Getting The Word Out (ie: death of CPA rumors)

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DarthFerret

Guest
Dont say that, I am a relatively new member, and I am still here. I may not participate as fully since my life recently got a bit more complicated (got engaged) but I plan on stickin around for a while. I agree with Mrs. Ferret......it is up to us....

Spread the Word ladies and gents, any way you can.....
 

Ferret

Moderator
Staff member
Originally posted by DarthFerret
Dont say that, I am a relatively new member, and I am still here. I may not participate as fully since my life recently got a bit more complicated (got engaged) but I plan on stickin around for a while. I agree with Mrs. Ferret......it is up to us....

Spread the Word ladies and gents, any way you can.....
Congrats on the engagement! Wow, imagine if you got her to post here. We'd have Ferret, Mrs. Ferret, DarthFerret, Mrs. DarthFerret...

...actually, that's not true. Mrs. F won't be posting again after her ideas were shot down before they were given a chance to get started...she offered help, it was rejected she thought "Ah well, if they don't want it, I won't waste time offering it again..."

-Ferret

"The worst part was that she knew a lot of people (non-CPA members) that would have shown the banners on their sites..."
 
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Nightstalkers

Guest
And for the oddest reasons, I thought DeathFerret was like... Ferret's evil twin or son... or something...
 
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jorael

Guest
Originally posted by Ferret
Congrats on the engagement! Wow, imagine if you got her to post here. We'd have Ferret, Mrs. Ferret, DarthFerret, Mrs. DarthFerret...

...actually, that's not true. Mrs. F won't be posting again after her ideas were shot down before they were given a chance to get started...she offered help, it was rejected she thought "Ah well, if they don't want it, I won't waste time offering it again..."

-Ferret

"The worst part was that she knew a lot of people (non-CPA members) that would have shown the banners on their sites..."
I'm still a bit new here, so I didn't mention what I thought, but I like the Banner idea. I use the CPA URL as a sig on various other boards and that helps too (I hope), but at some places a Banner could just work.....

They might not attract hundreds of people, but only a few extra magic players over here could create a bigger community....
 
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Chaos Turtle

Guest
Originally posted by Ferret ...actually, that's not true. Mrs. F won't be posting again after her ideas were shot down before they were given a chance to get started...she offered help, it was rejected she thought "Ah well, if they don't want it, I won't waste time offering it again..."
What's this about? Who shot down that idea? I can't find the post.

It's a fine idea, but it depends upon what other people want to do with the banners. If people want to put up CPA-linked banners on their sites, I doubt anyone here is going to try to stop them.

Want something to happen? Make it happen.

If it's an image host that's needed, I'm happy to upload pics to my free image server account (though anyone can get a free account; there are at least a couple such sites available).

If it's some kind of banner exchange that's needed, well, that's not something any of us here is likely to be able to do much about. Contact Ed directly and see if he's willing to help.

I think the first step would be getting someone to make a really nice banner. A member in Kansas City (I think) tried something simliar quite some time ago, and he really was shot down, although I thought his designs were pretty nice. (They were actually an idea to make the site more visualy appealing.)

If Mrs. F doesn't want to post here anymore, that's her prerogative, but if the reason is that this banner idea was "shot down," frankly I think that's an overreaction.

The truth:
This site has a pretty narrow focus. It suffers from neglect. Overall there seems to be a sense of complacency. People seem content to let the site go on as it has for the past couple of years. Some people wish to promote it, other just seem to want to complain about it. But unless someone is really willing to step up and give some time and effort with support (or at least permission and basic instruction) from our webmaster, nothing is going to happen directly on the site to improve traffic. The CPA will languish and fade away.

Otherwise, it's going to be up to the members to foster the kind of community that other people will want to join, and to spread the word that the community exists.

It won't be easy. If no one makes a real effort, it won't even be possible.

Best of luck.
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
He probably meant me, since I'm the apparent nay-sayer (at least when it comes to Magic ideas) :rolleyes: Yet no response when I replied to his OTHER thread...

Anyway, you summed it up great. I also remember the Kansas dude and how he definitely got shot down... Although I think also he might have been trying to change the actual front page banner. That might have been why he got so much resistance.
 

Ferret

Moderator
Staff member
I don't think the site is "fading" or "dying" or even that "stale". The site is at it was meant to be from the beginning. A small tight-knit group of people that play the game or fun. Sure, it's a narrow focus, but I can't think of any other sites that have this focus. Mrs. F's idea was to keep w/ the spirit of the site. It wasn't meant to be some kind of radical change that meant suddenly changing our focus to something that's more "mainstream".

You can find video game reviews everywhere (of course, in order to use screen shots and other things you have to get permission from the publishers (usually involving lots of money )). I've seen forums from sites that focus on video games and you know what? They usually just have 6-10 users that post all the time and quite a few whose post counts never hit the tripple digits. Changing our focus won't increase the numbers. It'll just get more of the same that we have now. We need more of a grass-roots aproach to getting more users. Mrs. F's idea fit the bill quite well and from some of the posts I've seen there's quite a few people that would like to use it.

