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After due consideration here are the results.
Everybody wants User Profiles.
RBS says lean some of the GAD prizes towards lesser forums to boost them and he suggests we include a "what's going on in the forums" or "forum news" somewhere.
Gaming Boy would like to see more input from the staff to start topics and kick-start discussion.
Grix suggests we have a tournament where we all download game to our PC and play against each other.
er-no wants a "who is here" link. You click on it and it tells you the names of most recent posters (good idea). And er-no wants the Notables to be given something to do (a request which I have just complied with in Chat forums)
TheBest_2K1 is keen on putting people in a hot seat. Everybody fires questions at the poor so...
Quazimodo would like links to your "Latest Post" and your web site url in your stats window (excellent).
Meka would like us to hold a song contest and have counters to see how many people have read a thread. pb backs this up with a similar request on reviews.
Cookie Monster suggests a Cluedo-style murder mystery event.
Dan2K1 would like on-line darts.
Dringo is keen to repeat some "Opposite Posts" - I believe this is intended to be head to head challenges on specific arguments.
Chr!stos says we should sometimes vote for Gameaday winners, instead of them being always picked by staff.
Salevunit suggested a Winning Posts Forum (view only), plus Tag of the Day competitions, Search Facilities and Caution Tags. The latter is a particularly strong suggestion, i.e. to give warning tags to people likely to face a ban.
BUT THE WINNER IS:
The prize is for the best SET of suggestions. The winner is SHEEPY for the following ideas:
FOG Lotto
Round Number Prizes (e.g. at 10,000 posts in a forum)
"Number Day" I think this means we would all be anonymous.
Vote people off the forums Big Brother style (love that).
Guess the Phantom Poster.
Complaint Button (already in place now with the report link)
Improve the message filter and the feedback from it.
Contratulations SHEEPY and I hope you enjoy munching your prize.
Thank you again to all those who contributed and sorry not to be able to mention everybody.
*********
These were the original rules.
This latest EXTRA GAMEADAY is for the best SET of suggestions for "adding life" to the forums.
Imagine that you are in charge of the forums. What would you do to start some interesting debate or to make the place more interesting?
Please DO NOT suggest things which require (much) programming. And don't suggest a chart of Gameaday winners as it is already being sorted.
We already have:
Top Posters chart
Notable/Regular/Newbie system with 'orrible colours
Voting for Notables
Extra Gameaday Prizes
Protected "Prime Topics" forum
"Stats" for history on contributors
Taglines
Closing date is August 1st or shortly thereafter, and it's the best set that wins. All the posts that you make will count towards your set.
Everybody wants User Profiles.
RBS says lean some of the GAD prizes towards lesser forums to boost them and he suggests we include a "what's going on in the forums" or "forum news" somewhere.
Gaming Boy would like to see more input from the staff to start topics and kick-start discussion.
Grix suggests we have a tournament where we all download game to our PC and play against each other.
er-no wants a "who is here" link. You click on it and it tells you the names of most recent posters (good idea). And er-no wants the Notables to be given something to do (a request which I have just complied with in Chat forums)
TheBest_2K1 is keen on putting people in a hot seat. Everybody fires questions at the poor so...
Quazimodo would like links to your "Latest Post" and your web site url in your stats window (excellent).
Meka would like us to hold a song contest and have counters to see how many people have read a thread. pb backs this up with a similar request on reviews.
Cookie Monster suggests a Cluedo-style murder mystery event.
Dan2K1 would like on-line darts.
Dringo is keen to repeat some "Opposite Posts" - I believe this is intended to be head to head challenges on specific arguments.
Chr!stos says we should sometimes vote for Gameaday winners, instead of them being always picked by staff.
Salevunit suggested a Winning Posts Forum (view only), plus Tag of the Day competitions, Search Facilities and Caution Tags. The latter is a particularly strong suggestion, i.e. to give warning tags to people likely to face a ban.
