Chatbox log - 2008-06-08 - Zelaron Gaming Forum

[16:50] Chruser: For reference, a number of female gamers have joined in the past. We shouldn't go out of our way to attract members of a specific gender.

[16:50] Wallow: okay

[16:51] Wallow: how about a politics and news forum?

[16:51] Yawgmoth: Opinion and Debate?

[16:51] Yawgmoth: News and Events?

[16:51] Chruser: As Yawgmoth stated, [interesting] content is key to popularity and momentum.

[16:52] Chruser: I suggest we merge The Zelaron Symposium and The Lounge, leave it as a teeming mass for a few days, then harvest ideas for which forums to merge/remove.

[16:52] Yawgmoth: I do not personally see interest in the content we offer bound to the gender of our viewers

[16:52] Chruser: Then hopefully we'll be left with one category with 5-7 sub-forums.

[16:52] Lenny: News and Events is going to be got rid of, apparently. I say it should at least be a sub-forum, rather than completely gone. I for one don't want to have to trawl through threads in Gen Con to find news, or vice versa.

[16:52] Lenny: Sre, some will be on the portal, but not all of it.

[16:53] Chruser: Which will over all needs for introduction, general conversation, and forum discussion.

[16:53] Lenny: And if it is automated, users themselves will still post news.

[16:53] Wallow: We should keep hobbies and such as a sub forum

[16:54] Wallow: oi, is WW writing all of this down with a pen and paper?

[16:54] Chruser: Lenny, would you find it acceptable if News and Events became a sub-forum similar to the D2 sub-forums?

[16:54] WetWired: huh?

[16:54] Chruser: My primary concern is to make the list of forums less cluttered.

[16:54] Lenny: That's how I think it should be, yes.

[16:54] Lenny: I'm writing things down, Wallow.

[16:54] WetWired: Obviously, we still need a News and Events forum

[16:55] Wallow: Yes, it's one of the more popular forums

[16:55] WetWired: But it would be mainly world news and events

[16:55] Wallow: I don't think it should be a sub

[16:55] WetWired: Whereas other news and events would go in the appropriate forum

[16:55] Chruser: I agree; I just don't find it particularly hospitable to scroll down almost two screens on my 1280x1024 resolution display to find the gaming forums, which are what Zelaron should prioritize.

[16:55] Yawgmoth: Could we have a forum for misc. "smart" stuff, like History, literature, philosophy, stuff, etc?

[16:56] Wallow: Is gaming all that important?

[16:56] Lenny: Rename "Zelaron Laboratories" to something, and make Science and those Yawg mentioned into sub-forums in it.

[16:56] Lenny: No way did you just contemplate asking that, Wallow.

[16:56] Lenny: Of course it is!

[16:57] Chruser: Diablo 2 and RPGMaker attracts a large portion of active posters, so, yes, gaming is important.

[16:57] Lenny: Zelaron is a GAMING forum.

[16:57] Wallow: I think the gaming forums should be more general except for D2

[16:57] Chruser: Zelaron is an established gaming and/or game development community.

[16:57] Wallow: hmm, that's not why I came to Zelaron

[16:57] Lenny: How more general can you make them?

[16:57] Chruser: I disagree. General gaming should be given little emphasis.

[16:57] Wallow: More like the news and events and such on Zelaron that attracted me

[16:58] Wallow: and I second that Chruser

[16:58] Wallow: 'cause I neither play D2 or WOW

[16:58] Chruser: Members generally find their way to Zelaron in two distinct ways. Either, they find relevant content via Google, which is almost exclusively related to areas of gaming, or they are brought here by another member.

[16:58] Chruser: The latter option is not good for longevity.

[16:58] Chruser: It "kind of happens at times".

[16:59] Chruser: We lose more members than we gain in that way.

[16:59] System: Coriander has left the chat

[16:59] Wallow: well I was brought here by another member, but I like Zelaron more because of it's forums like News and Events and other interesting forums

[16:59] Wallow: and hey, I'm still here and I was the latter

[16:59] Chruser: And thus, we are left with the option of creating useful content which in one way or another will relate to gaming or another area of interest which others will search for.

[16:59] HandOfHeaven: Yes, but Atnas left because Asamin came

[17:00] Chruser: As it turns out, no-one really finds their way to Zelaron based on doing a Google search for world news, or life problems.

[17:00] HandOfHeaven: And Asamin is gone now

[17:00] Wallow: lol, back to square one somehow

[17:00] Wallow: he's still here

[17:00] System: Yawgmoth has left the chat

[17:00] Wallow: just he's been distracted with other things

[17:00] Wallow: I can assure that

[17:01] Chruser: To answer your question Yawgmoth, we could have literature and philosophy forums, but they shouldn't be given much emphasis either, at least not at first.

[17:01] HandOfHeaven: Ha, doesn't seem like he has much of a life, but oh well

[17:01] Chruser: Should gamers happen to prove extraordinarly interested in existentialism, then sure, we can expand them.

