Author Topic: So the forums have had less activity  (Read 14034 times)

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Offline Turner

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #15 on: August 21, 2012, 18:26 »
I think it's all about the community.

If anyone remembers when bulba had an article on fansites, PKMN.CO.UK was listed and I remember the comment was something like 'While not as robust as the other sites, PKMN.CO.UK has a great community' or something to that effect.

With the namerater and so on, I think community is what brought a lot of people here, not features. Basically, I'd say PKMN.NET has been riding the 'community' wave, and now that people have moved on, that community feeling that drew people here isn't there anymore.

I'd partly blame this on facebook too, lots of other forums all over the internet have seen a major decline in use ever since people started moving to facebook, but it's not the sole problem.

I think there are two ways you can approach this problem:

1) Work severely hard on the content of the site, add guides and do all kinds of things like that, while I'd say we're definitely in need of this regardless; I don't think this will solve all our problems because the simple truth is that more people are used to blocked and bulba for providing a database of information, and even if PKMN.NET got to that level, we'd be no different from them; same info but just jumbled about in a different order.

2) Somehow boost the community. I honestly have no idea how to do this, as there's no certain way to make this happen and the community is dependent on the members anyway. This would be the most difficult thing to do on paper, but I think the results would be more rewarding. Effectively we'd be playing to our strengths, which is never a bad thing.

Content definitely does need to be updated and should be updated, but all I can say is that I don't think that'd make much difference...we need to approach this from a different angle I think. Random suggestions that might be interesting to think about:

-Change the main site layout

-Emphasize the community more, try and get IRC active again...maybe make use of the PKMN.NET youtube account. We were previously known for having a strong community but despite all these new sites and content sharing ways to be social on the internet, we haven't really embraced them that much.

-Focus on the lesser-known side of pokemon, maybe focus on Toys, spin off games, the Pokemon Adventures manga, fanart, cosplay etc. I don't really see the big sites showing much of this stuff off as much, it'd make PKMN.NET a bit more unique if we had a fan submitted cosplay gallery or a place to share old toys you've found on eBay or something.

I'd like to see PKMN.NET go a *little* bit web 2.0, if the community is meant to be the strongest part, we might as well use that to our advantage and allow full community participation.

Offline Lord Raven

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #16 on: August 21, 2012, 19:36 »
To add onto that, assign the Name Rater and Sentret to other people on this site.  Perhaps have a name rater contest where the best name rating gets up on the site.
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Offline Joeno

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #17 on: August 21, 2012, 23:05 »
Let me emphasise this again, as it is worth keeping in mind:

When you say 'Content should be updated', that's not too useful, as the people who'd usually do so aren't going to get the time to do so any time soon. If anything, we are going to have less time available.

Instead, think of it as 'I can update content'.

If you can't, then saying others should isn't too helpful - sure, it might help, but we don't necessarily have the time. For the reasons mentioned earlier, we will focus on The Acid Reflux more instead.
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Offline Turner

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #18 on: August 22, 2012, 00:08 »
Let me emphasise this again, as it is worth keeping in mind:

When you say 'Content should be updated', that's not too useful, as the people who'd usually do so aren't going to get the time to do so any time soon. If anything, we are going to have less time available.

Instead, think of it as 'I can update content'.

If you can't, then saying others should isn't too helpful - sure, it might help, but we don't necessarily have the time. For the reasons mentioned earlier, we will focus on The Acid Reflux more instead.

I'm speaking from a very abstract point of view here, I've read this thread and even before reading I knew that there were constraints on this. I'm talking very generally here, we'd have to break it down into smaller parts like you would with any project.

Offline Hicky

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #19 on: August 24, 2012, 17:42 »
Threads like "what are you doing now?" always elicit responses but they never generate any kind of meaningful discussion. There are loads of other ways of letting people know that kind of information, as well. I say we should have monthly debates, or at least someone should just bring it upon themselves on an unofficial basis to make a monthly thread about something moderately controversial. Other than that, though, I guess PKMN.NET has reached a point of decadence.
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Offline Turner

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #20 on: August 26, 2012, 02:35 »
Well, I'm willing to help out wherever possible - I'd rather not see PKMN.NET die.

Joeno, in what ways can the average member help out? I'm sure there are others out there with the time who are willing to put in some community work, even if it's just making big informative guide threads that can be later made into site-content if necessary.

Offline Joeno

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #21 on: August 26, 2012, 09:14 »
If people feel that content is an issue, then that is probably the best way - make the threads, get them out there, possibly help people correct them. We (probably me) can help a few people and explain how to get these things uploaded. That would (partially) remove us as a bottleneck.

