Honest Discussions & Member Feedback

Let's make this place a bit more lively, two ways at once! With a discussion about how to make this place more lively!

For this, I'm very interested in hearing from not just current URPG members, but also those who have quit in the past or have considered joining but didn't. We'd like to make this as welcoming an environment as possible and to do that it's important to hear from those who do not find it as such. Everyone's opinion is important and everyone's voice deserves to be heard!

There's been a decline in activity lately as we all know, not just because of the school year but even before that during the summer (though it's foolish to deny the school year playing a part in the current levels). Instead of just sitting by and watching a blank chat day after day, we should be working on fixing it. Feel free to say anything else on the topic as well, but these are some questions that can be a guideline if you're not sure what to say. Everything said will be read and considered.

What are the things that most discourage you from participating more in URPG? Perhaps a particular system in the game that you find uninteresting which spoils the rest of it, or a lack of things to do for one reason or another?

Are there any particular things that you think could be done to fix that problem? Perhaps a modification to turn that part interesting again, a way to make it not spoil anything else, or another type of thing to do?

Any other changes you'd like to see within URPG? Be realistic. (for example: "Give everyone $1,000,000" may sound good now, but it's not going to happen (and I believe even if it did, it would not be as helpful as you might imagine). "Use a tournament style other than Single Elimination" would be something that would be easy and likely to occur given demand for it.)

If you were a new URPG member who just joined, would you stick around? Why or why not? If you have any concerns for things that discourage new players sticking around, we'd love to hear them so we can fix them.

Anything else you'd like to add? Maybe there's a certain thing which is just really awesome! Maybe there's something we could better do to reach out to more people and help them discover URPG.

Again, you may use these or not, they're just guidelines if you're unsure what to say.

Code for the questions by themselves, in case you want it:

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[noparse][b]What are the things that most discourage you from participating more in URPG?[/b]

[b]Are there any particular things that you think could be done to fix that problem?[/b]

[b]Any other changes you'd like to see within URPG?[/b]

[b]If you were a new URPG member who just joined, would you stick around?  Why or why not?[/b]

[b]Anything else you'd like to add?[/b][/noparse]

If for any reason you don't want to post something publicly in this thread, you may PM me or another URPG Staff member on forums (my BMG inbox is limited in space, but I'll try to keep a few open in case it's needed) or IM me on AIM (MewAshMew)/Skype (find me as "Ash K." in the URPG, PWN, and PXR Skype chats. I don't like posting my Skype name on forums. You can also VM/PM me with your Skype name and I'll add you.) or email me (mewalcadiesmew @ gmail . com (without spaces, adding those to decrease potential spambots), but that's the way that may take the longest to notice)

PXR Discussion | PWN Discussion | BMG Discussion

 

Hope Staff is allowed to respond to this too!

Also, this will be long winded #sorrynotsorry

What are the things that most discourage you from participating more in URPG?

I am going to be honest here: it's just not realistic to reach my goals in URPG. Obtaining every Pokemon and fully EMing them would be my ultimate goal, and earning money as well as the ways to even do so are just too tedious and limited. I was a very active ref for over 2 years, and I still have barely made a dent in the 721 (and counting) Pokemon to obtain not to mention their EMs and held items etc. Battling (at this current point) is really the section I'm most interested in in URPG and I just can't see myself ever completing my goal. People are quick to accuse laziness etc. when it comes to this area, but I was definitely anything but lazy when I was active and it still didn't get me very far. Things shouldn't be easy, no, but they should be realistic. In the games, I could (and have) realistically completed the National Pokedex despite how difficult it is.

Are there any particular things that you think could be done to fix that problem?

I have some loose ideas, but mainly we would need to increase payments for real (a.k.a. not basics) battles including for refs and think of new ways to earn money in the first place so things don't get tedious and boring. Yes, this idea is going to get me a lot of criticism but if you want my honest opinion of why I stopped ref-botting and battling frequently, this is it. And as a Senior Ref, I also don't personally think that it will break the URPG battling system at all.

