Org Promotion

[edyzmedieval]

Sure.

On the side, you have some videos. A video tab with TW videos. Those need refreshing. Similarly, you had things over here like contests, Gahzette, different Org competitions over time... that's the Org content. By refreshing I mean adding more content and generating more for our local patrons. They visit this place, so in order to keep them here, we have to keep our patrons engaged.

I totally agree with you that this is a forum that people come to it to discuss, and they come here for that. Totally agree here. What we can do is to offer them a bit more than just the discussion in itself.

[ghostofxmaspast]

Gah... that's my point - all the "content" such as Gahzette and contests has been tried. It didn't make a jot of difference and the people involved just burnt out. Do you simply intend to repeat the same process all over again?

You can't build traffic and interest out of something that volatile. Any effort where a few designated people fuss about doing all the legwork to generate "content" is doomed to failure - sorry but it's been tried and it failed.

One of the reasons it failed was because staff and members were posting in here (or in the private staff forum) about running a board and generating 'content' and designing new themes to increase traffic, instead of posting in the main forum about the games, which this site is supposed to be about.

The .org simply needs to go back to it's roots, it doesn't need to have people running it as a hobby website and trying to put it on the map. .org will be niche and low traffic because that's what it is.

Be the traffic and the activity and the "content" will appear naturally...

[edyzmedieval]

No, not in that way.

Refreshing content doesn't necessarily mean redoing old things. Producing content is done by the members, not by the Org itself. We do not act as content producers - because there is no point in doing that and there are plenty of people producing quality content. I propose that the Org acts as content promoters, which is a different game than producing the content. Promote the content, people want to see content, and we have the platform. Encourage the discussion and promote the relevant, quality content.

[Monk]

Gah... that's my point - all the "content" such as Gahzette and contests has been tried. It didn't make a jot of difference and the people involved just burnt out. Do you simply intend to repeat the same process all over again?

You can't build traffic and interest out of something that volatile. Any effort where a few designated people fuss about doing all the legwork to generate "content" is doomed to failure - sorry but it's been tried and it failed.

One of the reasons it failed was because staff and members were posting in here (or in the private staff forum) about running a board and generating 'content' and designing new themes to increase traffic, instead of posting in the main forum about the games, which this site is supposed to be about.

I have a feeling i knew you under a different name, in a different time, because you're spot on. Thank you for continuing to contribute to this discussion. I am pretty much in full agreement with you, ghost.

The .org simply needs to go back to it's roots, it doesn't need to have people running it as a hobby website and trying to put it on the map. .org will be niche and low traffic because that's what it is.

Be the traffic and the activity and the "content" will appear naturally...

This is not about the front page, or any other page apart from the forum in itself. The detail where the content is going to come from - we have members who offered themselves to provide content, just above, in this thread. And that's just one example. We still have TW players - myself included, who can provide content. There's hundreds of YouTubers who only require an invitation to come here and post their videos and encourage discussion, alongside them becoming members and actively participating. Why would they do that? Free promotion. We have members, we have guests, we have lurkers - we can provide the views they need. We want their content, they want the views. It's a win-win situation for both sides, if done correctly.

i think you are severely overestimating this site's digital footprint.

[ghostofxmaspast]

This is not about the front page, or any other page apart from the forum in itself.

Really, I thought this thread was about "org promotion"?

There's hundreds of YouTubers

Who are on youtube and can post on youtube, or if they follow the latest games, can even go to the TWC which has the highest traffic. You're suggesting yet another desperate attempt to capture a market which already has a well established venue. TWC is not a new forum any more, for many players it's a well established site with a rich history. It all started with RTW and for many TW players that's where it all started anyway...

The .org won't succeed in competition it needs to offer something different - and especially something to those have supported it for 15+ years - not just another clone of popular sites.

If that has to be radical, 'elitist', quirky or just different then so be it. If the .org has to hang a sign over the door which says "this might not be for you", then so be it.

I have a feeling i knew you under a different name, in a different time, because you're spot on. Thank you for continuing to contribute to this discussion. I am pretty much in full agreement with you, ghost.

