How do I make this site more popular (1 Viewer)

[Pururu]

I think all the modders here deserve more credit

 

[stuntcock]

How do I make this site more popular

First off, I'll echo a point commonly made by fleet : the site is just more than just <blank>. Undertow is the successor to SDTMods, but it also inherited the content and community from Ryonani (and a few smaller websites, such as Shiny Sports). I don't know the full history of all these sites, but it's worth noting that many adult-oriented videogame modders who started off on small/niche forums have focused their efforts on websites with sturdier infrastructure and a larger userbase.

For example: Vergil shares several of his mods on Undertow. If he created a major mod for Skyrim or Fallout 4 then it would be natural for him to share it primarily on Nexusmods. Rather than attempting to "pull" discussion and feedback of his work towards Undertow (or his own homepage), he would simply engage with Nexusmods users on their home turf. Doing so would get him more recognition, more useful feedback, and more potential customers for his own games.

The point is that we're not looking to actively cannibalize content or users from other websites, and we don't expect modders to act against their own interests. We don't advertise, and we don't want to trick anyone into visiting or joining the site. Any attempt to "increase the popularity" of the site should respect these principles.

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None of the aforementioned issues really apply to SDT, since Undertow is the predominant English-language forum for SDT modding (there are a few Russian modders sharing their work on *chan boards, and probably other linguistic enclaves that I don't know about) and enjoys the top spot on search engine results. We don't need to convince SDT modders to join, because modders benefit from collaborating with their peers and sharing information. Anyone who has played the game for five minutes can find Undertow by simply searching for "Super Deepthroat" (or "sdt mods" or "animtools" or whatever).

Thus - if you goal is to bring more traffic or recognition to SDT modders, then making the site more popular isn't really necessary. It's an indirect goal, which can best be achieved by pursuing other goals:

• You could try to evangelize about the game itself (by recommending it on reddit or wherever)
  • Any new player who enjoys the game will inevitably discover Undertow. Obviously, you can help out by linking them directly to newbie resources and guides hosted on Undertow.
• You could submit high-quality Requests
  • Modders tend to be somewhat jaded. They've explored many of the available features of the game, and they're probably sitting on dozens of partially-completed projects which have been set aside due to difficulty or apparent lack of interest.
  • An innovative idea, or an enthusiastic presentation of a simple change to the game, can rekindle a modder's interest in their work.
• You could directly engage with SDT authors, artists, and modders
  • XenForo provides us with tools to easily like, rate, and review various types of content, but these tools have been largely neglected.
    
  • Authors and modders tend to appreciate feedback. If their work goes unacknowledged, then they may feel unappreciated and then turn to other activities (e.g. Skyrim modding or whatever).
  • In many cases, people offer feedback only as an incidental afterthought: "I've encountered a major bug ... by the way I like your work" or "Beautiful picture! Could you draw something for me?" Such feedback may feel insincere, since there's an obvious ulterior motive behind it.
    
  • I'd like to foster a culture in which users treat the act of giving feedback as routine rather than exceptional.
    
  • If a new user sees 2-3 reviews on each mod that he downloads, then he's more likely to leave his own thoughts.
  • Note: leaving feedback on old mods (whose creators are no longer active) can still be useful. Example. Such feedback can provide guidance to new artists and modders, by helping them to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of existing mods (and by demonstrating users' preferences or expectations).
• You can contribute your own efforts
  • Modders are always happy to see novices picking up the craft, because it gives them an opportunity to serve as wise mentors (instead of unpaid employees).
  • Modding is sometimes tedious but isn't necessarily difficult, and it can teach you useful skills (such as code patching, vector artwork manipulation, graphics matrices, animation techniques, etc).
    
  • An increase in the "pace" of modding work -- even if the latest releases are being made by novice modders -- will tend to draw more traffic to Undertow.
• You can assist with archival work
  • Threads and Download entries can be made more accessible to newcomers by assigning them with appropriate Tags.
    • Any user of the site can do this work, and there's no commitment needed -- you could do it for five minutes and then give up forever, or you could spend a half-hour on it each week.
    • As an example: many of Vergil 's recent uploads lack tags. It's fairly easy to recognize the videogame and characters involved in each mod, and to add them as tags. Each one would involve perhaps 30 seconds of work.
      
