[konya]

Because I am literally at my wit's end and I'm going to breakdown again you don't want that.

I know a lot of people here have been on Zellij at one stage or another - mostly at the start. I'd like to know what drove people away so I can fix that.

Since its opening we have had a building structure to the site, with a new events system that would work really well if I had the manpower to run it. I don't. But it would be sweet.

We tried gearing things towards a more centralised location within the city itself, which went well for a while but now things are falling apart again.

I'd appreciate if no one made any comments suggesting that if it's causing me so much stress, I should just close it. If you're going to suggest I give up in any shape or form, you can just hit the X button I don't want to hear it. Likewise if you're going to say 'Get more staff' a ha ah ah ahahah as ahlsdajhdaksjhdf sf.

Also keep in mind that I'm incredibly worked up and fragile about this right now so it'd be nice if harsh things were softened and I know being myself I have no right to ask that of anyone, but again it would be nice.

Thanks.

[Pool Boy]

Part of why I didn't stick around is probably my fault. I got lazy. I got discouraged because the event I started didn't get a post for some time. Something about that made me feel like people were closed off and didn't want to participate. Also, aside from you and a couple other members, there wasn't much enthusiasm to plot with others or start open threads, which made me feel like my own plots were limited. Zellij brought in a lot of people because it had such great potential when it was made. I got the sense that when it began, people came in small groups of two or three and didn't reach out to everyone else. By the time I couldn't hold interest, only Habbue was still replying to my threads. I had... like seven threads all of which I started, and only the one with Habbue didn't die. The other six threads I had all died with my partner replying just once or zero times. idk what happened with that.

[habs]

yeah...going off of what electric said. it's nothing really that's wrong with the site, i don't think, because it's really a great site. it's beautiful and the plot is still really interesting to me, i just did that thing where i join too many sites at one time and then realize a week later that i made a mistake. it was also discouraging to only have a few threads that had replies, especially since i had so many and i had such good ideas. but me leaving and being a flake (and i'm still really sorry and aslkjwh slkja hwgha about that) was totally my own fault and nothing with the site :c

[konya]

so the basic problem here is.

i can't do jack shit that my site is dying.

even though the current members are trying so hard, no one will join because if they were going to they already have and left?

i was in several threads which were not completed.

this is what i want to know

- how many threads is 'enough' to make it worth it? this is confusing for me because if i'm on one thread i'm happy.
- what about the plotting system wasn't working? because there were a whole lot of plots going on and then suddenly none. I personally posted in every single plot page when there were still a significant amount of members, and I got maybe three responses.
- what is the threshold for giving up on a plot idea? i still have no end-goal for my main; i don't mind waiting. at the same time, my other characters are stagnating because the people who were part of their lives have left. is this enough to make someone leave a site completely?

obviously yes, but clearly a pattern can be seen here which i would like to find out how to stop from starting in the first place. something caused that first wave (with many plots, many diverse characters, etc) to leave, which created a knock-on effect. absolutely none of those players have been active members for over three months, however the site is stagnating because it must lack appeal somewhere. what about it is not keeping players and how can that be fixed?

[makola]

Is it the genre that might be the deterrence? What would you categorize your site as? If it's not the genre people are looking for at the moment, what can you do about it ? :/

How many members do you have actively posting right now? Focus on those members. Scale the RP down and work with what you have. I see your site almost everywhere XD, you're bound to get lots of people passing by. Sometimes you only need that ONE excited member that makes it all worth it.

[konya]

I can focus on existing members as well as look for why others have left at the same time. We do have an event being planned, but the current member base is very small and in a very precarious position so I would like to bolster that.

My main concern is that no one seems to stay, regardless of how much or how little plotting and threads they get. I would like to know why that is, and what I can change about the site structure to make it more appealing.

