Roger Davis
Marine Commander Staff
34 Years Old Major Aerilon Native
[brw1775|militaryapps]Sic Loquimur Omnes
Posts: 873
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Post by Roger Davis on Jul 3, 2013 14:53:04 GMT -5
Hello everyone. I hope I'm not being alarmist by writing this, but our activity has plummeted again. Some people have slowly drifted off, others have stopped abruptly, others have completely lost their muse, and some of the remaining few (i.e. me and Abby) just went on vacation bringing RP to a halt.
Obviously this is a huge problem. I'm interested in getting the RP flowing again, dragging people back, inspiring the uninspired, etc. However, I've also been giving thought to something else: a hard reboot of the site. Either start with a whole new site or just archive most things.
Here begins the tl;dr reasoning. First, some things in our site history are contradictory, unexplained, confusing, etc. I'd like to get us a fresh start and try to make things as smooth as possible.
Second, our rules, applications, lists, forum format, etc. could use an overhaul.
Third, I want the story slowed down a bit. We were really pushing along which was only worsened by out time skips. We're nearly 150 days into the RP with only three major engagements. In a reboot I'd try to have days that are more full (i.e. days with more like ten threads rather than just one). Major action would be sightly increased on a thread to action ratio but greatly increased on a day to action ratio.
Fourth, and most important, major positions of power and concentrated too greatly/they are in the hands of people who are not nearly active enough. Many of these people have been great to the site and are valuable members of the community so I mean absolutely no offense, but we can't have one character who has bursts of activity and then great unexpected and unannounced absences as the leader of both the Fleet, the mini Hades plot line, and also the Criminal underworld. When he drops off then naturally everything he touches also comes to a halt. Sid is the greatest example but he is not the only one.
What would a reboot entail? 1) All characters (and many ships) can be kept with the exception of their post-attack histories. They can also be tweaked slightly if you realized months later you wanted something changed or better explained. I'll try and make the approval of all current characters swift and easy.
2) Pre-Cylon Attack Backstory. I know tons of people would have liked to be with the Hyperion from the start, have more developed relationships from earlier, not be a replacement to a higher position but the original, etc. This is your chance. I would also work on setting it up to make it easier to write up your own military backgrounds.
3) Potential change of setting. The Hyperion itself might change (ship type and even name) as might the origin (i.e. not a brand new ship in drydock).
I know this might be a lot to process right now but I'd like your feedback on this. This is absolutely not anything final, merely me tossing out an idea I've had and seeing what you guys think about it. What do you think about it? Do you have any ideas or suggestions for a possible reboot? Do you have any input on an activity boost that doesn't involve the reboot? Etc.
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Azura Lockhart
Civilian Staff
38 Years Old Libran Native
[brw30|govapps]
Posts: 362
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Post by Azura Lockhart on Jul 3, 2013 17:15:11 GMT -5
Honestly i like the idea of starting fresh and im happy to help with what i can just let me know what you want me to do.
I know im one of the mentioned ones who loses muse alot and i do, some of my more recent absences are because of other things that i wont discuss in public but it kept me away and in all truth even when i wanted to come rp when i logged in i felt blah and nothing came to me.
and i agree that things seemed to move at too fast of a pace
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Samantha Casey
Viper Pilot
27 Years Old Lieutenant JG Sagittaron Native
[brw1796|militaryapps]
Posts: 240
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Post by Samantha Casey on Jul 3, 2013 18:48:30 GMT -5
*dies* What happened to BSH? Sid isn't coming back? *cries* I could honestly get rid of all my characters except for Sam, I love Sam! My cousin loves Sam, Sam is the best! Okay sad little rant over. I don't have much muse for BSH right now or anything, and with friends and senior year coming and then college I think it's going to be crazy. I don't want this site to die though. If I can't keep up with my characters I'll just ask my cousin to do it. She's more of a firefly person but I'm sure she could do it. She's managed like 30 characters before, seriously. I love our little BSH family. Thank you for so much even if I'm not around that often!
