ORG, TWC, and the Official Forum - what would the ORG specialize in?

[Andres]

Er... as the thread opener, here are my inputs to make the ORG more popular (while not losing the quality):

1. Game-related contests - I see a video contest for shogun 2 and think it is a fantastic idea. For this very video contest it will be nice to have multiple awards/mentions (best battle, best story, most humerous, etc) to increase the participation (as not everybody is super creative) and exposre of good works (as many people want to see good gameplay videos). I can also think about periodic contests about screenshot and stories (apparently people now call it AARs - I personally hate acronyms so I will stick with stories).

For that you need members who have the talent to participate in contests and have the dedication to put in some hard work. Such members are always a minority on all sites and if you're a site with not many members, such members will be rare. One thing that could be done is advertising our contest on other websites. Some websites won't like that, others won't make a big deal out of it (e.g. TWC has been very nice and cooperative in the past with allowing us to advertise contests and all kinds of stuff, like games in the Throne Room or mafia games in the GR). Perhaps advertising our contests on gamersfora of other strategy games (e.g. Paradox games) could help.

These are things that can be done by every member here (e.g. if you have an account at the Paradox fora or the TWC, you can talk about an .Org contest or mafia game there).

I'm going to be very honest here: staff can't bring the .Org back to its' glory days all by themselves. We need the help of our members for that. All our members. We're a community. Yes, I know there's the feeling of there being a sort of distinction between staff and not staff, but please, you shouldn't look at us as "different". Staff is only here because, well, a community is made out of humans and some form of organisation is needed. But in the end, staff are also .Org members, just like everybody else. Just like all other members who care for this place, staff cares.

We don't have the illusion of holding all the wisdom in the world. Our role is to serve the community. But it's the community as a whole, all members of it, so also the non staff members, that needs to work together.

Suggesting things and posting ideas is a good first step. Working on those ideas is the necessary second step and also the hardest part. It would be good to see all members who have time and ideas to do a bit of work too.

We need to be a community and stick together and collectively work on this place to get somewhere. And if you need "special powers" to get your project up and running, by all means, pm one of us.

2. Some kind of systematic reward for high-quality works

Be it a story, a strategy, a discussion... the "Thank" system is actually a great existing, quantitative system, but unfortunately it is not very frequently used. Maybe we can give members some kind of ranks based on how many thanks they receive. Then the site can reward these appreciated members with mentions and previleges (and cough, responsibilities) possibly with those badges that hang below the avatar.

A good start is to make the Thank icon a little bigger and maybe move it to somewhere more noticable.

Is there a way to display the number of "thanks" in a thread on the forum's thread list? Then it will be equivalent to a recommendation system.

These are good suggestions. I've been playing with a similar idea: create badges for people who did something extra. I've been playing with this idea for GR hosts, like a badge for everybody who has hosted a set number of games. Idem dito for the Throne Room. Perhaps more forms of recognition for modders, writers of AAR's, people who post guides.

I know we have the senior member system, but perhaps that's not enough diversity.

I also realise that some of our members don't like to see distinctions, ranks etc. That's in fact a strong argument against it. But then again, how do you motivate people to do work, for free, on some gaming site? It's nice to get recognition. It's nice to be thanked. It's nice to know people appreciate what you did. And it's only a badge. Something small. A little gesture that can make all the difference in the world.

3. Custom Avatar

Allowing custom avatar up to a certain size is a good start to increase user's loyalty. I don't think it will break the theme as the users are still here to post about the game and related things. They are not here to talk about Mass Effect even though they may look like Commander Shepard. (Endorcement: And this is my favorite post on the ORG.)

That's it for now.

Ah, the avatars. We did a poll on that some time ago and a clear majority was in favour of keeping the current system.

Then again, the idea is to attract new members, so why is it important what current members think. Because the current members are what make the place what it is, of course. Their opinion is valuable and we don't want to alienate the current userbase. In the end, there's no guarantee that allowing custom avatars will bring us even an inch closer to getting more popular.

Please, let the ideas come, it's good to have food for thought. I think I'll bundle some of the ideas from this thread and put up polls about it. Don't hold back on ideas, even if you think they'll be "revolutionary" or a complete different style than the .Org style. In the end, we (and with "we" I mean all of us, all members), need to decide on our direction: keep everything as it is with the risk of this place eventually simply fading away or change some things drastically, which may mean (no guarantees, there never are) more new blood, but also losing a bit of our current identity (you can't have everything).

