[konya]

Is there anything about a site's set up or layout that draws your attention from the get-go?

I like light skins, and I like being able to see a blurb or basic info straight away. Also if a layout is super minimal I'm more inclined to go 'oo what's this about' than ones that are more complex with graphics and patterns etc.

What about others?

[Egao, Egao Everywhere]

anything I don't code tends to grab my attention

[katya]

All I want is readable text. I know tiny text is in and has been in for forever, but the sheer number of sites (ESPECIALLY on IF and jcink) that have teeny ass font is terrifying. And then teeny ass dark grey font on black, and then I'm closing my window. I prefer light skins too, but mostly because of the dark text on dark bg syndrome. If text has enough contrast, I've basically got superhuman eyeballs that don't mind reading light-on-dark for hours and hours. (That being said, I generally try to code for dark-on-light, idk what happened when I skinned GS.)

That being said, for attention-grabbers, I... like a lot of things. I enjoy modernism, which I guess means I like minimalism when minimalism isn't boring. Work-friendly skins--basically anything where I can still look semi-respectable if I scroll down past a banner--get my attention, because I know I can be more active on those sort of skins. Counter to that, I'm a kid in a candystore for bright colors (re: as long as it's readable), so I guess I also have Bad Taste. Also a sucker for retro 90's web design with lots of grungey/brushy graphics, so that's extra Bad Taste, but in my defense, that's mostly nostalgia speaking.

I don't really randomly check out sites, so even if a skin is attention-grabbing, it doesn't make me more likely to join. I usually see an ad with a tagline for a genre/fandom I like, and then I scope out the site. I'm looking for a certain sort of site (say, "fantasy" or "code geass" or whatever), so if a skin can reflect that somehow, that's really awesome.

Not what you asked, but while I'm talking about things I like, there's some things about skins that I've noticed have turned me off, and I just end up abandoning the site. It's never JUST the skin, I'm also a terminal flake to begin with, but some things make me lose interest pretty fast. It's really, really, really nice when bookmarks are at easy access; there's basically nothing that I appreciate more. Without one, I pay less attention to my threads, and it all kinda goes downhill from there. Otherwise, I get really annoyed with hover effects after a while--not like hover ooo link changes color, but hover for entire sidebar to show up hovers. Click to show sidebars also aggravate me, although less so.

[dream eater]

i like when the layout's not complete shit.

aka everyone's coding but mine, because mine is complete shit.

but really? i guess i like pretty minimalist skins and navigation. as in like, please label your boards so i know where to click so i'm not a million miles off and can't even find the rules or the plot.

i also tend to check out the cbox and stuff. i can't operate chatango, i can't, and y'know if that's the case i can't use it because i'm more than positive the name 'bubbles' is taken.

oh yeah i stalk them chat boxes for nice people.

[makola]

Sometimes the name draws me in, that's the first impression heh.

[gimmick]

Should really be doing homework right now, so I'm just gonna keep this a list :x

1. Skin that doesn't kill my eyes. Preferably professional-looking, not with just a random bunch of patterns or colors. Been leaning towards more monochrome ones with just some color accents lately. I've become more picky since joining these kinda resource sites where everyone's such amazing coders

2. Readable text that's not blindingly contrasted, preferably not tiny but if I can zoom in then that's ok too unless there's one static part that will block out the rest (static side tables, etc.) since they don't get resized

3. Animanga fcs. I'm biased like that

4. Welcome-table like things, or I suppose just some sort of thing where you see a brief overview, links, things relevant to the site, yadda yadda
5. Cbox c-box, doesn't really matter whether it's premium or not. Just none of that chatango business or whatever else there is

6. If it's based off of some sort of series, I pretty much ignore those that aren't something I've had personal experience with, so that already kinda limits it to one or two ESPECIALLY if they have canons

more recently 7. Lack of word counts

...and then I might poke around or stalk the site for a week one or two days before doing anything else. Before I even think about joining a site I always investigate like every little detail about it cause I like being well-informed so it always takes me forever to decide

[Zozma]

I like simple layouts, dark colors, and an interesting premise. Readable font. Also, sites that don't use templates as the norm. It's not that I have anything against people who use templates but I find that people on sites where everybody has a template seem to look down their noses at people who don't (like me). I don't even format posts with blockquote or anything unless it's a staff notice. Even then, I hardly even spend much time formatting that stuff. Haha! I'm just very simple. For me, it's about the writing, not the graphics or extra bits. Although I do enjoy extra bits from time to time!