[17:01] Wallow: once again, depends on the general interest of the members we have now

[17:02] HandOfHeaven: I say we bump the gaming forum/forums up to the top of the front page. That will put less emphasis on Gen Con

[17:02] Chruser: So in short, general conversation is taking over gaming. This is bad for activity, and thus, we should put more emphasis on gaming. That is not to say we will remove the general conversation forums; we will only make them cover less screen surface area.

[17:02] System: Wallow has left the chat

[17:02] Chruser: Is anyone in agreement?

[17:03] HandOfHeaven: I agree. We just need to find the right combo of names/sub forums

[17:04] Lenny: Yeah.

[17:04] Lenny: I agree.

[17:04] HandOfHeaven: Do we need to have 'Forum Suggestions'? Isn't that just an extra unneeded subforum?

[17:04] Chruser: So let's go through the list quickly, as there are too many opinions and thoughts spread out in the chat log to make legible sense of it.

[17:05] Chruser: No, probably not. I am in favor of merging it with Forum News and Discussion.

[17:05] System: Yawgmoth has joined the chat

[17:05] Chruser: Either that, or by turning it into a small link next to "Talk about the forums here"

[17:06] Chruser: But I am in favor of a merge.

[17:06] Chruser: But I am in favor of a merge. Important forum news will be stickied, anyway.

[17:06] Chruser: Hmm, redundancy obtained.

[17:07] Yawgmoth: I posted a new suggestion on an updated forum-list

[17:07] WetWired: gotta go

[17:07] Chruser: So: Merge "Forums News and Discussion" with "Forum Suggestions"? YEA or NAY.

[17:07] Lenny: Yeah.

[17:07] Chruser: See you around, WW.

[17:07] WetWired: probably

[17:07] Yawgmoth: In the Forum Re-Organization-thread, obv.

[17:07] Lenny: That's how it was originally, anyway, right?

[17:07] Lenny: See ya, WW.

[17:07] Yawgmoth: News and suggestions feel like they should be separate

[17:08] System: WetWired has left the chat

[17:08] Lenny: Why's that?

[17:08] HandOfHeaven: But suggestions are 'Forum...Discussion'

[17:08] Chruser: Yawgmoth, I think we'll reach a similar conclusion by iterating through the list of forums. It's just nicer to do it this way, makes it seem democratic and all.

[17:09] Lenny: :p

[17:09] Lenny: Bring back the Zelaron Autocracy!

[17:09] Chruser: Okay, so, "Forum News and Discussion" will be merged with "Forum Suggestions".

[17:09] Chruser: Noted.

[17:09] Yawgmoth: Suggestions and Talk to the Staff do not need to be as prominent, they could be more like sub-forums of the Diablo 2-forum

[17:09] Yawgmoth: Just text links

[17:09] Lenny: Of Forum News and Discussion?

[17:09] Yawgmoth: I still feel that News should feel more separate

[17:09] Lenny: But why?

[17:10] Yawgmoth: Maybe merge Discussion and Suggestions and keep News separate :P

[17:10] Lenny: If there's news, we can create an announcement, or just sticky a thread.

[17:10] Chruser: Yes, I think that would ensue, anyway.

[17:10] Chruser: Hmm.

[17:10] Yawgmoth: News are official and pure, they should not be contaminated by the public masses

[17:11] Chruser: I'm confident "Forum News and Discussion" will be a useful merge with "Forum Suggestions". Important news will be, as previously stated, stickied.

[17:11] Lenny: But it would give us a forum that's updated maybe once a month.

[17:11] Yawgmoth: Although I could see Forum Discussion and Suggestions as a forum and combining the Forum News with the News and Events

[17:11] HandOfHeaven: But, news is to be discussed if it pertains to the forum

[17:11] Lenny: (Add on to my last thing) If News is separate, that is.

[17:12] System: Yawgmoth has left the chat

[17:12] Chruser: Yes.

[17:12] Chruser: Hence, they will be ONE.

[17:12] Chruser: At least that's what I'm putting on my list for now. You can reply to the post and argue about it later.

[17:12] Chruser: * "Forum News and Discussion" will be merged with "Forum Suggestions".

[17:12] Chruser: Next up: Talk to the Staff

[17:12] Lenny: And a name change for that whole forum?

[17:13] Lenny: "Forum News, Discussion and Suggestions" is a bit long-winded.

[17:13] Lenny: TTTS should be a sub of the merged "Forum News, Discussion and Suggestions".

[17:13] Chruser: The Zelaron Continuity

[17:14] Chruser: With a 40x40 icon that explains everything.

[17:14] Lenny: A string of Z's!

[17:14] Chruser: Yes, preferably as a Diablo 2-esque link, in my opinion.

[17:15] Chruser: I fail to find myself extraordinarily interested by how many attempts of communicating with staff have been instantiated in the past.

[17:15] Lenny: So like it is now, rather than a text link in the merged forum boxy rectangle thing?

