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 Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 1:23 am
I was talking to Anrea and mentioned I'd be making a long post about Modifoxes, and here I am. Now, before I start I want to make it known that I love Modifoxes. Modifoxes was my first gaia home, and for a few years the only reason I logged onto Gaia. I have a long, long, long history with Modifoxes, and have made some of my best friends here. Modifoxes even gave me a place to rest when life became so emotional and so broken that I literally felt completely alone and hopeless. So, while some of the things I will may be a tad harsh I mean it with the best intentions.
I want Modifoxes to thrive, and I personally am invested in seeing it grow. I am genuinely trying to help staff, customers, and the shop. If I say something that offends you I sincerely apologize. I never want to hurt anyone, especially the people who keep this shop alive.
With that noted, lets begin!
Activity:
Several of ModiRegs have noticed the shop thread is slow, painfully slow. For years pages would rush by and we'd need to spend a good ten minutes back reading, and then, suddenly, it stopped. Life became busy. We grew older. People left Gaia, and we lost our numbers. As we grew older responsibilities overtook us. This is normal. However, what isn't normal is how slow the thread goes, and how days will go by without a post.
This is for several reasons, such as:
- Events/sales/etc aren't frequent, which isn't staff's fault. Staff are busy, and there's only a few staff members. When a few go missing it takes a big toll on the shop. Of course staff can't be expected to be here 24/7, or hold events 24/7. No one blames them.
- The community has slowed down. With the lack of events there are less reasons to interact. Some have moved to other shops, others lurk.
There's more, but I've decided to include them later down this post. I have a few ideas to help bring this shop back to the glory it once was. There are so many people who hold a fond place in their heart for Modifoxes, and a lot of us have mentioned in the background how we wish a few things would change. A few of us also wish to see new things appear to bring new life into the shop. ANOTHER thing we really want is new-blood. Newbies are great. They bring in new ideas, new plots, and just a fresh feeling to the thread. I love you guys, don't get me wrong, but new people just is fun. It makes us excited!
Again, I am going to say I am NOT trying to insult anyone. I also want to add that I am not saying that the shop is run wrong. Nor am I saying "screw staff", or that staff are doing a poor job. No. I love you guys, and I greatly appreciate you bringing me a home to love and be in. Without you guys this shop wouldn't be possible, and lets face it, without you guys this shop would have died long ago, back when so many b/c shops closed down for good. You all love this shop, and keep it going for us, the regulars. And we are grateful.
Now, I am going to split up my ideas into different bolded topics. I am so sorry this is a long post.
Sales
Modifoxes has slowed down considerably, which, again, makes sense. People are busy. However, this can be fixed, which I will mention later.
Right now, Modifoxes holds few sales. We get the holiday events, which we all look forward to. It's one of our favorite times of the year. However, we have few flatsales, auctions, flaffles, etc etc. We'll go a few months without activity, and then an influx of contests/ideas are brought out, and then silence once more. This can grow a bit discouraging, and people eventually stop returning for games. The shop fluctuates between very active to complete silence, and it can be a bit confusing.
My proposal is scheduling some games/sales at least once a month. A flatsale, raffle, or flaffle a month can go a long way in keeping people interested. It also gives people interested in the shop a faster chance to get in and start RPing. Holding a contest a month as well customs once a month would also help. It doesn't have to be big, but small things like that can keep the shop trucking on.
Another thing I want to bring up is that the shop is based off modifications, but we rarely have slots open for them. We have the basic tribe mods, but that's really it. A HUGE topic I keep hearing from newbies is that what drew them in was the fact we could modify our characters, but then they notice slots are rarely open. Modifications being a more common occurrence could help the shop a lot, especially since it's the selling point of the shop.
"But Yushika, staff have lives outside of the shop!" I know, and have been told this before. I do not blame you. I, frankly, am busy a lot and require my fellow staffers in shops I work at to help me out. What keeps our shops going is that we have several people who have different schedules. If one is out there's another who can step in. That brings me to a next topic.
