Some Thoughts About Changes for the Site

Here are a few ideas I had recently. Totally suggestions, obviously, but I think they might be something to take into consideration :3

1.) Move “Plots” section for role-playing underneath the “Roleplaying” section. Even though it's not technically role-playing, I think help and Information should only be used for things like site lore, forum rules, announcements, etc.

2.) Fix up the navbar so that it is clearly indicative where each link begins and ends. For example, instead of “HOME FAQ SERCH MEMBER LIST” separate or box each option like: “HOME | FAQ | SEARCH | MEMBER LIST”. I’d also say they don’t need to be in a fancy font since it is just a navbar, but that’s more subjective.

3.) Don’t separate the role play sections...like, at all. This would be a taaaaaaaaalllllll order, but I think one thing that might adversely affect site activity is separating roleplayers into different corners. I’ll be totally honest in saying that I tend to not have much of an idea as to who’s doing what in the other sections of Nuira, mostly because it’s simply in another section of the site that I don’t really bother going to. I don’t even know if any Kaamil have roleplays going on because I don’t have a Kaamil character and haven’t roleplayed with anyone from that tribe, which is also likely because they’re in an entirely different section of the site that I don’t visit because I have no reason to.

I honestly don’t see much benefit to driving a wedge between roleplayers. So I think
simply having a single “Dragon Role Play” section would be sufficient.  

4.) Create a general role play section. This might be another tall order, but sometimes providing more options to users is just as important to create site activity as it is to create immersive environments. This section would be for anyone to partake in whatever roleplay they want (so long as they follow the rules of the site).

I find the lore of the site to be awesome, but I don’t see any harm that could come from allowing people to just roleplay any old thing. If the point is to attract more users to the site and increase its activity, then why not have a section like this? Correct me if I’m wrong, but we wouldn’t lose anything, and only gain more activity.

5.) Remove the description beneath the title of the site. It’s not totally necessary in my opinion, and doesn’t really fit where it is. Could be another subjective thing, but it makes the site kind of look like something you’d find in a site from the 90’s.

6.) This last one is more of a bug fix I think, and it’s not really crucial, but the Dragons Haven banner keeps flashing every so often, and I'm not sure it's supposed to do that.

Also, I'd be willing to help with any endeavors in the future if need be :3 so long as it doesn't have to do with matching colors...as I don't necessarily have the best artistic eye xD

Hey chrocey! Thank you so much for your feedback! We’lel definitely keep your ideas in mind as we update site aesthetics! As to the flashing banner, we hadn’t multiple images, new something happened where it is stuck on the one, or it flashes to change to itself.

Thank you for your helpful input!

If I may, I've got a few ideas as well,
Some sort of BBEG: I feel like having some sort of big bad evil guy in the main plot of the site would fuel some more role-play plots.

Anything you want rp's: I don't think many people on here came from Difference Dragon, but it had no main site plot. I'm not suggesting to get rid of said site plot, but maybe make a seperate forum for "anything you want rp's" made up characters, extra plot lines and such, I feel maybe it could help people get creative juices flowing.
Seasonal Competions: I think it would be fun to have seasonal comps. Like art contests, writing contests, maybe even character design contests for prizes like fancy name writing, name colors, maybe even get someone to draw their character for them? I dont really know but suggestion I guess.

Oo! Chroce, thanks for suggesting ideas to help improve our site (thanks for caring xD).

1) and 2) I agree with.

Could you explain 3) though? You don't have a kaamil character, yes, but you could always roleplay in the 'Open' section? We split rps according to where they take place so it's neater (I think) and you won't have to ask 'where does this rp take place'? Location matters. But I suppose we could try your idea.

4) and the rest i agree with.

Artemise wrote:
Could you explain 3) though? You don't have a kaamil character, yes, but you could always roleplay in the 'Open' section? We split rps according to where they take place so it's neater (I think) and you won't have to ask 'where does this rp take place'? Location matters. But I suppose we could try your idea.

That is a fair point. I was just thinking of it in terms of simplicity's sake. Instead of having multiple open sections for roleplay, just have one that everyone can use. That'd make us all post and reply to topics in the same location, which would give the site a bit more approachability to new users and also allow us to look more active so that there aren't any "dead zones" where few roleplays actually happen (other than the private roleplay between Arkhor and Majesty, I don't see a lot of activity with the Lakarans, which might deter people from creating a Lakaran character).

For organizing where things are geographically, that's pretty cool...but I think in terms of a roleplay forum it might be better for the roleplayers themselves to specify where their roleplay takes place. It's super cool from the standpoint of immersion and organization (migrating to a different section equates to your dragon traveling to that location in Nuira), but it might be more prudent to keep things as simple as possible for roleplaying.

The more simplified it is, the more people won't be intimidated or shy away, methinks :O

I'm glad my input is being discussed :3 I do care about the site, so I'd like to help in any way I can.

Hello there Chrocey!

1. I dunno what this is so I can't comment too much o3o"

However... Regarding your second option that you suggested, with number 2, who do you think I am? :p I have already tried using that font to create a bar between two options. As such, I cannot actually do it, but we agree in terms of it needs to be split somehow xD so I'll need to use a different style/font. That being said, I do have my eyes on one that might work, so I will update them when I get the time to do so again.

3. Goodness, if we were to combine each RP into one area, I think we would have to merge each existing area, which requires each seperate RP to be moved....... Heeeeh **Cries**

In my personal opinion, I like it when it's separated a little as it gives people the option to go from place to place. It's not too complicated, however, perhaps the text in the box could be updated a little to help with clarity of the location and invite new RPers to post there? I'm not too sure, but that's my opinion.

4. I do agree with this, I suppose... ;p I come from RP sites where there is no general RP area :'3 However, I do see the positives for doing something like that.

5. I actually find descriptions to sites important u.u I always use them to see what the site is about and if I'm interested in it. I dunno. Maybe we could update it...?

6. Dun worry about that... It's all going to be fixed. **pat pats**

Thank you so much for your input though! I really appreciate the time it's taken for you to post this ;u;

And Soul! I came from there too!

I do like your first and second idea, about having someone, or something, to help drive plots :3 and seasonal things can be a fun thing to do! ^o^ that sounds awesome :3

I'd just be worried the second one takes away from the whole dragon site thing :'3

Since everyone is giving feedback on the site's appearance, may I provide some advice of my own.

1.) Regarding the site's description, you don't have to rid it completely since I"m sure others like it. You only need to style it so it's more appealing. Add some spacing, change the color, style the font, etc.

2.) I would recommend adding some space between your forum icons and the forum descriptions and titles-- they are too close to each other.

3.) Same suggestion as number 2, but instead apply it to the last post avatars and the last post information.

4.) Regarding your flashing problem with the main logo, there may be a problem when your images or how they are different dimensions when trying to transition between each other. Could either be an easy or hard fix.

5.) Your forum is still having issues regarding with the popup chatbox as it only shows up below your wrap (main content). It seems to be missing some vital information so it can show up in front of the elements.

6.) I don't see any particular problem with your navbar as others have mentioned and of course, it is very subjective, but I agree. Space them out some to make them more appealing.

7.) Totally optional of course, but I would recommend styling your profile details a little.

I think that's all I can think at the moment. Cheers!