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RegisterUpdate from the 2012 WWBN Election Newsroom...
Polls closed just minutes ago but with the expertise of the finest countermonkey's have projected a landslide win for former WWBN Mad Mad World Host Dunena Reid.
Exit poll results give a strong 80% majority result for the newcomer with some even choosing to vote for exotic animals then give a vote to Frump in what has to be his worst result ever.
You heard it here first, Dunena Reid is the new American Minister for Magic!
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Age : 39
Current Location : Australia
Job : Ministry of Magic - Forms and Records Dept.
Face Claim : Garfield Minus Garfield
Famous Last Words : What's This Button Do? Oops *BOOOOOOOM!*
How To: Make Your Thread A Success
Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:39 pm
How to: Make Your Thread A Success.
Some Quick Tips on Making a Thread that People will Rush to Join!
1. Mark it Open.
This means that anyone with any character can join in. You can also mark threads 'Adult' 'Student' 'Children' 'Invite' etc. to be more picky, but Open gives you the best range of possibilities for getting someone to join in sooner.
2. Think about your Settings.
There's little point setting a thread in a characters house with the door locked and nobody else home.
When thinking about where to place a thread take into consideration just how other characters might come to be in the same place.
It doesn't have to be cliche either! Few people consider the fun possibilities that can be had roleplaying at the supermarket, the zoo, on a bus, or wherever else you can think up.
Because we're a large board it's worthwhile taking a moment to see what characters are around, the easiest way is to click on the group for the type of characters you want, for example if i was looking for a thread in America I'd check out the two American usergroups (America - Magical and American - Muggle) to see who we have.
That's not to say that going off the beaten trail is bad, we love seeing new places join the board, but it might take a bit longer to find someone available. The best bet if you would love to RP somewhere in particular is to talk about it, throw up a Plot Me Some RP thread or even brainstorm in the Cbox and no doubt you'll think up some excuse to bring characters there
3. Leave Space for Others.
Sometimes a thread is hard to join because the post is focused entirely on one character with little room for someone else to share the stage.
While often a character may be roleplaying as part of a bigger plot the trick is to balance your own roleplay while allowing other characters to take part who may well have no clue whatsoever of the 'bigger picture'.. make sure your post gives them enough information to get a idea of what's going on and something to reply to and who knows they might just give you a hand in it!
4. Ease up on the Drama
Not everyone wants drama in every thread, sometimes the best threads are ones where 'nothing really happens' and character's are just left to their own devices to go along with the flow. Try to challenge yourself to embrace the mundane and let the other characters bring the drama to you. You never know what might happen, and that's the best bit!
5. Make it Unique
In the average day a person might do over a hundred different things, yet in roleplay how often does a character go to the bathroom? brush teeth? Mow the lawn? vacuum? Go to the Movies (without being on a date) or break from the routine? Try to offer threads in new and different places and doing new things. Try a different time of day or location, see what things have been roleplayed previously and branch out to something different.
It makes better roleplay, better characters, and more fun for everyone involved.
6. Be Open to All Possibilities
Too often people abandon a new thread because it 'isn't going how they expect' or post open threads where other members simply aren't welcome. Which is a real shame and not encouraged at all on Wizards Without Boundaries.
Roleplay is about giving the benefit of the doubt and often going with the flow of events that never in a million years would have been dreamed up by themselves. Sure sometimes things will fall flat but a thread should only be abandoned with the okay of everyone in it.
7. Be Good to Others
Before starting a new open thread take a moment to see if you can't help someone else out with their threads instead. New members especially struggle to find someone to roleplay with.. and we where all new once so go on and make them welcome!
Jumping into a open thread is just as important (if not more so) and it does wonders to build up a reputation of being someone good to roleplay with. It also means taking the effort to keep up with and finish the threads you take part in. We take the view that a thread isn't finished until every one in it is happy and it's reached a natural end. This could mean characters leaving the scene or a event coming to a end. If for whatever reason (and there are many) you cannot keep up with a thread it's better to let others know, pass your turn and if necessary write your way out of the thread so that others can continue.
In time with a good reputation your more likely to end up in a situation where you have more ideas and offers for threads then you'll ever manage to have time to write! (Trust me, it really does happen!).
