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 Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 8:24 am
Hi! Are you having a wonderful time at NPCon so far? I am glad to hear it! Welcome to the NPC Fan Club Panel! I am your host, Hassli! I run Diedrich's fan thread, the D-Party! I am toning down my Diedrichyness for the sake of making this a fair and balanced panel about all of Gaia's NPC fan threads. We will focus on a few methods for creating your own NPC fan thread, while showing examples of prominent NPC threads today!
I decided to put this information together, because I think we need more active NPC fan threads in the Gaia Community Discussion. Gaia has many rich and interesting characters with highly developed backgrounds. The Gaia Community Discussion houses these user-made NPC fan threads, some of which have been around for years. Some fan threads have impacted Gaia, whether it is by hosting a site wide event, making it onto the Gaia World Map, or shaping the very history of Gaia's story line.
Today, we are going to discuss many of the fan threads that grace Gaia and we will be talking about how you can create your own amazing fan thread!
We have quite a bit of information to go through, but at the end of the panel, I would be happy to take questions and to strike up a conversation about the impact of these fan threads on Gaia as a whole. Please stick around!
Drawing
We will be giving away a small Convention Package away to on lucky participant at the end of the panel! How do you have a chance to win it? Post something in this thread that is on topic. Thank the D-Party for donating these items!
Convention Package includes:
 Con Spoils,  Convention Backdrop,  Gaia-Con Registration Goodies,  CON Tagious,  CONspicious
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Meet the Panel
3. Getting Started
4. Finding your gimmick
5. Keeping your members active!
6. Links to NPC Fanthreads
7. Open for questions!
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 9:06 am
Our panel is composed of as diverse a group as the many different NPCs we have on Gaia! Some of the people I asked to contribute to this panel founded their fan groups, while others took up leadership positions later during the group's lifespan. I wanted to give each person a chance to speak a little about their groups and share some awesome information about their fan threads! These groups are always looking for new members, so if you see any that pique your interest, check them out!
 Username: Hassli
Fan Thread: The D-Party
Why did you start your fan thread?
Because I love Diedrich! When I started the group, many people did not support the president, so I decided to put together a fun group to support Diedrich, and have a good time!
Do you have a guild and what purpose does it hold?
We have a guild! We use it for hanging out and planning parties and doing fun stuff! We have over 600 members!
Do you ever hold events or contests for your members?
Constantly! We hold an annual celebration to celebrate Diedrich's Birthday, as well as host parties for every event Gaia holds! We also host a birthday club in our guild, and sometimes do in-guild contests!
Has your NPC ever acknowledged your group?
Multiple times! He even spoke about us when Cindy Interviewed him earlier this year! We are his biggest supporters, after all!
What is your group's shining achievement?
That's a tough question! I think our big event for Diedrich's birthday was a smashing hit! We even had a kickstarter for it! It was really so much fun!
Anything else you want to add?
Since creating the D-Party, I've had the opportunity to make many new friends and create a happy place where anybody is accepted!
 Username: xcrimsonlegendx
Fan Thread: Legion X
Why did you start your fan thread?
A lot of years ago. 2009 is when the LabTechX fanthread was founded but the Legion X "faction" was formed in early 2007.
Do you have a guild and what purpose does it hold?
Legion X is the guild we call home, it originally served as a hub for all the plot theorists to lurk and find the secrets in the Gaian manga and all sorts of awesome stuff. Since there is none of that left to find these days we mostly focus on LabTech pride.
Do you ever hold events or contests for your members?
Of course, LabTech week is becoming one of the biggest user-run thingies I think! Every year it gets a little bit better!
Has your NPC ever acknowledged your group?
LabTechX has never personally showed up but LabTech123 was revived just for our event announcement last year and resulted in his use in the Throwback event! One of the founders of Gaia, VO, has however and he even joined out guild! (He was basically the father of the Grunny)
What is your group's shinning achievement
Well Legion X was founded by a small number of users who were responsible for decoding the secret binary in the Gaia SigLab reading "X lives." and starting an entire group dedicated to locating the man and finding other Gaian secrets.
