The Call.

[DoctorZettabyte]

Recently in #orgnetwork, our IRC channel, and in many private conversations, we have had many discussions pertaining to the ORGNetwork, primarily, WarBoards. Many of us have started or are starting to feel it -- WarBoards and the rest of the network are in decline. Spam flares up every three days or so. Jokes that once were funny now fall on deaf ears. Profiles are vandalized on a daily basis. Threads erupt into flame wars regularly, and the helpful communities surrounding the games we love are now cold.

We number more than forty-five thousand in writing, but we are really only two or three hundred. Let's face it: our numbers are stretched thin. We are little more than a scraggly group of pre-teens, teenagers, college kids, and the odd user over thirty.

Every year, ten or fifteen of us leave, sometimes for good, and sometimes for just a few months at a time. Some of our greatest members have left or are leaving. The older userbase is dying off, but many still hang on, checking in only occasionally to see how the forums are doing. The newer users, while there are many of them, do not stay for more than an average of five posts or so, before moving on. The great content that was posted so often in the Creative Concepts has been reduced to the occasional render or photoshop job. The ORG Network Support forum crops up with little more than advertisements and unsolvable problems. The Starcraft Debriefing Room is filled with redundant questions, redundant answers, theories, and speculation.

And the list goes on.

As it stands now, there are two options to help slow this decline, and I'm somewhat skeptical about both. AGL seems to be lost as vaporware. Khanduras has been down for nearly two weeks now. Nobody can log into Starcraft.org. Warcraft.org has fallen into total disrepair, and Flagship disappeared months ago.

We have one administrator, and nine moderators. While they each do a fantastic job, and will hopefully continue to do so for as long as possible, they cannot save this network alone. We, the users, need to take part in it too.

A new era of the Network is close at hand. We can choose to continue as we are, doing little more than complain to our superiors and make this a forum doomed to medocrity (or worse), or we can step up. We can make better posts, create more content for each other, stop the flaming, the trolling, the misplaced threads. We can stop attacking new members, and constructively criticize old ones.

I do not put this call out for the staff, myself, or for the users. I put this call out for the ORGNetwork. Make better posts. Drop your vendettas. Let's fix what is broken.

Let's answer the call.

[Protogod]

While I, too, feel that .org is in disrepair, theres nothing that members can really do to save the network. Only WB.

As long as sc.org is just plain not working, no amount of traffic will save it. Moreover, I am not particularly worried about the member base. While we've had better days, several hudnred is a fine number for now, and I know AJ has big plans for warboards (If he ever actually comes back to his forgotten child)

You have a wonderful sentiment and silver tongue, however your words all but fall short

[Giggilyomeromicon]

[IMG]I'm sorry, I had to. Now, beside the point of proving his point we can do a better job. I love warboards to death and would hate to be here for the end.

I would reply to this message telling you to not use image macros, but it would derail the SRS BSNS thread.

Also, on a more serious note, I seriously think that the entire RP forum needs to get together and join one or two Roleplays that everyone works on. This has been attempted two or three times without success because people keep on making their own RPs, myself included. Now the forum's full of one or two page threads that are disregarded before they ever even get off the ground :cry:.

[3Vee]

Meh. I do my part. I post in the ML, play the arcade, argue about the Thor and goodness knows what else with idiots, occasionally try to get better at SC, post vaguely useful things in the IR...

So, yeah, if there's no interest in the forum, what are we supposed to do about it? Go advertise on some other site that, oh yeah, probably doesn't want advertising?

[Protoss_Honor]

This is probably pessimistic, but, WB started, WB had its Golden Age, WB had its Silver Age, WB had its Bronze Age, WB had its Age of Heroes, however you want to describe it, But that/those age/ages is/are over.

And once you hit your pinnacle, once you reach the top, once you reach your zenith, the only direction to go is down. Nothing lasts forever, and WB is no different. I know not when, it could be today, it could be next week, or next month, or next year or in two years or in three, or whatever, but eventually WB will cease to be. And while I do not wish for it to happen while I am still around, I do realize that it will happen.

We have had over 4 and a half years. 4 and a half good years. And I am glad that I was able to be here for as long as I was. WB was, is, and I hope will always be, one of my longest commitments, and the longest commitment to a website ever. Other sites I have joined, and then a few weeks or months or whatever later I left, but WB has been the one constant in my life for over 3 and a half years, and I would not trade that time for anything.

But I do notice that WB is declining as well, and I do wish to put an end to the decline, and I agree with DZ, albeit by paraphrasing him "We should make better quality posts, create more content for each other, stop the hating, stop the flaming and the spamming and whatnot" We should become a better society. But it won't be easy, it will take dedication, hard work, and the participation of the whole active member base. And, to be completely blunt and honest, I do not know if we are up to it. So, if we do somehow succeed in bringing WB out of decline, then hooray, huzzah, happiness and joy, more power to us, and all that. But if we do not, I really would not be all that surprised.

