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A good issue even if it was short and we will not be able to enjoy any more issues. It was fun while it lasted. Also I hope that you aren't unduely stressed out from the uncooperativeness of others.


 


To start, I will be sure to hydrate and change sheets due to this issue, although the falsehoods of pie/cake debating were uncalled for.


 


I skimmed through Dreamers reviews since they were all 5/5's as usual, if all series are 100% perfect then none are...


 


Excellent article Minkseru, I am glad that others enjoy Guild Wars a lot. It's a pity that there wasn't commentary on the second game, but the first is superior.


 


And to finish, I would like to point out that the last page is now moot and doesn't really belong if the Informer is being shut down.


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I have been mainly writing on series I really loved, but not all had a hundred percent.  I had a 4/5 on one or two sometime ago.  I hadn't wrote on any that I didn't like yet...not that I'll be able to.  Thou, there are several I was disappointed in.  I absolutely could not stand Umineko no Naku Koro ni, because it had no story or anything...just repetition...not the good kind.  The only thing I liked about that anime was the artwork but that wasn't enough to make that series any good.  There were others I greatly disliked...I guess I should have done some of the bad ones to mix it up, but its too late now.  I know I didn't give the best review for Little Busters...it lacked greatly.


 


Minkseru didn't give any comments on the second Guild Wars because he was going to write a separate review for that.  Already had it all planned out, but sadly it won't be seen.  He would agree thou that the first is superior.  He was highly disappointed in the case design for the second one.  It was so...plain.  Nothing what he expected.


 


I'm sad to see the Informer go, but unfortunately I'm not surprised.  Hardly anyone writes for it anymore.  Just EO [mainly], myself, and a couple others every now and then.  EO and I seemed to be the only ones who had something for every issue.  Maybe one day it will some back, but I doubt it.  The interest that started out on it seems to have vanished.  Not even as much commentary on the issues was being made.  SO I'm not really surprised, but still saddened by this.  It was the only thing driving me to write.


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Oh...

 

One of the more saddening announcements I've seen. tumblr_m9gcxzCEif1qzckow.gif

While I admit that the informer going away is probably for the best, the rest of the post makes me feel really bummed.

 

Is anything actually going to change? I doubt it

 

I feel there’s no purpose to the forum

 

driving nails into my foot.

I'm sorry the newsletter was such a burden for you. :( I didn't even know how serious the forum issue was. I won't mind it at all if the Random Talk gets cut every week. We can try it for awhile and if it doesn't work we can go back.
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The moment I realised I was dreading the start of the next month and dreading having to write and compile another issue, it was time to call it a day. I would have discussed it with people, but I suspect the result would have been much the same. Even if it were to change hands for a time while I took a break, there is still the issue of finding writers. Writing anywhere from four to nine articles every single issue is tiring for a free publication.

 

Anyway, there is nothing restricting people from posting future articles on the forum proper. Reviews can still be posted to the Recs & Reviews subforum. If any headway is ever made on actually utilising the website (Kametsu.com), we would be able to have articles there and then a monthly compilation with bonus material or something.

 

I debated whether I should add this to the newsletter, since I'd been sitting on it for a few weeks, but I figured it didn't really fit the "tone". This is my proposal for a newsletter subforum. Not worth much right now since, haha, I have zero power to effect this change even if I wanted to and at this point it's dragged on so long without a lot of participation that a break would be more beneficial than putting this into place immediately.

 

The biggest boon to the newsletter would be having its own subforum. It would increase visibility and accountability. In an ideal world, this is what it would look like.

 

Shinra Headquarters

 

> Kametsu Informer

Current Issue: Open and pinned

General Feedback: Open and pinned

Other Issues: Locked and unpinned

 

Not much to explain here, so some general notes.

 

“Crew members” are people who have consistently put forth quality and trustworthy articles, whose input on the submissions of others is invaluable. They are not editors.

 

“Editors” will do as expected. Apply changes to submissions to ensure they are to standard.

 

Editors should be given moderation power in the subforum to facilitate the movement and merging of threads to create newsletter issues. Regular crew members will not have moderation ability, but will be able to see the contents of this subforum unhindered. Current staff (admin, mods) should be able to view contents unhindered as well.

