Bitchlet
(?)Community Member
Offline
- Posted: Fri, 02 Mar 2012 02:34:32 +0000
mini's Quest Thread
Guide
Guide
Welll I'm mini(I'M NO LONGER MINI!) xd , a fellow quester/donater, and I've found out a few little tips that do HELP with questing. It may require you to start a new thread, it may not, it's completely up to you.
As you probably know, there are A LOT of quest threads out there, and about 99% of them, are the owners themselves sitting in there, bumping them by themselves, and going insane talking to nobody but their own selves. That is normal! But, putting a fair amount of time into creating your thread, can be sooo beneficial later on down the line! Suggestions would be when creating your thread, try to use up as much of the first page as possible with your own info! Make different sections, like:
» Introduction
» Rules of your thread
» What you are questing and your progress
» People who have donated to you (everybody likes to have that special feeling of being given credit for their good deed and it shows how truly grateful you really are)
» A support section for charity banners who have donated to you (so fellow questers can enjoy the benefits too) and fellow quests! Work together to achieve your goals!
» If your thread goes unnoticed too long, possibly open up a contest thread! People may not come in to donate to you, but your thread will be active more and on the front page more!
» An updates section (people interested in your cause will always enjoy reading about what YOU are up to)
I would strongly suggest an intro about who YOU are as a person, charities and people donating would really enjoy getting to know you first before donating! So the easier you make it to know you, the quicker your donations may possibly come in!
Any sections you can think of that would be worthwhile to your quest, the more you have and the more time you've put into your quest, the more people will see your dedication and then be more apt to donate to you!
Try making your page look pretty! Smaller fonts tend to be more pleasing to the eye if they are organized properly, and different font colors in certain places will help bring out a creative feel of the thread!
You don't need tons of fancy graphics/headers, don't clutter your page! But if you had the ability, a few nicely placed graphics can really help make your thread awesome!
A catchy title will always help! Something that will draw people in from the front page of the Charities/Donations Forum! A boring title will usually go unnoticed, and an ambiguous title where you can't tell if it's a charity, a quest, or just something completely random (i.e. (''')( ',' )(''') or a bunch of pretty squiggly lines. Yes it may be cute or pleasing to the eye, but it doesn't tell anybody ANY starting information about what this thread is about. And lets be honest, besides the slight inkling of curiosity, most people will likely pass that thread up if something else catches there eye) MAKE YOUR TITLE STAND OUT!!!
And if nobody comes in your thread, DON'T GIVE UP!!! Quest threads are 99% bumping, 1% donations. If you feel like nobody is noticing you, bump your thread more! If you fall of the front page of the Charity/Donations forum, BUMP! Make sure you're bumping right though! Don't just sit there all day bumping your thread and complaining about how nobody is there. Once someone DOES show up, it's all they see when/if they decide to post. A negative attitude could cost you your donations and success of your thread! Be positive, almost everybody loves someone with a positive attitide! A pleasant bump in your own thread will do more than exasperated upset bumps. If you seem impatient with your own quest thread, you risk bringing your dedication to your own quest into question, and that's not good!
But don't just lurk in your thread! On the top of the Charity/Donations Forum, there is a list of the charities! There are a few rules on THE Santa Clause's list under each charity name. These are the rules of the thread, generally what you must have before posting/receiving an application from THAT charity. Not all of them are the same, so pick one or two that you meet the basic criteria for. After you've picked a few that you think you may like, go in, make yourself known, but ALWAYS REMEMBER to read their first posts! There are more often than not, hidden rules and "codewords" you must do before you will be acknowledged in different charities threads. They made the time to write the rules and information for YOU to use, and if you want a donation, it's not much to ask to read what they have written. The rules are there to help you and if you get them right, you get a gold star for diligence!
Don't beg. Most charities just want you to come in, be friendly and chat! You may not get your donation that day, but it will come, and isn't that what we want? If you go in, advertising your thread in your posts or hinting that nobody comes in, that is considered fishing/advertising in the threads, and it is generally frowned upon! If you need help, there are always people willing to help if you ask! Just send them a PM politely asking for advice or help! Now, by PM for advice, make sure you KNOW THE DIFFERENCE between asking advice on your thread/quest, and bothering someone/begging for a donation in their private mailbox! Most charity thread owners, thread regulars, or really ANYBODY for that matter, do not enjoy being private messaged by people begging for donations. If you're a new person to a thread, make some friends first, be polite and courteous. Be interesting and get to know others! Maybe you'll find some ideas for your own thread in theirs! Visit their quest threads, bump them if you'd like (I've come to learn that if you take the time to visit someone's thread and you give them a little friendly bump, if you're thread is just as easily accessible they will most likely return the favor. But please, don't expect it from them to go visit your thread JUST because you visited theirs.)
Banners! If you can, make yourself a banner advertising your thread! Keep it in your forum signature so anybody can get to your quest thread when they feel like it! I personally enjoy smaller banners, but it's your choice of what you want, just something instead of posting your thread address!
QUESTING IS NOT ABOUT INSTANT GRATIFICATION! If you are questing an expensive item, be prepared to be questing for a while! Don't go into this thinking that you're going to receive 20,000,000 in donations today to get your fancy item. It MAY happen, by some very generous people, but do not rely on it. If you are questing something expensive, be prepared for the long haul!
When people stop in to your thread, thank them! Try to start up a conversation with them or even tip their post to know that their post was appreciated! If you can talk with them, that's fantastic! They may not be a donator, but the more active your thread is, the more it is on the front page and that is a good thing! Whoever they are, DON'T BOMBARD them with begging or complaints about how little you think your donations have been. Be polite and just chat, if they are going to donate, they will, but hinting at it or making someone feel guilted into donating to you ISN'T the way to go about it! Just the fact that you have a quest thread already tells any visitors that there IS something you want. It's as simple as that!
I realize this is a lot of information, but the key thing is; the more effort and dedication you put INTO your quest, the greater the rewards will eventually be! You never know when charity owners come to view your thread, and evaluate your drive and dedication to your goal. If you have a well put together thread, it may be the difference between getting a 500gg donation, or being given the actual item you are questing!
I would like to thank everybody who gave me helpful tips in the making of this guide, I hope this is able to help everybody get their quests done in one way or another!
And I'd like to wish you the best of luck fellow quester!!!
heart
~minigingee (or whatever my name happens to be at the time you read this!)
