I want to see the Broken Dagger thrive. I want it to be a lively, diverse community of creative people who enjoy telling stories together. I want it to be around for a long time to come, for the purely selfish reason that I get a lot of enjoyment out of the kind of collaborative storytelling we do here, and want that to continue for as long as possible. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this.
Unfortunately I don't believe that's possible if things stay as they are now. It's a struggle for new players to find us, and without a certain level of activity it's a struggle for us to keep them. That's not to say that the channel is doomed, just that something needs to change. So, this in mind, here's The Plan:
The Plan
- Make the site, wiki and forums as useful as possible to new and existing players.
- Move #Broken_Dagger to DarkMyst.
Our channel needs new players to survive. Once the number of active players drops below a certain threshold it becomes difficult to keep things going - not impossible, but certainly a challenge. Fewer players means less activity, less activity means less fun for the players who remain, less fun means those players eventually drift away to other things, and the cycle continues.
We can ask ourselves "how do we bring in new players?" and hope that enough people stumble across our channel to make up for those who leave. We can try to get former players to return. Or we can go to where the players are already.
DarkMyst is an IRC network built specifically for IRC-based roleplay. The admins are keen to promote the network as the go-to place for IRC roleplay (Google for "irc roleplay" or some variant thereon and see what shows up in the top three), which means it's likely to be the first place people check out. The network also has a searchable directory which lists channels by genre, time period, ruleset and so on, making it even easier for potential players to find us.
If you want cold hard numbers, compare and contrast these traffic charts for DarkMyst and StarChat. And here’s SorceryNet, just because.
StarChat shows a long, slow decline. SorceryNet has more users but also shows a downward trend. Meanwhile DarkMyst has been holding steady for almost a decade.
In short: DarkMyst has a lot more users, and the vast majority of them are roleplayers.
But that's a big change!
Well no, not really. The most noticeable change would be more players finding their way to us, which is a good thing.
What about the quality of these new players?
First of all, don’t be a snob. New players might not just be new to us, but new to roleplaying entirely. Secondly, the best way to encourage good writing and characterisation is to set a good example. Play regularly, write well, maintain your usual high standards and show everyone how it’s done.
When is this going to happen?
Our target is for the channel to move to DarkMyst on August 1st 2014. We’ve got a few things to do first (like making sure BrokenDagger.com and the BD Wiki are useful resources for new and current players), and once that’s done we’ll make the switch. The current plan is to take a week or so to settle in and have the “official” launch of #Broken_Dagger on DarkMyst a week later, at which point we’ll add the channel to the network directory and start publicising our arrival properly.
What can I do to help?
Glad you asked! We’ll need everyone’s help to keep the channel lively so that new players have a reason to stick around. We do have some plots and schemes in the works which will hopefully stir things up and provide plentiful opportunities for engaging roleplay, but the more stuff that's going the better.
Pretend you’re a new player. Take a look at the site, the wiki and the forums as if you knew nothing about our channel or setting, and consider how easy it is (or isn’t) to find the information you might need. Tell us what you think.
Be welcoming. Pretty straightforward. Do your best to be helpful and answer any questions they might have, or point them to sources of further information.
Be patient. Things may get a little chaotic at first, depending on how many new players show up. This is going to be the biggest shakeup to the channel in several years, and it’s likely to take everyone a little while to adjust.
Talk to the Ops team. If you have a problem, if something about the channel is not to your liking, if something is spoiling your enjoyment, tell us. If it’s within our ability to fix then we will make every effort to do so.
Make an NPC. For a long time the Broken Dagger’s staff have been vague and undefined presences behind the bar and in the kitchens. Consider coming up with a character who works at the tavern that you can throw into the mix if the room’s quiet and someone expresses an interest in RP.
Play. Get in the channel and play. We’ve some ideas in the works for events that will stir things up IC, so stay tuned for that. Alternatively, if you want to run a plot of your own for other players you’re thoroughly encouraged to do so - just run it past a member of the Ops team.
I'm pretty excited about this move, and I hope you are as well. We'll be making further announcements as and when necessary.
Thoughts, questions, concerns?