BUT THE WINNER IS:
The prize is for the best SET of suggestions. The winner is SHEEPY for the following ideas:
FOG Lotto
Round Number Prizes (e.g. at 10,000 posts in a forum)
"Number Day" I think this means we would all be anonymous.
Vote people off the forums Big Brother style (love that).
Guess the Phantom Poster.
Complaint Button (already in place now with the report link)
Improve the message filter and the feedback from it.
Contratulations SHEEPY and I hope you enjoy munching your prize.
Thank you again to all those who contributed and sorry not to be able to mention everybody.
*********
These were the original rules.
This latest EXTRA GAMEADAY is for the best SET of suggestions for "adding life" to the forums.
Imagine that you are in charge of the forums. What would you do to start some interesting debate or to make the place more interesting?
Please DO NOT suggest things which require (much) programming. And don't suggest a chart of Gameaday winners as it is already being sorted.
We already have:
Top Posters chart
Notable/Regular/Newbie system with 'orrible colours
Voting for Notables
Extra Gameaday Prizes
Protected "Prime Topics" forum
"Stats" for history on contributors
Taglines
Closing date is August 1st or shortly thereafter, and it's the best set that wins. All the posts that you make will count towards your set.
Page:
How about one day all the staff post their best attempt and we pick the winner... sounds fun or what.
Winner gets a basket of fruit including bananas.
Winner gets a basket of fruit including bananas.
Each Monday get a staff member to think off a stupid word that wouldn't usually be found in a post. Then if someone uses that word then they get a prize, anything from a reddie to a game. If nobody gets it then you offer little clues as to what it may be. If nobody gets it within the week then you dont give out any prize.
have a page written by the regulars with a guide on how to post on this site, what is and isnt allowed, and what grates everyone already here
Randomly give out reddies, one a day, to whoever you like, or assign notables to do it, to whatever they like, witty comebacks, good posts that dont get GAD, etc.
Randomly give out reddies, one a day, to whoever you like, or assign notables to do it, to whatever they like, witty comebacks, good posts that dont get GAD, etc.
Why not have the gameaday winners topic highlighted on the topic selection screen. I know you already highlight the post but what about highlighting the the topic as well. Also you could start a forum where all you can do is read the posts, no replying, and show all the recent GAD and FAD winning posts to show people what kind of topics can win.
How about a search thread? easy to do in php, and could include search for gad wins, usernames, specific games, etc.
How about having the maximum post length cary depending on your status? restrict the newbies to 2000, regs get 5000, and notes get 10000 or something.
Allow urls. Ive said this one, but it would be nice.
Interact the shops with the site. Have a terminal in the shops connected so people can see what goes on here, hopefully they will log on when they get home.
Advertise some shop deals only on the forums, like "£5 off GT3 if you prove you're a regular".
How about having the maximum post length cary depending on your status? restrict the newbies to 2000, regs get 5000, and notes get 10000 or something.
Allow urls. Ive said this one, but it would be nice.
Interact the shops with the site. Have a terminal in the shops connected so people can see what goes on here, hopefully they will log on when they get home.
Advertise some shop deals only on the forums, like "£5 off GT3 if you prove you're a regular".
asrogktjusaetg wrote:
Splitting up forums more -
> Separate ones for Music and Movies and how about a forum for these
> extra GOD threads rather than posting them in different forums
> willy-nilly?
The forums used to be split up more, but they were condensed to get people to put stuff in the right forums.
For example, the PSX forum didn;t have many posts in it, so people thought if they put it there no one would read it, so they'd clutter FoG up with it instead. Then a general Sony forum was set up, and it seemed to ease the problem.
I agree that there could be a forum for extra GAD info and general forum news. Maybe link it with the Latest News forum to create a single Site Info, Competitions and News forum, or something.
Splitting up forums more -
> Separate ones for Music and Movies and how about a forum for these
> extra GOD threads rather than posting them in different forums
> willy-nilly?
