Forum Improvements of the Future

[Damxge]

Hello there ExRPG members, and soon to be ExRPG members. Lately, we've had a bit of a dry spell, not many new members are joining, despite our members' tireless efforts to bring in new writers. While I don't know if something is either driving these people away, or something about the site doesn't draw them in, I'd like to propose some new ideas for the forum to appeal to a wider variety of writers.

Forum:
This includes widgets (like the top posters, latest topics widgets, etc...), theme and image work, overall forum performance and things like that.
† Eliminate "Most Active Topic" widget.
† Update Banner Image with one more relevant to the upgraded and slightly darker theme.
† Set up some form of automated VIP purchase.
† Create a completely independent form of forum 'currency'.
† Customize the 'Announcements Box' at the top of the page, making it more appealing visually.

Category/Member:
Including category and forums, member data and member handling, profile managing, etc...
† Remove General Interest Checks
† Create Character Market forum inside Character Development category. (described below)
† Create help and development forum inside literature category.
† Create Developmental Role Plays forum inside of the Role Play category. (also described below.)
† Create PenPal RPG forum inside of the Role Play Category. (Explanation beloooow)
† Add new 'options' to the profile.(described below)
† Tidy up all loose threads (mainly the media ones :palm: ).
† Write out more comprehensive and up to date guidelines and instructions for forum use.

Perspective Members:
Concerning new and possible members.
† Manage organized and large scale advertisements.
† Create a formal forum advertisement.
† Advertise, advertise, and advertise.

Descriptions and Ideas:
The first order of business that needs explaining, in descending order, is Forum Currency. I don't know what we would call them, but you'd be given a point each time you post in a certain forum or category. These points would be collected and used later in trading with other members and the forum itself. In the future, I hope to add a large number of 'purchasable' forum stuffs. For now the codename is Role Points.

Next is the Character Market. This would be a forum to post a character sheet of your own design, that you slaved over and created for either a general purpose character, or a specific role play. Other members would be able to purchase these sheets, and the characters themselves using the Role Points collected by selling their own stuff, or through posting.
Once a character is sold, the creator or previous owner is not allowed to use the character anymore, at all, in any area of the internet; because the character then belongs to the person it was sold to. So be cautious when selling a character. You'd have to create a character sheet for the character before trying to sell it.

And for thirds, I'd be adding a Developmental Role Play area, for those who like to take their time in RPs, developing their character from the ground up and forming their characteristics and mannerisms through a long term role play. These role plays would be rather in depth, requiring a constant world to be set in place for the characters to travel about in, meaning a thread in Role Play Worlds would be very helpful.
To keep things interesting, the Admin of a DevRP would assign short term goals one after another, allowing the players to take their sweet time in completing them; either seeking out other characters in the game, or going at it on their own; sometimes against the Admin him/her-self. After a while the short terms would lump into one large end game goal that slams home like the ending of a good book. A accumulation of the smaller goals, giving them a deeper purpose. The trick in this style of RP is that the admin has to have the entire game planned out from the first post, but to a degree of flexibility that they are comfortable allowing players to take their time and work on their characters. They have to have a clear picture of how the end will occur and how the whole game will lead up to it.
For this reason, DevRPs will be held above all others as the most advanced form of RP in the Role Playing world of Extreme RPG (some nice solid dramatization there eh?)

Onto PenPal RPGs, these are RPs held privately over Email or PM between two to five people. A person would simply set up an RP like they would an intermediate RP and write up the thread in the same manner as well. But instead of posting a thread after they get some applications in, they pick the ones they'd like to play with, and the Private Role Play begins. In depth description will be posted after the forum is created.

Off of the new RP stuffs, we've got new Profile Options, making the user profiles more informative to other members curious enough to look. The new stuff can range from number of RPs the person is in, to how many characters they have created with links to their character sheets.


Now, should you feel these changes could help or hurt us, please post below; don't just skip over this topic.
If you'd like to suggest changes, please, by all means, post below.


Sincerely and of course, Happy Role Playing,
Mike (Cross)

[cyclonecasey]

[Eliminate "Most Active Topic" widget] Yeah, it's kinda useless...

[Update Banner Image with one more relevant to the upgraded and slightly darker theme] Awww, I really like the one we have now... and NOT just because it's what I'm using for the Facebook 'cover'

[Set up some form of automated VIP purchase] Yes, uh huh, good!

[Create a completely independent form of forum 'currency'] Intriguing... Can we call them xBucks? or xCoins? All I see is 'x' SOMETHING!

[Customize the 'Announcements Box' at the top of the page, making it more appealing visually] ...OK

[Remove General Interest Checks] Does not like... Where would you put RP's?... and how would people sign up?

[Create Character Market forum inside Character Development category] I don't really like the idea of selling characters... but I guess it could be interesting...

[Create help and development forum inside literature category] Not sure what this means?

