Site Suggestions

[Eili­s of the Forest]

Hey guys! I know that both of you are pretty busy and you do a great job in maintaining this site. Just wanted to post a few suggestions that I've come up with after a few days of navigating through the site. Hope you don't mind!

Information

• RP Sources. There is a lot of great info under the main information boards, but I have seen at least two threads posted by members (one is an rp source and the other a swordplay source). Maybe these threads could be moved to the 'Laws of the Land' board to make it easier for newbies like me to find? They're super helpful, and it's a bit time consuming to have to navigate back to them when you have a lot of tabs open to post.
  
• Sub-Boards. Sub-boards are great for defining different areas of a place for rp, but when it comes to information it is much easier for new people when it's all in one place. Maybe instead of having three sub-boards in the 'Laws of the Land' board you could have one thread called something like 'Rules and Regulations' which has all of that info and one called 'Site information' which could include the current site information plus info on the factions. This board could then include maybe one sub-board for 'sources', or these could be another thread?
  
• Active Characters/Face Claim/Threads. I know there are threads up for an activity check and a face claim, but I've noticed these haven't been updated for a while. This is no reflection on the staff, and I think you all do a wonderful job keeping up with everything when you have uni/jobs as well as coming here to entertain us! However, from a member's perspective these things are quite important. Often when making a new character or thinking of joining I will check to see what kind of characters a site already has and then work that to my advantage. The activity check doesn't seem to have been followed up on and I think there are a lot of old characters still in the 'approved' sub-folder. If you don't wish to delete them maybe you could create a sub-board for them and move them there; that way if that particular member comes back they haven't lost their work. Old threads clog up the boards and make it harder to navigate through. Maybe you could either do a mass board cleaning and delete them or move them to an 'inactive' sub-board in the archives so that they can be resurrected if the members involved felt like it down the track? The Face Claim list could maybe have links to movies from the same kind of genre to assist people in finding celebs that are most appropriate?

Plot

• I know there is a plot page already that outlines the major things happening across the lands. This is great for a broad overview, but it's really hard as a new member to get a feel for the dynamics between so many characters and trying to decide where yours might slot in. Maybe we could have a thread that members can post quick blurbs in about what their character is doing so we have a really freshly updated plot thread? The best part about this is that you guys wouldn't have to update it!
  
• Something fun that we could have would be like a Town Crier thread where either the mods or members can post snippets of gossip. Such gossip need not necessarily be true. Heh!

Aside from those things, I think this is the best site I've seen in a long time! I really really love how you do the training threads â€" its incredibly unique and the system works wonderfully from what I've seen of it so far. Everyone is so friendly and helpful here that I'm really looking forward to getting further into the rp with my characters. It's a credit to you all. ^_^

[Chase Caldera]

Well I just thought that it would be good for there to be more than one opinion for the Admins to see. Although mine isn't nearly as elagant as Eilas's

RP sources:While I agree that those would be useful(I never knew that there was a swordplay source) but I don't really think that they should be put in the laws of the land area since that should be reserved for the most important information. However I do agree that we should do something with them although I don't know what.

Sub-Boards:Honestly I like them. Sure they do go a little overboard with them but in general I like being able to easily find all the information. It makes it easier for those of us who just want to go back and look at one small piece of information we don't have to figure where in a large thread it is.

Active Characters/Face Claim/Threads. mixed opinions here. It is necessary for the Face claim thread to be regularly upgraded but honestly I think activity checks are pretty pointless. Especially frequent ones. I think that we shouldn't get ride of old accounts permanently unless absolutely necessary. Just cause we have had several older members come back recently which might not have happened if their accounts were destroyed. However a cleaning of the apps and old threads might be useful.

Plot: Honestly I like what we have with plot right now. While quick blurbs are fun in theory in practice it makes the thread so long that no prospective member wants to read it. Having said that a thread that summarizes important stuff that influences the whole site is a good idea. Anyway isn't your idea basically the character journal that we already have?
Town Crier could be interesting or really boring depending on how it is done. Just to be brutally honest.

Still this site is my favourite site and I love almost everything about it from the awesome members to the even more awesome Admins. The plot and idea is simply awesome ;D

[Cosette Moreau.]

