Defibrillating the forum

[BobTD]

The forum here is basically wasting away. There are very few new threads and very few active members contributing interesting material. I see forums die all the time it would be a shame if GF shared the same fate. So lets try to discuss the problem here, feel free to contribute if you think I have missed anything.

Main problem: fewer active members. This results in fewer long term members, less forum activity and less reason for members to keep returning. Basically member activity is the only real problem. There are a number of solutions, so I will just throw out as many as I can think of:

Create relevant content, about gaming. News sections handled by a team would be a large benefit. Actually finding mods and giving them a set job other than being policy police. This is an issue in itself. Structure the forum so that the most relevant information is presented first in an easy to remember format.

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Format

So lets start with format, this is largely my opinion, Linux, Im sorry nothing personal but your layout bugs me for a few reasons, those reasons are varied but for starters let me give you an example:

GF Central

New Members
Gaming News
GF Game Reviews (sticky Q&A thread with link to person who handles requests)
sub --- PC Reviews, Console reviews
General Discussion

Games (this section should address the main genres +1 general)

General Gaming
RPG
FPS
Strategy
sub --- League of Legends, Starcraft
Adventure/platformer
Sports/Racing
Others
sub--- Fighters, sandbox, horror

General Topics

Serious debate and Discussion (pro life, right to bear arms type stuff can be a lot of fun but you need to keep it civil)
Entertainmet
sub --- music, tv, literature
General PC
Graphic (sticky request threads)
Off Topic (spam threads no post count, lax rules)

Forum Managment and Features

Forum Discussion (sticky Q&A thread)
Arcade
Casino
Contests and Point Sales
Forum servers

(hidden boards)

This layout focuses on featuring the main focus of the forum, the gaming aspect as well as what are most likely the more active and updated boards. You want new content on top of the page and as much activity in plain sight as possible. This is part personal experience and taste, but should also largely be self evident as logical.

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Mods

Mods, super mods and global mods should all drastically have different jobs. To make use of mods you have to form them into a support staff that understands their roles. In an ideal forum this is what you would look for:

Mods:
Mods move posts around so they are in the right place, they comment constructivly in new threads to show interest in what the members have to say. ANd most importantly they are always trying to generate hot threads that will generate a lot of discussion. You also want knowledgeable people coving each topic, but they have to be able to converse in a non biased manner about aspects in their fields.

What you do not want them doing: Handling forum rules, warnings, bans, or deleting threads or closing them. You are going to have more mods (hopefully) on a good staff than anything else. And they are there to help to forum stay active and report problems to their team leader. You do not want to discourage anyone from posting unless absolutely necessary. One way to discourage people is by giving mods to much power. Your forum should have as welcoming a feel as possible, to many people with the power to offend others (even if they are justified by the forum rules) has the opposite effect.

Super Mods:
These guys should be put in charge of sections of the forum, boards or even entire categories. They should have direct control of who the mods are, because these are not rule enforcers, these are forum activity providers. Super mods are the glue that holds many forums together, they should be the most active contributors in the community and should generally be as well liked as possible.

What they should not be doing: All the things Mods should not be doing. But they should be in charge of alerting global mods of actions that need to be taken regarding members. They should simply record and present evidence, and never scold posters or close threads. These guys are the customer service providers, sure they get to hire the mods, but they have to make sure the mods are active and fill in for the ones that are not, or replace them.

Global mods:
These guys should be handling all your warnings, infractions, bans, closed threads and disputes. Thats all they are needed to do. And you want as few as you can manage while always having someone available. Ideally they should even have a separate email setup that they get notified by phone when something important needs to be done. They have a lot of power in regaurd to the forum, and its inevitable that they might not be the most popular, but that's the trade for authority. You only need a few but they have to be active.

Have a bunch of inactive members on your staff and don't want to upset them? Create an honorary title for them as a place holder to make sure they know they are still welcome to come back, but dont let inactive accounts sit with significant status. You want to see where you need more staff clearly and unused accounts eventually present more and more of a security threat if an email gets hacked or they used the same passwords for everything and a game account gets hacked.

While we are on the topic of growing staff, you should consider doing the same things with a news staff and a review staff. A news staff is more important and can be handled by a few members. A review staff is harder, because there is very little incentive for all that work when I could post my stuff to UTube and get a lot more views. Come back to reviews after your activity picks up.

