OPERATION WAKE-UP!

[PuNk! ™]

OPERATION WAKE-UP!

[/u][/b][/size]

Alrighty-then!

It seems a lot of people have lost their way over the past month? I know I'm awesome and all, but I hoped activity wouldn't be much of an issue for the avid members here. I think you were all missing me too much - am I right?

Well let's commence Operation Wake-Up and slap some feet back into action. Well done to those who have lingered and attempted to enjoy the forum during this morbid time, must have been difficult, but let's try and put some life back into the forum for everyone overall.

First-off, let's debate our options.

The Awesome Idea List:

• Skill-Point Update, yes this is still in the swing of things and may be implemented before Christmas, assuming we have members to implement it for and staff willing to put a dab hand in.
  
  
• Games, I know most of these games fail pretty quickly, but if you can think of any exciting games to be had on the forum, post your ideas and if they're good enough, perhaps you'll be given the chance to give them a whirl.
  
  
• Competitions, with Christmas around the corner, I expect everyone to start getting a little festive over the next few weeks. In aid of getting into the spirit, some competitions will be hosted for you guys to win awesome prizes.
  

If you think of ideas to get this place back on it's feet again, by all means, go ahead and post them! This is a community based effort and hopefully we are able to create an enjoyable and active atmosphere once more. I understand people are deemed busy at the best of times, but we can only try - right?
~Danny

[Leeroy Atherton]

First, I'm in retirement from IO RP for the moment, but I've been lurking lately and saw this thread. I think it's a great step in the right direction to encourage what you're encouraging.

Second, you need to advertise. This is one of the LEAST advertised boards I've ever seen. If you want to stay on the radar, you need to post advertisements on other boards, put out the word in RPG directories, and then some. Affiliates? Don't have to have them to get publicity, just people willing to spread the word in a non-spammy way.

Third, you might want to set up a referral system. For X number of people someone recruits, for example, you get a free non-tank vehicle of your choice from the shop. Or, if you prefer, a certain CP amount for every X number of people. I've seen it used on other sites, and it can encourage people to help keep the site activity up, if just to make things worthwhile.

Fourth, more people need to start roleplaying. Yes, we only have a handful of members, but a handful is better than nothing. People will NOT touch boards they see as mostly inactive; we haven't had posts in certain boards for months. This site is huge, it has a lot of potential, but without member activity to fill it, it looks confusing and empty.

Fifth, you've got to make yourselves stand out. "Why should I join this board?" is what everyone asks themselves. "What's there for me if it looks inactive anyways?" What about the MIA staff? Perhaps if people do not come back, and they hold staff positions, they should be removed from their duties. Boards not commonly used? Why not try and make storylines that involve those boards as well as more popular ones?


Just some food for your brain, like tuna. With less mercury, of course.

~Addie

[Matthaeus Hinrichs]

I agree with Addie...

~Adam

[PuNk! ™]

Nov 20, 2011 16:12:10 GMT Leeroy Atherton said:

First, I'm in retirement from IO RP for the moment, but I've been lurking lately and saw this thread. I think it's a great step in the right direction to encourage what you're encouraging.

Second, you need to advertise. This is one of the LEAST advertised boards I've ever seen. If you want to stay on the radar, you need to post advertisements on other boards, put out the word in RPG directories, and then some. Affiliates? Don't have to have them to get publicity, just people willing to spread the word in a non-spammy way.

Third, you might want to set up a referral system. For X number of people someone recruits, for example, you get a free non-tank vehicle of your choice from the shop. Or, if you prefer, a certain CP amount for every X number of people. I've seen it used on other sites, and it can encourage people to help keep the site activity up, if just to make things worthwhile.

Fourth, more people need to start roleplaying. Yes, we only have a handful of members, but a handful is better than nothing. People will NOT touch boards they see as mostly inactive; we haven't had posts in certain boards for months. This site is huge, it has a lot of potential, but without member activity to fill it, it looks confusing and empty.

Fifth, you've got to make yourselves stand out. "Why should I join this board?" is what everyone asks themselves. "What's there for me if it looks inactive anyways?" What about the MIA staff? Perhaps if people do not come back, and they hold staff positions, they should be removed from their duties. Boards not commonly used? Why not try and make storylines that involve those boards as well as more popular ones?


Just some food for your brain, like tuna. With less mercury, of course.

~Addie

I understand a lot of people are busy, I was (and have been) for the past five weeks, sadly it happens to the best of us, I know.

In regard to Affiliates/Advertising; the forum is on several RPG directories, but could probably do with a refreshment advertise however, that was a few years ago now and affiliate wise, well, that's never happened. Mainly because I didn't enjoy the irritating marquee at the bottom of the page (was on the previous board, Obeying Orders) and it seemed to encourage a lot of trolls and spamming bots for some odd reason.

It's worth a shot again, perhaps.

Liking the idea of rewarding those who encourage friends or people to join the forum however, but I see this becoming abused quickly, it's not hard to pretend being someone else on the forum.

