Not a high priority but... More trophies. More ways to earn trophies, more creative trophies. Trophies specifically for contributing to other peoples stories as well as making your own stories. Trophies for commenting even. Trophies for lurkers that don't really write but find other ways to contribute. People get absurdly motivated for arbitrary point and trophies and scores. It could realistically, no joke, motivate or at least initiate certain desirable community behavior if done well.
Trophies for creating stories in different sections? Knotty Dog = BDSM Out of this world = Sci-Fi & Fantasy Heart Breaker = Romance
Why not? They would take effort to make but... Once you start, is there really any reason to be stingy? Maybe that's 'cause I don't obsess over trophies though. I can imagine people trying to 'abuse' the system... Then others complaining about said 'abuse'... Even though the trophies aren't actually worth shit for either party. Still, random complaints aside, I think the overall effect could be more beneficial than negative. Then, I don't have to deal with complaints except when I want to.
not sure about this. You could change the category or put stories in wrong categories on purpose. I would like some reader's awards Communicative = Commented xx times Supporter = Liked xx chapters
If the site administration would like to implement more trophies, a community effort could be made to come up with a list of detailed suggestions for additional trophies. The administration could then "simply" chose, which ones can be implemented (depending on technical limitations, etc.)
I strongly disagree with different trophies for stories in different categories, for several reasons. (The Rest of it looks good though...)
How about a trophy for a story with more than x amount of readers (As eg. 10,000 or more) for writing x amount of stories (say increments of 5)
I sugest trophies for both favorites/bookmarks, deepest chapter, and most branches in a story you own. For the first say 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, and 1000. For the second I would say 10, 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, and 250. (There are two reasons I stop at 250 here: 1: if I rememer right there is only ONE story on the whole site that cracks that cap, and one other which is in range to do it, everything else is under the 200 mark so far... 2: my god, reading 75 chapters into a story is a nightmare: diving 250 chapters down?!? Ack!) The third one is tricky, I'm not sure how we could measure it properly but I think finding a way is important. Basically, for each chapter that has two or more choices after it there would be a +1 to the branching score of the story, when you hit the targets of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, and 1000 on one story you would gain one or more trophy points. (I'd say 1 up to 10, 5 up to 100, and 20 up to 1000 with 1000 giving you 100. [Keep in mind that 1000 branching points requires a bare minimum of 3000 total published chapters in a single story! No one is going to have the raw patience to cheat for that without getting caught!])
I would like trophies most which lead to interaction between the users, or support the motivation of the writers. Contributor = Contributed xx chapters to other authors' stories.
Don't know if this is possible or not but what about trophies for adopting and adding to abandoned stories. 1 story - Ghost Writer 5 stories - Librarian 10 stories - Archaeologist
This can't be achieved by only using the site. It could also lead to active writers adopting stories without developing them. Maybe sth like Gravedigger = Added a chapter to a story which wasn't updated for a year Though it probably won't be easy to get the data for these trophies.
I think the most useful and important awards to implement first would be any that encourage feed back from users, especially commenting. A couple trophies along this line could push some more passive readers to contribute criticism and voice their opinions when they would otherwise stay silent. The main issue I see with this though is that it will also invite spamming.
That same issue exists with the awards for published chapters, I think there will be less of it than you fear that there will.
I tried to sum up the suggestions so far and to fill them with life. Follow other authors [For readers] Follower - Follow 1 author. Stay up to date - Follow 10 authors. Devided attention - Follow 25 authors. Notification Overload - Follow 50 authors. Lemming - Follow 100 authors. Gather your own followers [For authors] Somebody follows you - 1 person is following you. Two is company, three's a crowd - 3 people are following you. Small Follower Party - 10 people are following you. Large Follower Party - 25 people are following you. You appear to be very popular! Now it's really getting crowded - 50 people are following you. Do you know these people at all? Chyoa's rising star - 100 people are following you. Contribute to different stories that are not your own [For authors] There is something more to life! - Contribute one chapter to a story of another author. Expand your horizon - Contribute one or more chapters to 5 different stories of other authors. Dedication to the community - Contribute one or more chapters to 10 different stories of other authors. Where else can you contribute? - Contribute one or more chapters to 25 different stories of other authors. Unfaithful? - Contribute one or more chapters to 50 different stories of other authors. But don't neglect your own stories! You participate in every story there is - Contribute one or more chapters to 100 different stories of other authors. Focused contribution on a single story that is not your own. [For authors] Neighborly help - Contribute 5 chapters to a single story of another author. Dedicated contribution - Contribute 10 chapters to a single story of another author. Serious boost - Contribute 25 chapters to a single story of another author. Majority shareholder - Contribute 50 chapters to a single story of another author. Silent owner - Contribute 100 chapters to a single story of another author. Comment on chapters [For readers] Don't be shy! - Post a comment You are communicative - Post 10 comments Serial feedback - Post 25 comments You freely express your opinion - You Post 50 comments You risk being marked as spam - Post 100 comments Like / thumbs up [For readers] Yes! - You liked 1 chapter. Awesome! - You liked 10 chapters Go on! - You liked 25 chapters That's it! - You liked 50 chapters Give it to me! - You liked 100 chapters Oh yeah, baby! - You liked 250 chapters Almost there!