We could also do increased pay based on activity. For example, for every consecutive day that you have or ref at least a 3v3, you get another 500 at the battle's completion (this would stack and then cap at a certain point). This could be noted in the log for proof. Maybe awards for consecutive Gym victories/defends as well, and this could be extended to E4, Champ, and LD.

There are many ways we could do this, but I just want people to understand that it is needed. The process as it is is just very tedious and gets old, even when you're willing to put in a lot of effort. I'm not saying give everyone tons of free money, I just want achievement in the battling section to be more realistic.

Any other changes you'd like to see within URPG?

More RP! I don't help with this much (sorry ;-, but I do really like the new section Smiles created that is currently running on PWN, and I think we should do more along those lines. We should get into the habit of using the Development Section more so our ideas can be actively documented and picked up later on if the person who suggested them goes inactive (see Bluey's Dungeon and Boss Battles ideas within that section).

Having more RP sections to go to as well as expanding our current sections would help URPG live up to its name and increase activity overall. (Pokemon is a really RP-heavy community in general)

If you were a new URPG member who just joined, would you stick around? Why or why not?

Gonna skip this one.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Where are my free cookies ??

 

Going to throw in my two cents on the first two. I agree, payments could be increased without breaking anything. However, I don't actually believe that goal should be realistically obtainable. Why? Because what happens when you get there? Now that you've gotten everything you could ever want, what's the point of doing anything else? While being able to make a large dent in the goal is good, and there definitely do need to be achievable goals, having unachievable goals is also important. Without that, there actually does become a point with noting left to do. And I'm not calling you lazy, I'm well aware you've done a lot towards that. I'm simply offering another viewpoint on the situation. Suppose a year from now you had all of that. What would you do then?

Again, I can see arguments for further pay modifications. The basic idea of your system seems good.

 

tbh, there's a pretty strong lack of URPG endgame no matter what. Unattainable goals are important, but anything pertaining to getting a lot of Pokemon/nuking the ones you have becomes so massively unobtainable that there's no point. I've reached the time in my career here where I kind of just hoard up money from wages for gifting stations, and sometimes blow it on nuking a Pokemon that I never actually use. Like, there's hardly ever a use for them. I came on basically every day over the summer and got a single gym challenge the entire time, and while I wasn't actively seeking battles, I'm pretty sure I spent a ton more time preparing for the idea of them rather than actually in one. Story-writing has even gotten kind of dull, not because the writing itself is boring, but because I don't really want to have to have another Pokemon in my stats that I won't use. I've literally been writing Complex-rank for the sheer purpose of having gifting fodder three months down the line.

._.

That being said, having more RP stuff is dope. AH is fun, even though it's a little slow atm with all the school things, but I think we should stop going for quantity (expand to ALL the sites! Create ALL the sections!) and focus on sprucing up what we've got

/my two cents

 

What are the things that most discourage you from participating more in URPG?

I like to think that for me, URPG ran its course. I stayed for seven years and don't regret it in the least, but I think I naturally grew away from it. Of course, it doesn't help that the dying URPG I left and the prime URPG I dabbled in for some years were very different. Activity is a rising tide that lifts all boats in this game, but that cuts both ways.

In terms of a goal, I wanted to beat all gyms and maybe achieve some big-time battling accolades. I worked at the craft for a couple of years and got to maybe a B+ level in terms of battling (reserving A for types that could actually contend for a Champion spot – Syn, Ash, Roulette, Pidge, Winter, Brian and so on), which wasn't really meeting my goal but plenty satisfying in itself. I never got every single badge, with some toughie leaders I avoided and other ones often inactive, but that didn't really bother me either. After a while, I just got bored with battling because the experience stagnated for me. I never made the jump to what I'd call A level, and this was around the time battlers were regressing in number and my own URPG interest was dwindling in favor of real-life opportunities. But again, I had a great time during my ride.

