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How many of you have joined groups via this forum and how many of you think advertising on the forums is an effective way of gaining members?
I've been extremely curious lately as to how effective the Group Advertising Board and Child Boards are in recruiting members for groups. I've been leading a group for almost two years and have created an advertisement thread myself. But, I've always wanted to see other people's opinions on the whole thing. If it's really even worth recruiting on the forums and such.
I figured it would be a good topic to bring up for discussion too. Couldn't hurt. I like to participate in experiments and see what the majority thinks of things. Just interests me. Thought I'd bring up this topic since it's always been a question of mine. Obviously, I don't really know what other people think of things as and everyone has a different opinion. What is your opinion?
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Moving this over to the forum discussion board c:
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In my honest opinion, I think people have better luck advertising in-game simply because the forums aren't near as active as the game itself. However, I do think advertising on the forums does have it's perks, such as making an nice post for your rp and it would be a nice place to send new recruits to read up on rules/requirements/etc....
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Hello! I haven't joined any groups yet, but if I were to consider joining one, I'd definitely start by looking here. I'm not too sure how others would search, but looking here is probably the best place to start. You can see all the groups and roleplay requests in one convenient spot instead of having to sift through the group chat on the Grounds or having to search the maps for a group.
On the other hand, advertising your group in-game is also a pretty good idea, because some people may stumble upon a gathered group and be curious about what's going on. If they seem interested, one of the participating members could link them to the forum post online to learn more.
This is really just my thoughts on the matter. I thought I'd just chime in with them~
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I never joined a group on the forums, but I think advertising on the forums is better because you can give out more information, and details which can attract more members to your group. But I think advertising in the game and the forums are both successful ways to gain members.
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Moving this over to the forum discussion board c:
Thank you, I wasn't entirely sure just because I was asking people's opinions which could of fit in the other section but also start a discussion.
In my honest opinion, I think people have better luck advertising in-game simply because the forums aren't near as active as the game itself. However, I do think advertising on the forums does have it's perks, such as making an nice post for your rp and it would be a nice place to send new recruits to read up on rules/requirements/etc....
Hello! I haven't joined any groups yet, but if I were to consider joining one, I'd definitely start by looking here. I'm not too sure how others would search, but looking here is probably the best place to start. You can see all the groups and roleplay requests in one convenient spot instead of having to sift through the group chat on the Grounds or having to search the maps for a group.
On the other hand, advertising your group in-game is also a pretty good idea, because some people may stumble upon a gathered group and be curious about what's going on. If they seem interested, one of the participating members could link them to the forum post online to learn more.
This is really just my thoughts on the matter. I thought I'd just chime in with them~
I never joined a group on the forums, but I think advertising on the forums is better because you can give out more information, and details which can attract more members to your group. But I think advertising in the game and the forums are both successful ways to gain members.
There seems to be a similar opinion between you guys. Recruiting in-game would be most efficient but recruting here has perks such as linking people. But, you could do that in-game also too. I mean, you wouldn't be able to click on the links in such, but you can still type a site out and stuff. You could also type it in bios.
What do you guys think about the way the forum is set up with the Child Boards and such? I couldn't help but notice that roleplay groups have gone in-active both on the Child Boards and Group Advertising Board. People comment to join groups, but they aren't even active anymore. I feel like maybe they should be locked by staff or something. Yeah, that'd be a ton of work and I understand the staff can't do everything, but I'm just throwing it out there.
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In my opinion [which will be pretty short] is that I think advertising in-game and on the forums is a great way to get a group or whatever you may be advertising out there!
I know quite a few people browse the forums and others simply do not wish to go onto the forums. I use to want nothing to do with the forums when i first started and now that I've been more active on it I see now that I've missed quite a bit of interesting things weather it's ideas or groups. ;w;
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There seems to be a similar opinion between you guys. Recruiting in-game would be most efficient but recruting here has perks such as linking people. But, you could do that in-game also too. I mean, you wouldn't be able to click on the links in such, but you can still type a site out and stuff. You could also type it in bios.
