Priorities in Community Growth

Right then. Figure this is the most appropriate place.

Since this place started up, a general, broad minded goal that sits with the founders, mods, and some community members is expansion. Growing and gaining more members in the community, because if we don't rather than grow, over time no doubt we'll see a decrease in activity.

So, of course, people have started pitching in efforts to make this place more noticeable. Brute's got his game reviews here, people are posting reviews here and no doubt in the back rooms with the mods things are being discussed for the future. But I'd like to point out something we're missing here.

Any good community plays, and grows on its strengths. It needs direction and drive.

So ask yourselves, what is this community? What are it's strengths?

We're not a gaming forum. We're not an art hub. We're not a review hub. We aren't a writer hub. We're a discussion board, with the sole intent of basically being a coffee lounge. People come here to relax, piss some time away, and do random shit and talk random shit with faces they've since become familiar with.

The point is, this place isn't unified. It's not unified in any goal, and it has no drive in any particular direction. These reviews, while being nice and all, aren't ever really going to get off the ground because we're not a review site. We're not contenders with any big shot sites out there.

These are just some wayward thoughts of mine on the issue of growing the community. Look at Halo Archive. They have a direction. Their entire community has a drive and a push in the same direction and they've grown large because of it. The last time I checked their place out, they had about 500 members. They've skyrocketed since.

So, again, I'm just making a wager here. If we ever really want this community to grow, or really, stay alive in the coming years, we have to play to our strengths.

I'm not dissing the reviews in fact. Because if people enjoy writing them and producing them then they should. And they should post it here if they want to. What I'm getting at here is that this is a community of people from all walks of life. All diverse, different minded, different experiences, and most importantly, different skills, and different likings.

The point I'm trying to drive here, is that we should play to that. The wider we expand our range of subjects, the wider we expand the community to fit into a true sort of digital coffee lounge where people can post whatever thy feel like, the better off we'll be.

But most importantly, the more we make this place our home, and our center of sorts, with refferals and paper trails leading back here, the better chance we'll stand of gaining new members.

But it needs to be thought about because let's face it, if you put up a board, right now, and called it the art board, chances are activity would be slow, regulated to only a handful of members who post in it. And ultimately, it would be taken down.

So here's what I am trying to get at right now. There's got to be a way to sort of passively direct attention to ourselves, make ourselves inviting as a coffee lounge community, without trying failed attempts at being something we're not.

I know, that this year, right now, I'm undertaking a lot of projects. And what I thought to myself was, I'm going to make this place my home base. My content, the stuff that's suitable or allowed her, will be centered here. And I wager that's the way to go about things.

If we've got a community that allows people to come here, and show off their works, show off their thoughts, their ideas, their creations, that's how we'll succeed.

I'm bordering on sleep depravation right now and I'm going in circles. Probably missed at making my point as well. But the bottom line here is.


TLDR:

The wider we make the community, the more accessible we make it to posting all kinds of content, and the more people that use this place as a center and an anchor of sorts, with refferals in other places, other communities, linking back to here, the more we'll be able to grow.

Play to the strengths of what makes this community. People from all walks of life, some of them, able to create and do some pretty special things. Nurture that and have a community that fosters it and provides a welcoming home for it, always.

Right, again. More stuff. Mainly what I'm talking about here, is that our community isn't organized correctly. For example.

If I started wood carving on my end, and I got really good at it, I'd love to share it. If I got good enough, I could monetize it. Commissions. But I ask myself, if I wanted to center my dealings around this site, and make all of works, my information, and everything centered around my craft, where would I put it on this site?

Obviously, the best place considered would be the flood. Because the flood is the all rounder board. I would have a thread that supports all of my shit.

But here's the problem.

The flood is an all rounder board. Its rules are, generally, anything goes. So no doubt, the assholes of the community would show up and make an un-inviting atmosphere. And that wards off people. Let's say, by chance, that I start attracting outside attention to myself. People start showing up here. They want to put their shit up here too. Or they want to discuss it. What happens? Buried in the flood under anything goes posts and assholes.