Hiring
I know I've been told by at least one person that hiring is something that shouldn't be mentioned, but I'm going for it. It's needed, honestly. You guys have lives, troubles, and things you need to do outside of Gaia. Gaia is not your whole life, and it shouldn't be. That'd be unhealthy. However, for awhile the shop has slowed down. Life comes first, but it seems the shop has suffered because life isn't working out all the time. Again, that's okay. But when this happens for a long time maybe it's time to bring in people who have the free-time when others don't.
I've been spending this year looking at other shops and comparing them to Modifoxes, and noticed one thing: They have more staff, and the staff members have diverse schedules. Three of them could be out on hiatus and the shop keeps going. Modifoxes is struggling right now because life is kicking the current staff's a**, and perhaps new blood can help it.
It's hard to hire new people, especially when for years it's been the same few together. But the shop needs activity. I propose that unedit colorists and edit colorists are brought onto the team, and maybe a few other positions that you guys decide on. When customers seem more active staff members they feel more engaged in the shop. Holding monthly games/sales/events will be easier with more hands on deck, and staff can take much needed breaks when they need to if they know that others have their back. It'd relieve a LOT of stress, and give everyone a chance to relax when they have to.
Tribes
Tribes are another huge selling point for the shop, but they've grown stagnant. This is partially because owners of tribes have wandered off, and partially because there isn't much to do with tribes. We get mods, we sometimes get more babies, and that's it.
I've gone back reading and seen things within the guides mentioning that positions can get special perks, but this was never implemented. Perhaps making tribes a bigger focus will bring the community back. It gives people a reason to RP together, and form families/stories. Having positions have different perks will make people think more before throwing a character in, and add something just a bit more unique to tribes.
Having tribes create a history for the shop would also be amazing. What if Modifoxes had a timeline? Or had just a history that developed as we did? How cool would that be? Tribes could declare war, or come together during some harsh times. I dunno. I see a lot of potential in tribes, and I love them. Tribes are one of my favorite things about this shop!
Monthly Breeding/Custom List
A lot of shops having Monthly Breeding/Custom lists. These threads allow owners to enter a certain amount of couples and customs in, and colorists can pick through it whenever bored/want something quick to do. Once a month staff change the color of the header that customers must put ontop of their post, and that is what makes staff know who is active or not. These things can add an element of excitement. You'll never know when you'll get something picked. It also lets staff have random moments where they can just do a breeding here or a custom there. They don't have to run an entire thread for breedings and pick more than one. It's calm, and something leisurely to do.
Newbie Charity
I've noticed newbies come in and out, and the reasons they generally leave is because sometimes getting a Modifox is hard. I've contacted a few ex-newbies and they mentioned the shop seemed dead at the time, and by the time a game/event came around they had lost interest. A way to fix this is a newbie charity thread, where a newbie can post things they like and if a staff wants they can color a semi up for them. It helps get our new blood in faster and ready to go!
Petless Events
Related to the tribe events I was discussing, having some events that don't give pets but instead offer plots could be good. Like, say, if we ever do the creating a history for Modifoxes you guys could hold meta events. Maybe a huge event happens and we need to band together with our foxes to stop it. Maybe a plague runs through. Idk, but it's something to keep our brains going and make the community stronger.
Plot Freebies
Sometimes people come up with plots and need a pet for it, or want a series of pets to give away to do this plot. Making a thread where people post plots and what characters they need for it could be good! It encourages RP! One of the rules could be you can only keep one pet made by staff for that plot, and the rest must be given away.
For example:
- I want to make a fox attack a family for whatever damn reason.
- I say I need: The attacker, the mom, the dad, child 1, child 2.
- Staff make them after I explain the plot (if they want to), and make the pets. I can only keep one.
Staff would get to pick and choose what plots they pick.
Monthly Rewards
Another thing I saw some shops do that people love is when people are rewarded for things. Staff can go through and reward people based on: Favorite RP, Favorite Fox, Favorite Plot, etc etc. The reward doesn't have to be big, but it's a way to show staff appreciate customers without making it too stressful. Idk, it's a cute and interactive idea, bleeeeh.
