ZapdosZulu Forum Idears

[Megan]

So I have been on an ideas rampage, what can ZZ do to get members interested, excited, and engaged into staying at ZZ. There are a lot of us who just stay cause we love the people and pokemon, but there have been some passing people that don't really chat in the box, reply a couple of times and then are lost to us. So I have some interesting ideas to get people to come back and see what's going on.

1) PROMOS: A new promo every month, always something different; winning different pokemon, items, or ££

-one month a lotto
-1 month a writing promo

-5 different pokemon or items
-players can choose after completing the writing portion

-Have to write in the POV of one of your pokemon for one reason or another

Basically they get a "prize' for participating

2) EVENTS:
Make up some big thing like Team Rocket finally started taking over a city and all the non team rocket players have to battle them or something like that

3) ADVERTISING CONTEST:
I know we are low on mods, but if we advertise, we can find other awesome players that could one day eventually be mods and so our mod count wouldn't be so low and all our mods wouldn't seem so swamped after we get more mods xD (make sense?)

4) Mystery Picture
Sorta like Buena's password, except it's part of a pokemon (shiny, dark, normal etc) zoomed in and sorta blurry so the members have to try to guess waht it is and then receives a prize

5) Offer RP Training
Maybe we can help incoming people ho to do things, like "buddies" yes I know this is what mods are for, BUT some of us have either been here a while and aren't mods, or we know how to roleplay and can help others make longer more interesting posts.

We could do this over:
- Chatango
- E-mail
- Skype
- AIM
- Etc

6) MODS:
Have the option of trying out for mod open all the time, not just once in a while, if a player doesn't feel like they want to be mod when it's open but it's always there and they can always try out them I feel like we would have more interest from members because they always have the option of trying out and not having to get discouraged cause it's not there and they have to wait to try out.

Also, I notice other forums having sidebars or a tab like structure on the top of the forum or both explaining a little about their forum, staff members with direct links to be able to PM them with questions, updates, SOTm and MOTM areas to show them off.

I also wonder if moving the Cbox to the top of the page, that we might get more guest traffic instead of being on the bottom where you have to scroll to the bottom of the page to view it.

These are just a few (hahaha) things that I have thought of and wanted to see if anyone else had any ideas on these as well.

I wanna help make ZapdosZulu the best is can be with everyone!

Love,
Megs

[latani]

1) PROMOS: A new promo every month, always something different; winning different pokemon, items, or ££

-one month a lotto
-1 month a writing promo

-5 different pokemon or items
-players can choose after completing the writing portion


-Have to write in the POV of one of your pokemon for one reason or another

Basically they get a "prize' for participating

We already have a lottery. Runs the first week of a month and the last if the month has 5 weeks (like May did.)

5 different Pokemon for writing an excerpt of a 'mons POV is a lot to ask for. Member and Staff of the Month have 2 only. I'm not sure people would spring at this. :<

2) EVENTS:
Make up some big thing like Team Rocket finally started taking over a city and all the non team rocket players have to battle them or something like that

We are always planning events and have one due out very short (my lips are sealed!) Members are always welcome to offer ideas.

3) ADVERTISING CONTEST:
I know we are low on mods, but if we advertise, we can find other awesome players that could one day eventually be mods and so our mod count wouldn't be so low and all our mods wouldn't seem so swamped after we get more mods xD (make sense?)

Ads are put out all the time and we had a contest fairly recently. I just don't think there's enough interest right now.

4) Mystery Picture
Sorta like Buena's password, except it's part of a pokemon (shiny, dark, normal etc) zoomed in and sorta blurry so the members have to try to guess waht it is and then receives a prize

We have Buena's Password; I think that's enough. The staff has other things to do alongside modding you know (:

5) Offer RP Training
Maybe we can help incoming people ho to do things, like "buddies" yes I know this is what mods are for, BUT some of us have either been here a while and aren't mods, or we know how to roleplay and can help others make longer more interesting posts.

I wouldn't make this some official service or something but people can do this on their own free time. It's their choice.