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Erica Weiss
Raptor Pilot
31 Years Old Captain Virgon Native
[brw1814|militaryapps]The difference is my flaws are personal, yours are professional
Posts: 105
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Post by Erica Weiss on Jul 3, 2013 22:28:18 GMT -5
Having a complete overhaul/new site isn't entirely a bad idea, but its only addressing the surface problem. What comes to mind for me is Serenity/Firefly forum that I initially joined way back when. It had few dedicated RPers to begin with, and when everyone kinda collectively quit a new site was created (Dreaming of Serenity). Initial appliciations and character creations looked promising for that but over time, it seemed to suffer the same problems as the previous forum. All is not lost with Dreaming of Serenity, I'm sure people are still posting, but its going severely slow. The slowness of threads can deter a writer's muse (including my own), or could encourage the desire to speed things up (as you pointed out). The importance of certain people for multiple plot points (Sid) also is a big issue. The deeper issue, the one we have to truly address and realize, is the overwhelming lack of participants on the site. Few dedicated writers means less being written or less being properly fleshed out. Less writers means the attempt for people like me an Abby or anyone else to create multiple characters in attempt to fill the void of membership. Although that temporarily works, if certain people fall out of writing (like sid) then multiple characters that were connected back to him fail as well. So I guess thats a "I agree with you, something needs to be done, but lets not forget the root problem too" rant. My first true forum RP experience was when I was part of a guild for the upcoming months before and after of the release of SWTOR. It was an RP-inspired guild, and it gave people like me the opportunity to flesh out personal backstories for characters. SWTOR is a RP/story-drive MMO to begin with, but that didn't stop us from writing our own stories. On that site, I had ONE character. It sounds kinda crazy, just one, but thats all i really needed. There were so many people on the site (over 100 registered, about 30 people regularly active, and about 10 passionate RPers). Because of the population site it allowed for multiple positions to be filled, and for me to really really really flesh out my main character for SWTOR. I stopped playing the MMO and by extension forfeited the RP forum for SWTOR but I had lots of fun for quite some time. We really need more players. Really badly. I'm sorry (for people like Abby ) but more players means less need of characters, and more active people means being able to really flesh days/events/characters out as desired. I'm not gonna pretend like I know the quick and easy solution to this, but its definitely a challenge and something to consider. We need more people. In terms of potential RPers, what immediately comes to mind is the learning curve/lore barrier that some people might face. As much as we love/enjoy Battlestar Galactica, we must recognize that many are not too familiar with the series (some current members have yet to finish the series!). While some fantasy/science ficition stories have become iconic and an integral part of pop culture like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, I believe Battlestar Galactica has fallen short of that. Try not to get too butthurt over it, just being realistic. If we went on the streets right now, I'm sure there are more people that have at LEAST heard of a "jedi" or "Star Wars" and might not readily know what a Cylon is. After pointing that out, there's no real solution too that problem. You almost have to be inspired to write and to watch it in order to develop a proper muse/dedication to this forum. For those who have yet to watch, read, or learn about BSG, they might not consider this site at all, or even if they did, could not fully appreciate it. And sure, there are threads we've set aside to catch people up to the backstory, but I highly doubt someone's gonna read it unless they've had that basic understanding/interest of BSG that drove them to the site in the first place. Another thing to consider is either migration or recruitment. This is not the only BSG RP out there more than likely, so we could all move to a more active site, or encourage other forums with small populations to migrate to our own. This way, we are reassured that they at least understand the story and appreciate it enough to RP, and can gain a larger following. For those that are picky about rules, lore, or just plain bossing people around, they might not like the idea of going to an entirely new site where others are in charge of the greater backstory. Final suggestion. In the past, I kinda did something similar to forum RPing, the idea of characters, and people writing small parts taking turns and moving the story along. The only difference was, rather than attempting a large forum population and (hoping) that it would work out, it was a small group no larger than 4 or 5 that were extremely dedicated writers, people that I knew personally. Another big difference was that it wasn't on a forum at all, just a simple word doc being emailed and passed around. The Positives: I personally like the concept because it meant ONE story being REALLY fleshed out, with a small dedicated cast of characters that could REALLY be explored. We took turns and since we all enjoyed writing/RPing, timing was not an issue and it allowed us to really cherish our work. Rather than being spread out doing multiple stories with multiple characters, a greater appreciation for our own writing developed because it was just ONE. The Negatives: The story we did? Zombie-based. Undeniably, our format worked because we RPed a small zombie survival group, and each person got a character. With only 4 or 5 writers at a time, it was a small but well-thought out group. Traditionally in zombie stories, the cast of a movie or groups from a book/comic are equally small if not slightly larger. If we attempted to do something more intimate like this format (very few characters and ONE dedicated story) then the TYPE of story matters greatly. For something like the BSG franchise, I'm not sure if it could work in this format. Or, it COULD work, but it would be semi-difficult. In almost 100% of tv shows/movies not ALL characters are important. In BSG, there were a score of what I would argue as "main" characters, or at least very important people that were centered around the plotline of BSG. They couldn't flesh out all the marines and all the deckhands and all the pilots on Galactica but they had plenty of minor characters to work off of in order to move the story along. So, if we did something like my last suggestion, we would have to choose characters that are important enough to move the story along. Just some of my thoughts/suggestions. Sorry for ranting. Where is everyone? I miss y'all.
