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I want Fans
How do I get Fans? Is it just hoping people will look at your site and like it? If so, how do I advertise?
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It is more word of mouth. I waited until I had many adventure logs, had my wiki filled out, and had stolen ideas from a number of sources, before I went on the forums. A great place to start is with the masters- Arsheesh, Chainsaw, and Duskreign. Not only are their sites great, but they help with making yours better. Also, favoriting or fanning other campaigns usually gets people to check yours out as well.
Good Luck!!
killervp
"A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt
Duskreign's "COTM for November":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/wyrmshadow/wiki_pages/112011
Just trying to help out.
On a side note, why is it do you think, that we seek out the adoration of our fellow gamers? I mean after all, what tangible good does a fan icon on your web page do for you? There's no real economic gain that I can see (as there might be if say one were hosting their site on their own domain and seeking advertising dollars): you can't eat it, put it in your gas tank or exchange it for commodities. And yet the desire for those cute little fan icons persists. Of course I guess it's what these little icons are supposed to represent that make them so attractive. I was listening to an interesting "interview":http://marshillaudio.org/Resources/Segment.aspx?id=453054745 with DR. Elias Aboujaoude the other day (author of "Virtually You, The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality":http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=17119) and he makes the interesting and plausible observation that by taking on online personas and establishing a following many of us achieve a sense of popularity or "grandiosity" that would otherwise be outside of our grasp in the non-digital world. In other words, we achieve an illusory sense of celebrity.
By the way, I should be quick to explain that I'm not trying to criticize anyone here in our community (or at least, insofar as I am I've got three fingers pointing back at myself!), so please don't take offense. Rather, I'm just sort of thinking out-loud at the minute, pondering human nature, and how the advent of the digital age has shaped the structure of our lives, for good or for ill. If anyone else should feel so inclined, feel free to wax philosophical as well: this forum is, after all, a medium for communal discussion, which does on occasion extend beyond the realm of our immediate shared hobby.
Cheers,
-Arsheesh
I have found that I care about people's opinions of my site a lot, more than I perhaps should. I am proud that Duskreign named my campaign his first campaign of the month. I have also found that one thing a person adding my campaign to his/her favorites is it opens a dialogue. That I like even more than anything else. I have made some actual friends through the Portal, and that is what I am more interested in now.... Not that I do not suffer from vanity moments still...
killervp
"A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt
Duskreign's "COTM for November":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/wyrmshadow/wiki_pages/112011
Just trying to help out.
"Star Trek Late Night":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/star-trek-late-night
In short, for the TL;DR version, don't worry about if other people like/fan your campaign, just worry about if you & your players are happy about & like it... if they are, it's being done right & everything is fine until you find something that you think will improve things for you & your players! :)
Ah home sweet home.
It's true, Arsheesh, there's nothing like getting an email stating that someone favorited your campaign. It's like mom giving you a cookie for getting good marks in school. For me, I would say that it's more of an appreciation thing. "Someone took the time to look at my graphics or read what I have written and liked it! That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside!" is what my brain usually says. But it's more than that, as well. Not only are people enjoying your work, but they're comrades of gaming which makes the feeling all the more sweet. While Dr. Aboujaoude may have been speaking in a general fashion, this particular connection goes a little deeper.
Indeed, what does a person want the most if not admiration from their peers? It creates a sense of belonging and pride in knowing that you did something well. Of course, with the appreciation come the sense of celebrity. Humans enjoy being recognized for doing something well. This can easily be hypothesized to date back to the early homosapiens who were the best hunters. They brought in the most food and were rewarded by being allowed to partake in more than their fair share. This in turn inspired the others to do better and achieve more. As long as this piggy-back effect of success stays wholesome and without jealousy, humans will continue to excel in their fields and feed that friendly one-upsmanship.
A good example is KVP and his unofficial greeter status. He is the most frequent to greet you and tell you where you can find players. You can't say that somewhere in your head you don't feel as if you should compete with him; checking the forums more frequently for new "Introduce Yourself" posts in an effort to extend the first laurel. I know I do.
