I feel like you should do an interest check, as anxiety inducing as it is, it could give you a good grasp on how people feel! I wish you the best of luck!! /gen
Calling CS owners / consistent CS goers.
First off I should state I am semi-new to closed species.
I've been in a few that have died off pretty damn quick, so I don't know my way around them too well.
I have a CS I would like to launch. I've been working on it, on and off, for the better part of a few years (since 2021).
It is not complete, there's still some work to do trait wise.
But I'm making this post to see if this is something I should even consider because I am extremely on the fence about this.
I'm just voicing my thoughts and concerns in the hopes that someone understands, and can give me input.
Please be kind and gentle when giving advice and input. <3
I am confident that people would enjoy and like the species.
Which is why I would like to launch it.
MY problem I've noticed is that my fixation for art is extremely fickle. Due to me being autistic and ADHD - there are days where I draw every day. And months where I would not draw a single thing. And this has affected the progress I've made on my CS.
I am also not the kind of person to post content very day, let alone every week. I am not consistent in that way.
I know that CS communities should be active, and that is something I struggle with.
I know if I do officially launch the CS - I would need mods / help right away. And I know that can be a tricky thing to handle.
I don't post regular adopts so I know the CS would also not get regular adopts from me. I know guest artists can help with that, but I don't want to hire any right away either.
Because of all of this it has left me very nervous to attempt to launch or even show case the CS I have in mind, just to not let anyone down/disappoint with whatever hype they might get from seeing them. And then nothing happens because I burn out to quick from managing it all and leave everyone disappointed.
I would not consider letting my CS being completely open or semi-open.
I MIGHT consider them being semi-closed, but it would take a hefty amount of back and forth for me to do that.
And I'm not entirely sure what that all entails either.
WITH ALL THAT in mind.... is it reasonable for me to launch my CS? Should I hold back on it? Should I not launch it at all? Should I test the waters and put up a interest thread for them for shits n giggles and see how it goes?
What are you guys' opinion. I need to know. lol.
cs owner, directory runner, and participant in over 50 species
Here's the thing: a CS needs community management. It needs things for its members to do. And since this is your passion project, you are always going to be the number one person most invested in this. People feed off that passion, and that is truer for no one more than it's true for your potential staff. Nothing kills a CS faster than an inactive owner. A cs IS a lot of work, and many new owners aren't prepared for that. I have seen the cycle countless times of: an owner launches a cs -> they never planned beyond the launch -> the cs isn't as big/active as they hoped, so they get discouraged -> they quit before month 3.
I think it's really important to take a candid look at what running a CS entails, and to know where your strengths and weaknesses are. There's adopts, but then there's the masterlist, approvals, inventory management, events, lore, is there a discord, is there an in-species currency (does that mean theres a shop?). Will you become demotivated if few people join? (What counts as 'few' to you?) Will you become overwhelmed if too many people join? (What counts as 'too many' for you?) What will you do if you don't get any staff able to help? Can you run it by yourself?
If you can candidly answer these questions, then you can structure your CS around it. For example, if monthly prompts/events are too much work for you, then you can do them seasonally and announce that from the get-go, setting people's expectations accordingly.
But in my opinion, from what you've said, it sounds as if an open species would suit you much better. OS are far more freeform. They tend to have less community, but they are much more lowkey to run. Sporadic activity is more expected in an OS, and even in an OS, you can require approvals.