The GT Self Improvement Thread

BreakABone · 03-06-2010, 01:39 AM

So I guess there's no way to spin this into a positive, GT is in a bit of a rut. And with the permission of other staff members (okay Typhoid wasn't on when I made this thread), we agreed its based to have the forum discuss the issue.

I guess the most important questions:
a)What is wrong with GT?
b)How can we fix it?
c)Are there any issues with the current staff members? (At the time, myself, Bond, Typhoid and Dyne)

Some things, we can try and work on is finding new members. I feel that we have an awesome community here, but on the same hand we've known each other so long that we can pretty much predict what anyone will say to any specific thread before they respond. I also think, people are sometimes afraid to try different ideas for fear of pissing off this member or that member or getting into a discussion/argument that you really don't want to have.

Thank you for any and all input.

Dylflon · 03-06-2010, 05:52 AM

I don't think there's something wrong with GT that can be fixed.

It's just that we don't have anything to really offer outsiders. Is this a problem? Debatably. Do I care enough to bother to get a bunch of teenagers to join? Probably not.

Schadenfreude · 03-06-2010, 11:15 AM

Needs more cowbell

Thespis721 · 03-06-2010, 11:35 AM

You could look at what makes the other forums more successful. What draws other people to the other forums? What makes the other forums work? I honestly don't post all that often but that's because I feel the rut that the forum has that BaB talks about.

Seems to me that every discussion is either:

a) a Nintendo discussion that BaB gets attacked for being a fanboy of Nintendo
b) a non-Nintendo discussion that usually boils down to two people arguing over something (i.e. the Final Fantasy debate earlier this month)

While it's sometimes interesting, like the Final Fantasy debate, sometimes it can come across as hostile and prevent certain members from speaking their mind. Not me. I don't care if people bash me. I just don't post because I already know how it'll play out.

Fox 6 · 03-06-2010, 12:58 PM

I agree with Dylflon.

What do we really offer just on appearance? There are hundreds of gaming sites out there.

Teuthida · 03-06-2010, 01:05 PM

We can go clothes shopping for GT in the form of a musical montage.

GT is a small close knit community where everyone knows each other. Every so often we get a few new members who stick around. Works for me.

I don't hang out in the gaming forum but from how Thepis just described it, it sounds like the same old dumb debates from when we were younglings over sales numbers and brand loyalty. Just glancing at it now, most threads are started by BAB so makes sense he wants others to do their part.

I basically use GT as a dump for videos, music, and pictures I want to share. Also knowing some folks for over a decade now it's cool to watch everyone change and grow...and sometimes mutate in giant blood thirsty creatures of the night...but then we watch their exploits on the news and take bets on how quickly they'll demolish the city in question.

Dyne · 03-06-2010, 02:15 PM

Whatever drove Aladuf and company away? I can't remember. Was it just that we hated his friend Renwood?

Flunkie only left because he was a d-bag.

BreakABone · 03-06-2010, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyne

Whatever drove Aladuf and company away? I can't remember. Was it just that we hated his friend Renwood?

Flunkie only left because he was a d-bag.

Aladuf just kind of grew tired I would imagine, and really this forum just didn't keep pace with him.

I mean on a personal level, I'm not really sure why I care for this forum, but I do or wouldn't be so active here. I also try different ways to recruit people, some of it works, some of it falls on its face, what can you do?

I do think that we have a problem with open discussion/dialog here though. I mean often we have threads where people just kind of post independently of the discussion around the thread, which is fine, but it doesn't usually foster much further discussion. Not that everything here needs to turn into an argument or a debate, you can have discussions that are more grounded.

As for standing out, we really can't do anything to stand out, video game websites are a dime a dozen these days, and that's why the main page never took off, I'd like to try the whole alternate reporting that I suggested in the other thread, but again we need members who are willing to do the work.

I think what we need to do, to stand-out, is really just make this the best place we can as current members. Make new people feel welcomed without smothering them. We can hope to keep the members that we do have now happy, and maybe find a handful of people to enter our little community.

We could be wary of others attitudes, not everyone is big on cursing and stuff, so maybe label threads if has foul language, I don't know.

Typhoid · 03-06-2010, 03:06 PM

Personally, I'm a fan of our current staff.

I don't really have a problem with the size of the forum. We've all been here for so long that it's just like a group of friends that talk about shit, rather than a bunch of random people on the internet posting memes and talking down to eachother.

As for getting new people, I just don't think we have anything to draw anyone in.
I do think - if we do it - the GT 'cover page' with satirical reviews and whatnot wouldn't be a bad thing. We could keep GT how it is in the forum sense, but just add an Onion-esque take on video games and the industry. No other site is really doing that.

