Zelaron needs changes

[Demosthenes]

I've made threads like this before, and I'm going to do it again. Guys, I honestly believe that this place is really dying. If we continue at our current rate, come 2006, Zelaron will be nothing but merely a shadow of its previous self. For those of you who don't give a fuck, please politely stay out of this thread, but for those of you who do, I hope you're beginning to see it as a serious problem. The activity level on the boards is probably a fifth of what it was a year ago. The staff, while still here, is hardly active. The rules, albeit not so bad on closing threads and such as they have been before, seem to get more absurd every day. Earlier on in this forum's life, I used to enjoy flaming twits who'd come up here strictly to spam, but on the contrary, now I welcome it as some sort of new activity for the board. I highly doubt that's what Chruser intended for this board. At one point, this board probably had a 100 active members at any given point, and probably a few hundred, if not a thousand posts a day. Now the activity on Zelaron is 1/5 of that. My favorite forum, the flame forum, is dead. The old members have run out of stuff to talk about, and the new members aren't coming. Yesterday was the most active I have seen this board in a long time, due to the Superbowl, and it was nothing compared to an average day at this time of the year in 2004. Chruser had made this place into a thriving community; now it seems like this place is soon headed for its death.

A couple of days ago, Chruser replied to a thread I made which asked who ran Zelaron, and said that he and WetWired still seriously care about this place, and if anyone had any good suggestions that Chruser and WetWired would still listen to them, and perhaps implement them. Try as I may, I've had no indication that anything I've tried to get through to the admins has even had any consideration. I tried to get some sensible admin to listen and do away with the 7 character rule. Nobody listened. I tried to get an admin to bring back the stats. Nobody listened. I asked for the thread view bug to be fixed. Nobody listened. I'm sick and fucking tired of trying to get people to listen. Either at least consider what I'm saying, or make me an admin and let me do it myself, and as a side-note to those of you who think that I'm just saying that because I want to be admin, fuck you. A year ago, yes, I would've loved to be an admin or a mod, but what am I going to do modding a dying forum. The only reason I'd want to be an admin is to remove some of these crazy rules, and bring VBStats back, and make a few improvements which I think might help the Zelaron community to be more active, because lets face it, spam isn't the main problem here anymore, it's inactivity. Many people claimed that Zelaron was inactive because it was the holiday season, or because of midterms, but that clearly isn't the case. I would use whatever powers I have now, and post more news to improve the quality of Zelaron, but the problem with that is that there will be nobody to read it. I've tried to make this forum better. I tried with KoZ. I tried with my C tutorial. Those seem to have failed, but I'm not ready to give up on the forum.

I'm going to try this one more time. I have a few suggestions, some of them might be decent. The first, and foremost problem is inactivity. My solution for this is to bring in new members. Chruser, I don't know what you did the first time, but whatever it was that you did, do it again. I'm begging you. Last time we used Diablo II as a means for attracting new members. Lets do the same with WoW. Lets advertise WoW, and see if we can get members to join. Another thing that will help the problem of inactivity -- have more moderators for individual forums, and make it their responsibility to get activity for that forum. If they're not doing it, either remove the forum altogether, or remove them as mods. That'll be motivation to get them to do it. I remember back in the day when there was a moderator for almost every single forum on this board, but the problem with that is, if we did it today, almost every single one of our active members would become moderators. Still, it's a thought that might be possible. I know that you've all had forum leader meeting in the past. Well, perhaps it's time to get those back.

All this talk of forum leaders gets me to another one of my complaints -- have more active staff. That would seriously help. If the staff was active, we'd at least know that there is going to be some activity. As of now, there's a lot of staff that's inactive. That serves absolutely no purpose. Why not reward the more active members with a staff spot, and remove some of the people who aren't doing anything at all? As I said above, you could really use that to your advantage. Anyone who's high enough to be a staff member should take a certain amount of pride in making this forum better. I suggest we have more active mods. There's still a wide variety of members to choose from. If you do decide to take up this suggestion, and decide to consider me as a possible member for staff, I don't want any part of it unless someone above me is willing to try with me. In fact, if you guys aren't going to make any changes whatsoever, please remove my News Poster title. If the admins aren't going to do anything about the current conditions, then I've given up hope. There's not much I can do, and I don't want to post news for an inactive forum. On the other hand, if you do decide to try and make some changes for the better, I'd be very much obliged and I'd take any spot you wanted me to, or simply restart posting news quite happily.

Next improvement: bring back the VBStats. I've said it in previous threads, and when VB2 was around, I loved VBStats. I used to check those things daily. It made coming here so much more fun. Now, I know WW's main complaint against this is that it has everything to do with post count. Now, that's a valid complaint from his perspective, but WW, you have to realize that a lot of members here do] care about post count. In some way or the other, it shows senority, it brings a little competition to the forum, and it encourages more posts. You claim that post count encourages spam, but that's not really true. Since you have made your changes, has spam really been cut down? Well, sure, but at the price of 4/5 of our members? Have the conversations gotten more intelectual? No, they've stayed more or less the same, except the number of conversations are just getting less and less because of the absurdity of some of these rules, and the dullness that they bring about. This is a predominantly teenage forum, WW. Quit trying to change it from that.

This next rule that I would like removed pretty much goes with the above paragraph. I know I pester you about this all the time, but remove the seven character rule. Again, you claim that it cuts down on spam. It doesn't, and at this point, I'd even welcome spam to the boards. People can very easily get around the seven character rule by adding a few random characters, so the whole purpose of that is defeated. Ever since the time you implemented the seven character rule, I haven't really seen any cut back in spam in proportion with Zelaron's active members. It's just a nuissance; get rid of it once and for all. I mean, you know that it's already driven off at least one possible new member. I've given you the link to that. Just do away with any rules that dictate how members should post. The whole anti-all caps rule should be done away with as well. There's plenty of times people might need to post in all caps to express something. For instance, lets say you say something I don't like, and I'm trying to be sarcastic. A reply such as this:

HEATHEN!!!

is a lot more effective than something like this:

heathen

Another thing that I was slightly astonished by was WW placing Slaynish involuntarily in the no post-count group because he decided to tell people that he finally got 4000 posts. That shouldn't even be an option, man. I don't care if you're Chruser, or the president himself, that's just an abuse of power. I would never even think about joining a forum if I knew it punished its members for posting. And why do you alienate yourself from other members anyway? If they make a reasonable request, such as a name-change, as I have, what's the point, or logic in denying them that?

I've really run out of time, at the moment, but I really think that covers most of my major complaints for now. Now, mods, and sup mods, don't take offense at this. This is aimed at the admins, really. I know there's not too much the mods or sup mods can do with this, as their power is only to enforce the rules. I do hope, though, that someone takes this seriously, and at least tries to revive this place. I don't know how much longer I can take clicking the new posts button constantly and having it not bring up anything.

[Jamesadin]

I agree with you on most parts. Such as the part when something needs to be changed, and it never happens...or takes a year or so.

Admins: Stop fucking around. Pay attention. You are the only ones with the power to do alot of these tasks. Some of you are much worse than others.

[Sorrow]

.....wow, I seem to have joined at abad time, did I not? I guess I will try to help with some of this inactivity. I will see what I can do as a new member. Those are some valid points and I have only been a member for a few hours and saw nothing worth posting in,all the threads seamed stupid and pointless. I would like to chat with some people in an intelligent manner would be nice.

[Demosthenes]

.....wow, I seem to have joined at abad time, did I not? I guess I will try to help with some of this inactivity. I will see what I can do as a new member. Those are some valid points and I have only been a member for a few hours and saw nothing worth posting in,all the threads seamed stupid and pointless. I would like to chat with some people in an intelligent manner would be nice.

