Jump to content

We're all in a leaking ship, and it's about time we fixed it.


Pinkie Pie

Recommended Posts

I'm not disagreeing that activity begets activity, as it's the same argument I made for the Art & Lit section. Still it doesn't hurt to have these things brought up and addressed. If one of the problems is that people feel like they're always being shot down, that issue should be addressed rather than expecting them to power through something that is making them feel uneasy or unwelcome. If I can avoid doing unpleasant things, I generally will, even if it's something I actually want to do.


 


Some people may feel uneasy and not know why, others yet may feel uneasy and know exactly why, and then you have those who didn't know they felt uneasy until it was brought up--having those experiences brought to light can make it easier for people to assess their own situation and put to words what they've been feeling.


 


When I was in the military, everyone always hated feedback sessions, especially large ones for entire squadrons and wings. It was such a bother to listen to people complain about this and that, and why couldn't they be happy with what they got? But it's important to some people, and if there's even one person who benefits from it, then its worth having because, as I mentioned, it may be something people haven't thought about until someone else says something. You always have those situations where those in the lower ranks are upset with something, but because it never makes it up the chain, people up top are completely oblivious. Airmen end up hating officers for doing nothing, even though they have literally no idea that anything was wrong. (We also hate officers for other reasons, but you know.)


 


===


 


Although I don't partake in the forum games as much as I used to, I will say that I don't think its existence is detracting from the rest of the forum any more than the Balamb Cafe is drawing away attention from the Gaming Realm. Even someone with limited energy like me is able to swing a dozen posts in there while still participating throughout, since it does take like three seconds to post in the games and very little mental power.


 


===


 


Anyway, I will update the FAQ and welcome post to reflect the change in policy whenever it's made official. I don't think I need to change the rules, but I'll double check.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

im not an expert or anything, but all i know is that when emotional outlet and lemmingllama responded to my post in seed hallway, it made me feel very welcome, like i could make friends here, and that this place could be like a home away from home, i wasnt expecting anybody to say anything at all really. in all honestly i originally created an account just to see what the download section had to offer , ive never gave foruming a chance before this and never really had any intent too. i got agrivated when i found out i had to post 15 times, almost left right there, but curiousity got to me and i made an attempt at communication for my own selfish reasons and within that attempt i found some pretty cool people, j-lord, emotional outlet, dreamcaster rai, dark_angel13, lemmingllama, and more. in all honesty if none of you made an attempt to talk to me or welcome me, i would have just looked at the dl section and left.


 


so i guess if you got me to stick around just by talking to me and showing some interest in me, then id have to say it would work for other people too.


 


next id just say all you have to do is branch out. and i completely agree theres alot of subforums here, theres no way ill put out the time and effort to read up on all of them, in fact i usually just check the new content from that button that says view new content.


 


a chatroom would be awesome, it would allow people to directly have conversations with eachother. i for one love irc but irc is becoming a rare thing these days, most people dont know about it and some that know of it fear it because of a show called numbers (look it up on youtube - numbers irc description ). also when people dont know something they generally wont take the time to learn about it.


 


(i see in the top that the chatbox was removed for irc, i quess its safe to assume their used to be a chatbox and it wasnt very blooming huh)


 


maybe a facebook account? not sure if it exists, but networking is always good.


 


if you can bring in new people and make them feel at home and actually want to stay i dont see why there would be any problems, other than this place probably has too many subforums and i know that new people like me are generally gonna stick to where they feel they belong, e.g. a gamer most likely wont know about computer graphics so hes not gonna go to the graphics section to talk about games. if you want a closernit community just narrow down the diversity, and most importantly talk to other people and get them to talk back and introduce them to other people that will do the same.


 


it sounds easy, and in all reality it is easy, i know for a fact cause i use to go to a church with the same problem and thats what we did, we sectioned into groups and it wasnt till someone said something about it and tried getting people involved and stop sectioning into groups, that we slowly became a family. i miss that church so much and hate that im too old to go, ill never forget that experience.