I'd like to hear input from as many members as possible; new members, senior members, regular members, oldtimers, people who just signed up 5 minutes ago; everybody. Be open. Share your thoughts and no idea is too crazy.

[Maltz]

I'd like to hear input from as many members as possible; new members, senior members, regular members, oldtimers, people who just signed up 5 minutes ago; everybody. Be open. Share your thoughts and no idea is too crazy.

It is true that for a movie conest, there is a high requirement of camera/editing/music skills. Screenshot and story contests are easy in comparison. The current screenshot thread in the Shogun 2 forum has collected so many great pictures - maybe we can just pick a few dozens and let people vote on them! Then we can make a slide show of the winners completed with music and the contributor's ID.

While the number of participants may be limited, we should still attract a good number of spectators. If we provide links of enough submissions, we are gauranteed to have visitors. The snowball will rolll and the next contest will attract more participants.

Promotion can be done on member's level, so it does not become the ORG's aggressive advertisement strategy. We can ask members to spread the news if they happen to patronize another total war forum. I actually have done that for the current creative video contest.

[Andres]

It is true that for a movie conest, there is a high requirement of camera/editing/music skills. Screenshot and story contests are easy in comparison. The current screenshot thread in the Shogun 2 forum has collected so many great pictures - maybe we can just pick a few dozens and let people vote on them! Then we can make a slide show of the winners completed with music and the contributor's ID.

Excellent idea

While the number of participants may be limited, we should still attract a good number of spectators. If we provide links of enough submissions, we are gauranteed to have visitors. The snowball will rolll and the next contest will attract more participants.

Promotion can be done on member's level, so it does not become the ORG's aggressive advertisement strategy. We can ask members to spread the news if they happen to patronize another total war forum. I actually have done that for the current creative video contest.

And thanks for trying to get this thread on the right track again

[Lazy O]

I check this forum for EB , apart from that it seems pretty dead, maybe you could focus on EB ?

My two cents

[caravel]

Tavern is where most of the activity is, maybe focus on that...? There doesn't seem to have been any posts in the EB forum today?

Modding and offtopic always generates more "chatter", but not necessarily more content. Modding forums in particular have lots of testing, debugging and the thrashing out and submitting of ideas going on, posting of code and screens, etc. You can easily have a twenty+ page thread between two or three people. That's not to say a modding related thread is worth less (quite the opposite if you ask me), just that it inherently generates more chatter.

Personally I don't think the .org needs to focus on anything except Total War - everything else is a by product of that and will happen anyway.

[TinCow]

The greatest contribution anyone can give to the Org is simply to post. The more people post, the more it encourages others to post. The less people post, the less incentive there is for others to post. Staff alone cannot sustain all the conversation, the members themselves need to help out. If anyone seriously wants to help the Org improve, you can easily do it by making an effort to write a post or two every day in a TW forum. With enough people posting over a long enough period of time, the forums will start to get more active.

[gollum]

The org is in desperate need of members and the greatest source for such are the new TW games. The org is based around what TW was 8-10 years ago and it catered to people that played the then TW games - this is all water under the bridge; TW games are much different in their orientation and so is their clientelle. Org's rules and tradition are to me its greatest attraction but, that's very bad news for the forum overall. That my own humble modding effort for MTW was voted mod of the year here is embarassing to say the least. As was the voting participation for the new game.

Just-get-the-new-people-in. You don't need only veteran minded people that are more mature here. Froggy guides won't get you new people in. You need the younger lads and ladies that play newer TW as well and that may mean dropping 'quality standards' where those are to be lowered. Mature discussions are well and good, but they won't fill in the numbers - and without people that play the games there isn't anything to discuss, nor potential new migrators at other areas of the forum.

The problem is that the org had isolated itself for many years in order to preserve its character, to the point that new influx became so little that in the end its us and us. Unless one is from the 'old' generation its quite difficult to get the place's spirit and get into it - you'll get thrown at a corner or busted. A turning point is fast approaching and this year's awards prove that beyond any shadow of a doubt. More discussion about whether the forum should open up in case the regulars get upset will only bring the inevitable faster. As for becoming TWC copycats, its too late to worry about that - the org has already copied TWC policies/means and devices.

Just get moving on - there is less and less time every year.

[Mouzafphaerre]

​
Firstly a friendly slap (36 here ) and congratulations to Maltz. Then...

I think the Org is a habit; a place of return in the wide oceans of the WWW (and thereout as well). It's a community. It's about friendships, memories, debates, respect and all that. Well, to me it is! Honestly, I threw away Shogun 2 after playing the tutorial for a few hours on the enthusiastic praise of Left Eye Nine, which I couldn't cross... The only TW game I occasionally go back to is EB and the last time I launched it was about 8 months ago... TotalWar series is no more for me but the ORG isn't just about TotalWar.