[17:15] Lenny: :P

[17:16] Chruser: What?

[17:17] Lenny: Nevermind. What's after TTTS?

[17:18] Chruser: * "Talk to the Staff" to become a sub-forum link under Forum News and Discussion (only if it can be made sufficiently notable).

[17:18] Chruser: Next up: Introduce Yourself

[17:18] Lenny: Keep as a forum, I say.

[17:19] Lenny: Yawg was talking about how it's confusing when you first join.

[17:19] Lenny: If IY is easy to stop, it takes away some of the confusion.

[17:19] Chruser: I agree.

[17:19] Chruser: * "Introduce Yourself" will be kept.

[17:20] System: Yawgmoth has joined the chat

[17:20] Chruser: Next: Opinion and Debate

[17:20] Chruser: Merge with Conversation Forum. YEA / NAY?

[17:20] Lenny: I'd put that with the two below it (Opinion & Debate, News and Events, Life Discussion), and make all three sub-forums under Gen Con.

[17:21] Lenny: Nay, unless there's prefixes to show that it's a Debate.

[17:21] Chruser: Sounds reasonable.

[17:21] Lenny: there're

[17:21] Chruser: I am in favor of your suggestion.

[17:21] Chruser: News and Events may be subject to change later, e.g. if we get the RSS system going in an adequate manner.

[17:21] Chruser: HoH? Yawg?

[17:22] Yawgmoth: As I said in my post, turn all previous talk-forums into two new ones, one light and one serious.

[17:23] Chruser: No segregation due to "Life Discussion" and "News and Events" sub-forums?

[17:23] Chruser: I agree that it is an elegant solution.

[17:24] HandOfHeaven: I agree with Lenny's suggestion

[17:24] Yawgmoth: News and Events should be a forum of it's own OR a sub-forum of serious

[17:24] Lenny: So Life Discussion threads not in their own forum?

[17:24] HandOfHeaven: Although serious talk is life discussion, a lot more activity has come because of it

[17:24] Lenny: Or sub-forum under gen con.

[17:25] HandOfHeaven: Life discussion should be kept, at least as a subforum

[17:25] Lenny: I agree with HoH.

[17:25] Yawgmoth: What ks

[17:25] Yawgmoth: What is Gen Con?

[17:25] Lenny: If Life Discussion posts aren't kept separate, there's mre chance of them being spammed.

[17:25] Lenny: General Conversation.

[17:26] Yawgmoth: I hate that abbrevation

[17:26] Lenny: Easier to type than "General Conversation".

[17:26] Chruser: Okay; Light Discussion, Serious Discussion and News and Events will remain as front-page sub-forums. Life Discussion will be kept as a sub-forum (a text link) of Serious Discussion. If possible, it should be merged entirely with Serious Discussion, but we'll keep it as a sub-forum for now.

[17:26] Chruser: Agree?

[17:26] Yawgmoth: I think Life Discussion could be filed under Serious Discussion

[17:26] Chruser: Remain / be instantiated as.

[17:26] Yawgmoth: Sub-forum for now

[17:26] Yawgmoth: Althuogh I would prefer merge

[17:27] HandOfHeaven: Agreed, Chruser. It should be a subforum for now; we'll see how everything goes

[17:27] Lenny: Life Discussion should be kept as a sub forum and not merged.

[17:27] Chruser: Any objections?

[17:27] Chruser: (To my statement above)

[17:27] HandOfHeaven: Not on my part

[17:28] Lenny: Prefixes to distinguish between Opinion pieces and just General conversation.

[17:28] Yawgmoth: (I update my thread-post to represent what we decide here)

[17:28] Lenny: Either that, or keep O&D as a sub-forum.

[17:28] Chruser: Fair enough.

[17:28] Yawgmoth: Define the difference

[17:28] Chruser: I'm in favor of prefixes.

[17:28] Yawgmoth: What is general serious discussion?

[17:29] Lenny: Politics, say.

[17:29] Yawgmoth: It seems to me that general conversation would fall under light discussion

[17:29] Lenny: The economy.

[17:29] Yawgmoth: and Opinion, debate, life discussion, etc. under serious discussion

[17:29] Yawgmoth: More or less "strong subjects"

[17:29] Lenny: Opinion and Debate in Gen Con with prefixes, Life Discussion as a sub-forum.

[17:30] Lenny: Yes.

[17:30] Lenny: Whereas light discussion is "What did you have for tea last night?".

[17:30] Yawgmoth: Or what do you think of tap water?

[17:30] Chruser: I'll make some changes soon, you can complain later.

[17:30] Chruser: Onwards!

[17:30] Chruser: Flame Forum.

[17:31] Yawgmoth: I prefer to call it Serious Discusion and not general conversation

[17:31] Lenny: Sub-forum to chat forum.

[17:31] Chruser: Keep as separate entity.

[17:31] Lenny: We can argue over names later.

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