- You liked 500 chapters. Is there something that you don't like? Climax! - You liked 1000 chapters. You really do like everything. Add to "abandoned" stories [For authors] It wasn't dead yet, was it? - Contribute a chapter to a story that wasn't updated for more than 6 months (but less than a year). Gravedigger - Contribute a chapter to a story that wasn't updated for more than a year. Necromancer - Rise my stories! Contribute a chapter to 10 different stories that were not updated for more than a year. Lord of the dead - Contribute a chapter to 25 different stories that were not updated for more than a year. Favorites [For readers] First love - Mark 1 story as favorite. Threesome - Mark 3 stories as favorite. Group sex - Mark 10 stories as favorite. Orgy - Mark 25 stories as favorite. Wild Sex-Party - Mark 50 stories as favorite. Bookmarks [For readers] Wow! I will come back for that one - Bookmark 1 chapter. So much to read... - Bookmark 5 chapters. ... if i find the time. - Bookmark 10 chapters. Collection - Bookmark 25 chapters. Library - Bookmark 50 chapters. Archive - Bookmark 100 chapters. x amount of readers [For authors] Hang in there! - Your story has attracted 1.000 views. It starts to gain velocity. - Your story has attracted 10.000 views. Looks like it has become a hit! - Your story has attracted 100.000 views. It truly is a bestseller! - Your story has attracted 1.000.000 views. The show must go on! - Your story has attracted 5.000.000 views.
Most of those are good ideas. Not certain about the faves and author follows those as it could really blow up your notifications.
All the Chapters listed above I think are iffy somehow: some of them seem to insult the user, others I think could just be named better, and a few I question if we should have them at all. Additionally ALL these awards that don't have it yet need one of those little catchy quotes that the current awards have, such as "Can't Stop! - You've published 100 chapters. I hope this took you more than a day!" In order here are my specific concerns with each one and recommendations for what to do about them: Issues: Insults the user, could lead to notification overload. Recommendation: Eliminate Entirely. Issue: Potentially insults the people following you. Recommendation: Change to "Three Amigos - 3 people are following you. Seems you have made a few freinds, keep up the quality to attract more followers!" Issue: Again, potentially insults the people following you. Recommendation: Change to "House Party! - 50 people are following you. There's a party going on right here!" Issue: Seems Awkwardly worded, and implies that only one person can have the award... Recommendations: Change to either: "Rising Star - 100 people are following you. You must be a very skilled author to have attracted this much attention." OR "Entourage - 100 people are following you. If we had a walk of fame you'd have a star!" Issue: Again, potentially insults the user. Recommendation: Change name to "Extensive Contributions" Issue: Name is highly inaccurate, and too long as well. Recommendation: Change to "Prolific Contributor - Contribute one or more chapters to 100 different stories of other authors. You are a heroic asset for the diversity of this site!" Issue: Again, highly inaccurate: it is quite possible to do this without having any kind of influence other than being a prolific writer. Recommendation: Change to "Junior Partner - Contribute 50 chapters to a single story of another author. You're going places with this story!" Issue: Yet again, highly inaccurate. Recommendation: Change to "Senior Partner - Contribute 100 chapters to a single story of another author. What percentage of this story is yours?" Issue: Yet again, highly inaccurate: and also, again, potentially insulting to the user as well. Recommendation: Change to "Talk Show Host - Post 100 comments. How are your ratings?" Issue: The issue here is strictly with the flavor text, it is, yet again, highly inaccurate: and also, again, potentially insulting to the user as well. Recommendation: Change flavor text to "You sure like a lot of stuff!" Issue: Round two: the issue here is strictly with the flavor text, it is, yet again, highly inaccurate: and also, again, potentially insulting to the user as well. Recommendation: Change flavor text to "What's not to like?" Issue: Name could use work, in my opinion. Recommendations: Change to: "Lord of the Flies - Contribute a chapter to 25 different stories that were not updated for more than a year. "The thing is - fear can't hurt you any more than a dream."" OR "Litch - Contribute a chapter to 25 different stories that were not updated for more than a year. "That is not dead which can eternal lie, and in strange eons even death may die."" Issue: Favoring this many stories could lead to notification overload. Recommendation: Eliminate Entirely. I hope these ideas will be helpful, and encourage dingdongs and everyone else to comment upon them.
What i wrote is just what i could come up with on the fly ;-) I basically wanted to show that we have already gathered quite a few good ideas and that there is a lot of potential here. @Friedman: It would be nice to get some feedback, if this is something that you would consider implementing, and if we should put some more thought into this topic.
I'm in favor of more trophies/awards. Especially in regards to user interaction (favorites, followers, adding chapters to somebody else's stories). We then also have to update the user title ladder. That's the current one: >= 0 awards: Virgin >= 3 awards: Experienced >= 6 awards: Really Experienced >= 9 awards: Really Really Experienced >= 12 awards: CHYOA Guru
