Hi guys, I'm looking to get some feedback on the site as the new lead. I've written a couple of questions feel free to answer all or some in your spare time. If there is anything else you'd like to raise or address unrelated to this don't hesitate to dm me on discord or private message me here.

What would you like to see happen to the site?, Changes big or small, etc?

What is your main motivation for remaining within this community?,

What do you see as the main influences that cause people not to join this community?

If you were to rate this site out of five what would you give it and why?

Any unrelated comments will also be appreciated, feel free to dm me or just post here.

What would you like to see happen to the site?, Changes big or small, etc?

I truly like the direction the site is taking through the implementation of "Storylines". Any change that allows the PCs to leave a mark on the world and affect plots is a good change, in my opinion. On the smaller spectrum, I'd say address those few balancing issues, especially regarding non-mage classes.

What is your main motivation for remaining within this community?

The community itself. After so many years, I still come back because of the people. They are the ones that make this place feel warm and welcoming,

What do you see as the main influences that cause people not to join this community?

Perhaps at a first sight the forum might seem overwhelming to someone new. Other than that, there could be an additional focus on advertising.

If you were to rate this site out of five what would you give it and why?

[4] - I've been trying out other roleplay forums and none had their system as thought out as FTRP does, nor did they come anywhere close to FTRP's immersion. On top of that, FTRP has always kept a degree of activity, which is amazing for a site that's been up and running for what, 12 years now?

Hi, hiketsu, thank you for your feedback. We are currently working on balancing the non-mage class and looking into having sitewide events being impacted by characters in the future.

What would you like to see happen to the site?, Changes big or small, etc?:
Changes to classes and magics. Basically Some classes and magics are just so dull and limiting that they don't evoke any sense of fun or uniqueness.

Between recolours of the same magic that haven't been touched since December, some magics having so many limitations that they can barely be played and having all the limited magic that is "good" swept away by veterans there isn't much chance for any individuality with your own magic unless you describe it yourself, but even still then it's just empty words to a magic that everyone already starts with. The slot ideas are a nice idea but personally I think more variety in the slots is needed or more varied magic.

Speaking of, pet peeve of mine but make god slayer actually slay gods. Otherwise just do what's already been done and give each element a dark dual element. Calling it "god slayer" only makes sense in reference to fairy tail itself which again is misleading since the "Angel's" of this world can just brush away dark magic like it's nothing.

As for classes, already touched upon but it's really obvious that most need an overhaul. Like has anyone even looked at spellsword since the whole fiasco way back?

I have more points on this if you have more questions about what I mean in case I didn't explain myself well enough here.

What is your main motivation for remaining within this community?,
The people and nostalgia.

What do you see as the main influences that cause people not to join this community?

Personally I see rping here as a chore. The storyline addition helps combat this. To me though, having a social thread is just a waste of time if you want to get anything worthwhile in the current system. Why have topics where you make friends when you could just be spamming quests to get all the money you need to buy whatever you want? Or whatever is left I should say.

But that's if people even want to try and join and catch up to the people who started the site with such a huge lead that they would need to spend months to even get to the point they started at.

Then already spoke about the dullness in magic and classes.

If you were to rate this site out of five what would you give it and why?

From start to finish about 2/5. From the creation until now I mean. So that includes all the quests and items people made being thrown out, having their current items being stripped away for a new far more limiting system and then the huge amounts of activity dryspells where nothing happened and nothing to look forward to and little to work towards. All piled up on the still ever present problems that have been around since day one.

Otherwise I'd say 3/5 since there is a lot more items and magics and quests. There's a lot more content now but so much is behind so many walls that you can't even hope to get over unless you spend months of grinding.

Hi Ren, Thank you for the feed-back. Changes to Classes and Magic as well as the grinding aspects will be looked at, I'm also looking into adjusting other features which I hope will alleviate the some of the other issues you've raised.

Hi Erebus, Thank you for your feedback. The non-mage class will be receiving buffs twofold one more prompt the other more long-term with the forge likely to offer more for said non-mage classes. Experience gain from requests have always been a contentious issue however I'm looking into alternatives that will subsides requests and allow characters to grow outside of requests. As for potions that will be something that will need to be examined as we do offer alternative means of acquiring stats already e.g point shops, requests, events (which will be more frequent), fighting.