6) MODS:
Have the option of trying out for mod open all the time, not just once in a while, if a player doesn't feel like they want to be mod when it's open but it's always there and they can always try out them I feel like we would have more interest from members because they always have the option of trying out and not having to get discouraged cause it's not there and they have to wait to try out.

Here's where I get mean; NO.

Honestly? We open applications when we think there's potential mods in the members that have been here a while and we're short-staffed. I'm not going to allow people who haven't even been on the site for a day to apply for a moderator position because they probably wouldn't understand the system. "Oh I can learn!" Sorry, but we have a time restriction in place to prevent this.

I don't want people signing up JUST to be staff. I'm sorry but we have some standards. :/

Also, I notice other forums having sidebars or a tab like structure on the top of the forum or both explaining a little about their forum, staff members with direct links to be able to PM them with questions, updates, SOTm and MOTM areas to show them off.

No. ZZ's design is fine as it is and unless Proboards does some massive overhaul and everything goes wonky, it's not changing.

I also wonder if moving the Cbox to the top of the page, that we might get more guest traffic instead of being on the bottom where you have to scroll to the bottom of the page to view it.

Sorry but I find the idea of the Cbox at the top of a page rather unsightly. It doesn't bother many of us being down at the bottom.

[Tiki]

comments in color

Jun 3, 2012 12:24:40 GMT 11 Megan said:

So I have been on an ideas rampage, what can ZZ do to get members interested, excited, and engaged into staying at ZZ. There are a lot of us who just stay cause we love the people and pokemon, but there have been some passing people that don't really chat in the box, reply a couple of times and then are lost to us. So I have some interesting ideas to get people to come back and see what's going on.

1) PROMOS: A new promo every month, always something different; winning different pokemon, items, or ££

-one month a lotto
-1 month a writing promo

-5 different pokemon or items
-players can choose after completing the writing portion

-Have to write in the POV of one of your pokemon for one reason or another

Basically they get a "prize' for participating

A month is a bit too fast lol. since there's halloween and christmas events already, I would just suggest a spring and summer event? lol. Maybe spring is for bug type pokemon being more active and plant type pokemon pollinating/more active. Summer... idk lol

2) EVENTS:
Make up some big thing like Team Rocket finally started taking over a city and all the non team rocket players have to battle them or something like that

I am still waiting for whatever latani is saying lol... I mean, it's summer, they have to stir up something lol

3) ADVERTISING CONTEST:
I know we are low on mods, but if we advertise, we can find other awesome players that could one day eventually be mods and so our mod count wouldn't be so low and all our mods wouldn't seem so swamped after we get more mods xD (make sense?)

4) Mystery Picture
Sorta like Buena's password, except it's part of a pokemon (shiny, dark, normal etc) zoomed in and sorta blurry so the members have to try to guess waht it is and then receives a prize

I thought that one thing from Neopets.. lmao

5) Offer RP Training
Maybe we can help incoming people ho to do things, like "buddies" yes I know this is what mods are for, BUT some of us have either been here a while and aren't mods, or we know how to roleplay and can help others make longer more interesting posts.

We could do this over:
- Chatango
- E-mail
- Skype
- AIM
- Etc

unmodded group roleplay comes to mind..

6) MODS:
Have the option of trying out for mod open all the time, not just once in a while, if a player doesn't feel like they want to be mod when it's open but it's always there and they can always try out them I feel like we would have more interest from members because they always have the option of trying out and not having to get discouraged cause it's not there and they have to wait to try out.

Also, I notice other forums having sidebars or a tab like structure on the top of the forum or both explaining a little about their forum, staff members with direct links to be able to PM them with questions, updates, SOTm and MOTM areas to show them off.

I also wonder if moving the Cbox to the top of the page, that we might get more guest traffic instead of being on the bottom where you have to scroll to the bottom of the page to view it.

These are just a few (hahaha) things that I have thought of and wanted to see if anyone else had any ideas on these as well.

I wanna help make ZapdosZulu the best is can be with everyone!

Love,
Megs

[Triton]

Those are some good ideas...and a number of them remind me of my own site. But honestly the only thing I would add and I know this is more of an opinion but having all that stuff at the top of a site can look very overwhelming especially for potential players. SImpler is better, You just want to make it look as cool and profesional as possible. This also alliviates the duties of staff, and it makes for a cleaner and more professional look on a site. Anyway otherwise I really do like the suggestions and am glad you feel a strong desire to make the site a better place.