Okay, I'll be honest, I didn't read half of what you wrote in your post Eilis (Sorry!)
But I do have some pretty strong opinions on Face Claims.
I do think the Face claims should be updated as frequently as possible, I know a lot of people put play-by names in their application, and most often they're not transfered to the face claim thread. I think it's a pain in the ass to have to look through accepted character apps to see if your claim is taken.

I also think that activity checks are necessary, and that if a person doesn't reply to one, then their character should be removed, or suspended, or what the hell ever, and their face claim should be removed from the list, since they're not "active"

I know I wanted to use Gemma Arterton for Cailean but I couldn't use her because the person didn't reply to the activity check saying they'd be inactive. I feel like I got screwed because someone who hasn't been around for months, in the first place, didn't say they were leaving. There are a lot of good face claims on that list that SHOULD be open, but aren't because of how the activity checks work.

Hope that all makes sense.

[Chase Caldera]

Yes while I agree with you that the face claim board should be updated I still think that activity checks are pointless. Many of us do not know exactly how life is going to be and may be forced to drop out for a couple of months and forget to tell others or just need to get away for awhile it happens to everyone. I still stand by the fact that many of them come back. Look at Casalynn she came back and is active again now. Anyway its not that hard to find actors that look similar.

[Cosette Moreau.]

Not to take anything away from her return, but she's like one in how many? I use to admin some forums and I can't even count the number of times people dropped it with no intention to return, be it over real life issues, or just because they're sick of it.

Cripes, I can't even count how many times I've dropped forums without a word.

What I guess I'm saying is; it's not commonplace for people to give notice when they decide to quit a forum.

Edit;
Plus most people like to have period-accurate models depending on the forum they're on, and for a ye olde england site such as this one, sometimes finding a model can be difficult. *Shrugs*

[Eili­s of the Forest]

Chase: With the threads replacing the sub-boards it's possible to have the first entry as a directory with links to posts within the thread. That way everything is one click away instead of spread over two or three sub-boards? Just an idea.

With the Activity checks, I don't think they're pointless at all! Imagine someone playing Merlin (just an example) that hadn't logged on in forever but not reopening the character for someone who would play him just because you didn't feel like doing an activity check? I believe they're a great way to assess which characters are still around but - more importantly - which aren't so that we can fill voids of certain classes/genders/factions more easily.

In relation to the plot thread I suggested, I really don't think a long thread would be offputting. Then again, it depends on the member, doesn't it? I kid you not, I've read all the important threads on this site, plus a fair few rp threads as well as working my way the whole way through the 'This or That?' game thread. Then again, I've had time on my hands the last couple days. LOL! And you can't just say that a Town Crier would be potentially boring 'depending on how it was done' and not go into detail! How do you think we could make it interesting?

Cosette: I agree with you completely.

[Princess Sophia Lyonesse]

I most definitely agree on the activity check. To those who do not reply, a PM could be sent asking if they are still interested. If there is no reply to that, then the characters could be removed and archived, just in case they decide to return.

In my experience with my own games and others I have been involved in, most players who are inactive for more than three months do not return.

Also, many players like a smaller RPG, and the sight of so many characters may discourage potential members. It is often more difficult to get involved in a game with tons of players. So by removing those characters that are no longer active, you might get some new members who are.

Just my humble two euro-cents.

[Merlin Emrys]

Hey guys, some of these points are really good ones, and myself, Arthur and the other admins will definitely talk about making some changes/updates in the staff board!

Unfortunately, I'm going away on holiday this evening (I know I've been pretty absent this summer, but last month was for a job, this is strictly pleasure!) Whilst I'm sure the hotel will have internet access, I'll only be able to get on a couple of times a week and it's not fair to leave making all these changes to Arthur, so I can't promise any big changes will happen in the next few weeks! When I get back from holiday, me and Arthur are planning on having a meet up (in real life *gasp*) and so we can spend the day sorting out the board, old characters and generally having a spring (summer) clean.

Please keep putting your suggested changes up here, a board is only as good as its members and (cliched as it sounds) your opinions matter to us.

Merlin x.

[Eili­s of the Forest]

Enjoy your hols, Merlin! Hope you're going somewhere fabulous!

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Wow, you lot have been busy!

