In post 55, xRECKONERx wrote:EpicMafia is automated to run quick chat based games. I'm talking automation that tracks games you're in, let's the mod designate what factions won, tracks statistics, provides a summary of what alignments or roles you draw most often, success rates as various alignments or roles, etc
I agree that would be interesting, but unless it looks exceptionally shiny I don't think that's going to get new people in the door. The people who care about that sort of thing are generally well-established (and create vanity pages on the wiki) and aren't likely to quit because it's
not
there. Like, if you had a 100% win rate or only ever drew Town once that would be something really cool that you could show your friends, but statistically speaking most people aren't going to get that.
and I'm sorry if the style conversation bores you, but we are a website and this discussion is about how to become more appealing to users.
I'd snark back, but admittedly what I said was not just gauche but probably undervalues the "first impression" factor as well. Sorry.
chamber wrote:I don't think dismissing any idea's yet is a good idea. I do think we may want to sub-segment discussion though. Let wiki people talk about wiki priorities and design people talk about site design.
Less "dismissing" and more "prioritizing". Please don't get me wrong, most if not all of the things presented here would add value, but for answering how to attract and retain newbies, they're not equally effective.
*Search results (should already be maxed out or close to it)
*Innovative outreach projects - apps and chats, for instance (market research goes in here somewhere)
*Site image/layout (first impressions)
*Retention improvements (geared toward newbies)
*Wiki (no longer the outreach tool it was)
*Back-end automation (geared toward established players/mods)
is my guess for how I'd prioritize things.
Selling Mafia merch to pay for upgrades is an interesting idea. I'd be curious to see how that would work based on our previous sales of T-shirts, etc.
Everything you say and do matters. People will respond in ways you may never see. May those responses be what you intend.