To be honest though its all about work loads and when people are doing a service like running a site for free which as far as I know none of the staff are paid there is only so much you can ask of them.

[Andrew]

Jun 3, 2012 12:24:40 GMT 11 Megan said:

1) PROMOS: A new promo every month, always something different; winning different pokemon, items, or ££

-one month a lotto
-1 month a writing promo

-5 different pokemon or items
-players can choose after completing the writing portion

-Have to write in the POV of one of your pokemon for one reason or another

Basically they get a "prize' for participating

Hmm, not sure about this one. I think the promos would lose their effectiveness if we kept them up all the time. We'd eventually get a lack of interest, especially if we ran out of Pokémon and items as prizes. We have certain ones that we need to keep for later on in the RP, and some people might not think something like an Azurill or Pichu are worth participating for. And as well as that, some months are quieter than others. The staff team are constantly at work with developing other aspects of the site. Too many promos would get in the way and slow down any real developments.

Jun 3, 2012 12:24:40 GMT 11 Megan said:

2) EVENTS:
Make up some big thing like Team Rocket finally started taking over a city and all the non team rocket players have to battle them or something like that

Well, Dani's already cleared up that something's being worked on, but creating these also takes time. We've had events in the past that have had a few flaws so the staff team have to discuss things for a while. It can take a number of months to plan one event, and as with the promos, too many events would take away the excitement factor.

However, I do really like your idea regarding Team Rocket. Once we get a few more Team Rocket members, a universal thread with some sort of event would be awesome.

Jun 3, 2012 12:24:40 GMT 11 Megan said:

3) ADVERTISING CONTEST:
I know we are low on mods, but if we advertise, we can find other awesome players that could one day eventually be mods and so our mod count wouldn't be so low and all our mods wouldn't seem so swamped after we get more mods xD (make sense?)

We do have these quite often. RTs are actually worth quite a lot so I think they're enough of a price. The Universal Rewards Shop has some really cool Pokémon available.

Jun 3, 2012 12:24:40 GMT 11 Megan said:

4) Mystery Picture
Sorta like Buena's password, except it's part of a pokemon (shiny, dark, normal etc) zoomed in and sorta blurry so the members have to try to guess waht it is and then receives a prize

I like this idea. I'd probably have to see an example because there's a chance it could either be way too easy or impossible for people to guess. I think it could run every two months or something if it was successful. I think Berries would make good prizes, and we really do need to get more of those into the RP.

Jun 3, 2012 12:24:40 GMT 11 Megan said:

5) Offer RP Training
Maybe we can help incoming people ho to do things, like "buddies" yes I know this is what mods are for, BUT some of us have either been here a while and aren't mods, or we know how to roleplay and can help others make longer more interesting posts.

We could do this over:
- Chatango
- E-mail
- Skype
- AIM
- Etc

We could make a thread and sticky it if members were interested but I don't think there'd be much activity. Maybe a Universal 'Roleplay Critique' thread, although I can personally see people getting defensive if someone is overly critical.

Jun 3, 2012 12:24:40 GMT 11 Megan said:

6) MODS:
Have the option of trying out for mod open all the time, not just once in a while, if a player doesn't feel like they want to be mod when it's open but it's always there and they can always try out them I feel like we would have more interest from members because they always have the option of trying out and not having to get discouraged cause it's not there and they have to wait to try out.

Not a fan of this one either. A lot of people think they're up for it after three to four weeks but once they become a mod, they vanish because they don't feel up to it, but they don't want to admit it. Mods go to the effort of training people to become staff, and while they don't mind if people change their minds, it would start to bother them if everyone was signing up and dropping out. People who have a genuine interest in becoming a mod shouldn't feel discouraged.

Jun 3, 2012 12:24:40 GMT 11 Megan said:

Also, I notice other forums having sidebars or a tab like structure on the top of the forum or both explaining a little about their forum, staff members with direct links to be able to PM them with questions, updates, SOTm and MOTM areas to show them off.