Are there any particular things that you think could be done to fix that problem?

Were my problems really problems? Maybe not, although activity is something we've been trying to crack for a while. Can't help you there anymore than my shitty Staff posts of last year might've done. There were some questions raised about structure and goal, and I think that's really interesting – URPG was good for me the way it was, but maybe structure and goal would benefit the game more. This doesn't have to be a complete system change, since the game's open-endedness (that a word?) also gives it longevity and fun, but maybe tinkering would work a small miracle. Like handing out generous milestone prizes along a certain career path (not grinding awards like 500 battles or anything, mind you) in the game – first eight gym wins or first league completion, first E4 member beat or E4 sweep, and so on.

More I think about it, tournaments are pretty overrated as a way to boost activity, other than maybe activity-based tournaments that just make for shitty tournaments overall. LD is awesome, but really just a circlejerk among 1% battlers. We should reintroduce Dojo League or whatever it was called (I was away for that whole bit) and slap big-time prizes on there.

I agree with Swift on shortening the game's growth arc. You can make it easier to achieve a high number of mons and EMs without making it easy to do it for all 718, and that might come with the side benefit of helping activity. If nothing else, then it makes individual growth during shit activity a bit easier. Also, if I were ever to come back, I don't want to spend weeks and weeks rebuilding a roster. Maybe less daunting a task for those of you that (still?) play URPG day in and day out, but from the outside looking in, I'd really hate to choose to return only to get stonewalled by the challenge of rebuilding my roster with the new mons I'd want.

Any other changes you'd like to see within URPG?

Maybe it'd be easier to come up with new changes if I'd been a bit closer to the game recently, because I think changes are necessary no matter how good a time I had here. For me, what I'd really like to have seen was an easier way to make the jump from 'very good' battler to 'elite' battler because that was my problem, but matters of game skill are difficult to get around (although making it easier to diversify your group of good mons can alleviate that a bit). We've tried a tutoring system before, and I don't think tutoring would work particularly well for me or many other URPG members – at least not those that were facing my dilemma.

If you were a new URPG member who just joined, would you stick around? Why or why not?

Probably not. The game's very clearly dying, and I don't think I'd make friends with many of you because I'm an asshole. There, I finally said it.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Be well. Would hate to see URPG die. Some of you have me on Facebook, others can probably get to me. I'm more than willing to have a conversation on helping URPG, or anything else.

 

Alrighty, here we go:

What are the things that most discourage you from participating more in URPG?

Primarily - I'm 24, engaged and employed full-time. When I'm not working, nobody else is really around for me to actively participate with.
However, like a few other people have said, the lack of a real endgame is a real discouragement to progression because you're not progressing towards anything significant. A very select few reach Champion status, which I'd like to think I could at least take a shot at if I was fully active, but I sure as hell don't have the time to dedicate to this game that I did as a student.

I was always pretty good with Fire types and with a select few other Pokemon that I had learned but otherwise had a very static line-up, I'm probably very predictable in battle. Without being very active I can't really change that format, since any new Pokemon would need extensive learning and EMing.

Are there any particular things that you think could be done to fix that problem?

Not exactly, it's mostly all personal issues, and a bad timezone.

Any other changes you'd like to see within URPG?

So, above is my reasons for not playing the current URPG. People move on and out-grow the game, that's fine and to be expected. But there's no new playerbase being introduced to replace them. Here, I'm going to look at why people aren't joining. I've addressed this kinda thing before - unfortunately, I honestly believe that this style of forum-based RPG is a thing of the past. I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with the URPG - it has a unique battling style, multiple styles of content contribution, roleplay, progression - the same features that attracted fairly large numbers a few years back simply don't attract people now. The game is too slow and difficult to interact with in an age of fast-paced match-made games like LoL/DOTA/CS:GO, and the thousands of games that are simple and easy to interact with on mobile. Even in the target audience of Pokemon fans, the battling has to compete with Showdown, and as everyone has mentioned before, writing and drawing for the URPG is basically just to feed Pokemon for the battling section (and contests lol). If you just want to write, fanfiction sites are larger. If you want to draw, DeviantArt.