    • For a more in-depth example: Amazon Brawl is thoroughly tagged, but Amazon Kara is not. You could download the latter game, play it for a few minutes, assess its themes and fetishes, and then add these as tags. This would be a 5-10 minute task (unless you find that you enjoy the game, in which case you might be hooked for a few hours)
  • If you're comfortable with the SDT user interface and the basic modding features, then you could download old mods from "dead" threads, and re-upload them as Download entries with accurate preview images. Details can be found here.
• You should explore the rest of the site
  • You might not be into fanfiction, roleplay, ryona, etc... but SDT incorporates elements from all of those genres, and a quick tour might help you to understand the history and inspirations behind the game.
  • You may be inspired with a grand idea for a new SDT mod, which you can help to bring to fruition (as either an "idea guy" and beta tester, or as a novice modder).

 

[Vergil]

many of Vergil 's recent uploads lack tags.

Thanks for that hint! I should definitely add some tags. But I've put all relevant words inside the description of the mods. So you can find them without tags as well.

Nice article btw!

_______EDIT_________

You (or someone else) added the tags already! Thanks! :)

 

[stuntcock]

I've put all relevant words inside the description of the mods. So you can find them without tags as well.

That's true. The main strength of the tagging system is its potential for cross-pollination. Someone might find your mod, download it, and then click the <catwoman> tag out of curiosity. Then they'd discover a torn-clothing Catwoman mod, fanfiction stories about Catwoman, a Catwoman bodysuit for Super Deepthroat, and so on.

It takes extra effort to find such things by searching for them, which means that they're less likely to be seen. The tagging system encourages accidental discovery. We can presume that the user's original purpose for visiting the site involved some kind of erotic fantasy dealing with Catwoman. The nude mod was a means of fulfilling that fantasy. The tagging system encourages the user to explore that fantasy in other ways.

By exposing people to a wider range of content, we also improve the odds that they'll find some way to participate and contribute. Flash modding is tricky if you haven't purchased Flash. UV maps and texture replacements require some technical skill. Writing fiction is often daunting if English isn't your native language. Video compilation and editing involves special tools as well as artistic judgement. If we present people with enough types of activities, then hopefully they'll find one that they're able to do (or willing to learn). Perhaps they'll find an artist/author/developer whom they'll decide to encourage and support. Perhaps they'll find a mentor ... or at least a useful tutorial.

I should definitely add some tags.

It isn't a big deal. I'd honestly prefer to see lurkers adding tags (kinda like Steam tags), because those guys should already be familiar with the genres and categories assigned to stuff on Undertow. When someone decides to share a file, I don't want him to fret over the question of "can I use <nude mod> if the character isn't completely nude?" I also wouldn't want to see an author carefully include two hundred tags while uploading his newest novella, only to see all of his work rebuffed by a "Too Many Tags!" error message.

It's preferable to just share stuff as-is and let volunteer archivists deal with the paperwork.

 

[fleet]

I would add one comment: some sites don't like (and discourage) any attempt to lure their members/contributiors to other sites. I speak from experience. Many of the active members of gamevixenzone came here when detritus consolidated several sites (including GVZ) into undertow.

 

[The Hacker Known As Snow]

You could try to evangelize about the game itself (by recommending it on reddit or wherever)

This is something anyone could do, its one of the best methods. There used to be one persistent thread on 4chan's hentai board like a year ago but its never there anymore. Really though there needs to be more .gifs or .webms that people can spread around chans, readdit or wherever. Show people the game inaction and peak their interest.

 

[Pururu]

I was thinking of sharing this site with my friends

 

[Vergil]

I was thinking of sharing this site with my friends

If your friends are into that kind of stuff, then your plan makes sense. But if they are not, then I guess they will leave this website and never come back.

 

[Pururu]

If your friends are into that kind of stuff, then your plan makes sense. But if they are not, then I guess they will leave this website and never come back.

lol i think they'll love this site...