Forums » RP Discussion » Gauging interest- "Pet Site" RP

So, this is an idea that's been knocking around my brain for a while, and though I don't really have plans in mind for it, I didn't want to get my heart all set on a project only to discover nobody cared about it once it was finished. And this is the sort of thing I wouldn't be shocked if nobody else had an interest in, so here I am!

I've always been a big fan of 'pet sites', your Liodens, your Flight Risings, but I've always ended up not liking some aspect or another and getting bored with it. All the while, I couldn't help but think how fun it would be to run one of my own. Of course, I don't have the funds or the knowhow to actually make something super professional or large scale, but I do think I could run a small enjoyable game right here on RPR in a dedicated group.

The game would be centered around some sort of species that players could collect, possibly train, maybe even breed to find new patterns and mutations. I have a strong interest in genetics and all that sort of thing so I'm willing to bet it'd play a part in the game. Players would be able to roleplay in the group forum either as the trainers of their pets or as the pets themselves, and perhaps even take part in non-RP activities like showing or battling their pets if the interest in such things was strong enough. Of course, the whole thing would be PG so that everyone and anyone can join in on the fun.

It would be a lot of work, but I think I'm up to the task of running such a game and if people are interested I want to know so I can possibly do more work to narrow down how it would run. If you're REALLY interested, don't hesitate to shoot me a PM with your opinions/ideas/concerns! Like I said I haven't decided any of the specifics yet so any thoughts are appreciated.

If enough people get back to me I may update this thread with a survey so I can get a feel for the kinds of things possible players would be interested in, so check back if you're among them! And thanks in advance!

I like pet sites so I would be curious to see how this turns out.

By "running the site" do you mean you will be drawing the animals, managing the "rolls" on litters and determining whether a breeding was sucessful or not? Doing it all by hand is a lot of work. Managing everything by yourself is a colossal one, especially since breeding tends to multiply exponentially. Soon enough you wouldnt be able to follow all of it on your own. I dont mean to blow the wind out of your sails, I do love pet sites, but I think you are underestimating the work required, unless I misunderstood your meaning. I suppose if you can find a coder, at least SOME of those things can be mechanized, even if you dont own your own site. But finding a dedicated coder for free is not easy.
I think the best you can do is find a few other likewise interested people to be your moderators and such, and share the workload. That woudl be a more viable work plan.

Yes it is a whole lot of work, however having run something similar before as a forum game, I've learned a lot of tricks to make it a lot lower maintenance and indeed take a lot of the human effort out of the equation once the initial setup has been done. Back then it was much more complicated, and I definitely think I'd have gotten exhausted eventually if player interest hadn't waned over time.

If it did end up blooming into a huge thing where my little haphazard programs and generators couldn't cope, I'd absolutely seek moderators and others to help run the game, however since it doesn't seem interest is in great supply here I don't think that any of it is going to be much of an issue. I'm not planning on actually putting all that effort in without people wanting to play

This seems like a great idea and I think it would certainly garner a lot of interest.
You have my attention, at least.