Anything else you want to add?
Legion X might be a little old and dusty since the plot has dried up but we are still around doing our scientific business behind the scenes and we will continue to do so until our goals are reached and LabTechX is back in the spotlight.
 Username: Chibi Halo
Fan Thread: The Gaia Casimir Alliance
Why did you start your fan thread?
It was twofold really. I had seen the opportunity to revive a plot and event group I had attempted to run back when the Airship Saga was first really going. It was also going to be a place for people who are fans of any of the NPCs currently on board the main airship in the plot and didn't identify with Nyx could have a place to hang out and discuss and dissect the plot like we used to do during the days of the old GCD Airport threads. It was really a way to try and inject some life back into the plot side of the GCD with so many of the individual NPC thread owners gone from Gaia.
Do you have a guild and what purpose does it hold?
The GCA guild is meant to be a place where members can hang out away from the forums to chat about anything they want to, escape from the forums when things get too frustrating, and on occasion do some in world role-play around our user created floating town.
Do you ever hold events or contests for your members?
Every event thread we host comes with a series of contests and handouts for people. We always have two avatar contests with prizes for humans and Paws, random door prize drawings, and page post handouts. But really outside of official Gaia events we haven't held an event separate of when Gaia has an event.
Has your NPC ever acknowledged your group?
Nope, they're kind of far too busy trying to keep the world from being taken over at the moment to acknowledge we even exist (and even then I don't even think they'd notice us).
What is your group's shinning achievement?
I can't really take the credit for the user airships making it into the manga that concluded the Frontier Skies event because at the time we were a companion group to the GCD Airport with two separate people heading them. So really during this run of the GCA we don't have any achievements to our name.
Anything else you want to add?
Running a fan thread or user plot group in today's Gaia environment is a lot harder than it used it be but it can be so worth it. Yes there will be times when you think half, or even most, of the GCD doesn't acknowledge your group's existence or see your group as something temporary that will disband and go away once your plot or event is over with and yes it can be disheartening to see other groups get officially recognized but you should never give up. With a bit of work and dedication you can have a group that you can be proud of.
 Username: Reichiru Tomoe
Fan Thread: Edmund's Sexy Party
Why did you start your fan thread?
If you were a GCDer back in the day it was all about the plot and the NPCs. So I immediately latched on to Edmund and he actually already had a fan thread called "Edmund's Harem" (which later was changed to the Sexy Party). Unfortunately, the OP of that thread wasn't around Gaia much anymore, so she gave me her blessing to make a new thread that could be updated.
Do you have a guild and what purpose does it hold?
No guild. I felt like a guild would be too big for what we have going on and would just end up abandoned. We do have a thread in Friend's Chat for people that want to hang out, but it's pretty much just the main fan thread.
Do you ever hold events or contests for your members?
Not to say I wouldn't ever or that I haven't in the past, but for the most part, no. With it being in the GCD, I worry about people spamming it up trying for prizes, and we've always been a smaller group anyway. Those that mainly post seem content with talking plot, making edits, etc.
Has your NPC ever acknowledged your group?
Yes! I received a valentine from him during an event once, and he posted in our thread which I have immortalized in the first post.
What is your group's shining achievement?
I'd definitely say Edmund posting in the thread. It was a sense of validation for everyone since Edmund had previously never been as popular as some of the other NPCs because he's "old." And while it isn't an achievement, it is amazing to see him play such an integral role in the more recent comic plots.
Anything else you want to add?
Running a fan thread is a lot of work and the people that stick around in them and help make them better are amazing and deserve the real credit in what keeps them going. It's hard to believe a thread I made 8 years ago is still going, and I wouldn't have been able to do it alone.
 Username: Blackrosekitten21
Fan Thread: J-Corp
Why did you start your fan thread?
It was started out of a love of jack and everything he stands for and also a love of halloween
Do you have a guild and what purpose does it hold?
We do have a guild and its purpose is basically a place for our guild members to express themselves celebrate and discuss Jack and also just hang out and get to know eachother in a casual and unpressured way.
