i think you're missing the point a little. you act as if admins can be 'taken advantage of' and sites 'ruined' by entitled members. if you're an admin, you have the power to ban and kick people. that makes it your responsibility. you don't like someone? you have the full power to kick them. let's not pretend that admins are beholden to some magical force that prevents them from doing this lol.

and secondly, i don't really understand why we care about other people's plots so much. if a group of people have a cool plot running, it's not their responsibility to include other people, even though that would be nice. if you see this as an admin an easy fix could be to include *all* your members in a site plot/event, and also plotting with them yourself. if you're not running a site to write and plot with other ppl, what's the point in the first place?

and lastly, i do agree with you to some degree that members share some responsibility in creating a good community. i'm not arguing against that. i'm only saying that if the environment becomes toxic, than it's up to the admins to fix the community and not to lash out and antagonize their members

i didn't say that bad members are the admin's fault. if you're saying that there are bad people out there and that they can sneak under the radar of an admin's purview, i agree with you. however it's on the admins to consider both sides of the story before banning someone, and to use their judgement with the information they have.

in this case, i would still say they're bad admins. and there's some communication gaps here.

we rehash the 'are cliques bad' argument every other month and nothing comes out of it except telling ppl to do better. reach out, plot more, etc. but maybe we should all do some self reflection and consider whether we're embodying the change we want to be, or just waiting for other people to do so.

this is just my observation...

we all rp for fun. at least most of us do :3

if a community isn't welcome, people are going to leave. the issue of 'ghosting' or 'cliques' is not the problem really.

of course we all have a duty to be friendly and welcoming as members. but as much as members can help contribute to the site culture and being apart of the community, it's up to the admins to curate their space and set the standards.

if the admins are going to antagonize their community, people can feel that. if the admins aren't present, people will leave. and if the admins don't manage their community and get rid of bad actors, the community suffers.

i dont want to be reductive, but it's really that simple. if the admins care about their members, plot with them, have empathy, then the cliques and ghosters will be a non issue— because the people who matter will stick around.

just my 2 cents in this convo.

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i've always said that making a site is easy, but building a community is hard. staff rly set the culture of the site imo, if you want an active site, you have to be an active member :3 and if u want to make a very close-knit site, well you have to be friendly and get to know ur members as well. easier said than done but ive seen many sites die just because the admins open a site and don't engage with their members!

my BEST FRIEND, my ride or die, the love of my life. may we continue to train in the dojo under spiral-senpai and his ass eating knowledge <3

(on a serious note...i want to echo what pan said above and to also add on that you don't need to force your members through elaborate systems to build a community. engage with them, talk to them, get to know them as people -- the rest comes easy.)

sorry to double post but i just wanted to comment!

as someone who's also hired ppl i think it's a little dismissive to completely write someone off for one or two fudged questions. what if they're nervous, or what if they're bad at interviewing? and if you keep them for the rest of the interview, you're wasting everyone's time really. that's just...being a decent person imo.

and people are really talented at layouts/templates in the rpc! it's just not enough to compromise the entire skillset of what a graphic designer needs. you really need to consider things like branding & identity, logos, illustrations, and so on. it's like hiring a programmer because you can code templates! it helps, but you need a more varied skillset.

while i don't deny that the industry is tough, there are plenty of ppl who are willing to share their knowledge if you're interested in becoming a good designer!

oh hell yeah, here's what made me a better designer ^-^

books:
the design of everyday things by don norman - intro to design thinking
don't make me think by steve krug - ux (user experience) bible
designing for social change by andrew shea - thinking about designing for social good.
thinking with type by ellen lupton - in-depth look at typography and why it matters
burn your portfolio by michael janda - day to day on the life of a designer. i haven't read this tbh, but i heard it's good!

general:
the futur - discussion on the business end of creative design, especially useful for freelance.
behance and dribbble for design inspo, just don't get too caught up in the aesthetics :3c
daily ui challenge to hone and strengthen ur design skillz. i posted my challenges on instagram and that connected me with the design community at large.
cofolio for great portfolio examples

this is a great way to get started if ur lost. some of these are more for product design than graphic design, but they overlap a lot so it will make u a more well rounded designer. remember that working as a designer isn't as simple as placing pixels, it's also about layout, hierarchy, and understanding your user!! hope it helps ^-^

i don't want to discourage you, but i want to save you some heartache down the road. as someone who works in the design industry, i would not recommend putting rp stuff in your professional portfolio.

they will ask you if you have rights over any art you post in your portfolio, or the graphics you use are under a creative commons license. otherwise, you are plagiarizing and that is a big no-no. but honestly, you should be showing mostly original work in your portfolio, because it is a showcase of your skills, not someone else's. your interviewers will always ask how much of the work you did and what was your role. if you can't answer that, then you will be straight up rejected.

there's plenty of things you can do on your own that you can put in your portfolio, like redesigns or case studies. if you put rp/oc things into your portfolio, just be prepared to explain what it is and your design decisions.

honestly though i would love to see more people in the rpc become designers. happy to provide resources if people would like them!

omg it's nice to meet you welcome to PP 8)

what about jo mama