What would you like to see happen to the site?, Changes big or small, etc?

• A new banner, which I'd be happy to make~
  
  
• Maybe some form of 'simple chatbox' for simple queries or something along those lines adding to the site so prospective new members could ask quick questions without needing to go on the discord?
  
  
• Making travel and movement easier. While I understand that having someone doing a thread in every town might be bad, I think limiting all members to a one town system ultimately hurts the site?
  
  I'd say it would be better to divide the RP area into small zones (Like counties) of maybe a town or two/significant location, where people could move freely between and then only need to travel between these zones?
  
  For instance, you could have say Astera and Baska in one area, and members can RP in either town without needing to travel between them?
  

What is your main motivation for remaining within this community?

• Alisa - She was the reason I joined and remains the strongest reason I stay.
  
• Progress - Having dedicated the best part of six months to the site now, and made some nice headway with my characters, I'm curious to see where this ride takes me.
  

What do you see as the main influences that cause people not to join this community?

As a (relatively) new member, I can tell you the things I found off-putting when I joined the site initially;

• Excessively rigid approaches to things - I can understand why a sort of one system fits all mould might be simpler to deal with, but when I joined I was far used to more freedom of creativity and the feeling of being force to fit it wasn't a pleasant one. If not for Alisa being here, I wouldn't have joined.
  
  
• That Gap - While I understand that people have put a lot of time and effort into this site to get where they are, I agree with Erebus that the grind to reach 'the top' is very daunting to a new member. That feeling of progression or lack thereof continues to blight me now, and while I don't aim to disparage those who have worked hard to get their rank/magic/gear, it can be hard to feel motivated when you feel like the only D Class on a site filled with S Class members.
  
  
• Rules, lots and lots of rules - The sheer number of rules and regulations on site can be very intimidating, and when I joined it was a hard ask to make it through them, only really succeeding because I had Alisa to help me with the important stuff. Such a big list of things you need to learn can be very offputting to new people, especially if they are new to RP in general, or don't know anyone on site.
  
  That said, I do think that this site has repeatedly demonstrated the most helpful approach toward aiding new members I've seen, with staff and regular members alike eager and polite in guiding newbies through the trials of joining. In anything, I think this should be highlighted on the site somehow, so as to let prospective members know that while the task is hard, they don't have to go through it alone?
  

I'm not gonna rate the site cause I have no idea what I would put?

Hi Ellie, Thank you for your feedback. We will be hosting a GFX Comp for those interested in providing us with Banners that we might use in the future. We did have a chatbox previously however we felt it took away from the experience as you will regularly get timed out from it and overall the discord is more efficient for our needs. I have been considering a more fluid means of travel and I agree that it is restrictive atm for now it will remain as is, it's just something I'll be mulling over. Extra thanks for the indepth response on your final question. There are a lot of regulations that an individual needs to get through a lot of red tape that a person might not need to read for the most part of it. Ideally I'd like to segment them into different tiers of understanding i.e what's critical to know and what are the more niche things that can be found when further clarification is needed it is something I'll be continuing to look into.

What would you like to see happen to the site?, Changes big or small, etc?

I really like how the site is going now under new management, seeing how items and systems are being released more frequently and so on. I'd love to see more interesting events introduced in the future.

What is your main motivation for remaining within this community?

I suppose the people on the site, but mostly my hobby of writing. I enjoy the community here, unlike the other sites, I feel as if players here are more friendly and laidback.

I've never really seen any other sites that have systems as in-depth as here and I think the existing rules really help people guide around the site easier.

What do you see as the main influences that cause people not to join this community?

Lots of rules and regulations - While it is also good to have fixed systems on the site, I feel as if the number of rules we have might be a bit overwhelming to newcomers, probably not so much for veterans. Nonetheless, the strict rules on magic also limit your creativity on spells so most often, I see repetitive spells being made in the section.