Heh. Don't get the wrong idea. It's not a bad forum. It's a great place to hang out and chill. I've been here for more than two years, so it's definitely pretty cool, but yea, things do need to be changed up a bit in my opinion. Anyway, welcome to the forum, man.

[Sorrow]

Well, thank you very much, Should I call you Jesus or Black Jesus?(seen your "picture" in the picture thread) That made me chuckle.

Well, I am going to give this forum a try.

[Sovereign]

Seriously, tyrannicide, you are such a fucking idiot.

But yeah I see what you are saying. Get rid of these fucking bullshit rules, and stupid punishments for SIMPLY STATING A NUMBER. I'm SO fucking sick of iot as well.

[Thanatos]

I tried applying for the News Poster title but Chruser hasn't IMed me back. I think with mjordan2nd and my dedication to this forum, we'd be a heck of a news team. It'd be like: "The Kickass News Team."

In all seriousness, I agree with you mj. The staff around here hasn't done jack shit in the past 6 months or so. I really don't mind but it gets kinda annoying reading similar posts everyday from the same damn people. In order to fix this situation: Have a staff meeting and decide what the best course for Zelaron to take in the near future and act on it. Go staff!

[Sovereign]

well then what would you like me to do? When i enforced teh rules I got bitched at, when I lay off , people complain that nto enough is being done. I'm lost as to what to do. Any suggestions on what I, as a sup mod, can do/?

[Demosthenes]

well then what would you like me to do? When i enforced teh rules I got bitched at, when I lay off , people complain that nto enough is being done. I'm lost as to what to do. Any suggestions?

As I said in my last paragraph, Sovereign, almost none of what I said is directed at you, or any of the other mods. I can't speak for Jizmo, but I think he's also referring to the admins. I can't be so sure, though.

[Thanatos]

Hi. I'm tyrannicide. I clain this forum means nothing to me but I still sign up again and again.

Recommendation: The meatbag needs to be b& and blasted.

But, yes, I was talking about the administration.

[Demosthenes]

Hi. I'm tyrannicide. I claim this forum means nothing to me but I still sign up again and again.

Welcome back, Tyrannicide... and goodbye.

[Grav]

*yawn*

Ahhh.. what? I had a bit of fluff.. in my ear.

[Demosthenes]

Lets see how long it takes sov this time. Cya MJ.

PS this is soo much fun.

No, man. This is seriously not cool. I don't want this to be another spam-infested thread. I actually have a point to this. I know we've been cool, but I can't condone what you're doing -- all the spam. Just stop. Ask Sovereign to lower the ban or something, and just cut it out.

[Sovereign]

Nope. He's gone for good. Just don't reply to any of his posts, and As I see them ill shitcan them.

[RoboticSilence]

I have seen more and more activity from WW and less and less from the other admins.

[WetWired]

What thread view bug?

As for slaynish, anyone can see that he posted about 25 border-line meaningless posts the other day for the sole purpose of sprinting to 4000. If he hadn't, then all he would have gotten was a meaningless threat like so many others have gotten. As for the condition of the staff, there aren't really enough members to try to fix it... I had proposed to Chruser the idea of a general election for the few staff positions really needed at the time, but he didn't like it, so what am I to do? As for bypassing the BS filter, I delete deserving posts manually, so you're better off legitimately expanding your post. As for members, Chruser payed for advertising on Something Awful, not to mention Taco's relentless quest for more mindless members; advertising is Chruser's call, and he doesn't seem to have much to say about it. I don't know anything about an all caps rule, but common sense should tell you that that's rude...

The primary purpose of my position is technical maintenance of the board and weighing in on actually important decisions, however as the only admin who actually visits everyday or posts much, I'm in the position of having to do all the administrative stuff. If you don't like the way I handle other people's jobs, bitch to Chruser to be more active or to consent to a general election.

[Kaneda]

I don't see whats so different now from 2 years ago. I don't see some of the old members but I do see newer members who are just as active. Besides that its always been like this. Well I can't say that but, since I've been here. I don't think its going to die, just not expand much. We have a damn good gaming forum here, lots of information, lots of helpfull people.
As for slaynish, I told him so, and he just sat there saying, Hey I'm not breaking the rules, if you think I am, report it. I didn't even have to report it. People like him mj, are the ones that destroy a forum, people that don't contribute at all.
Umm, may I suggest Penguin be de-modded. He's not active.
Also, I've been looking around at some other forums, it seems they are all worried about the same thing...I doubt were going to die off. Comparitivley this is alot nicer forum than some.

[Demosthenes]

What thread view bug?

Sorry. I should've been a little clearer on that. By the thread view bug, I meant next to the number of posts in a thread, there's a little counter for how many times it has been viewed. It doesn't seem to work properly. Half the time the count just doesn't seem to go up, and the other half, it seems to jump by a few numbers. For example: http://zelaron.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35577 I made that thread for this puropse. I clicked on it six times, yet under views, it says it's only had one view. Now I don't know if this is on purpose, since I'm one member clicking on it multiple times, or if it's a bug, but I don't think it was like that in VB2. I liked it better when it counted every time it was clicked, personally.

As for slaynish, anyone can see that he posted about 25 border-line meaningless posts the other day for the sole purpose of sprinting to 4000. If he hadn't, then all he would have gotten was a meaningless threat like so many others have gotten.

But it's not really even all that much. I'm sure I've had 20 or so posts today. I mean, I can understand you wanting to keep out spam and all, but he's one of the last few members still active. Seriously, the number of active members at the moment may not even be in double digits. Spam isn't so bad that it needs control, and in my opinion, Slaynish wasn't even spamming that bad. But that's not my call; it's yours. Either way, I'd much rather stick to conventional rules, and get maybe a one-day ban or a warning on the basis that I spammed rather than have my post count removed. As I said above, the post count feature adds another dimension to posting, and it's not all bad. If anything, it bring out a little competition, which may lead to a little bit of spam. If it gets excessive, then it should be the mods job to keep it under control, and warn the spammers. That's what should keep spam out, not the threat of us having our post count removed. But really, I see any activity, even spam, as good activity; especially in the general chat thread.

As for the condition of the staff, there aren't really enough members to try to fix it... I had proposed to Chruser the idea of a general election for the few staff positions really needed at the time, but he didn't like it, so what am I to do?

Well, I don't know what to say. I guess this is more addressed to Chruser than you, WW, since he has the final say-so in this matter, but isn't their a few changes here and their to bring a little more activity to the staff? I honestly believe it would lighten up the forum a lot if that were ever to happen, plus if you ever used my idea, we could get more members that way.

As for bypassing the BS filter, I delete deserving posts manually, so you're better off legitimately expanding your post.

But the 7-letter rule is seriously a huge nuissance. I use some little phrase at the bottom of a lot of my posts to bypass it. It just doesn't make sense half the time. If you're manually deleting posts anyway, why not remove the rule altogether, seeing as at the very least, one of your members has such a huge issue with it? I mean, it doesn't make sense when you're in the chat section, and you just want to say "lol," or in the test section, and would just like to say "test," or doing a one-word story or a word association game or something. Hell, I can't even think of a seven-letter preposition, so in some cases the little bullshit phrases at the end are required.

As for members, Chruser payed for advertising on Something Awful, not to mention Taco's relentless quest for more mindless members; advertising is Chruser's call, and he doesn't seem to have much to say about it.

Well then, I have directed everything about advertising in my original post in this thread at Chruser.

