Suggestions to improve the org

[Monk]

1.) Create content.

There are a number of cool content features here at the org, from the social groups to the front page and blogs. Most users have access to these features in some form or another, but it'd be very nice to see a steady stream of content from those who actually maintain the site. No. I don't mean dumping it all on Tosa either, or expecting him to conjure up things on his own. The org has an entire team of moderators. One of them has spare time I assure you.

Example: The CMS (front page) has been a weak spot here for years and almost never gets updates. When i left last year I was happy that it at least appeared someone was going forward in my stead with those updates. Sadly I can see that's not the case. Some real opportunities were missed here with the lead up to S2. I still have access to the Sega PR site and every single day exclusive trailers and screenshots were landing in my inbox. Sometimes weeks before they were hitting most major news sites. I never saw those mentioned here at the .Org either in a thread about S2 or on the front page. The reason I didn't bother to post them here is simple: I didn't care.

2) Have moderators who actually post in their assigned sections.

I dunno. Seems pretty straight forward. A mod team interested in things other than the Tavern would be great. I know how it is, its easy to get stuck in the hum-drum of moderating. You clean up spam and deal with reported posts then you just browse and take off. Still. Would be nice to see the moderators acting like forum leaders instead of just invisible custodians. There's some on the green team who actually do what I'm asking, others not at all.

Example: The Arena has two assigned moderators but it is effectively a dead forum.

3.) Give people a reason to register

Why should anyone join the Org at all? I'll wait while you think of something. No, you're not allowed to say "community".

4.) Update things. For god's sake.

There are things around the site, things like lists of moderators or rule threads, that are just old and outdated. One still lists barocca as an administrator. Having these things go untouched for so long is.. well. It gives off an atmosphere of apathy. Which is furthest from the truth, I know you greens and reds work hard. The entire site has that old feeling to it like it's not been updated in ages.


That's all I can think of really, and its a pretty straight forward list. No, I don't care if I should post this in public or private because quite honestly I know what will happen if I post it privately. Maybe putting it in public will strike a nerve suffecient enough to get something to happen. Or maybe not. Either way ball's in your court folks, let's see what you do with it.

[caravel]

1.) Create content.

There are a number of cool content features here at the org, from the social groups to the front page and blogs. Most users have access to these features in some form or another, but it'd be very nice to see a steady stream of content from those who actually maintain the site. No. I don't mean dumping it all on Tosa either, or expecting him to conjure up things on his own. The org has an entire team of moderators. One of them has spare time I assure you.

Example: The CMS (front page) has been a weak spot here for years and almost never gets updates. When i left last year I was happy that it at least appeared someone was going forward in my stead with those updates. Sadly I can see that's not the case. Some real opportunities were missed here with the lead up to S2. I still have access to the Sega PR site and every single day exclusive trailers and screenshots were landing in my inbox. Sometimes weeks before they were hitting most major news sites. I never saw those mentioned here at the .Org either in a thread about S2 or on the front page. The reason I didn't bother to post them here is simple: I didn't care.

I think this is a chicken before egg scenario. Content will appear once more people come through the turnstiles and start getting actively involved - at present that is not the case, so asking people to just get off their arses and create content won't cut it. I appreciate what you're saying and in the ideal world I would agree with you, but this is not the ideal world.

2) Have moderators who actually post in their assigned sections.

I dunno. Seems pretty straight forward. A mod team interested in things other than the Tavern would be great. I know how it is, its easy to get stuck in the hum-drum of moderating. You clean up spam and deal with reported posts then you just browse and take off. Still. Would be nice to see the moderators acting like forum leaders instead of just invisible custodians. There's some on the green team who actually do what I'm asking, others not at all.

Example: The Arena has two assigned moderators but it is effectively a dead forum.

It needs to be said that there are simply far too many moderators on this board. Recently there seems to have been a recruitment drive and now the frontroom has 4 moderators?! What on earth are these people going to do? There is just no need for that level of moderation on an offtopic forum.

People wonder why the frontroom is dead - it's because it's being stifled by staff that seem to be on a crusade to clean it up. Clean up what exactly? It's dead, there's nothing to do there, nothing to clean up. The reason you see problem threads, is because there are no other threads in there - so the problem threads stick out. When you post something and a moderator jumps on you and edits or send you a PM, that puts people off posting at all. If the board was a lot busier the mods would not have the time to "micro-moderate" every post.

The sword dojo now has two mods... there have only been a handful of posts this month so far in there. It's obvious to me and to others that I've spoken with as to what needs to be done - assign one or two moderators over the whole STW/MTW section and be done with it. At least that will give those involved a decent workload. At the moment it doesn't warrant one moderator let alone two.

3.) Give people a reason to register

Why should anyone join the Org at all? I'll wait while you think of something. No, you're not allowed to say "community".

I can think of no reason to join the .org or stay at the .org these days. I stay here to stay in contact with a few old friends, but that's it. There is no good reason for a new person to sign up here.

4.) Update things. For god's sake.

