Games Board Reduction

[FoxtrotZero]

The Games Board is a large part of our forums.

I mean literally, its the largest category we have. The problem is, none of these boards have ANY more than 10 posts, short of Powder Game and Stick Ranger.

I know we've grown away from dan-ball some, but its still what brought us together and what this forum is for.

That having been said, most of the games short of PG and SR are rather untouched anyway.

I suggest we move the boards of all games except PG and SR into the already existing board for miscellanious DB games, as subboards. There is no reason for full fledged boards with only several posts, i don't know that it even warrants a sub-board.

Additionally, i suggest we move the games category higher on our front page. It will have become conciderably smaller and, its kind of sad to have the purpose of this forum located so far down on our main page.

Discuss.

[General Veers]

Dec 29, 2009 10:33:13 GMT -5 @artik said:

Stuff

• The game boards should be put above the general boards, cuz we are a dan-ball forum and the general boards are more of an off-topic board
  
• Off-topic boards probably shouldn't be more active then the game boards. Maybe a new member has to post a certain amount of posts before he is allowed in the general boards.
  
• Advertising sprees. A staff member goes on chat and tells everyone to go to the comments and advertise all at once, which would get a lot more attention then different advertisements spread around. Also it would make the forums seem more popular and POWERFUL and OFFICIAL
  

Matt also advised bringing the Games Category above the General Category, and that seems quite appealing.

I support it.

A post limit for the General Category also seems to be an interesting limit for those who do not actively contribute to ANY of the Dan-Ball game threads. The question with this would be what limit to place? Another problem to be taken into consideration is that, should a posting limit be placed, I wouldn't want to move the "weaker" game threads into the General Category where the limit would then become counter-intuitive.

The limit I support.

The move of "weaker" Java game boards, regardless of the existence of some posting limit, I do not support. At least in the Games Category, where they constitute a majority of the games, they are easily remembered. In a single board in the General Category, the one unpopular board would be easily lost amongst all the other popular boards, and so the move would be counter-intuitive. Really, these boards are naturally lifeless since the Java game counterparts at the mother site are also unfrequented, just as PG and SR are naturally bustling with life when since the Java game counterparts are frequented daily.

[~Memzak~]

Dec 29, 2009 2:39:10 GMT -5 FoxtrotZero said:

I mean literally, its the largest category we have. The problem is, none of these boards have ANY more than 10 posts, short of Powder Game and Stick Ranger.

Incorrect.

All games boards have more that 70 posts.
Lowest being micro panda with 72 posts.

I believe you were looking at number of topics.

but still the problem is the same, and I agree on combining some of the "weaker" boards as GV put it.

[FoxtrotZero]

General, I believe you mis-read what i had said.

I believe all games except PG and SR be moved into the "Other" board as Sub-Boards, within the Games category.

I also do NOT support imposing post limits.

[General Veers]

Oh, they would still remain in the Games Category, but underneath the Other board? In that case, I will support that action.

Might I ask why you don't support imposing posting limits?

[GGoodie]

I like posting limits, that sounds like a good idea.

[V.I.R.O.S.]

I don't really agree with the restriction on the general board. :/ It isn't going to make the people who post there post more on the Games board. They are just going to spend all their time on chat, or spend less time on the forums.

[General Veers]

Well, come to think of it, how would we manage to restrict chat? Move it to the general and staff categories, and then impose posting limits on those categories? That would be alright for keeping out some of the newer people, but there are a few problems with that:

• Chat won't be as easily accessible to "seasoned" members.
  
• Some new members join chat before they join the forums, and use the chat as their only gateway into the forums.
  
• Newcomers will still have access to chat if they learn its URL from anyone, which is seemingly inevitable.

Also, would this hypothetical posting limit be for the entire General Category, or would we only restrict certain boards in it? If we restrict certain boards instead of an entire category, does that mean creating passwords, since, if I remember correctly, rank access can only be applied to entire categories?

I must agree with what V.I.R.O.S. stated concerning the effects of a General Category posting limit, but the potential effect of moving new members to chat may not be such a bad thing if our stricter rule enforcement keeps existing members tamed. New members will get real-time chat with existing members, learn about different facets of the forums, and decide for themselves whether they should join.

[GGoodie]

Restricting boards is done with the code listo posted.

[FoxtrotZero]

I think we are going about this the wrong way. Making new users post in a dead section before allowing them to the other section, which they may presume is just as dead, sounds like a bad idea.

Lets think positive reinforcement. We want both current and new members to take action in the games board, so is there some form of benefit we can put to this? It can't be hard to moniter how many times someone has posted in a category.

I also think this is getting off topic. The matter at hand is the size and location of the Games Category, not its activity or contents. THAT can be discussed at another time or place.

[General Veers]

Well, in that case, do we all agree upon putting all of the Java Game boards into the existing "Other" board in the Games Category, thereby making the only boards in the category Powder Game, Stick Ranger, and Other?

[GGoodie]

We aren't really off-topic. The conversation has just shifted a bit.

Anways, we could make it so the games category gave you more dan-balls than the general category.

[General Veers]

Hmm...that is a constructive (vs. destructive) way of encouraging activity in the Games Category. I presume the code can be modified easily enough to permit that?

I have these as supporters of combining the boards so far:

• FoxtrotZero
  
• Memzak
  
• General Veers

Are there any other supporters of combining the "weaker" Java game boards into the "Other" board of the Games Category?

[FoxtrotZero]

Goodie, i don't support that. As of yet, most members have an insane amount of Dan-Balls. Alot of our members are staff, too, which get items for free (Something we should reduce to, at least, a discount).

We also don't gain members fast enough for that to be a valuable incentive. We're going to need something outside the box and, likely, not based off of anything we currently have going.

[GGoodie]

I've wanted staff to not get things free for a while now. TBH i think i don't support combining the boards, at least not all of them. It would look kind of bad if our main category inly had three boards in it. It would seem weird to promote a board that is less than half the size as the board we want members to talk less in.

Dec 29, 2009 21:21:12 GMT -5 Lag said:

Edit: I believe you should have X amount of posts before you should even be able to request an element.

And I believe that that right there is a very good idea. That way members would have their first ten posts in the element request thread requesting sound and radiation.

[FoxtrotZero]

Thats wonderful, but counter intuitive. Its also absolutely NOT the matter at hand.

How that board works internally is great, but what are we going to do to get more activity there?

Personally, i suggest we bring the Staff Benefits down to half off, and then set the games board to twice as many Dan-Balls per post, as GG said.

This would also help breathe some life back into the relatively dead shops. People will have to work for what they want.

[Saza]

Yeah, I'm good with this idea.

Also, notice anything...a bit different?
Hmm?

[GGoodie]

You were promoted? Congrats! ;D

Anyways, I think staff should have no beniefits whatsoever for dan-balls. Being in charge of the forum is good enough. I think you should get 3 DB's per post in the games category (im sure there is a code to do this)

[General Veers]

Alright, I put all of the games into the Other Board. Now the Games Category consist of Powder Game, Stick Ranger, and Other.

[FoxtrotZero]

Grats, Saza.

I second the removal of free items for staff and the addition of 3 dan-balls per post in the Games category.

I also propose we throw in some new badges and criteria in, relative to the games category in various ways. Alot of members take the time to collect badges as it is, and if we create ones to be truly earned, that benefit the games category, it sure as hell can't hurt.