[Pool Boy]

I don't know for sure why my threads died. I know that whatever knocked out the first wave that caused a lot of my and habbue's threads to die had the secondary affect of knocking us out. I think it's true to say that the site appealed to me and gave me muse, but the lack of muse in my thread partners made me lose faith.

I posted on a whole bunch of plot pages as well. Only so many were gotten back to. Lol, l don't think anyone posted on my plot pages. Something in the plotting phase might have turned people off. Maybe because characters were too diverse for plots ideas on the fly? Arabian Nights tends to require more novelesque, diverse, and unconventional plots and less 'oh, they're in the same class so they must have some opinion of each other' mindless easiness. Like, I had to really put thought into plot ideas I remember. Which was what I really enjoyed it for, but I think some people found it too challenging.

[Deleted]

I suppose I'll toss some feedback, as I am a person who has never been a member of Zellij.

Something you are immediately going to be confronted with is the fact that you are an original roleplay. I absolutely adore original roleplays, but the fact is that if you have an original concept that is either a] very obscure or b] takes a lot of elaboration on the part of staff to get the concept across, you likely aren't going to get a lot of members. As is, many prospective members won't go through the effort of reading the information pages of a site. That's just the reality of it. We're lazy.

Unfortunately, Zellij has both these things working against it. It is one of a kind, beautifully so. I've never seen any roleplays with a setting like it and I've been around a while. But it isn't going to have the memberbase of, say, fandom or combat based sites.

I'm looking at your information pages now and it is all very well written. However, there's nothing titled 'setting' or even a brief summary of the history that influences this site. When the cultural aspect of Zellij is such a necessary aspect of its character, you really need to have a section like this. The simpler, the better. You already have the Atlas section to go into the finer details. How would you pitch me Zellij in one minute? Write that down and post it.

The set-up itself is also very ambitious, particularly your magic system. It is very intricate and well-rounded, gives me a great sense of that aspect within the setting. The only issue I have with it is the issue I'm having looking at most of your information threads; they are all very long. Going back to what I said before, people are lazy. Setting up characters takes a lot of effort in itself. There's a lot of reading here. This isn't going to deter that one enthusiastic member Makola mentioned, but your site is going to be sustained by people who are content to not have to work for an experience. The moment something becomes a chore, it isn't fun anymore.

I'm definitely giving you props for your advertising. I've seen you everywhere while doing Ambi's own advertisements. You don't need to do more in this department. Hell, I don't think you possibly could. You have lines everywhere they can be. Like was mentioned before, focus on what members you have caught, who have stuck around. Members who stick around through a drought are the most dedicated you're going to get and no doubt, since they love your site, they will do what they can to help Zellij thrive.

For an idea, try a recruitment contest. Advertisements get messy and, again, you've posted just about everywhere. You have members, however few they may be. Let them go out and tell people what there is to love about Zellij. I believe I read about artifacts somewhere in your magic section. Why not incorporate that into a member contest? People go out and recruit whoever they can. Whoever recruits the most members gains possession of a special artifact that is important to the site itself. Those new members that were recruited will then be involved with this artifact and, if it all goes well, with each other.

I can't say anything about how many plots it takes to keep someone. Everyone is different. Some like having common acquaintances up the ass, others like having that one strong relation that develops enough to change their character entirely. You are not going to be able to isolate members based on that. There's no point trying. It is actually impossible. You can't control muses or drifters or the first month of a site's life. Don't beat yourself or your site up for that.

If the site is made by members, tell them that it is there's to make, to shape into whatever it is they want it to be. Otherwise, they are just going to get intimidated by a site that has so much information that it restricts their imagination and go.

[konya]

- The setting information is in the box at the top. It is literally the site blurb.
- It's also further built through the information threads and atlas.
But I will see how I can streamline them and make this information stick out more.

I'd also like to add can we stop telling me to 'look after my current members' because again, the assumption that I'm not is offensive and shockingly someone can look for both structural issues with the site as well as 'looking after' current members at the same time.