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

Boosting content NOW:

You need to refresh your threads and get active members working on posting as a group. Even if it is only a small group at first, they need to have a goal of keeping every thread on the first page less than a month old. Again this is where mods should come in. Hiring a new group of mods, or even lurking and finding old members that would be willing to help revamp your content. There are classic fallback threads you can always reuse like "favorite ____", but you also want each forum topic to have interesting topics from current event, like shooters should have a thread about Destiny, Titanfall, The latest COD, and the latest news should be turned into threads.

Those are not threads that should happen on their own, you want mods who feel its their job to make sure potentially active threads are created.

The News section should be featured up top, and you should have members watching gaming sites for upcoming games and exciting news. They should also know how to follow reference links back to the statements those gaming sites link, and format heir own news article rather than copying others.

Its safe to say the forum needs a lot of work at this point. If you are preoccupied Linux you should form a core group you can trust with people you trust and review your goals for the forum, even if you dont take my advice as is, you should still have a few people that clearly understand what you want to do with the forum and can help. Because I swear if you sit on your ass I will open my own and poach your members. ;)


Edit:

One last thing that I want to make sure I convey my feelings about. I tried to touch on it but if its not clear, the mood and tone of your forum. Writers learn that mood and tone are to separate issues, tone is the intent of the words by the writer, and mood is the emotions the readers feel towards the written work.

These are important concepts in a community where you expressly communicate with writing. You have to be careful to craft a tone that can not evoke a negative mood in your members. And im going to be blunt, Im terrible at this mysef. But even though I take almost nothing seriously and often dont translate well, I have been deeply offended on forums like this. I have become an inactive member because I did not enjoy the mood of your forum in the past, but Im not purposely holding a grudge, I didn't even notice when I stopped posting.

For this reason I strongly recommend you look long and hard at your command structure. Make sure your mods understand the mood you want to convey. Part of that is being nice to them. If you want a healthy and active forum you have to respect where your power comes from, consent. I can post on your forum of I can find another. Or make my own. Same as anyone else.

Also Im not saying your forum was terribly unfriendly, or anything like that. I largely suspect the decline in activity is from evolving technology, creating easier ways to fulfill social needs and keep us informed in different ways. But I havent disregarded the potential of a forum like this either. Hell I played xbox with a group of friends I met on here and then got invited to go meet up with them in New York. I took the time to post this, so I hope you take the time to consider what the forum would be like if you fixed it up.


*edit edit: revised my example in hopes that Linux adds an active debate area.

[xLykos]

I'd really like to see the forum get some new life. It's depressing to get on every day and see "no unread posts"

[BobTD]

And Lynux could use more members like you on his team fixing the place up.

(psst, this guy can help to)

Edit: anyone who shows any interest in boosting activity should PM Linux with bothersomly cheerfull messages about fixing his forum.

[xLykos]

I'm not sure how I could help lol

[BobTD]

You need to refresh your threads and get active members working on posting as a group. Even if it is only a small group at first, they need to have a goal of keeping every thread on the first page less than a month old. Again this is where mods should come in. Hiring a new group of mods, or even lurking and finding old members that would be willing to help revamp your content. There are classic fallback threads you can always reuse like "favorite ____", but you also want each forum topic to have interesting topics from current event, like shooters should have a thread about Destiny, Titanfall, The latest COD, and the latest news should be turned into threads.

Simple stuff like choosing an area of the forum you like and updating it.

[Trunks]

I agree with a lot of what you said, but you don't have to be a mod to post new topics. I've been apart of a lot of forums and very rarely do the mods create the majority of threads. It's hard for a few people to keep up on EVERY game coming out and new stuff about it; especially if what they're posting they're not even interested in. It's the community as a whole that keeps up current news about games, if each person creates threads as they find news about their favorite games then the forum would be a lot more active. People shouldn't feel like they need a special label just to create threads. A mod or non-mod can create as many threads as they like; their isn't a limit. Every member should feel they can contribute to the forum as much as they can or would like to.

IMO, the forum mainly needs active posters. New threads about current hot trends is what brings people to the forum. People search for something on google and click links to read about games they want to get. The more threads we have about new games, the easier people searching in google or bing can find us.

There are some smaller things as well, definitely still a lot of bugs that haven't been fixed since the vB upgrade. As you said, the layout could be changed, it's been the same since I've joined 5 or 6 years ago. The main thing is just activity though, the more active our current members are, the more likely that new members will join and start posting as well.