8. Advertise it!
What's the point of making a thread if your not going to let folks know about it?
Your first step should be to drop by Plot me some RP and post a note in the [ Open Threads List ] to let people know it's there.
Then it's simply a matter of telling others who might be looking for a roleplay that you have a open thread.
Be polite, often it's hectic trying to juggle a bunch of threads and many times Members will make note to grab a thread or roleplay with you the moment they have a chance.
9. Wait
Patience they say is a virtue.
While you wait keep active by looking at jumping into a open thread, setting up your characters Email or Werk(Twitter) Account, create a Passport to keep track of your threads or Relationship Thread or even requst a song on the Radio. There's lots of ways to keep your character up and active with events.
Meanwhile Admins will be working hard to advertise and match up someone to jump into your thread. For a new member Admins will be extra pro-active in ensuring you find someone to roleplay with in the first couple of days.
Common Questions
What's the standard format for posts?
To make posts easy to read we use the following standard:
"Bold and Quotes for anything your character says"
"Just Quotes for NPC's eg. House Elves, minor characters etc in a thread"
"Bold, Italics and Quotes for Singing"
"you can also use Italics to stress a word your character says"
/The Courier New font and /'s are used for Characters speaking in Sign Language/
'Italics and (optional) single quotes for anything your character thinks to themselves ala 'Humm... I'm Kind of Hungry' but doesn't say'
You may also use annotations like * or ^ to provide a translation when characters are speaking another language
"Verdi! Amin Sam*"
*Hi! I'm Sam
I've written a thread but I don't know where to post it?
Don't fret!
First where in the world is your character located at the time of the thread?
For example they might be in Central Park, New York eating a ice cream.
So first off you'd have a look at the United States of America, where you can see New York has it's own subforum. So you'd post your thread in New York and put Central Park in the description ala:
But what if the city isn't there?
Say you wanted a thread set in Las Vegas.
Well just post it under The United States of America and mark the city in the thread's description ala
Countries work the same way, we use contents to break up the world.
For example a thread set in Stockholm, Sweden you would post under Europe
ala
If your not sure where to post something in a new country or maybe your on a boat between countries or where they don't really fit into any of the groups you can always post to The Rest of The World
For example a thread set in Antarctica would be posted as:
Some Quick Tips on Making a Thread that People will Rush to Join!
1. Mark it Open.
This means that anyone with any character can join in. You can also mark threads 'Adult' 'Student' 'Children' 'Invite' etc. to be more picky, but Open gives you the best range of possibilities for getting someone to join in sooner.
2. Think about your Settings.
There's little point setting a thread in a characters house with the door locked and nobody else home.
When thinking about where to place a thread take into consideration just how other characters might come to be in the same place.
It doesn't have to be cliche either! Few people consider the fun possibilities that can be had roleplaying at the supermarket, the zoo, on a bus, or wherever else you can think up.
Because we're a large board it's worthwhile taking a moment to see what characters are around, the easiest way is to click on the group for the type of characters you want, for example if i was looking for a thread in America I'd check out the two American usergroups (America - Magical and American - Muggle) to see who we have.
That's not to say that going off the beaten trail is bad, we love seeing new places join the board, but it might take a bit longer to find someone available. The best bet if you would love to RP somewhere in particular is to talk about it, throw up a Plot Me Some RP thread or even brainstorm in the Cbox and no doubt you'll think up some excuse to bring characters there
3. Leave Space for Others.
Sometimes a thread is hard to join because the post is focused entirely on one character with little room for someone else to share the stage.
While often a character may be roleplaying as part of a bigger plot the trick is to balance your own roleplay while allowing other characters to take part who may well have no clue whatsoever of the 'bigger picture'.. make sure your post gives them enough information to get a idea of what's going on and something to reply to and who knows they might just give you a hand in it!
4. Ease up on the Drama
Not everyone wants drama in every thread, sometimes the best threads are ones where 'nothing really happens' and character's are just left to their own devices to go along with the flow. Try to challenge yourself to embrace the mundane and let the other characters bring the drama to you. You never know what might happen, and that's the best bit!
