Whow this forum is almost dead

[Matrix]

I remeber GG forum, and there would be few posts every few minutes, with great range of topics. Right now this forum seems almost extinct.

[stiffler]

I remeber GG forum, and there would be few posts every few minutes, with great range of topics. Right now this forum seems almost extinct.

It gets like that on the weekends.  Apparently a lot of our readership are slackers and post from work during the week.  Or maybe they have lives.  :wink:

[Xmann]

http://www.consolegold.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4746

can't blame me

[GGMark]

Well, some of it, that its not split between here and Overlords, and least from what I can tell.  Most of tyhe game discussion happens here, and most of the off topic discussion happens there it seems.  Also from playing WoW, it seems that a lot of the OO people dont know about CG.

[warning]

I remeber GG forum, and there would be few posts every few minutes, with great range of topics. Right now this forum seems almost extinct.

Only the cool people are allowed to remain here.  You'll shortly be getting instructions on how to exit safely.

Just kidding!  Ha!

[dbt1949]

[Starshifter]

dbt - you never fail to amaze me!  You seem to pull these out of thin air!

[Destructor]

I remeber GG forum, and there would be few posts every few minutes, with great range of topics. Right now this forum seems almost extinct.

It gets like that on the weekends.  Apparently a lot of our readership are slackers and post from work during the week.  Or maybe they have lives.  :wink:

Yes, I've come to notice this - most of our readership are slackers at work bored out of their minds.

And, dtb, where do you find those things?

[SuperHiro]

Also from playing WoW, it seems that a lot of the OO people dont know about CG.

Most of the OO WoW players have joined the Wanderers on the Horde.  

But a bunch of us just started new horde characters on Windrunner (a low pop server)... really casual.  You are more than welcome to come... just check out the "low pop ownz joo" thread in PCGBT there.

[mytocles]

what's "OO"?

[dbt1949]

[PaulBot]

what's "OO"?

That's the text representation of someone's eyes.

I'm not here much on my days off work because I'm busy hanging out with the family, doing stuff around the house, or gaming (not much).

I'm here the most when I'm at work and I'm taking a break from the insanity of my job (like now).

Actually, the OO is Octopus Overlords, another hangout for ex-GG'ers.

[Knightshade Dragon]

Know what the best way to fix a 'dead forum' is?  Start a conversation.

Honestly I'd like to see more discussions on the work we put into the front page.  We post probably 200 pieces of news a week or more...very little of that is discussed here.  Sometimes there are even duplicate threads that point to other forums and websites on things we posted 3-4 days prior.  I wish I knew what the magic formula is to drive the discussion but I'm open to any ideas.

[gameoverman]

For me, the big news was Doom 3 and Half Life 2.  Once those came out, my interest in gaming news in general has dropped off bigtime.  Battlefield 2 might be the one exception, but there don't seem to be alot BF fans around here.

What WOULD get my interest are stories about what's going on in the gaming communities. For instance, these days ALL my gaming time is being sucked up by Garry's mod for Half Life 2(a sort of Lego set for a fps).  Stories on stuff like that would get my attention.  Basically,  I'd much rather read about which TFC style mod looks the most promising and when will it be out, than reading about STALKER being delayed again.

Plus, you might want to have a sticky at the top of each forum with a brief snippet of relevant(ie PC news in the Pc gaming forum, General news in off topic, etc) news for the day, and links to the pages with full coverage of that news.  

That way people in the forums can keep up to date without actually leaving the forums, unless there is news that they want to leave for.  

Speaking for myself, I know it's hard to be motivated to go to the front page to scan the news stories, knowing that there might not be anything of interest to me.  However, if while I'm reading and posting in the forums, I see a sticky announcing a Battlefield 2 story for today, I'd go check it out.

[Zarkon]

However, this was one of the big complaints GG had, was that while the forums were fine, there was NOTHING going on with the front page.  So the forums started dying.  Here, we've got a really active front page, not to mention release dates and gold guide, and the forums are dying off.