Aqo pointed out that we did not necessarily reach the top, that we can reach higher, but I still think that at the rate we are going, we most likely will not manage to go higher then we already have. What we need to do is change the rate and direction we are going in. We need to have more enthusiasm for this wonderful forum that we love, we need to "be the change we want to see in the world."

[ZeratulStukov]

Recently in #orgnetwork, our IRC channel, and in many private conversations, we have had many discussions pertaining to the ORGNetwork, primarily, WarBoards. Many of us have started or are starting to feel it -- WarBoards and the rest of the network are in decline. Spam flares up every three days or so. Jokes that once were funny now fall on deaf ears. Profiles are vandalized on a daily basis. Threads erupt into flame wars regularly, and the helpful communities surrounding the games we love are now cold.

We number more than forty-five thousand in writing, but we are really only two or three hundred. Let's face it: our numbers are stretched thin. We are little more than a scraggly group of pre-teens, teenagers, college kids, and the odd user over thirty.

Every year, ten or fifteen of us leave, sometimes for good, and sometimes for just a few months at a time. Some of our greatest members have left or are leaving. The older userbase is dying off, but many still hang on, checking in only occasionally to see how the forums are doing. The newer users, while there are many of them, do not stay for more than an average of five posts or so, before moving on. The great content that was posted so often in the Creative Concepts has been reduced to the occasional render or photoshop job. The ORG Network Support forum crops up with little more than advertisements and unsolvable problems. The Starcraft Debriefing Room is filled with redundant questions, redundant answers, theories, and speculation.

And the list goes on.

As it stands now, there are two options to help slow this decline, and I'm somewhat skeptical about both. AGL seems to be lost as vaporware. Khanduras has been down for nearly two weeks now. Nobody can log into Starcraft.org. Warcraft.org has fallen into total disrepair, and Flagship disappeared months ago.

We have one administrator, and nine moderators. While they each do a fantastic job, and will hopefully continue to do so for as long as possible, they cannot save this network alone. We, the users, need to take part in it too.

A new era of the Network is close at hand. We can choose to continue as we are, doing little more than complain to our superiors and make this a forum doomed to medocrity (or worse), or we can step up. We can make better posts, create more content for each other, stop the flaming, the trolling, the misplaced threads. We can stop attacking new members, and constructively criticize old ones.

I do not put this call out for the staff, myself, or for the users. I put this call out for the ORGNetwork. Make better posts. Drop your vendettas. Let's fix what is broken.

I deeply agree, but agreeing alone does nothing.

I know not when, it could be today, it could be next week, or next month, or next year or in two years or in three, or whatever, but eventually WB will cease to be. And while I do not wish for it to happen while I am still around, I do realize that it will happen.


But we should try to delay that as much as we can. According to your logic, any of us can die at any moment. Then why live? Why not just die now, since it can happen any time?
While it may be inevitable, I want WarBoards to keep "living" for a few more years. It's something that will eventually happen, but why not delay the inevitable since we all (or at least, most of us) love the community that is WarBoards.

[Neo]

Not to start giving away anything, but there are plans.

Seems sort of melodramatic though dontcha think?

-Neo

[DoctorZettabyte]

Aqo pointed out that we did not necessarily reach the top, that we can reach higher, but I still think that at the rate we are going, we most likely will not manage to go higher then we already have. What we need to do is change the rate and direction we are going in. We need to have more enthusiasm for this wonderful forum that we love, we need to "be the change we want to see in the world."

There is no harm in trying. We need to strive to make WarBoards better. Not necessarily bring it back to its prime, but we can't afford to let it fall into disrepair. We must try.

Not to start giving away anything, but there are plans.

Seems sort of melodramatic though dontcha think?
Sounds fun. When will we see these plans in action?

And melodrama works, but this isn't melodrama. This is "serious business." :-P

-DocZetta

[DarkMirror]

I agree. WB is not dying. It will live.
Although granted, theres a lot less people online now.

[VigilanteV]

People keeps saying that "The Boards are dieing." but as far as I have seen, little is being done. Lets face it, what can be done at this point?

We need a group dedicated to the surival of WarBoards perhaps. But even then, all I see those people doing is bouncing hollow ideas off each other.

I wish there was a magic solution that would boost members, make posts better(hypocrite I know), and make the boards live longer. But unless something like Attack of the Shows does a spot on us or something, there is little that can be done. But that little could still go along way.

Hare is where I agree with you Doc, We need more content(I think that was a point you were making or atleast better content). We need things to help get members more involved into the community. Maybe the mods/AJ could start making Photoshop Competitions, or Starcarft Maps/Warcraft Map making competions. This is a gaming forrum, But there is an utter lack of gaming going on here. We need groups that help set up matches with other people on Bnet.

