Post by Kazuya_UK on Jun 2, 2005 6:09:45 GMT -5
Please bear with me as this is a pretty long post, but hopefully a worthwhile read for you all...
As you all know, the forum has really died a death for a while now. While we still have some great regular posters and some occasional cool newcomers who do stick around and post, and while I prefer the idea of a smaller community that is more friendly (rather than a massive one where few people are helpful at all), I have been thinking about a few ways to boost things up a little. Bear in mind these are just ideas and definitely open for discussion... maybe they won't work, but this is where you come in... tell me what you think, or if you have any other ideas that you think would be benificial to both the forum AND site, please let me know.
Ok here goes:
1. On the site, I will have the new NGPC section online very soon. There is no drastically new content yet, but it does at least bring it right back up to date with the same design as the rest of the site, and a few new things people might find helpful. I am also planning on making a proper Atomiswave section - now obviously the Neo stuff is still the most important because that is what the site is about, however I think it would be good to get a better section to cover upcoming games on the AW, seeing as that is what all of SNK's games are being released on.
At the moment I do try to post plenty of news about this stuff, but there are no reviews whatsoever for any of the systems games, despite there being an AW section in reviews. This needs to change - although it would be very hard for me to review any AW games right now, but what I can do is add links for all the games (not just SNK ones, but *any* AW games like Rumble Fish etc), with screenshots, info about the games, and then also some info on the system itself and links to more helpful info (and maybe reviews if I can get some people top submit some). I could just throw this stuff into the AW review page, but I think it would be better to let the AW stuff have it's own little sub-section - perhaps atomiswave.neogeoforlife.com?
All news regarding AW stuff would still get posted on the main page so as not to cause confusion, but the AW section would simply be a place for people to get info from if they are interested in the system (and obviously there is a lot more interest now with all of the games SNKP are releasing).
2. I really want things to be a little bit more interactive... ie more participation from visitors. Judging by the sites stats, most people come in, take a look at the news, then maybe browse through a few of the reviews and leave (then come back maybe a bit later to check the reviews/news again)... that's not a problem cos that is exactly what the site is there for afterall (and I sometimes do similar things at places like gamefaqs etc
), but I'd like there to be a bit more participation from people if possible. The best form of interaction is when people take time out to write reviews for us because this furthers the site and helps the community, but if people don't have the time/will to write a review or similar, then the next best thing is a little feedback. People posting in the comments section on the site is good cos at least it means that I know people are reading my updates and I'm not talking to myself , voting in the polls is also good, and having a chat with other members on the forum is even better. I'm still trying to think of ways to encourage people to do this though....
One thing that I thought about was to use the karma system on the new proboards in this way. This may be a lame idea, and please tell me if you think it is, but I was thinking about doing the following things:
- Removing the smite option. This is possible, and although there have been no problems at all so far to the best of my knowledge, it would stop people deliberately targeting someone and reducing their karma level.
- Introduce a new user level that can be bestowed upon members if they want it. This would happen when they have reached a sufficient karma level (which we could discuss) and most likely some other criteria, to stop people trying to cheat their way up the karma rankings. The other criteria could be number of posts, and perhaps the length of time they have been registered on the forum. There is now a security log here so I can easily spot if someone is trying to cheat, so that wouldn't be a major problem. I could also give it to people who I feel really deserve it (like helping someone out etc, or submitting content to the site), so karma wouldn't be the ONLY means of reaching this rank.
This new member level wouldn't be "NGFL Elite" (similar to snk-capcom) or anything like that... I still haven't really thought about what to call it... but here is what I would want to use it for:
Opening two new sections on the forum that only mods and people who have the required user level can access:
- NGFL site discussion and previews
An area where people can grab a sneak preview at whatever is being worked on on the site. It wouldn't be any kind of lame crap like "IGN Insider" where certain reviews etc are only available to these people (and you wouldn't have to pay of course
), but it would just be a way for people to have a look at the stuff I'm working on for the site a little in advance of everyone else, and also a place to make suggestions on what they would like to see happen on the site and forums. Those people could also post previews of stuff they might be working on themself - people have often emailed me in the past to say "I'm working on a review/whatever for ya" before they have submitted it, but they could also discuss it with other members or preview it before it goes online officially. Hell, they could even post previews of their own personal stuff, like a website they might be working on... and maybe ask for advice or for people to rate it.
I dunno if this is a bad idea... or if it would work or even be worth it, but it is just a thought I had. If anyone has any ideas then I'm all ears ;D
- NGFL Arcade
I've seen a few scripts floating about where you can have a little arcade thing on your forum. Basically it's just an area where you can post flash based games (anything found on the net could go in there actually), and it is similar to what you see on some other sites running other forum software (there's a vbulletin arcade for instance). The only downside is that I don't think it is possible to have a proper scoreboard or anything like that, but it still might be cool to have a little arcade where we could play the numerous fun flash games that people find and tend to post about. Again, this section would only be available for people on the required user level.