I don't feel the role playing aspect is too shabby, I'm a culprit myself for not role playing half as much as I would like too, but from a personal perspective, my imagination and muse become sparse.

Overall, great suggestions Addie.
I'll definitely take the affiliate and advertising into consideration, if you'd like to help with this, by all means I'd be happy for it.
~Danny

[Leeroy Atherton]

Nov 20, 2011 22:26:57 GMT PuNk! ™ said:

I understand a lot of people are busy, I was (and have been) for the past five weeks, sadly it happens to the best of us, I know.

That point I agree with. I, too, am a victim, hence my retirement.

Nov 20, 2011 22:26:57 GMT PuNk! ™ said:

In regard to Affiliates/Advertising; the forum is on several RPG directories, but could probably do with a refreshment advertise however, that was a few years ago now and affiliate wise, well, that's never happened. Mainly because I didn't enjoy the irritating marquee at the bottom of the page (was on the previous board, Obeying Orders) and it seemed to encourage a lot of trolls and spamming bots for some odd reason.

It's worth a shot again, perhaps.

That's common with any boards that allow guests to post. Is there any way to code or to have it so that posts in that section don't appear until a staff pre-approves them? Or, you could just have members only post, but only after they have posted X amount of times in the RP areas.

Nov 20, 2011 22:26:57 GMT PuNk! ™ said:

Liking the idea of rewarding those who encourage friends or people to join the forum however, but I see this becoming abused quickly, it's not hard to pretend being someone else on the forum.

Understandable. This is an idea that maybe should be left as a last option.

Nov 20, 2011 22:26:57 GMT PuNk! ™ said:

I don't feel the role playing aspect is too shabby, I'm a culprit myself for not role playing half as much as I would like too, but from a personal perspective, my imagination and muse become sparse.

That's not at all a problem. My point is, we should at LEAST try to encourage new storylines to explore. What about parts of WWII that haven't been as explored, like the Balkan campaigns?

[☭ Joseph Petrov]

I think some good points have points have been made.

Here's my 2¢

I hate ads. I really hate them. However they can sometimes be a necessary evil.

And, I think something like the Balkans campaign would be nice, but who would play the Balkan nations? I.E. Yugoslavia?

~Joe

Edit: As far as contests go, free stuff is always good!
Perhaps something like:

Two teams,

Givin a list of possible questions like this:

German Equipment for 1 to 10 points.

They a get one day to answer the question (or hours?)

Say they end up winning with a score of 31. Each member gets to pick one item (not thirty soviet conscripts...) from the shop.

Hm?

But then there's the possibility of people using Wikipedia or other such things. Just an idea though.

[Leeroy Atherton]

What about Balkan nations still part of the Soviet Union, and Soviet campaigns around the area? We have neutral characters that could serve as rebels and/or onlookers, the Soviets as one side, and of course, the Nazis trying to take them over.

[Sgt. John Walters]

If we do a Balkans campaign, I would be more than happy to make a Chetnik character.

[Dirk Riedel]

What about parts of WWII that haven't been as explored, like the Balkan campaigns?

YES.

But it is tricky playing Balkan characters, we are so sultry here in the south! The Yugoslav front would be most interesting to play, although quite complicated since there are many nations and cultures in the federation. It would be compelling to give it a shot, however.

This has already been mentioned before in another thread (I believe it was Mac who first suggested it) but I think a site-wide plot that will include many site characters would be a thrill and an incentive for an activity boost; characters could be of various professions, backgrounds and allegiances, which would create for some dramatic and unforeseen moments between opposing teams. Or then, why are some characters not used? Perhaps write down some of their characteristics so that in this case we can combine together such characters which are not on the spotlight and give them an opportunity to be in RP with one another.

I'm not sure if the problem here lies so much with respect to advertising techniques. It is not only that new members are scarce any more, but also that the old ones are rather less active. That is not an advertising problem. I believe some kind of initiative of a more united plot would help boost this ongoing inactivity. After all, the site is not only battles but also neutral posts. Those are very important, too. There is no use setting up large battle plans when they are never followed through, in any case.

And I don't mean any offense, of course, PuNk, but the OOC games, yes, we don't need more of them. They do not help with activity, they are irrelevant, and might then falsely give off the impression of activity when in truth there has been no actual post for quite some time. I have seen this happen in another site already. This site has been designed and preserved with quite a lot of effort and time (the shop alone!) that it is undeserving to see its activity reduced to a batch of spamming games.

So yes, some initiative must be taken with regard to plot and characters - perhaps some RPers feel they have no one to post with or that their characters are useless? Should set up some thread where everyone can post complaints about unused characters, possible plots, RPers they would fancy interacting with, ways to combine other characters together. Maybe have a little therapy session to see what RP problems each one has! "Hi, I'm Mitzi, and I'm obsessed with trying to behead characters!" I just believe the first step with regard to activity is not so much to attract new ones but to preserve the sleeping beauties that is the old members. And then perhaps fix the site layout a bit, like for instance, why exactly do we need a category of finished threads instead of having each thread to their corresponding board?