The forums used to be split up more, but they were condensed to get people to put stuff in the right forums.
For example, the PSX forum didn;t have many posts in it, so people thought if they put it there no one would read it, so they'd clutter FoG up with it instead. Then a general Sony forum was set up, and it seemed to ease the problem.
I agree that there could be a forum for extra GAD info and general forum news. Maybe link it with the Latest News forum to create a single Site Info, Competitions and News forum, or something.
Couple of ideas, don't know what system you are using to run the chat boards, so I don't know how possible these will be for you - but I have seen them on other boards.
Personal new post messages - i.e. using cookies (I'm guessing that's how it is done) to allow users to see which threads contain posts they haven't read yet. I know there is a new tag for subject headings already, but it has no relation to threads which contain messages you haven't viewed yet.
Thread contribution markings - with the sheer number of forums and posts it is sometimes hard to keep track of comments you've made. A marking to note that you have made a post in that thread will easily allow you to nip in and out of threads which may aid following up on replies to your comments.
An FAQ - now, I've had extensive experience in forums and newsgroups over the past few years and an FAQ is always a good idea. You could get a regular to write it (another extra GOD competition methinks) and then shamelessly spam it at the top of all "post a message" pages. Now, the obvious idea is to stop newbies posting the traditional (and silly) console wars thread, but it tends not to actually work for that. What it does do is save the regulars time in re-writing why such threads are a bad idea. Also, it can handle the commonly asked questions quickly and easily - most importantly it gives an accurate answer rather that the slightly skewed one that may come from forum Chinese whispers.
Splitting up forums more - Separate ones for Music and Movies and how about a forum for these extra GOD threads rather than posting them in different forums willy-nilly?
Regular's pages - Allowing, if they choose, regulars to have a constant presence of the SR website in the form of a structured "About Me" page. Allows members to get to know the little details about each other - such as where they live, age, job etc. A bit like the thing that is posted in the e-mail newsletter at the moment. Using regular profiles to attract new members, as you are at present, is a bad idea. It builds up an air of exclusivity that isn't welcoming and often the humour/interesting elements of the profile are wasted, as they are in-jokes. The e-mail newsletter regular feature bit could change into a...
Forum round up - a feature for the e-mail newsletter to attract more users. Written by a forum regular it would detail some of the big debates going on here since the last newsletter. This appeals to new members more than regular profiles for a number of reasons. Chances are they see something they want to comment on and sign up to do so. Hopefully getting them here will be enough to get them to stay after they see the wit and knowledge every poster puts into their messages... no, it'll probably be the free games then.
Regular voted GOD - Or maybe it would have to be Game of the Week for economies sake. Probably the worst idea I've had - every regular (to remove the risk of multiple account voting) has a vote a day to cast on their favourite posting. At the end of the week the post with the most votes wins a game, simple as that... problem would be the risk that people "gang up" to ensure their group always wins... see, this one is a bad idea, but I thought I'd bounce it off you anyway.
Discussion topics - in my attempts at aiding people run their own games websites, I've found that while my requests for interviews have often seen failure, games people are more than happy to at least reply, often answering brief questions. The Special Reserve name will unquestionably help. The admins could e-mail a number of Soft-Cos asking for their "big names" to come up with discussion topics for the forum. The said "big name" has to do no more than supply the topic - goodness, even journalists could be asked for proposed topics - there always keen to pretend their "celebrity" status is more than it is :) Anyway - end result is a informed and intelligent starting point for a debate. If admin couldn't be bothered with the hassle of e-mailing other people, they could nominate a regular (and there must be some opportunity for you to give away more games if you go down that line :). Also, stick it in a separate forum to rid these special threads from the "dross" of day to day posting.
Affiliate scheme - link to members non-commercial site who in turn link to here, obviously :) Spreads the SR word and allows us to see the other posters web efforts.
Personal new post messages - i.e. using cookies (I'm guessing that's how it is done) to allow users to see which threads contain posts they haven't read yet. I know there is a new tag for subject headings already, but it has no relation to threads which contain messages you haven't viewed yet.
