Avatars, more users, and more activity

Ferret

Ferret

Moderator
Staff member
I've seen a lot of people wanting more bells and whistles and more users posting on the boards. Well, this is taking things to the extreme, but have you ever tried posting in Wizards' forums? They take forever. I had timeouts on everything I tried and it too half an hour just to make one post. Can you imagine how frustrating that could be?

After that little experience I've decided two things:

1. I'm not going to try to post on the Wizards' forums again.
2. I'm going to fight to keep things just the way they are here. :D

-Ferret

"...the only reason the tortoise won was because he was stupid..."
 
Ferret

Ferret

Moderator
Staff member
Isn't that what the General Gaming forum is for? If people showed more concern for other games, we could branch out more...but for now, I'd like us to stay focused on just MTG.

-Ferret

"...join the CPPA: Casual Pokemon Players Alliance..."
 
S

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
It is and people have shown more interest in other games, but since our current mission just covers Magic, we've discouraged them and told them to keep it in General Gaming. If the mission is changed, we could possibly gain back more people (which at this current point looks better than nothing).
 
T

train

Guest
So start an electronic gaming forum... (nintendo, x-box...)
web-based - mainly free games (heroes, space quest...)
ccg or card-based - magic, pokemon...
and an rpg forum - any kind...
;)
 
Ferret

Ferret

Moderator
Staff member
I would still have to disagree. I've seen what happens when a gaming site/magazine/etc. "branches out":

The Dojo tried to include Pokemon - the web masters had to divide their attention between two games and we all now how they're doing these days.

The Duelist started focusing less and less on Magic and more on other games. It doesn't exist anymore and the new incarnation, TopDeck is crap.

InQuest used to be the second-best source of information for Magic (before we came along, of course :p) - then, all of a sudden each magazine had Pikachu on the cover just because Pokemon had overtaken M:TG in sales. Then the coverage changed, the quality changed, and it became unbearable to read.


I could throw out a string of cliches like "Bigger isn't always better", "Too many chefs spoil the broth", and other silliness but I think everyone gets the point.

-Ferret

"I believe in the original mission statement and want to keep it this way - at least for now"
 
S

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
train: That was suggested also but again, I didn't feel that should happen unless the mission statement was changed.

Ferret: I don't remember the Dojo including Pokemon. And is Top Deck still out there?

In any case, why keep Magic as the focus here when it's dying? No one's posted in the Magic forums for a couple days now, even General and Decks, and those forums have maybe 5-7 threads from the past 10 days alone. Not a lot of activity. Why not open the site up to more games that people probably play more and would be more willing to talk about if they got support?

Question for ya: Do you still play Magic? :)
 
Ferret

Ferret

Moderator
Staff member
Question for ya: Do you still play Magic?
Click to expand...
Naw - can't afford to. But, I also don't play anything else either. When I could afford to play other games, none could hold my interest long enough to warrant any real attention (except for maybe, Iluminati: New Wold Order).

If you want, we could expand on D&D and other RPG's, but I don't want to touch any more CCG's.

-Ferret

"Imagine, if you will: Pokemon coverage and 2,000 12 year-olds posting every day ::shudder::"
 
S

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Well, I'd think computer games would have a fairly big presence here, probably more than RPGs. It's probably be on par with tabletop games or something.

I don't think we should discrimintate as there's people here who do play Pokemon, but I don't think we'd get a flood of young-uns just because we'd open it up to them. It's really no different from the horde of 12 year olds who play Magic...
 
T

train

Guest
It's really no different from the horde of 12 year olds who play Magic...
Click to expand...
Spidey - I really wish you wouldn't reveal my real age...:p
 
B

bryson430

Guest
Shame on you folks!

Is magic dying? Surely not...just because the forums a little quiet for a while...


Played AD&D for while..
abandoned it for Magic (you can win at Magic.)


By all means open other forums...but don't downgrade the Magic side...I promise to post every day if you need me to...:)
 
N

Nightstalkers

Guest
Dying? Heck, we all need to get together and show people what this whole magic thing is about.

We currently have a Nightstalker up in Indiana and he cannot find any magic ternaments around his area. So it is with another one of us in Idaho.

Magic needs something like a TV show or something to bring it back, and we are not in the right places at this time to save it.
 
S

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
I didn't say Magic is dying, it's just not really active here (which I guess implies it's dying here. I repeat, the boards have been quiet for a long time, not a little while.

It definitely doesn't need a TV show though... ugh...
 
S

Shiro, Time Devourer

Guest
Remember ESPN's magic coverage:

<Overexcited> OOOOOOOH! ^_^ He lays down the Thran Dynamo!</Overexcited>
 
N

Nightstalkers

Guest
Now a couple magic games on ESPN would cheer us up... alas we cannot seem to find them on anymore.

Lets throw a big happy 10th birthday for magic, eh?
 
Ferret

Ferret

Moderator
Staff member
Spidey, they call these kind of things 'lulls'. They happen w/ any kind of forum/discussion groups/bulletin boards. In my experience the one thing that can outright kill a bulletin board is over-analyzing it and insisting on making changes the second activity drops.

Magic itself is in a lull right now. They just had an expansion come out and due to spoilers, etc we all knew what the set would be six weeks before it actualy came out. The next big story is Eight Edition. Since all of these cards were published before there's nothing really to discuss - except for the new layout. Give it a month and it should pick right back up.

-Ferret

"Ever visit an American Footbal forum in mid-May? Not much going on there"
 
N

Nightstalkers

Guest
We think the mammal is right on that one our arachnid friend. Relax, enjoy a little respite while the magic ebbs.

What was it you do again? Govt. job? well have fun, we have many in the IRS and shouldn't be a problem for anyone to handle.
 
S

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Dude, it's not a "lull". It's a dropoff in Magic here. I've been here constantly almost every day since I joined, with the exception of vacations, and I can list numerous people who aren't playing or posting right now:

Istanbul
Chaos Turtle
Yellowjacket
Almindhra
Gizmo
theorgg
DUke
sageridder?
arhar
Griffith_se
Whimsical
Purple_Jester
TomB
pretty much all the founders not mentioned above

People who may be playing but not posting here:

rakso
Capt. Caveman
krauchai (something like that)
SeFRo

New people

train
WickedBoy

There was almost NO Magic discussion concerning Legions before and after its release. Check the thread history. I have no reason to believe it's going to pick up after 8th is released. There might be some posts that can all be lumped into whether someone likes the redesign or not, but basic editions are reprints.

A lull for 6 months or longer is called a "decline" :)
 
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