Let me also just state that I'm not trying to be snooty or even disapprove of the posting habits of anyone here. I just want to point out that our current posting habits are not hospitable to new users, and changing that might help the forum regrow. Of course, there are other contributing factors to why participation has diminished. So it makes sense that there should be multiple contributing factors to help growth. This is one such factor, and it's an easy one.
emwearz wrote:If I want to talk about good memory cards for the Switch, I would prefer to have a topic dedicated to it, rather than going through a thread of 250 pages.
Same here. I guess I've always sort of felt this way, but I went along with the "official" threads anyway. But that's OK. Identifying the problem is the first step to fixing it.
marurun wrote:People can create new threads if they want. Those monolithic threads are places to put one-off thoughts. Maybe the problem isn’t the threads themselves, necessarily.
Right. And again, I like the "official" threads for the one-off comments. You're right, the problem isn't the threads themselves. The problem is that we've gravitated toward using these threads for the vast majority of our posting.
marurun wrote:Maybe some others should simply post by example. Post the way you want to read.
That's what I've been doing myself for some weeks or months now. But I can't reignite forum participation by myself, and that's why I posted this thread.
pierrot wrote:The other place people have moved to, and I don't necessarily want to point it out, but, it's over at the Hardcore Retro Gaming (Exhuminator's) forums. I can count on roughly one hand the number of times I've poked around over there, but it seems to regularly have more activity. It doesn't appear as though the number of users is larger, necessarily, just probably that they're posting more.
This is a good point, because the user base there is around the same as what the active user count is here right now (maybe even lower) and yet that forum is doing alright. Proof that the Racketboy forums don't have to die a slow death.
SamuraiMegas wrote:I made that NWC post, I wasn't really sure if it was confirmed 100% yet so I didn't make a thread.
I didn't mean to call you out or anything, it was just a good example.
Forlorn Drifter wrote:I know the last couple of times I did one off threads, there wasn't much traction so I kind of let them go.
Yeah, I've had that happen myself. It's definitely disheartening. The "Tiger Handhelds and Long Lasting Batteries!" thread I had actually posted in the Random Gaming Thoughts thread first, but then I deleted that post and decided to create a new thread instead. It got 2382 views but only 4 replies. The GTA3 thread I just created, 43 views and 4 replies. My Super Mario Maker 2 thread, 221 views and 2 replies (although this one might pick up after the game releases). Point is, we're getting the views but we're not getting the posts. I've been guilty of this myself for the past few years now. Reading a lot of posts, but not posting. The more we all post, the more likely that others will join in. Like being in a hall with music playing, if we start dancing then others will be more inclined to start dancing as well.
Forlorn Drifter wrote:I also think the forum itself needs to be pushed more, but I have no idea how. I learned about this site through an article, but I stayed because I got involved with the forums.
I agree. I think one way is to make the "Active Forum Discussions" more visible on the front page. Right now it's all the way at the bottom of the page.
Nemoide wrote:Those threads can be so large that I'm personally inclined to ignore them, but I'm not sure I'd be posting more without them. I know for as bloated as the Random Gaming Thoughts thread is, I appreciate it because I sometimes just want to share some not-so-important thought.
I will ignore them at times too. If I haven't been on the forum in a while and one of the random or official threads has grown several pages since I last visited, it's really too much to catch up on. But, if there were a few new threads created instead, that would be easier and more convenient. And again, I totally agree that those threads are great for those one-off thoughts that you really don't wanna make a new thread for. But some how our posting habits as a community evolved into over using those threads.
Nemoide wrote:Or maybe based on console Generation rather than specific platform. Or maybe just subforums for "current consoles" and "retro consoles" - there's a big difference between NES collecting and the latest Switch news, do they really belong in the same forum?
That's a really good point. I don't know about condensing (not that I'm disagreeing, I just don't know) the sub forums, but I agree that they could stand to be rejiggered. And the Racketboy forums have always been talking as much about current gen as it has retro. At least as long as I've been here.
All in all, we need to change some things. That much is obvious. We could simply say "that's just the way it is" and watch it die, or we could shake it up and try to turn it around. My suggestion was to lock most or all of the "official" threads for a certain amount of time and see what happens. Now my other suggestion is that we all make sure we're posting more, and not just reading without posting.
PS, I typed this post up while at work and had been distracted several times, so sorry if any of it isn't worded all that well.