I Miss Our Community

[jannifer]

I miss checking in every day to see what new madness has erupted in PoT. I miss the discussions and the fic and the art. I miss getting reviews and comments when I post rather than the sound of chirping crickets. Our community is on its last legs. I suppose people have moved on to other things -- DA2, role-playing, Formspring, the Fade Bar, and whatever else has been more enticing than being here.

I'm so sorry to see it go. I'm not leaving. I'll be the last one out to turn off the lights and shut the door.

Comments

[lenna_nightrunner]

Well, we have a pretty large amount of participants for Sugar & Spice and had a really great discussion going on in the sign-up post, so I don't know if it's fair to say that people have to be prodded with pitchforks to participate or that they're not putting the effort in. We also still have at least a few people a week joining the comm, which is really heartening.

I think it's a testament to how loved this community is that people express their frustrations about it not being the same as it used to be, but I don't think it's anyone's fault that things are slow lately. The whole DA fandom is slow right now as far as I can tell. People don't post as much as they used to and no one gets as many comments as they used to. That's how it is when nothing new (e.g. a new version of a game or a DLC coming out) happens in a fandom. Harry Potter, for example, has been exceptionally quiet since Part 2 of Deathly Hallows came out on DVD.

The bottom line on this issue for me is that this place is supposed to be fun, and I don't want anyone to be made to feel guilty for not participating if they're busy or just want to do something else for a while (like I did). Guilt is only going to make them want to participate less.

[1smut_princess]

Apologies, I could have said it better (as I didn't mean for it to cause guilt) - when I said 'pitchfork' I meant along the lines of things that would generate more interest than the momentum that occurs without extra items (like Sugar and Spice) to cause excitement. Without major events to continue the flow, we get, well, where we were for the last few months before Sugar and Spice, with on average possibly one or two postings a day, and sometimes none for many days (even if one takes out the factors of the holidays). Interest has to be husbanded and encouraged, which we're all responsible for. As for new members, unless they see that there's a reason/reward for posting, they tend not to post as much as they could, which all in all breeds a vicious cycle, causing more apathy, until one winds up with nothin' goin' on.

[lenna_nightrunner]

I'm glad you agree :) I guess I see events (both big and small) as a way to give people structured ways in which to participate. For example, I only write one big fic (Vir Lath Sa'vunin), so I have nothing else to post unless it's for an event. If you (or anyone else) have ideas for other things we could be doing to keep interest up, then we'd love to hear them. We want PoT to be the best comm it can possibly be!

[1smut_princess]

I'm plotting up ideas - I think weekly prompts would be good, and compiled on Thedas_Ficarchive - like word prompts. That often was popular in other fandoms. Back in Xmen-verse ages ago, we used to do a sentence challenge. The prompter for that week's item would pick a book, and type out a sentence and those who follow the prompt have to start off their fic that way. That's just what's off the top of m'head, but there's other stuff in the brain to stew over.

[feckless_muse]

This would be awesome! I've really missed my weekly excuse to read and write like a bad thing from Tuesday Promptfest over in LJ. It woud make me dance to have something like that here :D