Looking for Feedback on ERP Project

[LemonLicks]

Hey! I'm trying to test out an ERP project I've been working on. Right now its set up to encourage an anonymous drop in and play style. We are looking to add as many quality of life features as possible to make sure RPing is easy and fun! For example, we've implemented a feature similar to discord where you can attach a file to a post simply by copy and pasting. We'd love to hear suggestions for other features you might find useful.

Profiles will be coming soon! Feel free to pop in and give it a try! Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated!

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Also, I wouldn't mind hearing how experienced some of you are with ERPing. If you are new, what questions you might have. If you are experienced, where do you currently play and why?

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

It reminds me of a strange mixture of F-list and 4chan with the idea mixed with the formatting.

I've pretty much been doing ERP for over a dozen years as a hobby. I currently play on discord due to the RP front on ULMF seemingly stagnating and dying and with a lack of new people to keep it up.

I don't really have a question, so much as a suggestion. For your environment to thrive, if you want people to ERP together, you have to create some semblance of fetish matching. F-List does this... In a way that exists, and that's good enough to actually find partners to RP with that actually share your fetishes. Otherwise, you might get a mish-mash of fetishes that don't align and people won't play with each other because one is attempting to flaunt their perma-death-vore-guro champion of despair.

It wouldn't be bad to see something grow as an alternative to f-list. (One might exist, I haven't seen it). Since playing with furries can get old. So, I'll be keeping a loose eye on this. Good luck.

 

[LemonLicks]

It reminds me of a strange mixture of F-list and 4chan with the idea mixed with the formatting.

I've pretty much been doing ERP for over a dozen years as a hobby. I currently play on discord due to the RP front on ULMF seemingly stagnating and dying and with a lack of new people to keep it up.

I don't really have a question, so much as a suggestion. For your environment to thrive, if you want people to ERP together, you have to create some semblance of fetish matching. F-List does this... In a way that exists, and that's good enough to actually find partners to RP with that actually share your fetishes. Otherwise, you might get a mish-mash of fetishes that don't align and people won't play with each other because one is attempting to flaunt their perma-death-vore-guro champion of despair.

It wouldn't be bad to see something grow as an alternative to f-list. (One might exist, I haven't seen it). Since playing with furries can get old. So, I'll be keeping a loose eye on this. Good luck.

It's so great to get a reply from someone who has so much experience with the hobby!

In regards to your suggestion, its something I've been putting a good amount of thought into- but still haven't arrived at a hard stance as of it. Right now we have a profile system in the works. So instead of where it says "Anon - 2B12C4DDF " you can have it be your clickable username instead. Once clicked we plan to have a simple profile with characters played, preferences etc, so you can more easily find someone that compatible.

We are looking to have the more public play/community feeling of 4chan though. So things like DMs and the like aren't a priority. Since we feel if players just pair off and go to their own private rooms- it will end up feeling pretty lonely for newcomers. As of right now, its only one threadroom but as user volume increases we will be looking to expand- and assign those rooms appropriate themes as to hopefully prevent perma-death-vore-guro champions of despair being mixed in with your more standard slutty nurses.

Any thoughts on how well that roadmap addresses your concerns? Would especially enjoy hearing your input regarding our emphasis on public play- and avoiding things like DMs and Friends list. I like the "freedom to lurk" and only being noticed when you want to be, when it comes to 4chan. And I wanted to bring that feeling over.

Thanks again for all of the feedback you've given thus far!

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

I think having a public display can be both inviting and not so inviting. If you come in and there's already a host of people already engaged in an activity, anyone with a sense of morals is probably not going to inject themselves into what's happening under the fear of rejection. For new people who have no clue what's going on, throwing them into a giant crowd tends to make them lurk and not interact. There has to be welcome gates for those that don't do well in a public forum. If I come in for instance and see that two people are smutting, if I appear into the mix and make myself known, the best possible scenario is that someone responds to me (every 4chan'ers dream, really). Asides from that, I could piss everyone off for getting in the way of their scene for putting a dick in an ass that didn't want a dick in an ass, or otherwise be ignored because the current group is invested in what it's doing and including another random person doesn't jive. These kinds of 'bubbles' that will form will end up behaving like those private rooms you're worried about whether you like it or not. The only difference is how public their privacy is.

WIthout the feeling that you can join that conversation, people will talk less, and trust me when I say that population is probably something you're looking for.

If creating a 4chan based public thread system is your goal, then there has to be some kind of funnel for newer people to go to. To grow, you have to create an environment where they feel like they can get started in the way you want them to. If you want them to start smutting right away, create a channel where you will primarily see newer people with a single objective of getting them oriented. Since you're gonna get all kinds of wacky people with all their wacky preferences and fetishes. I'm crazy in the sense that I prefer long-term RP with dice and a grand adventure in mind, and no one wanting a simple "let's have a hot fuck in our apartment" kind of scene is gonna get along well with me.

I'd say at the very least, creating those categories is your go to. So that in the spirit of 4chan, you match the "Epic Adventure Fags" like myself with similar minded people, and the "Quick Fuck Fags" with each other as well. If they're all in the same room it can get pretty wild to keep track of the convo, and you'll notice that despite the anonymity, it's easy to tell it's just a small handful of 4chan'ers having a conversation anyway.

TL;DR of this idea is, there's gotta be some kinda way a person coming into avanon can always get involved as much as possible. And a large, involved scene is hard to get a leg in, which can stagnate the population growth or worse, result in the abandonment of the project.