[naomi]

As long as the skin is decent and the colors work nicely together, my attention doesn't fade.

[pascaline]

I suddenly want to reply to this thread, don't ask me why.

• THE PLOT. The plot is the most important part for me. Basically I don't even think of joining a site unless I really like the idea of the site. I don't think any one would join a site they don't like the idea of any way, but yeah. The plot, and how well it is written, must inspire me.
  
  
• THE SKIN. While I love awesome skins as much as the next person, I actually don't like too much fancy coding on a site as far as visuals are concerned. I find that a lot of skins that come out now are over-coded, and even if the skin is overall pretty, it's not exactly functional or practical when it comes to reading through it and operating it as a forum. Basically I like skins that are easy to navigate, easy on the eyes, and overall enjoyable to be on every day without being confusing.
  
  
• THE C-BOX, MEMBERS, AND STAFF. I like to see what people are like before I dive into a site. I like to jump right into the cbox with questions, usually ones I already know the answers to, just to see how friendly the site is. I also like to see if the staff is actually doing their job as site monitors. I've left one too many RPGs where the people were either unfriendly, rather cliquish, unhelpful to new members, and where the staff didn't seem to monitor the cbox or help new members. Even if no one was rude to me, if I see it occur to others on a site I don't want to stay on that site any longer.
  
  
• THE MEMBER COUNT. I am an RPing dinosaur who started doing this shit back in 2001, give or take, and I follow an old standard: if the site is old and has a high member count, that's a plus and it makes me want to join the site even more. I don't understand the notion of people wanting to only join sites that either have just opened or are very low in their member count, because high member counts mean that:
  
  A. The site is appealing and fun for a wide range of people that you can play with
  
  and
  
  B. The site is unlikely to close any time soon
  
  I find new sites and sites with low member counts volatile and uncertain, and unless I know the admin or REALLY love the site's concept I generally wait a month or two to see how things are going for the site.

[habs]

Given that I already think the plot is good and worthwhile, there are two main things that grab me: the skin/accessibility and the c-box culture.

It's obvious: a well-made and accessible skin is a lot more appealing than one that makes it hard to find stuff. IE anything invisionfree. why is the text so small and the board titles song lyrics?

But what is most important, in my opinion, is the culture of the c-box. Having a beautiful site with a great plot means nothing to me if the people in the box aren't very welcoming. I've left sites because I've felt left out because no one in the box wants to talk to me and I feel like an outsider.

[Pool Boy]

1. Easy to locate quick links!!! -- I like everything at my finger tips - while still keeping it minimalist.

2. Umm I really like static sidebar cboxs. Toggling is cool too.

3. None-romantic skin art. I really don't join sites where there is that much weight on romance in general.

4. Stolen work -- sites that's i've heard about that have stolen code and called it their own. When the staff have committed plagiarism, I can never honestly respect them.

5. cbox culture -- must have just enough inside joking to make you feel cool, and just enough chillness to be welcome to new peeps. Cheesy censors and custom emotes are also fun.

6. plot culture -- this is difficult to explain, but i will do my best. this basically entails the kind of threads the site inspires and it is closely linked to the overarching plot of the site. All plots that are member driven fall into this catagory for me -- bc to me, most staff run events are the most exciting parts of a site. Basically -- how do people thread outside events? Are they boring threads -- two characters meeting for example in an unexciting way, or do these /optional/ threads become grand ships? I love it when it's the latter, and the highest quality sites give that to all their members.

You can tell a site has good ships just by looking over the kinds of threads posted on the site. When people leave notes to each other squeeing about how much they love a thread or the way things are playing out, then you know things are good. but when the threads instead feel like they are being written to earn money/post counts and you sense a lack of enthusiasm, that's when i lean away I guess?

7. Staff size. You really need more than one active admin at all times.

8. Post size culture. I've seen a few sites around that practically compete over who can type more words and slam tediously long posts onto the table. Admittedly, I used to rp as a joke with a friend HOW MUCH CAN YOU WRITE like it was a limbo contest. but never again LOL. i was transitioning out of fanfiction, which was why.

