Getting new people involved

GP has had a lot of new registrants over the last few weeks, but I haven't seen any new Introduction threads, or many new voices on general discussions. This leads me to believe:

1) People are registering but not joining the site, be it in discussion or game, in which case, the question is what can I do to help make people feel more welcome.
2) People are joining, but just joining games, in which case, is there anything I can do to get more people in general forums? I'm perfectly ok with people not joining in discussions, as long as they're having a good time.
3) People don't know the functionality is available to them.
4) We're hitting the right populations for activity and I'm overthinking this.

Thoughts?

Perhaps GP is reaching that point where the players are heavily outweighing the GMs and folks are just waiting for a new game to jump up?

People like to lurk.


Also i give out this site all the time to people.

GP swings in both directions in almost a regular fashion: new GMs pop up with a bunch of games to fill, new players overwhelm them, and it goes back. Games are filling up reasonably quickly, which is good, though I've brought up the thought: what we can we do to make sure new players have a chance to join games before veteran site get to them, specially if they're not vocal on the forums and have a chance to pipe in to join a game.

Also, even if we have more players than GMs, what can I/we do to make them feel more welcome on the public forums?

I can only speak for myself, but I'm more than happy to give up my spot for a new person if they're interested in joining a game.

In terms of more involvement, one option to get more people involved would be to have newbie-specific games, which some have already done. That way, the GMs can walk the new people through the various ways they can get active on this forum in addition to teaching all the other posting basics.

Another option could be to have one intro game forum for people to interact in-character. I'm not sure how that would work but it could be fun?

I had been on here for a while looking for and playing games before I realized that there was a whole other section of the site devoted to non-play discussions. I haven't posted there as much as I'd like (I'm a bit of a lurker), but I've come to realize that this site isn't just a place to play games; it's a community of game-players!

Maybe have a 'welcome' type email upon account creation that explains the various areas of the site and encourage involvement in those other areas?

a welcome email might be good. it took me a while to figure out the community when I first joined

I'll check to see if it was before or after you both joined, but I did add a list of things you can do to get started on the site that shows up when you click the activation link. Think a welcome email as well would be good?

maybe that was there, and I just ignored it...

A welcome email would be good, possibly with some links to "tutorial threads"? A way to show people what some of what the website can do and how to use it.

Why not just a newbie or 'welcome to GP' link of some sort along the menu bar. People could then see tips, tutorials, sample character sheets, and the like before they even sign up.

So as for "tutorial threads", we have the FAQ with what to do to get started, though I'm sure we can do better. And as for a link at top, szemely, you're thinking for when someone's logged out? That's viable, though we'd need to put that together. I'd definitely need help assembling that.

I know the site's not the most user friendly right now, but with threads on the home page and the forum link at top, is it that hard to find the community side of it? I know there's always more I can do, but I'm trying to figure out whether the large chunk of new users who aren't active on the forums are so by choice or not, and if by choice, if it's something I can help with or not.

Yes, something someone can see before they decide to join up. I'd be willing to help throw some things together for a page like that.

That.

I try to give my two cents as often as I can, but I often see threads in which I realize I have nothing to contribute to, so I ignore those...

Ahem... yup.

I'm sure there are a number of people who are lurking, which is also fine, but given we have 3-5+ new users each day now, I figured we'd have at least 1 person a week or two who wasn't the lurking type. Plus, like I mentioned, even some of you who say you're lurkers put up intro threads when you joined :p

I have a confession to make: I lurked for weeks before I joined a game, and even then I was too shy to post on the Introductions thread. And by the time I had joined a ton of games and gotten comfortable on the site it kinda seemed to late to post an intro. :-D

Personally, I read all the non-game threads but often I don't feel like I have anything to contribute, so reading becomes the extent of my participation.

Maybe we should ambush Keleth with a webcam and create a series of "So you want to game on Gamersplane" YouTube videos. Well, I say "we" but I'm like 3000 miles away... But I'd participate remotely.

Heh, I'm trying a week of no video games; either programming or studying. Hopefully the extra time will let me get to recording that podcast I mean to a bit ago. The #notatmytable argument actually helped me come up with a first topic.

Some kind of Keleth-based reality tv?

The idea amuses me. Although, not being in the software business myself, my idea of the day-to-day life of a developer is based mostly on Silicon Valley.

Silicon Valley, from my limited experience with it, is way closer to reality than any of us would like to admit (source: also a programmer). :P

Keleth --

A welcome e-mail is one thing. Perhaps if someone has gone a week and has not posted you could do a follow up email that provides some pointers. Maybe links to a couple popular threads in some of the non-gaming forums. Identifies the 3 newest games waiting for more players.. You could either code this up (making the thread information hard) or you could hand-curate it and just have the follow-up sent every Sunday evening (and if someone has: 1 registered, 2 not posted and 3 not yet received the follow up) they'd get the follow up?

From a marketing perspective, they're at the top of the funnel, and in order to have them go deeper in the funnel they may need a reminder or call to action. Or they may be overwhelmed at the idea of PbP. Or something. If there are some fun public games you could have a game of the week (or month) or something and suggest that folks new to PbP could read one of the public games that's going well as a taste of what's on offer for them -- if they just got involved. :)

THIS. This sounds right. You got then to click, to create a profile, to sacrifice their email address. Give them the candy.

It's been dead a bit, but if you guys remember me working on a new layout for the landing and home pages, I'm hoping to do just that. But yes, I know the design is way subpar.

I think knowing what to do and where to go would help more in a way. When you're making an account maybe an automated message or email to the FAQ area. Some people prefer to lurk and look around at games that are public before they jump in others are more curious so they start PMing people questions or just post they want in on a game when they're new... Is there a way to do the opposite of the inactive Zzz icon so we can tell when people have created their account in under a month maybe?

The ratio of people who want to play games versus people who are willing to run them is a constant issue with the hobby. I don't think anyone has ever been able to solve this issue. Maybe there could games created that are only for people new to gaming, or play by post?

Another aspect, lurking, might just be people who don't really know what Play-By-Post is all about.

What if in the FAQ, there was a link to a completed game that anyone could see? Character creation, OOC comments, the run of play? Maybe it doesn't need to be a whole game, but a few pages of the games might help.

And perhaps a 'highly active' flag if they've posted more than x times in the past month? That would allow those new members to know who to talk if they have any questions
I like this idea - and it might be easy enough to simply have a checkbox or two on the game creation page. Eg:

[ ] RPG good for newbies
[ ] PbP good for newbies

(may want to find a better way to word it)

And be able to be notified when a new game matches one of those requirements. That would also give those veteran gamers who don't want a new player to make it clear up front that it's a more advanced game

I'm not sure I like a "highly active" flag, but I've brought up a few times adding gamification to the site, and activity would give people higher levels. This should accomplish the same thing, while also showing new to the site. But I do like the idea of a "New member" flag, one that someone could turn off before the initial time period expires, as someone could be a PbP veteran but new to the site.
I like this idea too. Like many cons have for games, being able to pick if a game welcomes people with no experience in the system (will teach), experience preferred (help given), or experience required (expected to have rules/supplies/etc), and a second flag for if a game is good for people new to PbP (would require the will teach flag).

Maybe it's somewhere, or maybe on a wish list, but is there a big list of games with openings that aren't invite only? Cause that would be something that a newcomer should see.

(Cross-posting with the Mumble Server! thread)


Maybe have a regularly scheduled Gamers-Plane training session (once a month?) that people could be aware of and join in (to learn or to teach).