 

[LemonLicks]

I think having a public display can be both inviting and not so inviting. If you come in and there's already a host of people already engaged in an activity, anyone with a sense of morals is probably not going to inject themselves into what's happening under the fear of rejection. For new people who have no clue what's going on, throwing them into a giant crowd tends to make them lurk and not interact. There has to be welcome gates for those that don't do well in a public forum. If I come in for instance and see that two people are smutting, if I appear into the mix and make myself known, the best possible scenario is that someone responds to me (every 4chan'ers dream, really). Asides from that, I could piss everyone off for getting in the way of their scene for putting a dick in an ass that didn't want a dick in an ass, or otherwise be ignored because the current group is invested in what it's doing and including another random person doesn't jive. These kinds of 'bubbles' that will form will end up behaving like those private rooms you're worried about whether you like it or not. The only difference is how public their privacy is.

WIthout the feeling that you can join that conversation, people will talk less, and trust me when I say that population is probably something you're looking for.

If creating a 4chan based public thread system is your goal, then there has to be some kind of funnel for newer people to go to. To grow, you have to create an environment where they feel like they can get started in the way you want them to. If you want them to start smutting right away, create a channel where you will primarily see newer people with a single objective of getting them oriented. Since you're gonna get all kinds of wacky people with all their wacky preferences and fetishes. I'm crazy in the sense that I prefer long-term RP with dice and a grand adventure in mind, and no one wanting a simple "let's have a hot fuck in our apartment" kind of scene is gonna get along well with me.

I'd say at the very least, creating those categories is your go to. So that in the spirit of 4chan, you match the "Epic Adventure Fags" like myself with similar minded people, and the "Quick Fuck Fags" with each other as well. If they're all in the same room it can get pretty wild to keep track of the convo, and you'll notice that despite the anonymity, it's easy to tell it's just a small handful of 4chan'ers having a conversation anyway.

TL;DR of this idea is, there's gotta be some kinda way a person coming into avanon can always get involved as much as possible. And a large, involved scene is hard to get a leg in, which can stagnate the population growth or worse, result in the abandonment of the project.

So sorry! Only now just realized this post got a response! You bring up some good points, let me see if I can expand on them...

Anyone with a sense of morals is probably not going to inject themselves into what's happening under the fear of rejection. , if I appear into the mix and make myself known, the best possible scenario is that someone responds to me (every 4chan'ers dream, really). Asides from that, I could piss everyone off for getting in the way of their scene for putting a dick in an ass that didn't want a dick in an ass, or otherwise be ignored because the current group is invested in what it's doing and including another random person doesn't jive
Maybe I am just reading this wrong, but I wanted to clarify. When I say public play, I don't mean that it's just all one big continuous scene/orgy that everyone is involved in- just that the sessions happen in the same room. It gives lurkers something enjoy while stuck at work, and I've found that seeing people play usually begets more play in general. So its nice to have examples to follow and a sense of "how everyone else is doing it". It also gives a nice community feel that I think would be lacking if people simply just talked for a bit and then paired off on to private messages.

If creating a 4chan based public thread system is your goal, then there has to be some kind of funnel for newer people to go to. To grow, you have to create an environment where they feel like they can get started in the way you want them to. If you want them to start smutting right away, create a channel where you will primarily see newer people with a single objective of getting them oriented.
Now I think this is an idea worth talking about more. Like I mentioned previously, though the population is growing it is still rather small at this stage, so segregating things might lead to both rooms looking like a ghost town. But, I think in the long term that would definitely be a great idea. Here's the thing though, would it unintentionally create some sort of 'class system'? What sort of avatars are going to want to hang on in the 'newbie' room when they can be getting a perceived better quality experience by being in the general one? Couldn't this just lead to a bunch of Anons in one room with no one to partner with? And with ERP being subjective as it, how do we get a new player to transition from a "newcomer room" to the general one? Might they just linger there forever not wanting to deal with the pressure of having to 'perform' in one of the more 'experienced' rooms? You seem to have a lot of experience in this sphere. Has something like that been done before successfully? How did it work?

I'm crazy in the sense that I prefer long-term RP with dice and a grand adventure in mind, and no one wanting a simple "let's have a hot fuck in our apartment" kind of scene is gonna get along well with me.
I do think in the future a room that has built in dice rolls could potentially be a ton of fun! But yeah, the site definitely caters to more "one-shot" style sessions rather then spanning campaigns.

I'd say at the very least, creating those categories is your go to.
Right now I'm envision something like: General Room, Furry Room, Alternative Room (which would host stuff like vore, etc.) But once again, when the population size lends to it.


it's easy to tell it's just a small handful of 4chan'ers having a conversation anyway.
That's mostly where the playerbase is coming from right now. No small part of that being 4chan's /erp/ threads being a big inspiration for the style of play. And most of talk of Avanon originating on that site. Do you have any advice on how a site like this can grow? A lot of websites understandably have rules against 'advertising' so it does feel like my hands can be a bit tied at times.

Anyway, since we last spoke. I feel we've had some steady growth in the amount of regulars appearing- and I just managed to get our archive system online! I'm pretty excited about that, because it really helps players pick sessions back up if they've gotten pulled away in the past. Next up are some small quality of life improvements before the next big project is tackled: profiles. Any thoughts on what some features you'd like to see from a project like this?

Thanks again for all of the feedback you've been giving me!