 


so i guess maybe this is my new church =)


sorry bout the long post, i have a habbit of ranting lol


Link to comment
Share on other sites

im not an expert or anything, but all i know is that when emotional outlet and lemmingllama responded to my post in seed hallway, it made me feel very welcome, like i could make friends here, and that this place could be like a home away from home, i wasnt expecting anybody to say anything at all really. in all honestly i originally created an account just to see what the download section had to offer , ive never gave foruming a chance before this and never really had any intent too. i got agrivated when i found out i had to post 15 times, almost left right there, but curiousity got to me and i made an attempt at communication for my own selfish reasons and within that attempt i found some pretty cool people, j-lord, emotional outlet, dreamcaster rai, dark_angel13, lemmingllama, and more. in all honesty if none of you made an attempt to talk to me or welcome me, i would have just looked at the dl section and left.

 

so i guess if you got me to stick around just by talking to me and showing some interest in me, then id have to say it would work for other people too.

 

next id just say all you have to do is branch out. and i completely agree theres alot of subforums here, theres no way ill put out the time and effort to read up on all of them, in fact i usually just check the new content from that button that says view new content.

 

a chatroom would be awesome, it would allow people to directly have conversations with eachother. i for one love irc but irc is becoming a rare thing these days, most people dont know about it and some that know of it fear it because of a show called numbers (look it up on youtube - numbers irc description ). also when people dont know something they generally wont take the time to learn about it.

 

(i see in the top that the chatbox was removed for irc, i quess its safe to assume their used to be a chatbox and it wasnt very blooming huh)

 

maybe a facebook account? not sure if it exists, but networking is always good.

 

if you can bring in new people and make them feel at home and actually want to stay i dont see why there would be any problems, other than this place probably has too many subforums and i know that new people like me are generally gonna stick to where they feel they belong, e.g. a gamer most likely wont know about computer graphics so hes not gonna go to the graphics section to talk about games. if you want a closernit community just narrow down the diversity, and most importantly talk to other people and get them to talk back and introduce them to other people that will do the same.

 

it sounds easy, and in all reality it is easy, i know for a fact cause i use to go to a church with the same problem and thats what we did, we sectioned into groups and it wasnt till someone said something about it and tried getting people involved and stop sectioning into groups, that we slowly became a family. i miss that church so much and hate that im too old to go, ill never forget that experience.

 

so i guess maybe this is my new church =)

sorry bout the long post, i have a habbit of ranting lol

 

I am glad that we made you feel welcome and it helped you decide to stay, we do get to some people so I do believe all the hello's and welcomes aren't in vain because you never know who will respond to such things.

 

That chat box was actually quite popular, the whole reason it was removed was due to it took people away from posting to talking in the chat box, so it was removed to help increase forum activity. The later on The IRC was added and it gave a new place for people to chat. (I could be wrong this is just the way I remember it.)

 

As for facebook account Kametsu has one and a twitter.

 

And there is nothing wrong about long posts, sometimes I just like to sit and read what people have to say and it can also feel good for the person saying the stuff to get it off their chest.

Edited by J-Lord
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Radical Ed:  Awesome to hear you wanted to stick around, I know I need to work on posting in general :D.


 


@J-Lord:  I personally have my times where I just want to read something that fills the post from wall to wall, but I am a bit odd so glad to hear I am not the only one.


------


 


I know there are times where I feel kind of meh to get on myself, but that is just me, not sure on other people.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Radical Ed:  Awesome to hear you wanted to stick around, I know I need to work on posting in general :D.

 

@J-Lord:  I personally have my times where I just want to read something that fills the post from wall to wall, but I am a bit odd so glad to hear I am not the only one.

------

 

I know there are times where I feel kind of meh to get on myself, but that is just me, not sure on other people.

 

It is good that you wanted to stick around Ed and we're all glad you did, we need new members that are willing to put in the effort and we all try to help when we can. Walls of text arent a bad thing, depending on who posted it lol, some of us do love a good rant.