There are things around the site, things like lists of moderators or rule threads, that are just old and outdated. One still lists barocca as an administrator. Having these things go untouched for so long is.. well. It gives off an atmosphere of apathy. Which is furthest from the truth, I know you greens and reds work hard. The entire site has that old feeling to it like it's not been updated in ages.


That's all I can think of really, and its a pretty straight forward list. No, I don't care if I should post this in public or private because quite honestly I know what will happen if I post it privately. Maybe putting it in public will strike a nerve suffecient enough to get something to happen. Or maybe not. Either way ball's in your court folks, let's see what you do with it.

Yes. The reason there is an atmosphere of apathy, is because there is apathy and complacency here.

[Husar]

Example: The Arena has two assigned moderators but it is effectively a dead forum.

Pfffff!

You have no idea, first of all I'm having an exam phase so I'm also not playing a lot, so I don't have a lot to post about lately.
Secondly I've personally encouraged the posting of a thread AND sent people from the Gameroom there because they were discussing the game in the middle of a mafia thread. The problem isn't that people don't play games or don't want to discuss about them, it's that they either feel others don't want to discuss them or that they start talking about them everywhere but in The Arena for reasons I haven't yet studied.
For example quite a few people in the chat are Playing Fallout:NV but none of them have posted in the Arena about it because they just lost interest in posting here for some reason long before people complained about the forum being dead.

Now the beauty of having two moderators is that neither I nor CR are awake/online 24/7 and people have already complained about the response times to reported posts in other sections.
You can't have your cake and eat it, too!

[caravel]

people have already complained about the response times to reported posts in other sections.

Easily solved by having what they have on other boards and which were temporarily introduced that .org, very successfully, during my time: Global Moderators. Failing that, existing moderators could be given larger chunks of the .org to cover, instead of taking on more and more moderators. This would remove the need for having specific moderators assigned to every single forum - especially relevant to "dead" or low activity fora.

[Husar]

Easily solved by having what they have on other boards and which were temporarily introduced that .org, very successfully, during my time: Global Moderators. Failing that, existing moderators could be given larger chunks of the .org to cover, instead of taking on more and more moderators. This would remove the need for having specific moderators assigned to every single forum - especially relevant to "dead" or low activity fora.

Will the global moderators also get complaints about not creating any content in all of these "dead fora" they reside over?

[caravel]

It's not for the staff to "create content"... This is a discussion forum, a "community", not a blog and not a news site - it's continued survival depends on members interacting here freely, not within rigid and artificial constraints. It's for every member here to "create content", by their own free will. Not through coercion, not through being told to get off their arses and post.

If the staff can get off the members' backs and let them be themselves this place may start to recover. The current climate of staff playing social worker and aggressively moderating every single word, spat, debate or issue, is what's killing this forum slowly but surely.

[Beskar]

If the staff can get off the members' backs and let them be themselves this place may start to recover. The current climate of staff playing social worker and aggressively moderating every single word, spat, debate or issue, is what's killing this forum slowly but surely.

The moderators do a great job of oppressing the members and suppressing free will making sure the ORG is respectful and decent place and not a clone of 4chan. I can't really fault the moderators for the work they have done, because when they "get on my back", I have pretty much deserved their ire in the first place.

If you have been naughty, don't get in a grump about it, be grown up about it and move on. I doubt there is anyone out there to get you.

[Monk]

Pfffff!

You have no idea, first of all I'm having an exam phase so I'm also not playing a lot, so I don't have a lot to post about lately.

You say that like I don't know what it is to have a life or haven't been moderator before. But I have, twice as an AM and twice as green. I know exactly what it's like to balance the Org and your life. I also know that this place gets shoved on the back burner for a lot of the staff. General perception browsing the forums is that there isn't much going on behind the scenes since there seems to be little effort in the foreground.

For example quite a few people in the chat are Playing Fallout:NV but none of them have posted in the Arena about it because they just lost interest in posting here for some reason long before people complained about the forum being dead..

That's one hell of a perception problem, and with the appeared neglect that the arena receives from the top down I can see why it continues to perpetuate. Ain't meaning to insult you Husar or put you on the defensive. I'm telling you what I see.

You can't have your cake and eat it, too!

I always thought the purpose of having cake was to, in fact, eat it. If i was wrong maybe I should re-examine my life's priorities - and maybe the Org should too. Why exist if you're not going to attempt to grow or improve?

I think this is a chicken before egg scenario. Content will appear once more people come through the turnstiles and start getting actively involved - at present that is not the case, so asking people to just get off their arses and create content won't cut it. I appreciate what you're saying and in the ideal world I would agree with you, but this is not the ideal world.

We've disagreed before over this and I'll be happy to do so again. I'm of the exact opposite thinking. I'm not asking for huge blow-outs but having a regularly updated frontpage (for example) would go a long way to making this place feel alive. When i was writing articles for it, maybe it was bias, but it feel like this place got just a little more lively.

[Zim]

Interesting thread.

1.) Create content.

There are a number of cool content features here at the org, from the social groups to the front page and blogs. Most users have access to these features in some form or another, but it'd be very nice to see a steady stream of content from those who actually maintain the site. No. I don't mean dumping it all on Tosa either, or expecting him to conjure up things on his own. The org has an entire team of moderators. One of them has spare time I assure you.