[LiNuX]

Thank you for your suggestions! I actually like the forum layout you posted so if no one has any objections, I may actually change things around to what you suggested and give it a try by the new year (although I may make a few modifications myself).

I agree with Trunks as well, that we need more active members. I think the whole mod idea that you have is great, but I don't think mods should be 'activity providers' - they are there to enforce rules. All mods are regular members as well, and as trunks stated, anyone can post new threads and posts.

Thank you for your suggestions. We'll have to figure out where threads created in current boards will end up (those in the boards that may get removed e.g. consoles and pc).

Let's see what we can do for 2014.

+rep

[Samus-Fan]

I've found myself coming back to this place, I would not mind at all posting in threads, and I can try to post a new thread a day or something.
I'd love to see this place come back. I miss it :(

---------- Post added at 12:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:06 AM ----------

I've found myself coming back to this place, I would not mind at all posting in threads, and I can try to post a new thread a day or something.
I'd love to see this place come back. I miss it :(

[Imperial_Kade]

I'm ready to help guys I'm dedicated and what about a section just for computer help I know my computer stuff pretty well and would watch over the forum I know it would bring in some people and I would like to apply for a mod.

[Ziek88]

I have to say, I'm a big fan of the idea of bringing more life in to this forum. I've joined since the glory days have past but what remains is still really good. I've looked at a lot of forum communities and this is the only one that isn't filled with jerks. It's a small community but those that remain are good. I'd be happy to help out. My general forum lurking grounds are League of Legends, Neverwinter topics, and Computer Support.

A thought that might help generate a bigger community. More team oriented forums. We're all gamers here and many of us play the same games but how many of us actually interact with each other in game? It might start helping the forum be noticed in games. I realize it wouldn't apply to every game but say a "Gamers-Forum" guild on Neverwinter (Maybe a different MMO? I don't think many on here besides me play much Neverwinter). Make every instance of it in game a team that is friendly, helpful and about the person not necessarily skill level.

If this idea is considered a good one I'll gladly kick one off on Neverwinter provided there are other members on there to get it started and start spreading the word. You have to have 5 to initiate a guild. I would need 3 more.

[Mizel]

I, too, would like to see this place get back to where it was when I joined. I've heard stories about how active and awesome it was at one point in time (some time before I joined). I think I came in at the end of that. For the past few months (hell, maybe even more than that at this point) I've kind of done the same thing that BobTD said: just kind of stopped coming here without realizing it. Before that I was trying to really hard to remain active, post things that were relevant and create new threads when I thought of something interesting to share. After awhile I kind of gave up posting because it seemed pointless due to the fact that there are so few active/new members and they'd rarely get replies or views anyways :/

I do agree with BobTD about the overall mood of the forums at times. To be honest, when I first joined I sort of quit coming at first because of how some people acted. I was PM'd by someone who asked why I stopped coming. I explained to them why and they basically told me to just ignore those people and come back. I took their advice and came back. Over time, most of the members that brought the mood down stopped posting. But even more recently there are times when I read stuff that's been posted on here and think to myself, "Wow, if I was a new member or someone considering joining... I wouldn't ever come back." I realize that with a forum comes all sorts of different people, different opinions, different lifestyles and ways of expressing yourself. I also realize that we (well, most of us) aren't children and don't need someone to tell us when we're 'being mean,' but I think that mood/tone should be monitored and anyone bringing it down should at least get a PM explaining the situation.

Lastly, what I love most about this forum is the fact that it is smaller. With huge forums, everyone kind of seems to meld into one giant blob. Posts and threads gets missed and overlooked. It's overwhelming. There is less opportunity to connect with and get to know everyone on a personal level. I've made a lot of friends on this forum and still keep in contact with most of them despite the fact that they don't post here anymore.

Anyway, I'd love to see this place get back up and running at full speed. I am totally willing to help out with whatever is needed to make that happen :)

[BobTD]

I have to say, I'm a big fan of the idea of bringing more life in to this forum. I've joined since the glory days have past but what remains is still really good. I've looked at a lot of forum communities and this is the only one that isn't filled with jerks. It's a small community but those that remain are good. I'd be happy to help out. My general forum lurking grounds are League of Legends, Neverwinter topics, and Computer Support.

