I'm looking for feedback through your own personal experiences in said pondering. I've read through a lot of the posts here that talk about lack of activity, difficulty in finding members, et al., and I wonder is it possible to create a long term game in a forum type setting? I'm used to Yahoo! Groups, but, while I've seen a few (very few, mind you) games with longevity, I've noticed the same issues occurs there. So maybe it's not the venue at all?

I'm looking to create a very detail oriented, story focused game (Supernatural tv series, canons/originals, alternate universe). And it's something I want to put a lot of effort into creating and work on over the long run. I guess I'm hesitant into putting a massive effort into something that may be doomed to fail, though, I'm optimistic that you never know until you try and who knows what may come out of it, right? The idea of posts all over the forum instead of in one area is also something that throws me a little, but the specific area for every setting is intriging. Plus, the higher level of customization looks great. And it seems to be more popular, game wise.

I guess my only question at the moment goes back to, do you think it's possible to run a long term game on, for example, IF? Also, any tips you may have for doing so would be greatly appreciated.


Ser

Of course it's possible. I can name a few long-term games off the top of my head (though of course "long-term" is relative): Infamy & Entropy, MySundayWarning's Harry Potter RP; Spirits of the Earth and Remnants of the Earth, Rhi-Rhi's fantasy RPs. They've all been going on for I believe one or more years now, and they're still going strong.

But the first and most important step of a successful form is admin activity. You have to be dedicated and you have to make sure you're not going to get bored after a few weeks (that's my problem :p). Then you have to attract members. Some of them will be flighty, but if the site stays active, it'll be like sifting through sand for gold. When other members come and go, you'll find at least a few members who stick around. And if you keep your site going and maintain activity, even if it goes through some dead spots every once in a while, people will start realizing your site isn't going to die, that the admin seems cool and dedicated, and that they should give it a try.

That's the ideal situation, anyway. XD It doesn't always go as planned. But if you think you're dedicated enough to keep a long-term RP, then don't be discouraged because you might fail. I could get all inspirational here, but I think we all know the cheesy things we could say about being afraid of failure. XD

EDITS~ I'll also have you know that this lack of long-term RPs isn't just a program-specific problem. I RP on journals also (like InsaneJournal and Scribbld) and games don't last long there either.

It really doesn't matter what software you use. There will be some people who won't join because of it (and I'm probably one of those people at times), but then they're probably not interested in the RP. The important thing is the story, the game and how you run it. Some of the tips that Sunday mentioned are good and you can use those.

You might be hard pressed for advertising on sites that say "NO [Insert despised forum software here]" or "ONLY [their forum software] sites," but then again you probably don't want to advertise on those. I typically just ignore them, if they want to delete my ad, they're certainly free to, but until then I can get advertising from them.

Totally 100% possible. I started a game (that's still going though I'm no longer admin) that's almost 3.5 years old. Ask Rhi-Rhi about her games, if you desire, though I don't think hers are on IF but some other type of bulletin board.

What matters is not the members but the admin. Sure, members are fantastic, but it's really the administrator who holds it together. So many administrators get bored with their own game and drift away, which causes the members to lose heart. As an admin, you must keep things flowing and introduce exciting new concepts both in character and out of character.

Build up a community by encouraging out-of-character chat and make sure that your members know that you really care about them.

Best of luck! :pink:

Dec

Like everyone else has said, it's absolutely possible, and the software really doesn't matter at all. The first game I was on, was a boards2go site, which I suppose is really primitive now, but the thing is, no matter what boards you decide to go with, as long as it lets you and your members post things, it's good enough. The game I was talking about, Indigo, ran for more than three and a half years, before the head admin got too busy to run it and decided that with the level of activity it was getting, it just wasn't worth it anymore.

I've also been on a few IF boards that have lasted quite a while. One of the games I'm on now, is six months old and counting. Not sure about the exact amount of players, but there are more than a hundred characters, and new ones are being joined all the time. Of course, quite a few leave after only a short while, but every so often, a member that will stick around joins and it's really thanks to these that the game is still worth running.

I guess my point is just what I said earlier: the software doesn't play that big a part. The members and their loyalty to the game is much more important, and of course, as an admin, you have to make sure that the game stays interesting for these loyal players. If you can do that, the game will last. Simple as that.

