Poll: This site has too many subforums.

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

You can never... Never...have too many subforums.

Never.

See I think we should do away with ALL subforums, everywhere, on all website and just combine everything into one single thread forum, Stuff and Things. And I mean everything. Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, NPR forums, all news sites, all blogs, vlogs, posts, diaries, journals. Every last thing in the entire internet into one big forum, Stuff and Things.

If it involves stuff or things, it goes.

 

[Drathnoxis]

There's certainly a few that can probably just get cut.

As you stated, there doesn't seem to be any real reason the Tech Discussions, Biowarriors, and the Advice board exist. Once upon a time the Advice board was a good idea but it seems kind of unnecessary now. However, with that said, I know the Advice Board is much heavier on the Mod presence so I don't think it's awful to have for people who have some serious questions they are hoping for advice on.

Does it really though? I mean the mod presence is pretty heavy on these forums as it is. I'm not really sure how much stricter it could be on advice forums than regular.

You can never... Never...have too many subforums.

Never.

See I think we should do away with ALL subforums, everywhere, on all website and just combine everything into one single thread forum, Stuff and Things. And I mean everything. Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, NPR forums, all news sites, all blogs, vlogs, posts, diaries, journals. Every last thing in the entire internet into one big forum, Stuff and Things.

If it involves stuff or things, it goes.

But what if it's about junk?

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

SNIP

Junk is a thing. It goes.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

They need MORE subforums, not less. They created more subforums for people to be able to discuss those particular topics without it clogging up the other forums and making it difficult to find anything else. The objective is to get more traffic to the site, not bury it by downsizing. They have to try harder to get traffic to the site, what they have been doing is not the best method if they want to actually increase the sites popularity.
*They need a larger presence in social media, and more unique articles that are linked to by other sites.

*MORE opinion pieces instead of walking on eggshells to get people talking.

*They need more involvement of the staff in the forums themselves where staff should not feel like they cannot kick back with the members and discuss what is going on. The more the members of the site feel connected with the staff, the more loyalties and word of mouth build to bring new traffic and users.

*Need to have more in terms of game walkthroughs, cheats and guides as well as "how tos" in regards to game room, cool stuff and geekdom. How to make everything from cosplay costumes, computer case modding, building your PC into your furniture to installing retractable arms with monitor mounts for your gaming set up.They need things that draw people into the community and get them involved.

*Need more live events in numerous states on both sides of the pond,even having small member hosted events and such arranged to keep down costs. Anything from inflatable sumo wrestling contests, Larp wars live broadcasts and events, table top gaming competitions, cosplay contests, Lego build offs,. there are numerous things that can be done that will change the fate of the site by increasing membership and breathing new life into it, they just need to think about it and actually start doing these things. ( I have like a million more ideas if they need them)

Maybe I should give a shout out to:

Does this send a message?

so maybe he considers some of these things to help in case they have not thought of trying them...

 

[Drathnoxis]

Junk is a thing. It goes.

Ok, but surely you've gotta have a subforum for whatever. Can't talk about stuff and things and whatever all in the same place!

 

[omega 616]

*Need to have more in terms of game walkthroughs, cheats and guides as well as "how tos" in regards to game room, cool stuff and geekdom. How to make everything from cosplay costumes, computer case modding, building your PC into your furniture to installing retractable arms with monitor mounts for your gaming set up.They need things that draw people into the community and get them involved.

I like that idea, I mean cheats aren't really a thing any more (which is a shame, I think) but walk through section would be good. Even if it's just users linking from their youtube channel, like at the moment I am playing Mad Max (I got it for a bargain off steam) and I am trying to scavenge all the sites (no idea why, it's a complete waste of time) but some of them are really tricky to find or get to!

Of course I could just go on youtube and find a bunch of people who are showing that stuff but then I am not navigating around this site and generating ad revenue ...

 

[Saelune]

They need MORE subforums, not less. They created more subforums for people to be able to discuss those particular topics without it clogging up the other forums and making it difficult to find anything else. The objective is to get more traffic to the site, not bury it by downsizing. They have to try harder to get traffic to the site, what they have been doing is not the best method if they want to actually increase the sites popularity.
*They need a larger presence in social media, and more unique articles that are linked to by other sites.

