Poll for Non-Members.

[Admin]

I'm always looking to improve my forum.
If you would be so kind as to let me know why you were uninterested in signing up for my forum below. 

Thank you.

[Guest]

Well, seeing as how I wasn't able to post as a guest on the actual thread, hopefully you don't mind me posting here. 

For starters, I just want to put out that the idea of the site is swell, it is. Being a big fan of the apoc/survival genre, I was pretty quick in clicking on the ad at PBS since I'm in need of a new rp to slink about.

And I'd also like to mention that I, in no way whatsoever, mean to offend with my following 'issues', so please don't take anything to heart.


So in no particular order here's some of the things keeping me from jumping on the wagon:

• The forum is really, really thin o-o
  
• Most of the boards are labeled as 'Under Construction'. I don't really mind joining 'in-progress' sites, but none of the boards appear to have descriptions about the area they are supposed to be taking place in, which pretty much leaves that to the imagination and sometimes our vision of your world, isn't your vision - if that makes sense?
• Sex should not be allowed. This isn't a personal preference but rather the last time I checked the rules Proboards has laid out, sexual acts on forums was a no-go. No sexy times should be on a forum unless you want that forum to be axed. Now that might have changed in recent times, but it might not have. I'd go read up on their rules on PBS just to safe if I were you
• Having to reply to the rules first or suffer subsequent post deletions seems a bit extreme. Reading rules is pretty standard, but for whoever doesn't read them and breaks a rule, well that's their own fault. Making us reply to the rules seems too...contract-y
• Character Introduction - Having all characters under one thread makes it hard to go back to your post for whatever reason. If I should need to link someone my bio for reference (such as what my character looks like) it'd be pretty annoying to have to sort through potentially pages upon pages of posts to find mine. This is just a personal thing for me, though
• Character tags and images in post - again, not sure why this needs to be a thing. Anything related to characters that isn't the actual bio, such as posting templates or character graphics, should be optional
• The width of the forum is really way too thin though

And that's about all I care to mention without sounding more nit-picky than I already do, and nobody likes a nit-picker. Nobody

Anyway, like I said above, please don't take any offense with this post. Just thought I'd throw my two cents out for review. I might be lurking about here and there to see how the site advances if that's alright 

[Admin]

@ Guest:

I apologize for my fudge up, there. I created a Non-Member friendly sub-board (and even double checked it this time) for this subject under the board General. I moved your post (hope you don't mind). I'll reply to your bullets with bullets of some type (I don't know how to do bullets) and in your order so this doesn't get confusing. (Never mind, I found the bullets.)

• I've heard this before but I can't see it on my own computer. I have a 20 inch computer screen and that's what I've done all of the editing on. To show you I'm not some crazy person with crazy eyesight this is what it looks like on my screen (the picture, however, will be tiny).
  
  Now on mobile, the desktop view sucks. I can't see anything. I can agree on that one with you. But I will bump up theforum width to 70% (it's default was 90%) and see how that works for everyone. I can go bigger if need-be. This is the forum at 70%.
  
• I will admit that a lot are under construction. This site has been open for five years and it was only me on here for everyday of that years up until a few days ago. This board was pretty bare compared to the stuff I've added to it and I figured out new ways to get my boards out there. I've kicked myself in the ass to get more boards and areas up there for everyone to be able to RP in. Alas, I am still the only Admin, and I'm not an author by any means so trying to get this all done so quickly gives me massive writer's block and I just quit smoking so I'm taking it little by little so I won't stress myself out, but I am working on getting things done, I can assure you. My boyfriend has actually been getting quite pissed lately because my free time is spent on the computer on here. Wow that looks huge from the editor. Getting to your second part of that concern, I have posted descriptions in the threads in each Country. I do post some in a draft state so at least they're up and I can go back to them later. But all of the open places have some sort of description in red of their current state as the original post. I am always up for suggestions.
  
• I don't really know how to answer this one. I never really expected anyone to go as far as the acts or motions or whatever. There are a lot of ways to get around graphic detail, and detail and general. The way I see it is that it can be done subtly or skipped altogether.
  
• My younger years  of RPing were spent on a few different forums, but I have done most of my role-playing in my current years on VampireFreaks in different cults. I learned most forum-running quirks from seeing the way it was done there. The rules aren't a contract, I promise. Someone did ask a question before agreeing and I let them do that. So I guess I'm not that strict about it. It's just a way of knowing that someone has at least acknowledged them before diving head first into this RP world. It lets me know that they now know the rules. It's something I've done for many years. At first, I was like "this is a little weird" but it definitely grew on me after doing so many and I kept it for myself. Same thing with the way the boards are set up. Everyone role plays in one thread. I've seen really good things come from it and I'm hoping I can get that to happen here.
• Once again, this is a VampireFreaks mannerism. But I'm willing to throw this one down the window because that is a fantastic idea. I really like that. It would also give them a  I'm going to make that happen when I get home later on.
• The character tags are a VampireFreaks mannerism and I've also come across it on several other sites (Gaia forums being a big one). It's helpful and neat and is super great when someone has two or three characters that they use.
• It's now at a width of 70%. 