My 2 pennies...
​

[gollum]

I think the Org is a habit; a place of return in the wide oceans of the WWW (and thereout as well). It's a community. It's about friendships, memories, debates, respect and all that. Well, to me it is! Honestly, I threw away Shogun 2 after playing the tutorial for a few hours on the enthusiastic praise of Left Eye Nine, which I couldn't cross... The only TW game I occasionally go back to is EB and the last time I launched it was about 8 months ago... TotalWar series is no more for me but the ORG isn't just about TotalWar.

That's exactly what i'm talking about.. for me its more or less the same. You don't need people like us. You need people that think the newest TW game is the best thing after sliced bread. Its them you should be targeting, not us.

[Axalon]

Interesting thread… In more ways then one… Anyways....

The greatest contribution anyone can give to the Org is simply to post. The more people post, the more it encourages others to post. The less people post, the less incentive there is for others to post.

Your assessment does have some merit - to a degree. The problem is that this view it is too simplistic and limited. It is not a matter of just posting, it also a matter of what we are posting as well. That “what” is more important then the actual post as such. If it were not so, we could all start spamming right now and everything would be just hunky-dory here… And even if some people here are very able spammers at times - the reality is that it is nowhere enough to create any circumstances that would somehow answer or solve the real questions here. In short it just fails to truly address the actual questions of this thread. Namely…“Why should I come here?”, “Why should I post?”, “What makes it worthwhile and attractive to do both - here?” All these questions are warranted to ask and the very reason this thread exist’s in the first place – as I understand it….

Staff alone cannot sustain all the conversation, the members themselves need to help out.

This is true, but yet again only to a limited degree… Now, in order for that to happen somehow - the people responsible of this site - must also be able to offer some sort of reason or motivation as for why the members should do so in the first place…. As long as that aspect is not truly resolved you will never have a real change of current circumstances - this regardless what anybody do or promise here.

If anyone seriously wants to help the Org improve, you can easily do it by making an effort to write a post or two every day in a TW forum.

This is also true, to a degree… Again it is too limited… Again it fails to truly and properly address the questions raised in post:1. “Why should I come here?”, “Why should I post?” “What makes it worthwhile and attractive to do both - here?” And this even if all people were to actually do the stuff outlined - the questions would still be essentially unanswered all the same.


Now, I agree with you, TinCow, upon that this place/site should indeed stick to the "TW-framwork" and I do believe there is a future for that somehow. However that framework needs to be defined - openly, properly and clearly - and once that is done - acted upon accordingly.

As for the rest above, I essentially interpret that stuff - rightly or wrongly - as some sort of argument pro "status quo" which is the last thing I want here. In the event that I am right about that, I can only say... Unless you guys (read ORG-brass) are not seriously willing to listen and honestly re-examine your current doctrines – the very doctrines that obviously have heavily influenced and shaped the supposedly unwanted realities that this board has today - then all this is basically pointless. If so, I fail to see why we should even bother to discuss this at all?

I mean, I (and possibly others) may very well have some few ideas and suggestions that could set this site apart from the rest, however all that is meaningless unless you guys don't really want things to change here, right? So, my question to ORG-brass is - are you serious in this discussion or not? Or is it just for show? Because discussing colors of thanks-buttons, avatars etc. etc. does not set this place apart, it does not truly attempt to address the actual questions essentially raised in post 1... “Why should I come here?”, “Why should I post?” “What makes it worthwhile and attractive to do both - here?”

So, I wonder... Are you - the ORG-brass - willing to actually listen here and prepared to change current doctrines, for real? Y/N?

(BTW, I am saying this nicely)


- A

[TinCow]

So, I wonder... Are you - the ORG-brass - willing to actually listen here and prepared to change current doctrines, for real? Y/N?

Absolutely. I'm not sure if people have really noticed, but the Org has changed more in the past year than it did in the previous five years. We want to keep this place alive, so if you've got actual plans that can be implemented we are eager to hear them.

[Beskar]

So, I wonder... Are you - the ORG-brass - willing to actually listen here and prepared to change current doctrines, for real? Y/N?

Slightly unfair question. It assumes that the volunteers at the Org have twaddled their thumbs, refusing to do anything to make the experience better, when things are constantly being looked at and changes are being made, most notably, the Org "brass" itself.