[th'FOOL]

Plus, you might want to have a sticky at the top of each forum with a brief snippet of relevant(ie PC news in the Pc gaming forum, General news in off topic, etc) news for the day, and links to the pages with full coverage of that news.  

That way people in the forums can keep up to date without actually leaving the forums, unless there is news that they want to leave for.  

See, for all of us hard working staff members, the main site actually comes before the forums in importance, and we strive to make it the same way for our readers.  Putting the top news in a forum thread not only would give us more work, but totally defeats the purpose.  

Don't get me wrong, i love having a good forum to post in, but these forums are just a small fraction of what's going on with this site. Mind you, we do have plans for more compelling and original front page content to complement our in-depth game reviews, but the forum is definitely a small part of a much bigger picture.

[ravenvii]

I have to admit that I've moved my "forum residence" to another forum, and now only lurk here from time to time. This place just ain't no GG. I'm not saying I want you guys to become GG, I'm just saying.

[gameoverman]

See, for all of us hard working staff members, the main site actually comes before the forums in importance, and we strive to make it the same way for our readers.  Putting the top news in a forum thread not only would give us more work, but totally defeats the purpose.  

Don't get me wrong, i love having a good forum to post in, but these forums are just a small fraction of what's going on with this site. Mind you, we do have plans for more compelling and original front page content to complement our in-depth game reviews, but the forum is definitely a small part of a much bigger picture.

Well, I have to admit, I'm a 'forum first' type of person.  Being part of a site's forum community is what keeps me coming back to a site more than anything else.  It's the best way I have to interact with the site, and people therein.  Just passively reading articles and reviews(well written as they are) doesn't interest me in the way taking part in threads does.

Now I feel kind of bad about making that suggestion because I didn't mean to slight anyone's efforts.  This site will always be A+ in my book,  I guess I'm just looking for a site with a different emphasis, that's all.

[AgtFox]

See, for all of us hard working staff members, the main site actually comes before the forums in importance, and we strive to make it the same way for our readers.  Putting the top news in a forum thread not only would give us more work, but totally defeats the purpose.  

Don't get me wrong, i love having a good forum to post in, but these forums are just a small fraction of what's going on with this site. Mind you, we do have plans for more compelling and original front page content to complement our in-depth game reviews, but the forum is definitely a small part of a much bigger picture.

Well, I have to admit, I'm a 'forum first' type of person.  Being part of a site's forum community is what keeps me coming back to a site more than anything else.  It's the best way I have to interact with the site, and people therein.  Just passively reading articles and reviews(well written as they are) doesn't interest me in the way taking part in threads does.

Now I feel kind of bad about making that suggestion because I didn't mean to slight anyone's efforts.  This site will always be A+ in my book,  I guess I'm just looking for a site with a different emphasis, that's all.

I'm not going to totally back what Mike said.  Since Ron and I are fully entrenched in both the site and the forum I tend to take a different angle towards things than other staffpeople of the site might.

I would love to see a lot of conversation going on in the forums.  I even try to start some up myself, but the topics usually die out.

It is true that we get the majority of our hits to the front page, but I would certainly like more people and conversation in the forums.  I also don't really mind if people frequent the forum and touch the site from time to time.  The site as a whole has to be "alive" both from a staff standpoint (the front page) and a user standpoint (the forum, where as gameoverman said is the only place they have any sort of connection to the front page or can voice their opinions as a whole).  I also want any user to feel that they can generate talk whenever they feel like it.  This is your home as well if you choose to inhabit it.

Anyway, that's how I feel.  I think the forum is just as important as the front page...without a forum the site is honestly lifeless because all it is is people hitting the site, reading the news/reviews and not "adding" to the site or building a community like a forum does.  Sometimes it's hard to see this angle though.

[Raven]

Is CG seeing less forum traffic than before GG crashed?

[th'FOOL]

I guess what I was getting at was, I, personally, was tired of the 'hoppin' forum but nearly dead main site that Gone Gold had become.  I loved it when both aspects of the site were alive and kicking, when content was updated almost DAILY.  I did the forum only thing during that decline, hoping that one day, there would be another Roll Call, or game review, or weekly value....  Coming here was a welcome change for me.