[Egao, Egao Everywhere]

Mar 23, 2013 20:36:26 GMT -8 pascaline said:

• THE MEMBER COUNT. I am an RPing dinosaur who started doing this shit back in 2001, give or take, and I follow an old standard: if the site is old and has a high member count, that's a plus and it makes me want to join the site even more. I don't understand the notion of people wanting to only join sites that either have just opened or are very low in their member count, because high member counts mean that:
  
  A. The site is appealing and fun for a wide range of people that you can play with
  
  and
  
  B. The site is unlikely to close any time soon
  
  I find new sites and sites with low member counts volatile and uncertain, and unless I know the admin or REALLY love the site's concept I generally wait a month or two to see how things are going for the site.

This is actually one of the more unpopular opinions. Most people prefer to join sites with less member count because it means a more tight-knit community that you can easily adjust in. Big sites tend to be intimidating because of pretty much everything that could go on by everyone you wouldn't know. I think your A is very subjective and my impression of big sites (without scanning through the posts) tend to be negative. When a lot of random people join a site, I generally think that it is a site with low expectations on post quality.

Your view on new sites is pretty harsh lol. How can a site prosper if everyone waits it out to see if it would become bigger? I do know what you mean by volatile and uncertain but not based on member count. I just base it from experience - on the plot and people in it. Sometimes, I do tend to wait a month or two as well to see how it goes, only because I'm wondering of the factor that have made it survive for that long.

So the best and first thing I do really is look at the posts. If the IC posts are hidden, fat chance I'll join lol. I take a site seriously only if I see the staff is as well.

[pascaline]

Mar 24, 2013 6:44:34 GMT -8 Egao, Egao Everywhere said:

This is actually one of the more unpopular opinions. Most people prefer to join sites with less member count because it means a more tight-knit community that you can easily adjust in. Big sites tend to be intimidating because of pretty much everything that could go on by everyone you wouldn't know. I think your A is very subjective and my impression of big sites (without scanning through the posts) tend to be negative. When a lot of random people join a site, I generally think that it is a site with low expectations on post quality.

I don't understand your term 'when a lot of random people join a site'. RPG member counts are solely based on RANDOM PEOPLE JOINING THE SITE. And even if a site has low expectations for post quality, the goal of all RPGs was to originally - and in my opinion, should still be - to take players who aren't good writers and help them develop their skills.

You can still have a big community that is also tight-knit. All RPGs are like a family, big or small. And I don't care what anyone says, it's just as easy to make your mark in a big RPG as a small RPG if you put in the effort. If you don't know anyone on a big rpg set out to know people, find a way to reach out, etc.

And also this is all how I personally feel due to my personal experiences with RPing. These are what ring true for me, but may not ring true for you or anyone else. My opinion may be unpopular, but once upon a time it was the popular choice, and with me it still is the popular choice.

[Pool Boy]

speaking of random people joining ---

I am ten times as likely to join a site a friend is on. I think I have joined very few sites entirely alone, and even when I do join alone, there will eventually be at least one member there who came because I told them I was there.

OH COINCIDENCE! once i joined a site because I sniped this particular character that i really LIKED. After I'd joined and apped though, I found out that the person I made a character for was actually one of my friends already and that she had changed her ooc name. Just for that little detail of already knowing her made the site way more easy to slip into.

it's really awesome to know people on a site, too, if it's already big and all the old members are too tied up with the threads they have already to thread with new people. you can always get a decent plot from a friend if you need one.

Not that threading ONLY with your friends is the best. But its nice to have one foot with people you know and love, and the other with the rest of the community to meet them!

[HIMA]

i just randomly feel like replying to this

of course, first impression is the thing that usually grabs me first. a cool name, a very lovely skin (preferably something minimalist yet interesting to look at or something absolutely breathtaking) but usually if the idea is fantastic i am willing to look past the skin. this is probably a bit harsh to say this but usually premades turn me off. that's not anyone's fault, not everyone can skin or has a talented friend who can, it's just a matter of my opinion. it's not as if i join a lot of sites anyway... l-lolol.

yeah, a low active member count would then immediately turn me away. if there aren't a lot but evidence of activity i would still join. then it's a matter of friendly people. like how habbue said, i don't want to feel like the outsider. it's really annoying when people are super cliquey and unwilling to allow anyone new to join in yet pretend they're oh so lovely. no thanks. that's just me and my opinion on the super nice people.

i can't deal with any kind of rp involving magic b/c it gets complex and i can never think of weapons and magic to play around with okay sob i am dumb