In some ways, URPG is a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. People who are looking for one thing will go to the master. The whole package has a limited audience and is very difficult to advertise.

I have no idea what the answer is, but I don't think a revival of the current URPG is possible. URPG needs to evolve. Not expand, not just throw in a new section, not tweak some payouts or change some minor rules. We need something new that reflects the gaming culture of 2015.

If you were a new URPG member who just joined, would you stick around? Why or why not?

Honestly, no. I can't see myself playing URPG as it is now compared to how it was when I started. The lack of activity is a killer. It's just not engaging anymore.

Anything else you'd like to add?

As always, I would definitely be dedicated towards anything that can genuinely help the URPG. But looking at what it was and trying to restore that, in my opinion, will go nowhere. Look forward to something new.

EDIT: This thread has been up for 5 days and only got responses from Staff of varying activity levels. I think that speaks more than any of us can

 

I'm going to echo a lot of what Monbrey said, minus the timezone issues.

What are the things that most discourage you from participating more in URPG?

I tend to become inactive in URPG when I'm busy in real life. Last time I went inactive, I had just started college. I'm not leaving now, but I've been less active because I found some people to hang out with outside of my apartment and that means less URPG.

Are there any particular things that you think could be done to fix that problem?

Like Monbrey said, this isn't a problem, per se, it's just that I've got other things going on. It becomes a problem when you realize that the population of URPG is aging, and more of us are ending up in the "I have other stuff going on in my life" boat.

Any other changes you'd like to see within URPG?

As Monbrey said, our identity just doesn't quite fit what the average Pokemon fan is looking for any more. A lot of things just take too long for the audience that we need to attract. We live in a world where Pokemon Showdown and PokeMMO exist and are fairly popular. I believe that when I joined eight years ago, both of those things were just starting out. Shoddy Battle was still heavily integrated with forum environments (heck, Pe2k had a whole section for it). I don't think fan forums are the locus of the fandom any more. Change one is that we need to advertise more so people know we exist, but I think change two is that, if we want to revitalize URPG, we need to become a part of the social environments that people care about these days. Finally, I think the system as a whole would have to speed up. I realize all of these things are huge propositions, and I don't have any good solutions, but we at least need to talk about them

The second option is that URPG stays mostly the same and caters to the people who are still around. That's okay too, and I'm sure plenty of us would still enjoy it, but there would likely never be more activity than there is right now, barring a potential tiny bump if we advertised more.

If you were a new URPG member who just joined, would you stick around? Why or why not?

I dunno if 23-year-old me would have ever even come across URPG, knowing my current web-surfing habits. The only reason I ever come to Pokemon forums any more is because URPG is here. If I were in high school right now, I don't know that it would make a difference in the sites I'd use. I think that either way, if by some miracle I had found URPG, I probably would have been attracted to the same features that attracted me way back then (e.g. the Story section), but I think the lack of activity would have been a downer.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Here are some thoughts on "the social environments that people care about these days":

For gaming: Steam.

I feel like I shouldn't even mention it, since getting our own app on Steam would be literally impossible ("intellectual property" is a bit of an obstacle). But I think people would be more open to joining URPG if it wasn't forum-based. I think it would be far easier to advertise if we had our own website and client, whereas right now I think it would look like we're first advertising BMG, and secondly URPG. Even if we posted on /r/pokemon, for example, I think people would see it's on a forum and nope right on outta here. Our own client might be more intriguing for new players, but it's also a huuuuuuuge undertaking. It's worth mentioning this option, if only as a pipe dream.

For social discussion: Reddit.