*MORE opinion pieces instead of walking on eggshells to get people talking.

*They need more involvement of the staff in the forums themselves where staff should not feel like they cannot kick back with the members and discuss what is going on. The more the members of the site feel connected with the staff, the more loyalties and word of mouth build to bring new traffic and users.

*Need to have more in terms of game walkthroughs, cheats and guides as well as "how tos" in regards to game room, cool stuff and geekdom. How to make everything from cosplay costumes, computer case modding, building your PC into your furniture to installing retractable arms with monitor mounts for your gaming set up.They need things that draw people into the community and get them involved.

*Need more live events in numerous states on both sides of the pond,even having small member hosted events and such arranged to keep down costs. Anything from inflatable sumo wrestling contests, Larp wars live broadcasts and events, table top gaming competitions, cosplay contests, Lego build offs,. there are numerous things that can be done that will change the fate of the site by increasing membership and breathing new life into it, they just need to think about it and actually start doing these things. ( I have like a million more ideas if they need them)

Maybe I should give a shout out to:

Does this send a message?

so maybe he considers some of these things to help in case they have not thought of trying them...

I think we need more ways to turn users into contributors. Marter got started doing user movie reviews, now he is the Escapist's movie guy and I think thats pretty neat.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Junk is a thing. It goes.

Ok, but surely you've gotta have a subforum for whatever. Can't talk about stuff and things and whatever all in the same place!

Well I think its fair to have a Stuff and Things forum, and a second separate forum, not subforum, named Junk n' Whatevers

I think that should encapsulate literally everything anyone had ever, or ever will, post.

 

[sky14kemea]

Wild West is basically just Forum Games mixed with OT. I like this forum, but it doesn't really have much of a purpose. Honestly, most of what goes on in there would be just fine for the regular forums, if only mods stopped banning people for having fun. It's mainly another division that splits the community.

I agree with you completely about the WW forum. However I think your "if only" is a bit off.

What we'd really need is (yet another) revision of the CoC to include, or exclude, fun threads (no discussion value rule, low content rule, ish.) and derailing (within reason).

Then what you'd want is consistent mods, which we will never have because they're all human and barely have communication between one another at the best of times. Probably 3 at most have an open channel to one another, the rest are flying solo unless they need a higher up.

They need MORE subforums, not less. They created more subforums for people to be able to discuss those particular topics without it clogging up the other forums and making it difficult to find anything else. The objective is to get more traffic to the site, not bury it by downsizing. They have to try harder to get traffic to the site, what they have been doing is not the best method if they want to actually increase the sites popularity.

Tbh I'm not even sure they want to increase traffic at this rate. They seem to be getting ready to write the Escapist off along with the other Defy Media site that went down a few months back.

*Need to have more in terms of game walkthroughs, cheats and guides as well as "how tos" in regards to game room, cool stuff and geekdom. How to make everything from cosplay costumes, computer case modding, building your PC into your furniture to installing retractable arms with monitor mounts for your gaming set up.They need things that draw people into the community and get them involved.

I love this idea, but where would they get the money to pay for people to produce that extra content? One of the biggest problems about creating new stuff on the site is it's lack of funds.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Ok, but surely you've gotta have a subforum for whatever. Can't talk about stuff and things and whatever all in the same place!

Well I think its fair to have a Stuff and Things forum, and a second separate forum, not subforum, named Junk n' Whatevers

I think that should encapsulate literally everything anyone had ever, or ever will, post.

Agreed, this is clearly the perfect system now!

 

[FalloutJack]

As for game industry, here is how I see it:

You insult the name of Kenshiro and the Fist of the North Star by claiming GI Discussion is anything like it.

Ken happens to be a very chill dude when people aren't suffering.

Find a less-cool animation to compare it too.

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

I wouldn't be surprised if the lack of the sidebar is also hurting forum activity. I barely ever go on the forums now and it's mainly because I have no way of quickly seeing what discussions are going on. I'll go into the subforums, find the same topics I saw a week ago in near enough the same order and just close the page.

