Gaming Forum...

by **bob8972** Sat Jul 10, 2010 9:49 pm

...is slowly dying...

I mean what is this? Whatever happened to the activeness of the forum? I mean do you guys remember when the forum was active? I remember waking up and having a bunch of new posts for me to read and to reply to. But now...even during the summer, everybody is just...gone. What happened to everybody?

First off I want a new skin, but Fred is busy doing, probably inappropriate things to himself like we all do, and is just busy. But I would like a new skin some time. I mean I have a small feeling that it is this current skin that BoJangles made. It's not that bad, I think it's ok, but it feels like this is a reason why people don't want to join Gaming Forum.

Second, I mean nobody, no matter how much I advertise, nobody ever wants to join the forum. I used to advertise by saying, "Do you like video game forums?", the person would say yes or no, if yes I would ask them if they want to join Gaming Forum, they say yes, I give them a link to Gaming Forum, that used to work. 50% of the time that would work, now, it's about 10% of the time it works. But that obviously does not work anymore for reasons I don't know why. Now I tried a different approach and just straight up telling people about Gaming Forum in detail,

Spoiler:

There was some other forum I used to be active on, and one of the Administrators on it would just send random people a message describing their forum, and that person got over 600+ people to join by doing that, I mean it was a forum that was made using one of those $100 programs, but still that is a lot of people to ask to join. I thought that would work...but it doesn't look like anybody is interested which kind of gets me down.

Third, this "custom domain" is obviously not working. Acdude said, "Dude trust me if you have a custom domain, you will be dealing with posting traffic and you will see more members and posts." It has been 2 weeks, where is all of these members and posts I was promising? Did I waste 20 dollars for nothing?

Fourth, April 2009- August 2009 was the most active Gaming Forum ever was. I liked that, I thought, "Man these people really seem to like this forum a lot, I can see this forum getting big and popular in no time." Then school came along and I was like, "Well people are obviously focusing on school, and might still get on but education is important. I know people are going to get on a lot on weekends, and vacations." Not as many people got on as I expected got on, but people still got on. Then, as the school year drew closer to ending I said, "I can't wait for summer. I don't have to study anymore (besides for Driver's Ed), less stuff to worry about, I get to go on a vacation, video games, sleeping more, relaxing, and since everybody is going to be done with school, people are going to go on Gaming Forum more since they have less stuff to worry about." ...Is it just me, or was Gaming Forum more active during the school year then this summer?

Fifth, nobody cares about anything I have to offer. Nobody is voting on the Rank polls, nobody uses their points for anything, nobody likes the Battle Arena, nobody likes anything. I have a feeling that Acdude is just wasting his time with the medals. Everything I do to try to make everybody's Gaming Forum experience more fun...stuff just gets turned down and not used. Why make medals? You guys don't care about them as I can tell, even if you say you look forward to them, you aren't going to see what medals you have, you aren't going to become a medal watcher to help me out to see who has done what to get a medal. What was I thinking about making medals when they won't be used. Plus especially now, I mean nobody is even on to check the damn things so there is no point. Also, why do I have the feeling that even though the first Lottery drawing had quite a few people buying tickets and was actually a success, nobody is going to buy tickets anymore?

Sixth, what happened guys? You used to be SO active, those were the days...then pffft, you just started becoming less and less active until some of you stopped coming on completely. I know you are busy, everybody is busy, I can be busy, but I still find my time to go on Gaming Forum. Are you guys seriously, besides sleeping, doing something 24/7? Especially the fact that you guys have time to go on Facebook and such, but you can't drag your cursor to open another tab and go on Gaming Forum? When I used to not go on Gaming Forum for a day, it was crazy how many new posts they had, so much time to read all of the posts that you guys made, I loved it! But now, I don't go on Gaming Forum for a day, and there is only...what 5-20 new posts...what happened to all of the new posts I would log on to see. It's just sad now.

This just gets me kind of down because Gaming Forum is kind of important to me. I have been running this forum for over 2 years, and I love running my own forum and having people go on it. All I have been through, all I have done, all I worked for, all I planned on to make this forum keep running, and now...I think it is just slowly kicking the bucket.

Now the purpose of this topic being made is so I can just ask all of you, no matter what the suggestion is and please don't hesitate answering, to answer this one single question.

