Boosting Activity

[>>Sway<<]

You may choose up to two options.

If you have any other ideas, please post a detailed comment below.

[[Celestic]]

I selected: Active Plot & Liquid Time.

I noticed that when Masina posted in all the packlands and rallied the Alphen leaders things were a bit more active. I think if we all had an active plot (a.k.a. a goal for characters/storyline), things would pick up a bit. Plus liquid time would give people a chance to make multiple topics and post with the same character in different topics. It seems sensible enough to create more activity. If I have any more ideas I will definitely post them.

One other big issue is a lot of the members are really slacking on replying to threads and maintaining activity. We need to find a way to get people active and want to post.

[nomen]

I chose Downsizing and Liquid Time.

Yes, I do agree with Celestic on that point in that that particular thread did get our act together, but, that was only because it was the Alpha's and they needed to reply. Plus most of you Alpha's are staffie's. I did reply, after I sorted out a personal issue at home, but I can remember that very few of my pack members replied at all, one being Dmae (Moonwatcher), and the other a new pack member who hasn't replied since (fairly sure that it was you Sway, if not, my mistake, sorry). Not all new threads are going to solve our problem.

One thing that does help, is Liquid time. As the proud owner of an Alphess myself, I can tell you that being able to be in more threads than one is a time-saver. You don't have to waste your time posting millions of replies while there is a new member waiting for you to reply. This isn't the only occasion in which Liquid Time is useful. Sometimes, due to certain plots, there is a thread which one of my characters needs to be in, but s/he is already engaged in another thread. I then get rather impatient and post poorly, then if the person doesn't reply in time, I drop the thread and move onto the one that I need/want to post in. I'm not afraid to admit it, because I am sure that at one time or another, I have done it to each and everyone of you. This may also turn new members, away. Sad to think that just because we couldn't be in more than one thread at a time, we may have been pushing other members away.

Another thing that might help, is downsizing. I can remember taking one good look at Aelyn Reborn, and thinking, 'Whoever this 'Sway' person is has put too many area's for one to post in.'. To this day, I still think that is true. Not that we should remove and of the parklands, since they are fairly successful in the thought of members in the packs, even if posting is going down. There is a reason I don't create loners often, if ever. There is no one you can really count on to post with. The problem with the loner lands here is that there are way to many! The number of loner lands should always be from 1-4, maybe five if it is important enough to the plot. I know that I have brought this up before, and I'll bring it up again. We need to delete or merge the loner lands because almost no one is posting there (and don't try to say that the meeting of the Alpha's counts because in reality, it really doesn't).

Just a few idea's that you will hopefully mull over.... Hope that this is just a temporary thing, like the last few times!

~Nom

[>>Sway<<]

While I agree with most points, I don't see how downsizing loner lands is really going to change anything. Nobody posts there anyway, most people post in the Packlands. Those were the lands I had considered downsizing due to lack of posting in the most heavily populated areas. Sure, we could downsize in loner lands (Or I could move the loner lands to sub-boards of the packlands they are in, but still have them be loner lands; EX: Fading Oasis moved to Desert, Fallen Ruins moved to Deathlands, etc).

I put liquid time up there as an option, but while I was putting it up there, I already had my mind made up that it would be implemented, so anyone who would like to retract their vote from that and move it elsewhere can.

We need to get more participation in this poll, so if anyone has any other ways of contacting members, please do so!

[[Celestic]]

I don't think downsizing the Loner lands like you said Sway, is the answer. While I do agree with your liquid time point, Nom, I don't agree with that.

Honestly, I think one main problem as to why Aelyn is not active is because a lot of the members (especially the ones with either staff or Alpha positions) are not dedicated enough to helping keep the place active. I know a lot of people have lives, and are busy...but honestly...not only does Sway have a photography business while being a full time mother, but she also has time to post on here. I work almost full time, I'm a full time student and I have my own website to manage yet I still have time to post here. Part of me wonders if it is lack of inspiration, general laziness, or if people legitimately can't handle a couple stressful things in their lives like school and maybe work. Excuses are really beginning to bother me, not gonna lie.

Now I'm not trying to sound rude or anything but if everybody put forth a bit of effort this place would be blossoming. Hell, I know I could even do more here. I think the answer is just coming out and being brutally honest with people.

[>>Sway<<]

Not to mention dealing with a Soldier's schedule, the housework and cleaning that comes with being a home maker, keeping any amount of social life and expecting another baby on the way.

I think that EVERYONE could put a little bit more effort, including myself (Which I've begun to do.. Edited stats and stuff already!). This is why I sent out the PM mentioning shuffling up the staff a bit if I don't start to see some real participation. I also think that if we downsized anything, that it would have to be the packlands because that's where the bulk of our activity usually is. If we make fewer packlands, packs would be larger and we'd have more interaction and chances to RP if we really want to downsize. AKA, if we downsize, it would be both loner lands AND packlands.

