[tsundere shark]

so everything is going great since i started res. tons of people, community is great for the most part (only had issues with one person and after we warned them they were okay), plot running smoothly, etc./idk not here to brag. but it seems like some people just never post ic. they'll post in a thread if someone bugs them to and that's it. or they'll post once a month to save their character. and i'm just like "why are you here?". as far as i know it isn't a matter of losing muse (don't people generally leave when that happens?), or them being busy irl bc they have time to sit in the cbox for hours. they just... idk i don't understand it.

or they come back and it's "i'm sorry i was gone my whole family died i was too distraught to even post an absence thread". mysteriously, this always happens right after i send a mass pm about something (lol?). bonus points when i see them on another site a few days before. like if you don't like it here, you don't have to stay. i hate to lose people but i'm not going to tell people to do things they don't wanna do. does everyone really have to lie about it? either tell us you're gone, or stop coming back every 2 months and making us approve a character that you disappear after making.

so like i need to stop ranting lol. but yeah, i'm sure most everyone has these sorts of problems on their sites. i've only ever joined 2 sites that aren't mine so i'm not too familiar with how other admins do their thing. how do you inspire activity? i just make sure there's always an ic/ooc event and i push it hard. we're constantly world-building, too (we've got a lot of info threads, but honestly you only need to read general info to start anyway - read lore if your thread concerns a certain thing). i think the big draw will be next month when we have a new skin and introduce dragons/guilds bc that's what'll make it ft. but we were doing amazing way before that. and we still drop at least 40 ads per day. so i'm just going to constitute the slowdown to us not being a shiny new site anymore. but yeah... what do you peeps do different?

/honestly has always wanted to see a big thread filled with wtf people do with their sites

[SIFR]

It really depends on the medium, and some will be more of a challenge than others.

For instance, sites with systems, especially leveling systems, they tend to draw a crowd that either has or will develop something I call Ash Ketchum Syndrome; they wanna be the very best. For them, the activity they need to do in order for their numbers to be the best in the land keeps them there.

For sites with non-systems, the formula varies. If it is a site run in DM Style (your admins plan out the plots and events), then honestly all you can really do is provide new content and hope that you get players who aren't busy with RL. If your site is a sandbox, make sure to make interesting plots with your characters that several people can get involved in... Like a hunt for your grandfather's long lost treasure on a pirate site that you are willing to share for assistance. (Only an example.)

Also, just remember, there will always be downtimes for a site. Your most active times will be holidays like Christmas and summer. Your downtimes will always be exam periods. Most of the community is in college or lower so that has to be taken into account, and the only cure for that is patience

[Elena]

I do keep an active presence. I try to post at least one post daily (I don't succeed every day, but most of the days, with an average of 3-4 posts a day, so the days when I don't succeed are compensated by days with 4-6 posts). I ask my members what plot twists would inspire them to write consistently and I integrate them in the next story months. I promote contests, prizes and awards based on activity.

[CAIT]

as a general rule for every site i think that admin presence from all staff members really does wonders. from talking in the cbox to being as active as possible with the character's that you play. i think that stuff like that gets other members excited? being an admin doesn't Just end at sorting claims and doing apps. still, setting up events and performing run of the mill site clean up (clearing out old accounts, old threads, etc) also keep things running smoothly. and it's good to also show an interest in members by getting as much feedback as possible! ALSO not to mention changing out skins regularly and just! making sure to keep things as active and flowing as possible. that's just my own approach on how to do things though soooo yeah!

[MASQUE]

As a consummate member (haha) I might be able to help a bit (and repeating myself wee).

Generally, most people like being accepted. RP, despite the writing component, is a primarily social thing; so you'll get the people that don't write a lot, or very much, and just prefer to chill in the c-box. You'll also get the people that try the c-box once or twice, get ignored and then just phase to just posting or up and leave because they feel they're going nowhere, and that nobody cares.

actually that last segment is where I ended up vanishing off res myself. That and I suck on jcink hard.

Also, don't forget some people are super plotters, but very little doers. I've noticed that be a trend; plot a lot of things oocly but then never actually do it in ic because of x time to post. That might actually be the problem with actively posting; people either hold themselves, or there's a high base word count, standard that they try to reach. And some people are slower with their posting.

On a good mood, and with no trouble, I can bust out a 500 word post in like... 30 minutes tops. That's with me checking over the post, re-reading the thread, fixing the coding, etc. And I know I work fast. On a more general tangent, I get about 300 words in 15, and fix the rest in 5m, so about 20m per post, so long as I'm not stuck.

So it's generally these kind of factors that pull stuff. The best way I've noticed for people to actually post actively, is to probably lower one's standards for one, and second to just generally be patient during low periods, and keep things interesting... and well keep people from generally wrapping themselves up so much about their thing they make people want to leave or not want to post.

also maybe hiding the c-box for a day might help lol it is very distracting.

/hopes this helps a bit.