Zelaron needs changes

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.

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.

.....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.

.....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.

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.

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.

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!

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/?

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.

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.

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.

*yawn*

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Against is a seven letter preposition.

Against is a seven letter preposition.

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