I'm going to implement LIquid Time, like I said in my previous post, so feel free to retract your vote there and re-submit it elsewhere

[[Celestic]]

I think downsizing the loner lands into sub-forums is a pretty good idea now that I think about it. They'd still be existing at least.

Again along with the active plot. I feel like the reason why most people did not participate in the previous active plot on the Old Aelyn is because they did not know how to involve themselves. Perhaps this time we should create a "How To" topic for involving a character in an active plot. It isn't that difficult but I think a lot of people are afraid sometimes in regard to involving themselves. Perhaps we should have a plot that will affect the entirety of Aelyn more profoundly than something more limited to a specific region if AR. If that makes sense.

[>>Sway<<]

I already have some plots in mind for that sort of idea... its just a matter of getting more opinions and input when it comes to just about anything related to Aelyn and its current state.

[[Celestic]]

What sort of plots?

[>>Sway<<]

You think I'm going to spoil everything? You'll have to see like everyone else, although I'll probably discuss them in the staff area at one point or another. Not any plots like Lucid... >.>

[[Celestic]]

Well yeah. Well hopefully we'll get more input here. So far it's been like you and me talking. X__X

[nomen]

Lol, well I would except I couldn't come on to check yesterday. Don't ask me why, but let's say I didn't get to showers and bed until around midnight.

I agree with maybe putting the loner lands into suboards, but what packs specifically would we cut. This is where it becomes hard because I would hate to have Akyrie cut just because some members in my pack aren't active or are needed somewhere else. Are we thinking of cutting the alpha-less one's only? Just checked and the only pack that is actually alpha-less is the tunneller.

As with effort, well, yes, I know for certain that I need to put loads more effort in considering right now, I'm only generally on during weekends when I make sure that I do. This is partially because of school and hw, and maybe a little bit because of laziness. I did just get out of half-term so this week the teachers are going super-easy, but next week and for the next six weeks until he end of Michaelmas Term, it's going to most likely be weekends only, although if I do get a free moment, I will be on, 100% guarantee.

(Last time I posted here I was super angry about something, so I'm sorry if I sounded harsh or anything like that)

~Nom

[[Moonwatcher]]

Ugghh....

I'm so sorry to everyone who's been on here more frequently than I have. And I hate to say that I was being lazy, which was only a small fraction, but I was being a little reluctant of coming back on. I guess I had expected nothing to happen, which is what is happening and that makes me really really upset. And I suppose that it's because people are leaving or doing what I did, which was nothing.

So I would like to apologize. My life has become much less hectic and stressful : School, sports, bucket-loads of homework, relationships/friends... DRAMA. But, it's all starting to calm down now and I'm very much looking forward to waking all of my characters back up.

As for boosting activity, I think it's important for us to set good examples and post more frequently! {emphasis on the "!"} I know that it's much more appealing to open Aelyn up and see that there's an active spot to post, so maybe that's all we really need.

Of course, there's much more than just member lazyness/unattentiveness. But I think if we just start posting more often, the site will attract more attention and we could gain more members. And that was why I chose that we should come up with an active plot. An INTERESTING plot. Something that could be fun and involving, and something that could intrigue new members or guests. Maybe a huge conspiracy or an evil wolf gaining minions {or zombie unicorns! } But what I'm really saying is that it may make posting easier if members have an idea of what to post and what guidelines to follow. I know I would really enjoy having a plot to follow; something for my characters to be involved in.

I hope my ideas, ranting, etc. are of any use. And I promise to be here much more often. I know me being off in space won't help the site, and I would hate to see it go forever.

[[Pokeapache]]

• I think downsizing a bit would be good... the packlands could still be there, but perhaps have something chase the wolves currently living there out or make it impossible for wolves to live there at the moment (lack of food, or some such) ... That way, when activity goes up again, a brave handfull of wolves can adventure back into the territories.

  This would probably be good for the packs that haven't gotten any posts in them for a while, and furthermore if a couple of wolves in those packs aren't sure what to post, the uprooting should be plenty of muse, right? ..

  
  
  
• As far as I'm concerned, though, the site won't pick up activity unless EVERYONE tries, and to be 100% honest with you, if no one works towards that with us it won't happen. I believe EVERYONE already understands this however, so simply saying that everyone needs to try harder to ACHIEVE this.
  

  THEREFORE maybe we could have a day where if people post, they get
  extra ancestor tears or
  maybe get a free...something from the store?
  

  Ancestor tears might work well. Maybe we could have this once every week or two weeks, make it like a random day of the week and people have to come on to the site and find out what it is and then POST and it'll definitely help activity.
  

  [To make the above suggestion more powerful, take suggestions as to what should be added to the store!]