What do you think we need to do or change to save Gaming Forum from dying?

~bob

by MarioandLuigi Sat Jul 10, 2010 11:14 pm

I don't really have an answer

but I can see why you're down, and for that I will try to be more active here, I've been neglecting the forums I used to be obsessed with, but no more!

by **silksofsweden** Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:03 am

what can i say. i dont know why gf dies

by CapnMatt Sun Jul 11, 2010 2:40 am

Yeah..
You pretty much did spend $20 on nothing..
But anyways. I see why your down. If I made a website and no one went on I'd be pretty sad too.
Get rid of the Battle Arena for sure? But it's weird? Whenever Im on. No one else is on...

by Code Seven Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:13 pm

I understand where james is coming from but i am guilty of inactiveness because i've recently joined the student body of my school which has me going to school anyway during summer to do stuff and plus me and my parents or vacation constantly which hinders my ability to be active but with regards to posting only in randomness i too am guilty of that and i'm very sorry. however what happened to the ppl like Jacinta? Allen? FlamSw0rd? and i hate to say this but crazy cuz you have to admit because of crazy us forumers united to just kick him out good times....but i too am wondering, where is everyone? whenever i do go on nobody's often online.

by **silksofsweden** Sun Jul 11, 2010 1:45 pm

what can we do to piff this up and get tons of members

by **bob8972** Sun Jul 11, 2010 9:00 pm

kiruto wrote:what can we do to piff this up and get tons of members

That's why I made this topic to ask you guys...not for you to ask me...

If you want to reply, actually have a suggestion or explanation of something please.

by **pikachumasterbrad12** Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:29 am

Im actually signed onto Gaming Forum technically almost all day depending if my friends are over my house or if I go over their's. The reason why im on all the time is I wait to see if anyone is gonna reply to anything. I might not be at my computer screen, but im still signed in. A hour later four people are online, no replies later. Now its night time no more replies since I last replied to ANYTHING and people are actually coming on here.

by **bob8972** Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:35 am

I'm going to try to reconnect with everybody to see what I can do :/

by **pikachumasterbrad12** Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:38 am

What do you mean reconnect?

by **bob8972** Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:43 am

What don't I mean by reconnect?

When I say that, I am going to individually send each old active member a PM asking them where they have been, and if they want to come back to Gaming Forum. Let's just cross our fingers now and hope we get some members back and running.

by <MCS> Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:19 am

Umm...well, I think I'll start recruiting people, maybe that will help.

by **bob8972** Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:55 am

wrote:Umm...well, I think I'll start recruiting people, maybe that will help.

You can try, I will be most humble.

by **silksofsweden** Tue Jul 13, 2010 2:20 pm

it could work. lets try. i have faith in you

by Code Seven Wed Jul 14, 2010 12:31 am

here's hoping it'll work for the sake of our forum

by Segamaniac Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:01 am

I'd say it's worth a shot. We need to get more people on here.

by **bob8972** Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:16 am

Ok let us just save replies for suggestions for now on.

by Fred Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:35 am

Well, seeing as you're really sad, I might as well be honest and give you the real reasons this forum is dying.

#1: You base EVERYTHING on post count. The leadership of this forum is not even comprised of leaders, but spam posters *COUGH*silks*cough*. You need to start promoting some active but reliable people, not just whoever will boost the site's post count.

#2: You are limited with the software you have on this forum. You are currently running the forum on an open source editing program, meaning you can't add new features or anything to really set your forum apart from the rest. Now I understand you would never be able to afford a real software because you are still young, but here's an example of a good program. http://www.vbulletin.com/

#3: Your age and maturity. I know you like to think you are doing a good job leading the forum, but honestly you aren't ready for an all-out forum. As I said before, you are still young, as are many of the members here. It takes older, more experienced people to properly run a forum with boundaries and limitations. You said the forum used to be large, but from what I can see it never really was. The most people who have ever been online at the same time are 19. That's cool and all, but that's NOTHING.

You just can't really make a true forum without money, maturity, and software.

People want a creative forum, not one with freeware software that bends the rules for certain members and gives promotions based on posts.