I can see URPG fitting logistically within the Reddit structure with a little reorganization. For example, we could have a bunch of different subreddits; one for stories, one for "forum battles", one for trading, private subs for ref stats, etc. Then on each one we'd advertise a multireddit people can use to put everything in one place. That could work, but I do recall some lukewarm feelings towards Reddit in the past. This type of solution would still require a chat client like AIM or Skype.

For Pokemon in general: Smogon and Serebii.

These are the only two forums that spring to mind that are probably still enjoying tons of activity. I could be wrong, though. If there are others out there who are more in-tune with what the Pokemon community is doing these days, please enlighten me. Again, I feel like mentioning these is almost moot, since I'm not sure that we'd want to go to either of those places, nor do I think they'd be interested in us. They could be good places to advertise once we decide on a direction, though.

There are plenty of other social media sites as Monbrey mentioned, like DeviantArt. Twitter is also a big one these days, although I'm having trouble thinking of any way we could use it to our advantage, except as an advertising platform.

Another thought I had was Roll20, but I don't know anything about that platform. Are there others who do? It might be worth looking into, and I'm sure there are other similar platforms where we might fit. Brainstorm!

 

What are the things that most discourage you from participating more in URPG?

College and work and all that junk, but there is also a URPG thing that is discouraging:

I think that it is unrealistic that one to three people end up running a section. I love that people come up with these great ideas, like involving Park and Stories and all that. The problem arises is that those same people are unwilling to help out those sections, and these sections remained short-staffed. Particularly in this season when everyone is busy with school and such, we're all short-handed. Increasing demand for those same small handful of people just creates stress and whatnot, and it's not fun nor fair on those small few who have to do a lot of work so everyone else can have a good time.

I have no real room to complain as uni has kept my extra-curriculars non-existent (and believe me, I would rather be doing URPG than identifying fossils off the top of my head), but that's one thing that just causes a damper whenever I come on: knowing I'm one of the few people active in my job sections and that there are few people to help out.

Are there any particular things that you think could be done to fix that problem?

To fix this, I think we could have some sort of incentive system for people with multiple jobs/incentives to take up a URPG profession. I haven't thought of any logistics yet since I haven't really had much time to sleep let alone do some leisure thinking. One way is to increase wages, but I'm not sure if this is the answer. I think some sort of tie-in or bonus so long as that person is active in their job (X amount of activity that wage period). I'm not sure how it should work beyond that.

But we do need something to encourage people to take up professions or to stay active in the ones they already hold. For one, it's unattractive to see dead sections. Two, it's hard to handle the influx of new ideas/systems without staff to support it. And three, I especially get annoyed at people who complain about lack of people willing to do a URPG job and then don't want to contribute themselves (not anyone currently, but it's a thing I've encountered in the past).

Any ideas for how it could work? There could maybe be a bigger bonus the more jobs a member has or something.

---
@Elrond 2.0; I've used roll20 for Pokemon Tabletop in the past. It was pretty fun but it requires much more work on a DM's part than something like After Hours does. Ask Proto or Maki about it and they can tell you. It's really awesome, but there's a lot of set-up and the rules are kinda wonky to learn if the person's never really encountered a D&D-type thing before.

 

I agree that the small number of people with professions is disheartening. I agree that a simple increase in wages, while still a good idea, won't solve the whole problem. Yet, I feel like the amount of URPG money it would take to keep inactive people around is a value that rapidly approaches infinity. But we should offer more. It's quite the conundrum.

 

I've had an idea for a restructuring of the Story and Art sections, inspired by Monbrey's and Winter's posts above:

I talked a little bit about the triple-nuclear option* in chat last night: "What if we tore down URPG to its core and completely remade it as URPG 2.0?" Here's what I would propose we do with the Story section if we went that route.

