Influx - Site Growth

[FoxDemonSoavi]

Anything related to the site growing goes in this thread.

We are just starting out and it seems like the goodbye threads attracted a lot of attention. We are already growing faster than expected. WE aren't 100% set yet. I don't see this as a major problem as the leechers aren't the ones in the influx. They would be annoyed at our lack of stuff anyway.
If anyone has any comments on how we should handle or feel about the sudden influx during our growing pains feel free to comment here.

[DJ Jack]

Yeah guys. The site is increasing rather quickly, and it's mainly because people open their big mouths to other members, and other members tell other members until, pretty soon, the forum will get really crowded, and we do not want that! Problem is too big of a number of members are coming while the forum is just barely starting. It would be better to have the numbers coming in when it's pretty far in production.

Now, as to keeping people out, there's not much we can do. People just need to stop opening their mouths about the place.

[Mac]

Well it is because of this, that it's come to a point where it wont stop increasing due to the pure fact that others will spread and due to the more members we get, the more voices people get about the site.

So if we can keep it down to a minimum then it should be fine.

~Mac

[Atnas]

I don't think the burst is due to people opening their mouths about this place to those we don't want. Look at the members list. I don't see anyone I don't want here. I think this influx is due to the fact that all of these people are active, and the opportunity this place provides for our creative side is overwhelming.

How could it not be expected? And it will stop, as long as any new members are informed.

And by the way, I apologize for any inconveniences that may occur as a direct response to my mentioning of the server name on irc.slacked.org, the name that houses the IRC channel which corresponds to this site. How anyone could link the two(Server name and the room) together is beyond me, because the subject changed in less than a minute and disappeared from my screen in that same time, but I apologize nevertheless.

~Sincerely, Atnas

[HawkZombie]

I think it's unavoidable, and if we start acting 'elitist' now over it, and making people wonder 'am I one of those unwelcome?' we won't encourage better growth, we'll stifle ALL growth. No one wants to feel like they're walking on eggshells simply for -joining- a forum, and if we start acting like this now, we may very well encourage that sort of attitude.

[FoxDemonSoavi]

sketch I agree. my problem is that we don't want .org levels of growth but those were probably just from leechers who did not want to contribute. I think the main thign is we thought we'd have a bit more time to prepare but its not a big deal at this point. we don't want a super big forum OR a super small forum.

[HawkZombie]

I don't think either will be a problem, really...you'll have a good amount of people honestly interested in the creative process and how they can improve not only themselves, but how they can help others improve...and without resources to leech off of (other than written tutorials, etc) we'll almost entirely avoid that crowd.

[Atnas]

If we get stormed we could always do something really evil, and take away the register button. :>

That was a joke, by the way.

I think the level of people wanting to protect the secrecy this site is currently hiding in against those unrecognized for anything(newbies) is outrageous. Sure, don't advertise it to people, but I go strongly against wanting to make this a type of "No Girls Allowed In this Treehouse" Kind of thing. (replace Girls with Newbies and Treehouse with forum, heh)

After all, weren't we all newbies at one point? And what better environment for someone like that to develop their talents in than the one we hope to create.

Pancakes. :3

[J.D. Slasha]

If we get stormed we could always do something really evil, and take away the register button. :>

That was a joke, by the way.

I think the level of people wanting to protect the secrecy this site is currently hiding in against those unrecognized for anything(newbies) is outrageous. Sure, don't advertise it to people, but I go strongly against wanting to make this a type of "No Girls Allowed In this Treehouse" Kind of thing. (replace Girls with Newbies and Treehouse with forum, heh)

After all, weren't we all newbies at one point? And what better environment for someone like that to develop their talents in than the one we hope to create.

Pancakes. :3


I don't think the mentality is the "omg let's keep this elite" sort of deal, I just think that this place should be a haven where we can all give off our creativity and in return get honest feedback back (man that sounded corny but I meant it) and to be honest .org STARTED like that and look at it now.... it's turned into a place where people come just for resources and then leave. In my personal opinion I really like it when people have something they want to show off and it really shows their hard work, alternatively, it gives me a headache when I see a million other posts where the content is basically trash. I think keeping the downlow isn't a bad thing. Looking at it now, I don't think anyone here has a problem with anyone else. But hey, that's my two cents.

[Erk]

I am a big fan of keeping the site small, but we have less than 100 members right now. Let's not all panic :)

Still, I'm surprised how fast word is getting round. I hope people are not coming expecting a remake of some older forum.

[Atnas]

The only way this would become an early .org case is if Treggles and the Slacked gang up and left the forum.

