Defibrillating the forum

[Mizel]

I, too, would like to see this place get back to where it was when I joined. I've heard stories about how active and awesome it was at one point in time (some time before I joined). I think I came in at the end of that. For the past few months (hell, maybe even more than that at this point) I've kind of done the same thing that BobTD said: just kind of stopped coming here without realizing it. Before that I was trying to really hard to remain active, post things that were relevant and create new threads when I thought of something interesting to share. After awhile I kind of gave up posting because it seemed pointless due to the fact that there are so few active/new members and they'd rarely get replies or views anyways :/

I do agree with BobTD about the overall mood of the forums at times. To be honest, when I first joined I sort of quit coming at first because of how some people acted. I was PM'd by someone who asked why I stopped coming. I explained to them why and they basically told me to just ignore those people and come back. I took their advice and came back. Over time, most of the members that brought the mood down stopped posting. But even more recently there are times when I read stuff that's been posted on here and think to myself, "Wow, if I was a new member or someone considering joining... I wouldn't ever come back." I realize that with a forum comes all sorts of different people, different opinions, different lifestyles and ways of expressing yourself. I also realize that we (well, most of us) aren't children and don't need someone to tell us when we're 'being mean,' but I think that mood/tone should be monitored and anyone bringing it down should at least get a PM explaining the situation.

Lastly, what I love most about this forum is the fact that it is smaller. With huge forums, everyone kind of seems to meld into one giant blob. Posts and threads gets missed and overlooked. It's overwhelming. There is less opportunity to connect with and get to know everyone on a personal level. I've made a lot of friends on this forum and still keep in contact with most of them despite the fact that they don't post here anymore.

Anyway, I'd love to see this place get back up and running at full speed. I am totally willing to help out with whatever is needed to make that happen

[BobTD]

I have to say, I'm a big fan of the idea of bringing more life in to this forum. I've joined since the glory days have past but what remains is still really good. I've looked at a lot of forum communities and this is the only one that isn't filled with jerks. It's a small community but those that remain are good. I'd be happy to help out. My general forum lurking grounds are League of Legends, Neverwinter topics, and Computer Support.

A thought that might help generate a bigger community. More team oriented forums. We're all gamers here and many of us play the same games but how many of us actually interact with each other in game? It might start helping the forum be noticed in games. I realize it wouldn't apply to every game but say a "Gamers-Forum" guild on Neverwinter (Maybe a different MMO? I don't think many on here besides me play much Neverwinter). Make every instance of it in game a team that is friendly, helpful and about the person not necessarily skill level.

If this idea is considered a good one I'll gladly kick one off on Neverwinter provided there are other members on there to get it started and start spreading the word. You have to have 5 to initiate a guild. I would need 3 more.

I have neverwinter installed on both my computers and wouldnt mind playing it a bit, but I fear I dont have the ability to focus on one game for very long. The ideas you have are actually really good. Maybe a group that centers around getting together and trying new games with members fromt he community. You can base a PC group on meeting certain days on the voice chat servers this forum (hopefully still) has. We have a TS server right? You can do the same thing with Xbox parties and Playstation groups.

Sounds like a great way to game with other people and get to know them.

I agree with a lot of what you said, but you don't have to be a mod to post new topics. I've been apart of a lot of forums and very rarely do the mods create the majority of threads. It's hard for a few people to keep up on EVERY game coming out and new stuff about it; especially if what they're posting they're not even interested in. It's the community as a whole that keeps up current news about games, if each person creates threads as they find news about their favorite games then the forum would be a lot more active. People shouldn't feel like they need a special label just to create threads. A mod or non-mod can create as many threads as they like; their isn't a limit. Every member should feel they can contribute to the forum as much as they can or would like to.

IMO, the forum mainly needs active posters. New threads about current hot trends is what brings people to the forum. People search for something on google and click links to read about games they want to get. The more threads we have about new games, the easier people searching in google or bing can find us.

There are some smaller things as well, definitely still a lot of bugs that haven't been fixed since the vB upgrade. As you said, the layout could be changed, it's been the same since I've joined 5 or 6 years ago. The main thing is just activity though, the more active our current members are, the more likely that new members will join and start posting as well.

I understand the problem is a lack of active posters. But the problem wont fix itself. A more active forum would have a natural influx of new membebs and topics naturally created by member activity. That was the case here as well for a long time.

It clearly is not the case right now.

My suggestions about creating a support team of mods that generate enough content to stir the forum back into activy is a much better plan than "we need active posters". You stated the problem not the solution. This is how we incentivse active posters to check the board and become more active.

Mods do not need to keep up on every new game, just the ones they are interested in. But giving people a title and place in the community, like mod status is an incentive for those members to contribute to the forum. Who doesnt like to feel included? If simply giving an active member a status might be a solution you are better off trying it than hoping active members will just start showing up and posting, the worst thing would be to keep staff members to an exclusive friends list. It doesnt make sense.

