maybe, we could introduce the concept of "Skeleton Biographies", and such. For example, we can have the bare minimum (Name, Class, Affiliations, where they're from, basic history...), and this can solely be developed, and added to, by participating in actual roleplays. Also, the introduction roleplay concept for this forum is definetly a good idea. Although, longer Bios would still be nice. Some people create some really stunning stories.

Ideally, we need more Open RP's for the actual roleplaying section. How about, a bunch of stickies, of random scenarios. Something that doesn't need a large backstory, but still has a plot, and that absolutely anyone can just into at any point. This can also help with our general lack of CRP's, over our large amount of SRP's.

Lastly, I'm sure that I can help out with some advertisement in the General Discussions area.

[Sunshine]

Also, I mentioned something about a front page interview and summary of the forums. That do-able or no?

Your best bet for that is to try talking to Bibi on IRC. We might be adding some other new forums (see here), so it's possible he could mention it then, but no guarantees. It might attract the wrong kind of attention or people who would only come for a day and then lose interest, though.

[Aramore]

In the original post

I didn't mean it to point out that, I meant to say that it's a bit weird having proper RP threads in the middle of the discussion.

[Black Mage]

It might attract the wrong kind of attention or people who would only come for a day and then lose interest, though.

This is and has always been my main concern with advertisement on the front, we'd have to decide if it was worth it to have an extreme influx of people of which only a handful would stay. Maybe the pros outnumber the cons, but we'd have to think it through. As well, can't come to IRC lately, hectic RL.