This can apply to other things as well, but with the exception of episode guides, it's difficult to see how to organise it. I can try to help out where I can (certain things are more easily organised through code, such as a list of Pokemon and their dream world abilities), but I'm not really a content writer and would prefer not to be - it feels better to have me coding instead.

A second way would be to help us make TAR a success. As more energy will probably be spent there, we've been wondering whether to 'move' the community there down the line. This is also because there we'd be more comfortable going for a more mature setting (swearing, content and so on) that people have been desiring. Mostly because, well, it's not a Pokemon site.
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Offline sans the skeleton

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #22 on: August 27, 2012, 21:59 »
Well, I'm not one for long posts, but as others have said I miss forum burp, though I understand why you stopped it in the first place.

One of the main reasons why I'm not really a part of the site now though is because some (see: some) of the community has taken to being completely unfriendly and the like, so instead of possibly being banned/being provoked further whilst stressed I just left. Maybe there needs to be more moderation on trolling on the first place? I don't know.

But away from that, This is just one of those sites where it's been around so long that no matter how much you love it, it's not one of those quick access sites (in personal opinion). Then again, it's only like that for me due to two things.

1. My computer is slow.
2. I'm usually searching for move sets/pokemon index entries (which brings me to another site, which has a certain Celebi as it's mascot, or to Smogon) anyway, and the odd time nicknames (which brings me here to the wonderful name rater).

I'm happy for you making an adult side to the forums too, which was in the announcements. Well done, but don't put all of your time on one of the sites :P



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Offline Turner

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #23 on: August 28, 2012, 03:34 »
If people feel that content is an issue, then that is probably the best way - make the threads, get them out there, possibly help people correct them. We (probably me) can help a few people and explain how to get these things uploaded. That would (partially) remove us as a bottleneck.

This can apply to other things as well, but with the exception of episode guides, it's difficult to see how to organise it. I can try to help out where I can (certain things are more easily organised through code, such as a list of Pokemon and their dream world abilities), but I'm not really a content writer and would prefer not to be - it feels better to have me coding instead.

A second way would be to help us make TAR a success. As more energy will probably be spent there, we've been wondering whether to 'move' the community there down the line. This is also because there we'd be more comfortable going for a more mature setting (swearing, content and so on) that people have been desiring. Mostly because, well, it's not a Pokemon site.

We do seem to have a lot of content already...I think perhaps the biggest problem is the layout maybe? I think even then if PKMN.NET was as robust and full of content and info as other sites we would just be doing a remix and a re-jumble of that same information, which I don't think is enough on its own to get more people to come to the site.

I don't want to sound too futile here, because as you know I will do anything to keep this site alive and strong...but I think if we realistically look at a couple of the most well known Pokemon information websites, they pretty much offer everything we have and more. I know there doesn't need to be only 1 site full of information, but I think that the reality is maybe that PKMN.NET is a little bit irrelevant nowadays without the strong community we had before.

I see what you're doing with TAR and it makes sense on paper...but I know that without Pokemon I'm not really interested and I can't be the only one. I don't think shifting the community will do anything but dilute both sites, but that's just my opinion.

My train of thinking is this:

-Site used to be popular for the community
-Community has dried up, bigger and more well-known sites have got most of the Pokemon fanbase and more extensive content to boot.
-Makes most sense to bring back the community (This is difficult and there are no sure-fire ways of doing this) while progressively improving content.

While I haven't been as active on PKMN.NET as I used to be, I've still been interested in Pokemon and I've noticed a shift in the fanbase. Even though the mainstream popularity has gone down, the fanbase itself has grown but instead has fallen into niche interests. Almost everyone seems to play the main series games, but you find some people who are competitive battlers, some people who are more interested in the Anime/Manga, some who prefer the TCG and others who just like the fandom itself and collect fanart, 'pokememes' etc.

I think the situation is like this:

When we got lots of new members, most of them were fans who clung on to pokemon after it's UK popularity had died down. We got more for a few years after that too, but this site has been going almost 10 years now...a lot of new fans to Pokemon won't be interested for that reason, and will instead pick it up because they like J-RPGs or because they're a fan of Japanese culture...I think these people are the people we need to seriously think about accommodating in the future...I think this applies to all Pokemon communities that have been around as long as PKMN.NET.

Offline Lord Raven

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #24 on: August 28, 2012, 05:46 »
One of the main reasons why I'm not really a part of the site now though is because some (see: some) of the community has taken to being completely unfriendly and the like, so instead of possibly being banned/being provoked further whilst stressed I just left. Maybe there needs to be more moderation on trolling on the first place? I don't know.
This is very interesting.  Why not go and talk to the trolls in private and try to reconcile/understand?  Report posts, PM staff members, etc also works.  I don't think this is the reason at all for inactivity, especially since it's rarely happened even recently.
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Offline sans the skeleton

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #25 on: August 28, 2012, 11:51 »
This is very interesting.  Why not go and talk to the trolls in private and try to reconcile/understand?  Report posts, PM staff members, etc also works.  I don't think this is the reason at all for inactivity, especially since it's rarely happened even recently.