Anyway, I'm thinking of an Art system (I'll refer only to Art for now, although the principles could apply to Stories as well) that relies more on community voting rather than the current curation bottleneck. The flow would work something like this:

1. User posts New Art Piece.
2. New Art Piece is featured at the top of the new Art Gallery, which instead of a forum now looks more like the front of DeviantArt, with thumbnails organized in a grid.
3. For a week after being posted, New Art Piece has a special star symbol next to its name, showing that it is new and needs to be graded.
4. Regular URPG players can click on the thumbnail and vote out of five stars in a number of categories, such as Creativity, Technique, Background, etc. There would also be space for short comments (think 140 characters or less).
5. At the end of the week, all the stars get tallied up (automatically, because this is my imagination and I can do what I want), and sent to the artist along with the anonymous comments. We're talking about a five-star system, so for example the artist would actually only need 1.5 stars (30%) in order to capture a Pokemon at the Easiest rank.
6. Anyone who voted and wasn't flagrantly trolling gets a little compensation, like $500 or so. This system would rely on community votes, so it would need to give an incentive for average Joes to participate.

In this system, the 2-3 people the Art section relies upon would shift their role from being the sole empowered reviewers to being more like moderators. For example, maybe at the end of the week all the reviews get sent to a "Curator", who gets to remove any reviews which are clearly meant to be hurtful or troll the artist's score, as well as any reviews that gave 5 stars with no comments, or that sort of thing. Artists would still have the option of asking for more in-depth reviews, but earning new Pokemon wouldn't depend on it.

In addition to speeding up the process by removing a major obstacle, a system like this would be more community-based, bringing it in line with other social media. The more visual gallery style and the opportunity for bite-sized participation would likely be very appealing to the next generation of Pokemon fans.

I submit this idea here, as with most of my ideas, mostly to gauge whether there are worthwhile aspects of it that could apply to the URPG in the short-term, even though the idea is very much a long-term pipe dream.

*The nuclear option is a fully-automated battle system. The triple-nuclear option is, as stated above, lifting URPG completely off the forums onto its own site, with all-new shiny stuff. There is no double-nuclear option, mostly because I haven't thought of one yet and also because I enjoy the humor inherent in things that escalate quickly. There are, of course, non-nuclear options, but what can I say? I dream big.

 

Interesting thread. I don't know if URPG can ever really become what it used to be, most of which is due to the decline of forums. More interactive entertainment such as engaging social media, interactive games and so on are far more appealing and require less commitment to just exist there. Adjusting wages, changing prices, even more attainable goals or incentives really are not going to change anything really when the pool of battlers or whatever else interests you is very limited and essentially unchanging. Even a year ago, whenever I tried to battle, 90% of battles were just a rehash of ones I had done before. Battling the same people with the same Pokemon to earn a relative pittance is quite off-putting.

If URPG wants to survive, there'd have to be some serious changes. A transition to reddit would be the best bet imo, along with use of an actually useful live chat system. Skype is probably the best tbh since easy to make an account if you are the 1% who don't have, and semi-mobile friendly. These are the kind of adjustments needed to really evolve and to potentially recruit new members, I think. Moving to Smogon or Serebii would probably just be a temporary solution really, if they would even accept us (which, btw, not very likely from what I remember).

As for me, I've had a more engaging real life lately so I just don't really see the appeal of this (literally addicted to tinder dates lol + college, friends, work). I would possibly help if the URPG really got its act together, but being honest I kinda doubt this being very likely. Sad to see URPG in this state, but it definitely had a very healthy run and made a real impact on the lives of so many throughout the years. Good work gang.

 

Honestly, for the long term I can see Staff implementing really big changes. They're not unattainable, but they will require a huge amount of effort. If we will collectively have enough interest in the project to get it done remains to be seen. We may also not even have the skillsets necessary to advance as far as we probably should. I think, actually, things did bounce back a bit since the lowest point. What we should focus on now are the short-term goals while devising long term ones in the background. Not giving up yet!

 

Best option for a chat system is Discord imo. Designed to be used by gamers and will have an API, so I could probably code up features that would allow us to have a dice-roller and whatever else we wanted.

Can't believe I agree with Synthesis But yeah. Forum-based games simply struggle to be relevant in a world dominated by casual/mobile games.

