What Do You Look For In a Dynasty Thread?

[The Game]

Looking for ways to improve my dynasty thread. I know my writing is weak, so I try to talk as little as possible plus I hate typing. I let the SS's speak.
What are things you like about others dynasty threads who has some of the better ones? I have read the top 10 or so from yesterday. Gerhig's is my favorite daily one along with Orcin's.

[chucksabr]

I'm curious, too, because I'm not getting that many views. Is the premise boring? Or is it that early views are generally slow, then pick up?

[goroyals]

Good thread! I'll have to look at both of your all's specific threads and make comments therein.

I've been on and off the OOTP boards for awhile now, and the dynasty boards are my favorite haunt, so here's what I would say are the 3 Keys to Successful Dynasties.

1.) Write For You- No one else is hitting that big red baseball that says play inside your game. So, do what is going to keep you coming back. I get that you wouldn't post a dynasty if you didn't want people to read it, but it is still your dynasty. If your reason for starting a thread is primarily for community, then make it an interactive dynasty. Let people do a create a player, for instance, if you want more interaction. Bottom line, however, is that no one will ever care about your universe as much as you do, and no one else is as essential to its continuation as you are, so do what you want.

2.) Have a Goal, and Inspiration- Where are you wanting to take your story? Whether its a particular year, a in-game achievement, whatever, you should have some idea where your story is headed. To convey this journey to the audience, you'll want to look for other dynasties that draw you in and adapt what they did right to yours. For example, this thread (which is missing some original posts due to a board crash last I checked) was epic, and influenced my current work.

3.) Get to the point, bro- I don't mean you have to quick sim. Shoot, there are some great dynasties out there that spend multiple posts on the same game. But, everything you post should contribute to that story. Stats are great, but do we really need to know who had the third most triples on a sixth place AA team? Do you? If you feel that something enhances your enjoyment of what you're doing (see Rule #1), by all means, post it, but if you have to ask yourself about the relevance of what your posting, then chances are, it's not going to captivate any potential readers.

Just my two cents, after having see the rise and fall of many dynasties (with more than a handful of my own in the 'fallen' category).

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by chucksabr

I'm curious, too, because I'm not getting that many views. Is the premise boring? Or is it that early views are generally slow, then pick up?

Maybe if you'd quit giving me the finger every time I try to read your thread I might come around more often......

[Questdog]

Seriously, though if you're doing a thread to become popular, then you're gonna be miserable for ever. I don't give a dern if anyone ever reads my threads; I do 'em 'cause I like to read 'em.......

As a reader of threads, the ones that draw me in are the ones where it is obvious the writer is way too involved with his dynasty than is mentally healthy.......makes me feel less of a freak when I find a kindred spirit.....

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by chucksabr

I'm curious, too, because I'm not getting that many views. Is the premise boring? Or is it that early views are generally slow, then pick up?

Seriously, though, you are getting about 10 views a post which is a very good average. The only threads that average more than that are usually ones that sit around a long time between updates. In a healthy thread with timely updates, 10 views a post is a good showing.

But seriously, though, quit giving me the finger....

[The Game]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Seriously, though if you're doing a thread to become popular, then you're gonna be miserable for ever. I don't give a dern if anyone ever reads my threads; I do 'em 'cause I like to read 'em.......

As a reader of threads, the ones that draw me in are the ones where it is obvious the writer is way too involved with his dynasty than is mentally healthy.......makes me feel less of a freak when I find a kindred spirit.....

When I started my EBL vs MLB thread which is a continueation of the Rock City Rockies Challenge it was to document the history of my league. While I would love people to comment on the moves teams make or the odd moves I make, I do not do my thread for that. I am actually impressed with my view count since many people are tired of me talking about my league so often in other threads.
I try to change things around each season by providing different views as far as BNN player pages, different news. This season and beyond I will talk more bout players on my team providing more back story on many of them.
Next season my focus will change to MLB for 2 years.
Thanx Quest & goroyals.

[chucksabr]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Seriously, though, you are getting about 10 views a post which is a very good average. The only threads that average more than that are usually ones that sit around a long time between updates. In a healthy thread with timely updates, 10 views a post is a good showing.

But seriously, though, quit giving me the finger....

