Hey Cole,
long time no see.
What you said about the site's health, I've brought up before, but the consensus at the time was that people were busy and the site was just in a temporary lull.
So, I feel a little vindicated now that someone else is also perceiving things similarly. That said though, I do have a small idea.
I feel there's an issue in retention and maybe presence? Maybe I don't really have a good finger on the pulse because I look at the "users online" marker located in main forums page, and thus my observations are a little skewed based on that.
I've seen an uptick in new users posting in the Welcome Threads, so that's evidence that people are joining the site. Whether they're staying, I don't really know.
I've also seen a number of these go unanswered, but, even when they are answered by the few exemplary users who take the time to welcome them, there's rarely follow up from the new user, which could be due to any number of reasons like--they just didn't see a notification pop up? Or they perceived a lack of activity, assumed the site was dead, and quit?
That said, the users Joseph_Bennett, MartinVole, and lostamongtrees, have been very diligent with stepping into the Welcome Forums these past few months (from what I could see) to greet new users and help them get situated, regardless of the results.
I wonder if it would help to have a concerted effort to welcome people and then to situate them in the site.
A good place to herd new users is maybe the discord for communications? I offer the discord because we can tell people's presence and activity pretty quickly through the discord. And it's easier to navigate compared to RPG's layout if you're new.
From there, established users can guide the new users around the RPG site, help them 1. start off in the Multiverse, 2. find an active roleplay to join, and/or 3. launch their own roleplay.
I sequenced these in that particular order because I felt this was probably the way to slowly get a feel for the site's layout and many tools (even though I skipped number 1 in my personal experience).
And when I say "concerted", I'm referring to a group of users who will also stay in communication with one another and check in with one another on their own progress with helping new users. I imagine it can be a little demoralizing to feel like the only one welcoming users in a particular week.
This doesn't have to be, I think, super organized. Keeping it low stakes is the way to go, which is to say, don't ever feel like you have to put the site entirely on your shoulders. I think it goes a long way to just be in touch with one another and say, "I'm gonna say hi to some new users today" or "I'll take care of welcoming users this week" or "This [username] didn't respond to my greeting, so I might PM them with a link to the discord and hope they receive it".
I would also say it might help to get in touch with the users I mentioned above and try to organize the revitalization effort with them onboard.
Just some thoughts.
Like a stranger on a grate, or a skylark, or a taper, flying ever upward and knowing of love's satiety. Our dreams beyond the Sun and into the expanse of Night doth sound a quiet hymn.
Tip jar: the author of this post has received
0.50 INK
in return for their work.