The Guest list

Guests are all different. Some are there to say hello, some want to advertise, have questions about your site, and some are getting ready to join.

Most of us hope they might register and start playing with us. I know I do. Every guest I see excites me.

What are some of the things you do to make a guest happy? Is there a such thing as giving too much help?

 

I don't really cater to guests in any special aside from...

• CoSC has a featured threads list on the main page. Highlighting recent interesting RP that might help recruit a new player.
• CoSC offers guest friendly advertising, including a guest account they can use if they're having issues with the URL filter.
• CoSC has a guest friendly chatterbox area in case a potential user has questions and doesn't want to create an account.
• I also personally keep a BUNCH of Messenger services and list them, so that anyone can reach out to me personally with questions.

 

I don;t think, generally, that there is a "giving too much help". Unless the guest isn't cooperating (because it had happened to me in the past that some would have wished us to write their character;s bio in the c-box).

 

Stuff guests can do on my site:

• Post an ad for their RP in the Ad Exchange
• Visit the Shoutbox and talk to current members
• Read most non-age-restricted RP forums

I run a notice banner at the top of the forums for non-logged-in users that describes the site in a nutshell invites them to make an account.

 

My guests can post an ad in the ad subforum, chat on the shoutbox, and visit all of the information forums and threads. I don't let them peek too far into the rp posting area (just the beginning area) because it is an adventure and they'll have to work their way up to the better levels.

 

I have a guest-friendly questions/suggestions board so that if they have more in-depth questions they can ask there without having to create an account. I also offer to help with any questions/concerns in the CBox, and in general I tend to be a bit more attentive to the CBox when I see there are guests online as I know they may need help.

I don't think there's anything as too much helping in the CBox as long as you realize that they're not all there for the same reason. Some of them are bots, some are people just there to advertise. Some are admins from other sites who saw you places like here and are checking out your site to see what you're about. Some want to chat in the CBox; others don't until they create a character; others may never be CBox people. I think it's important to remember all of that because it can be easy to get scared into thinking your site isn't any good if you've seen a lot of guest activity and no one has joine or popped into the CBox, and the truth is, though I too am excited every time I see a guest on board, a lot of them aren't thinking about joining, and some clicked on your ad thinking your site was something it wasn't. It happens.

 

I'm afraid to say I disagree, ther can be too much help. It wears on your people when they offer out a hand of friendship to folks who can't even be bothered to read lore.. and then leave anyway.. and those folks offering the help are the people that your site most needs.

So yes, help some, but if they need totally spoon-fed from the get go then perhaps they aren't going to be the best fit for any community until they are prepared to put some effort in themselves.

 

I agree entirely with Cait, especially with helping in the cbox, but in regard to whether or not there's such a thing as helping too much, I would say it highly depends on what they're asking for.

We outline everything we expect from members and guests in our guide, and while we expect everyone to read the rules first and foremost, sometimes people jump the gun and we just point them to the page and correct them politely. The only advertising issues we've had have been artists stopping by to link their commission pages, which we've prohibited recently just because we prefer the chatbox to be for site discussion. Also we're trying to keep the site community based, and would prefer the artist to join in on the fun with us instead of just trying to profit off the members.

I hate turning people away, but occasionally I will get people who don't understand how to use the forum and that's a bit above and beyond what I can help with in regard to time consumption. In one of the cases an awesome member of our forum stepped up to walk someone through it, but at the end of the day they decided forums just weren't for them which was totally fine.

 

I'm always looking for artists to commission, send them my way to Star Army!

 

I can only agree with this. I have people coming into my sites and whining about every little aspect, and it wears my patience thin. I'm a patient person, but when you tear apart every god damn thing about my site, I don't want you in my sandbox.