Oh, so you weren't kidding even though you suggested you were when you said "seriously" the first time. You were actually serious. OK. Point taken.

In any event, I did look at views per posts, and 10:1 looked to be among the lower end of the dynasty threads. Lots of them are clocking in at 20:1 or better. It was the 10:1 ratio that made me ... not concerned, exactly. But I was wondering.

Anyway, give my dynasty a chance and I think you'll see some things popping up you might think are interesting.

[craftdr]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Seriously, though, you are getting about 10 views a post which is a very good average. The only threads that average more than that are usually ones that sit around a long time between updates. In a healthy thread with timely updates, 10 views a post is a good showing.

But seriously, though, quit giving me the finger....

That made me laugh... Thanks for that.

As for the dynasty's, I really enjoy reading the ones that more story driven and less screen shot heavy. However, even if they don't hold my interest, I still like to read them for other players style of play and for idea's. I had kind of burned myself out on ootp and have basically taken the last year off as I couldn't get interested but I spent a week of lunch hours reading quite a few of them and I got excited about creating another league. Now two weeks in, I'm back to being immersed in my own fictional league again.

So basically, while certain ones hold my interest a little more than others, I still appreciate all of them and it's pretty cool to see someone take the time to share their league with the rest of us.

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by chucksabr

Oh, so you weren't kidding even though you suggested you were when you said "seriously". You were actually serious. OK. Point taken.

In any event, I did look at views per posts, and 10:1 looked to be among the lower end of the dynasty threads. Lots of them are clocking in at 20:1 or better. It was the 10:1 ratio that made me ... not concerned, exactly. But I was wondering.

Anyway, give my dynasty a chance and I think you'll see some things popping up you might think are interesting.

Seriously, I like your new avatar much better.....

Now this is just me personally and I have no idea how many others share my views, if anyone, but the threads that I really like are the ones where the personality of the writer is there on the page for me to get to know. I have made several friends through the dynasty pages over the years and they all began because I was drawn to the fact that here was a real human being with interests similar to mine. Not just a collection of screenshots.

Your particular thread began with some really good writing that I enjoyed reading (even though the font is way too small and strained my eyes). Lately it has been just a collection of screenshots. I would like to see more writing so that I can get to know who this fella is who is doing the English Dynasty.

I also am a big sucker for pretty graphics that the dynasty writer has made himself, rather than just screen grabs of the game.

But the most important thing is to see a personality behind the dynasty and that takes writing.

[chucksabr]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Seriously, I like your new avatar much better.....

Now this is just me personally and I have no idea how many others share my views, if anyone, but the threads that I really like are the ones where the personality of the writer is there on the page for me to get to know. I have made several friends through the dynasty pages over the years and they all began because I was drawn to the fact that here was a real human being with interests similar to mine. Not just a collection of screenshots.

Your particular thread began with some really good writing that I enjoyed reading (even though the font is way too small and strained my eyes). Lately it has been just a collection of screenshots. I would like to see more writing so that I can get to know who this fella is who is doing the English Dynasty.

I also am a big sucker for pretty graphics that the dynasty writer has made himself, rather than just screen grabs of the game.

But the most important thing is to see a personality behind the dynasty and that takes writing.

I think it's a bit reductionist to say that my latest posts have been merely a string of screenshots. I do have write-ups seeded within like here, and the Results screenshots have news stories I've written embedded within, like this. And I do have several news stories planned for the coming seasons, and it's early yet in this universe, only the second year of perhaps 125 so far (assuming I stick with it), so it should get better. OTOH, I don't see the screenshots going completely away, either, since that's the most effective way to share topline results.

I take your point, though. Thanks for the insight.

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by chucksabr

I think it's a bit reductionist to say that my latest posts have been merely a string of screenshots. I do have write-ups seeded within like here, and the Results screenshots have news stories I've written embedded within, like this. And I do have several news stories planned for the coming seasons, and it's early yet in this universe, only the second year of perhaps 125 so far (assuming I stick with it), so it should get better. OTOH, I don't see the screenshots going completely away, either, since that's the most effective way to share topline results.

I take your point, though. Thanks for the insight.

Well, I have always been a reductionist at heart......

There are two numbers in my counting system: 0 and 14,000.