KillerGremlin · 03-06-2010, 06:19 PM

Small communities like this die at the hands of site expenses and members growing up and getting on with life.

My take on expanding and bringing in new members is you need to offer something, be it reviews, videos, or free swag. None of that can be accomplished with just a forum alone, so that means branching out and making a front page.

Otherwise the forum will continue to operate as is - like a small community, an enhanced version of IRC or AIM - as long as people are willing to keep up with server costs.

Alternatively, we could offer porn. Porn brings in traffic.

Xantar · 03-06-2010, 09:05 PM

I suppose when you showed me this thread you were expecting me to complain about stupid members or something. But actually, I think your biggest problem is a structural one that's out of your control. The fact of the matter is ALL small- to mid-sized videogame forums are dying out. Especially the ones that used to have a strong Nintendo base. I see it all over the internet. I have a couple theories about why this is, and I'll let you decide whether any of it applies:

1. Current events - there's a lot of interesting stuff going on with politics. Maybe you think things are going in the right direction and maybe you think they're going in the wrong direction. But the fact of the matter is there are a lot of dramatic things happening. And they are real. I used to keep an eye on videogame news to see what Kaz Hirai or Reggie or Robbie Bach would say, but now it's more interesting to see what Barack Obama and Dick Cheney are up to.

2. People grew up - this one is pretty obvious. I'm guessing a lot of people here used to be in high school and are now in college. Or in grad school. Or have jobs. There's less time to spend posting on message boards. I suppose you could try to fix this problem by recruiting more high schoolers, but let's face it: most high schoolers are idiots. I can't believe some of the stuff I said back in the day.

It's probably even worse for Nintendo fans. I don't have any solid data to back this up, but my experience has been that Nintendo fans are generally either young enough that the family friendly image is appealing rather than a turn-off (i.e. under 12) or old enough to remember the NES days (i.e. over 21). Problem is the people who spend the most time arguing over pointless stuff on the internet are people between the ages of 13 and 18.

3. The videogame industry changed - to be specific, it fragmented. If you get 20 random videogamers together and name a random videogame, only three or four of them at a time will have played it most of the time. They just won't have a lot in common to talk about. The only way around this is to be as big as GAF or IGN.

4. Blogs - back when GameTavern first started, I don't think the word "blog" existed. Now they are very common, of course, and they are almost as convenient for discussion as message boards. And personally, whenever I have some complex idea that I want to express, I would rather write a blog post and then ~~whore it out~~ show it to people so that we can chat about it.

---

Yeah, I guess you could stand to have somebody in the Politics forum other than Strangler who actually knows anything. Some people could stand to have a transplant of their central nervous system. But fundamentally, GT is not equipped to appeal to what people on the internet want. And honestly, I don't really care.

One small question, though: why exactly are movies and TV shows discussed in a separate forum from the Happy Hour?

Dylflon · 03-07-2010, 05:03 AM

I'd be down for the satirical game news stories. Those could be fun.

FuzzTop · 03-07-2010, 11:51 AM

Theres a few problems as far as I can tell insofar as why GT is in a "rut".

1) the very same close-knit community that makes GT worthwhile, is typically what makes it hard for outsiders to enter

2) Following the advent of twitter, blogs, and everything else that fundamentally describes web 2.0, forums are slowly going the way of the bulletin board

3) We don't offer anything that typically makes the masses even come to this website in the first place. I.e. reviews, previews, strategy guides, etc.

4) I know people have already said this, but its just such a strong point that it needs to be said again: we're growing up. I've kept tabs with this site even if I haven't posted more than once or twice a year. But the truth is, the people I know from here, I've known for about 10 years now. I was in grade 6 or 7 when I was invited to ninglobe, and then after its inevitable closing shortly thereafter I ended up here. Kids today in that age range don't really go on forums anymore, its all about typing IN ALL CAPS on facebook, yahoo answers, youtube, and pissing the hell out of me on modern warfare 2 because they think that having their balls drop a week ago gives them the right to spout tone deaf lyrics like they're having an oral case of dihorrea.

/rant

the point is, that these aren't the people that are going to be taking over command of this website and those like it. So inevitably forums will go the way of the bulletin board. Sorry bab.

BlueFire · 03-07-2010, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuzzTop

I was in grade 6 or 7 when I was invited to ninglobe.

lmao. ninglobe. That was great.

Bond · 03-07-2010, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuzzTop

and pissing the hell out of me on modern warfare 2 because they think that having their balls drop a week ago gives them the right to spout tone deaf lyrics like they're having an oral case of dihorrea.

Almost spit out my morning glass of water when reading this... just wanted to let you know.