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Drake Wolfe
Hyperion C.A.G.
34 Years Old Captain Caprica Native
No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings.
Posts: 221
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Post by Drake Wolfe on Jul 3, 2013 23:11:57 GMT -5
Here's my two cents, for what it's worth.
We have something beautiful here. I know we put a lot into it. Maybe too much. Too much, too fast, and it was overwhelming. If we did a hard reboot, definitely take things slower. Give the site a more organic feel.
Also, activity checks. And not just "Ohai, I'm still here!"
Another site I'm on has these monthly, and each character is required to have at least one IC post to be safe, and trust me, it gives your muse a kick in the ass. If we adopted that, I feel we could boost activity significantly. I know, hell, you all know, that I'll go for a long, long time without posting. Most of this is a lack of muse combined with the lack of a deadline. The risk of losing a character is enough to light my fire and usually for more than the one required post.
Just some thought, possibly more later.
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Roger Davis
Marine Commander Staff
34 Years Old Major Aerilon Native
[brw1775|militaryapps]Sic Loquimur Omnes
Posts: 873
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Post by Roger Davis on Jul 4, 2013 0:02:06 GMT -5
Tons to respond to. Forgive me for basically skipping everyone but Sink. I appreciate your input and updates and I also understand the muse issues of Azzie and Tris (although even without a muse you are always around lurking which is nice).
Now for Sink's monster. 1) Dreaming of Serenity actually isn't dead. Actually right now it is really firing on all cylinders. The Trinity over there went inactive because Sidney was once again the core of the ship. The rest of the site also took a plunge because Vex had nearly a month where his work/life was messed up. Now that he got that sorted it's running smoothly again (although Vex being so integral in the site is still a concern).
2) Membership - Yes, we need more members and to be perfectly honest recruiting is not my thing. I can RP without my muse ever drying up, read and keep track of everyone's stories, update lists and tables, etc. like crazy but I don't do that forum hopping to post adds. Sid was actually doing pretty good covering that for like a week but then I assume he burnt out.
As far as merging with or drawing from other BSG boards goes, I actually don't think there are any out there. I've searched with little success and many others have come here saying "Wow! Finally a BSG themed RP!" It's a fairly niche RP and that's one of the reasons I really want to keep us alive and going strong to pick up those wayward BSG fans.
3) Number of characters - I'm the worst offender after Abby, but I would be all for smaller character numbers. I (and I assume others) create more characters for more RP opportunities, but like you said, if we have a more focused, detailed, intertwined, and slower (in the sense of timeline, not posting speed) RP then you only really need a few character that you can really develop.
If we were to actually make something like that work then characters like Lycurgus for example would merely be specialty NPCs or perhaps some semi-PC classification as a minor character. We thus "fill out" the ship with more characters but they aren't the "main characters" of our RP and only come in when they are needed for a thread.
4) Word Doc RP - When I said up in 2 that there are no BSG RPs I lied. I've actually found one before and it was very much like this. Instead of a board with a series of threads with players posting individually, players would collaborate on drafts of one long story and finally publish the completed thread once it was done. RPers might only add one or two lines for their character before letting someone else come in thus making it more of a book and allowing for better interaction between players.
As far as I'm concerned, this produced excellent stories and it also achieved the goals of a handful of very developed characters and a slowed down RP... except it also was REALLY SLOW. Some people wouldn't post their one sentence for weeks, threads could take months to finish, etc. The site was over a year old and was like 7 days past the Cylon attack. The story of those seven days was also so incredibly complex that even many founding members couldn't explain it properly.
5) Rules on posting, activity, etc. - Yes. A million times yes. The rules here are pretty bare and really just cover RP etiquette and style (don't Godmode, don't kill other characters, don't be a dick, don't post one liners, don't post in net speak, etc.). I never modified or added to the rules because I didn't want to end up taking over the site and rewriting things halfway through the RP. With a new site, I'd try to cover most of the concerns raised.