I don't know anything about an all caps rule, but common sense should tell you that that's rude...

Rude as it may be, sometimes it's just easier to post in all caps, not because caps-lock is on, but because it adds a little more voice to your post.

The primary purpose of my position is technical maintenance of the board and weighing in on actually important decisions, however as the only admin who actually visits everyday or posts much, I'm in the position of having to do all the administrative stuff. If you don't like the way I handle other people's jobs, bitch to Chruser to be more active or to consent to a general election.

I don't have anything against you personally, WW. On the technical side, aside from that one thing I mentioned above, I think you've done a splendid job. Zelaron looks pretty, and I haven't noticed any obvious bugs or anything. It's just that I think you could be a little more laxed on the rules, and perhaps take some of our ideas into consideration. I don't know whether or not you have, but it doesn't seem like it to me.

I don't see whats so different now from 2 years ago. I don't see some of the old members but I do see newer members who are just as active. Besides that its always been like this. Well I can't say that but, since I've been here. I don't think its going to die, just not expand much. We have a damn good gaming forum here, lots of information, lots of helpfull people.

Well, Zelaron had gotten incredibly active during the gap where you were gone. I mean incredibly active. I could go take a piss, and I would have 8 new posts waiting to be replied to. And by the time I got done replying to those, I would have 10 more. And the problem is, if it doesn't expand it will die. Soon the less dedicated members will get bored and start leaving. The more dedicated members will have less and less to talk about, and even they will eventually lose their patience and start checking Zelaron less and less. Eventually, it'll just be here, with hardly any posts, unless we do get some new members. If newer members arrive, then the old members will have reason to constantly visit here.

As for slaynish, I told him so, and he just sat there saying, Hey I'm not breaking the rules, if you think I am, report it. I didn't even have to report it. People like him mj, are the ones that destroy a forum, people that don't contribute at all.

But Slaynish does contribute, though. Perhaps he spams, but 98% of my posts are spam as well. Whether you like him or not, he brings a unique personality to the forum which adds flavor.

Also, I've been looking around at some other forums, it seems they are all worried about the same thing...I doubt were going to die off. Comparitivley this is alot nicer forum than some.

Yea, but unfortunately being nice isn't going to keep us going necessarily.

[RoboticSilence]

Against is a seven letter preposition.

[Demosthenes]

Against is a seven letter preposition.

Okay, that's one. What about an article?

[RoboticSilence]

I'm pretty sure that a, an, and the are the only articles in the English language.

[Demosthenes]

I'm pretty sure that a, an, and the are the only articles in the English language.

Exactly. So in a one word story, you couldn't use any articles.

[Kaneda]

I don't have a problem w/ slaynish most of the time. Its just that day, it was blatently obvious he was spamming for the sole purpose of spamming. No one cares if he gets to 4000 posts, and when he's calling me a "Im a badass, but really a pussy" type person. I don't see how he got that from any of my posts. But w/e.

To bad I missed that overly active period. What exactly do you think spurred that? Thats the question you really need to be asking, Why was it so unactive when I joined, then active when I left, now its unactive again? Whats that you say? NO! I will not leave.


Soon the less dedicated members will get bored and start leaving. The more dedicated members will have less and less to talk about, and even they will eventually lose their patience and start checking Zelaron less and less. Eventually, it'll just be here, with hardly any posts, unless we do get some new members. If newer members arrive, then the old members will have reason to constantly visit here.

You do have a damn good point there. So we need new memebers. Hmmm, I suggest setting up a membership recruiting commity, anyone can join as long as you will actually put forth some energy. The members that go to school would be especially helpfull. Tell the gamers at you school about us, via word of mouth, or a flyer on a bulletin board. Do it discreetly if you don't wanna look dorky. Anyone that goes to Halo2 partys. Things of that sort.
Maybe we should get a bot set up and put it in a chatroom of Yahoo! I know thats demeaning but hey. Or maybe Yahoo groups could be helpfull?

How about we set up a contest of some sort and advertise it over the internet. That would bring in tons of people. It would have to be hard, something to do w/ games, and not avalible to current members.
Blah Blah Blah!!! Zelaron.com giving away a free PSP... Blah Blah! See Zelaron.com for more details.
I'm sure someone could make something spiffy for the main page to lure them into the forums. Then have a Offical Contest Thread or something.
My ideas. Just realize since I've been back, we don't have a "main page" thats nifty

[Death]

Agreed.

I say it again, Arcade is the key!

[Vollstrecker]

heh

WoW is obviously the new D2 as far as luring new members in goes. I think since D2 has gone out the window, we obviously need to find a niche again to draw in new members.

The problem is, that everyone and their mothers have a WoW site right now. We need to add something that theirs don't have. It won't be the same like we had with D2, as Blizzard is likely to crack down on WoW Hacking sites (which is obviously what drew 99% of our D2 members here).

If our niche isn't WoW, then so be it. But we need to think of an effective method of drawing people to the site. The Flame Forum is dead, and our community (while some are talented for it) is not exactly the type who would support a serious Flame Forum that would attract people. To be frank, it would likely draw people that most of us wouldn't really care to associate with anyway.

It's rather difficult to think of something to draw new members, however.

[Randuin]

Ummm..... tl;dr

[pr0xy]

Hell most people are too absorbed with wow to check a fucking forum (Like our illidan guild members)
/approve of this thread

[Vollstrecker]

I'll check it before I log on to WoW, before bed, and on extremely long flights.

[Titusfied]

Not to burst your bubble or anything, but it isn't the Admins that the blame should be placed on. When the upgrade of vB3 came, WW made it so that only he and Chruser could do anything with Zelaron. The only difference between myself and Sov (when I was Admin) was that I could IP ban and change User Groups. Nothing else. Of course, my opinion was asked on issues, but as you can see from WW response, Chruser is the final say. Period.

Penguin is just... well... there. IMO, Chruser should keep the Owner tag, WW the Webmaster tag, and Sup Mods should be given all the priviledges I had, which is only slightly more than what they have now, but keep the same tag. I only say this because as "Admins", they get more shit because of their tag, but in all seriousness, they ain't jack shit, just glorified Sup Mods.

As you've stated before, this is a predominantly teenage based community. WW is not a teenager. WW actually has a job. Meaning, I certainly wouldn't expect Zelaron to exactly be on the top of his priority list, so don't expect all these great suggestions to be implemented. I do agree that over time, they should be done, but there is only so much 1 person can do.

There is more problems at Zelaron than some of the obvious issues you've brought up. But that is a good start. Activity is something that is fixed with money for advertising, and unless you are willing to put it forth, don't expect others to deliver for you.

[slaynish]

I don't have a problem w/ slaynish most of the time. Its just that day, it was blatently obvious he was spamming for the sole purpose of spamming. No one cares if he gets to 4000 posts, and when he's calling me a "Im a badass, but really a pussy" type person. I don't see how he got that from any of my posts. But w/e.





Well, the reason that i said you're that kind of person is becuase you just seem like a real dick. I dont hate you, i dont really dislike you, but i dont exactly like you. I just think you're some kind of online companion that i've gotta be with, like in a classroom. You're just a dick, face it. Not exactly a bad thing, but you just are.

Also, it seems a lot of people are really raffled up about the post count thing. I asked Sov if he thinks that its going to be re-set, and he seems really against that. I was suprised that my issue was actually posted about, though.