Lack of creativity - When I first came to the site, I was a bit disappointed with how much it restricted the freedom of creativity, such as making your own items or magic and so forth. Even when people were to create their magics of their own style, they wouldn't stick with it for long, only upon their character creation and would rather purchase something from the shop, only to find out that it has already been grabbed by someone. Also, even if the person were to find magic that suits them, they would have to worry about maintaining their activity to keep said magic. I'm aware of the fact that the freedom of creativity makes it hard for the staff to grade, but I do have to mention that I like the enhancement and smithy system being installed to allow more freedom for users.

Veterans - For those who have almost reached the peak of their character, there isn't really much to do for them, except events and perhaps a few quests. During the S2 transition, I remember there was nothing interesting on the site, no events and no new quests for me or anyone to grind either, so it eventually made me lose interest. Also, it took forever for a new item or a series of quests to be released actually. Sometimes I feel as if there isn't much going on the site which only made posting here feel like a chore, especially when the only reason for you to stay is to keep your magic and items.

Shop - I have to say the majority of the items in the shop are either really expensive, unbalanced, or not worth it at all. I'm not really sure why the mounts have to cost millions of jewels when all it does is just reduce the wordcount of travelling. Some items, such as the Zhav's Amulet is so pointless because the system of foreign countries haven't even been introduced, except for the storyline, and it is considered a Mythic item while the Overseer Divintas was pretty unbalanced, even for a Mythic class (but it has been adjusted so can be considered fair).

If you were to rate this site out of five what would you give it and why?

4 - I think the site is improving a lot now and I can see the systems are being reviewed regularly and there's been more updates than before which is always a good thing.

P.S. Please change the numbers of Fortune Wheels more frequently lol.

What would you like to see happen to the site?, Changes big or small, etc?

I’d like to see the site move away from being like a video game and more like well… A forum RP. Stats, quest, buffs, debuffs are well and good but at some point it feels like it’s more of a D&D game than an RP site. Not to say there’s anything wrong with that.

Also, the word count. I know, 200 isn’t a lot but… Brother 100 was the amazing for those long grinds.The new leadership will take care of things for sure.

What is your main motivation for remaining within this community?

Honestly? I found it hard to stay gone. Sure, there have been mishaps here and there but ultimately I liked the site. I had some of my best writing experiences here from boning split personalities to beating up a sea monster, to having my quiet time with a loli interrupted by Cell… Semi Perfect Cell… And that time I mugged a kid. And the time I got beat up repeatedly by the same person…

Alright I’ve had some good times here. I may not be as active but this site has helped me grow as a RPer.

What do you see as the main influences that cause people not to join this community?

The grind isn’t worth it. Be it this is just me shooting here, it just isn’t worth it. Sure, you could get around 100 in your stats near the end but ultimately it’s pointless because someone new can just come post in some random event and become near equal to you for a fraction of the price you paid. There was some ring event right? Phenomenal.

The restrictions are also pretty annoying. Not to say i’m the most creative peacock on site, but at a point when you get on site there’s pretty much no reason to put any effort into your magic creation at first because the shop has so many that’ll outclass you with a twitch of an eye. That and guildless not being able to participate in events seemed like a pointless call namely because the guilds just weren’t all that interesting to join at a point. #JoinPL. If inclusiveness is the goal, why not let people turn in social threads for jewels instead of just quest? Bury people in money for making nice. AND RACE BASED RESTRICTIONS: a lot of the races and classes need reworks or buffs or both.

Nothing to do in the end. Rather your A or S rank there’s pretty much nothing to do. You can wait for an event but then you’ll still have nothing to do when it’s over. Like, I could go on a crusade to clap some cheeks and believe me I see some up above that are well worth the grind but, I just don’t have it in me anymore. Speaking of, can we possibly talk about bringing back those valentines potions? I need to spam those.

If you were to rate this site out of five what would you give it and why?

Well I like everything right now. Not just on site, but actually everything and everyone. Life is great. So it’s a 4.5 the best of all worlds. The site will be fine though, if anyone can improve things the new management can. Believe that.

Also when did you get so many high stats??? How long was I gone?????