A thought that might help generate a bigger community. More team oriented forums. We're all gamers here and many of us play the same games but how many of us actually interact with each other in game? It might start helping the forum be noticed in games. I realize it wouldn't apply to every game but say a "Gamers-Forum" guild on Neverwinter (Maybe a different MMO? I don't think many on here besides me play much Neverwinter). Make every instance of it in game a team that is friendly, helpful and about the person not necessarily skill level.

If this idea is considered a good one I'll gladly kick one off on Neverwinter provided there are other members on there to get it started and start spreading the word. You have to have 5 to initiate a guild. I would need 3 more.

I have neverwinter installed on both my computers and wouldnt mind playing it a bit, but I fear I dont have the ability to focus on one game for very long. The ideas you have are actually really good. Maybe a group that centers around getting together and trying new games with members fromt he community. You can base a PC group on meeting certain days on the voice chat servers this forum (hopefully still) has. We have a TS server right? You can do the same thing with Xbox parties and Playstation groups.

Sounds like a great way to game with other people and get to know them.


I agree with a lot of what you said, but you don't have to be a mod to post new topics. I've been apart of a lot of forums and very rarely do the mods create the majority of threads. It's hard for a few people to keep up on EVERY game coming out and new stuff about it; especially if what they're posting they're not even interested in. It's the community as a whole that keeps up current news about games, if each person creates threads as they find news about their favorite games then the forum would be a lot more active. People shouldn't feel like they need a special label just to create threads. A mod or non-mod can create as many threads as they like; their isn't a limit. Every member should feel they can contribute to the forum as much as they can or would like to.

IMO, the forum mainly needs active posters. New threads about current hot trends is what brings people to the forum. People search for something on google and click links to read about games they want to get. The more threads we have about new games, the easier people searching in google or bing can find us.

There are some smaller things as well, definitely still a lot of bugs that haven't been fixed since the vB upgrade. As you said, the layout could be changed, it's been the same since I've joined 5 or 6 years ago. The main thing is just activity though, the more active our current members are, the more likely that new members will join and start posting as well.

I understand the problem is a lack of active posters. But the problem wont fix itself. A more active forum would have a natural influx of new membebs and topics naturally created by member activity. That was the case here as well for a long time.

It clearly is not the case right now.

My suggestions about creating a support team of mods that generate enough content to stir the forum back into activy is a much better plan than "we need active posters". You stated the problem not the solution. This is how we incentivse active posters to check the board and become more active.

Mods do not need to keep up on every new game, just the ones they are interested in. But giving people a title and place in the community, like mod status is an incentive for those members to contribute to the forum. Who doesnt like to feel included? If simply giving an active member a status might be a solution you are better off trying it than hoping active members will just start showing up and posting, the worst thing would be to keep staff members to an exclusive friends list. It doesnt make sense.

Mods powers can be limited from the admin panel and should, and mod status should be fairly easily obtained by anyone who is enthusiastic about maintaining an active forum. After you see a significant increase in forum activity, mods wont even be able to keep up with an active forums content. Maybe thats why you dont see that on active forums.

[LiNuX]

Then we may want to reincorporate the GF Rookie, Member, and Vets again a different way.

Mod powers can't be that limited, they only have a few things that they can do, give infractions, ban users, move/edit/close threads, and that's about it. So I can't limit that for mods, in this forum software, the Moderator role is pretty specific. So that's why I think we need to use the usergroups that we already have created and use those as incentives rather than using the moderator group as one.

The staff members is definitely not an exclusive friends list. Goes for all positions, not just mods. And it won't become that way.

[BobTD]

Then we may want to reincorporate the GF Rookie, Member, and Vets again a different way.

Mod powers can't be that limited, they only have a few things that they can do, give infractions, ban users, move/edit/close threads, and that's about it. So I can't limit that for mods, in this forum software, the Moderator role is pretty specific. So that's why I think we need to use the usergroups that we already have created and use those as incentives rather than using the moderator group as one.

The staff members is definitely not an exclusive friends list. Goes for all positions, not just mods. And it won't become that way.

I actually did not know that. The forums I worked on code wise let me specify users groups and select specific actions they could take, all the way up to custom groups with admin powers. In that case your right usergroups with no mod powers might be the next best thing.

[Imperial_Kade]

A thought that might help generate a bigger community. More team oriented forums. We're all gamers here and many of us play the same games but how many of us actually interact with each other in game? It might start helping the forum be noticed in games.

Ill be happy to play with anyone online so add me on steam!