Of course, that is just my friendly advice, take it or leave it!

[Mac Bargett]

Personally, I would be more active if the cbox was also active. I almost got distracted away from this post, even.

And I think that games have their place, to help busy people remember IO for when they are not as busy. Someone busy with work/school and who doesn't have time for normal rping isn't going to start coming to the site because of bigger rps. But like Maria said, they are a false sense of activity. I think it would do the site good to have a single game that is quick and easy, and doesn't take too much time to do.

[Leeroy Atherton]

The problem with metaplots, Mitzi, is that they have more holes than Swiss cheese when people start dropping off. If we do have a metaplot, we should have it revolve around a concept, not a set of characters. If multiple characters are involved, then the RPers should agree to what they'll do and not do if people drop out.

An example: lets say there's an outbreak of disease due to terrible conditions behind the front lines. It spreads like a wildfire across the region, and people are sick and dying. Characters would not need to come together to RP this; rather, they'd hear about it, they'd talk about it, they'd experience it, but even if they drop out of the plot, there is still plot territory to tread.

And finally, a Balkan storyline was just an idea. I'd also like to see something that takes place around the Arctic Circle, on the Channel Islands, in Greece, in South Africa...loads of places. We just need RPers willing. AND, to add to that, diversity on the site would also help; we have loads of characters from Britain and Germany and the U.S., but hardly anywhere else. When was the last time we had a character from Manx, or India, or the Canary Islands?

[PuNk! ™]

Some great ideas flowing here and I always relish feedback to make this place a more enjoyable environment on the whole. Some of the things that have been suggested however, are unavoidable and have been tasked with in the past; simply haven't worked unfortunately.

Members going inactive is always going to happen, most of the time it is duly our duty to keep people entertained for as long as possible, but the rest is down to the individual to either maintain a paced activeness or fly under the radar for a while. By that I mean, bugger-off.

The staff (and members alike) put a lot of effort into the forum to keep regular updates in the pipeline, but it has grown to a point where I think we're punching above our weight at times. We're capable of fulfilling the work, we just don't have the hours, patience and dedication within our days to kick these updates out instantly. So they drag on and on.

I don't have the time to respond to all the feedback above, but by all means I have read all your comments and I agree fully on some of the points made.

• Storyline Campaign:

[/b]
This is a brilliant idea and something that has never happened before, really. On a member scale, yes, I've witnessed and participated in some member helmed story campaigns, but why look to the staff to host these? These aren't necessarily staff inclined to host, but if it would help boost the popularity of such a story campaign, then staff intervention could happen.

I do like this idea, but these don't ideally require staff time to host and create.

[/li][li] Mini-Games:[/b]
I completely agree with your Maria, the mini-games can be laborious and awful, but as a one-man army (or so I feel currently) as one of the last active posting staff members currently, there's not an awful lot I can achieve on my own. The spamming and mini-game threads were simply created to help combat boredom or even just to keep a regular post occurring somewhere on the forum, at least.

JT is going to be MIA for a while, maybe until January (so he told me last night) and the few remaining active heads amongst the staff, are in disarray at the moment. Nobody's fault, other than general life and the likes foreboding us any real time online, it happens.
[/li][/ul]

The only real peace offering I can bring to the table (from a personal perspective at this current time) is the means to help boost activity as best I can and keep those lingering, active. I am open to all feedback and more so, all help offered during this morbid time. I will be trying my best to appease everyone, hey, I may even start a story-based campaign myself and attempt to entwine everyone into such a story based role play, but like I said before, these don't have to be staff fuelled to work.

I'll try responding to anything I missed out a little later, I am rush-typing this, because the clock is against me.
~Danny

[Mac Bargett]

How about turn the megaplot into a contest? Say, every decebt rp post gives a point to that character, and whoever reaches X amount of points first, wins. In character the points could be considered distance, for instance, London is 0 and Berlin is 50. The Allies start in London and need to get to Berlin and kill Hitler before the Axis (who gets negative points, since they are so evil) get to London and do the same to Churchill. Or maybe the Resistence have hijacked a Nazi train filled with gold, and the Axis and Allies race from the same starting point, the frontlines, to capture it. Perhaps a certain pilot is shot down OVER THE BALKANS and is hunted down by German and Soviet alike for some important information he carries. Probably not that one, since it would involve me being active.

[☭ Joseph Petrov]

Nov 22, 2011 15:53:31 GMT Mac Bargett said:

Probably not that one, since it would involve me being active.

Uh-oh! Mac being active? Whoever heard of such a ghastly thing as that?

Ahem, well, the idea is interesting. And worth thinking about. I'm more for something like a board-wide thread that's not a contest. Still an interesting idea though.

[PuNk! ™]

Mac... Let's keep it simple for now, whenever plots are made too complicated, espically during morbid times like these, they will fall flat on their face.

On another note, everyone interested in making a saga of epic lots, go here:

>>> CLICKY <<<

~Danny