There are some fantastic support facilities currently deployed and are being deployed for Mod creators, Vidya-Crowd, and other content creation aspects of the TW series which look quite exciting. There have been big shifts in policies, especially with a major staff change-over which has brought differences. When I first joined, the Backroom was a place where you had to be vetted and approved, there was even a "junior member" rank where you wasn't even allowed to edit your own posts and had to demonstrate yourself. Now, there are no such ranks, people can freely come here and freely contribute, the Org is a far less rigid and far more fluid.

Admittedly, some changes haven't moved as fast as I have liked them in some aspects, then there are other changes which people have proposed which I personally disagreed with. But to answer your question more directly, if you want to feel listened to on the Org, then this is currently the best time in it's history to make those valuable contributions and be heard.

[edyzmedieval]

Absolutely. I'm not sure if people have really noticed, but the Org has changed more in the past year than it did in the previous five years. We want to keep this place alive, so if you've got actual plans that can be implemented we are eager to hear them.

Definitely agreed here. Lots of changes have been implemented by TinCow and the group.

[Andres]

@Axalon:

Please, let the ideas come, it's good to have food for thought. I think I'll bundle some of the ideas from this thread and put up polls about it. Don't hold back on ideas, even if you think they'll be "revolutionary" or a complete different style than the .Org style. In the end, we (and with "we" I mean all of us, all members), need to decide on our direction: keep everything as it is with the risk of this place eventually simply fading away or change some things drastically, which may mean (no guarantees, there never are) more new blood, but also losing a bit of our current identity (you can't have everything).

I'd like to hear input from as many members as possible; new members, senior members, regular members, oldtimers, people who just signed up 5 minutes ago; everybody. Be open. Share your thoughts and no idea is too crazy.

So yeah, feel free to post your thoughts. Small things, major changes, crazy stuff, it doesn't matter, I want to hear it. I want to hear the community where both you and I are part of.

The org is in desperate need of members and the greatest source for such are the new TW games. The org is based around what TW was 8-10 years ago and it catered to people that played the then TW games - this is all water under the bridge; TW games are much different in their orientation and so is their clientelle. Org's rules and tradition are to me its greatest attraction but, that's very bad news for the forum overall. That my own humble modding effort for MTW was voted mod of the year here is embarassing to say the least. As was the voting participation for the new game.

Just-get-the-new-people-in. You don't need only veteran minded people that are more mature here. Froggy guides won't get you new people in. You need the younger lads and ladies that play newer TW as well and that may mean dropping 'quality standards' where those are to be lowered. Mature discussions are well and good, but they won't fill in the numbers - and without people that play the games there isn't anything to discuss, nor potential new migrators at other areas of the forum.

The problem is that the org had isolated itself for many years in order to preserve its character, to the point that new influx became so little that in the end its us and us. Unless one is from the 'old' generation its quite difficult to get the place's spirit and get into it - you'll get thrown at a corner or busted. A turning point is fast approaching and this year's awards prove that beyond any shadow of a doubt. More discussion about whether the forum should open up in case the regulars get upset will only bring the inevitable faster. As for becoming TWC copycats, its too late to worry about that - the org has already copied TWC policies/means and devices.

Just get moving on - there is less and less time every year.

[Hamata]

just so you know guys i have made an alternate logo! Attachment 5357 hope you like it

[Maltz]

just so you know guys i have made an alternate logo! Attachment 5357 hope you like it

I really like the writings of Total War. Is it possible to make Org a similar style?
And maybe we can rearrange the two elements a bit.

[Maltz]

Ops. repeated reply - needs to figure out how to delete...

[Marshall Louis-Nicolas Davout]

Is there a way to cancel your account? That would be really nice as for some members who are leaving, I'm not sure which way to do it.

[TinCow]

Is there a way to cancel your account? That would be really nice as for some members who are leaving, I'm not sure which way to do it.

Yes, stop posting.

[Andres]

Yes, stop posting.

Most of us are mere mortals and do not have TinCow's iron will and self-control.

Is there a way to cancel your account? That would be really nice as for some members who are leaving, I'm not sure which way to do it.

We have a seperate usergroup who want their account to be suspended on a voluntary basis. Just pm one of the Forum Admins and we'll put your account in that group. Whenever you'd like to use your account again, you can contact one of the FA's and we'll put it back in the group it was in before the voluntary suspension.

[Vladimir]

Is there a way to cancel your account? That would be really nice as for some members who are leaving, I'm not sure which way to do it.

What? You already requested to be banned once and now you're back. We need oddballs to keep this place interesting.

One of us. One of us.