by Shieba » 05/28/2011 7:39 PM
I think there are two kinds of people joining - those who join for the art because they love it and those who join for RPing.
When I think back, I joined here because I fell in love with the Fellox, but then my RL got busy and because I couldn't order customs at that time, I kinda pushed Evelon back to "later" and forgot all about it for a few months until I came back and then custom orders were open and I kinda stayed forever.
I think it's easier to keep new members when there is stuff going on, like events. Not only do they give you something to do, it's also easier to get to know others if there's an event thread in the G&C section and people talk about it there. I remember being kinda lost when I joined - sure, some people said "Hi" in the Hello-topic I made, but that didn't really give me a start. I didn't really RP at all during my first year here thanks to me not knowing anyone well enough.
With "events", I don't only mean big stuff like Easter/Halloween/Christmas. For example, we had that contest where we guessed parts of pets for Mysterious Eggs. That was fun. Or really, we haven't had breeding rooms in quite some time now. Since even new members can get some free Kuhnas and Kuhnas don't require that much work for you mod guys since they aren't "customs", maybe more Kuhna breeding rooms would help?
I also can say that in the beginning, all the work I had to do scared me a bit and that comes from me, who loves stats. But there was soooo much to do. Create a pen. Select traits. Calculate stats. Choose elements. And back then, we had far less traits for every pet (I think it was five passive and four battle traits or something). I felt I had to read so much stuff before I could really start RPing. I didn't mind because I love such stuff, but I can imagine that it's intimidating for newbies. I can't really think of a way to shorten this, though...
At any rate, I always advertise Evelon in my writing forum by spamming my new customs there, but the people there are no RPers, sadly. D8
I know my dreams are made of you
Of you and only for you
Your ocean pulls me under
Your voice tears me asunder
Love me before the last petal fallsHowever cold the wind and rain
I'll be there to ease your pain
However cruel the mirrors of sin
Remember beauty is found within