 

>> Submissions

Pinned: Submission Guidelines

Pinned: Crew Applications

 

Anyone can post. Ideally, threads would only be visible to OP and newsletter crew/staff. People receive feedback from current crew on how to improve submission. No need to visit third party site to submit or receive articles.

 

Posts are moved from here to the Workshop, then into the issue thread proper, allowing for direct credit to its writer. Members already part of the crew may post directly to the Workshop for editing.

 

>> Workshop

 

Viewable only to newsletter crew/staff. Editors will move threads from Submissions to Workshop. Once articles have been completely edited and reviewed, they will be split off from any discussion and merged with the reserved issue thread.

 

Once issue thread has been been completed, thread is then moved to the main portion of the subforum.

 

Private discussions between crew and staff may be held here.

 

 

And to finish, I would like to point out that the last page is now moot and doesn't really belong if the Informer is being shut down.

 
It is a hiatus, it can come back should I find passion to continue to write for it. There's no need to close it down entirely.
 
And pie surely is superior to cake. I will one day learn to make pie and that will be all I ever make. Pie all day. Pie all night. Pie every single hour.
 

I'm sorry the newsletter was such a burden for you. :( I didn't even know how serious the forum issue was. I won't mind it at all if the Random Talk gets cut every week. We can try it for awhile and if it doesn't work we can go back.

 
The newsletter itself wasn't particularly burdensome. It is a labour of love. That said, the general atmosphere of the forum seems to sap away the enthusiasm of any person, and I am no more immune to it than anyone else.
 
I do still care, I just need some time to recharge and consider my options. Ultimately, I don't think the problem lies with the newsletter itself (that isn't to say it is perfect), but with the forum and its general atmosphere. That was the purpose of my rather damning words.

 

It's stifling, the lack of change, the resistance to change. Posts from those seeking downloads just pile up largely unnoticed. It's almost like living on a landfill, and none of us can smell the garbage anymore.

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Its not that I didn't want to implement suggested changes but the fact that my sudden lack of time due to a new baby and a new job.... and the fact my only source of internet is through my cell phone.. its hard to do much of any administration work on a cell imo.

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Well, I think a break is a good idea. Possibly totally to revise the system, even though I see some good thoughts there. The problem is, Due to different time zones, and busy lives, the once a week idea may be a flop. It's not bad in theory though. I think, but not as to cause a useless, filler thread with little purpose on the forums, 2 ta 3 weeks would be better. And, the truly epic/enjoyable topics should remain.


 


Don't feel bad though. You've got plenty of time to think. I know the truly revering people to this forum will understand. Ans will probably try to help in this endeavor. I know I haven't been here very long. But, I like this place. I liked seeing the samurai bride informer. It's an anime title I mean to watch sometime in the future.


 


:\ just my thoughts.


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I think I'll start a thread for my anime reviews starting mid month.  Mixing good and bad ones.  I will probably change my format of how I originally was doing them for the Informer. 


 


For those who enjoy reading my reviews, please look forward to them continue them.  If any has any suggestions on how I might be able to improve them...let me know and I will see if I like them and can implement them when I start my review thread.


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Well, I think a break is a good idea. Possibly totally to revise the system, even though I see some good thoughts there. The problem is, Due to different time zones, and busy lives, the once a week idea may be a flop. It's not bad in theory though. I think, but not as to cause a useless, filler thread with little purpose on the forums, 2 ta 3 weeks would be better. And, the truly epic/enjoyable topics should remain.

 

Don't feel bad though. You've got plenty of time to think. I know the truly revering people to this forum will understand. Ans will probably try to help in this endeavor. I know I haven't been here very long. But, I like this place. I liked seeing the samurai bride informer. It's an anime title I mean to watch sometime in the future.

 

:\ just my thoughts.

 

The Random Talk thread already is completely pointless. If people want to talk about certain topics, they should start their own thread. The Balamb Cafe is for all off-topic discussion.

 

If we treat Random Talk as a necessity, then it makes the rest of the subforum pointless. Why bother creating your own topic and risk having people ignore you when everyone just posts to Random Talk?

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The Random Talk thread already is completely pointless. If people want to talk about certain topics, they should start their own thread. The Balamb Cafe is for all off-topic discussion.

 

If we treat Random Talk as a necessity, then it makes the rest of the subforum pointless. Why bother creating your own topic and risk having people ignore you when everyone just posts to Random Talk?