I will be following your thread. It is of the type that I like. Original creations rather than "Pittsburgh Pirates 2013 and beyond" types.

Screenshots have their uses and I am not advocating removing them. Though, like I said, I really love it when a dynasty writer presents the stats and info in a unique format that they have created themselves rather that just a screen grab. Like this: The Pennsylvania Professional Baseball Association (PPBA) Sadly, that one seems to have died a quick death.
But that kind of graphic work is not necessary. One of my favorites right now is the Portland Raccoons (ABL) The writer of that one doesn't do any fancy graphic stuff, but he sure writes with some personality.

But the main thing is to do it how you enjoy doing it and creating something that you yourself like to go back and peruse. If you find that you are not drawn back to earlier posts and reading them again yourself and enjoying it, then it is likely no one else is either.

[chucksabr]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Well, I have always been a reductionist at heart......

There are two numbers in my counting system: 0 and 14,000.

You should consider opening it up, though. 3,000, 7,000, and especially 5,000 and 10,000 all have their uses.

Originally Posted by Questdog

I will be following your thread. It is of the type that I like. Original creations rather than "Pittsburgh Pirates 2013 and beyond" types.

Screenshots have their uses and I am not advocating removing them. Though, like I said, I really love it when a dynasty writer presents the stats and info in a unique format that they have created themselves rather that just a screen grab. Like this: The Pennsylvania Professional Baseball Association (PPBA) Sadly, that one seems to have died a quick death.
But that kind of graphic work is not necessary. One of my favorites right now is the Portland Raccoons (ABL) The writer of that one doesn't do any fancy graphic stuff, but he sure writes with some personality.

That guy did have a awesome idea and execution, but honestly, I can also see why he crapped out so quickly, only 80-some posts in. It's must have exhausting spending so much time on the details of the presentation, including the re-arranging of stats, the write-up and the old-timey formatting. He was posting for a few days, then a few weeks off, then a few more days, then a few weeks off, and by the time he got to four months out, I can see him saying to himself, "This is way too much work and I'm only three seasons into this thing." I imagine it's easy to burn yourself out on this kind of thing.

That's why I want to keep in season updates and dry recitations of exploits to a minimum, because it's really hard to write in character for several posts per season. I'd rather write stories about the league and the world going on outside that affects the league, while highlighting the occasional superstar or oddball event, and of course providing seasonal results. That's my approach in mind at the moment. We'll see whether I can keep it up and not burn out, too.

Originally Posted by Questdog

But the main thing is to do it how you enjoy doing it and creating something that you yourself like to go back and peruse. If you find that you are not drawn back to earlier posts and reading them again yourself and enjoying it, then it is likely no one else is either.

I do go back and re-read my stuff, especially my creation story. All modesty side, I love what I came up with, and I worked hard researching how sport in England arose in the first place so I could infuse it with as much realism as possible.

[joefromchicago]

I can only speak for myself, but a glance at my dynasty (link in my signature line) would give you an idea of what I like: more focus on the pennant races rather than on individuals or games; more text and fewer screen grabs; more of the "big picture" and less minutiae. I agree with goroyals - I'm not really interested in knowing who had the third-most walks at the all-star break. I want to know about the guy who carried his team to the playoffs, or who broke the home run record, or who pitched a no-hitter in only his second major-league start, or the veteran star who is starting to show his age. A screen grab really can't convey those kinds of stories, and, frankly, unless I know something about the players besides their stats, I don't even care about the guy who had the most walks at the all-star break. (EDIT: I should add that these remarks deal mostly with fictional leagues - those are the kind of leagues that I play and that I find most interesting as dynasty reports).

Granted, telling those stories requires far more effort than posting a screen grab, and I will confess that, in my dynasty, I finally burned out about two decades before I had planned to quit. There are ways to strike a happy medium between stats and text, although I'm not sure I've found them (that's a big reason why I haven't started a new dynasty).

Regarding page views: I agree that a 10:1 ratio is actually pretty good. If you want to boost page views, that's easily accomplished: just post once per day. If you submit multiple posts all at once, people will view them all with one click, rather than clicking for each post. Of course, you can always do like Eugene Church and his Islandian dynasty and post continuously for over six years (and his is one of the dynasties that I particularly like). That tends to increase page views.