I personally like the sidebar that Mysste have, although I think the page is far too narrow. If there's an option to put a sidebar there that doesn't make the forum look squashed, I'd be in favour of it. It's not really necessary but I wouldn't say no to some quick links at the side.

Jun 3, 2012 12:24:40 GMT 11 Megan said:

I also wonder if moving the Cbox to the top of the page, that we might get more guest traffic instead of being on the bottom where you have to scroll to the bottom of the page to view it.

I actually like the cbox at the bottom of page. The ones at the side irritate me because if I'm trying to write a post, and I hear the click, I start reading it, but at least when it's at the bottom, there's the option to ignore it until I'm done writing.

Jun 3, 2012 12:24:40 GMT 11 Megan said:

These are just a few (hahaha) things that I have thought of and wanted to see if anyone else had any ideas on these as well.

I wanna help make ZapdosZulu the best is can be with everyone!

Love,
Megs

You actually have some really nice suggestions. Detailed feedback is always welcomed. :] It's great to hear the opinions of our newer members (well, you're sort of new xD) because the older ones are probably slightly more biased, myself included. x]

[The REAL Joey]

1. As Dani said, there is the promo in the form of the Goldenrod Radio Tower lottery. Its been around for sometime now and is a popular aspect of the forum i'd say.

I do like the idea of writing promotions. I think one part of the forum that is a lot less of interest than others is the Rainbow Zulu. Sure people show off their stuff but it attracts virtually zero interest from others. We have fanfiction, image galleries and so on so forth but they're sorely lacking. I had bought up the idea of an art competition a while back but it seems it wasn't popular. I think that every so often stuff like this would be alright.

Of course, i'd argue the rewards itself are a lot less than what you put forth. Its a tricky balancing act trying to hand out stuff that won't overbalance things. Pokemon i'd say are less of an option but hey, it'd be another good way to send out RTs.

2. We do have events fairly often. The last one we had was the Easter one, the one before that Christmas and Halloween before that. Basically, we try and accommodate for all the major holidays. Then there's also other promotional stuff (This is stretching some time back) like the HGSS Promo Event board and technically the Unova Festival.

The Team Rocket thing is a good idea but it would need some refining. Would we rope in NPCs (There's a small lack of Rockets on the forum, I count three with two more in the wings so its a small amount). But as has already been mentioned, there's a novel idea on the way and it'll definitely send a few shockwaves around the forum. ;D

3. My feelings are of what others have said. They are held now and again but it really shouldn't get to the point where the contest runs more than the normal prize handout. Its a case of people going "Huh, why should I bother advertising now when I can just wait till a double RT competition?" If they're kept at random and without a scheduled turn up, people are kept on their toes not knowing when it'll unfold.

4. Does sound like a good contest. I remember having something similar to this on my old forum which was quite fun. Especially all the effects you can do with inverting the colour, blurring, duplicating etc etc... I do think something can be made of this.

5. Again, as an official thing its a bit out of the way of what is of use but I don't see why this couldn't be made something big in the general board. Just having the presence and opportunity there would likely help the community. If anything, it's a thing by the community FOR the community. You might even be able to persevere it as your own personal project here, Megan. ;D I can see it being useful and helping people take that step further.

6. Having it open all the time does have some pros. It means we wouldn't like be caught short in times of influx of activity. However like Dani said, there would have to be a time delay on some newer members. In the past we've had people sign up with their first post being "CAN I BE STAFF? ;D " Not only is it infuriating as they have not earnt their place but these people have no idea of what the forum is truly about. Best to sink in, get a feel for the place and the way it runs and voila.

7. I think we've discussed this before but I personally abhor sidetables and the like. I think they're wholly redundant as it is literally repeating information already found elsewhere and eschews the forum widths and the like. This may just me being anal but I also feel the lack OF a sidetable here makes us somewhat unique. Every RP forum and their mother uses them from what I can tell.

