Byblos-rp.net

The last update on the site was January 27, 2012, and it appears to be inactive.

Byblos-RP
Byblos (www.byblos-rp.net), originally named Masque, is a role-playing site which caters to any form of user; be it furry, human, xeno, mythos or any other form of being. The site allows both 18 over and under users entry; though the under 18s are verified and blocked off from any and all adult content which may befall their eyes. The site allows artwork posting, role-playing and general discussion between members of various backgrounds, through both use of the forum boards and the AJAX chat.

Set up by Kaj, Errant and Ikari in 2010, the site came into existance toward the end of Furry-Within prior to it's regeneration. The site was lifted into existence after Kaj and Ikari - who all had experience both in running and trying to revive dying role play websites - concluded that there was a distinct lack of role-play websites that were furry-friendly enough. Prior to the setting up, both had been in talks of setting up a website which would incorporate these factors. These discussions began after the merger of Yiffy.net with Yiffy.tk, and had continued through after the pair took up position as the Furry-Within admin. Concluding that they had ran other sites long enough, both decided they wanted to bring their own site into existence and run it from start to finish. After further talks, the two asked Errant to join on and be a part of the site as an admin. An offer which he accepted.

Site Opening: Alpha, Beta, Gold
Byblos was opened on 2009 under an invite only policy. The very early stages had been testing which were ran on Kaj's personal website. This included only a group of friends as well as the three admin to test the ideas out and begin working out a process. Members were required to match the 18 over age limit.

On April 2010, Byblos entered Beta mode. The site gained it's own URL rather than just being a part of a personal site. Here, the members were still required to be both 18 and over as well as invited by a current member, confirmed after the staff considered if they wanted the invitee to be a part of the community. The site became less niched, however, as more people were allowed entry. This started off the site growth, drawing in multiple members from Furry-Within, Yiffy.net, newly formed Yiffy.tk and the occasional from the FurAffinity forums, provided they cleared the staff's approval.

This was the process which ran for several months, before being altered in January 2011, after concluding it was holding the site back, changing instead to an open doors policy. After further talks, the site workings were once again altered to allow both 18 unders and 18 overs onto the site, with 18 overs being given access to all areas including the adult sections. 18 unders are restricted from viewing any adult role-playing sections or adult artwork. Now in the gold stages, the site continues to build on it's user base, inviting as many new recruits as possible to join in as well as promoting members working together to create role-plays.

The Alpha testing site was brought offline by Kaj in February 2011.

Staffing
Taryn Crimson joined the site staff as Tech Admin at the start of the limited Beta, and was responsible for the site's initial setting up and bug-stomping. Not long before Byblos-RP eventually went live, Taryn left his position by mutual consent due to the site's technical issues moving beyond a level he was comfortable tinkering with. He was in time replaced by TigerPaw, who had some experience of working with the admin team from their time on Yiffy.net, when he had been both their part-time tech admin and the owner of the site's host server. However, owing to the busyness of his primary occupation, TigerPaw's available time to work on the site is limited and the site staff are currently looking for a full-time, long-term solution to their technical needs.

In preparation for the site's anticipated go-live date, the Byblos-RP admin announced that they would be accepting applications for the role of Moderator, with the successful applicants being Cheshire Cat, Daughters of the Moon and Thalassa, who were all promoted together to help deal with the influx of issues and work that the site's opening would herald.

Not long after this, and owing in part to the busy life schedules of the existing staff, a further moderator vacancy was noticed, with the site admin keen to have a younger member with more free-time join the team. Arai was deemed the most promising of the applicants and so also joined the team as a moderator.

Site Features
Byblos offers a number of features for it's members to use so that they may enjoy the experience more. Besides the role-play and discussion boards, the site features an AJAX chat, which can be used by any signed up member so that they may become involved in on-site live chat with both staff and other members. This includes a private message feature which allow members to discreetly interact while on the chat.

On the forum, the site features an Ultimate Profile feature. This allows members to added sectioned information in categories, as well as adding music and video, comments, on forum friend adds and picture uploads; all of which can be viewed through a members forum profile.

Otherwise, Byblos hosts multi-member voice chats on Skype, which often results in a mix of awkward silence and much hilarity.