Its gonna take me a while to get through all the comments, so i apologise if this post is a billion lines long (and is a bit repetitive and makes no sense! )

Firstly, the rules
We have laid out our rules and rp guidelines as we think would be easiest for our members and although that might not suit everybody, we cant please everyone (despite wanting to!)
It was actually our intention to set up links within this, to the factions etc but the site took off so suddenly (we made this in nov 08 i think....didnt do much until 09 and then BAM members!) and we, like you mentioned above, do have work etc so just havent thought about it since.
I expect we will have a look through and add these in when we have our meet up

In regards to the swordplay source etc
These were made by members of the site, whether from scratch or lifted from other places. These are therefore in the help and suggestions section, where they should be. Perhaps again, we could link to these but when we set the site up, they were not there and this was not possible. Maybe we will add a section to our rules where members can post these in future.

Sub boards.
I am not really sure how it is easier to have everything in one place...like Chase says, anyone who needs to check one minor detail won't want to check through everything again and if someone wants to read the rules, i personally think it would be easier to know which section you were about to read. Again this is all personal preference and we will have a chat.

Old threads
Firstly, we archive any old threads as we find them. If we are not going fast enough for you, we apologise but i really dont think this is going to put people off joining. If anything, bare boards look worse as we look like an inactive site! But again, we are working on it.

Applications of members who are no longer active-
We like to keep all of our members in one place so people can see which names have been used and make sure their character isn't too much like an older one etc. Maybe it is easier to keep the older ones in a subcategory, but then surely that makes it more difficult to see the names that have been taken?

And it may well be that "if they are inactive then who cares?" But we do not like to close accounts unless we have confirmation from that person, because people may well come back. I've done it and been annoyed that my account has been deleted/moved into an archive. The hassle it causes is not worth it and if admin arent around it might put those members off again.
And please do nto worry about clogging up the boards, that is for us to worry about

That being said, there are now some members who probably will never come back and some who never really posted anyway. Those i can look through and delete if i think it is necessary but please leave that up to us!
We had already planned on sending an activity check email at the end of summer anyway, and doing another activty check thread- this is how we let our members know who is active. Not by deleting them once they have been gone for a while

Face claim/play-bys
I have had so many people complaining about play-bys, isnt this site more about the writing? It doesnt have to be a famous person who is used- find a random person on deviantart (i always do this!) if you cant choose a celebrity.
But even if you do want a celeb for signatures etc- theres millions and just using a head shouldnt be too difficult with all our excellent artists here.
The face claim thread is updated as often as Morgana can manage it, this role was given to her and we actually ask people somewhere in the character app/rules to pm her...very few new members do this! Im not going to lie though, i accept people and forget usually, and since giving this to Morgana I havent checked it. So its something we will try harder on.

We will also discuss taking people out of the face claim thread (although if we get behind on this is everyone going to complain again?) but no promises!

Plot
Your "blurb" idea, is what our journal section is for. We dont make this compulsory because so many of our members dont have time and dont want to spend time on this. We also leave it open for creativity on how it is written. It might be an idea to create a thread where each member has a post and can update this whenever a new event happens, or one where we write in main events that have ocurred recently. I will talk to Merlin and may also create a poll to see what all of our members think.

I like the town crier idea though! I might put this in a sidebox instead though because it will be easier to see, and they need a fresh update anyway! It would be more of a general "what is going on in camelot?" style though...things like illness, marriages (NPC) etc that can then be used in posts



As a final note, our site is what it is.
We aren't trying to be like the last site you adminned, or "that site you went on once", we are a small cosy site and if we're a bit messy round the edges its how we like it!!!
I know you guys have a lots of great ideas, but some of these posts felt very like "point out all of the admins faults" and we do try our hardest!
If you want a perfect site, we never will be! We want everyone to be happy, but most of the problems seem to be things that affect new members and not so much yourselves.

As i have mentioned though, we will discuss everything, and while i feel at the moment not everything needs to change, we always like to keep things fresh and new.

You have also got to consider that while a few of you like things done a certain way, we have a lot of others who don't see a problem with how things are done or might not like your way. Also, getting new members and worrying about how the site looks are our jobs, and while we may not be the most efficient and organised admins, we love our site and just want everyone to have a good time- whether people get put off before they join because our members area is busy, isn't our main priority im afraid!

We do really appreciate all your comments though, ideas like the town crier ones are great and we are always looking for new ways to make the site more interesting. The quest threads were suggested by someone (i apologise i cant remember who!) so we do take your ideas into careful consideration and use them!
Thanks for all your comments

[Eili­s of the Forest]

I actually thought I was quite complimentary in my post! But no biggie. I didn't mean to offend anyone or raise anything contentious.