MJ, i totally agree. I really do think you would make for a perfect mod or sup mod even. Admin im not so sure, because im not 100% sure you know exactly what your doing. I dont know if you get the same privladges as I got when i was webmaster of a forum i created once. If so, then you can seriously fuck something up accidently. Its a big risk but i just dont know. I've always wanted to be a DII mod, im a skilled player, i'm rich, i can host giveaways, i know tons of runeword combinations, im sure i can learn about the other tid-bits of diablo that i dont know. I think its becuase the staff is age-nazi's :p.

Seriously though, half the things i say you should disregard, i think you should be able to tell when i'm just bullshitting myself, and when i'm serious.

[Demosthenes]

Not to burst your bubble or anything, but it isn't the Admins that the blame should be placed on. When the upgrade of vB3 came, WW made it so that only he and Chruser could do anything with Zelaron. The only difference between myself and Sov (when I was Admin) was that I could IP ban and change User Groups. Nothing else. Of course, my opinion was asked on issues, but as you can see from WW response, Chruser is the final say. Period.

Penguin is just... well... there. IMO, Chruser should keep the Owner tag, WW the Webmaster tag, and Sup Mods should be given all the priviledges I had, which is only slightly more than what they have now, but keep the same tag. I only say this because as "Admins", they get more shit because of their tag, but in all seriousness, they ain't jack shit, just glorified Sup Mods.

Okay. Well, then that's my fault. This thread is then aimed mainly at Chruser and WW.

As you've stated before, this is a predominantly teenage based community. WW is not a teenager. WW actually has a job. Meaning, I certainly wouldn't expect Zelaron to exactly be on the top of his priority list, so don't expect all these great suggestions to be implemented. I do agree that over time, they should be done, but there is only so much 1 person can do.

Well, if he doesn't have time for the community, then he should say so. I don't think that's the problem, though. I mean, okay, perhaps he may run a bit short on time, as he is an adult, and probably has a lot more bullshit to put up with than we do, but (I'm not sure about this) he sure has put in a lot of time on the eye candy at this forum. And it's great. Seriously, this is one of the best-looking forums I've seen, period. Some of those suggestions I've made shouldn't take long to implement at all. I don't think WW has serious time problems, although I could be wrong. If he does, then perhaps it's time he let someone else do everything on the technical side of things.

Again, WW, I really have nothing against you, personally. You're probably one of the smartest people here, and have certainly been one of the major players in bringing this forum as far as it has gotten. You've been here since day 1, I believe. I'm just stating what I'm observing. If you honestly don't have time, then perhaps you should allow someone else who would have the time to also join the group of elite admins.

There is more problems at Zelaron than some of the obvious issues you've brought up. But that is a good start. Activity is something that is fixed with money for advertising, and unless you are willing to put it forth, don't expect others to deliver for you.

Well, the thing is, this is Chruser's forum, not mine. If it were mine, I would have put forth some money on advertising, or try to find another scheme to bring members in. But it's not. Thus, Chruser needs to at least take the initiative in the advertising side of things. If it's money that's the issue, then I'm sure there are folks here who would be more than happy to deliver. All I want is their word, man. I just want them to acknowledge that activity is dwadling, and something needs to be done. I just want them to say, "Okay, Mj, we'll consider some of your ideas." That's it. I just want my ideas taken into consideration. I don't think I'm above everyone else, there are obviously going to be some suggestions that will seem bazaar to some members, but I just ask that they are considered. If I can get that much, I swear to god I will do everything I can to get this board back to it's topmost level. I will post news like crazy, I will spam other forums/newsgroups/IRC channels, and any other reasonable thing that's asked. I'm willing to send money, if that's the problem. I'm sure other members feel the same.

Also, it seems a lot of people are really raffled up about the post count thing. I asked Sov if he thinks that its going to be re-set, and he seems really against that. I was suprised that my issue was actually posted about, though.

Well, while Sovereign may be against it, as am I, it's not really his call. I don't think he has any say-so in whether or not your post count is reset. WW/Chruser probably make that call. Now, I certainly hope that they wouldn't reset your post count for something as silly as this, but it's completely in their hands.

[Kaneda]

It's not like Zelaron makes any money for Chruser either though. You gotta think about that.

[slaynish]

It's not like Zelaron makes any money for Chruser either though. You gotta think about that.


On the contrary, yes it does.

Im pretty sure chruser does some side advertising for Taco or something, and Taco pays chruser. My intake in it all is that it covers most of the cost of zelaron.

It sure could bring him money, if he put up advertisements everywhere.

Shit how much do you think a giant company would pay for a 6000 member forum to advertise?

IMO, this could be just a giant get-rich scheme, for chruser to get 10000 members and then put ad's everywhere :p

I'm sure its not though

[Kaneda]

Considering we don't have any advertisements. I'd say that's correct. What does taco need advertised?

[Demosthenes]

It's not like Zelaron makes any money for Chruser either though. You gotta think about that.

That's besides the point. By putting up a forum publically on the internet, the webmaster should have an unofficail obligation to kep the members happy. And Chruser has upheld that for most of the time, it's just that it's hard to see this forum slip from greatness after so long. Like I said above, money's not a problem. If that's why Chruser can't advertise, then I'm sure there are more than enough members willing to cover that cost.

[Kaneda]

Can we get a list of all the members willing to cover the cost please? I've got to see this. If none of us will even donate a dollar to K_A for a video card, I doubt anyone would be willing to help out for advertising.
I don't think he does have any sort of obligation to us, if you don't like the way its going, join a different forum.

[RoboticSilence]

I think its becuase the staff is age-nazi's :p.

If the staff were "age-Nazis" then this thread would be closed because Mjordan is 13. The fact is that age is not important and Mjordan is very intelligent regardless of how old he is. You, however, are pretty stupid even without your age as a concern.

[Demosthenes]

Can we get a list of all the members willing to cover the cost please? I've got to see this. If none of us will even donate a dollar to K_A for a video card, I doubt anyone would be willing to help out for advertising.

Of course I can't say for sure, but if Chruser were to ask for money, I'm sure that people would be willing go give some, and in fact, I believe it has happend before. The difference between KA's video card and Zelaron's best intrest is that we really don't care about what video card KA has. I would hope that we care about Zelaron's well-being.

I don't think he does have any sort of obligation to us,

Again, my bad. Bad choice of words. I should've said he has an obligation to keep the forum running without bumps, which I quite honestly believe he does, being the founder and leader of this forum. I mean, if not, at least be straight up with the members and let them know that he has no intention of keeping the forum running smoothly. But I don't think that's the case. In every thread, he says he still cares about Zelaron, so we know that he does care about Zelaron. If he wasn't willing to even keep the forum running smoothly, why would he even be paying for Zelaron?

if you don't like the way its going, join a different forum.

Of course not. That's a punk move. You don't just give up on something becasuse you don't like the direction it's taking, especially after being so dedicated to it for such a long time. It's like saying, "Oh, you don't like American politics? Go join a different country." It just doesn't work like that. You do everything in your power to make American politics better, if you really care; you don't just walk out on your country. Similarly, I have no intentions of walking out on this forum.

[Kaneda]

1. You can't change America in the least. It's run by big brother now and forever. The most you can do is get around the restrictions for yourself. Bad example but I know where your coming from.
2. He wouldn't be paying for zelaron, but he would be paying for the advertising, or someone would. Unless we had a situation where we know people who know people who would let us put of free advertising.
3. I'm sure most of us do care about the well being of zelaron, but not to the extent that we could be willing to dish out money, atleast for me its that way. This whole thread, just like the previous, "improve zelaron" threads are mostly just talk, I know you don't feel this way mj obviously, but thats the sad fact of the matter.