 

I agree. The only reason why it was made was because the chatbox was removed and there was no place to talk about whatever until the IRC channel was put in. It should have been removed a long time ago.

 

Then again, I probably have around 100 posts in there so I guess I am part of the problem

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Loads of people have posted in it, I'm not mad at or blaming any single person. If anyone, it should be me because I have over four hundred posts in that thread. (And to further expand on the fact that I apparently dominate conversations, I appear in the top five posters in more than a couple of the Balamb Cafe threads.) Dae is behind me by just under a hundred posts. Incidentally, you're behind Dae by about a hundred posts as well, haha.


 


The top ten posters of that thread made just over 70% of total posts in that thread. To be more specific, ten people have made 1994 posts out of 2742.


 


That's very exclusive, considering a total of 101 people have posted in that thread.


 


The number of single posts is also kind of surprising, but shouldn't be--46 of the 101 posters in that thread have only posted once. 26 people have posted more than 10 times. This is a trend that occurs throughout the forum.


 


"will ichigo be head captain?" of the Bleach subforum. Two people posted twice, everyone else posted once. Total of 37 posters.


 


"Far Cry 3" of the Gaming Realm subforum. Dark posted 12 times. Drumroll posted twice. Everyone else posted once. Total of 12 posters.


 


"What is the most important quality an anime should have?" of the Anime & Manga subforum. Four people posted twice. Everyone else posted once. Total of 21 posters.


 


"Game of Thrones" of the Entertainment subforum. Two people posted more than ten times (Poe - 23, Koby - 19). 12 people posted at least twice. Everyone else posted once. Total of 65 posters.


 


"What Games Are You Currently Playing?" of the Gaming realm. 9 people posted at least 20 times. 20 people posted at least 10 times. 202 people posted at least twice. 876 people posted once. Total of 1108 posters. I imagine the numbers would be in a similar ratio for other large threads such as this.


 


This is damning. If this isn't evidence enough that discussions aren't happening like they should be, if this isn't evidence that our community can barely be considered such, if this isn't evidence of the effect leechers are having on our threads, I don't know what is.


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I hope I'm not a leecher.......


 


I agree with all of the above.......although I like the Random Talk thread because of the topics that keep shifting back and forth. I am terribly guilty of posting in there constantly.......


 


As for the Informer, with each passing issue, the number of people actually reading it through and posting a valid comment on it simply grows less and it is sad, since it takes so much effort to write and prepare a newsletter of any sort.........well having worked in two magazines, I have had first-hand experience of the problems mentioned above - lack of writers, lack of interest, dreading doing an issue.....


 


As for discussions, they do seem to be fading slightly - yours truly included - but not because I'm not interested, I cannot access the internet from my work place so I can come on only during weekends, which is a shame because I miss out on a lot and when I return, I'm kinda lost. The Art and Lit section has also ..... how should I put it ...... not died ....... slowly vanishing? I aim to post in there this week but then again, the whole forum needs collective effort to keep all its sections going.......


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You're not a leecher, Kinara, haha. Not even close, don't worry about it.


 


I've been talking with Java about it, since he's seen communities rise and fall over the past fifteen years. (What an old fart.)


 


His input is pretty similar to mine. We have been doing the same thing for the past however many years since this forum first came into existence. As technology and trends on the Internet rise, fall, and evolve, those who survive are those who change and adapt.


 


I think we need to cut back on a lot of things. We have nine staff members for 47 subfora, plus two more for the Farplane and Dead Links (those don't need to be moderated, per se, so we won't count those).


 


Two of those staff members are responsible for three of those 47--two graphics mods for the Graphical Division, Showcase, and Contest Corner.


 


That leaves seven staff for 44 subfora.


 


We've discussed approaching new staff. I don't think this is ideal. We don't have an active userbase large enough to justify it, not to mention there's no consistency or an SOP on how to handle different situations.


 


Another option is to cut back the subfora so we aren't spread so thin, and figure out what Kametsu's niche actually is, what we can offer to people to make them stay.


 


And this is where resistance to change comes into play. There are supporters for each and every single one of these subfora. Hackles were raised each and every time the Alexandria Inn was suggested for removal, even though it's been almost consistently quiet. The Entertainment subforum doesn't seem to get a lot of mileage and would probably be better as part of the Balamb Cafe, but that idea was also shot down.