 

@Mink: I think we all have those times and to be honest it's sometimes because it's the same old thing all the time on the forums, a new thread that a lot of ppl can post on can be rare. Most ppl I think nowadays just pop on to check their pms and notifications, then they bugger off til the next day or 12 hours later

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a new member, I plan to stick around. The forum looks good, it's easy to navigate, and based on the threads I've seen, it appears quite lively and friendly.


 


As a fellow forum administrator I notice this:


 


Close-knit communities work fine, when the users together can break the wall that separates them from newbies. A lot of the time I join forums, I am quite turned off by the community for several reasons.


 


These include, lots of online members, but rarely do they post. Poorly moderated sections of the board. Sections of the board that are almost entirely dead (6 months or more has gone by since the last post) Or a number of other things.


--------------------------------


 


I see there is much going on in terms of how the forum itself is going, and to where it is headed. As I spend my time posting around, getting acquainted with some users, and looking at the forum's structure, atmosphere, and all that fun stuff, I'll respond to this topic with an assessment I feel can be of any help to the forum at large. This place seems really laid-back, and I like to see that in a forum.


  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Sorry I busted the dial on teh ac and it is stuck on.


 


The notes of chilliness aside now, always glad to talk to people, and trying to be more lively overall.  Maybe we could throw a pool party?  I mean a really wierd puzzle?  I mean a scattered brain dance!  There we go a scattered brain dance.


 


A lot of times it does seem like some areas get frosty, the rp section being one.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

homie, the rp section is deep tundra at this point.

what if we started doing organized streams? people would join an irc channel made just for the event and someone would host the stream with something like join.me or livestream and people would vote on the anime watched? it could be a weekly thing maybe?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would love to RP but all the post's are a month old or more. If you wanna play I'm game. I've been monitoring it hoping someone would start a new game or a character sign-up. I used to play D&D all the time but, I don't think we are gonna be able to use dice on the net, are we? If so let me know like I said I'm up for anything fantasy, future, modern, whatever. This sounds sweet.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

homie, the rp section is deep tundra at this point.

what if we started doing organized streams? people would join an irc channel made just for the event and someone would host the stream with something like join.me or livestream and people would vote on the anime watched? it could be a weekly thing maybe?

 

We used to do an Anime of the Month until people lost interest. A live stream would be lots of fun as long as we found a time that worked will all the timezones. Likely we would have to do OVA series or movies though, hard to sit through a full 11-12 episode series in one go and have everyone able to attend.

 

I would love to RP but all the post's are a month old or more. If you wanna play I'm game. I've been monitoring it hoping someone would start a new game or a character sign-up. I used to play D&D all the time but, I don't think we are gonna be able to use dice on the net, are we? If so let me know like I said I'm up for anything fantasy, future, modern, whatever. This sounds sweet.

 

You can actually do D&D online, there are tools for that like this that work nicely for it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, a whole series is a lot of time for a single sitting, haha. An episode or two a week might be nice, maybe one during the week and one over the weekend? I go to bed pretty early every day--pass out roundabouts 2130 and 2200 every night, so I wouldn't be able to stay up into the wee hours during the week especially, haha.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've seen dice macros before and it wouldnt be too hard to add one to w.e youd need it for. The rp section idea for posting ideas is a good thing, I cant believe we didnt think of it sooner considering we put up a writing ideas thread(although it didnt get much attention). I'll post up some of my ideas later as I said in the thread, if I can be bothered too since my last few rp attempts havent exactly got me confident for rping.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know this topic was created to talk about how to fix the forum but I thought maybe I could just give my two cents as a new/returning after a several month (without realizing it) hiatus member. I have been away from the forums for several months so I don’t know what all’s been going on in the community recently.


 


I will admit I’m one of those that came to Kametsu for the downloads. I joined around August of last year and like Radical Ed the minimum 15 post requirement annoyed me a little but it got me to post in forums and get to know some of the people. I will say I honestly felt more welcomed here than any other forum I had ever joined. I didn’t feel that new users were picked on or made fun of when they asked questions. Past experiences with forums are what make me hesitant to post a lot of time and still does. Even typing this post I was a little concerned about posting since it had been over a week since the last post, I don’t know if my opinion will even really help out, and I might step on the toes of people with higher post counts, mod status, or people that have been here a lot longer and have been a lot more active than me and get in trouble. I do know that the members I talked with (Emotional Outlet and Koby are the ones I remember off the top of my head) they made me feel very welcome and answered any questions I had without making me feel like an idiot.


