When signing up for a new account, you are currently presented with 2 options: "I'm here to create my world" or "I'm here to create my hero." I propose a third option: "I'm here because I'm a fan" or "I'm here to read" or something similar.
Fans/readers of a World Anvil user who are not worldbuilders or players themselves would now have a clearer path during the sign-up process.
This would allow authors and other creatives to bring their audiences from other platforms (social media, etc.) over to World Anvil, increasing engagement and expanding the community.
And once the readers are here, there is the opportunity for them to be exposed to other writers and creators whose work they might love.
None that I envision.
I agree though there is nothing stopping someone from getting a world anvil account and just being a reader or fan, nothing forces them to create and accounts are free, but you have my support either way
I love this idea. To bring our worlds and creativity an audience, I think it's important to open the door to more fans.
this would be very awesome! Many people create accounts just so that they can like and follow creators they love. this way, they won't be intimidated into not creating an account due to all the overwhelming pressure of creating something UPFRONT themselves, although they can still have the option to later if they feel inspired to do so. thanks for sharing this! God bless.
I think it's a great idea (speaking as an author who's working towards being able to monetise). I also think it would be good for a fan/reader account to have an option of switching to a different kind of account, if they start off as a reader and get inspired!
This here is a little tricky, and while I love where the idea is coming from, I dont think this is going to go over that well. I vote yes merely because I want to be able to grow and monetize my work, but from where I am right this second (someone who is part of the community to engage with other writers and participate in competitions) this could dangerously skew an already bloated voting system. Imagine an author with a hundred or maybe even a thousand fans, many of whom with accounts. These fans could vote for the author that brought them, leading to increased difficulty in making shortlists and making those shortlists even less "peer reviewed," if you will, then they already are. Alot of people might be upset with this fact. Now, arguably, this is already a potential problem, as anyone can sign up and vote but it's something to consider when implementing the feature. I still love the feature idea and something like this would be awesome to have!
It is awkward sending my Patreons to read the WA manuscripts and asking them to make a Worldbuilder's account.
I think this is a great feature. You could also have it set up that a fan/reader account could become a worldbuilder or Role-player, but honestly it is super easy to make an account that the only reason for not doing so would be if you have a paid account and I don't see any reason for a fan/Reader becoming a paid account.
Agree with some of the others that this is an absolutely vital component if WA wants to position itself as a tool for Authors. Fans,especially those who are gaining perks from a potential patreon tier or otherwise, would want a streamlined process to create an account and immediate gain access to the author's world instead of being forced through creating a world/hero in a process they don't entirely understand.
Totally agree. I'm working on building out a couple worlds in WA and would love to share them with my family and friends who /aren't/ writers/worldbuilders/creators without them feeling like they have to set up an actual worldbuilding account. I would find it easier to share if I knew my people would be able to set up a simplified account instead of the full worldbuilding interface. I know WA is set up to BE a worldbuilding tool, but I think more people are wanting to share their worlds with non-participating parties and a fan/reader account type could help.
As mentioned, this is great way for those of us who have accounts to (show off) share WA with friends dynamically; "You wanna see my cool worldbuilding? Hell yeah, just make a free account it takes like 2 minutes!"
This fits most of our subscriber base best. Thanks for the suggestion.
I ran into confusion and dislike from my latest experience when trying to get people to make a free account to read my work. This seems like a great idea.
I'm 100% in! With that option implemented it would be easier for people to sign up to learn more about the world.
Makes perfect sense! It can be daunting to create an account with an unfamiliar platform, especially when it looks like you're not part of the target group. A "fan/reader" option would make it clear that freemen who only read and like stuff are every bit as welcome as the worldbuilders and roleplayers.
Just adding my voice to the chorus for those of us who are monetizing our WA content. I feel that a fan/reader account option is desperately needed. I don't want to discourage people from getting involved in WA's other amazing features, and i think it's a good idea to keep the worldbuilding or RPG playing options available to every WA member, but yeah, we really need fan onboarding. Thanks :)
Anything to improve the author/reader experience is a must. In my opinion, this site is still to RPG-centric and treats authors as though they are an afterthought.
This could also be a really great addition for players of campaigns who don't use the hero system to manage their characters. My group of players is quite old-school and everyone is on paper character sheets and journals, but they do enjoy reading the WA content I make for them. This would be a good middle ground to create an account quickly so I can add them to subscriber groups easily etc.
In addition, account creation of this manner should be possible directly from socials (google, twitter, insta, etc). This way, a creator could share an article on twitter, the user can click over, instantly create an account from their twitter (or other socials), and then like/follow/participate in comments.
Yes! This would be a great option for readers that want to be in subscriber groups and don't need hero or builder accounts.
Anything that makes it easier for non-creator readers to follow their favorite worldbuilders and authors is also an improvement for worldbuilders and authors seeking to grow their fanbase. ESPECIALLY those seeking to monetize their work. Right now it *is* confusing for people who just want to read and access subscriber content. I know this is a suggestion that has been mentioned frequently as a future intention. Would love to have this officially added to the to do list.
I think anything that helps get users from outside of WorldAnvil to sign up and read things is great!