Imperial_Kade

We need a Elder Scrolls Online guild Yeah I would Definiently join!

[Jayhmmz]

I think if the forum had more me, then a lot of the problems would be solved.

[EpsilonX]

I believe I may have said this elsewhere on the forum already, but I may as well say it again just in case. I believe a big reason for the decline of this site is the decline of forums in general. I think a big part of this is Facebook. Facebook has become sort of an internet hub where people go to do just about anything, play games, communicate with friends, advertise things, or even post in groups. Groups and pages seem to have taken over forums as the place to go to discuss things like this, with the exception being forums that have a website attached to them. Review websites such as Highdefdigest and Gamespot, a shopping site such as Amazon, or even a site like Gaiaonline, all have a purpose other than simply being a forum.

What i'm trying to say is, with what kinds of websites are popular now (Facebook, Reddit) there isn't as much room/need for forums in themselves, and all the big ones left I can think of are attached to some other sort of website.

Maybe if there was more Facebook integration, it would run better. Is there an official GF Facebook page and/or group?

I will also share the story of another forum I joined for about a month and then quit. I was browsing the IMDB boards for the Friday the 13th movies and came across somebody trying to spread the word about a horror-themed forum. I joined up because I thought it was interesting and quickly learned how close-knit the forum was, to the point where it was almost inaccessible. It was poorly organized (I suggested a re-organization, which they actually implemented, and it looks MUCH better now) and poorly ran, and everybody seemed stuck in their own ways. I would come and post opinions that would dissent from some of the opinions of a few members there, and they would constantly argue against it. It got really old, and I felt like I couldn't express myself there and stopped going.

Basically, make sure the community is welcoming. I'm not saying it's not, just...make sure it is haha.

Edit: Was just thinking...if we made a Facebook group/page for the forum, people might simply head over there instead. Who knows

[BobTD]

You make a few excelent points. What you are saying is true, people do connect more online and forums are declining.But does not spell doom for forums. Most of that actually works to our advantage in several ways if we think about it:

-There are more people online than ever, who like social media.
-There are more ways to get online and stay connected (phones, tables, computers even in game browsers)
-most social media (like facebook) keeps you in touch with friends, but there are few places better than a forum to meet new people with similar interests.

Facebook is more of a continuous wall of images and "make me feel better" mood updates. What a forum can offer is much more interesting environment in several ways.

What everyone is saying about having a welcoming and friendly community is true. We need to create a place where people can talk about common interests on a deeper level, and a place that is consciously aware that it needs to be welcoming. And also as a forum those members that make up its core need to go out of their way to express interest in what others are posting if they can.

Forums are struggling, but if we worked at it there is no reason we could not take off in a big way.

[paecmaker]

I would love to see this forum get more active again. Sadly I can say I havent been as active as I used to be and its been over 10 days since last I posted something.

[Knibbler]

I've found myself coming back to this place, I would not mind at all posting in threads, and I can try to post a new thread a day or something.
I'd love to see this place come back. I miss it :(

Same as what Samus has said.. I've found myself coming back to the forum and I would love to return to the level of activity I had before, revive the graphics section.. Carry on bringing everyone the latest steam deals..
But something about this site no longer likes me, I'm hoping that my activity today is the start of something great as this is only the second time in the last year or so that the site has actually loaded for me..
I've tried looking at it with Linux, but we've found no reason why the site isn't loading..
Still, lets pray for a comeback.
I too, much like Samus, miss this place.

[paecmaker]

Good to see you. :)

[EpsilonX]

You make a few excelent points. What you are saying is true, people do connect more online and forums are declining.But does not spell doom for forums. Most of that actually works to our advantage in several ways if we think about it:

-There are more people online than ever, who like social media.
-There are more ways to get online and stay connected (phones, tables, computers even in game browsers)
-most social media (like facebook) keeps you in touch with friends, but there are few places better than a forum to meet new people with similar interests.

Facebook is more of a continuous wall of images and "make me feel better" mood updates. What a forum can offer is much more interesting environment in several ways.

What everyone is saying about having a welcoming and friendly community is true. We need to create a place where people can talk about common interests on a deeper level, and a place that is consciously aware that it needs to be welcoming. And also as a forum those members that make up its core need to go out of their way to express interest in what others are posting if they can.

Forums are struggling, but if we worked at it there is no reason we could not take off in a big way.