Example: The CMS (front page) has been a weak spot here for years and almost never gets updates. When i left last year I was happy that it at least appeared someone was going forward in my stead with those updates. Sadly I can see that's not the case. Some real opportunities were missed here with the lead up to S2. I still have access to the Sega PR site and every single day exclusive trailers and screenshots were landing in my inbox. Sometimes weeks before they were hitting most major news sites. I never saw those mentioned here at the .Org either in a thread about S2 or on the front page. The reason I didn't bother to post them here is simple: I didn't care.

Going off the front page example, is that something that people would like? Serious question, I've been here for years and I have to admit barely ever glancing at the front page. I always went straight to the forums

2) Have moderators who actually post in their assigned sections.

I do. Somewhat to my chagrin I post almost exclusively in my section, although I've tried to make more forays elsewhere since becoming a moderator.

3.) Give people a reason to register

Why should anyone join the Org at all? I'll wait while you think of something. No, you're not allowed to say "community".

For me that's easy. The main reason I joined and stayed at the Org would fall under the "community" answer, but there is one other thing. In addition to a healthy hotseat community that I could probably find elsewhere we have the TW Rpgs. I'd never seen anything like them when I joined KotR years ago and I'm not aware of similar games being done elsewhere. I know that might not be what you're looking for but it is something I find here at the Org and not anywhere else. A strong runner up after that would be that the EB team makes their home here, whose mod has provided the vast bulk of my single player tw playing for years.

4.) Update things. For god's sake.

Good point, I should take another look at the stickies in the Throne Room...

[Monk]

Interesting thread.



Going off the front page example, is that something that people would like? Serious question, I've been here for years and I have to admit barely ever glancing at the front page. I always went straight to the forums

Since the front page has lingered unused for years, with only the occasional post once every few months, of course that's the attitude to be expected. I'm of the opinion that unused as it is, it gives a poor image of the site that is perpetuated elsewhere. That there's not a lot going on. Either do something with it or tie totalwar.org to redirect to forums.totalwar.org and be done with it.

And even if ignored, it doesn't change the fact there was significant lack of any attempts to spread the media given freely by Sega about Shogun 2. Like CA or not, the Org is a fansite and as I stated above I was getting new stuff on a near daily basis. Not only screenshots, but trailers, dev diaries and gameplay footage. There was a real opportunity to spread that media and by proxy, spread the image that this site actually gives a damn. But alas.

For me that's easy. The main reason I joined and stayed at the Org would fall under the "community" answer, but there is one other thing. In addition to a healthy hotseat community that I could probably find elsewhere we have the TW Rpgs. I'd never seen anything like them when I joined KotR years ago and I'm not aware of similar games being done elsewhere. I know that might not be what you're looking for but it is something I find here at the Org and not anywhere else. A strong runner up after that would be that the EB team makes their home here, whose mod has provided the vast bulk of my single player tw playing for years.

Absolutely that's what I mean. Something to offer that you can't get elsewhere. Ie. A reason to stop lurking in guest mode and actually create an account. Things like that should be held up, touted from every corner and advertised heavily. People should know from a glance at the Org things they can do here, activities and games they can take part in. As it stands that simply isn't the case.

[Passion]

I know exactly what you are saying Monk. I used to come here a long while back before a heavy break. I have only signed up again to feel a sense of nostalgia. I can't quite put my finger on what is "different" it just feels so. I can however remember a lot more activity so something must have gone a little pear-shaped. I am talking about the RTW/ MTW2 forums which obviously have become older titles but compared to say TWC they are absolute graveyards. More so the likes of the Mead Hall and Frontroom are very quiet, I remember fine pieces of literature being produced by different people most weeks. The likes of Fall of Constantinople are still going strong thankfully. I do see that the authors are having to double post their works on TWC to gain views and feedback!

I think The Org was and still is in a very good position to offer something different to the whining and kindergarten of the official forums but in terms of activity and popularity they must be doing something The Org is not. I just don't know what that is!

[Tellos Athenaios]

Whining and kindergarten as you put it? What the ORG definitely lacks in comparison with TWC is interest in modding M2TW on the one hand and ETW/NTW and by extension TWS2 on the other. So if you want modding tools, tutorials, guidance and by extension mods that are not prefixed with “Europa Barbarorum” the TWC is where you go.

(Funny thing: recently the internal EB forums where the magic happens passed its 200K post mark, so I checked: EB 1 with both public and private forums included accounts for 94.5% of the RTW mods section on the ORG.)

[Passion]

Undoubtedly they have a great community Tellos and the modding foums are one aspect of that. You just don't get the same community feel, quality of posting etc. TWC seems to excell with members constantly trying to out do each other which thankfully doesn't happen here often.

If we could attract such an array of modding projects here than that would be great. You know how popular EB is! I would actually like you to broaden your stats to encompass even the 'vanilla' RTW posts, maybe even th older Medieval/ Shogun forums.

Other forums which work well are the writing forums. Lots of monthly competitions too which could be something to look into.