 


I think we've been relying on the downloads to keep the forum afloat, both in terms of donations and activity, for too long. I mean, it's a good way to keep things rather hands off, if you don't really want to engage with other users. People know you can access the downloads if you donate and you don't have to post fifteen times, so there's an easy way out. Every day there's a new person in Today's Top Posters with exactly fifteen posts, activity is covered.


 


It's just the 15ers don't really want to talk to the rest of us, and the rest of us don't want to talk to the 15ers, but the rest of us don't really talk to each other either. No one is talking to anyone. I don't think any amount of downloads is going to fix that.


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Another option is to cut back the subfora so we aren't spread so thin, and figure out what Kametsu's niche actually is, what we can offer to people to make them stay.

 

It's just the 15ers don't really want to talk to the rest of us, and the rest of us don't want to talk to the 15ers, but the rest of us don't really talk to each other either. No one is talking to anyone. I don't any amount of downloads is going to fix that.

 

I totally agree. For your first point, I have previously listed off forums with virtually no activity that should be removed, and I will again now in hopes that we can condense the forum. Seasonal anime should be combined with normal anime forum, all subfora of the Gaming Realm should be merged into one Gaming Realm forum, trading card games should be moved to the Gaming Realm and should be expanded to include all board/tabletop/rp types of games, mature realm should be included in with mako and all threads should be tagged as 18+ (although the porn/hentai threads could easily be removed without any complaints), otaku releases should be merged with art and lit or graphics division depending on type of content in the threads, and the Alexandria Inn should be wiped out. The Graveyard in particular is basically an extra farplane, completely useless.

 

Changing the forum layout will not be quite as likely to increase activity, but at least it will put more threads into view and we might also have less of the 15 posters going into the Naruto and Bleach sections to spam. Also, even if it involves some toe-treading, at least it will hopefully improve the forum. The chatbox was removed even though almost everyone hated the idea, but it increased forum activity as a result. Same thing here

 

As for your second point, it is true that people just aren't chatting as much as they used to. I read every new post that isn't in the downloads section, but there are few threads other than Random Talk and Good vs Evil that actually have new and useful content that I can chat about.

 

Anyways, if I can be so bold as to make another suggestion, could a mod move all posts related to the state of the forum into the leaking ship thread. These really have nothing to do with the newsletter and don't belong here.

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It is related to the newsletter because I wrote about it in the newsletter. It's all the same, really. Besides, I'd imagine some people would see the title of the Leaking Ship thread and think there's nothing new being discussed.
 
The message at the top of the forum really should be updated--there's no need to have a mention of the chatbox at the top of every page. And the IRC channel isn't really "new", plus there's a link to it in the nav bar (although it seems to only work in the Brave skin).

 

Subforum descriptions in particular also need to be updated--why do they all sound like ads, it's really weird.

 

Some examples below. This is only Shinra Headquarters, but it should give an idea of what I think they should look like--short, simple, and to the point. You should be able to tell at a glance where to post things.

 

Broadcast Station: 

All the latest news, updates, and announcements of the forum are placed within by the staff for you to read. So please do come in and read up on whats been happening.

 
Shortened version: Official Kametsu news and updates

 

Assistance: At the Assistance board, you may ask questions, make comments about the forum or sites within the network, or give suggestions as to what to add or take away from the forum to improve it!

 

Shortened version: Questions, bug and error reports, and feedback regarding the forum and site network

 

(Although some of the sites on the network seem to be defunct--Shadow Hearts site was last updated March 2010, Grandia and FM sites don't even load apparently, and Kametsu itself was last updated in February.)

 

The staff room doesn't need a description.

 

Tech Center: Find tutorials and more within. If you need help or just want to talk in general about graphics, your computer, or whatever else technical then come on in and do so here.

 
Shortened version: Tech tutorials, discussion, and assistance
 
(Mentioning "graphics" in this description doesn't really make sense when we have the Graphical Divison.)
 
SeeD Hallway: Are you new to the forums? If so, come on in and introduce yourself and get to know some of the other members! I''m sure you will grow to enjoy it here. And be sure to welcome other new members!
 
Shortened version: New member introductions and welcomes

 
Anyway, cleaning house doesn't have to be as drastic as actual subforum deletion--simply hiding from view inactive areas until we build up our active userbase again would serve the same purpose. But definitely, moving stuff around and merging extraneous subfora would be a boon in terms of creating a fresher environment and condensing activity.
 