  
  
  
• Also I think we need to do a nice culling of what wolves are actually still active =__= I mean if there really is an average of 6-7 wolves in each pack how come no one is POSTING? tsk. I think my idea of making some packlands UNINHABITABLE for a while could assist with this.

My thoughts.

Again, sorry for not being on. I like to think I'm one of the more active members but I've had a hard time, I'm sure everyone has. It's not a good time of the year for roleplaying (I've seen these declines in activity across every site, year after year.) .. Still, when I came to Aelyn, the activity wasn't even good while we were still in Summer, so...

[[Cere]]

Ok, so maybe I’m not exactly the right person to be saying this seeing as I haven’t really been active since I joined to the new site (time issues). Buut, I’d still like to give my input in this matter if it doesn’t bother you all, just trying to help.
I’m just going to be blunt and just blurt out what I think, I’m sorry in advance if I offend someone or someone’s work, it’s not at all what I intended to do (just saying, not because what I’m about to say is offensive but because I tend to say too much … Precautions lol).

Well, I think that the right initiatives are being taken to try and keep the site afloat, however that might not actually be the problem to begin with. Actually I think that the actual issue is that things are being done in the wrong order. What I mean is … how could one expect a brilliant idea, which coincidentally needs the participation of many, to work if there’s no one to put it to use?

I see many ideas to get the site moving, like contests, plots, etc … Things that need people to participate in them in order to work. Now, that’s not a bad thing, but the issue I see here is: are there really enough active members around to make it work?
From what I’ve noticed there’s like 4-5 recurring active members tops (and I am not counting myself amongst them). Not saying that’s particularly bad if each member can hold a hadful of wolves on their own, but having a few more wouldn’t hurt right?

And with this I’m not saying I’m against plots and stuff, it’s quite the contrary, those are really needed to spice things up a bit. Even if they aren’t big and world changing plots, even small and trivial ones can make for very interesting threads for a while. With small and trivial I mean things like forces of nature, I don’t know, storms, landslides, droughts, etc … Even wild life encounters, like ... uhm … a bear ventures into a pack’s den for example (just saying random stuff).

But well, going back to the point … what I was trying to say before I started with the plots is that we should try to get more new members to join. There’s nothing bad in being a few, but there’s nothing bad in trying to get as much people interested as possible as well. Maybe a plot could be started so that people that just joined actually has something to participate in, but beginning and most important part would be making the site attractive to newcomers.

• One of the things that I’ve noticed that catches a lot of attention is the site’s appearance. People tends to be more attracted to a pretty, fancy looking layout (myself included when I first joined Aelyn, and after that I just couldn’t leave xD). Some will even stop just to say how pretty the site is, meaning that there’s a higher chance of people stopping by and eventually staying for good.
  
• That’s just the beginning though. Another thing that should follow the site’s appearance is the site’s content, what’s going on in it and all. That is one thing Aelyn has never lacked for the time I’ve been around, but it’s not because of that that it should be neglected. That’s why I was saying that getting a plot started, even a small one, could be interesting, that way newcomers see that there actually is something going on and they might be interested in joining.
  
• Let’s not forget that all of this is useless without a good advertising campaign. This goes the others way around too though, you might advertise as much as you want, but if those small elements that attracts people aren’t there it might not work as well as it should.
  About this I have a small idea. Since we don’t want to just expect the staff to do everything on their own, and we all love contests … Why not start an advertising contest? That way both staff and regular members do the job, and we get something else from it than new members (like fun … and Ancestor’s Tears maybe?).

My thoughts only.


About the ideas already presented in the poll. I think all but one of them are good, and that’s allowing multiple leadership positions. Simply because eventually this tends to be seen as unfair by the members, specially when you end up with a single member holding like 4 alpha positions or so. Eventually this might lead to conflict and losing good active members because of it. So yeah, I don’t think that one is particularly beneficial.
As for the others … I support them all.

For the downsizing, I particularly agree with this …

Nov 8, 2011 15:38:51 GMT -6 [Pokeapache] said:

• I think downsizing a bit would be good... the packlands could still be there, but perhaps have something chase the wolves currently living there out or make it impossible for wolves to live there at the moment (lack of food, or some such) ... That way, when activity goes up again, a brave handfull of wolves can adventure back into the territories.

  This would probably be good for the packs that haven't gotten any posts in them for a while, and furthermore if a couple of wolves in those packs aren't sure what to post, the uprooting should be plenty of muse, right? ..

This could really make things interesting, instead of just closing up random lands and stuff.


As for myself. I said it before and I’ll say it again: I’ll really try to get active again, like in good old days. I actually have a character half done, just a matter of finishing it now. Thins is my career is killing me, which is why you don’t see me here often. But really, I’ll try to make some time, because well, considering the circumstances I wouldn’t still be here if didn’t like rping here.