And that my friends, is the ugly truth.

by **pikachumasterbrad12** Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:57 am

Another reason I think no one wants to post here is PURE LAZINESS of other people.

by **bob8972** Fri Jul 16, 2010 3:05 am

Fred wrote:Well, seeing as you're really sad, I might as well be honest and give you the real reasons this forum is dying.

#1: You base EVERYTHING on post count. The leadership of this forum is not even comprised of leaders, but spam posters *COUGH*silks*cough*. You need to start promoting some active but reliable people, not just whoever will boost the site's post count.

#2: You are limited with the software you have on this forum. You are currently running the forum on an open source editing program, meaning you can't add new features or anything to really set your forum apart from the rest. Now I understand you would never be able to afford a real software because you are still young, but here's an example of a good program. http://www.vbulletin.com/

#3: Your age and maturity. I know you like to think you are doing a good job leading the forum, but honestly you aren't ready for an all-out forum. As I said before, you are still young, as are many of the members here. It takes older, more experienced people to properly run a forum with boundaries and limitations. You said the forum used to be large, but from what I can see it never really was. The most people who have ever been online at the same time are 19. That's cool and all, but that's NOTHING.

You just can't really make a true forum without money, maturity, and software.

People want a creative forum, not one with freeware software that bends the rules for certain members and gives promotions based on posts.

And that my friends, is the ugly truth.

1. I see what you mean, silks, I will have a talk with you through PM.

2. That would be nice to have a vBulletin forum...but I am NOT going to pay over $100-$200 just to run a forum, that's crazy. But I do notice that vBulletin forums are usually active.

3. When I say that it was large, it was more active before than now. Also, when Gaming Forum was first made, I didn't know how to run a forum. But I have learned and is still learning. Just because a program is free, doesn't mean it sucks. Would you rather pay $200 for something, or nothing at all? Forumotion isn't bad, but isn't the best forum hosting software around. Some forumotion forums, not ones I'm part of but have seen are pretty big. Not all of them, but some are popular. Gaming Forum is more used than other forumotion forums I have seen before. But I don't want to spend a whole lot of money on something, I mean I don't have a job, I'm 15 for Christ sake, and my allowence is $10 a week, sometimes more my mom likes to give me money. Plus there's a bunch of games I am saving up for, a trip to Washington D.C., a Flip phone, and the last thing I want to spend my money on is a forum software. But yes, it may look like I don't take things seriously a lot, and since I have made Gaming Forum...I am too pussy, there I said, too pussy to take charge in the rules. I give people to many damn chances, and is sarcastic way to much. I mean it's not like joking around here and there is bad, but I need to take running a site seriously for once. I have said, "I'm going to take the rules more seriously now." Do you know how many times I have said that and did nothing? This time...I think I really need to take charge.

But sadly, everything you said was right.

by Fred Fri Jul 16, 2010 3:22 am

bob8972 wrote:
1. I see what you mean, silks, I will have a talk with you through PM.

2. That would be nice to have a vBulletin forum...but I am NOT going to pay over $100-$200 just to run a forum, that's crazy. But I do notice that vBulletin forums are usually active.

3. When I say that it was large, it was more active before than now. Also, when Gaming Forum was first made, I didn't know how to run a forum. But I have learned and is still learning. Just because a program is free, doesn't mean it sucks. Would you rather pay $200 for something, or nothing at all? Forumotion isn't bad, but isn't the best forum hosting software around. Some forumotion forums, not ones I'm part of but have seen are pretty big. Not all of them, but some are popular. Gaming Forum is more used than other forumotion forums I have seen before. But I don't want to spend a whole lot of money on something, I mean I don't have a job, I'm 15 for Christ sake, and my allowence is $10 a week, sometimes more my mom likes to give me money. Plus there's a bunch of games I am saving up for, a trip to Washington D.C., a Flip phone, and the last thing I want to spend my money on is a forum software. But yes, it may look like I don't take things seriously a lot, and since I have made Gaming Forum...I am too pussy, there I said, too pussy to take charge in the rules. I give people to many damn chances, and is sarcastic way to much. I mean it's not like joking around here and there is bad, but I need to take running a site seriously for once. I have said, "I'm going to take the rules more seriously now." Do you know how many times I have said that and did nothing? This time...I think I really need to take charge.

But sadly, everything you said was right.

#1: Okay, I'll be on the lookout. I realize there aren't too many to pick from for staff positions, and if that means only having 1-2 reliable mods, so be it.