Activity checks including IC requirements - absolutely. E.g. Illiana was about to be given for adoption after months of account inactivity and a full year of IC inactivity but then suddenly pops in to say "hi" and "don't give up my character". Again, I don't mean to dump on Illiana because we owe most of our current forum design to her, but expecting an indefinite reserve on a character, particularly a Cylon, is ridiculous.
More strict posting rules - e.g. skipping those who are inactive or slow, attempts to standardize RP form (Dates AND TIMES for threads, sue of bold and italics, and even bracketed notes to posts e.g. [Roger Exits Thread]).
6) Other stuff (size of the ship requiring more RPers unlike a smaller group setting, somewhat obscure genre, need to read tons of stuff or watch the show, etc.) - I don't think anything can be done about any of that. Hopefully we can make it work.
Sorry for the tl;dr again. The bottom line is I appreciate the input. It's all good and welcome although I don't know if we can actually apply all of it.
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Merrick James
Marine Commander
34 Years Old Major Scorpia Native
Posts: 60
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Post by Merrick James on Jul 4, 2013 7:32:02 GMT -5
TBH, the main reason I joined BSH in the first place was because all the cool people from DoS were here. For a time, things were quite slow on DoS and everyone was spending a lot of time here. Hungry for play, I converted. Now, while I've enjoyed the play and love the site, I've come to a realization: I probably won't return. I am a far bigger fan of Firefly and rarely lose muse for it. As previously mentioned, I've wound up becoming quite integral to much of that site, so I would rather not spread myself thin and be unable to do it justice, especially as I am staff and want it to succeed. So, while I hope BSH does well and resurrects like a Phoenix, I likely won't be here for it.
I'll just hear all about it on DoS.
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Erica Weiss
Raptor Pilot
31 Years Old Captain Virgon Native
[brw1814|militaryapps]The difference is my flaws are personal, yours are professional
Posts: 105
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Post by Erica Weiss on Jul 4, 2013 20:54:43 GMT -5
2) Membership - Yes, we need more members and to be perfectly honest recruiting is not my thing. I can RP without my muse ever drying up, read and keep track of everyone's stories, update lists and tables, etc. like crazy but I don't do that forum hopping to post adds. Sid was actually doing pretty good covering that for like a week but then I assume he burnt out. And actually, thats a good segue into what we all can do to make the site better. Rather than just RP, a few of us dedicated members can take on administrative tasks and help out for the betterment of the site. If Sid isn't going to make a return for example, I'd be willing to scour the interwebs for RP sites. I could post little ads for our humble forum and that would be a good way to recruit while keeping the rules and integrity of the current site. I'd imagine we wouldn't begin recruiting till the site saw an overhaul. 5) Rules on posting, activity, etc. - Yes. A million times yes. The rules here are pretty bare and really just cover RP etiquette and style (don't Godmode, don't kill other characters, don't be a dick, don't post one liners, don't post in net speak, etc.). I never modified or added to the rules because I didn't want to end up taking over the site and rewriting things halfway through the RP. With a new site, I'd try to cover most of the concerns raised. Activity checks including IC requirements - absolutely. E.g. Illiana was about to be given for adoption after months of account inactivity and a full year of IC inactivity but then suddenly pops in to say "hi" and "don't give up my character". Again, I don't mean to dump on Illiana because we owe most of our current forum design to her, but expecting an indefinite reserve on a character, particularly a Cylon, is ridiculous. More strict posting rules - e.g. skipping those who are inactive or slow, attempts to standardize RP form (Dates AND TIMES for threads, sue of bold and italics, and even bracketed notes to posts e.g. [Roger Exits Thread]). Keep in mind, the other side to that coin is the type of player that you're gonna attract. People RP for a variety of reasons, and enjoy it for different reasons. I've known people who are happy with the fact that they're never rushed to post/allowed to seek inspiration while others like me are super giddy to write and want to keep the plot going. Part of the overhaul is making sure rules are clear/concise but NOT overwhelming. Having super strict "You must post or consequences/skip you" blah blah blah might deter people as well. One of the things I loved about my old forum with SWTOR and my guild was the ease of the site. The less intimidating it looks, the more inviting it will seem to newcomers who are curious. Every now and then I check out a Zombie RP site and its cluttered with all gory pictures or conflicting color schemes (thinking like a Publisher, i know ) and it just looks dreadful and complicated. DoS also makes me want to pull my hair out, not my taste of design or layout. So, part of creating a cleaner looking site is also on the agenda. Its Information Architecture 101: make it look good, and post information seamlessly, so that it attracts people and doesn't make anything complicated. Once again, this could be an opportunity for all of us to step up and help shape the site better during overhaul. We have plenty of artists/photoshop kids that can be conscious about design and presentation. Final consideration: If all else fails, spread the news via word of mouth. If you know of anyone that loves to write, loves to RP, loves sci-fi, and/or loves BSG then tell them this is the site for them. I potentially have 2 kids from my college interested in doing a BSG RP. The only downside is that if you hype it up too much and its not what they're expecting, they might not stick around. So the more people we have active and the more presentable the site is at the end of overhaul, it can help towards retention.