So, the real issue here, is our organization. Our community hubs, so to speak. There is no central hub for a wood carver, or an artist. There is no current accepting, welcoming community for people who want to share shit.

Even anime fans, since there's anime fans here writing reviews. Anime people get shit on in the flood, whether it be jokingly, or not jokingly. And it gets tiresome to post something constructive or interesting but you have nowhere else to put it but the flood where it gets buried of flooded with pointless shit.

And having a pinned thread in the flood makes it obscure, and narrow focused in a way. Too specific. They key is broadening approaches and hubs.

So the real issue here, is creating a community that welcomes people when they finally show up here. Having an environment, hubs and places that they can go to on arrival and feel at home in without being exposed to the wrong crowd, so to speak.

ok

So the real issue here, is creating a community that welcomes people when they finally show up here.

Unless the new people we get love being called nigger faggots, they're not going to feel welcomed.

So the real issue here, is creating a community that welcomes people when they finally show up here.

Unless the new people we get love being called nigger faggots, they're not going to feel welcomed.

And unless they've got a decent area to hang around in, then they won't want to show up here either. For example. Meta lives in the serious board. That's his home. I'd bet you if we didn't have that board and political stuff wasn't allowed anywhere else on the site, Meta would probably dissappear.

So, two fronts to work on. Boards that support interests, and rules in those boards that create a nice welcoming environment. As it stands, the flood has been the free for all forum of sorts. Certainly not exactly the best place for newbies now is it?

Umm....

Anime Board?

Planned content. Scheduled

Podcast and small YouTube isn't getting anywhere without help.

some people might not want this place to get too large (not me)

some people might not want to this place to get too large (not me)

I'd like more people, but at the same time, too big is bad.
Faceless hordes like on B.Old isn't too attractive after the interactions I've had here.

Planned content. Scheduled

Podcast and small YouTube isn't getting anywhere without help.

Aha. But again. What is this place? The epitome of random people. Organization is hard. Planning, especially. We plan game nights and people are still late. People get interrupted.

some people might not want to this place to get too large (not me)

I'd like more people, but at the same time, too big is bad.
Faceless hordes like on B.Old isn't too attractive after the interactions I've had here.

The idea isn't to become a big name giant then. But at the same time it'd be nice if new folks showed up. We need to have some sort of a name for ourselves and something that can attract people, keep them staying, and importantly, keep them coming back.

Play to the strong suits. At the core of this site, if you took everybody here, and on Bungie.net, and threw them all into one school, this group would be the equivalent to the outcasts. It's a mixed bag of people that just don't quite fit in anywhere else.

With a little work I'd wager we could pick up more drifters as we go along. But the place has to be ready for them first. As it stands right now, this place isn't done yet. Still a work in progress.

IMO I think we could accomplish the kind of specialised posting by simply merging hobby/job stuff with serious. I mean, it would boost the PPH in serious and bring a more reasoned coffee room atmosphere with which new members could enjoy.

IMO I think we could accomplish the kind of specialised posting by simply merging hobby/job stuff with serious. I mean, it would boost the PPH in serious and bring a more reasoned coffee room atmosphere with which new members could enjoy.

You have to take into account something though. Most hobby stuff around here is for lack of a better term, slow. The Meta train has no breaks. You put art and hobby stuff in there and it'll be buried under god save the queen, ISIS being ISIS, and political parties being shreked or stupid.

I think private groups will help bring longevity to the site, as well as a reason for existing, as long as we don't fizzle out and the population doesn't thin in the beginning.

Besides that, I do agree with you that the atmosphere around here (especially The Flood) isn't exactly welcoming to newbies. I mean...I can change the rules and make the punishments more harsh in an attempt to get the folks around here to straighten up and not be so batshit crazy, but no change is going to be welcomed by everyone. I'm not sure exactly what to do regarding this, but it's something I'll continue to think about.