The thing is, ZapdosZulu has been in this state for a very long time. It's dated, sure. It's BAREBONES. But that's the whole point. It's barebones but i'd like to think the content itself is wonderful. Some places are literally just nothing but fluff. Why can't we be the exact opposite? I might be a bit bias too as I do like this grey template... They're the old default forum skin ProBoards used for new forums and this place reminds me of the first ever forum I was on. ;D

8. As others have said, i'm a fan of it being at the bottom. Interestingly, its a clever design choice too. By having it at the bottom, in theory the member has had to have scrolled past everything to get there. Sure you can argue they do page end or scroll really fast but it just reinforces people to look at what's going on. As well as what Andrew said, it's distracting having it elsewhere.

---

So yeah, there's my thoughts. Its really nice you went out your way to suggest such a long list of ideas. Its good to see this place getting some love. I do think a couple of your ideas are really worth looking into like art/writing contests as well as the image guessing thing. Other things not so much but they more fall into the realms of personal preference. So don't get too downbeat. D:

[Triton]

I wanted to add that Joey makes a good point some here may not remember those old sneak or nest Report games even PlayStation has some really good ones. Graphics are not so good but the stories rock. I joined this site for the people like Joey and stayed because I love the story flow.

[Megan]

I am so glad that everyone had made opinions known and I really enjoy reading everyone's opinions! So it sounds like a majority of my ideas are a no, which I suspected but I am glad that a couple of them are being taken into consideration.

So I'll start with 4

4) Mystery Picture
Sorta like Buena's password, except it's part of a pokemon (shiny, dark, normal etc) zoomed in and sorta blurry so the members have to try to guess waht it is and then receives a prize

THIS is what I am talking about .
Even a member such as myself could even do if a mod didn't want to do it.

Okay so what other ones where popular..

2) EVENTS:
Make up some big thing like Team Rocket finally started taking over a city and all the non team rocket players have to battle them or something like that

I originally had thrown out the Team Rocket thing cause I needed an idea, but I am glad that everyone has taken such a liking to it! And I am excited to know what this new event that the mods have been concocting for us is!

Jun 4, 2012 0:27:44 GMT 11 The REAL Joey said:

5. Again, as an official thing its a bit out of the way of what is of use but I don't see why this couldn't be made something big in the general board. Just having the presence and opportunity there would likely help the community. If anything, it's a thing by the community FOR the community. You might even be able to persevere it as your own personal project here, Megan. ;D I can see it being useful and helping people take that step further.

I can definitely head it up! I would be more than willing! That would just mean that I need to fine tune my skills a little since I "am a bit to repetitive" xD but yes it would be by the community FOR the community as a little "I don't really know what I am doing but I am more than willing to learn" thing!

6) With the mod thing. I understand the "don't want people applying for mod who have only been here a week" so then make rules, I can even come up with them. But I understand not wanting to have it up all the time and again it was just a suggestion people didn't have to crucify me over it.

So with that being cleared up and I touched base on the popular things we will ignore the unpopular things, even though I really would like the cbox on the top of the page -shrugs- but it's not my call xD

Love,
Megs

[latani]

Just replying to the mod thing;
Again, no. Mods aren't brought on just to give generic encounters and whatnot. We want dedicated people who can deal with the load of posts made daily AND can bring creativity to it. There's plenty of things we look for and to be honest I don't like when people suggest changes to how we handle staff employment. We do things a certain way because of past events. So this isn't really up for discussion.

Also no one 'crucified' you. We just told you that we won't budge on changing our way of running staff employment in a manner meant to insinuate it's not a topic we're willing to negotiate on.

[pikachu464]

I find some of these good ideas.

1.) Uh...no. The whole idea of roleplaying Pokemon is to get out there and catch your own Pokemon with hard work. I'd get bored if I could get all my Pokemon in a Promo.

2.) Events sound great! I think it would really get the forum moving.

3.) The only thing I think would be good about this is saying you get a prize for advertising on so many forums and have this temporary as a temporary thing. And whoever advertises the most by the end gets a huge prize.

4.) Unless the prize is small...uh...no. Otherwise people who don't win will get jealous.

5.) Uh...people are already doing that. You don't need special permission for this.

6.) Now this is awesome! I've seen forums do this. It could be you have to be an active member for at least 3 months before applying and have at least 50 posts, that way the staff know you know what your doing before becoming staff.