Thanks, it's a refreshing change to be able to post an opinion here without being regarded with suspicion / as a troll.

[edyzmedieval]

Really, I thought this thread was about "org promotion"?

It is about Org Promotion...? The front page is the front page, there's not much to do with that unless it suffers a total redesign. I'm talking about the forum here. We're promoting the forum, the Org forum, hence Org Promotion.

Who are on youtube and can post on youtube, or if they follow the latest games, can even go to the TWC which has the highest traffic. You're suggesting yet another desperate attempt to capture a market which already has a well established venue. TWC is not a new forum any more, for many players it's a well established site with a rich history. It all started with RTW and for many TW players that's where it all started anyway...

Posting videos on YouTube won't magically garner views for you as a content producer. Those viewers have to come from somwhere, correct?

The .org won't succeed in competition it needs to offer something different - and especially something to those have supported it for 15+ years - not just another clone of popular sites.

Never a clone, this is the Org we're talking about. I'm proposing different avenues to explore, different ideas, coming up with suggestions to get back the traffic to at least good levels (not like 2005 - 2006, that will be quite hard to do).

Thanks, it's a refreshing change to be able to post an opinion here without being regarded with suspicion / as a troll.

All suggestions welcome Ghost, no suspicion or trolling.

[ghostofxmaspast]

It is about Org Promotion...? The front page is the front page, there's not much to do with that unless it suffers a total redesign. I'm talking about the forum here. We're promoting the forum, the Org forum, hence Org Promotion.

I mentioned getting rid of the front page and having forums.totalwar.org redirect to the index, your response was "this is not about the front page".

Posting videos on YouTube won't magically garner views for you as a content producer. Those viewers have to come from somwhere, correct?

I was under the impression that search engines or just searching youtube would find such 'content'? I'm failing to see how relevant total war videos on youtube are however? If someone wants to post their video, they do that, either at .com the .org or TWC. I doubt they see themselves as "content producers"...

Never a clone, this is the Org we're talking about. I'm proposing different avenues to explore, different ideas, coming up with suggestions to get back the traffic to at least good levels (not like 2005 - 2006, that will be quite hard to do).

Unfortunately so far as I can tell, you have no ideas except that people need to produce 'content' and that will increase traffic. Sounds familiar...

Sorry to be blunt, but your posts just come across as empty "business speak".

[edyzmedieval]

I mentioned getting rid of the front page and having forums.totalwar.org redirect to the index, your response was "this is not about the front page".

Org never used the front page like other websites did. We have the front page to occasionally promote articles, different events and similar contests but other than that, it was not used like let's say TWC did to constantly promote mods and articles and other things. So the front page in the whole scheme of TW Org is not really that important.

Getting rid of it would probably suffice and do good - I'm neutral on this aspect.

I was under the impression that search engines or just searching youtube would find such 'content'? I'm failing to see how relevant total war videos on youtube are however? If someone wants to post their video, they do that, either at .com the .org or TWC. I doubt they see themselves as "content producers"...

Yes, and no. Yes, search engines and searching would bring you the content. No - that is not enough. There's hundreds of YouTube videos on popular games, and you'd be surprised to see some quality gameplay videos or walkthroughs that have under 1000 views.

Unfortunately so far as I can tell, you have no ideas except that people need to produce 'content' and that will increase traffic. Sounds familiar...

They don't need to. They already do. It's already there. And people produce content anyhow.

And that doesn't magically increase traffic just because it's there.

I'm trying to explain here that getting more members, after this restructuring is done, would require the Org to have discussions. Getting them to sign up will happen only if people see that we are active. It's a snowball effect. The more active this place is, the more members you get. And those discussions are on TW games, on off topics, on modding, on everything that has a subforum and place in this whole TW Org website. Getting people to stay engaged is to make sure the discussions are active, stimulating and interesting pretty much. One of the ideas - one, not the whole thing, just one - would be to have more discussions on content produced by either Orgahs or people from outside.

[Vincent Butler]

Sure.

On the side, you have some videos. A video tab with TW videos. Those need refreshing.