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Drake Wolfe
Hyperion C.A.G.
34 Years Old Captain Caprica Native
No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings.
Posts: 221
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Post by Drake Wolfe on Jul 4, 2013 22:57:44 GMT -5
That's why it's a monthly deadline. It's still pretty relaxed, but it lights a fire under your ass when you need it too.
And I totally agree about everyone stepping up to better the site. I know I'm not the best graphics person and don't really contribute more than posts, but when I see new people, I try to bring them into the fold. I don't know how many sites I've looked at and been turned off by kind of a cold shoulder in the cbox. This site is a child that we've all helped create, and those who truly love it will always want to see it grow.
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Erica Weiss
Raptor Pilot
31 Years Old Captain Virgon Native
[brw1814|militaryapps]The difference is my flaws are personal, yours are professional
Posts: 105
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Post by Erica Weiss on Jul 5, 2013 1:11:09 GMT -5
As far as merging with or drawing from other BSG boards goes, I actually don't think there are any out there. I've searched with little success and many others have come here saying "Wow! Finally a BSG themed RP!" It's a fairly niche RP and that's one of the reasons I really want to keep us alive and going strong to pick up those wayward BSG fans. Did some research to see how much people are interested in a BSG rp forum. Here be my results: There are some attempts, although poorly organized. The layout manages to be worse than DoS, which is saying a bit. Battlestar Prometheus www.gaiaonline.com/forum/series-related-miscellaneous-role-play/battlestar-prometheus-battlestar-galactica-rp-open/t.50443557_1/Battlestar Helios seemed like an organized site but its undergoing construction, and probably won't be opened up for RPing anytime soon. www.battlestarhelios.comThere's also random people asking questions about a BSG RP on forums. So the demand seems to be there, but its only hard to tell since its severely scattered. (keep in mind, we can advertise at these kind of places) Battlestar Forum www.battlestarforum.com/showthread.php?t=211RPG Directory. This kid was looking for a BSG reimagined series Rp forum! Hello! We're right hereeeeee rpg-directory.com/threads/battlestar-galactica-rp.41903/Ad for a BSG RP on proboards support.proboards.com/thread/256655/battlestar-galactica-opening-staff-neededAn atrociously designed BSG RP. could recruit from here if anyone's around. www.bsg75roleplay.proboards.comA pre-cylon attack BSG RP, interesting idea. support.proboards.com/thread/361724/colony-caprica-pre-battlestar-galacticaI think its safe to say BSH is the most organized and put together prettily. Yeah. HOWEVER its really interesting that finding this site in a roundabout way is way harder than i imagine, and I question how i even found this site in the first place. After visiting several sites and recognizing the demand for a BSG RP, it made me wonder why they didn't find this place. I attempted to place myself in the perspective of the curious writer, and searched via google with terms like "battlestar galactica rp game", "battlestar galatica rp forum", "battlestar galactica rpg forum". Results varied. if you type BSG RPG it will give you dozens of links related to the book that was released on how to do a pen and paper version of BSG. Interesting, but not the best way to get people to BSH. Other searches with the variation of "rp" or "rpg" forum allowed me to find the other failed/poorly organized sites. And still! Didn't easily/at all came across BSH. Quite simply, it has to do with the fact that this is Battlestar Hyperion an AU-RPG and not related to BSG. by search "BSG" in google i was immediately limiting myself and removing the possibility to find BSH. It wasn't until i specifically typed out "battlestar galactica au rpg" did I finally find us (yay!) or at least, a link to us: support.proboards.com/thread/412602/battlestar-hyperion-bsg-auIt also wasn't until i typed in that last search on google did i stumble upon this little gem: Battlestar Acheron battlestar.candescence.netwww.candescence.net/bsforum/index.php?action=forumUnlike the failed sites previous mentioned, this site has actually some fairly updated posts, in the june 2013 area. Which means that its a possible place to recruit. Phew, ok. Ranting's over. I did my homework, where's my cookie? This is only half the effort. Someone has to actually go back to these sites, find more sites, and continue to advertise. And WHEN we advertise, we have to give directions as well. Rather than just tell them "go here!" have them email an admin or something. If they visit the site and no one's in the cbox to greet them, then they shrug and go away. Or, if you just advertise the link to the site, they'll show up and have no idea how to start, and probably would want at least SOME help getting into the grove of things. Having them specifically do something and a means to get back to them will organize the traffic to the site and allows the admin to get back to them and direct them to important threads like "background plot" and "character creation" etc etc.