What do you guys think about the way the forum is set up with the Child Boards and such? I couldn't help but notice that roleplay groups have gone in-active both on the Child Boards and Group Advertising Board. People comment to join groups, but they aren't even active anymore. I feel like maybe they should be locked by staff or something. Yeah, that'd be a ton of work and I understand the staff can't do everything, but I'm just throwing it out there.
You do bring up a good point with the inactive role play groups... I agree with locking the page, too. However, I think that the person leading the group should have to take initiative to change the ad post before they lock it to show that they are closed. It's just a thought, I don't know how well that would work, if at all.
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What do you guys think about the way the forum is set up with the Child Boards and such? I couldn't help but notice that roleplay groups have gone in-active both on the Child Boards and Group Advertising Board. People comment to join groups, but they aren't even active anymore. I feel like maybe they should be locked by staff or something. Yeah, that'd be a ton of work and I understand the staff can't do everything, but I'm just throwing it out there.
I don't really think there is much of a reason for locking the old group threads unless the group has indicated that they are inactive and wish it to be locked up. Now if the group hasn't been around or posting for years, that's a different story. But, it's not that hard for mods to unlock something that accidentally gets locked so it's not much of a hassle anyway. Sometimes groups may appear to be inactive on the forums because they do most of their recruiting ingame and don't have people post their bios in the thread. Most of the time these groups post an ad on here and do most of their discussion on their own Proboards site or other discussion board. So, my stance is to not lock it up but have some sort of indication that the group is still up and running. This would all be solved if the leaders or managers of the group indicate that they are no longer active.
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What do you guys think about the way the forum is set up with the Child Boards and such? I couldn't help but notice that roleplay groups have gone in-active both on the Child Boards and Group Advertising Board. People comment to join groups, but they aren't even active anymore. I feel like maybe they should be locked by staff or something. Yeah, that'd be a ton of work and I understand the staff can't do everything, but I'm just throwing it out there.
I don't really think there is much of a reason for locking the old group threads unless the group has indicated that they are inactive and wish it to be locked up. Now if the group hasn't been around or posting for years, that's a different story. But, it's not that hard for mods to unlock something that accidentally gets locked so it's not much of a hassle anyway. Sometimes groups may appear to be inactive on the forums because they do most of their recruiting ingame and don't have people post their bios in the thread. Most of the time these groups post an ad on here and do most of their discussion on their own Proboards site or other discussion board. So, my stance is to not lock it up but have some sort of indication that the group is still up and running. This would all be solved if the leaders or managers of the group indicate that they are no longer active.
Good point. You said "Now if the group hasn't been around or posting for years, that's a different story." That's what I mean. I feel like when a leader goes inactive as well, there is no way they can take an action to do anything and people keep thinking they're around.
Here's an example I found (scroll to the bottom);
http://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=51699.10 (http://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=51699.10)
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advertising in game has always garnered me Plenty of members > it's easy to link them 2 info through group bio links as well. basically anything with a kind of organisation (especially the forum you host your group on!) will efficiently get your points across and give more details i think? i could answer a lot of questions about the group w/ a simple redirect to "go read x or y board on forum to know more". it's simple and gives as much understanding 2 ur potential new member as advertising on these forums here, imo.
& advertisements on the forum have never gotten me far all tbh? it sounds a bit Weird but u can emulate the info that an advertisement on this forum might give with your rps seperate forum (or just a google doc tbh) they both work just about the same. People In Game are looking more for in-game rps i think? anyone using the forum is probably more interested in doing things on the forum, yknow - thus the off-topic rp section, where a lot of people thread. in-game just garners a much broader and more interesting response i think u get me? it definitely tops forum in pro v. con comparison!
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Good point. You said "Now if the group hasn't been around or posting for years, that's a different story." That's what I mean. I feel like when a leader goes inactive as well, there is no way they can take an action to do anything and people keep thinking they're around.