Anyway, those are my thoughts.
To add my two cents to the topic. Getting fans does rely heavily on how your site looks, and immediately following, how your site reads. I have very few fans on "Heurdenvaar":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/heurdenvaar, but Google Analytics says it has far more views than "Shared Creations":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shared-creations. While I know many of these views are from myself (since it's the site I most frequently work on), I have many continental states and a few different countries under my belt. But it really boils down to a luck of the draw. Sometimes we remember to favorite a campaign, sometimes we don't. I didn't favorite KVP's "A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt until long after we shared ideas for a while on the forums, despite having looked at his campaign more than a dozen times.
So the long and short of it is, it's a total crap-shoot lol. Be active in the forums, and link your site as a sign-off at the end. This helps, just not as much as you would hope :) .
"Shared Creations(Share your links and stories here, please! Help expand this libram of knowledge!)":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shared-creations
"Heurdenvaar(stray's current campaign)":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/heurdenvaar
http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/cincinnati-by-night
http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/changeling-the-lost-dream
"Link 2":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/changeling-the-lost-dream
here are the links for your use nightstorm
here is how you type them to make them links.
=="Link 1":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/cincinnati-by-night==
=="Link 2":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/changeling-the-lost-dream==
Goodluck
I love how something seemingly as simple as "how do I drive traffic to my site" has spawned a very excellent, philosophically mature discussion from some of my favourite forum-goers. I honestly believe that this is one of the only sites that this sort of thing could occur on.
Of course, I'm in a bit of a different boat when it comes to my particular wiki's... unfortunately, I have a rather apathetic group of players who refuse to use the site. I'd love to develop it for them if they wanted me to, but alas. So my development is actually for my own personal enjoyment, and for the enjoyment and utility of those who frequent the site - I know that Master Wollett stopped by and left a comment about a relatively obscure section of the "wiki":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/planescape-campaign/ which prompted me to spend an hour and a half creating a "completely frivolous piece of artwork about a minor character who is now deceased.":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/planescape-campaign/wikis/bounty-poster-zero
Ultimately, if you're passionate about your work, then people can tell.
(Also, I can't help but read StephenWollett's closing statement in the voice of the antagonist from "Taken". It's quite spooky.)
Rase
I guess what I'm really saying is that I just want to know people are actually checking out stuff I've written.
Now having said that, I will shamelessly provide a link to my page: "Progression Into the Stars":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/progression-into-the-stars
"Link 1":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/cincinnati-by-night"
"Link 2":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/changeling-the-lost-dream"
=="Link 1":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/cincinnati-by-night==
=="Link 2":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/changeling-the-lost-dream==
Like "Click Here"
Then, put a colon ( : ) Behind the quotes and then the link to wherever you want it to go:
"Click Here":Linkhere
The link should look like this:
"Link 2":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/changeling-the-lost-dream
"Changeling the Lost Dream":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/changeling-the-lost-dream
To the original poster: My recommendation is to favorite other sites that you like a lot....this will generally create a discussion with them that you can use for advice, comments and getting them to favorite yours as well.
"Changing History":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/l5r-changing-history
-Jaymes
Campaign of the Month Febuary 2013
killervp
"A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt
Duskreign's "COTM for November":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/wyrmshadow/wiki_pages/112011
Just trying to help out.
I think all of us who run campaigns must have at least a touch of exhibitionism. In most roleplaying games, the referee is responsible for presenting, and often creating, a setting which may vary from as small as a town and its environs up to and including an entire multiverse; that takes some self-confidence, perhaps even a measure of arrogance, to pull-off well, in my experience.
Mike aka Black Vulmea
"_Le Ballet de l'Acier_":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/le-ballet-de-l-acier - swashbuckling adventure in the age of the Three Musketeers and Captain Alatriste
Featured Campaign of the Month - August 2011
-Steve
"Star Trek Late Night":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/star-trek-late-night