Forgive me for attempting to marginalize this forum, I misspoke.  I think that the best representation of this site relies on both reader interaction as well as original site content equally.  I guess I'm just a little more partial to front end of things 'cause that's what I spend the most time on.  

[dbt1949]

[AgtFox]

Is CG seeing less forum traffic than before GG crashed?

I'm going to say probably not.  The CG forum was only around roughly 3 months before GG died.  I'd just like to see it be a more broad community.  It sucks that the former GG ended up being split up, but that's where the GG nation sits at this point in time.

[Chrisoc13]

Man, between the split forums and a lot less topics between the two main GG places, I really miss GG sometimes.  

[Nth Power]

I wish I posted more often.   Part of it is less free time and I guess I could attribute another part to plain laziness.  I'm sure once work dies down I'll be posting a bit more often.   I really wish I had intenet access at work.   Instead I'm forced to use lame intranet which has a bunch o' nuthin'.

[Starshifter]

Knightshade-

I always check out the front page first.  I consistently hit the News and I browse the Reviews when a new one is posted.  The best feature for me is in the News section when you post the games arriving this week.  I like that.  For me the front page should keep me informed and up to date on what's going on in the gaming world.

I think it does.  Keep up the good work!

Now, you can really make my day (and get a big virtual hug from me) if you report in the News section that my favorite TV show of all time:  Emegency! will be arriving on DVD.  See my sig.

[Knightshade Dragon]

Is CG seeing less forum traffic than before GG crashed?

Nope, we actually see more traffic.  Again though, we seemed to have picked up the people who read the front page more than the folks who frequented the forums.  Here is a question for you now...

If we had a system like one that was mentioned above where the front page news was replicated in some fashion in here so you could comment on it, would it be a more compelling forum section?  Answer honestly as it is going to take some work to implement - I don't want to waste anyones time if its not going to get used.

[VynlSol]

For the longest time I went to Gone Gold specifically for gaming information. I never participated in the forums, but I would read them. Eventually I got over my usenet-induced traumatization and would post here and there.

I don't know what that has to do with anything, but I don't see that the forums here at CG are dying. And yeah,  I'm a work-poster.

Hyphentated phraseology for teh win!

As to Knightshade Dragon's question: Nope, I don't see the reward being worth the effort.

[Gedd]

Everyone say it with me...

Forum traffic is not a constant, but rather is cyclical.  A short-term decline in posts (particularly on the weekend) is not an unusual event.

Even at GG we had these kinds of threads popup where someone would claim the forum was dying, especially after a relatively inactive weekend, but then, a few days later, traffic would pick up again.  It's just the nature of the beast, and nothing to worry about.  Now move along, nothing to see here.

[HankRaptor]

Interestingly, I thought Gone GOld was dead a month or so before its demise.

I like the size of this group, IGN is too big... your posts get lost instantly...  That said, this could use a little more traffic..

I have not posted at OO as of yet, It seems to me just a forum site is doomed to fail... Gone Gold established alot of its community becuase of Richs Updates to the front page and those people hung around whereas OO if they do not do anything else but Forums, willl not attract anything but GG refugees...

Just a thought from a jackass.

[Laner]

Is CG seeing less forum traffic than before GG crashed?

If we had a system like one that was mentioned above where the front page news was replicated in some fashion in here so you could comment on it, would it be a more compelling forum section?  Answer honestly as it is going to take some work to implement - I don't want to waste anyones time if its not going to get used.

I would think so... but I would only start topics for CG-created content, or really big news stories.  Starting a topic for every little news tidbit would clutter the forums too much.

[Bob]

I have not posted at OO as of yet, It seems to me just a forum site is doomed to fail...

Supposedly the OO forum mod folks are working on OO being more.

[Chrisoc13]

I dont know if you could say OO is doomed because it is just a forum, its more active then this forum. Not trying to insult anyone or start some sort of debate or rivalry as I post at both. But OO does seem to have much more activity then CG.