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Roger Davis
Marine Commander Staff
34 Years Old Major Aerilon Native
[brw1775|militaryapps]Sic Loquimur Omnes
Posts: 873
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Post by Roger Davis on Jul 5, 2013 11:04:33 GMT -5
@sink first reply: Re: Recruiting: You don't have to be an admin to advertise and recruit to the site. That being said, I would really appreciate having a dedicated person whose job it is to just focus on that area of the site. E.g. I focus mainly on the RP (new plots, lists and approvals), Azzie focuses on site maintenance, and you (or someone else) focuses on advertising and dealing with affiliates. You don't have to be an admin to do it but I'd consider it.
Re: Clutter and overwhelming info: hopefully a reboot would allow us to better organize and streamline the site. I'm not on the graphics end but I know on the text end one of my desires is to somehow consolidate all the Fleet Command type threads and make them more accessible and easy to follow.
Re: Rules being a turnoff to some: You can't please them all, however, the rules are there for the players to use. E.g. if you RP slowly then the other players in your thread MAY skip you but they don't have to do so. It's not like an admin is going to be running the thread for you.
As Tris points out in his post, a one IC post a month is NOT a huge burden to put on someone. I don't care how beautiful your posts are, if you can't churn out one a month then frankly you are just writing little short stories and not actually helping the group RP.
Re: Word of mouth: That's actually been how most people came here, I think. People were either invited as "internet friends" from other sites or they were pulled from RL directly (but then unfortunately when Sid poofs then all his connections also seem to die down). Anything that is going to get us warm bodies in here is a plus. If you've got friends interested then for God's sake get them over here.
@tris: That's what I really love about this place. I've been to RP sites where the community (particularly the staff) is very cold and unwelcoming. I think we have a wonderful community here that actually does go out of its way to welcome and help the newbies.
@sink second reply: *tosses cookie* Re: the demand for the site: Yes. People DO want a BSG RP site and frankly we are really the only show in town. Many of those sites you linked are inactive or damn close to it because, presumably, BSG ended years ago and the fervor probably died down with it.
Re: Our online presence: Hopefully more advertising will help that but I also know what you mean about a simple google search. I've tried before too and with the "H" instead of a "G" it makes us difficult to find unless you already know what you're looking for. A reboot might require us to actually change the site name to at least include a subtitle with Battlestar Galactica (or rework the entire URL to be battlestargalacticaINSERTBUZZWORD.com) in it so such things are picked up.
Re: Advertising instructions: I really have very little experience in that department and it would be better to bring Azzie in on this topic. Our little stock advert could probably use an overhaul but I don't know if lengthy instructions are what we're looking for (I don't think I've ever seen them elsewhere on other adverts). Hopefully, the rebooted site can be organized in such a way so all of our info stuff isn't just thrown into one giant subforum but we actually have a "Welcome" forum that has the relevant threads all in a row to hold your hand through it. That combined with our friendly cbox greater, Tris, should be enough. Right?
Again, I appreciate the effort and all the thoughts being thrown around. Beautifying a new site layout is certainly high on the list as is recruitment (both active by going out and passive by making it easy to find us). Work on smoothly welcoming new members and helping them integrate is also important but I think our community already has that down pretty well.
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Samuel Lion
Viper Pilot
29 Years Old Lieutenant JG Leonis Native
[brw1779|militaryapps]Fade to Bagel!