I was more referring to the fact that Facebook pages and groups sort of fill the void that forums used to. It's easier to find these groups and easier to connect with multiple people. You also don't have to go through the hassle of registering. It's not the same, but because of that I feel a lot of people don't need forums. I'm sure there are more active forums than I realize, I just never go looking for them, so I don't see them.

I feel like we just need to have more incentive for people to join. I wish there were more active game reviewers. I know i'm a game reviewer on here but I hardly come to the forum as it is and I don't really play that many games anymore. However, now that i'm done with college (for now) I might have time to do a review or two here or there. I have some games i'm almost done with/currently working through/about to start, so I can throw together a quick review of them. If we could get a dedicated team of people to review new games as they come out, maybe people would enjoy that? I don't even know if that would work well, just a thought.

I think we should have a Facebook page that posts frequently for sure. We just have to figure out the right kind of content. Memes always go over well on Facebook, so gaming memes might get us some attention. Then we'd just include a link to the forum on every pic we post. It could work.

[BobTD]

Gaming memes would help with exposure but I dont think that is a solution because there is just a constant information overload online. If we try to appeal to something like game humor with images we have way to much competition.

I wont discourage you from an an attempt at that, but I cant really see any benefit in making it a focus on the forum.

On the other hand good conversation with others on a wide range of topics, is not something a facebook group can fulfill. Do you know how often I see people with similar interests on a facebook group but actually know nothing about them other than that they are in that group? And how awkward would it be if I tried to ask complete strangers like the guys on the mass effect facebook page if they have read any good books? It would probably be removed as spam.

Here I get to ask you if you like any good books and then can compare them to your other interests. Or anime, or games or just about anything. And if you answer twilight and then recommend the movies Im going to laugh at you, but at least I understand you liked the books and that's why you watched the movies.

Even if Twilight is a terrible example you get the idea. Forums are a much broader medium for what is essentially conversation. Not status updates.

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

Also wanted to thank Linus for taking my format idea and updating to forum. I talked with him a bit and we brain stormed, but what he is doing right now looks like a good improvement on the original idea. Also I should thank the mods for helping with with such a large project.

[Imperial_Kade]

Ok let's come back to this we need to publicize! Anyone know any good places that we can say like

Go to gamers-forum.com to talk about the latest games, hardware, and general gaming news!

[Jaxgilbert10]

I say we actually get some moderators to play with us so we can video the gameplay and get GF on YouTube!!!!!;)

[Imperial_Kade]

Who has fraps?

[Jaxgilbert10]

You do don't you?

[LemonRising]

*streeeeeeeeeeetch*
Welp, I'll tell yah this.. If this forum is going to get back to anything like it was, I feel like Linux is gonna need a bit of a team. Every time I've come back here there's still the same bugs, looks wise it needs a bit of an overhaul, and it's too big!
The game reviews is a good way to have content that is unique to GF, but Blogs seem to be a bit redundant. As popular as the arcade used to be, I feel like it needs to be dialed down, perhaps selecting a nice handful of the more popular and well put together games and removing the rest? There's just too much going on all over the place, and you can easily feel quite lost or claustrophobic here.
Share buttons for easier social integration with twitter and facebook would be nice. A facebook page would be good for big announcements, reminding people when they go on facebook that there is indeed still stuff going on.
I also feel like there's currently not much need for most sub forums, but an easier way to keep track of your favourite game might be to have the search bar return results with the subject in the title, instead of in any post by default.
For example I searched starcraft and got back 8 pages of threads, including the "call of duty vs BF3" thread.

Don't mind my mess of suggestions, just came by and thought I'd give a cent or two.
I'm interested in coming back, but probably not until some changes start happening.

[paecmaker]

*streeeeeeeeeeetch*
Welp, I'll tell yah this.. If this forum is going to get back to anything like it was, I feel like Linux is gonna need a bit of a team. Every time I've come back here there's still the same bugs, looks wise it needs a bit of an overhaul, and it's too big!
The game reviews is a good way to have content that is unique to GF, but Blogs seem to be a bit redundant. As popular as the arcade used to be, I feel like it needs to be dialed down, perhaps selecting a nice handful of the more popular and well put together games and removing the rest? There's just too much going on all over the place, and you can easily feel quite lost or claustrophobic here.
Share buttons for easier social integration with twitter and facebook would be nice. A facebook page would be good for big announcements, reminding people when they go on facebook that there is indeed still stuff going on.
I also feel like there's currently not much need for most sub forums, but an easier way to keep track of your favourite game might be to have the search bar return results with the subject in the title, instead of in any post by default.
For example I searched starcraft and got back 8 pages of threads, including the "call of duty vs BF3" thread.