Hell it doesn't even have to be bliz, we do have a gaming section on this site(I know it is hard to see) so that opens up PC, Xbox, PS3, and Nintendo online matches can be set up to. The means that we could start make tournements out of the games open to people who are here and those that lurker in the shadows as guests. That would cause people who aren't even part of Warboards to starting coming here and making accounts. And this could start with social groups for those that would like to care.

A weekly/daily trivia would be cool.

Another thing I have noticed is that there are always 30-50 guests listed that look at this site every day. But they don't see anything that intresting, so why would they need to make an account? People need to start making topics. I realy think that at some point members become afraid of the older members, becuase they(the new members) don't want to post something that might be old or that isn't worth the time of an older member. That causes the older members begin to flame the new ones, causing them to quit or not want to make topics/posts.

And If people ask questions that are obvious or just plain stupid, give them the answer with a smile. I'm very guilty of being a complete ass to those that ask retard questions, but I realise that that needs to stop to keep them here and incourage them to post make topics and get involved.

Sorry but at this point I am restating the orginal post. And sorry for any spelling errors.

[DarkMirror]

Another problem with people not seeing interesting stuff might be all the private user groups being made. That seems to be where most of the posting is going on now.

[Faiien]

I'm glad that DZ has made a thread about this but I feel that each one of the active members here have felt, at least, an inkling of the decline as well. As said, the revival can't be done by one person but we must do it as a community. I won't go further into any other details because they've most likely already been mentioned above so I'll just end this post by saying the individual is just as important as the community.

[PaiN]

I agree with what VigilanteV has said. I think we need to start mapping contests or starcraft tournements or photoshop contests. Things that are going to bring new members to this site and revive some of the more inactive ones. Whenever I go on generally its the same 20-30 people posting, It would never seem we have over 50 active members

[apostolos]

I'm making some maps that are advertising warboards indirectly and that could get us some members that actually stay for more than a week.

[ZeratulStukov]

I'm just making some maps (actually working on one, but I've thought of many others) since, as some said, we don't have enough content. ;)

-But nice idea, Mag!

[Lithium]

We need to have some type of "are you active" thread to have an exact count of who is really doing the contributing/posting.

Anyhow, I agree. It was a damn shame I decided not to take part when I first signed up in '06. I was 12 and there were many things I didn't know.

But there is hope. In the tech Annex, GroG is trying his best to pull off a mammoth of a project, the SoW team's still going headstrong breaking all boundaries of Starcraft Modding to the limit, and with SC2 coming out, there's no doubt we'll get another influx of traffic when it hits.

[ZeratulStukov]

Lithium, you're forgeting we also have some good mappers around. ;)

Obviously, I'm not talking about myself.

[Lithium]

If so, name any active mapping projects going on at this moment.

Edit: Okay, ZS makes a valid point. We definitely need to be more active in the mapping department, as future users looking for certain maps are bound to hit WBs if creators posts their map here for CnC.

[anderoo]

Go play Starcraft, all of you!
Donations to be used as prizes are accepted. ;)

http://www.warboards.org/showthread.php?t=37147

[Modred]

Oh noes! The boards are dying! Everyone's posting spam and crap and inanity and there's nothing we can do!

Approximately every 12 to 18 months, someone comes along and posts a thread like this, warning us that the spam is out of control, or that our collective IQ has dropped 30 points, or that AJ has no soul and doesn't care about the community.

So long as Blizzard continues to make good games, and we continue to play their older ones, we have a pretty good niche to fill. There are plenty of Blizzard fan sites, but aside from Legacy, I don't know of any with the breadth of sites as ORG, and very few have as many level headed members as we do.

We've passed the honeymoon, but that doesn't mean the site is going down. Really, if the site goes out of commission any time soon, I'd chalk it up more to lack of funds for servers, domains, and software. Assuming AJ keeps the tradition of handing the reigns to a younger member when his life gets too busy to remain involved, then we aren't particularly tied to how long he stays active.

[Gunmonk]

To be honest, I have really no beef with any members per se... though I have been in feuds with some, to be honest we have a great community. I try to live at peace, and in all actuality, I would hope that the rest of us are like this. Lets work together to build a better community.

[GroG]

Real reasons for the temporary decline, IMO:
1) It's summer, people are outside with friends and family doing fun summer stuff instead of being cooped up inside all day.
2) The several major games highlighted in this forum are right now on a decline (and a couple have been for years), with 3 (WOW, SC, D) games receiving new installments.
3) Black Ice sucks.

Don't worry, once school starts up and some games are released, people will be posting during study hall and will want to chat about the newest strategies and stuff.