Posts: 253
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Post by Samuel Lion on Jul 5, 2013 21:49:13 GMT -5
OK My absence frankly i haven't been absent i have just seen no reason for getting on BSH because there was no one posting for me Glares at SID SPARROW and ROGER. I think deadlines are good. If you reserve a spot you should post no later then 48 hours. One post a month is a very light burden to place on someone. It is true Sid recruited me in RL so when he dies down i kind of do to. ( I have been trying to get him to post maybe i should give him cookies when he does.) Not to hope on the band wagon and blame him. Everyone (well maybe not so much Roger) is guilty of it. We want to post so someone post's with us maybe its not who we wanted to RP with or maybe we looked at it and decided meh this could get boring. Either way it should be fixed. I Agree with Sparrow on a lot of her ideas less characters and more RPer's is always a good thing. I made characters to fill niches and to RP. At first i was very opposed to a reboot/ new site i am still very opposed to a new site but a reboot maybe a good idea. Honestly if we do a reboot i think people should reapply with there characters. Maybe have a thread i would like to keep these characters and tweak them. I know there are two i would like to keep but give them a tweak. In saying that i would only expect a thorough Roger read through so i could fix things. I also agree that we should reserve high ranking officials for those that are active. Since my return i feel i have been very active. I also think i shouldn't be penalized for something that happened in RL. (not saying i am just laying it out there) Most of you know a lot of the details for it. Reason i am against a new site is well i like this one I have been here since the beginning and i don't want to see it go away. Changing the URL would be a good place to start. Something with BSG or Battlestar Galactica in the title would be a good way to get some of the hold outs to come here. I wouldn't even know where to begin with graphics but you know me if i can help this site i will. Sorry for the reserve i just saw Future of BSH and i was like ahhh wait don't skip over me. P.S. Character something around 3-6 then you can play diffrent types of characters and aren't just stuck with one. I know from my own personal RP experience only having one character can be a cool thing but if you get bored then you kill him off to make a new one.
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Roger Davis
Marine Commander Staff
34 Years Old Major Aerilon Native
[brw1775|militaryapps]Sic Loquimur Omnes
Posts: 873
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Post by Roger Davis on Jul 5, 2013 22:47:49 GMT -5
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Erica Weiss
Raptor Pilot
31 Years Old Captain Virgon Native
[brw1814|militaryapps]The difference is my flaws are personal, yours are professional
Posts: 105
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Post by Erica Weiss on Jul 6, 2013 22:28:04 GMT -5
Re: Advertising instructions: I really have very little experience in that department and it would be better to bring Azzie in on this topic. Our little stock advert could probably use an overhaul but I don't know if lengthy instructions are what we're looking for (I don't think I've ever seen them elsewhere on other adverts). Hopefully, the rebooted site can be organized in such a way so all of our info stuff isn't just thrown into one giant subforum but we actually have a "Welcome" forum that has the relevant threads all in a row to hold your hand through it. That combined with our friendly cbox greater, Tris, should be enough. Right? I agreed with the rest of your reply, just wanted to clarify this portion. Along with a general blurb about Hyperion, I was suggesting that we provide the user/viewer/RPer whatever you wanna call them with something that they could work with. Of course they could just link up and visit the site, and maybe if its pretty enough and organized, it will catch intrigue. As y'all mentioned before, sometimes y'all get the cold shoulder when it comes to the cbox. Or, as it has been lately, sometimes people aren't always EVEN ON. I suggested that we do SOMETHING that allows us to keep tabs on them, just in case they show up and we're not here to officially greet them. I suggested an email system as a means to get back to them if they showed up and left but still had interest. The reality of the situation is, we all RP at different paces and different levels of dedication. Some kids like me would like to go out and get really drunk once in a while, so we can't babysit the site to greet newbies. I think our current state of the forum further underscores the diverse approach we all have to the forum, some leave, some stay, few are ever ALL on at one time. Plus, I'm sure we're in different time zones (like duck ). So STILL, i would suggest we do SOMETHING so that we can not only attract but retain visitors to the site. Being on to greet them all the time isn't a reality. A personal touch never hurts either. With fast media nowadays and issues like junk mail, people will judge things in seconds and move on. For those that might be intimidated by the forum at a glance, could leave right away and not even bother to check background story plot or something. We assume that they would, but thats not always the case. With this aspect of users in mind, reaching out to them in some sort of way to keep in touch when we advertise will help us recruit and retain. OK My absence frankly i haven't been absent i have just seen no reason for getting on BSH