Mods powers can be limited from the admin panel and should, and mod status should be fairly easily obtained by anyone who is enthusiastic about maintaining an active forum. After you see a significant increase in forum activity, mods wont even be able to keep up with an active forums content. Maybe thats why you dont see that on active forums.

[LiNuX]

Then we may want to reincorporate the GF Rookie, Member, and Vets again a different way.

Mod powers can't be that limited, they only have a few things that they can do, give infractions, ban users, move/edit/close threads, and that's about it. So I can't limit that for mods, in this forum software, the Moderator role is pretty specific. So that's why I think we need to use the usergroups that we already have created and use those as incentives rather than using the moderator group as one.

The staff members is definitely not an exclusive friends list. Goes for all positions, not just mods. And it won't become that way.

[BobTD]

Then we may want to reincorporate the GF Rookie, Member, and Vets again a different way.

Mod powers can't be that limited, they only have a few things that they can do, give infractions, ban users, move/edit/close threads, and that's about it. So I can't limit that for mods, in this forum software, the Moderator role is pretty specific. So that's why I think we need to use the usergroups that we already have created and use those as incentives rather than using the moderator group as one.

The staff members is definitely not an exclusive friends list. Goes for all positions, not just mods. And it won't become that way.

I actually did not know that. The forums I worked on code wise let me specify users groups and select specific actions they could take, all the way up to custom groups with admin powers. In that case your right usergroups with no mod powers might be the next best thing.

[Imperial_Kade]

A thought that might help generate a bigger community. More team oriented forums. We're all gamers here and many of us play the same games but how many of us actually interact with each other in game? It might start helping the forum be noticed in games.

Ill be happy to play with anyone online so add me on steam!

Imperial_Kade

We need a Elder Scrolls Online guild Yeah I would Definiently join!

[Jayhmmz]

I think if the forum had more me, then a lot of the problems would be solved.

[EpsilonX]

I believe I may have said this elsewhere on the forum already, but I may as well say it again just in case. I believe a big reason for the decline of this site is the decline of forums in general. I think a big part of this is Facebook. Facebook has become sort of an internet hub where people go to do just about anything, play games, communicate with friends, advertise things, or even post in groups. Groups and pages seem to have taken over forums as the place to go to discuss things like this, with the exception being forums that have a website attached to them. Review websites such as Highdefdigest and Gamespot, a shopping site such as Amazon, or even a site like Gaiaonline, all have a purpose other than simply being a forum.

What i'm trying to say is, with what kinds of websites are popular now (Facebook, Reddit) there isn't as much room/need for forums in themselves, and all the big ones left I can think of are attached to some other sort of website.

Maybe if there was more Facebook integration, it would run better. Is there an official GF Facebook page and/or group?

I will also share the story of another forum I joined for about a month and then quit. I was browsing the IMDB boards for the Friday the 13th movies and came across somebody trying to spread the word about a horror-themed forum. I joined up because I thought it was interesting and quickly learned how close-knit the forum was, to the point where it was almost inaccessible. It was poorly organized (I suggested a re-organization, which they actually implemented, and it looks MUCH better now) and poorly ran, and everybody seemed stuck in their own ways. I would come and post opinions that would dissent from some of the opinions of a few members there, and they would constantly argue against it. It got really old, and I felt like I couldn't express myself there and stopped going.

Basically, make sure the community is welcoming. I'm not saying it's not, just...make sure it is haha.

Edit: Was just thinking...if we made a Facebook group/page for the forum, people might simply head over there instead. Who knows

[BobTD]

You make a few excelent points. What you are saying is true, people do connect more online and forums are declining.But does not spell doom for forums. Most of that actually works to our advantage in several ways if we think about it:

-There are more people online than ever, who like social media.
-There are more ways to get online and stay connected (phones, tables, computers even in game browsers)
-most social media (like facebook) keeps you in touch with friends, but there are few places better than a forum to meet new people with similar interests.

Facebook is more of a continuous wall of images and "make me feel better" mood updates. What a forum can offer is much more interesting environment in several ways.

What everyone is saying about having a welcoming and friendly community is true. We need to create a place where people can talk about common interests on a deeper level, and a place that is consciously aware that it needs to be welcoming. And also as a forum those members that make up its core need to go out of their way to express interest in what others are posting if they can.

Forums are struggling, but if we worked at it there is no reason we could not take off in a big way.

[paecmaker]

I would love to see this forum get more active again. Sadly I can say I havent been as active as I used to be and its been over 10 days since last I posted something.

[Knibbler]

I've found myself coming back to this place, I would not mind at all posting in threads, and I can try to post a new thread a day or something.
I'd love to see this place come back. I miss it

Same as what Samus has said.. I've found myself coming back to the forum and I would love to return to the level of activity I had before, revive the graphics section.. Carry on bringing everyone the latest steam deals..
But something about this site no longer likes me, I'm hoping that my activity today is the start of something great as this is only the second time in the last year or so that the site has actually loaded for me..
I've tried looking at it with Linux, but we've found no reason why the site isn't loading..
Still, lets pray for a comeback.
I too, much like Samus, miss this place.