 

What are the things that most discourage you from participating more in URPG? Perhaps a particular system in the game that you find uninteresting which spoils the rest of it, or a lack of things to do for one reason or another?

Obviously, activity is the biggest factor. Battles are the core of this game, and there is either a lack of challengers, or a lack of refereeing at any given time. On top of that, the length of time it takes to do anything is a huge commitment for anyone. Big important battles can take between 5-8 hours. That's a lot of time to commit for one battle that will maybe give you enough money for one TM.

Then comparing that to other sections, stories for instance, where you spend a month writing a story, and then have to wait between 1-4 weeks for any kind of return. Obviously that can't really be fixed because everything requires human interaction, but I can see how it could discourage people.

Are there any particular things that you think could be done to fix that problem? Perhaps a modification to turn that part interesting again, a way to make it not spoil anything else, or another type of thing to do?

Hard to say. I think if we somehow removed human interaction like refs and the like, it would be much easier to do things, however that also goes against the whole point of the game. So really, not a lot I can think of that doesn't require a lot of people to dedicate a lot of time.

Any other changes you'd like to see within URPG? Be realistic. (for example: "Give everyone $1,000,000" may sound good now, but it's not going to happen (and I believe even if it did, it would not be as helpful as you might imagine). "Use a tournament style other than Single Elimination" would be something that would be easy and likely to occur given demand for it.)

Easier ways to make money. I think there's too much of a curve right now to actually be good at battling. You have to get the mons needed to be successful and then give them all of the EMs you need. I think this is a step that takes far too long. Getting the mons itself takes tons of work since you can't actually buy them (well most of them). Then adding the ridiculous amount you have to spend to EM them just makes it that much harder. It's a real commitment to get to the point where you can actually compete. I think that step needs to be shortened a little. Reward those who can do the creative side of it by letting them get the mons they need and want easier, but also make it easier to get the EMs they need.

If you were a new URPG member who just joined, would you stick around? Why or why not? If you have any concerns for things that discourage new players sticking around, we'd love to hear them so we can fix them.

That really depends. I mean, I could see myself getting interested and sticking around, but the conditions that got me to stick around aren't really the same. I had a bunch of people around the same level as me to compete with. A group of people to talk with and compare strats with. A whole slew of vets that were eager to help and that were just cool altogether. Plus the whole AIM thing didn't have blast chats yet, so I had to personally message people, and they responded.

As is, I don't think I would stick around if I didn't have so much investment already. There aren't the same amounts of events, people, or even ways to compete. Obviously, I don't think people should be able to just start and be ready to take on the champ, but it's tough enough as for even me to try and take on the champ and I've been here for what 5 years?

Anything else you'd like to add? Maybe there's a certain thing which is just really awesome! Maybe there's something we could better do to reach out to more people and help them discover URPG.

All I can really say is, the only reason I even looked at BMGf forums for this game was because of this news post that happened to be on the front of Bulbapedia when I was looking at new stuff from HGSS. I'm not saying we need more stuff like that, but I didn't even use the forums before joining URPG. I just happened to see that, and joined. The community is what kept me around, and I'm sure we can all agree that's our best point.

 

My honest feedback is that this forum skin sucks. Way worst than the default one.

 

Okay so bearing all that in mind seems like (aside from member presence), it would be in URPG's best interest to invest in a more universal and reliable messaging system. Other than AIM and Skype, what are our options? I think criteria needed would be reliability, dice rolling capabilities and ease of access when mobile. IRC I always found awkward to use, especially when mobile so I wouldn't be a fan of that.

Whatsapp could be really cool to try out if we could surpass the dice rolling thing - I'd trust refs to roll privately (which we already do) so I don't even think this is a legit concern. I use whatsapp daily with multiple different groups and always found it very reliable.

E: just realised whatsapp is mobile-exclusive which is lame af. Any other suggestions?