The thing is that she's pretty sensitive about these kind things. She doesn't play Magic, but she decided to stick her neck out and offer some help for us because she's actually made a few friends through the CPA and seeing "It's a good idea, but..." really ticked her off. It made her feel like she was being shooed aside like some kid that tries to help, but the "grown-ups" won't let them. When I found out, I was upset (thuse, the "OTHER" post, Spidey).

-Ferret

"Just because it's not YOUR idea doesn't make it a bad idea..."
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Originally posted by Ferret
I don't think the site is "fading" or "dying" or even that "stale". The site is at it was meant to be from the beginning. A small tight-knit group of people that play the game or fun.
If that's the case (and it'd be nice to have the other Founders back this up - which is a near impossibility since they're almost all MIA), I think it was a mistake and I don't see anything wrong with try to change THAT.

But my impression when the site started was that this wasn't supposed to be a small, tight-knit group. This was supposed to be a gathering place for ALL casual players in hopes of being a force of change and a voice to influence future sets. If this was supposed to be a small, tight-knit, group, then previous assertions that this site somehow influenced WOTC with their sets is certainly mis-informed and false.

You can find video game reviews everywhere (of course, in order to use screen shots and other things you have to get permission from the publishers (usually involving lots of money )).
I think you're misunderstanding what the whole point of expanding to all games is and was. I certainly don't envision trying to get insider interviews with game developers or game shots or whatever. I just wanted to change the mission statement and the front page submission guidelines so stuff other than Magic could be posted. And to support that, various game forums (on a as-needed basis) would be created. We'd certainly draw back some of the previous users, maybe draw in new ones, who in turn might ask about Magic when they wouldn't have otherwise. Growth doesn't have to become explosive but small and gradual, to satisfy those "afraid of change".

The thing is that she's pretty sensitive about these kind things. She doesn't play Magic, but she decided to stick her neck out and offer some help for us because she's actually made a few friends through the CPA and seeing "It's a good idea, but..." really ticked her off. It made her feel like she was being shooed aside like some kid that tries to help, but the "grown-ups" won't let them. When I found out, I was upset (thuse, the "OTHER" post, Spidey).
And like I said in the OTHER post, I thought the Mrs and I had ironed out our differences. And I still fail to see where it got "shot down". I haven't edited my posts so please point that out. If she's been hanging around here long enough to make some good friends, she should certainly know that I don't maliciously "shoot down" anyone, nor think my ideas are the best overall (and you shouldn't either). If I did, this place would have expanded to general gaming long ago since I had a couple admins' support (err... and if I could figure out how to change around the forums without messing anything up).
 
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Chaos Turtle

Guest
I want to make my self clear.

I don't think we should "change our focus" at all. Our long-standing vision has been to provide a "Casual" Magic haven, and I think that's what we should be.

I do support, however, the idea that the forums can have places to talk about non-Magic stuff. And by extension, I think that the front page, little-used as it is, can reflect the fact that casual Magic players do have other gaming interests. To me, the emphasis is on "Casual." To analogize with college work, think of it like majoring in Casual Gaming, with an emphasis on Magic.

This is a community, and the way to improve the state of it is through community effort. I know I haven't done much around here myself lately (like for a long long time, I know, I know) but if there really is an interest in building up this Casual Magic Haven, I am abolutely willing to add my own efforts (though it will be several weeks from now before I can do anything major).

Like I wrote previously: Want something to happen? Make it happen.

Take care.
 

Killer Joe

New member
CT: I think you have the basis for a 'mission statement' for our site.

Our long-standing vision has been to provide a "Casual" Magic haven
I game with lots of folks (casually), I know for a fact that some of my friends DO haunt this site but really don't post. When I write articles for GASP I always include our web addy. There's about 30 or so people that play Magic at GASP and they read my articles, maybe I could convince them to use our banner for their site which, btw, is:
www.GASPgamer.com
 

Killer Joe

New member
My friend Marty has replied to some of the front page articles (ogham magic et al) but as to why the others haven't? I don't know. I guess not all Magic players are internet savvy :confused:
 
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jorael

Guest
I really like how certain forum discussions are mentioned at the front page! But....

you hardly notice the mentioning. I don't know how hard it is to change the lay-out, but could they get their own place at the front site? Or perhaps not mentioned just under the latest article, but a bit more 'on its own'?
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
As far as I know, I can't change the layout of the front page. But I can try to make it more noticeable and make it stand out more.
 

Ferret

Moderator
Staff member
My suggestion: remove replying to articles and instead include a forum thread for each article. It would generate more forum support and help get some of those people that have never posted in the fourms over here to see what's going on...

-Ferret

"Hmmm...if a person only replines to articles then their post count would be zero...it would look like they're almost dormant..."
 
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jorael

Guest
Yeah I wondered why replying wasn't done in the forums. Makes the discussion a bit faster and easier accessible. And Ferret has a good point that it will draw more people to the boards.

But can it be done easily?
 
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