Thread contribution markings - with the sheer number of forums and posts it is sometimes hard to keep track of comments you've made. A marking to note that you have made a post in that thread will easily allow you to nip in and out of threads which may aid following up on replies to your comments.
An FAQ - now, I've had extensive experience in forums and newsgroups over the past few years and an FAQ is always a good idea. You could get a regular to write it (another extra GOD competition methinks) and then shamelessly spam it at the top of all "post a message" pages. Now, the obvious idea is to stop newbies posting the traditional (and silly) console wars thread, but it tends not to actually work for that. What it does do is save the regulars time in re-writing why such threads are a bad idea. Also, it can handle the commonly asked questions quickly and easily - most importantly it gives an accurate answer rather that the slightly skewed one that may come from forum Chinese whispers.
Splitting up forums more - Separate ones for Music and Movies and how about a forum for these extra GOD threads rather than posting them in different forums willy-nilly?
Regular's pages - Allowing, if they choose, regulars to have a constant presence of the SR website in the form of a structured "About Me" page. Allows members to get to know the little details about each other - such as where they live, age, job etc. A bit like the thing that is posted in the e-mail newsletter at the moment. Using regular profiles to attract new members, as you are at present, is a bad idea. It builds up an air of exclusivity that isn't welcoming and often the humour/interesting elements of the profile are wasted, as they are in-jokes. The e-mail newsletter regular feature bit could change into a...
Forum round up - a feature for the e-mail newsletter to attract more users. Written by a forum regular it would detail some of the big debates going on here since the last newsletter. This appeals to new members more than regular profiles for a number of reasons. Chances are they see something they want to comment on and sign up to do so. Hopefully getting them here will be enough to get them to stay after they see the wit and knowledge every poster puts into their messages... no, it'll probably be the free games then.
Regular voted GOD - Or maybe it would have to be Game of the Week for economies sake. Probably the worst idea I've had - every regular (to remove the risk of multiple account voting) has a vote a day to cast on their favourite posting. At the end of the week the post with the most votes wins a game, simple as that... problem would be the risk that people "gang up" to ensure their group always wins... see, this one is a bad idea, but I thought I'd bounce it off you anyway.
Discussion topics - in my attempts at aiding people run their own games websites, I've found that while my requests for interviews have often seen failure, games people are more than happy to at least reply, often answering brief questions. The Special Reserve name will unquestionably help. The admins could e-mail a number of Soft-Cos asking for their "big names" to come up with discussion topics for the forum. The said "big name" has to do no more than supply the topic - goodness, even journalists could be asked for proposed topics - there always keen to pretend their "celebrity" status is more than it is :) Anyway - end result is a informed and intelligent starting point for a debate. If admin couldn't be bothered with the hassle of e-mailing other people, they could nominate a regular (and there must be some opportunity for you to give away more games if you go down that line :). Also, stick it in a separate forum to rid these special threads from the "dross" of day to day posting.
Affiliate scheme - link to members non-commercial site who in turn link to here, obviously :) Spreads the SR word and allows us to see the other posters web efforts.
Extra stat thingy me bob.
To show how many days in a row a user has been posting or how many days they have gone without posting.
Maybe an average word count one.
On the stat page you could have links to the posters last topic or post... hey I like that one. :D
To show how many days in a row a user has been posting or how many days they have gone without posting.
Maybe an average word count one.
On the stat page you could have links to the posters last topic or post... hey I like that one. :D
Why not ask some users to make up a few videos as kid on adverts for SR... like Grix's realplayer animations but with us members talking about SR and stuff...
Ah why not?
Ah why not?
I have an idea (amazing isnt it), how about every so often you have a murder mystery, you start the opening post with a list of clues etc..like in cluedo, the person who guesses the killer first wins an extra GAD prize, however you must stipulate that you must have evidence to convict the murderer.
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