Don't mind my mess of suggestions, just came by and thought I'd give a cent or two.
I'm interested in coming back, but probably not until some changes start happening.

I fullhardly agree, there are many glitches left, for example when trying to choose font or size its almost impossible to see what it stands.

I know Linux is busy but there are so many things that needs to be done here

[LiNuX]

I'm planning on upgrading the forum to the latest vB 4, I just have to find some time to do it, unfortunately I need to put several days aside to do it because of all the cleanup that needs to be done, but to avoid that I actually contacted a few design companies already to see if we can get a custom layout for the site.

I do plan on bringing this forum back to the way it was, just will take some time.

[paecmaker]

I'm planning on upgrading the forum to the latest vB 4, I just have to find some time to do it, unfortunately I need to put several days aside to do it because of all the cleanup that needs to be done, but to avoid that I actually contacted a few design companies already to see if we can get a custom layout for the site.

I do plan on bringing this forum back to the way it was, just will take some time.

Nice to see that you are working on it.

Hopefully this place will be more active so its not in vain. :(

[Lanzer]

I'll help where I can, what do you need the most help with?

[LiNuX]

I'll help where I can, what do you need the most help with?

Activity, getting people to post more.

I'm still working on the look of the forum, I have to implement some more of the ideas from Bob this coming weekend. (This past weekend was just a lazy weekend for me, I needed it after a bunch of crazy work weeks).

[Lanzer]

Okay, if you need any other help LiNuX, just let me know.

[EpsilonX]

Gaming memes would help with exposure but I dont think that is a solution because there is just a constant information overload online. If we try to appeal to something like game humor with images we have way to much competition.

I wont discourage you from an an attempt at that, but I cant really see any benefit in making it a focus on the forum.

On the other hand good conversation with others on a wide range of topics, is not something a facebook group can fulfill. Do you know how often I see people with similar interests on a facebook group but actually know nothing about them other than that they are in that group? And how awkward would it be if I tried to ask complete strangers like the guys on the mass effect facebook page if they have read any good books? It would probably be removed as spam.

Here I get to ask you if you like any good books and then can compare them to your other interests. Or anime, or games or just about anything. And if you answer twilight and then recommend the movies Im going to laugh at you, but at least I understand you liked the books and that's why you watched the movies.

Even if Twilight is a terrible example you get the idea. Forums are a much broader medium for what is essentially conversation. Not status updates.

No, I agree with what you're saying, but unfortunately a lot of people are simply content to have Facebook groups and such. I'm not saying we should make memes a focus, but it might be a way to get the attention of a few new people.


I say we actually get some moderators to play with us so we can video the gameplay and get GF on YouTube!!!!!

A Youtube channel might actually be a really good idea. If we could get some people to do some lets play type things, a la gamegrumps, it might go over well. It could also potentially distract from the forum though, which isn't what we want.

[paecmaker]

A Youtube channel might actually be a really good idea. If we could get some people to do some lets play type things, a la gamegrumps, it might go over well. It could also potentially distract from the forum though, which isn't what we want.

Another place Im a member in have weekly game nights, all of them are recorded and uploaded by certain members. From what I can see it has worked as lots of new guys come and stay due to the videos.

[EpsilonX]

Another place Im a member in have weekly game nights, all of them are recorded and uploaded by certain members. From what I can see it has worked as lots of new guys come and stay due to the videos.

I think this is definitely something worth looking into. We could also do video reviews, if people have the proper equipment to do so.

[ROFLBRYCE]

I think this is definitely something worth looking into. We could also do video reviews, if people have the proper equipment to do so.

I'd be up for this in the upcoming weeks. Just got my tax return so I see a new graphics card in my future. Plus, there's the Shadowplay feature of Nvidia's cards which is pretty usefull for those with the GTX650 and higher. Easy to record, only takes 3-5FPS off your game, and rips audio from your microphone.

Group game nights and Let's Plays would be fun to do as well. GF-Tube sounds like a great idea.

[paecmaker]

I'd be up for this in the upcoming weeks. Just got my tax return so I see a new graphics card in my future. Plus, there's the Shadowplay feature of Nvidia's cards which is pretty usefull for those with the GTX650 and higher. Easy to record, only takes 3-5FPS off your game, and rips audio from your microphone.