What would you like to see happen to the site?, Changes big or small, etc? So far, I feel the site is heading in the right direction under new management for the most part. However, there are some things I feel could be improved upon. I know a lot of people already mentioned the classes and magic so what I want to bring up are the races. I understand that certain listed races give some impressive perks and could be seen as really powerful and because of that they need to be purchased with jewels. However, with most other fantasy sites I've been on that have set races for characters, they are mostly free to choose when starting and the perks and whatnot are minimal or at least not as powerful as they are here. So one thing, I would like to see has all races be made free while minimizing or nerfing the perks to a degree so it's reasonable for them to be free. Aside from that, word counts. Even the wordcounts for social threads feels a bit overkill. I know that with certain events, social thread WCs are decreased. I feel maybe since a lot of people who come to join who are new to RP will get scared off by having to write 200 words minimum for their social thread posts. Especially when there are people in this community who suffer from disabilities like dyslexia. So maybe decrease to 150 words for social threads both in and outside events. For quests, especially lower rank quests like d and c-rank ones, the numbers should maybe be halved especially when soloing. This is more so for those who join the site when they're new to RP or suffer from disabilities like dyslexia or similar and aren't expecting to have to write so much, it can scare them off from the site or make them go to other ones where there's not as high of a hurdle.

What is your main motivation for remaining within this community?
My main motivation for remaining here is the lack of toxicity that I see on so many other sites as well as the people who I've come to enjoy talking to and RPing with. I think of FTRP as my home and I want to stay and help contribute to its growth in any way I can.

What do you see as the main influences that cause people not to join this community? The lack of Fairy Tail vibe and the feeling that's it's closer to a regular fantasy sife. Also the fact it feels not much different from an MMORPG rather than an RP forum.

If you were to rate this site out of five what would you give it and why? 3 out of 5
The reason I give it a 3 instead of 4 is that there is still much potential for growth and improvement but more than that, certain staff do not have good ethics and have shown bias whether it be positive or negative towards members. I will not name names but, it is something I feel is in great need of improvement as the staff is one major thing that can either make or break a site. There also needs to be more consistency from staff with things like regulations and rulings. I can't think up any examples I've seen at the moment but, when I think of something, I will be more than happy to provide the proof of such things.

What would you like to see happen to the site?, Changes big or small, etc?

I'm new here but I'm just throwing in my two cents, for whatever it's worth. I'd actually like to re-iterate one of the points made by one of the other members, Baron, and say that it'd be cool if the site was less video game-esque RPG and more... Forum RP. I can tell a lot of thought went into designing how the site is and I can respect that, but at the same time it's like, "If I want to play an in-depth RPG with min-maxing, why wouldn't I just go play an actual RPG?" It's pretty odd, in all honesty. I'd say that's my main thing and biggest takeaway.

A lot of the classes, while decent on paper, have such strange restrictions that makes it feel like you're constantly pigeonholed into things. Like, there's variety but it feels kind of meaningless? It's like so much of the classes and stuff are geared towards some sort of balanced PvP but the site doesn't seem focused on PvP so you have healers that can't even fight... Even something like FFXIV, which has a hard-coded Healing Class (White Mage), has a way for healers to fight and clear content on their own. Even if it was just, "Classes are especially good at one thing in particular but can still do other things that they may be mediocre in that regard." would be fine and feel less bad. Like, the fact Berserkers can only self-buff is a pretty big think.

I don't know, maybe I'm just a basic bitch, but maybe I think it'd be cool if the site was more geared around the concept of being a forum RP first and an RPG second. At least that's how I've wound up perceiving the site.

What is your main motivation for remaining within this community?

Nothing, currently. As it stands now I'm still just testing the waters and I feel liable to just leave whenever because there's nothing that'd make me want to stay. Everyone seems cool so I can't really complain, and it seems like people are always willing to help whenever someone has an issue which is nice. But nothing really makes me want to stay within the community/on the site.

What do you see as the main influences that cause people not to join this community?

The fact you can buy progression. Like, being completely honest, when this site was shown to me, if I had noticed you could buy progression I wouldn't have joined. It feels especially bad since so much of the site seems to incentivize grinding and then you can just drop money and be like, "Yeet!" I've honestly never seen an RP Forum with paid progression of any sort so I just don't even know what to think.

Aside from that, I feel like there's a very stark contrast between the site and what it's supposed to be based off of. Like, Fairy Tail, as a series always sort of stressed 'freedom' in a way, but so much of the site feels restrictive in so many ways it's just... "Eh."