 


While I understand some of the recommendations in this thread, while reading I did start to feel a little uncomfortable. I’m a lurker most of the time on forums. It’s never because of the community, it’s just something with me. I’ve had bad experiences on other forums and I’m a shy person so I don’t talk a lot unless it’s a topic I am really interested in. I have the feeling by the time I finish this post no one will believe I don’t talk a lot but it is the truth. But after being welcomed by members of the forum, I was willing to give this forum a try. I have definitely not posted as much as I would like and like I said I’ve been away from the forums for at least a few months. I can’t remember my last post but I imagine it was on the Sims board. Life unfortunately took over between college classes, my grandfather having some heart issues, and my father going through back and shoulder issues I just didn’t have as much time to get on here as I did when I first joined.


 


One of the main things that make me a little uncomfortable is when reading this thread I almost feel like there is a line with the group of people here purely for posting on the forums on one side and then there is the group who come for the downloads on the other side. Especially when terms like ani-tard/leeching and terms like that get brought up. I used to be one of those leechers and I know none of these posts are written aimed at any one person but it makes me feel like because I don’t post as much as someone else but I do download or because I use IRC and really don’t talk in the chat room that it means I’m the reason there are issues in the community. And maybe I am. I can’t give any ideas on how to make people post more. I know for me I come here to read the threads to get anime recommendations or even game recommendations. I’ll post when I feel like I have something to add or I’ll like the post of someone who said something I agree with but otherwise I feel like if I just write one sentence responses or just write what someone else wrote agreeing with them than I’m not adding anything to the conversation.


 


I know some of the recommendations from a few months ago mention getting rid of the download section. Honestly, the download section makes me come around more often just because I come in to download and happen to look through the forums and find something to post on. I come here for the community, the downloads, and for IRC because to be honest even though there are only a few people chatting in the IRC channel it is still more lively than some of the other channels I’ve been in.


As far as what can make the forum better? I honestly don’t have a clue because like I said I haven’t been around for a while so I had no idea there were issues. It would be nice if there was a way to promote the newsletter more. I don’t know if that’s something new or if it’s been around for some time but I didn’t even know there was a newsletter until it was mentioned in here and I saw the topic under the last post info on the main page. I like the anime reviews in it and I know someone mentioned a YouTube channel in here back in April. I would definitely subscribe to the channel especially if it covered some of the reviews of the anime or the games from the newsletter. Yes, there are tons of people out there that already do review videos on YouTube but it would be nice to go to a Kametsu channel and be able to watch all the reviews no matter if it’s anime, movies, games, or whatever. It would probably appeal to some people because not everyone wants to read. I mean the reviews aren’t terribly long but still there might be some people that would rather watch the review. Koby pretty much covered all of that in his post back in April. And while I may not play the games that might be hosted I do like watching other people play. Then I don’t feel so stupid when I die in what everyone else considers easy fight or whatever.


 


An idea I do have deals with donations. I haven’t donated in a while and donated today because Koby said they needed money for the server costs in IRC and on the main page. Would it be possible to have like a small area on the forum with a meter showing how much until donation goal is met? I know I’ve seen it on some forums so I have no idea what that might actually take or if it’s possible on this forum. I know it might seem like begging to some but I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing it so if I see the deadline day is coming up and the goal hasn’t been met I can try to see if I can move some things around to be able to donate more than usual. I of course could just do this any time but it might just motivate more people if they saw the goal wasn’t being met. Again, I have no idea what that would take to implement and I definitely don’t want to add tons of work to anyone just for that.