[Demosthenes]

1. You can't change America in the least. It's run by big brother now and forever. The most you can do is get around the restrictions for yourself. Bad example but I know where your coming from.

Well, I guess this is a bit off the subjest, but I refuse to believe that. Everyone that I have ever read about in my American History textbook has refused to believe that. In fact, if 9/11 taught us anything, it's that America is just as susceptible as the rest of the world to changing when it feels threatend. Osame Bin Laden single-handedly changed many things about America. That's sad, but it is true. But there are hundreds of people every day making differences in America, whether it be on a major political level, or just a city cop doing his job. I would like to believe that the individual does matter -- that the individual can make a difference if he's willing to spend the time. The day I give up on that belief is the day I give up America, because in my eyes, that idea is the very basis of what America is formed upon.

2. He wouldn't be paying for zelaron, but he would be paying for the advertising, or someone would. Unless we had a situation where we know people who know people who would let us put of free advertising.

I'm not exactly sure what you meant by this. Would you mind clearing it up a bit?

3. I'm sure most of us do care about the well being of zelaron, but not to the extent that we could be willing to dish out money, atleast for me its that way. This whole thread, just like the previous, "improve zelaron" threads are mostly just talk, I know you don't feel this way mj obviously, but thats the sad fact of the matter.

No, unfortunately, I realize that this is the truth. Still, I cling to the childish hope that when Chruser reads this, that perhaps maybe one of these threads will make a difference. I'm going to spring one of these up every once in a while when I feel that it is needed. I know others have been in the past willing to donate money, and if it came to it, I'd be willing to right now. Like I said before, though, I doubt it's a financial problem.

[WetWired]

mjordan, the "thread view bug" is a feature; I've said so before and I'll say it again. Thread views count is updated on a cron job. UPDATE locks a table, INSERT does not, thus this dramaticly improves board speed.

You want aknowledgement from the admins? I was one of the first doomsayers, I've just gotten tired of saying it and everyone knows it anyway.

Consideration? No I didn't take the time to plan out the use of uShop then install and test it on my private server only to find that it was a bug-ridden stability nightmare, I just said that to shut you up :rolleyes:. No, I'm not testing the new vBStats because you guys won't shut up about it. No, I won't give someone admin who appears to have vision because everyone was complaining about the way things were.....

Titusfied, I thought we told you when we brought you on board that you were supposed to be the main person for rules and such; yes, there are a few things that Chruser and I agree should not change, but other than that...

Pay for Zelaron, pay for Zelaron. WTF guys, Zelaron costs nothing. The licence lasts forever and it's running on a server that I own that I pay for co-location, that also is used for other things.

Postcount reset? Who ever said anything about that? And I've already stated twice that the no-postcount condition on Slaynish was temporary; I'm thinking until I certain thread falls off the map.

As for priorities, I've openly admited that I'm not usually in the mood to come home from programming and debugging and do it some more, but I do eventually get in the mood and then I may go for days without more leisurely activities. As for the non-programming stuff, you'd be surprised.

[Kaneda]

I'm not exactly sure what you meant by this. Would you mind clearing it up a bit?
Sorry I misread what you said at a point. I was refering to this statement.
If he wasn't willing to even keep the forum running smoothly, why would he even be paying for Zelaron?
Previous post aside. Your right.
I never said anything about paying for Zelaron, I was merely talking about advertising if there were to be more besides the Somethingawful.

[Penguin]

First of all, slaynishs comment about this making chruser lots of money? Well he does not know anything. Problem with this forum? Simple, not enough active members. The biggest reason? D2 is dying. We have not been able to pull the crowds of any of the other major games and we have tried. This is not really a problem with the staff, ww could install a billion hacks and change the rules but that will not bring active members.

How many of you can honestly say you are Less busy in life today then you were when zelaron was really popular? I would bet most of us are older, and we all have more responsibilitys and prioritys and Zelaron is not as big as it used to be. Zelaron is starting to feel more and more like that old friend you grew up with that you dont really hang out with anymore because you have new friends (prioritys now), you would still help them if they need you or lend them money if you could but you just dont hang out a lot anymore. Or even, how many of you can even say you spend more time playing games now then you did when zelaron was popular? Slaynish dosent count because hes always for some reason been 12 years old (I dont know how that is possible).

I dont want to go into too much detail but I am pretty confident that I know why this forum is how it is now and it makes sense to me. Another prediction here that fits me but I bet the people that are becoming less active here are becoming less active in forums and online communitys in general, not just zelaron. If I feel like i want to post something on a forum, I always think of zelaron first but I just dont feel like it as much. Also, I dont goof around as much / am more serious and since 80% of the posts here revolve around that factor, its harder to post, but thats not much of an excuse for me because just look at WW, he has an... ok activity level.

<edit: added> And to touch on the admin thing. The reason why I think I am still admin, is because I can be trusted, I can help if I am Needed (That probably has not happend in a year, I even offered to help pay, but money is Not an issue here), and because I sorta have a background here. If Chruser wants to deadmin me, then he will, but I dont think he expects much out of me with zelaron at its current state? Also, I know we have heard people say how they will make zelaron better then ever if they are admined, and we know enough that its just hot air. You cannot cause tons of active members to join if we make you admin, you can get active members to join just as well as a member as you can as an admin and if you dont feel like doing it unless you are admin, then you obviously dont care about zelaron as a community anyway. rant rant rant rant rant.

[Adrenachrome]

Agreed.


"The message you have entered does not contain significant content. Repeated bullshit posts will result in a ban."

[Kaneda]

How inspiring!

Blah blah blah ban blah blah

[pr0xy]

Activity is something that is fixed with money for advertising, and unless you are willing to put it forth, don't expect others to deliver for you.

Last time I checked it doesn't cost money to tell friends or classmates or other gamers about a forum. I think we are all to blame and we all have to pitch in to save this forum. Of course we are the only ones who see it as dying.

[Death]

A forum doesn't get real active by telling people in your direct area, trust me.
This is by all means the worst time for the activity of forums, ever.
I've never seen so many unactive forums, so many forums simply dieing...

In normal times, forums would become active by just mouth to mouth advertising (e.g. classmates talking to eachother about it), but as I said, these are not normal times.

To my opinion, populairity can be gained by paying.
Google Adsense had a unique system, which will display ads where appropriate.
On a Diablo II forum, it will show Diablo II advertisements.(just an example)

This is, to my opinion, the best way to get new members, in times like these.

Getting a new permanent Admin wouldn't fix it, but what about a temporary one?
An Admin whom is still a teenages, with priorities set differently.
I'm sure there are atleast 5 (including me) expierenced vBulletin Admins, who would love to help out installing a hack or 2.(even coding one)

I have recently been doing a job for a friend at his forum, which -if done by pro's- would normally cost him over 200$(no kidding), and I did it for free.
I'm sure there are more people here who would love to do things like that for this forum, completely free.

It's a shame the sup. mods don't know anything about vBulletin hacks, else you could maybe make them an Admin(you trust them, right?).

What would be the bad thing about making a teenager, who has different priorities, an admin?

Even though making changes might not be a nice thing when you do it, its always nice when you can look back and say "Pfff, I'm glad we did that a year ago, else this forum would've probably been dead!", isn't it?
I'm one of this people who hates changes, really.
But sometimes changes are needed, and you have no other choice...

[Vollstrecker]

Personally, I don't see where installing any form of vbHacks is going to draw members to us. I mean, how often do you go to a site and see something slightly out of the ordinary, then proceed to make that your primary forum?

I don't think the hacks will draw NEW members, but something new to play with may keep older members around a little longer (for the novelty).