I tried to do that in the topic but they continued to troll, so I don't think they'd want me to 'bother' them anymore with a simple PM. (And if my past experience with them has proved anything, they usually then say something like 'lol you gave me a pm that doesnt do anything' in reply then get worse... which is kinda messed up tbh). But it was very nice of you to be mature about it and give me advice, it helps. <3. It's a bit late for me to report and PM staff now though, but if it happens in the future I better do that.

I didn't mean trolling as a whole killed pkmn.net, though (the inactivity) but I'm thinking quite a few (read: not many) members have left due to trolling in the past, but I can't really name any off of the top of my head really because probably... yeah. I know it happened on this site a tiny bit back in 06, but it was (for the most part) forumburp worthy stuff rather than 'lol i h8 you your so quirky for thiz'* stuff, really.

*inb4negativeremarks.

This site though was actually part of the reason why I started RP and foruming in the first place though, so quite a few milestones here and I just love it, you know? It's been here since my first days on the internet. <3



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Offline Turner

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #26 on: August 28, 2012, 16:08 »
I don't think trolling has been THAT bad, maybe drama has been though.

I doubt we will get much drama in the future though, not until PKMN.NET is back to it's original levels of familiarity and activity.

The community has died down if anything, if you're looking for a time to post troll-free this is probably your best opportunity.

Offline Joeno

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #27 on: August 28, 2012, 23:06 »
Two simple arguments:
1. We don't want to do Pokemon. We want to do other stuff. TAR allows for that. If there's no TAR, we'd probably not be doing anything. It's a personal decisions made so we can keep working together. TAR is staying.
2. Changing the main page? All those other changes? See my earlier argument about time. Or rather, the lack of.

Your comments about rules and interesting boards... that's what happening to TAR.

But yeah, no time to do a lot of information work combined with a lack of real Pokemon interest means that TAR is staying and we aren't going to be able to make any large changes for the current site (never mind that I'm not even interested in making some of them)
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Offline Turner

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #28 on: August 28, 2012, 23:37 »
Two simple arguments:
1. We don't want to do Pokemon. We want to do other stuff. TAR allows for that. If there's no TAR, we'd probably not be doing anything. It's a personal decisions made so we can keep working together. TAR is staying.
2. Changing the main page? All those other changes? See my earlier argument about time. Or rather, the lack of.

Your comments about rules and interesting boards... that's what happening to TAR.

But yeah, no time to do a lot of information work combined with a lack of real Pokemon interest means that TAR is staying and we aren't going to be able to make any large changes for the current site (never mind that I'm not even interested in making some of them)

Okay, well I don't have a problem with TAR but I can't see myself using it. That might change, but I guess I fall into the other category of people who still likes Pokemon and would like to see this place grow again.

If you're not going to make any big changes to the site, that means if we as members pretty much only have the forum to work with, right?

I think something that is working against us is that a lot of people in general aren't interested in forums at the moment...I've seen that as a trend all across the internet.

In any case, how much leeway are you willing to give us with regards to forum changes? Is there any point to asking for new boards, ideas relating to the forum etc?

This is just an idea, but it might also be worth creating an official PKMN.NET survey or something so we can tell what kinds of things our current users are most interested in? I'd love to see more stuff geared to the fan artists and Role Players we have here because I think they make up a decent amount of the active userbase...but it'd be nice to ask them anyway.


Offline Richard and Blaziken

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Re: So the forums have had less activity
« Reply #29 on: August 29, 2012, 01:23 »
As has been seen, there is still some interest in Pokemon left here, but all of your posts seem to convey the message of 'PKMN.net's days are numbered, and we intend on ending PKMN.net in the near future'. A lot of us here aren't interested in TAR, but more than that, a lot of us here care about PKMN.net. I've been here for seven years, and the site has changed a lot in that time. Interest in the forums has waned, that much is certain, but perhaps there is a way to get that interest back.

My idea is somewhat of a vague one, but I think it has potential if you keep an open mind. I'm thinking that we may be able to merge our forum community with that of another established Pokemon community. I myself am hesitant about this, but when it seems like your intent is to kill PKMN.net anyway, those of us still interested in the Pokemon side of the community might like a place where PKMN.net's established members can still have a feel of PKMN.net while simultaneously bringing in new members and new life. Of course, we'd have to find the right community to do this with, and that's a bit of work. I don't expect you to do it, Joeno, especially because I'm almost certain that you'll be completely against this, but some of us don't want to be moved to a new community with no focus on Pokemon. I think this is an idea that at least deserves some discussion.
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