Do you ever hold events or contests for your members?
We do hold events and contests for holidays and for our members though solely in guild contests and events have not been something we;ve been able to make work yet! We are doing a test run for a murder mystery if anyone is interested in volunteering or participating. (the thread is in the test forum,still a work in progress)
Has your NPC ever acknowledged your group?
Yes Jack has acknowledged our group...last time he acknowledged us was in 2013 halloween when EB blew up J-corp headquarters and halloweentown with his carrot bomb....seriously what made him think of disguising a bomb as a floating carrot?
What is your group's shining achievement?
Our groups shining achievement....I'd have to say teaming up with E-coro after the destruction of halloweentown and the dissapearence or possible death of Jack and EB to hold a memorial/wake for them. It was a wonderful way to remember both NPC's and to also see the community come together because of a storyline event.
Anything else you want to add?
I'd like to thank Jack's fans for being so loyal and for making J-corp such a fun part of gaia online!
 Username: ashlex_in_pearl
Fan Thread: E-Corp
Why did you start your fan thread?
I actually am not the one who began the E-Corp thread, I joined some time later. Im actually the 4th person to run the group. But, Ill tell you I joined because I admired the dedication the members had. Plus, I refuse to let the legacy of the Easter Bunny die.
Do you have a guild and what purpose does it hold?
We do currently have a guild. We are actually trying to get back on our feet with it after a certain incident concerning the old guild location. But, for the moment, it mostly serves as a way for members to congregate and hear any updates about events or things that may pertain to our cause.
Do you ever hold events or contests for your members?
There have been some contests just for members in the past! At one point, a couple years ago, we actually had plans for a pin up calendar just for our members. I actually hope to bring more contests to everyone, maybe stir up some activity in the guild during our off season.
Has your NPC ever acknowledged your group?
The Easter Bunny has actually called to us on more than one occasion!! It was the most exciting thing at the time, but its even more exciting to know that he knows were here to support him and fight for him if need be! Weve done so well we've become canon on Gaia, and THAT in itself is a major accomplishment!
What is your group's shining achievement?
Others may say that just keeping the Easter Bunny alive is our shining achievement, but, I gotta say, I think its our spot on the Maps. To have enough influence in the community where they actually add a space on the map JUST for you, I think its incredible! Plus, it allows us more creative thinking as to what our base looks like! Its a giant egg, can you believe it?!
Anything else you want to add?
There have been some rough patches for us, but its been nothing we cant overcome when we put our minds to it. As long as one person is willing to keep E-Corp and the Easter Bunny alive, we shall never die. To quote a well known movie "Beneath this mask there is an idea...And ideas are bulletproof."
 Username: Yeata Zi
Fan Thread: The Rebelievers
Why did you start your fan thread?
My fanthread isn't a traditional fan thread as much as it is a coming together of many fan threads and factions that were around during the Zurg event in 2006. People who took part in the Zurg event sort of formed a special bond, and on Gaia's tenth anniversary we got together in towns and reconnected. We had such a wonderful time, that I decided to take it upon myself to form a group for all of us who loved that event. It's not connected to one specific NPC, but to all NPCs from that time.
Do you have a guild and what purpose does it hold?
We do not have a guild, but there are many active guilds from the factions we are formed from. These include the Gaians in Black, the Zurg Hive, the Gaian Resistance and the Believers.
Do you ever hold events or contests for your members?
Yes, we hold a small event every halloween.
Has your NPC ever acknowledged your group?
Not the Rebelievers specifically, but during the Zurg event, we spoke to many NPCs in each of our factions. These included the Zurg, Ron Bruise and Johnny K. Gambino!
What is your group's shining achievement?
Bringing us back together after eight years!
Anything else you want to add?
Next year will be the 10 year anniversary of the Zurg event! We will probably do a huge event for it!
 Username: Parexus
Fan Thread: S-Corp
Why did you start your fan thread?
I started the S-Corp fanthread as a way to preserve, inform, and support Santa and the history of past Xmas events especially about S-Corp.