[Create Developmental Role Plays forum inside of the Role Play category] Oh wait... Is this the replacement for General Interest Checks? Ahhhhh, OK!

[Create PenPal RPG forum inside of the Role Play Category] Choose who get's to join you're RP? Hmmmm......... Me gusta!

[Add new 'options' to the profile] Thank GOD! I've almost ran out of room on my signature... lol!

[Tidy up all loose threads] Haha... Good luck with that!

[Write out more comprehensive and up to date guidelines and instructions for forum use] Yes... Good idea!

[Legotransform]

[Eliminate "Most Active Topic" widget] Delete it.All I see Is peoples names on topics that most people don't go on

[Update Banner Image with one more relevant to the upgraded and slightly darker theme] I like this one,but it would be a pretty good idea

[Set up some form of automated VIP purchase] Was this my idea?

[Create a completely independent form of forum 'currency'] Great idea!Oo!EXTREMEBUCKZ!

[Customize the 'Announcements Box' at the top of the page, making it more appealing visually] Mmmm...Ok

[Remove General Interest Checks] There is only 2...GO FOR IT!

[Create Character Market forum inside Character Development category] Very interesting

[Create help and development forum inside literature category] Yep.

[Create Developmental Role Plays forum inside of the Role Play category] Does not understand

[Create PenPal RPG forum inside of the Role Play Category]

[Add new 'options' to the profile] Yup Yup

[Tidy up all loose threads] Yes Yes yes yes yes YES!

[Write out more comprehensive and up to date guidelines and instructions for forum use]Ok.For the new users

For the penpal thing...

[Damxge]

@inSYNC

[Remove General Interest Checks] Does not like... Where would you put RP's?... and how would people sign up?

The individual RP Interest checks for each level of writing would still be there, the General Interest Checks would be removed since we haven't really been using it since I added the individual interest checks.

[Create Character Market forum inside Character Development category] I don't really like the idea of selling characters... but I guess it could be interesting...

They do it constantly on DeviantArt, so I thought I would try to incorporate it into the forum a bit. But it will only be possible if I can come up with a manageable currency system.

[Create help and development forum inside literature category] Not sure what this means?

This would be a forum for people to post topics asking for help with writing, be it role play writing, or personal. People would also be able to post helpful writing topics here on writing styles, techniques, and stuff like that.


@Mr. Lego:

[Set up some form of automated VIP purchase] Was this my idea?

It was always the plan, but it was set back heavily by forum restrictions, and I hope to find a way around them.

[Create Developmental Role Plays forum inside of the Role Play category] Does not understand

I will have to explain more in depth later when I start making these new forums; but the whole point is to develop your character through an extremely long role play, frequently over the course of years (in game, and sometimes outside of it) from a very young character starting age.


Also, about the currency, ExBucks doesn't sound bad...We can't use xbucks because a friend's forum (AnimatorX) uses the X for everything...

[cyclonecasey]

Ohhh! I see... The individual ones were already in place when I signed up... Simple mistake! Iz goooood!

And I was originally thinking ExBucks... but xBucks just looked better!

[killer8529]

ok most the stuff you said would be a decent improvement but could we have two diffrent folders one with compleated rpg and one with on going rpg and mabye one with ideas that were made but never really got there
or some thing like that because we have a lot of useless rpg that none posts ib

[Damxge]

An Archive forum will soon be added, yes.

[cyclonecasey]

Oh! Cross! Idea!
What if, as well as selling characters, you can sell actual RP's as well? There are a lot of them floating around unused and, honestly I think we need to go through them and see what's even worth keeping...

[killer8529]

i like that idea selling rpg would be a good thing

anouther idea is comitions for art on a character

[cyclonecasey]

Ahhhh, yes yes! I like! I've already done like 5!

[killer8529]

still I think were forgetting something but what

[cyclonecasey]

Specific advertisements?

[killer8529]

yes oh yes i know music we need a music form for songs we create or something

[Chavvy]

wouldn't that just be a merge with poetry? It'd make more sense then clogging up the front page even more

[killer8529]

yes and no as in the acual music the song so people can listen to it

[Chavvy]

just upload it somewhere where there's a play option... hostmyfilez used to, but I'm not sure if that site is up any more 3:

[killer8529]

good point but still i will get back to this point at somtime when i have thought of a relalistic way of doing this

[Chavvy]

Thats fine, but still, I think that would just be a good merge with poetry, just rename the subforum itself

[Damxge]

So, selling RPs and Character Art Commissions. Not bad at all.

[killer8529]

yep thats it for now i have some folders somewhere i am going to read through for ideas on things but...............
its .....
ok note to self never make folders again
79000 pages of notes and sh*t on storys and ideas god when did i get the time to write this sh*t
mutated zombie with nanobots.........
actuly that sounds interesting

[killer8529]

hmmm could we also have art work compertision i think that would be fun for some.

[Damxge]

Feel free to start one. The Competitions area is open for everyone, not just official forum competitions.

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