If you were to rate this site out of five what would you give it and why?

2/5.

I can respect the work that's gone into it and the community itself, but so much of the site feels like a yikes. There's nothing that'd really make me want to stay, the fact that a lot of the site incentivizes grinding to progress efficiently is a yikes, the fact you can spend money for progression on an RP site is a yikes, the fact that everything is so restrictive is a yikes, the fact it feels more like a D&D RPG Site and less like a free-spirited Fairy Tail Forum RP is a yikes. This is a site I'd recommend to people who are super into D&D but not anyone who just wanted to RP regularly.

No hate or anything, just the opinion of someone who has no real connection/history with the site or the members and is solely an outsider looking in.

What would you like to see happen to the site?, Changes big or small, etc?

I think site plots and guild plots would help a lot. I remember being really excited about the Inquisition plot and seeing where that went, but with the delay and now the falter of it, I think it impacts motivation.

Going along with that, while I like the overall anime feel of the site and that it branches out and is inclusive of those who have not watched the anime, I feel that there is a Fairy Tail vibe missing. Like when I joined because I love the Anime, nothing really feels like the anime. Which is something I think can be fixed with more site plots and especially guild plots, and things for guildless to do.

There was some mention about the mechanics of the site. I agree that travel should be more fluid and broken up into regions. As it is, I don't think its too exciting for something to happen and then everyone to feel the need to drop story lines and adventures for the sake of rushing to the town with the event. I don't think it promotes good story telling necessarily when people feel they need to rush topics.

As far as the video-game vs RP vibe. It is a bit cluttered I mean I'm for the most part okay with it. But as Fairy Tail was a semi-combat focused anime and used battle to tell the stories I think things get a little muddle. I personally think if it is going to stay stat/magic/gear focused, there should be a rolling mechanic to introduce a level of luck(like DnD was mentioned above) so that way people could get into more tussles without worrying about god-moding/needing a moderator to approve something/ etc...But that's mainly because I've had good experiences on other sites that used a roll mechanic.

Plus it would help members who didn't want to crunch numbers/ angles/ speeds/ trajectories to be more a part of the action. It also may help with some of the creativity in magic issues. For example, it would be hard to make illusion magic and it just be based on, "I hope they fall for it," but if there was a roll with it. then if they failed or saved against it that could be Role played out and illusion magic could be a thing. On  the flip side that would make things more confusing for beginners as it would ad regs and another layer. Just an idea to incorporate more magic if its going to be a stat/gear focused system.

But I would agree that so much of the site feels like it is to make a strong character build but no pvp or anything really happens that much with it. (not that I would want to. I enjoy the building process but not everyone does)

more quests would be nice. And please no more saving/helping grandmas.lol

But I do appreciate all the hard work that has gone into it. Excited about all the changes. Magic enhancements are really cool.

Still not sure how I feel about the donation system aspect buy I usually lean towards not liking it.

I am excited to see what new directions the site will take and look forward to being here along for the ride.

Maybe make the dice game not have a losing spot. Be nice to just be rewarded for making that many posts in a month instead of it just being empty.

What is your main motivation for remaining within this community?,

Finishing my characters arc. And while I am always up for an RP with anyone. There are a few people that were it not for them I may have left.

Also oddly enough just wanna see RK flourish again.

What do you see as the main influences that cause people not to join this community?
Learning curve to get in. It is a lot of regs to get through.

lack of lots of freedom in character creation. For a site based on a show that as shown near limitless possibilities for magic it is pretty restricted unless a person can think of work arounds.

The gap between new players and old players. It can be off putting to see how much work and how far a person has to go.

Lack of guild specific activity.

If you were to rate this site out of five what would you give it and why?3.5

I like building the character, lots of things on the site have moments of being stagnant with events and such. Rules/regs could use a tidy I guess.

The community is super helpful and nice. and honestly once all the new stuff roles out my score would be higher.