Group game nights and Let's Plays would be fun to do as well. GF-Tube sounds like a great idea.

The problem is that we are in different time zones so its hard to make sure as many as possible can join(I know we have had that problem before).

[EpsilonX]

The problem is that we are in different time zones so its hard to make sure as many as possible can join(I know we have had that problem before).

Of course, not every member would be able to join every session, but if I recall there was always a peak time of activity on the IRC channel. That would probably be a good time to do one.

[CreamOfWeber]

It would be helpful if it worked and I could set up my profile.

[EpsilonX]

It would be helpful if it worked and I could set up my profile.

We have it set up so that you need 10 posts before you can set up your profile. It's to deter spammers.

But really, maybe we should re-visit this. Spammers are gonna spam whether they have an avatar picture or not, so what exactly does it accomplish?

[LiNuX]

A Youtube channel might actually be a really good idea. If we could get some people to do some lets play type things, a la gamegrumps, it might go over well. It could also potentially distract from the forum though, which isn't what we want.

We do have a YT Channel here: Gamers Forum Universe - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/GamersForumU)

I set it up a while ago and even put several vids there but no one else really participated. I remember one person sent me some video but it wasn't something I could use.

But I'm more than willing to do it again, just need people to make the actual gameplay videos.


Another place Im a member in have weekly game nights, all of them are recorded and uploaded by certain members. From what I can see it has worked as lots of new guys come and stay due to the videos.

We've had a few of those in the past with Left 4 Dead (2) and actually had some random League of Legends matches. But I'm also all for setting up time to have these again. Of course I'd prefer PC games.



But really, maybe we should re-visit this. Spammers are gonna spam whether they have an avatar picture or not, so what exactly does it accomplish?

It deters most spammers when they realize they can't submit a post with a link in it. It also keeps the forum clean because in the past we've had spammers come and post Porn. I'd prefer to be a bit strict and avoid the whole thing.

[EpsilonX]

It deters most spammers when they realize they can't submit a post with a link in it. It also keeps the forum clean because in the past we've had spammers come and post Porn. I'd prefer to be a bit strict and avoid the whole thing.

I was mostly referring to in-profile stuff. I didn't know about the porn thing, I guess that's as good a reason as any.


Actually, I just thought of another thing we can do more: just post. Even if a topic doesn't really interest you -that- much, at least take a look and see if you have something to add, and then add it. There won't be any discussions going on unless people discuss things.

[ROFLBRYCE]

How would Hearthstone videos be for that channel LiNuX? Or if we could get everyone together on voicechat and playing Minecraft. I remember there being a server a while back (Might have been you Eps? Or Synge...I can't remember) where there was 3-6 members on all the time playing together.

I'll try and figure something out. I'm strapped for time for the next couple weeks, but then my girlfriend leaves on holidays for two weeks so I'll have plenty. Maybe I'll try and do some reviews or quick plays of games in that period. I just need to learn how to use Shadowplay and get some editing program ready.

[EpsilonX]

How would Hearthstone videos be for that channel LiNuX? Or if we could get everyone together on voicechat and playing Minecraft. I remember there being a server a while back (Might have been you Eps? Or Synge...I can't remember) where there was 3-6 members on all the time playing together.

I'll try and figure something out. I'm strapped for time for the next couple weeks, but then my girlfriend leaves on holidays for two weeks so I'll have plenty. Maybe I'll try and do some reviews or quick plays of games in that period. I just need to learn how to use Shadowplay and get some editing program ready.

That would be Synge's server, though I did hop on from time to time. If only I could host the world me and my little brother made as a server...

[WafflesMcGee]

I joined the site over three years ago and then mostly ignored it until now. My activity has been really sparse. I want to change that, and I'll try to be more active on the forums.

[LiNuX]

I was mostly referring to in-profile stuff. I didn't know about the porn thing, I guess that's as good a reason as any.

Oh, it's a similar reason. Porn in avatar. And filling their profile with porn and pharmaceutical keywords which attracts more spammers because now the site shows up in Google for those keywords.

[linxisme]

I remember the good days . I remember leadingentertainment to. They didn't even make it this long. You have built something worth resurrecting and it can easily be done . I apologize if its common knowledge but do you have a Facebook a txt service or a Twitter ?