How can I draw you into a public, open thread?

[Trextan Voidstalker]

So I've seen a lot of open threads fail to kick off recently. That's been the case for a long time.

If I wanted to make an open thread that would get you involved (just for a few days to a week), a little bit out of your usual circles and maybe interacting with new people, having some fun and rolling with the flow what would I have to do to draw you in?

Is it an interesting concept?
Cool locations?
Some hype?
Rewards?

Is it just out of the OP's hands and luck on the draw on what sparks off?

 

[Jorus Merrill]

Stakes that matter, or loot that I couldn't make by myself in ten minutes in the Factory.

Little bit of risk wouldn't hurt.

You know what'd be cool? A Choose Your Own Adventure kind of format, where it's partially DM-guided, but each post gives you three major options (with the potential to work outside them and do your own thing). A lot of guided threads feel railroad-y, so every post becomes a chore.

 

[Darth Grimoire]

I usually try to "sell" my open threads before I start on the discussion boards with a snappy summary of the thread's premise. Key is to have a plan for your thread but convey that its free enough for people imprint their own actions on the thread's story progression.

People are attracted to a thread that will cultivate opportunities to interact and do something neat.

 

[Progflaw99]

Truthfully - many open threads tend to be confrontational in nature. Not that there's anything wrong with that, conflict is story, certainly considering the very subject is Star Wars. That being said, I will always be one to harp on communication. Clear expectations and a fair shake. That also being said, Chaos is in very essence chaos so occasional "Oh crap look guys, we're being attacked" or "Oh man, we've got pirates raiding our X location" is great, but the main thing that turns me off to the majority of open threads is no direction.

Typically they're almost too open ended. "Hey we're in a bar, and of course we're ominously staring at each other from across the bar while other people filter in" etc.

A compelling story and a believable and not cookie cutter reason for being there will be by far the largest draw for me personally. Settings that make me think "Yes, I can definitely see myself being in X location, and these are the reasons why." as opposed to "Well, it's a bar, guess I could show up."

To sum up, the two most important things that catch my eye are:

1. Overall Storyboard/Direction
2. Setting & A Concrete Reason to be There/Ease of saying "Yes, I would definitely be in a place like that for these reasons."

 

[Krayn]

Yeah, I dunno. Crowd's changed since the start of the GA days when everything was done in open and awesome.
I've noticed it too though, open threads don't start moving unless they are invasions and even then people don't really seem to be enjoying them.

I've always been a fan of the weekend treasure hunts. Here is a concept and go for it.

 

[TB-705]

Accessibility and ease of entry. Most first time RPers aren't sure what's going on, so they tend to prefer threads that are fairly uncomplicated with a simple plot and easy, built-in ways from the OP for them to insert their characters into a thread with a bunch of strangers.

Starting off with too much complexity can be off-putting. I don't want to have to read five wookieepedia articles before I feel like I have a solid grasp of situation.

 

[Kay-Larr]

All of the above I agree with.

[member="Jorus Merrill"] , Choose Your Own Adventure stories were always my favourite growing up Love that idea! I always considered RP to fall along those lines. Each post I have choices to make that could either end up pretty good, or pretty badly.

I just bounce off of what's given to me by others, although I have DM'd a couple of threads. Normally though I just plan out the start and let the rest flow naturally.

Personally I love adventures, so it's those kinds of stories that draw me in. When I first started, I didn't try to jump into a thread as the site was so intimidating for me. So I created my own adventure/mystery and people hopped right in

Everything else grew from there

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"]

I've seen a lot of simple and accessible ones struggle to get off the ground recently.

Compelling reasons for a character to be involved seems a theme so far.

 

[Quietus]

Once upon a time I loved joining public threads. Back in the day when I was a grade-schooler and had nothing going for me after school because I didn't have a cell phone or a car to drive until I started college - therefore most of my afternoons were free and spent on RP forums. That being said, timing I think is one of the deciding factors of public threads that will or won't succeed. The time of day you pick to post an open thread can sometimes mean the difference between a plunker or a home run.

It's the same in the marketing and advertising industry, especially for social media. There are certain times of the day you just don't post an ad because no one is going to see it.

Other than that, many points have already been hit.

Accessibility, story, goals.

Something that always bothered me as well was the scope of a public thread. Is the story engaging enough that several people can get involved without being overlooked? One of my pet peeves is seeing a public thread that doesn't engage those that join.

 

[Xzara Vox]

I agree with all of this. My problem (and this may have been touched on) is the lack of creativity. Most public threads ARE the "Hey we're in a bar I'm going to kill you now" scenario. And that gets boring, real fast.

Also, love the choose your own adventure idea!! I think I may have read all of those books growing up and I would love love love to see that happening on here.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

One of my pet peeves is seeing a public thread that doesn't engage those that join.

How do you achieve this?

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Let's rephrase slightly to make this more focussed.

You see a new public thread. What do you have to see there to draw you into joining?

 

[Switch]

One thing that helps is some kind of element in the thread that could justify a diverse group of people not just crossing paths, but sticking around. The ubiquitous cantina thread is a bit hard to get going in my opinion, since you have a bunch of strangers who have little reason to become best buddies. Try instead to apply some kind of external reason for people gathering together. Maybe the cantina is serving as a shelter during some kind of storm or riot outside, or maybe it isn't a bar you can just leave, but a train or shuttle that might encourage some elbow bumping.

You can go more in depth or interesting with it, but my point is it helps to give people at least one common through line they can run with before letting them go.

Just my two credits. Cheers!

 

[Jorus Merrill]

Let's rephrase slightly to make this more focussed.

You see a new public thread. What do you have to see there to draw you into joining?

A conflict with things at stake. The potential to blow up as more than just a barfight.

 

[Kaili Talith]

I feel like someone has to mention it. The reason I don't join is very simple.

Since points on story and such has been raised I will raise this one. I have big problems getting involved in things unless I actually know someone in the public threads. I don't feel comfortable stepping outside my little bubble, but that might just be me.

 

[NightSister]

I won't join an open thread if I don't already know what's happening and/or what my character will do. Invasions get announced, I get a week to consider what I can do in the thread that's fun. An LFG is posted for a thread, I know who's there and what's happening. A friend tells me about a thread, I have a premise and a writing partner before I go in. But random threads I have no prior knowledge of don't usually make it onto my radar.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Lady Kay"] [member="Xzara Vox"]

http://starwarsrp.net/topic/112350-weekend-treasure-hunt-29-choose-your-own-indenture-open/

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

*adds you to my Favourite's List.

Thank you

 

[Rocco]

Iakarian Bananas

Pew Pews

tinkering

The Abyss of space and all it has to promise.

 

[Ellie Mors]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]
Ask me nicely.