Hi Snow, Thank you for your feedback. At the moment we do have a lot of regulations I wholeheartedly agree with they make the barebone of the site, however that can be detrimental to new members trying to get a grasp on the entry level site, I will strive to minimise the initial content required to establish a character by placing less critical and more niche regulations into seperate sub forums where people can learn about minor things that can affect their character. A lack of creativity or freedom which I think is what people are looking for has been something that’s been an issue since the development of this rendition of the site, I hope in under my management the goals I undertake will resolve that with prospects to allow custom creation of items and magic to be feasible while also relaxing some fundamentals that I have not explored yet.

Admittedly it can be intimidating for a new member to see pre-existing members at high ranks with lots of gear but I’m ultimately not sure about the best way to combat that. For Veterans meanwhile who lack content to do i.e having no requests to complete, etc I will be developing more content in the coming months that will alleviate that. The shop and the items within it is a tricky matter with numerous items being either perceptively incredibly underpowered or overpowered and will be something that I will need to review. As a final note Mounts while are being offered as part of WooHoo Prizes are really ultimately meant for individuals both capable and willing to spend an excessive amount of Jewels for something rather minor.

And no I will not change the Fortune Wheel Numbers!

Hi Baron, Thank you for your feedback, After looking at the current trends with posting 200 for social topics and 300 solo or with alternative accounts will become the new minimum, any lower other issues begin to arise which are worse than the ones that reducing the amount would solve. As for events such as the Ring Event something which I hadn’t explored is something I’d prefer to shy away from in the future as it does inherently cause issues. As for the restrictions I will be overtime assessing and reassessing various pre-existing items, magic, classes, etc as to what would be best suited I do feel we are more restrictive than not. In the future I am more inclined to offer equal opportunities if not more chances for guildless members even in the case of our current event they may partake in any request. As for the Lack of End-Game content that is something I will be working on as it’s something that’s been in desperate need for awhile.

Hi Alyssia, Thank you for your feedback, as mentioned earlier upon looking at current posting trends 200 and 300 have been found to be a nice middle ground as issues arose with word counts being lower than that if there is a large enough outcry from the majority of the community it will be reconsidered. At the current time Races will not be changed nor will they be made free permanently, users may already purchase them via either the point shop, jewel shop or start with one as a nightmare mode character or for the time being current races through the site-wide event. As for any issues regarding staff-members please refer the case onto me and I’ll be sure to look into the matter.

HI Kairos, Thank you for your honest feedback, It is understandable to see the strong comparisons between this site and that of D&D with a large amount of the systems large being sourced from other traditional RPG mediums. In the coming months I hope to deviate from that alleviate some of the restrictions making the classes more beneficial to their specializations rather than been keyholed into their role. As for buying progress it’s something that I’m looking into resolving. Overall I appreciated your bluntness.

Hi Kazimir, Thank you for your feedback, It is unfortunate to have seen the site’s plot stagnant in this manner and I hope that I can live up to everyone's expectations with events past end-game for future events both global, location-based and guild-based. A sentiment that’s been commonly seen is the disconnect between the site’s namesake and the heart of the site and I agree with that in the coming months I hope to move things more in the direction to a more Fairy Tail-esque style so to speak. Travel is something that is being looked at we’re currently examining a region-based roleplaying set-up as opposed to our existing restrictive location-based though that’s still in discussion. While a roll mechanic is potentially viable it can take away from the experience and if issues regarding god-modding or broken mechanics come into play that will be examined. As for illusion magic that’s something I’d have to look into, potentially it might be okay for now it’s something that will be reserved for balancing. A large amount of Character building is illustrated from the site and I hope to offer users to explore what they can do with their characters they have worked so hard on either against themselves through the new fighting regs or against something else which is in development. More Requests will need to be worked on and yes less of those chore-based ones. Donating is an aspect to the site a pretty new one it’s reception has been mixed, personally I’m for it to an extent as long as it’s not done a.)Too frequently b.)Provides too much or even anything character-wise i.e rolls, jewels, points, etc, it is however something that we have in place for now, I’ll get back to you on the final outcome of donation policy. I am looking into making the Dice Game provide a reward even if you don’t win.

Hi Ellie, Thanks for the follow-up feed-back, in the future, I’ll be looking to incorporate more anime-Esque style events including but not limited to Fairy Tail. For now however, we’ll be dealing with the End-Game plot.