Getting a better use out of the forums

[Doctor Robo]

In an attempt to foster more discussion here at the MCcomix forums, I am wondering what sorts of topics we can offer which you all would be interested in reading about and/or participating in. We obviously already cover the announcements and responses to individual comics issues (althought there could always be more), and we have a healthy conversation going in the requests section, but what else is out there that might get you all to chime in a bit more often? Do you want to know more about future story plans? Do you care about the weekly (sometimes daily) process of writing and illustrating comics? Do you want to talk more about your likes and dislikes of individual characters? Throw some ideas at me and we'll see what we can do to liven this joint up a bit.

- Doc

[Trishbot]

Well, here's some conversational ideas:

1. Character-of-the-Week discussions: Put a Metrobay guy or girl under the spotlight and have us voice our opinions on that character and speculate about where they're heading in the stories. What's so cool about Valient Grrl? What's Knyght Fighter been up to? Is Ms. Metrobay more than the sum of her boobs? Nothing concrete, just an outlet to bring certain characters to the spotlight and get fan feedback and group discussion based around them.

2. Behind-the-Scenes: I know for a fact that there's often a ton of pre-production work for many of the comics and stories. And I know there's probably fans who'd like bits and pieces of the process shown, whether it be a character design, an environment, teasers or hints, or just something to get fans worked up and teased, much like how movies and games have trailers, ads, production stills, etc.

3. Trivia and Games: There's some good fans here, and then there are some GOOD fans. They're the type that have the Metrobay wiki memorized up and down. Like, for starters, I've got a montage pic of about 66 pairs of boobies... see if you can guess which heroine each pair of hooters belongs to. Something like that.

4. Group Involvement: alot of people are pretty good at giving feedback here, but take one look at the polls and you'll see quite a few people have opinions but don't necessarily want to type it all out. It might be nice for readers to feel more involved in the process, such as, for example, "Spellweaver's getting a new look- vote for which costume she wears" or "would you be interested in a Goth Blackout story" or even a bit of a choose-your-own-adventure poll like "what happens to this heroine next? a) she is hypnotized b) she resists and is hypnotized, or c) she wrestles the hypno gun away and uses it on the villainess". Just some ideas.

5. Fan Contests: This could go back to games, but more creative work on fan's end instead of ours. Have stuff like "fan art of the week/month" or "best fan fiction" or "help design Metrobay-themed T-shirts/motivational posters/etc." for humor's sake. Could have something, like, white out a text box from a comic panel and ask to "write your own captions" and see who can be the most clever and funny with it.

6. More polls: There's already been a few, but they've been pretty spread-out with a rather wide focus. Narrow it down to more intimate details such as directly asking "which past storylines did you most enjoy and why? King of Hooter County, Changing of the Guard, Mind Over Magic, etc." or "which heroine needs more exposure? Knyght Fighter, Juris Prudence, Violet Star, Swallow, etc.". That's the quickest way to get sharp and immediate feedback for things you might overlook or don't take into consideration and a great way to know what's working best.

Anyway, those are my suggestions. I'm off to pimp my Hypnotica cover.

[cvn88]

Well, here's some conversational ideas:

1. Character-of-the-Week discussions: Put a Metrobay guy or girl under the spotlight and have us voice our opinions on that character and speculate about where they're heading in the stories. What's so cool about Valient Grrl? What's Knyght Fighter been up to? Is Ms. Metrobay more than the sum of her boobs? Nothing concrete, just an outlet to bring certain characters to the spotlight and get fan feedback and group discussion based around them.

I liked most of Trishbot's ideas but this one in particular stood out. I believe it would be especially good for characters that might not have been featured (yet) as much as others - for example, a discussion about Goldwing rather than Ms. Metrobay.

[ashleychloroformed]

I like Trishbot's ideas, especially the boobies idea

[Akonkid]

I think a Character Discussion would be good. As a fellow comic creator, I know I've always been curious to know which of my heroines people enjoy the most and for what reasons. I'm often told how people like Emerald Tiger, but then I get strange requests like "when can we see more Gorilla Gal"? It would be great, I think, to have people discuss why they think certain characters "work" or don't work, also because many characters might come across different depending on who reads them.

As an artist too, I like the idea of having creative and fun mini-contests. At a previous website I was apart of, we had "create a forum signature" contests, or "create the best wallpaper" or even Trish's "add your own captions" to out-of-context pics. I think that's a rich well of creativity waiting to be exploited.

I'd also add that I'd like to see or ask people's opinions on story ideas I've got cooked up for the future. For example, I've gotten no less than five fanart pictures involving Emerald Tiger, Sparrow, and Valient Grrl together, so I'm curious if fans would enjoy more/any crossover-themed stories or if they're content with stories that would focus on one character at a time (like Duality Dame's origin, my current Vanishing Girl story, or any other one-character lead story). I guess, mainly, I'd like feedback on ideas I haven't created yet to know what fans would want or expect for those future issues.

Overall, though, sounds like a great list of things to do and great ways to get people involved and have fun.

[Doctor Robo]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. Some vaild points have been made already, which i will work to implement very soon. Keep the comments coming!

- Doc

[Northern Chill]

More hints and suggestions about stuff to come always helps...oh, and I'd love to see more stuff like Akonkid's "A day in the life of Unit..." he did during Unity. Call it "Untold Tales of Metrobay" or something like that.

- Maybe a poll where you ask members who'd you like to see switch sides in fight of good v. evil...an Alpha Woman squaring off against Valient Grrrl fight...Kat Krusader fights with Toymaster instead of against, etc.

[madcap]

Great suggestions have already been mentioned, but I really like the idea of fan interaction with as far as the direction of some of the stories or the type of MC elements they employ. While I have enjoyed your work tremendously on the whole, there are certain turns that some of the stories have taken that left me a little unsatisfied, and I sometimes wonder if I am the only one, or if others might prefer to see the kinds of things I'd like to see too (for example: I know that you have to keep resetting the status quo to keep the universe alive and full of conflict, but once in a while I'd like to see a heroine altered or controlled in some permanent or irreversible way, to raise the stakes a bit. I'd be curious to see if others feel the same way about that).