Do you have a guild and what purpose does it hold?
I don't have a guild but I do have linked the S-Corp guild that contains all the journal entries of the ElfTechs that occured in the Xmas 04 event.
Do you ever hold events or contests for your members?
I do hold events or contests around Xmas.
Has your NPC ever acknowledged your group?
Nope, Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the ElfTech's seem to busy around the holiday season :<
What is your group's shining achievement?
I would probably say trying to preserve the history of Xmas 04 and the events that transpired there that changed how Jack, Santa, and EB are now.
Anything else you want to add?
Come stop by and read through some of the journals from the ElfTechs from Xmas 2004. It sure is an interesting read!
 Username: Slick Southpaw
Fan Thread: Nyx Fanthread
Why did you start your fan thread?
Because I loved the idea of a BIG BAD with fancy hoofwear. Seriously, that was it; I was hoping for a brother in fuzz aside from Faunzy.
Do you have a guild and what purpose does it hold?
We do have a guild for fellow Nyxians, but you’ll have to apply. We are a secretive lot, but the moonshine flows freely at our guild for fun and creative minds alike.
Do you ever hold events or contests for your members?
We have held contests and hosted two events, but alas, the terror known as REAL LIFE got in the way of success. No NPC can conquer this obstacle.
Has your NPC ever acknowledged your group?
His glorious might warmed my buns during the destruction of Durem in the manga. I consider that a form of acknowledgement.
What is your group's shining achievement?
Being acknowledged in the manga as followers of Nyx; we are the Nyxians.
Anything else you want to add?
Going dark has never been so fun or hairy. wink
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 9:09 am
Getting started is easy!
The first step to an amazing fan thread is choosing an NPC or group of NPCs to fan over! You will want to choose an NPC you really love, because you will need to begin compiling a history about him or her complete with pictures and stories! The best part about Gaia is we have a huge cast of colorful NPCs to choose from! We do not only have our shop NPCs, but we have NPCs from RIGs, NPCs from events, Item NPCs of every caliber--Honestly there is a lot to choose from! Pick someone who you really enjoy!
Then, start putting together your thread in the Test Forum. I say use the test forum because no one will look at your thread before you are ready.
I found it easy to collect information ahead of time to put into my thread, but others may go as they create it!
The Thread Set Up
Everyone runs their fan thread differently, but every fan thread has at least three things:
An introduction post- this is your first post. Most fan threads use this as a way to talk about why their NPC is awesome!
A post dedicated to the history or interesting information about the NPC(s)- This can be as short or long as you want it to be! It can include some of the optional information, or just some info about what the NPC has done! (Sometimes this is a part of the introduction, which is fine!)
Fan list! Duh. What fan list would be complete without a fan list? This is simply a list of people who are also fans! Some folks like to give them cards for their signatures, others just keep them in a list!
Optional sections include:
Rules- Sometimes this is very important! We use rules not only in our main thread, but also in every event we create!
Fan works- a section for fan art, fanfiction, or just plain awesome user-made stuff about your NPC(s)!
Item List- Does your NPC have a lot of items dedicated to them? List them in your thread!
Theories and Speculation- Sometimes, not enough is known about an NPC and some fans want to propose theories about their origins.
Updates Section- People use these for different things. I use mine as a way to chronicle things our fan club did as a group (IE, host events), and Kid Jak uses his to showcase the newest Black Kingdom Checkmate items. It's really whatever works best for you!
Quotes- Have any awesome direct quotes from your NPC? Share them!
Appearances- list and link to manga appearances, or appearances in RIGs, or even link directly to posts they have made on Gaia!
Links- Have any resources you think your members need to know about? LINK TO THEM! Do you have a guild? LINK IT! Want to share the love between other fan threads? LINK TO THEM! It's also important to include signature banners in this section! Things I like to link to include the permanent D-Party Fundraiser thread, our guild, and a well maintained toxic green item list.