I don't think any staff-shuffling is going to do anything either. If people aren't coming, they're not coming. We need something to catch peoples' eye to bring them here, and our community itself should convince them to join merely by our posts.

[Titusfied]

Titusfied, I thought we told you when we brought you on board that you were supposed to be the main person for rules and such; yes, there are a few things that Chruser and I agree should not change, but other than that...


Well of course. I'm not complaining, after all, I have no damn clue how to even code "Hello World!" anymore.. I'm just stating that you and Chruser are the only real deciding factors in any significant change. I did what I was intended to do. It just happened to get to the point where I had no more ideas, nor did I have any desire to even try to think of any, so I decided my time was over.

Nothing is really going to change the activity level. Nothing other than the members. Post more. Post better. Eventually, new members come and stay. Sometimes it takes longer than before. Member base hasn't exactly always been stagnant here at Zelaron, so don't expect it be. It has it peaks and it valleys, like anything else. This is no different, and will pass eventually.

[Death]

Personally, I don't see where installing any form of vbHacks is going to draw members to us. I mean, how often do you go to a site and see something slightly out of the ordinary, then proceed to make that your primary forum?

I don't think the hacks will draw NEW members, but something new to play with may keep older members around a little longer (for the novelty).

I don't think any staff-shuffling is going to do anything either. If people aren't coming, they're not coming. We need something to catch peoples' eye to bring them here, and our community itself should convince them to join merely by our posts.
I don't agree on this.
If I see a board, with a cool exclusive hack, I register and see what it's like.
If I like it, I go scrolling around the forums, see how it's like.

Also, a new motivated, devoted Admin could get more active members, I'm sure.
If you, for example, get a new Admin who already administrates 1, 2 or 3 other forums, he can advertise on his own forums, about Zelaron.

I say it again, Google adsense will also help.
If you do a bit of research on their ad program, you will find that it's actually not that expensive.
You don't need a fancy 1st spot on every google search including the word "game", but using their banner system helps.

You can then also add a banner, which will be only displayed to guests.
This is a very easy thing to do, it can be done with one of the most basic conditions.
As most of the users browsing these forums are usually guests, they will either register to get rid of the ads, or just keep on being a guest and make money for you ;)

I also got an idea while I was falling asleep.
What about a vBulletin hack team here on the board?
I'm sure there are atleast 5 expierenced coders here, who can join the team.
After we make a cool hack, we can distribute it at vbulletin.org(we will add a copyright notice, saying it's copyrighted to the www.zelaron.com hack team).
This is also some free advertising, which is pretty populair.

With that same team, we can also code exclusive zelaron only hacks, if needed.

Tell me what you think about this.

[pr0xy]

I enjoy reading Death's posts. While having a few good ideas. He also is saying he would make and awesome admin and should be one. :rolleyes:

I still think my idea for an IRC channel on gamesurge or something like that could draw new members. Didn't we use to have a CS forum? Why dont we run a CS server. Not sure how WW is hosting this or if the ping would be any good but. If its possible we should look into it.

[Death]

I am just giving examples of what I would do as an Admin, or already have done on my board, and that I'd love to be one.
Ofcourse, everyone would like it, so I'd better put those wishes aside ;)

An IRC channel wouldn't be that hard, as far as I know, it can be set up on a normal server like the one Zelaron is hosted on.

Hosting a gaming server would be a little harder though, and would probably cost money.
A friend and me will soon be launching a Webhosting service soon, so I might be able to host the server for free :).

I will look into the IRC channel, and the gaming server, if you want.

[Grav]

We had IRC. It faltered and died.

[Thanatos]

Do it again.

[WetWired]

IRC servers are not allowed on the network I use.

As for a CS server, I've wanted to have one, but I don't want to do it untill I can afford to upgrade the server. One of the people who uses my box for webhosting is considering putting up a CS box, though, so we may be able to have one.

[tidus2005]

it most likely faltered and die becuase not enough people were using it. I have been on zelaron for a while, and in reply to one of the previous posts about what caused our big surge in new members/activity was D2. I mean we used to have some really skilled D2 players/hackers here. I remeber when i first started here that i was really interested into learning how to hack, and the more i asked around on the servers i became aware that people like Hellmonkey was known to be in the elite group of hackers. I also remember people like User Name#1, as well as most of the other mods being really nice and helpful to new members and newbies to the game. Also I remember that our old PvP mods where really something to brag about i mean when i got into serious dueling i heard mentions of both Apoq on east, and Blckshdwdragon on west as them being recognized as being top notch duelers.

Nostalgia rant end.....

so what i am trying to say is that one thing to increase activity on zelaron would be to try and recruit some top notch players for WoW, which i am not sure how WoW plays and if PvP is an applicable example or not. Also i have recruited some members via school they registered along time ago when we all used to play D2 and they have been inactive for along time, but with the introduction of Their Halo 2 clan being hosted i believe that they will be more active.

I would have to whole heartedly agree with Penguin, because i know that personally i am a senior in high school this year i have become tremendously more involved in other activities that i placed zelaron further down on my priorities list. Zelaron has been through a ups and downs before, like the time during our peak when we had like two weeks with no server. I remember coming back to find that we had lost quite a few members during that time. So what i am trying to say is that people grow up and move on. I mean i plan on continuing to be part of the zelaron community but i personally dont have much to start threads about because i am so busy in life that i do not play many games anymore and if i do it is just for leisurely fun not to be a great competitor like i once tried in D2. I remember that not too long ago, this summer, that i used to have so much useless D2 info memorized like all of the items, runewords, approximate item value in current currency, lots of PvP info like Ias breakpoints for many different weapons and skills, Damage Formulas, and just general D2 info like where to level. Then one day after i stopped playing so competively i realized how much of my life i wasted on a GAME, then i started to hang out with my friends more and started to live a real life and stopped living on the internet. I have found that i like the real world alot better once i figured out that ABSOLUTELY NOBODY should live thier life on a game, or rather let a game live thier life. I remember that in the zenith of my addiction i would play for 4 or more hours a weekday and about 8 hours a day on the weekend.

[Death]

I remember the Hellmonkeys part aswell.
I used to scroll the forums, but I never got to registering back then.
Then I stoped d2, and when i started playing again, the first thing I did was register here, heh.

I think integreting IRC into the forums (there is a hack on vb.org which can do this) would be a good idea.
I never bother to run mIRC, go into a chatroom, etc... That takes up to much time.
However, if it would be on the board itself, I would visit it.

[pr0xy]

I think integreting IRC into the forums (there is a hack on vb.org which can do this) would be a good idea.
I never bother to run mIRC, go into a chatroom, etc... That takes up to much time.
However, if it would be on the board itself, I would visit it.

That is just pathetic. I am constantly on IRC and we need to put the channel on a server like GameSurge where all the gamers are. :rolleyes: Having a private server for our IRC would just be stupid. And Hellmonkey is a fool =P If we are talking about the same one. (Hellmonkeyz/Hellzmonkey) I still talk to him alot. I just cant remember where the Z is. I just call him hellz anyway.

[WetWired]

http://zelaron.com/forum/member.php?u=845

No z

[pr0xy]

http://zelaron.com/forum/member.php?u=845

No z

Hate to break it to ya but... Yes Z =P
His AIM name and his name from UO (Where I originally met him)

[Dar_Win]

I cannot bare to see Zelaron die. I am coming back :) and there is a very simple way to get members. WoW or World of Warcraft. People are going crazy over it. I don't know if this was already said.... i didnt read all of the posts.