If any of the clever people on various proboards support forums ever figure out a way to have high scores then I'll do this for sure as it would be fun... otherwise, I'm not sure if it is worth doing? Suggestions please
3. Finally, how about getting the discussion threads going again? Raiken used to do his anime discussions, but unfortunately after a while people stopped posting in them for whatever reason. It would be cool if we could get more people in the anime section to post again, and then maybe more people might reply (if you wanted to bother doing them again Raiken?
. Also, some of you vets might remember the Neo Geo game discussion threads from AGES ago that I used to run... for those that don't remember, I tried to run a weekly thing where I posted screenshots of a random Neo game, and then everyone discussed said game.
It actually went pretty well... up until the point where I got lazy and kept forgetting to do it, and then eventually lost interest. However I'd be up for doing it again, and what I would probably do is to get a few of them prepared in advance so I could easily post them up when the time came each week. I'd post about it on the site too, and in the hopes of drumming up a bit of interest and giving people a reason to actually post and not just lurk around here. It wouldn't necessarily have to be limited to Neo Geo games either, it could be a regular thing for games on other systems too, if people wanted that?
And yeah, the lurking thing does seem to be a problem really... quite often when I log on during the day, I do see a LOT of guests on here, but they rarely ever log on/register unfortunately. I can understand why, because sometimes I am guilty of this too - I've lurked around other forums, got the info I wanted, and if I've been in a rush I've simply left without ever posting a reply.... we all do it! It is perhaps not a nice thing to do, bu it happens I'm afraid... but hopefully if we make an effort to get things going again it will give those people a real reason to post.
I'll stop boring you all now, and like I said before, maybe I am talking out of my ass... all I'm doing really is trying to come up with some way to kickstart things once more (again if you have any ideas of your own let me know). The main reason for this is that I love working on the site and it's a hobby that I enjoy... but I must admit that sometimes I wonder if it is worth it because I honestly don't know if anyone is paying any real attention at times
. When I look at my stats I can see people reading the reviews that are already up, but I just have no idea how many people (outside of the regulars) actually read my news posts and find them helpful... and sometimes it's hard to know if any work I do on the forum is worthwhile with the lack of feedback from some people.
Anyway, to sum it all up, even after all these years I still want to continue working on the site in my spare time because I enjoy it... I just need to know if it's really worth putting in the effort... in other words if people are going to use it and find it helpful. I do pay a little bit of money out of my own pocket to keep things running (which I'm trying to get a little bit of back with the google ads obviously:)), but I don't mind this provided people genuinely want the site to remain. This isn't a business or any kind of real profit making exercise, so the community is what keeps things alive... without the community however it's hard to know if it IS worthwhile
Kaz
As you all know, the forum has really died a death for a while now. While we still have some great regular posters and some occasional cool newcomers who do stick around and post, and while I prefer the idea of a smaller community that is more friendly (rather than a massive one where few people are helpful at all), I have been thinking about a few ways to boost things up a little. Bear in mind these are just ideas and definitely open for discussion... maybe they won't work, but this is where you come in... tell me what you think, or if you have any other ideas that you think would be benificial to both the forum AND site, please let me know.
Ok here goes:
1. On the site, I will have the new NGPC section online very soon. There is no drastically new content yet, but it does at least bring it right back up to date with the same design as the rest of the site, and a few new things people might find helpful. I am also planning on making a proper Atomiswave section - now obviously the Neo stuff is still the most important because that is what the site is about, however I think it would be good to get a better section to cover upcoming games on the AW, seeing as that is what all of SNK's games are being released on.
At the moment I do try to post plenty of news about this stuff, but there are no reviews whatsoever for any of the systems games, despite there being an AW section in reviews. This needs to change - although it would be very hard for me to review any AW games right now, but what I can do is add links for all the games (not just SNK ones, but *any* AW games like Rumble Fish etc), with screenshots, info about the games, and then also some info on the system itself and links to more helpful info (and maybe reviews if I can get some people top submit some). I could just throw this stuff into the AW review page, but I think it would be better to let the AW stuff have it's own little sub-section - perhaps atomiswave.neogeoforlife.com?
All news regarding AW stuff would still get posted on the main page so as not to cause confusion, but the AW section would simply be a place for people to get info from if they are interested in the system (and obviously there is a lot more interest now with all of the games SNKP are releasing).
2. I really want things to be a little bit more interactive... ie more participation from visitors. Judging by the sites stats, most people come in, take a look at the news, then maybe browse through a few of the reviews and leave (then come back maybe a bit later to check the reviews/news again)... that's not a problem cos that is exactly what the site is there for afterall (and I sometimes do similar things at places like gamefaqs etc
), but I'd like there to be a bit more participation from people if possible. The best form of interaction is when people take time out to write reviews for us because this furthers the site and helps the community, but if people don't have the time/will to write a review or similar, then the next best thing is a little feedback. People posting in the comments section on the site is good cos at least it means that I know people are reading my updates and I'm not talking to myself , voting in the polls is also good, and having a chat with other members on the forum is even better. I'm still trying to think of ways to encourage people to do this though.... One thing that I thought about was to use the karma system on the new proboards in this way. This may be a lame idea, and please tell me if you think it is, but I was thinking about doing the following things:
- Removing the smite option. This is possible, and although there have been no problems at all so far to the best of my knowledge, it would stop people deliberately targeting someone and reducing their karma level.