I was thinking the same thing, how long has that Sekigahara video been up there? As long as I can remember. That would probably help.

Also agreed, the main reason people come here is the forum. I first came here for advice, and then to give advice. Also, as one gains experience, he needs less help, so he comes here less. That is why we need to increase our visibility to draw new members. Increasing our visibility is one of our problems, and I have not really come up with a solution yet.
We also need to provide incentive for older members to stick around, if they still play. That is where the competitions come into play. Then again, a tournament/competition probably requires a time commitment, which I know I cannot commit to right now, and I am sure others either. Then again, with more members, the number of those who could participate is greater, so again, that is why we need more members. As has been pointed out, many members who left left because they stopped playing due to other commitments.

Part of the reason I stick around is the community, but I still play, so I still want advice sometimes dealing with a particular issue. That is why we need the older members.

[edyzmedieval]

Indeed. Increasing visibility on all channels is the way forward, because Total War has a very big fanbase.

And an even bigger fanbase now with Warhammer!

[Gigantus]

Content on the home page only makes sense if it is informative - which means it needs to be up to date where game news is concerned as well as being regularly renewed where stuff like spot lighting of mods, articles is concerned. The members themselves are the best contributors for that, simply put an admin in charge of screening and placing it and do a global (vbulletin) promotion of it to encourage contribution.

[ReluctantSamurai]

as well as being regularly renewed where stuff like spot lighting of mods

And seeing as how modders are probably the second largest crowd to visit the Org, spotlighting their craft makes a world of sense.

[edyzmedieval]

Informative content, related to Total War, related to the community, made by the community... This is what we should aim for to promote on the Org.

[ghostofxmaspast]

Informative content, related to Total War, related to the community, made by the community... This is what we should aim for to promote on the Org.

This has been tried. I know the result, you know the result. Everyone who has been here at least 5 years should know the result.

Hate to sound negative, but you're going over the same tired old ground... you're talking about content, but there is no detail there as to where it's going to come from, who is going to produce it and what form it should take. No amount of positive thinking or over exuberance is going to change that.

One possible approach, which perhaps hasn't been considered, is to get rid of the .org's front page altogether and ensure that forums.totalwar.org goes straight to the board index. Then the clear focus will be on the forum it itself without the burden of anyone having to maintain the website. It also focuses on the site's main strength and will get people straight into the forum without 'extra clicks'.

News can take the form of a forum and members can post links, etc and write short articles. This is much more sustainable that the current format which requires someone having to devote time to update something which few probably bother to read. This also puts more into the hands of members and takes away from admins having to maintain it.

[edyzmedieval]

Patience my young (old? ) Padawan.

This will be a bit long.

This is not about the front page, or any other page apart from the forum in itself. The detail where the content is going to come from - we have members who offered themselves to provide content, just above, in this thread. And that's just one example. We still have TW players - myself included, who can provide content. There's hundreds of YouTubers who only require an invitation to come here and post their videos and encourage discussion, alongside them becoming members and actively participating. Why would they do that? Free promotion. We have members, we have guests, we have lurkers - we can provide the views they need. We want their content, they want the views. It's a win-win situation for both sides, if done correctly.

This is not in any way about the front page or anything other than the forum in itself - you have people posting content, and this will encourage discussion, especially if later down the road we can manage some Org contests with the people who create this content.

You can argue that we're bringing people who are interested only for our views - not so. In order for them to have a following that allows them to get the views they want, they themselves have to encourage discussion. It's complex, but it's workable.

And what type of content? Any type that showcases TW. Videos, let's play's, photographs/screenshots, walkthroughs, AARs... anything goes.

Rehashing old ideas just to see if they work again is not the way this time. Clearly not.

We need freshness. Fresh ideas, fresh discussions, fresh content... and think of it this way. We have the future historical TW game coming out in the future. 6-9 months until the announcement. At most 16 months until release. But the hype will be big - that as much will be given that the latest TW title is of the fantasy type. So expect a lot of engagement and buzz around it. Making sure we invite people around here and showing them that we have discussions worth participating in is the way forward, and this also includes discussions around the content offered on the website.