[Westheim]

I like something "special" or "unique" about a dynasty as long as it doesn't get too freaked out. Random debut is too freaked out in my view. Star Trek taught us not to play with time, unless the plot absolutely requires it to conclude an episode. If Nolan Ryan had been meant to pitch to Babe Ruth, Ryan would've been born in time.

It really is a matter of quite a few different factors that have to come together to make a dynasty interesting to me, like an interesting setting, a guy's ability to write in an interesting and comprehensive way, and I like a combo of text and graphics. A picture tells more than a thousand words, so it's probably best to post the main stats of your roster from time to time instead of elaborating the home run race in three paragraphs.

I'm that Raccoons guy (obviously) that does nothing fancy and I find that over the 18 months that I have written that dynasty, I have changed my style a ton (and I hope improved it towards being a lot more comprehensive, the first few pages were a mess ).

I'm still striving for that perfect balance between amount of text and actual content. I tend to get lost in situations where my team is leading by five runs in the eighth inning of a game in mid-May and proced at-bat by at-bat there - completely unnecessary at times. If you look at Orcin's dynasty, he does a wonderful job of posting a week's results, top and bottom performers, two or three updates here and there. I can't keep myself so short, my fingers want to type!

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Westheim

If you look at Orcin's dynasty, he does a wonderful job of posting a week's results, top and bottom performers, two or three updates here and there.

But you are so much better at complaining than me!

[Orcin]

I like to read about the thinking of the dynasty writer - be it as a GM, manager, or both.

I want to know why the decisions are made, what are the regrets, what player is the favorite, who is over-achieving expectations, what imperfections are most annoying (Westheim is great at this), etc. I like being in the shoes of the writer and second-guessing the moves - playing along with them if you will.

I like to hear those little details about the players that help me remember them and get to know them better. I prefer to get more info about the writer's team and just enough about the rest of the league(s) to give it context.

I enjoy the stories. I would say I don't like non-traditional stuff, but the zombies (jaa36) and futuristic setting (Nunyer) were two of my favorites. I am a sucker for any good story, really.

I admire longevitiy and consistency. Eugene Church has an amazing dynasty with a great backstory. He has been doing this for years, and has it down to a science. I would have to say his is elite.

I said I like a good story, right? The best dynasty story ever is only one post. If you haven't read it, take the time. The legendary Rascoe Barahona... http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...-barahona.html

[beachbomer]

Glad someone brought this up, I love my dynasty but like many of you said, nobody will get as much into your dynasty as you do.

I know I go to my dynasty 2-3 times a day to see if anyone has commented. Just because as you get involved in your dynasty, you want to talk about it. But most of the time your wife thinks your nuts.

With that being said, I also would be open to any idea's on my dyansty if any of you have time.

"Fictional Baseball, 1950's style"

[HomerOne]

A good personality and a sense of humor.

[The Game]

Originally Posted by Orcin

I like to read about the thinking of the dynasty writer - be it as a GM, manager, or both.

I want to know why the decisions are made, what are the regrets, what player is the favorite, who is over-achieving expectations, what imperfections are most annoying (Westheim is great at this), etc. I like being in the shoes of the writer and second-guessing the moves - playing along with them if you will.

I like to hear those little details about the players that help me remember them and get to know them better. I prefer to get more info about the writer's team and just enough about the rest of the league(s) to give it context.

I enjoy the stories. I would say I don't like non-traditional stuff, but the zombies (jaa36) and futuristic setting (Nunyer) were two of my favorites. I am a sucker for any good story, really.

I admire longevitiy and consistency. Eugene Church has an amazing dynasty with a great backstory. He has been doing this for years, and has it down to a science. I would have to say his is elite.

I said I like a good story, right? The best dynasty story ever is only one post. If you haven't read it, take the time. The legendary Rascoe Barahona... http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...-barahona.html

Most of what you said I plan on using this year, I will try to expand more on it then I originally had planned. While I do tend to rely on SS to tell part of the story i try to add a frew lines of comment when teams sign players or trade etc. What DC Helper has I can not do so the PBBA is not what my thread will morph into.
I plan on going more in depth with player profiles and back stories.