On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 2:18 PM, John Penta<John.Penta@...> wrote:
>
>
> Is it just me, or are PBEMs, sims, whatever-you'd-like-to-call-them a
> dying genre?
>

In general, I think we've suffered a general, (but non-catastrophic)
decline as more kids grow up as non-readers who have Halo and other
games to occupy their time. This is a long-term concern if we want our
hobby to grow but it isn't killing online text based roleplaying games
(which is what I like to call them). There will always be online
text-based RPGs because we can offer more flexibility and imagination
than a video game can, combined with personal attention from a Game
Master. Most RPG also have a strong OOC community as well, which is
just as appealing as the RP itself.

My main concern is player retention by. A lot of people, especially
high schoolers, are out there trying OTBRPGs for the first time but
get burned by lower-end communities. How many
pro-boardsDragonBall/Naruto/Zoids/Harry Potter RP forums are out
there? Hundreds...how many are successful? Probably 10-20 of them,
right? Since 2000 or so, there has been an explosion of communities
created. What we're seeing here is not so much the hobby dying, but
basically the bursting of a lot of people's bubbles. The internet is
huge and super-distracting. It's not like in 1997 where "If you build
a website, they will come" but you have to fight constantly for user
interest and time. Combine this with people learning to ignore
advertising and you have an extremely competitive field.

As far as PBEMs go, forums have got a lot better in the last several
years and the advantages of them is that you can make them look
pretty, post pictures, search posts easily, view archives, and most
importantly, keep everything organized. I have 12 starships running on
my forum and could never make sense of them if they shared a PBEM...so
I think maybe PBEM may be losing a little ground to more modern OTBRPG
formats. I've also seen some innovative uses of technology including a
Twitter based RP (players can RP from their phone by texting! Talk
about a way to bring the game with you!) and blog based formats. I
think there will always be room for PBEM though, because it's the only
way some people can play from work (in places with overly restrictive
filters).

My solutions are:

1) Have an interesting, constantly updated, and pretty website (a wiki
is the greatest for keeping track of the events, people, places, and
objects of your RP universe. If you don't have one, build one--you'll
love it and also love that players can add things instead of having to
do everything yourself. Plus, you can pump your wiki's RSS feed
updates through Twitterfeed and have it post to twitter every time
someone makes a new wiki page!). Preferably get a domain name: eg
yourRPGname.com - it shows you're serious about your community. Go for
quality and freshness and you'll become an authority...players will
join your site over time. I've had players that have often said, "I
first saw your site a couple years ago, but only recently decided to
make a character." Basically, if you stick in the mind of the lurking
browsers, you are branding yourself and working on long term success.
Of course, converting them to members right away is even better. Give
your page a big obvious JOIN US button and keep each page simple
enough to let viewers know exactly what you want them to do on it.
Also, being able to find information (search boxes are great, another
reason to get a wiki) is essential. Make it easy to navigate.

2) Find new advertising venues. Ive found Google text and image ads
work decently (but they cost), whereas most advertising groups on
Yahoo are basically a bunch of Game Masters repetitively shouting
their RP info at each other. Branch out! LiveJournal groups and other
social based sites are extremely effective recruiting zones, because
it's word of mouth from trusted friends. Just like in RL marketing,
referrals are your BEST option. Don't be afraid to as your players.
"Can you give me the name and email of 3 people you know that would
probably be interested in joining?" and then contact those people,
"Hi, I'm Wes, a friend of John's...we write together in X Community
and he said you might be interested. Can I show you some highlights
about the site?" etc. Word of mouth. Again, quality and fresh content
are your best friends...because even when you're not advertising, if
your have an RP community that "sells itself" to the viewer, you will
get linked and get joined. Make your community something members are
proud to be part of and something they will want to share with their
friends. Remember that RPing is something for people of most ages and
backgrounds. Try to be inclusive.

I hope this helps,

Wes