because there was no one posting for me Glares at SID SPARROW and ROGER. I haven't lost my muse for BSH, just that thread Sometimes I want to post but idk what to say so I just hold off until I think of something creative. I think deadlines are good. If you reserve a spot you should post no later then 48 hours. One post a month is a very light burden to place on someone. If I understood correctly, the monthly thing was related to the activity check. So, even if you weren't dedicated to the boards and feverently RPing, your character(s) wouldn't be archived. I don't think they meant a month deadline per post, cause that would take forever. Everyone has their own RPing preferences, which include speed of posting. I think the 48 hour limit is a good idea, but thats just me personally. Perhaps at the creation of every thread it could be established on how quickly posting should occur? Maybe people want to go at different paces, and rather than apply the strict rule for the whole site, it could be on a thread-to-thread basis. P.S. Character something around 3-6 then you can play diffrent types of characters and aren't just stuck with one. I know from my own personal RP experience only having one character can be a cool thing but if you get bored then you kill him off to make a new one. There are two sides to it IMO. More characters like you suggested, gives someone the option to experience multiple POVs throughout the fleet. We must recognize though, that branching out too quickly and wide-spread means that we'd be dipping our hand into many cookie jars. If one person left (like sid) it immediately would cripple the site since so many relied on him. I suggested fewer characters (thinking a max of 2) that we REALLY could get invested in and explore in greater detail. That way, if people fall off the face of the earth and never return, recovery is much easier for all. I understand the desire to want to try out a little of everything, but in the long run I think the quality of posts would improve and the dedication to forums would be more prominent if fewer characters were allowed. Think of it like BSG tv-series. They didn't have stories that went into-depth of EVERY single person's life. The main cast were the protagonists of the story that moved it along. I hoped that with fewer characters and more carefully selected roles, we could continue to influence the course of the plot and still make in-depth posts to develop characters. AND, like tv-shows, additional characters you create could perhaps be secondary-main charcters or PCs; individuals who aren't entirely fleshed out, but act as someone to work off-of for interaction and progression of your character. Just some ideas, Idk what y'all think.
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Sidney Bainbridge
Admiral of the Fleet Staff
44 Years Old Lieutenant Colonel Caprica Native
Posts: 554
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Post by Sidney Bainbridge on Jul 7, 2013 5:26:32 GMT -5
Roger you are wonderful. I love how you keep this place running when we do fall off the face of the earth. I know I am very guilty of this and I need to be more consistent. To be honest this was a product of a lot of things. That said I am not going to go in to it all and bore you with my story.
I am for a full reboot of the site. I would like to turn the site over to you as the top brass of the adminy stuff of course. you pretty much have done that already and I am cool with that. But I figured it good as the person who made the site to officially state that so no one comes back and say "hey this is sid's" site" or anything like that.
Blah blah blah passed that part to now. So as I hold a ton of characters at the top of the totem pole I am all for a reboot where I can step down from many if not all of these. i want to continue to be active on the site and I would cut back my numbers to one or two characters again so that things are easy to manage and dont get overwhelming next time.
I would hate to see the Hyperion (name atleast) go but I am actually interested in the idea of the smaller ship. TO be honest Roger I am willing to leave the final call ni your hand and with it I think i will have the ability to have a fresh start and not feel bogged down with the site like I have felt like for a while. I got myself to a point that if I wasn't on the site all the time I was falling behind and that was to much of a load for me to handle.
Sink I think you are right on a character limit. either 2 or 3 at most would keep people from getting bogged down. I am was personally thinknig maybe we need to keep the Highest of ranking for NPC for now if we do restart. This would allow for people to work up the ranks over time and those ranks can go to the people who are better at keeping active and involved in the site. I personally know I have failed to keep myself active and mostly I blame that on over character count for myself. Ever time I logged on I had like 5-10 post to make and that was twice a day. Got a family that demands attention and I could not balance them all along with my other writings. I need to cut myself back to a point where I can handle it an still handle life at the same time.
Tris I like the idea of a minimum posting requirement. It would be nice to see some people post more often. I find when I am working a thread with someone and then they on't post forever I have a hard time to get back in to it. Then to have someone inactive like myself for a long period it makes it even worse. I think a requirement of threat of losing the character would help motivate me. lol.
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