All in All
I know this is a lot. I know it's a lot of new things. And I know it's a lot of work, but it's a start. These are just ideas I have, and things I've heard others mention they'd love to see. I just really want to help this shop anyway I can.
I also noticed I didn't really say much I appreciate about what we have now, so let me list it!:
- I appreciate how amazing you guys are. Staff have welcomed me so many times, and they've been there when s**t went bad. And, honestly, you guys have had my back many times.
- I appreciate the beautiful new thread! Lookit that glorious beast!
- I appreciate the fun little events we always have, like Halloween events and Christmas events.
- I appreciate our glorious colorists, and how without you guys I wouldn't have all these plots and families I love to stupid bits and pieces.
- I appreciate mods! Yay!
- And I appreciate all the friends I've found in this shop! I love you guys!
If anyone has a suggestion they want to add, go ahead! Don't let me run this all by myself!
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 2:25 am
boop, this is a quick "hi, i read everything!" reply~ i'll type an actual reply sometime soon, yush! but not right now because it's 4am over here and typing while sleepy is hard
note to self and anyone reading this: important things i'll be including in my actual reply = future hiring, tribe/test tribe semi-customs, mccl, newbie charity, shop meta which... i'm not allowed to reveal too much about yet i'm sorryyy ; u;
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 2:28 am
~Spazzy_the_Wolfie~ boop, this is a quick "hi, i read everything!" reply~ i'll type an actual reply sometime soon, yush! but not right now because it's 4am over here and typing while sleepy is hardnote to self and anyone reading this: important things i'll be including in my actual reply = future hiring, tribe/test tribe semi-customs, mccl, newbie charity, shop meta which... i'm not allowed to reveal too much about yet i'm sorryyy ; u;
Thank you for reading! I apologize if it came off dickish. It's like 5am here and I needed to write all that before I forgot, and now looking back I'm like: OHNO. DID I SOUND LIKE A TOTAL a**?
ilu guys aaah
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 11:11 pm
Nah, I don't think it came off as rude at all! As long as a person isn't yelling or demanding things in a rude manner, the staffers are always willing to listen to suggestions.
Activity:
You basically hit the nail on the head for why there's been a lack of activity lately. The lack of staff (due to things like Nati departing, staff going on hiatus, RL eating some staff) has caused smaller in-thread events like flatsales/flaffles/raffles/etc. and a few other things, like customs and breedings, to become infrequent. We're planning on slowly fixing this by doing some things though, and I'll talk about that later on in this post.
Sales/Mods:
I think holding at least one small game/sale a month is do-able, even with RL attacking staff! Are there any specific things you guys would like to see? It'll make things easier if we have an idea of what you guys like, how many pets we should be doing, all that jazz. Is four pets too little? Is six pets too many? Will we end up with leftover pets if we color ten? That's one of the big things we've been struggling with: how many pets to color for those small games/sales. :Ta
Personally, I kind of put my mod shop on the backburner and concentrated on coloring due to... not getting a very good response the last time I opened mod slots. I had slots for custom mods open for about a month(?) and only received one entry, so that was a bit discouraging. But I'll definitely be fixing that now, especially since you guys want them to be more active. If you guys have any preferences (basic mods, custom mods, whatever) for the types of slots you'd like to see from me, please be sure to hit me up with some feedback later on this month! I'll be setting up a feedback thread soon for that.
Hiring:
I mentioned earlier that we're planning on fixing the shop's slowness with some things, and this is one of them. We know that the lack of staff is slowing things down considerably. We have an ongoing discussion about hiring over in the staff cave, and we're currently figuring out all of the important little things, like how many people to hire and what we're looking for specifically. If things go according to plan, hiring for colorists should be happening sometime in 2015!
Tribes/Petless Events:
I'm combining the two subjects~
Tribe perks were actually released back in August, during Test Tribe/Tribe Rush Week. I understand the confusion though! Most of those perks are mod-based, and mod slots have been pretty scarce this year, so it probably seems like the shop hasn't implemented the perks yet. Those perks are in effect though, so everyone should carefully consider which ranks to give their foxes when joining tribes and test tribes. Lots of different skills and positives/negatives to consider!