[Demosthenes]

Okay, first of all, it appears that some of you think that I want an admin position really badly. Trust me, I don't. At this point, I would not make a good admin. Though I love Zelaron dearly, school is my first priority at this point (which is why it took me so long to respond), and I'm hounded with homework. Furthermore, I don't know PHP, so it completely defeats the purpose of me being an admin. All I would want to do as an admin is remove some of the rules that I and many members think are foolish to have, and perhaps implment a couple of hacks.

That said, I do believe we need one more admin on the technical side of things. WW, I understand your situation. I understand that after coding all day, you might not feel like doing it at home. I can see why it may take you a long time to put some of these ideas into play. But, another admin could solve this problem. Or if you don't want anyone else to have admin powers, perhaps you can select a designated coder, so we can speed things up a bit. Trust me, if this were summer, I'd go to Barnes and Nobels immediately, buy me a good book on PHP and dedicate myself to learning the Zelaron code, but as time is somewhat limited for me at this point, I can't do that. But if we find someone that can, it'd be nice.

Also, there were two things I was trying to accomplish in my original post. First of all, I was bringing the obvious to the staff's attention: Zelaron is constantly becoming less and less active, and something needs to be done about it before it's too late. Secondly, I was trying to give suggestions on how to make Zelaron a better place for the existing members. Many of you seem to be trying to draw a relationship between the two. Allow me to clear this up once and for all: There is no relationship between the two aforementioned points.

Consideration? No I didn't take the time to plan out the use of uShop then install and test it on my private server only to find that it was a bug-ridden stability nightmare, I just said that to shut you up . No, I'm not testing the new vBStats because you guys won't shut up about it. No, I won't give someone admin who appears to have vision because everyone was complaining about the way things were.....

Call me an idiot, but I'm not sure whether you were trying to be sarcastic there or not. I have a hunch that you were being sarcastic. If you were being sarcastic, then that's great. I appreciate your dedication, and I don't mean to gripe, but with you hectic schedule, I understand that some of these ideas may take a while to implement. That is all the more reason to have another admin, or a designated coder. On the other hand, if you weren't being sarcastic, then we're having some serious problems. That would mean that you would've once again completely overlooked any suggestions that a dedicated member may have. That would completely defeat the entire purpose of this thread. If that's the state that the Zelaron staff is in, then I suggest we get new staff, or at least add some people to it.

Pay for Zelaron, pay for Zelaron. WTF guys, Zelaron costs nothing. The licence lasts forever and it's running on a server that I own that I pay for co-location, that also is used for other things.

That news to me. I didn't know that Zelaron didn't cost anything. Still, I would assume that adcertising it would cost a bit, in which case I'm willing to donate to the cause, if it is required. Just letting you guys know.

First of all, slaynishs comment about this making chruser lots of money? Well he does not know anything. Problem with this forum? Simple, not enough active members. The biggest reason? D2 is dying. We have not been able to pull the crowds of any of the other major games and we have tried. This is not really a problem with the staff, ww could install a billion hacks and change the rules but that will not bring active members.

Understood. In fact, if you look to one of my first three paragraphs in this post, I agree with you. New hacks aren't going to get new activity. They might make this place more enticing to the older members, though. And, again, I agree that the biggest problem here is not enough new members. That's the problem. It needs to be solved. Now, I suggest making another thread, or just posting here, brainstorming ideas on how we may go about solving that problem. That much can be accomplished. Just brainstorming. Members, please post your ideas.

How many of you can honestly say you are Less busy in life today then you were when zelaron was really popular? I would bet most of us are older, and we all have more responsibilitys and prioritys and Zelaron is not as big as it used to be. Zelaron is starting to feel more and more like that old friend you grew up with that you dont really hang out with anymore because you have new friends (prioritys now), you would still help them if they need you or lend them money if you could but you just dont hang out a lot anymore. Or even, how many of you can even say you spend more time playing games now then you did when zelaron was popular? Slaynish dosent count because hes always for some reason been 12 years old (I dont know how that is possible).

I understand what you are saying. Many of you are more busy with life and stuff today then you were a couple of years ago, and Zelaron is not as high of a priority. But for some of us, it still is. For those few of us, I think Zelaron should be kept alive, and if the staff doesn't place as high of a priority on Zelaron, then lets bring in new staff who does. Lets bring in staff that can rejuvinate this place. I'm not saying it's going to work miracles, but an active staff which places high priority on the forums usually helps.

Also, I know we have heard people say how they will make zelaron better then ever if they are admined, and we know enough that its just hot air. You cannot cause tons of active members to join if we make you admin, you can get active members to join just as well as a member as you can as an admin and if you dont feel like doing it unless you are admin, then you obviously dont care about zelaron as a community anyway.

Once again, I don't want admin. I want someone who can install hacks and such, but that's it. It's not going to draw in new members, but it'll make this place more fun for older members.

Also, I'm completely willing to try and bring in new members, but I want the staff to atleast acknowledge what I'm saying first, and say that they're behind me on this. I could go out and spam forums/IRC channels/Newsgroups if I have the time.

I don't agree on this.
If I see a board, with a cool exclusive hack, I register and see what it's like.
If I like it, I go scrolling around the forums, see how it's like.

Death, I can somewhat agree with you on this. I do think hacks make forums cooler, but the topmost factor in getting members is getting them to come to the forums first. I think we have enough eye candy to get people to stay.

Also, a new motivated, devoted Admin could get more active members, I'm sure.
If you, for example, get a new Admin who already administrates 1, 2 or 3 other forums, he can advertise on his own forums, about Zelaron.

That may bring in a few members, but nothing extensive. I don't thiink a new admin is really going to help draw activity. He might make the forums cooler, though.

I still think my idea for an IRC channel on gamesurge or something like that could draw new members. Didn't we use to have a CS forum? Why dont we run a CS server. Not sure how WW is hosting this or if the ping would be any good but. If its possible we should look into it.

How would IRC draw in new members? IRC may be cool for older members, but as said above, almost nobody used our old channel.

As for a CS server, I've wanted to have one, but I don't want to do it untill I can afford to upgrade the server. One of the people who uses my box for webhosting is considering putting up a CS box, though, so we may be able to have one.

That would be pretty cool. I don't know how many play CS, but we could certainly advertise that to get people here, and it would make it cooler for the current members who play CS also.

[Kaneda]

It was suggested but just as quickly dismissed since no one kept talking about it. But ya the game rules! And the older it gets the more info we will get on it, hopefully the more people will join. I don't think Zel's gunna die, I just think it will always go through swings of activity.
I've been wondering why we don't have all the old threads in the forums such as SC/BW and Warcraft3 and Square Enix. Even though we don't read the threads anymore, though still contained usefull info(some of them)to our new members.

[WetWired]

Yes, mj, I was being sarcastic. The last part reffered to hiring Titus.

Some of you seem to mistake the role of admin. The role of an admin on this board is to be an admin on the board, to manage rules, help out members and mods, etc; not to code. While I appreciate the offers of help, I am afraid that it wouldn't be very useful. From vB2, we've seen that just applying whatever random hack looks cool ultimately does more harm than good; we ended up with a 6 month old board because if we upgraded, there was no telling what would work and what would not nor what we would notice right away and what would go unnoticed for a long time. Sure, I could easily just install all the hacks you guys ask for, but I'd rather test them and inspect them first, and consider their risks and merits. Also, it is important to have one person with all the information to retain the state of the code from version to version. Right now, I am waiting for Chruser to grab the latest version of vB for me so that I can install it; I can say with certainty that I have everything I need to easily apply all the current hacks to it, because I am managing that information better now.