[PaulBot]

Very sneaky: starting a post saying the forum is dead to liven it up.

It's working...

[Knightshade Dragon]

But OO does seem to have much more activity then CG

In the forums yes....on the front page?  We have enough traffic to crush a quad xeon 3Ghz box with 4GB of RAM and have done so many times....

[Scoop20906]

I'd like to weigh with my opinions on CG.

First off, this is my new gaming home after the demise of GG. I don't go anywhere else and I am totally comfortable here.

Second, this has always been historically a slow time for Gamers and especially after the three major releases of Half-Life 2, Halo 2, and WOW, I think everyone else is just out there gaming and taking a break. Also, since there isn't any real killer game on my radar then Im not so interested in gaming news. Maybe this is affecting others too.

About the site, I love it. I love the features. I absofrigginlutly (spell?) the release dates page. I love the daily wrap up and news stories. I have found the reviews to be of high quality and relevant to my purchase decisions.

But I do find one thing missing from the old GG and Im not saying we need it here. I miss the weekly feature article or posting which gave the site some character. Be it either the Roll Call or Hot Sheet or (damn I cant remember the title of the last one DAMN) I always really enjoyed reading those articles.

Im not saying that this site should try that because CG needs to be CG but I do miss that.

As far as having news stories show up in the forums, I dont think it is worth the effort.

When a story is important enough (see EA getting the NFL rights) there was plenty of discussion or outrage on it in the forums.

I very happy in my new home. I think people are just used to a bigger community coming from GG and we may never see anything like that again.

[whiteboyskim]

I very happy in my new home. I think people are just used to a bigger community coming from GG and we may never see anything like that again.

As any site grows, so too does the comfort level with the frequent visitors. We're now at 1101 registered users, so someone out there has found out about us. As Ron said, the front page traffic has crashed our server more times than we care to discuss.

**KD EDIT: SILENCE, DRONE. WE ARE ETERNAL.**

Also, this time of the year is the Horse Latitudes of the Gaming World. Nothing is out, everything that is out people received for Christmas and are still playing, and developers are holding their cards tight to the vest because E3 is in a few months. And if you've not seen the amount of coverage we have during E3, then just wait. It's almost as good as being there, and things improve each year.

[ATB]

It was stated above:

I come here for console related game topics and to OO for the general stuff...but since the split general topics and p/r based discussions just don't interest me as much.

However, I post here much more frequently.

I have a .40 ppd at OO and a whopping .53 here...but keep in mind i didn't start posting here frequently until GG went down so I had a 3 month or so lead in with basically no posts while GG was up.

CG is the first forum I check and is 'home' now.

But, that said, I don't usually check the main page.  I'm not into previews or much gaming news...and the only time I look for a review is when I'm interested in purchasing a game...Even then I usually only look at the score so as not to get any unintentional spoilers....

Guess I'm not 'hardcore'...like I once thought I was...

[Caine]

i'm finding that i haunt almost equally on both sites.  there is a general mentality that OO is for off-topic and CG is for games, but that's not always true.  i read almost as many of both types of topics on both forums, as not everyone cross-posts or finds the same things to talk about.  

i haven't checked to see how many posts i have there, but it's probably a bit less than here.  take that for what you will though as i don't post anywhere near as much as some do.  

re: headlines posts.  it worked at ve3d and i stayed there for years.  i just don't read as much main page items as i used to.  i would read them if they were here and about stuff i was interested in.  

i do wish the split had not happened though.  makes it feel like a rift where there shouldn't be one.

[Laner]

But I do find one thing missing from the old GG and Im not saying we need it here. I miss the weekly feature article or posting which gave the site some character. Be it either the Roll Call or Hot Sheet or (damn I cant remember the title of the last one DAMN) I always really enjoyed reading those articles.

Good point - there are plenty of aggregate gaming news sites - some personality a la Rich/Bill/Joel helped to differentiate GG from all the other gaming sites.