 

Another drawback with Whatsapp is that some people may not feel comfortable providing their cellphone numbers either. Kik falls into the exclusively mobile bracket too iirc.

 

My turn.

What are the things that most discourage you from participating more in URPG?
I'll put my Timid nature and zero experience in RP aside, because I can easily deal with that in a forum environment most of the time (and still didn't need that). I don't know how the URPG was when it was at its peak in terms of activity, but I'll assume for the posts that it was way better than now. That being said... yep, I think the only problem with the URPG is the fact that is is a slow-paced game with a "small" community, in a time where people have things like Pokemon Showdown. Especially when it comes to the currency. Here's my situation as an example: Right now, I only have 1 basic pokemon, I'm wating for my National Park Sign Up to be aproved and get in there for my 2nd pokemon, and only then I'm using the free pokemon coupon in the mart, making me eligible for 3vs3. But here's the thing: even 1vs1 basics take me about 3 days to finish, provided both sides are going offensive (we also have to wait for a ref, which is what I think takes longer). So, in a 3vs3, with each pokemon having movepools twice as large as basics and where switching is a thing, I'll assume a battle may take... 1 week? And then you won't get paid for 1vs1 battles anymore, so no more "slightly faster" money. Which brings me to the most important thing: the payment. Unless you have a profession, you only have battles: 1000 for the winner up to 3vs3, and 3000 for 6vs6. It's very low cash for something that takes so long, especially if you're in a loosing streak, and you won't get too far with just 1 or 2 battles per week. Actually, the only thing you'll probably get with that money is 1 TM which, for those who have a roster bigger than 3 pokemon to teach moves... is just a very tiny progress. You can take a gamble by going into the Underground or taking a photo of a Rare pokemon in the Park, but those are unreliable sources.

Are there any particular things that you think could be done to fix that problem?
Umm... probably get another real-time Chat would help. Yeah, I know AIM is great and all that, but... I'll be honest on this one, and probably go off topic for a bit: the guys who made AIM hate non-american people. I've never seen a registration page asking for something so specific as a valid ZIP Code and a 10 digits phone number. Really?! That was the first time I heard about the existence of 10 digit phone numbers, btw. And now let's pretend I'm actualy from the US. How many people are willing to give away ZIP and phone numbers for some random people? I mean, it might be okay for people above 20s, but clearly not for the youngest. We would be better off with something easier to get into. It doesn't matter much if it has RNG built-in, since we already have to thrust on the Ref's rolling in forum battles.
Back on topic: even with another Chat system it won't be a solution for everything, though. It may speed-up battles, but other than that, not much else. Real-time chats have their disadvantages too, like time-zones and you having to be present at the right time (I don't think I would be able to finish a single battle on it), and not being limited by the 4 moveslots also means there are more things to plan before sending a move. I personally take a lot of time thinking "what works best in this, and what if my oponnent uses that", which I think is impossible in a real-time chat to do (at least I'm sure it's boring). And although a lot of people don't do it, Role Played battles are also much easier to do in the forum than in the chat.
Oh, and one other thing: there are 3 different forums of the URPG as far as I've seen, right? (maybe more or less, I don't know) So, if a good part of the problem is activity, why not merging all communities into one official URPG Forum, so everyone can interact with each other? At this time, I think it is probably because it would be almost impossible to do so...

Any other changes you'd like to see within URPG?
I don't think so... maybe later I can come up with something...

If you were a new URPG member who just joined, would you stick around? Why or why not?
I am a new player, and I joined. So yes, I'll probably stick around. The URPG battle system has something that attracted me the most and won't find anywhere else: it gets rid of the 4 moveslot mechanic and makes everything more realistic and less predictable, not to mention a lot of pokemon that suck in the regular games are actually quite good when they're given their whole movepool to use. Also, the National Park allows you to use moves in different ways.

 

I believe @Monbrey; suggested Discord? Not too familiar with that but it sounds like it could work pretty well!

Edit: Does Google+ have any kind of live chat system? Don't have much experience with it.