Here's an example I found (scroll to the bottom);
http://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=51699.10 (http://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=51699.10)
Exactly, yeah! Any sort of indication would be perfect for that.
& advertisements on the forum have never gotten me far all tbh? it sounds a bit Weird but u can emulate the info that an advertisement on this forum might give with your rps seperate forum (or just a google doc tbh) they both work just about the same. People In Game are looking more for in-game rps i think? anyone using the forum is probably more interested in doing things on the forum, yknow - thus the off-topic rp section, where a lot of people thread. in-game just garners a much broader and more interesting response i think u get me? it definitely tops forum in pro v. con comparison!
That's the way it seems. And it does sound weird considering the forums is a great candidate for hosting that type of information. As you said though, a Google Docs or something along those lines works just fine if you don't need any super fancy layout or anything.
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I've always seen many successful RP groups not use the forums to branch out their RP.
Take Pride RP's for example, Many Lion RP's don't use the forums to advertise, And they do very well in gaining members.
But as Grace said, Groups could have gone inactive and not said it if they made a forum post. So if someone sees a RP they are very interested in, And it's closed, They're most likely going to be very upset. As it's hard to find a RP for certain people.
But then again advertising on the forums can branch out to people that would have missed people recruiting in game.
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& advertisements on the forum have never gotten me far all tbh? it sounds a bit Weird but u can emulate the info that an advertisement on this forum might give with your rps seperate forum (or just a google doc tbh) they both work just about the same. People In Game are looking more for in-game rps i think? anyone using the forum is probably more interested in doing things on the forum, yknow - thus the off-topic rp section, where a lot of people thread. in-game just garners a much broader and more interesting response i think u get me? it definitely tops forum in pro v. con comparison!
I honestly would of never thought to use Google Docs, that's a really good idea for people looking to share links without the whole site. Interesting! To me personally, I'd stick to a forum or site just because I find that you can expand a whole lot more and go into detail with your roleplay.
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Recently, advertising for a roleplay group in-game seems to be the more "effective" way, since that is where the majority of Feral Heart players are looking. If no one knows that advertising for groups is an option on the forum, most will probably resort to advertising in-game, especially since most people playing the game are playing, well, the game. c:
A few months back, the roleplay boards were a bit more lively in terms of advertisement, but I still see users advertising for roleplay groups on the forum. I think it depends on the type of group, too; for some roleplays, it might make sense to advertise in-game without going through all of the hassle of making a forum advertisement.
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Honestly, I think it is a 50/50 effectiveness. There's some perks to forum advertisement while there's also cons. Not all FH users check and use the forums frequently or at all, but, there's also some that do. Personally, I find forum advertising as a secondary alternative to advertising in-game, as the game seems to be a bit more popular as for gaining members than the forum as of recent. Not to say that the forum hasn't been effective.
Many older groups or larger groups may have better luck on the site, or groups with boards on the advertising section, while smaller groups might not have that upper hand.
But yeah, honestly, I think the forum is more effective for larger groups than smaller ones in the talk of advertising, while the game may be more efficient for gaining members.
~ Whisper
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I personally don't feel that the forums are too effective. I have pretty bad luck, I suppose, but in the past I've barely gotten any members for my roleplays from the forums. It kinda makes sense, not only that the forum is less active as was pointed out previously, but that the child boards seem to hold most of the attention in them.
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I find it very helpful to m'group- especially while I am away from the game. I've found it helpful to 'ave a tab on FH that I can send users to in case of questions or if they wish to register at a later date. That way, even if they want to sign up while I'm offline, they still can and I can tend to their form.
Although, as ye've said above, that 'tis much more beneficial to recruit in-game, there is still a plethora of users who will come across y'er ad on the forum and join. Even though they may not join right then, it may make them think to do so later and find ye in-game.
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i can't say much because i haven't been in an RP for well over 2 years hah
but i like to think that if people can't find a RP group that meets what they are looking for at the current time, they'll look towards searching the forums until they find what they had in mind