[Death]

I agree with you on almost everything.

I like your idea about the designated coder part.
There is still the rank "Advisor", that might be a suitable rank for the people coding hacks for this board.

As I said before, a "private" hack team would be cool, not only for the fact that we would code hacks for Zelaron, but it's also educational for the other members.

If I was you, I wouldn't buy on of those books, they mostly only learn you the PHP basics, and most of those aren't even used in vBulletin.
http://zelaron.com/forum/faq.php?faq=rules#faq_rules_warez

As I also said before, bringing ads to the forum might not be a bad idea.
With a very simple conditional, you can make the ads guest only.
Some less-lazy guests will register, which is good.
The others (lazy ones) will just not register, and get Zelaron money.

[Death]

Yes, mj, I was being sarcastic. The last part reffered to hiring Titus.

Some of you seem to mistake the role of admin. The role of an admin on this board is to be an admin on the board, to manage rules, help out members and mods, etc; not to code. While I appreciate the offers of help, I am afraid that it wouldn't be very useful. From vB2, we've seen that just applying whatever random hack looks cool ultimately does more harm than good; we ended up with a 6 month old board because if we upgraded, there was no telling what would work and what would not nor what we would notice right away and what would go unnoticed for a long time. Sure, I could easily just install all the hacks you guys ask for, but I'd rather test them and inspect them first, and consider their risks and merits. Also, it is important to have one person with all the information to retain the state of the code from version to version. Right now, I am waiting for Chruser to grab the latest version of vB for me so that I can install it; I can say with certainty that I have everything I need to easily apply all the current hacks to it, because I am managing that information better now.

I have a very usefull tool.
It's called Araxis Merge, and with that software, you can compare 2 PHP files, and make the edits if necisairy.(sp?)
With this, you can upgrade a fully hacked board in just 30 minutes.
You can get a free demo, search download.com for it :)

You might already know this program though, heh.

If you want, I can set you up with the files needed for the upgrade, as Chrusher probably will need to pay another 30$ or something for the upgrade files, as you guys own a neverending license, and your members area has probably expired oO.

Upgrading from vB3 to vB4 (when it comes out) will always be a pain in the ass, even without any hacks installed.

[Lenny]

As I said before, a "private" hack team would be cool, not only for the fact that we would code hacks for Zelaron, but it's also educational for the other members.

Whilst reading through all of this, this is the one idea that really caught my eye.

I think its a great idea. It also gives people the chance to become "Trainee Admins" if you will, and learn how to code properly etc.

If it is put into action, and the coding team do teach how to code, then I'll sign up straight away, and if I wasn't a member, I'd register, even if just for it.

[Kaneda]

That means alot of responsibilitys though, people having to be on at certain times, having to teach someone anything is difficult I'd imagine especially coding, and doing it over the internet would make it a bit more difficult since typing can get...confussing at times.

[Lenny]

Not even by posting tutorials???

Or even a special coding forum...with it's own Mod. who knows coding etc???

Have a look at the RPG2K3 forum...something like that but for coding...

----------

A little idea of my own...

I've just posted some news on the PS3, and thought: 'This would be so much better if there was a PS3 forum to post this news in, rather than the PS2 forum'.

[Demosthenes]

Or even a special coding forum...with it's own Mod. who knows coding etc???

We have a coding forum...

[Lenny]

We have a coding forum...

So we do...my bad...haven't used it...or looked at it for a long time...so...

[Kaneda]

I've just posted some news on the PS3, and thought: 'This would be so much better if there was a PS3 forum to post this news in, rather than the PS2 forum'.

It might be better to wait for a forum, until the console actually comes out, since it will have hardly any activity. But I'm sure they will make one when it does.

[JiN-RaiDeN]

Yes, when I used to pwn everyone two years ago, this board couldn't have been better. Hahahahaha!

[Death]

Thanks :).

I didn't really mean learning as in learning 1 to 1 on IM, but more like posting tutorials, and stuff.(like you said)

Also, there is some pretty good Web Conference software out there, so maybe once every 4 weeks or so the coding mods can hold a little conference, teaching some of the newer people.

Also, the members can learn from the code itself.
It will require clear coding, and basicly explaining most of the stuff you do with a comment line (which I normally do, because my Co-Admin isn't that intelligent, but hey, he pays the bills :p).

I'll make a thread about this in the coding section, though.

EDIT: Here's the thread: http://www.zelaron.com/forum/showthread.php?p=488306#post488306

[Grav]

Yes, when I used to pwn everyone two years ago, this board couldn't have been better. Hahahahaha!

Are you talking about the time I called your site a blatant maddox rip-off and you ran away crying?

Oh.

[Lenny]

Free webhosting?? www.your-name.zelaron.com

Whenever I've been designing a website, I've always had trouble finding a webhotsing package that works.

If I wasn't signed up for the forums, or the vB hack team teaching me how to code...then this would catch my eye...

[WetWired]

Because such a thing would be a cakewalk to manage, right? :rolleyes: The only people with FTP access are people I trust. Keeps them out of trouble, keeps me out of trouble.

[Lenny]

I'm not saying it would be easy.

Withmy extremely limited knowledge of these things, I'd say it would be pretty hard...

If not web hosting...then a free domain (such as www.freedomain.co.nr)???

Just a random thought...

The advertising you could put on both may be pretty good...if enough people sign up to it, and get enough people to look at their sites, then that's a hell of a lot of people seeing ads for Zelaron...

I'd've thought free domain would be easier to do than free web hosting, but, as I've said, I have not a damned clue about this...

[pr0xy]

Ugh. I still say go with IRC.

I don't care what happened last time. What the fuck is this thread about? If people are gonna suggest options just to have them shot down. Its not that hard to make a channel on a large network and advertise it. Unless you people are that lazy that you spend all of your energy complaining instead of trying to help out. I really dont see why this forum should stay alive if that is the case.

EDIT: Surge Jin was talking about this thread: http://zelaron.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15393

[Grav]

EDIT: Surge Jin was talking about this thread: http://zelaron.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15393

Why are you showing me this? I sometimes wonder if you're retarded..

[Death]

That's a good idea :).

It's pretty easy, just set up a subdomain like yourname.zelaron.com, then just give the user in question an FTP account that acceses only their subdomain.

[pr0xy]

Why are you showing me this? I sometimes wonder if you're retarded..
At least I know a true flaming genius when I see one. And Jin sure is one. That thread is evidence of that.

[WetWired]

Do you actually read posts or just look to see if they contain certain words?

[Grav]

That was HEAVILY sarcastic, right?

[Demosthenes]

At least I know a true flaming genius when I see one. And Jin sure is one. That thread is evidence of that.

Which thread? The one on Badboy?

[undeadzombieguy]

Allow porn

Seriously though, I dont really care about the 7 character rule or whatever other scripts/hacks there are. I just want some good/funny conversation. I dont think any more hacks or scripts are going to make that happen. New members will.

WoW is pretty big so for those that play WoW, broadcast zelaron to your guildmates and stuff. Make more use of the WoW Forums. More tactics, Guides, tables with def/hit ratios and whatever is important and maybe organise events/raids and plan them on these forums, set up tournaments where you can win gold/items. I have only played WoW in beta, so I dont know if all those raids tournaments will work, if it wont then that's too bad.

[Death]

I do read all of the posts, and the whole of it's content.
I was just giving a slightly modified version of his idea.

[WetWired]

Well, if you read the entire post, then you would have read that my problem is control over what is on my server.

[Lenny]

Where do you draw the line at what you can put on your server?