#2: Aye, I know what you mean, but I was just pointing out the fact that it would help immensely. I've attempted to make a skin on the forummotion software, and it's close to impossible. It could be done, but I don't think it would really help things much, because you can only customize so much in the skin.

#3: You are right, the forum is VERY successful for being on such a low budget, I'll give you that. But I definitely do think you need to crack down on the rules more. People come in here, see how all the other members act like it's okay to go off topic or swear, then they go ahead and do the same. The chain will just continue on and on. You need to take charge and let people know that the rules are there to be followed, not to be treated as a loose set of guidelines that you can choose or choose not to follow based on your mood that day.

by **bob8972** Fri Jul 16, 2010 3:44 am

Fred wrote:
#1: Okay, I'll be on the lookout. I realize there aren't too many to pick from for staff positions, and if that means only having 1-2 reliable mods, so be it.

#2: Aye, I know what you mean, but I was just pointing out the fact that it would help immensely. I've attempted to make a skin on the forummotion software, and it's close to impossible. It could be done, but I don't think it would really help things much, because you can only customize so much in the skin.

#3: You are right, the forum is VERY successful for being on such a low budget, I'll give you that. But I definitely do think you need to crack down on the rules more. People come in here, see how all the other members act like it's okay to go off topic or swear, then they go ahead and do the same. The chain will just continue on and on. You need to take charge and let people know that the rules are there to be followed, not to be treated as a loose set of guidelines that you can choose or choose not to follow based on your mood that day.

1. I always thought about MCS...if that makes him happy but he looks like Moderator material.

2. Really? What do you mean by "limited"?

3. I know you have a point, I need to actually take charge for once.

by Fred Fri Jul 16, 2010 5:22 am

bob8972 wrote:
1. I always thought about MCS...if that makes him happy but he looks like Moderator material.

2. Really? What do you mean by "limited"?

3. I know you have a point, I need to actually take charge for once.

#1: I personally don't know him, but if he seems good enough for you, you should go with your gut feeling. This is a part of the whole taking charge thing I was talking about. You have to be able to make decisions on your own and do what YOU think would be best for your site.

#2: There were a lot of buttons and graphics that I wasn't able to change. You could only do minor modifications to a default theme that they provide. Maybe we could work together, you and I, I could make the graphics that we are able to change, and you could change them on the site.
Just an idea.

#3: Good! Thank you for being responsible for this, you're already on your way to being a better leader. You were able to see that there is a problem, which is more than I can say for most of the people I know.

by <MCS> Fri Jul 16, 2010 5:44 am

Fred wrote:Well, seeing as you're really sad, I might as well be honest and give you the real reasons this forum is dying.

#1: You base EVERYTHING on post count. The leadership of this forum is not even comprised of leaders, but spam posters *COUGH*silks*cough*. You need to start promoting some active but reliable people, not just whoever will boost the site's post count.

#2: You are limited with the software you have on this forum. You are currently running the forum on an open source editing program, meaning you can't add new features or anything to really set your forum apart from the rest. Now I understand you would never be able to afford a real software because you are still young, but here's an example of a good program. http://www.vbulletin.com/

#3: Your age and maturity. I know you like to think you are doing a good job leading the forum, but honestly you aren't ready for an all-out forum. As I said before, you are still young, as are many of the members here. It takes older, more experienced people to properly run a forum with boundaries and limitations. You said the forum used to be large, but from what I can see it never really was. The most people who have ever been online at the same time are 19. That's cool and all, but that's NOTHING.

You just can't really make a true forum without money, maturity, and software.

People want a creative forum, not one with freeware software that bends the rules for certain members and gives promotions based on posts.

And that my friends, is the ugly truth.

I know I'm sorta late on this but after reading threw it, I agree, except for the maturity part. I think as long as a person takes charge at a leadership position, no matter what age, people will listen, but maturity does help.

by Fred Fri Jul 16, 2010 5:56 am

wrote:I know I'm sorta late on this but after reading threw it, I agree, except for the maturity part. I think as long as a person takes charge at a leadership position, no matter what age, people will listen, but maturity does help.

Ah, but taking charge REQUIRES maturity Wink

. And maturity is not a reflection of their age, but of their character and leadership.

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