- Introduce a new user level that can be bestowed upon members if they want it. This would happen when they have reached a sufficient karma level (which we could discuss) and most likely some other criteria, to stop people trying to cheat their way up the karma rankings. The other criteria could be number of posts, and perhaps the length of time they have been registered on the forum. There is now a security log here so I can easily spot if someone is trying to cheat, so that wouldn't be a major problem. I could also give it to people who I feel really deserve it (like helping someone out etc, or submitting content to the site), so karma wouldn't be the ONLY means of reaching this rank.
This new member level wouldn't be "NGFL Elite" (similar to snk-capcom) or anything like that... I still haven't really thought about what to call it... but here is what I would want to use it for:
Opening two new sections on the forum that only mods and people who have the required user level can access:
- NGFL site discussion and previews
An area where people can grab a sneak preview at whatever is being worked on on the site. It wouldn't be any kind of lame crap like "IGN Insider" where certain reviews etc are only available to these people (and you wouldn't have to pay of course
), but it would just be a way for people to have a look at the stuff I'm working on for the site a little in advance of everyone else, and also a place to make suggestions on what they would like to see happen on the site and forums. Those people could also post previews of stuff they might be working on themself - people have often emailed me in the past to say "I'm working on a review/whatever for ya" before they have submitted it, but they could also discuss it with other members or preview it before it goes online officially. Hell, they could even post previews of their own personal stuff, like a website they might be working on... and maybe ask for advice or for people to rate it.I dunno if this is a bad idea... or if it would work or even be worth it, but it is just a thought I had. If anyone has any ideas then I'm all ears ;D
- NGFL Arcade
I've seen a few scripts floating about where you can have a little arcade thing on your forum. Basically it's just an area where you can post flash based games (anything found on the net could go in there actually), and it is similar to what you see on some other sites running other forum software (there's a vbulletin arcade for instance). The only downside is that I don't think it is possible to have a proper scoreboard or anything like that, but it still might be cool to have a little arcade where we could play the numerous fun flash games that people find and tend to post about. Again, this section would only be available for people on the required user level.
If any of the clever people on various proboards support forums ever figure out a way to have high scores then I'll do this for sure as it would be fun... otherwise, I'm not sure if it is worth doing? Suggestions please
3. Finally, how about getting the discussion threads going again? Raiken used to do his anime discussions, but unfortunately after a while people stopped posting in them for whatever reason. It would be cool if we could get more people in the anime section to post again, and then maybe more people might reply (if you wanted to bother doing them again Raiken?
. Also, some of you vets might remember the Neo Geo game discussion threads from AGES ago that I used to run... for those that don't remember, I tried to run a weekly thing where I posted screenshots of a random Neo game, and then everyone discussed said game. It actually went pretty well... up until the point where I got lazy and kept forgetting to do it, and then eventually lost interest. However I'd be up for doing it again, and what I would probably do is to get a few of them prepared in advance so I could easily post them up when the time came each week. I'd post about it on the site too, and in the hopes of drumming up a bit of interest and giving people a reason to actually post and not just lurk around here
. It wouldn't necessarily have to be limited to Neo Geo games either, it could be a regular thing for games on other systems too, if people wanted that?And yeah, the lurking thing does seem to be a problem really... quite often when I log on during the day, I do see a LOT of guests on here, but they rarely ever log on/register unfortunately. I can understand why, because sometimes I am guilty of this too - I've lurked around other forums, got the info I wanted, and if I've been in a rush I've simply left without ever posting a reply.... we all do it! It is perhaps not a nice thing to do, bu it happens I'm afraid... but hopefully if we make an effort to get things going again it will give those people a real reason to post.
I'll stop boring you all now, and like I said before, maybe I am talking out of my ass... all I'm doing really is trying to come up with some way to kickstart things once more (again if you have any ideas of your own let me know). The main reason for this is that I love working on the site and it's a hobby that I enjoy... but I must admit that sometimes I wonder if it is worth it because I honestly don't know if anyone is paying any real attention at times
. When I look at my stats I can see people reading the reviews that are already up, but I just have no idea how many people (outside of the regulars) actually read my news posts and find them helpful... and sometimes it's hard to know if any work I do on the forum is worthwhile with the lack of feedback from some people. Anyway, to sum it all up, even after all these years I still want to continue working on the site in my spare time because I enjoy it... I just need to know if it's really worth putting in the effort... in other words if people are going to use it and find it helpful. I do pay a little bit of money out of my own pocket to keep things running (which I'm trying to get a little bit of back with the google ads obviously:)), but I don't mind this provided people genuinely want the site to remain. This isn't a business or any kind of real profit making exercise, so the community is what keeps things alive... without the community however it's hard to know if it IS worthwhile
Kaz
I remember finding out that proboards didn't allow forums that use languages other than English (due to security reasons etc). I'd love to have some foreign language threads or even full forum sections, but unfortunately it can't happen unless proboards change the rules or we move to another hosting service.
My Candy Cab. Super Neo Type II