 


I really hope I don’t upset anyone with my post because that’s truly not my intention and I hope it’s okay for me to post in here. I just thought I’d give a little insight into why I am here and why I came back and hope to be able to stay here longer than a few months this time. But I am finishing up my associate’s degree and the next seven weeks will be pretty stressful. But I fully intend to be more active once I finish my degree. Because honestly, I would hate to see this forum die. It is a great forum and there seems to be a lot of genuinely nice people here. Also, sorry for the book of a post. As I said, I am shy but when it's a topic I am interested in, I can write a book and probably tell you my life story without you even asking.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like to hear from everyone what they think about the forum, so no worries about whether your opinion is important or not. It is important, since it's a topic I'm interested in as well, haha. ouo


 


I think quite a few of our regulars came here initially for the downloads, so there's definitely an argument there that not every person who is attracted by them is automatically problematic. I will say that I have sour grapes about it since I'm real tired of seeing people spam the forum for access (I'm sure others are as well), but there is definitely a use for the downloads.


 


The newsletter could probably stand to be advertised more, but I don't feel especially comfortable with plastering it all over the place or getting overbearing about it. I might be taking it for granted because I do show up here every day--more frequent reminders would likely be more useful for those who visit a few times a week instead of daily.


 


What would probably be super helpful is if we could update that header at the top of the forum, haha. Simplify it to show links to the IRC/tutorials and FAQ/rules, add a donation countdown/goal (I think a lot of people agree with you that there should be more transparency in this regard, Serafina), and deadlines for newsletter article submission.


 


Just four lines and it'd be loads more informative than it is now. Like, the chatbox is probably not going to come back, so seeing a reference to it every day at the top of the page is pretty weird. And it's been months since the IRC channel and bots have been put in place, so explaining the history of it isn't real necessary.


  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like to hear from everyone what they think about the forum, so no worries about whether your opinion is important or not. It is important, since it's a topic I'm interested in as well, haha. ouo

 

I think quite a few of our regulars came here initially for the downloads, so there's definitely an argument there that not every person who is attracted by them is automatically problematic. I will say that I have sour grapes about it since I'm real tired of seeing people spam the forum for access (I'm sure others are as well), but there is definitely a use for the downloads.

 

The newsletter could probably stand to be advertised more, but I don't feel especially comfortable with plastering it all over the place or getting overbearing about it. I might be taking it for granted because I do show up here every day--more frequent reminders would likely be more useful for those who visit a few times a week instead of daily.

 

What would probably be super helpful is if we could update that header at the top of the forum, haha. Simplify it to show links to the IRC/tutorials and FAQ/rules, add a donation countdown/goal (I think a lot of people agree with you that there should be more transparency in this regard, Serafina), and deadlines for newsletter article submission.

 

Just four lines and it'd be loads more informative than it is now. Like, the chatbox is probably not going to come back, so seeing a reference to it every day at the top of the page is pretty weird. And it's been months since the IRC channel and bots have been put in place, so explaining the history of it isn't real necessary.

 

I can understand getting tired of seeing the spam from people just posting to get their 15 posts. I imagine it does get pretty old seeing people come, post 15 posts, and then leave. I will say after looking over the different boards last night/early this morning I can see why there is concern about the community. When I joined last September there were a lot more active topics.  Just curious, are there rules on posting to old topics here? I've come across a few topics I wanted to post to but they were three to four months old so I left them. I know some forums they have rules not to post on old topics and I didn't see anything about it in the rules (unless I missed it).

 

I don't think you would have to necessarily plaster the newsletter all over the place. I would think in the chat box area like you talked about just simply putting a text link would be enough to it. Maybe have the IRC tutorials, Rules, Donation, newsletter article deadline and then a link to the current newsletter or something underneath it all just to draw some attention to it because it is really interesting to read. Again I've never dealt with running a forum so I don't know what that would take to do. It was just a suggestion and really now that I've seen it I know where to go now to find it.

 

I will say I don't think any of you are doing anything wrong or doing anything that makes people leave. This topic alone really showed me how different the community is here compared to other forums I've been on. Everyone here really seems to care about the success and popularity of the forums whereas on other forum sites they just die away unfortunately. Honestly, it's because of some of the members in this topic, like you, that I came back. Unfortunately I wasn't around long enough to really get to know anyone, but it was just nice to finally have other people to talk about anime and Sims with that didn't find it silly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up