F.A.Q.
So, what is this then?
RPGPlug is a site designed for people to find players for
their games, and for players to find games. Although there are
plenty of sites that do that online, none of them seem to have
the following features, which I want to combine in RPGPlug.
The ability to send and receive posts through email, stopping the neccesity of revisiting a site daily so as not to miss again. This, apart from anything, helps people with email-only access find games. However, at the same time participating without joining the lists - both reading and posting ads - it available.
A place where games are readvertised regularly, so you know which ones are likely to still be looking for members and not dead.
A site with a chatroom, so members can actually get together to bounce questions off each other. Questions by email can take a long time to answer, if you can arrange to meet in the chatroom you can get the whole thing over with much quicker. Plus of course, you can just hang out and chat to people as weird as you are ;-)
Somewhere that offers the facility for members to leave their details in a database so moderators can contact them.
Somewhere that provides enough moderation to stop it being a spammer or hacker have, without that moderation slowing the adverts down unbearably.
And finally, and most importantly, somewhere the little fandoms can recruit. The fandoms that have their own audience who don't generally go around the normal places, because the normal places concentrate on Dungeons and Dragons type games. While there is a place here too for Dungeons and Dragons, I want this to be somewhere people who run things like anime games also have their own place to get together.
My game could be advertised on more than one list. E.G. It's a Weyr, but I could also advertise it on BookPlug and FantasyPlug.
Go ahead and advertise it on all of them, but please remember something.
People who know they are looking for a game in a specialized category, will most likely already have joined that category. That's not to say those on BookPlug and FantasyPlug wouldn't also be interested, but not only do they need to be persuaded they want to play in your Weyr, they also need to be persuaded they want to play in a Weyr. Therefore, write for your audience. Don't use the same advert on all the lists - tell them a little about Pern on BookPlug, and tell them how much fun it is to play on Pern. On FantasyPlug, go into even more background, because the less specific the categories get, the more you need to explain to your audience if you want to attract extra members.
The Pern thing is just an example, but the same applies if you have an adult list that could also be advertised in TVPlug, a Star Trek list you want to advertise in SciFiPlug or whatever. The only list I would ask you to be really careful with is KidsPlug. That is very strictly for PG lists and below only. I don't want parents complaining to me about their kids being corrupted.
My list doesn't fit into *any* category here / I know of a fandom that has a fairly good following and I think deserves a category of it's own.
You do? Good! Just what I wated to hear! Fact is, I know that there are many, many fandoms out there which could use their own list, but for reasons of time, I'm going to add those as they are requested rather than creating them all at once. So if you know of a fandom following - whether it's a TV series, a film, a book, an animeor whatever - that really should have a category of its own, I'd love to hear from you. Send a mail to suggestions@rpgplug.co.uk and I'll act on your suggestion as soon as I can.
Why doesn't my advert come through straight away?
This would be the aforementioned moderation. You see, to strike a happy medium, new members to the lists, and nonmembers are moderated for a time to check that they haven't joined merely to cause trouble. Although YahooGroups doesn't offer me the facility to take nonmembers off moderation, members will be after a few posts to establish they aren't here just to fill your inboxes with flames or "You too can be a millonaire overnight" spam. As I said though, we're looking to strike a happy medium, so any posts that aren't accepted will be returned to the sender with the reason why rather than just leaving you to wonder.
If you have neither seen your post appear, or got it returned within 24 hours, chances are it's gotten lost somewhere along the line. It happens, mail is a funny thing sometimes. Send it again, and if it doesn't show within another 24 hours then write to suggestions@rpgplug.co.uk and I'll look into it
Why does this all run on YahooGroups?
Basically because, although I can manage HTML and a little javascript, I'm a visionary, not a programmer. I see how something would be useful, I find a way to attempt it. And I don't see the point in spending two years learning the code to write a facility the Yahoo folks already provide for free ;-)
Is this only for PBeMs?
No. All types of RPGs are welcome here, so if you've got a MUD or MUSH that needs members, you go right on ahead and advertise it.
Any other questions? Write to suggestions@rpgplug.co.uk and I'll do my best!