sorry for the necrobump (really isn't if it's been on the same page for two months, lol)
but i rolled out of bed today and came to a shocking realization
VGR's community has seriously always been like this and nothing has changed - not even from when I started posting on Pixeltendo. It's always been a tightly-knit community of users - but the "community" in question is what's different.
The only difference is that if you pushed users around on PT they'd push back, and our hostility was what actually drove people off. It was always active because here we were - teenage keyboard jockeys commanding the OS in front of us. Nowadays, we're generally more friendly but instead of pushing people away, we just draw pictures for people we like.
The other thing is that we were "cliquey" - we had actual cliques that, despite their existence and their biggest flaw (isolation between member groups), also gave the illusion that we were more active; both groups had their parallels too (I could do this for hours; contrasting Vipershark and Tyvon etc. but...I won't). No one really agreed at the time on like anything, so conversation was always fresh and active, keeping the illusion going.
Then there was that fallout we don't really like talking about, which pretty much caused that entire clique from posting on TSR from then on, turning the forum into what seems like a ghost town.
The issue now is that there's just one "clique" - it's the group that makes up the current community, and we pretty much think alike at this point. While that's grand and chipper, it doesn't make for very interesting conversation. :/
Honestly, I feel like the ball's in Dazz and Petie's court now. There's really not much that WE can do as a community per se (more contests are cool, generate great original content and we get to see people's work, but that's not really gonna get new users HERE, IN THE FORUMS - it just seems to intrigue our own userbase at this post) - the only way we're gonna bolster community activity is if we improve things on the outside: for outsiders looking in.
Now, if I'm not mistaken (unless Dazz didn't say it) Petie and Dazz are toiling away to make sweeping changes to the VGR network. Once those changes are made, we may see a small surge of activity return to the community. One's already in effect - the use of the forum API working with functions of TSR's CMS (that supposedly Petie wrote from the ground up) so members HAVE to sign up for the community forums in order to contribute and submit sheets.
Likewise, if we're able to magically begin ripping 3DS sprites, that'll of course cause a HUGE surge. But that doesn't seem likely (as hackers are still struggling on the DSi file encryption to this day) so I wouldn't count too heavily on that. :/
Now I hear Vipershark also saying "I got plans, it's gonna really liven up the community" - if it doesn't involve some sort of outward changes to the site as well as the forums, I'm not so sure how well that will hold. :/
The thing is, though that I've heard rumours of Dazz making sweeping changes to TSR in the next few months, and that little things like the game-series archive icons from our last server crash or something is what's holding him back...and it's just poor Dazz and Petie working on it (and even Charlie; wut) ):
I think if we offered to pick up some of the slack and help TSR get back on its feet, we might see the community going places soon. :]
yeah, that's all. TL;DR version: TSR has never actually been "active"; its user clique just wasn't as "busy" or something. Outward changes need to happen to improve things within.
Spring Santa/Sweaty Santa/Spooky Santa/Secret Santa?
but i rolled out of bed today and came to a shocking realization
(02-26-2014, 03:13 PM)Sketchasaurus Wrote: I've seen that there is a tightly-knit friendship between a bunch of the regulars around here, and that's awesome to see, but I think it's discouraging for some newcomers who don't have the same connections.
VGR's community has seriously always been like this and nothing has changed - not even from when I started posting on Pixeltendo. It's always been a tightly-knit community of users - but the "community" in question is what's different.
The only difference is that if you pushed users around on PT they'd push back, and our hostility was what actually drove people off. It was always active because here we were - teenage keyboard jockeys commanding the OS in front of us. Nowadays, we're generally more friendly but instead of pushing people away, we just draw pictures for people we like.
The other thing is that we were "cliquey" - we had actual cliques that, despite their existence and their biggest flaw (isolation between member groups), also gave the illusion that we were more active; both groups had their parallels too (I could do this for hours; contrasting Vipershark and Tyvon etc. but...I won't). No one really agreed at the time on like anything, so conversation was always fresh and active, keeping the illusion going.
Then there was that fallout we don't really like talking about, which pretty much caused that entire clique from posting on TSR from then on, turning the forum into what seems like a ghost town.
The issue now is that there's just one "clique" - it's the group that makes up the current community, and we pretty much think alike at this point. While that's grand and chipper, it doesn't make for very interesting conversation. :/
Honestly, I feel like the ball's in Dazz and Petie's court now. There's really not much that WE can do as a community per se (more contests are cool, generate great original content and we get to see people's work, but that's not really gonna get new users HERE, IN THE FORUMS - it just seems to intrigue our own userbase at this post) - the only way we're gonna bolster community activity is if we improve things on the outside: for outsiders looking in.
Now, if I'm not mistaken (unless Dazz didn't say it) Petie and Dazz are toiling away to make sweeping changes to the VGR network. Once those changes are made, we may see a small surge of activity return to the community. One's already in effect - the use of the forum API working with functions of TSR's CMS (that supposedly Petie wrote from the ground up) so members HAVE to sign up for the community forums in order to contribute and submit sheets.
Likewise, if we're able to magically begin ripping 3DS sprites, that'll of course cause a HUGE surge. But that doesn't seem likely (as hackers are still struggling on the DSi file encryption to this day) so I wouldn't count too heavily on that. :/
Now I hear Vipershark also saying "I got plans, it's gonna really liven up the community" - if it doesn't involve some sort of outward changes to the site as well as the forums, I'm not so sure how well that will hold. :/
The thing is, though that I've heard rumours of Dazz making sweeping changes to TSR in the next few months, and that little things like the game-series archive icons from our last server crash or something is what's holding him back...and it's just poor Dazz and Petie working on it (and even Charlie; wut) ):
I think if we offered to pick up some of the slack and help TSR get back on its feet, we might see the community going places soon. :]
yeah, that's all. TL;DR version: TSR has never actually been "active"; its user clique just wasn't as "busy" or something. Outward changes need to happen to improve things within.
(03-01-2014, 09:25 AM)Vipershark Wrote: Regarding the love thread, I'm not sure what exactly could (or more specifically, should) be done about that.Quarterly Secret Santa event?
The love thread is about people gifting things to each other, and we can't exactly force or limit gifts between people. It... kind of makes sense that people want to give love to their friends.
Spring Santa/Sweaty Santa/Spooky Santa/Secret Santa?
![[Image: 57d2BGH.png]](http://i.imgur.com/57d2BGH.png)