I think private groups will help bring longevity to the site, as well as a reason for existing, as long as we don't fizzle out and the population doesn't thin in the beginning.

Besides that, I do agree with you that the atmosphere around here (especially The Flood) isn't exactly welcoming to newbies. I mean...I can change the rules and make the punishments more harsh in an attempt to get the folks around here to straighten up and not be so batshit crazy, but no change is going to be welcomed by everyone. I'm not sure exactly what to do regarding this, but it's something I'll continue to think about.

Leave the flood as is. But maybe try the idea of having dedicated boards that have stricter moderation designed to keep things easy going. Like the serious board. Toss in and arts and crafts board maybe, and an anime board so that discussion can funnel into there alongside gaming.

Or, maybe even, work it like anarchy.

Newbies have to hit a post count to enter the flood. So when they show up here, they're greeted with easier going, topic specific boards that they can hang around in and get used to before jumping into the shark pit.

We need an Azula board.

So the real issue here, is creating a community that welcomes people when they finally show up here.

Unless the new people we get love being called nigger faggots, they're not going to feel welcomed.

People don't like that?

I have a project I'm working on with friends. It's only just started, but we'd probably be using this place as a home base at least at the start.

But if it gets some traction, then we'd definitely help guide some people here, at least I hope.

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So the real issue here, is creating a community that welcomes people when they finally show up here.

Unless the new people we get love being called nigger faggots, they're not going to feel welcomed.

Look at all the new people in this thread being called niggers or faggots. I don't know about you but a lot of the new members that post in that thread were being welcomed. For the people that get called niggers or faggots are people that been here for a while.

Not sure how I feel about several small boards. They won't get a lot of activity.

And that's the issue. It's an issue of, make a board right now and have it stay empty, or have new people show up and find that there's no topic board they can call home in.

But, compared to Offtopic, Serious, and Gaming, the Septagon board is a snail and likewise so is the news board.

But, then again, what if you made boards that were broad?

Instead of, let's say, an anime board, why not a tv and movies board? I'm aware that anime isn't exclusively tv and movies, but most anime talked about here are usually shows. Or, how about an entertainment board?

Entertainment in the sense of comic books, tv, movies, that sort of stuff.

Or an art board that supports anything you could consider art. Music, carving, glass blowing, sketching, digital, model creation and so on?

The broader you design the boards around a certain media, the more flexibility you have. And when new people finally show up, they'll have options to explore that will keep them coming back.

Because lets face it. As a welcoming comittee, offtopic blows ass.

We need an Azula board.

We need an Interstellar Board.

I'd love to invite more people here but this forum is way too toxic.

That's my main hindrance from inviting tons of people. There's a pretty unfriendly vibe here.

I'd love to invite more people here but this forum is way too toxic.

That's my main hindrance from inviting tons of people. There's a pretty unfriendly vibe here.

lol no there isn't

I'd love to invite more people here but this forum is way too toxic.

That's my main hindrance from inviting tons of people. There's a pretty unfriendly vibe here.

lol no there isn't

To be completely frank you're one of the culprits.

Oh please. I'm no different than 99% of users here.

I'd love to invite more people here but this forum is way too toxic.

That's my main hindrance from inviting tons of people. There's a pretty unfriendly vibe here.

lol no there isn't

To be completely frank you're one of the culprits.

Oh please. I'm no different than 99% of users here.

That's an overestimation.

I agree.
I'm no different than 90% of users here.

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I have invited lots of people to this place over the past few months. Their main hesitation is how a lot of people here are just flat out ass holes. It really is a serious issue that can prevent this place to grow. I mean, yeah its a place to get together and talk about stuff with your buddies. But what kind of buddies? Is this just a gathering for jerks and terrible people? Or is it supposed to be something more?