Suggested Attire for Members- or Uniforms! Some groups like to suggest outfits for their members (like E-Corp or Nyx Fanthread)
Choosing Your Name
Your group's name is important because it is the first impression. When a person is scrolling through threads in the GCD, the name of the thread is what will convince them to click.
Different groups take different approaches to names, depending on what is important to them.
The Corps, for instance, all take their names in tribute to the official gaian plot groups G-Corp and S-Corp which were groups included in some of Gaia's earliest events. S-Corp's name is a direct reference to the S-Corp from the 2004 plot, while E-Corp and J-Corp are tributes.
You don't have to choose a serious name! Edmund's Sexy Party is the longest-running NPC fan thread on our panel, and look at that name!
Your name can fit with a theme such as the D-Party being a reference to a real life political party, or the Black Core Military referencing a military force.
Your name can be a reference to something from Gaia's history. The Gaia Casimir Alliance got their name from the Casimir trees that keep our airships afloat, while the Rebelievers are a reference to the original Believers, an older plot group.
Your name can be entirely original and try to incorporate your character's name like Legion X.
Or you can just go the good ol' fashioned root and call your thread a "fan thread". The Nyx Fanthread did this, and they are doing great!
Layout
After you have all that stuff created, you want to make it pretty, right? If you are artistically inclined, go ahead and put together some banners to make your thread beautiful!
If not, you can make your text look nice, with formatting and inclusion of pictures of your NPC. BCM does a great job of this.
Every fan thread uses a different approach to their layout.
It's important to try to choose a look that looks right for you. The D-Party is very patriotic looking and uses crayon text, while the Gaia Casimir Alliance utilizes soft tones and professional looking text headers.
Do what works best for you, and remember nothing is set in stone! You can keep tweaking your layout after the launch!
Lots of times, as your fan thread grows, a member will offer to create a theme for your thread. This was the case with the Nyx Fanthread, for instance!
Then what?
You've got your cool new thread put together! Contact a mod from the Test Forum (you can see the list here), and get your thread moved to the GCD!
Once it is moved, start talking about your NPC! Bring up discussions, and start adding members to your fan list!
Congrats, you are awesome!
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 9:24 am
Some of the most fun I have had with my fan thread has surrounded what I like to call our "gimmick". I consider this the thing that makes us special, and it helps to incorporate us into the Gaia universe.
The D-Party spends a lot of our time working off the gimmick that we are a political party, in fact Gaia's only political party, and that our main goal as politically minded people is to get Diedrich reelected indefinitely. This gimmick leads to some fun spontaneous activities, such as claiming to be on the campaign trail constantly. We even hosted a mini event to help nominate and vote in a Vice President for Diedrich.
Some other groups have their own gimmicks that make them exciting.
The Gaia Casimir Alliance has created a fairly in dept world for the members to role play in. According to it's founder, Chibi Halo, "The GCA, at least in the way I see it, is a global organization for airship captains and casimir tree horticulturalists."
J-Corp also heavily relies on role play for a gimmick. Prominent member, Blackrosekitten21, says "getting ourselves into ridiculous and sometimes hilarious circumstances during those rp's" keeps it entertaining.
E-Corp takes the role play a bit farther, and have created a position for themselves in the Gaia universe. "We at E-Corp are the Hench-Hares to the Easter Bunny," explains current E-Corp guild leader, ashlex_in_pearl. "As such, we are responsible for preparations for Easter, such as egg painting, candy making, bomb crafting, and so on. We also see it as our civic duty to make sure every event goes off with a bang, quite literally. Our labs may not be G-Corp levels of science, but they serve our purposes." They have even gone so far as to have a E-Corp factory on the Gaia map!
Legion X has sort of taken over as the flagship labtech group. xcrimsonlegendx claims their gimmicks are "LabTechs, Grunnies, Evil science and the hunt for our mysterious leader, LabTechX!" He also mentioned, "We are sort of the surrogate group for the remnants of the G CORP fanbase also since all of the guilds/factions have since dissolved."