As far as developing some history for the tribes and giving you guys some interesting IC events to play with... we're actually working on all of that behind the scenes! We're putting together a pretty neat meta-plot. I can't reveal too much yet, sadly, but here's some stuff that's being included: unity, resistance, and fighting. Lots of fighting. Not a very good sneak peek, but there you go~
Monthly Breeding/Custom List:
We probably won't be setting up a Monthly CC Custom List anytime soon, due to the lack of staff and normal custom slots. But a Monthly CC Breeding List is something that the staff have chatted about before, and we know a lot of you would love to have one here at the shop, so we'll probably bring the subject back up again. :3
Newbie Charity:
A newbie charity is something I'd love to see happen here at the shop! I've thought about it a few times myself, but haven't brought the subject up with the other staffers yet, due to RL and other things keeping me busy. I'll chat with the others about it the next time we get the chance.
Plot Freebies:
I think this could actually work as a future contest idea. A colorist (or multiple colorists, if we feel like doing a collab~) can hold a contest and ask for people to enter with their plot ideas, then RNG/CC one of the entries to work on. Three or four foxes max. per entry, I think.
Monthly Rewards:
I'd personally love to do something like this, but I'm not sure how well this would turn out, due to the possibility of people crying about favoritism and stuff like that.
A NEW SUBJECT APPEARS!
Tribe/Test Tribe Semi-Customs:
This is a little idea that's been kicking around in my head for a while, something to get a bit of interest and activity going in tribes. Staff would set up a thread and allow tribe/test tribe owners to enter. Tribe/test tribe owners would be able to purchase unedited semi-customs (just semi-customs!) with their own funds and give those foxes away via user-run contests and stuff. No purchasing a semi-custom and then handing it over to someone, sorry! They have to be given away fairly in contests/games/etc. Unless the tribe/test tribe dies out, it's required that the fox stay in that tribe specifically, since the tribe owner paid for it. If tribe owners/owners try to pull a fast one on staff, they risk getting a stern PM from us and having their right to buy tribe customs revoked. Winners would be picked at random, CC style (similar to how a Monthly CC Breeding List would run). Would people be interested, or should I scrap the idea? o:
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Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:03 am
Awesome! I tend to worry about my tone a lot, haha.
I have no idea what people prefer. I know flaffles are fun, mostly because people just enjoy that it's usually free. I feel like 6 isn't too much, at all! If you consider how big the Halloween raffle was and how every pet got a home I feel like we can host bigger flaffles/raffles. BUT, that's probably something staff will figure out from multiple testings.
The poll you guys put up in-thread is a more accurate way of judging what people like the most. I also personally like unique games that aren't the standard dice rolling or flaffle that we see a lot, but that's just my personal taste.
Mods would be amazing to see again. I genuinely hope it goes better this time, as I'd love to see it make a successful return. I can't express how much I love seeing modded out foxes.
Yay for hiring! I hope it helps and we get some wonderful new additions!
Dude I saw the tribe perks long ago, and probably thought they weren't implemented mostly because of the reason you mentioned: them being mod-based. With mods coming back it'd be great to see these in action! I really love tribes having a more unique touch, and members having special perks from other members.
ALSO, talk of meta-plotting makes me beyond excited. I've wanted a meta for Modifoxes for a long time, and will be happy to participate. You guys are awesome~
With Monthly Rewards, you could always make it that someone can't win in a row? Maybe, once a person wins one month they aren't eligible to win for x period of months? I dunno man, throwing ideas out there. o u o
About the test tribe/tribe semi customs:
I personally love this idea. I know people are always looking to expand tribes and develop them, and while tribe RP is slow and dead at the moment I can see small games, meta's, and tribe perks bringing back the glory of tribes. So, semi-customs would be fun! Trying it at least once would probably give a better idea of how it'd go, too. Personally, I find it interesting!
ALSO:
Thank you very much for reading all of my rambling. I'm really pleased with the response! It's nice to see you guys actually already thought up some of these things (especially the meta, aaaah)! If you need any more input you can for sure bounce it off me. I would love to offer any advice/thoughts needed for Modifox~
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