I've been a member of a particular site for five and a half years now.

*checks member stats* 4000 people characters.

And I agree with December, the only reason this site is still around is because the Admins are so dedicated, especially after it crashed and we lost all our data and a lot of members a couple of years ago.

You just gotta keep your dedication to the place. The members being more dedicated than yourself is cool and all, but that isn't the way it should be. Set yourself up with some staff that UNDERSTAND your hardships as admin, so that they cannot only help you stay dedicated, but also pick up the slack so that you never get to the point of being so overworked that you quit. If the members see you're dedicated (and happy!), your forum will prosper.

And keep in mind that if you fail the first time, it really isn't a big deal. Seriously. Just shut down the board for a month or two. While it is shut down, give some things an overhaul, such as adding new systems to keep it fun. Then, when that is all said and done, market the forum off to people as a brand new forum. Don't fear failure.

Make sure that there are a good deal of friendships amongst the members, on and off the forum. Friendships keep the forum going. It is a really obvious thing that gets overlooked. However, this isn't without its cons. If someone with too many friends causes drama with someone else (god forbid they have their own mass of friends), it is easily the death of a forum...especially if this happens early in the forum's life. Take care of all people that cause drama swiftly, but justly. Long term member or not.

Keep the focus of the forum in mind. Contests? Arcades? Chatrooms? No! Those things are great, but those are diversions. The point of a RP forum is to RP!

Make staff-led/forum wide Plots rare. You know, the uber plots that require staff involvement around every twist and turn; yeah, keep those rare and spread out. If you keep these plots super active, members will seemingly forget how to do any RP without your help. If the members stop RPing amongst themselves, it is bad news.

Summary: No, forum software isn't important. xD There are many, many other factors that you DO need to pay attention to, as should be apparent by now.

xDDD

Yeah, it's totally possible. My game Spirits of the Earth is going to be 8 years old this December, and Remnants of the Earth is going to be 1 year old in September. I run them on phpbb3, hosted myself, but I ran SotE on EZboard for about 4 years before I was finally able to pay for hosting. :3

In a nutshell? YES! It's totally possible to have a long term RPG. My games, as far as I'm concerned, are never gonna close. :B And they're both original settings that my co-admins, mods, members and I have worked very, very hard on. They're very detailed settings, and the work is never done. ;D It's well worth it, though.

In order for a game to succeed, though, you have to be committed. Seriously committed. And very patient. A lot of games flop because the admins are not committed and/or they're impatient with insane expectations. Original settings are harder to sell than canon games, so they require much more patience. SotE took about a year to get off the ground, and now it's big and highly successful. RotE took almost a year, too, and now it's crazy-active.

You can't expect your game to be filled with hundreds of members a few weeks after opening. If you get some members, be happy and do what you can to keep them. Don't get discouraged if you never get tons of members, because the number of members doesn't matter a bit--what matters is how much fun you and they are having. If you're all having fun, the game is a success. Simple!

Also don't get discouraged by occassional drops in activity. Activity peaks and declines throughout the year naturally, and it's nothing to panic over. It just coincides with holidays and the school year. :3 Just keep advertising and stay dedicated and you'll be fine.

Ooo a SPN BOARD?!

See, that MIGHT have a better chance than my Dark Angel board. Taha. You just gotta make sure that even when you get members, you keep marketing. *shrug* I'm a rookie anyway, but that's my input. A forum I have has over 100 people because I didn't stop plaguing the world with my incessant cries for attention. :p

But ooo SPN BOARD FTW. *already wants in*

Wow, I love these responses! Thanks for all the great advice guys, it's definitely something I'm going to take to heart and follow (or try the best too,lol). I'm going to give it a whirl on InvisionFree! Big thanks to you all for your supportive words! And I'm totally wowed that you have an eight year old game, Rhi-Rhi! That's just amazing to me and exactly what I'm looking to create.

@SJWinchester: lol, you're welcome to jump aboard!


Ser

i would like to point out that having a wonderful staff also helps. Darkest Web is over a year old since I took over and revamped it, and was around even before that. I don't know what I would do with out my fellow staff members. It is their dedicated to just help running the board is a life saver.

Also, a low number of players doesn't mean that it is going to die off. I have 10-15 players that have been VERY active since joining. They are the heart and soul of my board. So only having a small player base works really well for us.