I hope I was able to answer all of your concerns. You said that you would check back, so if you have any issues or anything just let me know. 

[Guest]

Ohoho, this is decidedly better. I don't ever use Proboards on mobile, so I don't know how terrible that may or may not be, but on my PC the width was like...a little wider than my remote control. New forum width is a vast improvement, indeed!

I'm not sure what VampireFreaks is, or Gaia for that matter, but generally on Proboards most forums leave personal graphics optional. But I mean pretty much everyone uses a posting template with their characters face slapped on in there somewhere now, so it's a non-issue I s'pose.

As for the sex, when I read that it was allowed I instantly assumed you meant to allow it in detail which was pretty surprising ( <- fact: my expression at the time). I think it's okay for things to get a little touchy, but I usually just tell 'em to fade that to black or take it to some off-site pm kinda deal to be on the safe side. No sense in risking a whole site going down for some text-based boob-grabbing, amirite


Now this:

Same thing with the way the boards are set up. Everyone role plays in one thread. I've seen really good things come from it and I'm hoping I can get that to happen here.

Everyone under one thread - how do you mean?  

[Admin]

@ Guest:

Thank you! I feel better that you feel better, ha ha. GaiaOnline is pretty chill, it's pretty popular. It's got crap ton of stuff in their forums where someone is always looking to start a roleplay. If you don't want to put money into your avatar, you don't look as awesome as the people who do, but I personally have never cared about that. The profiles have a MySpace feel to them, which I think is refreshing. VampireFreaks is a punk, gothic, steam punk, etc. social network. Cults are what they call the forums their users create. A lot of them are discussions and a lot of them are themed role plays. You tend to get a good crowd because you can send crazy mass invites to the whole site, I think. I've never created one, I just know I used to (and still do) get at least 10 cult invites a day. Their role plays are hardcore. If their serious about their forums, which most of them are, they'll require applications. If your skills aren't up to the creator's standards or you're too young, you won't be getting in. Period. Age restrictions I get. But applications are no fun. That's one thing I'd never do with mine. Role plays are supposed to be fun for everyone. People who suck at it tend to learn to be better when they're RPing with and around RP pros.

I suck at explaining even the simplest things and it makes me seem really unintelligent, but, I'll try. Members role playing in this forum's world won't be creating new threads for role plays. If you want to RP in Florida, it's going to be under the Florida thread. Like how you and I are responding under the Non-Members thread. I've been thinking about opening a new board for people who want to do specific role plays with their characters, but I might wait until this forum gets more members. I have way too many ideas to execute by myself and I get so down in the dumps when my ideas that I think are fantastic are flops or they don't work as smoothly as I had imagined.

[Guest]

Oooooh, Gaia! Okay, no I know what that is now. Clicking the link, it all came back to me. I used to play there when I was wee tyke - it's been forever wow.

But okay, I see what you're saying about the threads now. I've never seen a forum do that before, but I'm wondering if it wont get hectic with each new character added to the fray. I guess so long as there's a posting order it'd go over smoothly. 

And I hear you about all the ideas. I've been working on about 3 forums for years now, and I personally think the plots are great and they are visually appealing, but the longer it takes me to complete them the more hesitant I get in actually wanting to open the sites 'cause nothing sucks more than your vision and hard work failing before it even really got a start. Bitter, bitter woes that is.

Anyway, seeing how attentive you are as an admin really makes me want to join now. I can't tell you how many forums I've been on where suggestions by both guests and members are ignored or outright deleted, or where the admin is online like once a week (and sometimes even less). Writer's block  and vanishing muses been hitting me hard lately, but methinks I'll take a gander at the application and see if I can't try and wrestle up a decent idea for a character.

ALSO - Thanks for being so patient with me, and for answering all my questions

[Admin]

@ Guest:

I've seen it about half separate threads and half shared, so I just kind of leaned towards shared to keep everything neat. I've got this weird thing with everything being neat.

I have two forums and the other had a few loyal people for a while but it died out in 2012 and it's just been sitting there and collecting dust like a cyber headstone. I don't know how big forums do it. They either get lucky or they spend money to advertise. Out of everything I've ever done, I feel like having a decently successful forum is the impossible task.

Thank you. That means a lot. I try to be attentive and a member. I don't like hard ass admins whose only purpose on the forum is to be an admin. When people RP they get escape from their lives for whatever reason to be someone else for a little while, it should be a fun and relaxing experience, not a Big-Brother-controlling-everything experience. Writer's block is why I haven't finished the other countries. France isn't even done. It's hard to confidently write about places you've never been, ha ha.

You act like you were a bother, ha ha. It's fine that's what the thread is for. If I didn't mean it, I wouldn't have put it.