 

[Majestic Manatee_v1legacy]

You can never... Never...have too many subforums.

Never.

See I think we should do away with ALL subforums, everywhere, on all website and just combine everything into one single thread forum, Stuff and Things. And I mean everything. Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, NPR forums, all news sites, all blogs, vlogs, posts, diaries, journals. Every last thing in the entire internet into one big forum, Stuff and Things.

If it involves stuff or things, it goes.

That is just. Just messy. So messy. Things need to be ordered to avoid having to search through pages and pages of pointless uninteresting waffle. Filing is important. Without filing and order, I would be mistaken for dugongs all the time. Do you know how much chaos that causes?

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

You can never... Never...have too many subforums.

Never.

See I think we should do away with ALL subforums, everywhere, on all website and just combine everything into one single thread forum, Stuff and Things. And I mean everything. Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, NPR forums, all news sites, all blogs, vlogs, posts, diaries, journals. Every last thing in the entire internet into one big forum, Stuff and Things.

If it involves stuff or things, it goes.

That is just. Just messy. So messy. Things need to be ordered to avoid having to search through pages and pages of pointless uninteresting waffle. Filing is important. Without filing and order, I would be mistaken for dugongs all the time. Do you know how much chaos that causes?

None. Because you know exactly where to look for something. Need a recipe for breading pudding? Check Stuff. Want to find out the exact date of the first car crash involving five or more cars, three of totally wrecked? Its in Things. Need that clip of George Bush trying to pull open a push door? Definitely a Thing.

Think of how much time would be saved, instead of having to tool around a dozen plus threads and subforums trying to find that one thing that might not even be in that forum! This way, we know where everything it. Its in Stuff and Things

 

[Neverhoodian]

If you ask me, the Escapist forums should consist of the following:

Discussion
*Gaming Discussion
*Controversial Stuff (combine R&P with GID. They deserve each other)
*Forum Games
*Off-Topic Discussion

Member Forums
*Wild West

The Escapist Commentary
*Featured Content
*The News Room
*Editorials

That last subforum is crucial. I think The Escapist needs more editorials and op-ed pieces from the staff and guest writers to fill the void left by former contributors like Jim Sterling. The reason for this is two-fold;

1. It generates discussion and debate, thus increasing site traffic.

2. To create a clearer distinction between what is strictly news and opinion. The Escapist has had an unfortunate history of staff inserting "their two cents" into news articles. To be fair, there have been far fewer incidents of this in recent months, but I think establishing a clearly defined part of the site for editorials would go even further in addressing this. I'm sure the Escapist staff have topics they're passionate about and are dying to get certain things off their chest. What better way than via opinion pieces?

 

[FalloutJack]

As for game industry, here is how I see it:

You insult the name of Kenshiro and the Fist of the North Star by claiming GI Discussion is anything like it.

Ken happens to be a very chill dude when people aren't suffering.

Find a less-cool animation to compare it too.

It worked setting wise, though a badass moderator can fit:
You are already banned.
Warning
Warning
Warning
Warning
Warning
Warning

In which case, I nominate The Simpsons for the archtype of Game Industry Discussion. Behold!

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I love this idea, but where would they get the money to pay for people to produce that extra content? One of the biggest problems about creating new stuff on the site is it's lack of funds.

A ton of users in the past have been all over the idea of user generated pieces and content. Users who are willing to take up the mantle to do this sort of thing. I'd be happy to see that sort of thing. Maybe someone wants to make walkthroughs or list cheats for older titles, or PS1 games exclusively, or something. There's people here who would love to make content for the site just to help bring life to it. I don't have any specific names, but I believe someone in page 1 mentioned it

 

[DementedSheep]

Yeah I mostly just stick around OT and GD. Everything else might as well not-exist. And the BioWare sumbforum is... confusing, to say the least. Why even is it there? It has five threads! The BSN had a mess of subforums dedicated to every topic under the BioWare sun - the people there were never going to squeeze all of that into one subforum and be happy. Hoping to coax them to the site with one measly portion sectioned off for them was never going to work - why keep on with it?

I think they added it because the BSN is shutting down.