Edmund's Sexy Party kept to a "harem theme" says the leader, Reichiru Tomoe, "whether Edmund appreciates it or not." She has also made it her personal goal to act as an "Edmund Stalker."
Slick Southpaw, founder of Nyx's Fanthread explains the Nyxian gimmick to be: "We are politely evil, providing cookies, silly and serious strategies, as well as cracking jokes at everyone. Ourselves and dark lord included." I might add they also are somewhat of a cult.
These are just a few examples of the sort of gimmicks that groups have come up with to make their fan thread experience more entertaining!
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 9:25 am
Keeping your members active
I have found the secret to keeping your fan group active is to provide fun things for them to do. Many groups do this by hosting regular or annual events. These can be in the form of contests, group avatar arena entries, requests for fan works, flash space meet ups, regular topics of conversation in your thread or even silly thread raids.
People who have stuff to do generally will try to be active!
Chibi Halo also has some wonderful advice on this topic!
"There are several ways that I've seen to keep your members active in your group: The hard work and dedication route, the active by association route, and the give them a reason to stay around your thread and/or guild (AKA the annoy then into staying method). The first one, hard work and dedication, is in the end the most rewarding of the three. It involves setting up contests, games, events, good discussion, arena entries, fun role-playing, and raising a lot of funds. Yes it's also the most frustrating of the three but it can be the one that will give your thread/guild the most positive image around the site.
"The second one, active by association, is more about NPC items and events than running games and events. If your chosen subject is insanely popular at Gaia HQ then every time a new item, event, or mini comic comes out for them existing members will post in your thread and/or guild to discuss and celebrate more activity for your chosen NPC and you just might get some new members to your thread and/or guild as well. You still have to do some work with this method but it's far less than the first one.
"The third one, give them a reason to be active, is what I like to call the BOO Guild method. A friend of mine when asked by people "Hey Sav how do you keep a guild so large like BOO so active? What's the secret to your success?" would always answer "Announcements lots and lots of announcements." And you know what, it worked like a charm. Back in the days of the old BOO and SIN event when guilds weren't restricted to one announcement per day the BOO guild would send out several announcements per day. It got people talking in the guild, mostly because they would complain that he was spamming the guild announcements, and the guild was always active as long as he was around. It even got people talking and active outside of the guild as well. His real reason for doing so was simply because his guild had too much donated gold and he wanted to burn through it. We can thank BOO that guilds are restricted to one announcement per day. This method can apply to anything done on a regularly scheduled basis, such as the Spectres and their cryptic messages being sent out to members of the GCD or E-Corp and their drive to get the Easter Bunny to be back in the forefront again. The thing is, if you give your members an activity or purpose the whole thread and/or guild can get behind then you'll have an active group.
"Sadly, the BOO guild isn't as active as it once was and its Captain and Vice Captain are no longer on Gaia and the Spectres are long gone but five and six years back that was a proven method for getting people to remain in the guild and be active. As we've seen E-Corp is now a canon part of the site and the plot."
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 10:47 am
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 10:48 am
I plan to keep this section up to date with interesting questions posed to the panelists during the event! You may ask anything about leading a NPC fan thread!
You may also discuss fan threads you enjoy and what exactly you enjoy about them!
Want to ask a specific question to one of our panel members in particular?
A few of our panel members have agreed to stay for answering your questions about fan threads! Feel free to ask them questions either about their fan thread in particular, or about setting up fan threads! Everyone is really nice and would be happy to speak with you!
Hassli- Chairman of the D-Party
Willing to answer questions on any topic.[quote="Hassli"][/quote]
Parexus- Leader of S-Corp
Willing to answer questions on any topic.[quote="Parexus"][/quote]
ashlex_in_pearl- Captain of E-Corp
Willing to answer questions on any topic.[quote="ashlex_in_pearl"][/quote]
Yeata Zi- Founder of the Rebelievers
Willing to answer questions on any topic.[quote="Yeata Zi"][/quote]
Questions:
(Here I plan to quote interesting questions, discussions and their answers. If I missed a question being answered, please point it out to me! I will try to keep this UTD!)
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