5. Make it Unique
In the average day a person might do over a hundred different things, yet in roleplay how often does a character go to the bathroom? brush teeth? Mow the lawn? vacuum? Go to the Movies (without being on a date) or break from the routine? Try to offer threads in new and different places and doing new things. Try a different time of day or location, see what things have been roleplayed previously and branch out to something different.
It makes better roleplay, better characters, and more fun for everyone involved.
6. Be Open to All Possibilities
Too often people abandon a new thread because it 'isn't going how they expect' or post open threads where other members simply aren't welcome. Which is a real shame and not encouraged at all on Wizards Without Boundaries.
Roleplay is about giving the benefit of the doubt and often going with the flow of events that never in a million years would have been dreamed up by themselves. Sure sometimes things will fall flat but a thread should only be abandoned with the okay of everyone in it.
7. Be Good to Others
Before starting a new open thread take a moment to see if you can't help someone else out with their threads instead. New members especially struggle to find someone to roleplay with.. and we where all new once so go on and make them welcome!
Jumping into a open thread is just as important (if not more so) and it does wonders to build up a reputation of being someone good to roleplay with. It also means taking the effort to keep up with and finish the threads you take part in. We take the view that a thread isn't finished until every one in it is happy and it's reached a natural end. This could mean characters leaving the scene or a event coming to a end. If for whatever reason (and there are many) you cannot keep up with a thread it's better to let others know, pass your turn and if necessary write your way out of the thread so that others can continue.
In time with a good reputation your more likely to end up in a situation where you have more ideas and offers for threads then you'll ever manage to have time to write! (Trust me, it really does happen!).
8. Advertise it!
What's the point of making a thread if your not going to let folks know about it?
Your first step should be to drop by Plot me some RP and post a note in the [ Open Threads List ] to let people know it's there.
Then it's simply a matter of telling others who might be looking for a roleplay that you have a open thread.
Be polite, often it's hectic trying to juggle a bunch of threads and many times Members will make note to grab a thread or roleplay with you the moment they have a chance.
9. Wait
Patience they say is a virtue.
While you wait keep active by looking at jumping into a open thread, setting up your characters Email or Werk(Twitter) Account, create a Passport to keep track of your threads or Relationship Thread or even requst a song on the Radio. There's lots of ways to keep your character up and active with events.
Meanwhile Admins will be working hard to advertise and match up someone to jump into your thread. For a new member Admins will be extra pro-active in ensuring you find someone to roleplay with in the first couple of days.
Common Questions
What's the standard format for posts?
To make posts easy to read we use the following standard:
"Bold and Quotes for anything your character says"
"Just Quotes for NPC's eg. House Elves, minor characters etc in a thread"
"Bold, Italics and Quotes for Singing"
"you can also use Italics to stress a word your character says"
/The Courier New font and /'s are used for Characters speaking in Sign Language/
'Italics and (optional) single quotes for anything your character thinks to themselves ala 'Humm... I'm Kind of Hungry' but doesn't say'
You may also use annotations like * or ^ to provide a translation when characters are speaking another language
"Verdi! Amin Sam*"
*Hi! I'm Sam
I've written a thread but I don't know where to post it?
Don't fret!
First where in the world is your character located at the time of the thread?
For example they might be in Central Park, New York eating a ice cream.
So first off you'd have a look at the United States of America, where you can see New York has it's own subforum. So you'd post your thread in New York and put Central Park in the description ala:
Thread Title
Central Park (Open/Invite)
But what if the city isn't there?
Say you wanted a thread set in Las Vegas.
Well just post it under The United States of America and mark the city in the thread's description ala
Then Admin will make a forum for Las Vegas and the threads will be moved into it for you. Cool eh?Thread Title
Las Vegas, Nevada (Open/Invite)
Countries work the same way, we use contents to break up the world.
For example a thread set in Stockholm, Sweden you would post under Europe
ala
Thread Title
Stockholm, Sweden
If your not sure where to post something in a new country or maybe your on a boat between countries or where they don't really fit into any of the groups you can always post to The Rest of The World
For example a thread set in Antarctica would be posted as:
Thread Title
Antarctica (Open/Invite)
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