Expanding the TCG forum to include pen & paper and board games would be pretty good, I think (renamed from TCG to Traditional Games, maybe).
 
And I agree, there are few places to hold discussions outside of Forum Games and Random Talk--we've pigeonholed ourselves into a handful of threads when nothing is stopping us from expanding out. Random Talk is comfortable and safe, and very few "outsiders" post in it, which is definitely not how things should be.
 
The biggest problem is only one person can put into effect any major changes. No one likes changes to be effected without discussion, but since not a lot of people talk about these things (because "things are fine the way they are" or they're just busy and it's not "fair" to exclude them from the process), nothing ever gets done. If everyone is busy all the time, then it all becomes very convenient--nothing has to change and no one has to do any work.

 

Another thing I wanted to point out before I started rambling all over the place is that staff should be active. (This is another reason why I'm against bringing on new staff, because our activity levels are so out of whack.) Staff should be interfacing and interacting with users on the regular. Not, like, everyone has to be besties, but having absentee staff members not only looks unprofessional, it gives the impression we don't care about our users. We can't take it for granted people will assume we care, nor can we forget that a responsibility of staff is to encourage and create discussion.

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Another thing I wanted to point out before I started rambling all over the place is that staff should be active. (This is another reason why I'm against bringing on new staff, because our activity levels are so out of whack.) Staff should be interfacing and interacting with users on the regular. Not, like, everyone has to be besties, but having absentee staff members not only looks unprofessional, it gives the impression we don't care about our users. We can't take it for granted people will assume we care, nor can we forget that a responsibility of staff is to encourage and create discussion.

 

This is one thing I must agree on.  There is only a few on consistently. EO, I know for a fact you are on here a lot...and so is Sicka.  Koby is on here often...even thou he has a very busy life with the new baby and new job.  Apollo is on here almost daily, and Poe is pretty much the same.  Ren is a on occasionally.  IP, Mute, and RazorDan...I rarely see on here.  I'm on here everyday...almost all day depending on what's going on.  So these are what I see of the MODs.  Mainly EO is the only one I see on here all the time posting and what not.  But there is no real consistency with a few of he mods...sadly.  I hate saying that but it is what I've noticed.

 

I know I'm not a leecher.  LOL!  Got to many post and threads on here for that.  Plus I provide downloads...rarely have I downloaded something from here.

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I liked seeing the samurai bride informer. It's an anime title I mean to watch sometime in the future.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! tumblr_m9gcuoBe0o1qzckow.gif

 

Anyway to the suggestions posted here.  I think we do need to get rid of the Alexandria stuff.  Then with the descriptions, they seem like they try to be personal like a conversation.  I guess you want them to be more direct and concise.  So again doesn't sound like a bad idea.

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The issue I have with the descriptions being like a conversation is that, because of their length, people might not want to bother with reading them. I mean, this is what the forum index looks like to me.


 


kamskin.png


 


So much text. Nearly every other forum I ghost or participate in don't have subforum descriptions this long. Some of them don't even have descriptions at all, but I can understand the need for them here, since it's not obvious to everyone just what should be done in the SeeD Hallway. But it doesn't need to read like an ad.


 


It's like... it's fun to have flavour text in a game. Click on a bookshelf and it tells you something kind of goofy and silly. But it's optional. Some of the descriptions read like that, except they're always there.


 


Farplane description: Out with the old as they say. These are all old topics that we have trashed. So if you enjoy reading up on history of forums you could check it out; otherwise it's pretty much useless.


 


First of all, there's barely anything interesting there because I've been in there and it's boring and awful and almost nothing good is in there.


 


Second of all, why is this even public if we aren't going to curate topics that deserve to be archived instead of just dumping every single piece of spam in here.


 


I mean, look at it the way a newbie would. Every single subforum has a description about as long as the above. Look at the downloads.


 


dlscr.png


 


I read long posts all day long and even this makes my eyes glaze over. It's so crowded and smushed together and nothing draws the eye appropriately. It's all just a mushy stream of text.


 


(ETA: I don't like Brave because it's dark and way too wide. Clean-Cut is also too wide. Deviant 3 is just a smidge too wide for me, also I don't really like the colours. So Kametsu skin it is for me.)


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