Author Topic: Community Input Requested  (Read 3852 times)

Offline Nanshork

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Community Input Requested
« on: January 21, 2019, 08:49:06 PM »
Okay, so as we all know I've been around forever and I'm a mod now.  I've been fixing a bunch of technical issues (and I found one that looks like it can't be fixed without migrating the forum again so I'm just leaving that one alone).

As part of my forum support duties, I'm branching beyond tech support and have two questions for all of you.  I don't care how long you've been here or how many/few times you've posted, I am welcoming all input.


Question 1: Is there any functionality that people would like added or changed?  This could be something big or small, as an example the Dice Roller and Bookmarks are features that were added to the forum. 

Question 2: Is there anything that we can do to stop forum activity from being so low?  Should the Mods mod more (it would be hard to mod less)?  Should I hack into GitP and forward all of their traffic over here?  (I can't actually do that.)  Should we just give up because nobody wants to talk on a message board anymore?  Logins aren't super low compared to what I remember historically but people just aren't posting like they used to.

Offline ketaro

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2019, 09:07:57 PM »
Collectively buy out gitp's domain to redirect to minmax. Totes legal.

For serious though, I really really really really miss having a button on the post reply screen that automatically adds the [spoiler.][/spoiler.] tags without having to manually type them every time. It's especially a pain when using the forum on a phone and having to do that. I can't remember exactly, but I think it used to be next to the button that adds in the dice roll tags.

Offline oslecamo

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2019, 09:55:44 PM »
Okay, so as we all know I've been around forever and I'm a mod now.  I've been fixing a bunch of technical issues (and I found one that looks like it can't be fixed without migrating the forum again so I'm just leaving that one alone).

As part of my forum support duties, I'm branching beyond tech support and have two questions for all of you.  I don't care how long you've been here or how many/few times you've posted, I am welcoming all input.
Yay for Nanshork! :D

Question 1: Is there any functionality that people would like added or changed?  This could be something big or small, as an example the Dice Roller and Bookmarks are features that were added to the forum. 
More built-in smiley options.

Question 2: Is there anything that we can do to stop forum activity from being so low?  Should the Mods mod more (it would be hard to mod less)?  Should I hack into GitP and forward all of their traffic over here?  (I can't actually do that.)  Should we just give up because nobody wants to talk on a message board anymore?  Logins aren't super low compared to what I remember historically but people just aren't posting like they used to.

Moderation seems fine as it is, but there's no easy hack to increase activity, basically you need constant content updates of some sorts to generate activity.

Not to brag about, but I'm probably the most active homebrewer here and a significant percentage of people joined this forum precisely to post about (or even for) my homebrew. But I just don't have that much free time nowadays as I used to.

GITP has a pretty awesome webcomic that updates regularly to initially draw people in. Somethingawful has their articles. Even TGD has FrankTrollman regularly post massive awesomely funny rants of rpg stuff split in multiple parts so people keep checking in the forum and eventually talk about other stuff while waiting (or even try to do big rants of their own).

So if you want more activity, you simply need to start this forum's very webcomic or series of articles or a youtube channel or something else that'll draw people in the first place.

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2019, 10:09:09 PM »
Do you really want more smileys?  They're easy to add if I'm pointed at what is wanted.

Offline ketaro

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2019, 10:26:30 PM »
All the smileys

Offline bhu

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2019, 10:41:09 PM »
Activity might be low cause old posters habent found us.

Offline oslecamo

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2019, 03:39:00 AM »
Do you really want more smileys?  They're easy to add if I'm pointed at what is wanted.

All the smileys
What Ketaro said, as broad a selection as possible like the something awful forum smilies list although I guess we can skip any NSFW ones.

Offline ketaro

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2019, 05:31:08 AM »
I'm a personal fan of the onion emotes  :rolleyes

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2019, 12:06:49 PM »
Os and ketaro are insane and want me to spend all of my time adding smilies, got it.

I'll see what I can do that doesn't involve lots of work for me.  :p

Edit: I'll also look into the spoiler button.

Offline Skyrock

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2019, 03:11:22 PM »
Question 2: Is there anything that we can do to stop forum activity from being so low?
Don't think that there is much to do to help the situation. Web forums as a medium in general are in their sunset stage (like mailing lists have been before when web forums came up to replace them). Almost all of the big, active web forums that still exist are living off the substance of their better days, with very little new activity going in and a lot of old users going out to shinier one-stop-shop sites like Reddit or FB.

That the site mostly revolves around the now dead 3rd edition with its decreasing player base doesn't help either.

Offline Vladeshi

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2019, 06:53:26 PM »
Is there a way to make it so that the dice roller allows more than one type of dice in a roll?
For example: 1d8+2d6.
The following explanation has been removed due to time constraints, character limits on posts, and the DC 30 Spellcraft checks to understand large portions of it.

Offline ketaro

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2019, 07:21:03 PM »
Question 2: Is there anything that we can do to stop forum activity from being so low?
Don't think that there is much to do to help the situation. Web forums as a medium in general are in their sunset stage (like mailing lists have been before when web forums came up to replace them). Almost all of the big, active web forums that still exist are living off the substance of their better days, with very little new activity going in and a lot of old users going out to shinier one-stop-shop sites like Reddit or FB.

That the site mostly revolves around the now dead 3rd edition with its decreasing player base doesn't help either.

Ppl have been saying that about forums for the last decade tho  :lmao

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2019, 09:09:44 PM »
Is there a way to make it so that the dice roller allows more than one type of dice in a roll?
For example: 1d8+2d6.

Given the nature of the dice roller that is not possible, sorry.

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #13 on: January 22, 2019, 11:45:13 PM »
Spoiler button isn't cooperating like I want.

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2019, 12:54:59 AM »
Hey Ketaro, you now have a spoiler button.  It's the biohazard symbol, just like it used to be.

Offline ketaro

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #15 on: January 23, 2019, 01:16:05 AM »
(click to show/hide)

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #16 on: January 23, 2019, 01:17:32 AM »
New input question: Am I the best mod ever?  :cool

Offline oslecamo

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #17 on: January 24, 2019, 01:37:54 AM »
Yes you are. :cloud9

Offline Nanshork

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Re: Community Input Requested
« Reply #18 on: February 04, 2019, 09:25:11 AM »
All technical issues on the board have been resolved, and there is no easy way to add a large amount of smileys from another source.  They're a one-by-one kind of deal for the most part.

With that as the case, I have stepped down as a mod and am a normal board member again.