And there's no need to worry about the number of members; the way this forum is set up, there won't be any need whatsoever for serious moderator intervention, which I love entirely. Nothing can get too out of hand! <3 :3

[FoxDemonSoavi]

on the topic of growth
when should we start growin more and attracting a few more people that use other game platforms? right now we are fun sized rather than small

[JakeyZombie]

I think we already appeal to people who use multiple gaming platforms. Our forums are relatively generalized, and I don't think anybody's going to feel unwelcome posting their projects that aren't RMXP based on here. Mm, are you talking about advertising though?

[psgels]

Well, I think we don't really need to advertise that much. As the time goes on, we will get more and more hits through google for people who are looking for design-forums or something like that (I'm not sure what the top-keywords of the forums are going to be), so that should be good enough to attract new members, as long as the old ones keep active.

[Kettlehead]

I agree. Letting people find the site through Google, which means that people will come here if they're looking for what's actually on the forum, would be better than having people join because, well, they know a lot of .org/.net members are here.

Or we could go the other way and only let people join with an invitation. Then they can be presented at the Debutante's Ball. That might be kinda cool :p

Edit:
Whether self-modding will really help the forums run smoother depends on who joins. Aren't any *ahem* 'difficult' members going to be a lot harder to deal with?

[ccoa]

There's still reporting. The staff would deal with anything reported that's clearly inappropriate behavior, they're just not going to actively police. At least, that's my understanding of the system so far, I could be wrong or it could change.

[psgels]

Yes, the staff are still involved, they're apparently only much less on the foreground than with rmxp.org.

Also, I don't think invitations are a good idea. There has to be a limitation to elitism, and this way also a lot of potentially good people will be turned off by the site.

[Cup o' Wisps]

To address a point made earlier, reading this I actually did think "am I one of those unwelcomed"? I'm already hesitant about voicing anything cause even though I see some very familiar faces, it's still a "new forum" for me.

But if you want my two cents, read on.
A lot of people are going to come here based on the simple fact that "hey look Erk!" (replace Erk, with ccoa, or other member who left the other site). Already some people who found out Erk and ccoa was here (which I was unaware of at the time I joined) are asking for this site's url. Personally I don't see why (no offense). But there is an actual starfucker quality to this for some.

As for managing growth, and a boom of membership, what did you honestly expect peoples? Of course people were going to open their mouths, they want their friends to join the club house too :D. That's as far as I'd go with invitations. I wouldn't have an invitation only set up. Anyone who knows me knows I'm very anti-elitism. It ruins communities worse than hacks and apparently management changes.

[Cocoa]

I know that I followed Rye here. I mean, I'm not Rai without Rye. XD

But yes, perhaps not invitations but more so "staff approval". I know these board softwares have an option for admin approval. Just to limit the joining of certain undesirable fellows.

[Atnas]

I can honestly say there isn't a single person I would feel the need to exclude. :3

Well, maybe Myo. But that's only if he continued to act immature, as he did on the other site(as sixty referred to it.)

[FoxDemonSoavi]

Based on people comments if we stay active google will find us when looking for game dev forums. Invitations are a bit too elitist and forcing the mods to approve members is really annoying. IF people come by that are a problem when things are all set up people can just ban them from their threads. Until then the mods can easily take care of it.

[Draken]

It's all Mac's fault that I'm here. He didn't change the host quick enough. :P

Like everyone, I'm very anti-elitism, for all we know the next "noob" could be the next Trickster in line, but it's best not to blatantly advertise everywhere about the forums, and especially if the name Erk and/or ccoa is mentioned, I can tell a lot of people will flock over here, causing a haphazard growth that will be out of our control.

[Cocoa]

In anycase, having a large group is bad. Just like the server issues at that one spammy place.

[ccoa]

I'm for a blank slate. Let people join if they so wish. With self-moderation, if they're universally despised but not breaking rules, the other users can shun that user (that is, simply delete any post of theirs in their thread they find nonproductive/offensive or ban them from the thread outright). I imagine most would give up and leave after a few weeks of that sort of treatment.

On the reverse side, people who freak out over the least criticism will soon find their threads ignored or filled with the mindless praise they desire.

IRC can be the same way, just ignore anyone you don't want to listen to.

[Cup o' Wisps]

(Yay pointless post coming up) ccoa, agreed 100%

[Kettlehead]

I wasn't seriously suggesting an 'invitation only' thing :eek: I'm shocked that you'd think me capable of snobism so far above my own, modest, moderate snobism. That's a snob too far!

[Erk]

A lot of people are going to come here based on the simple fact that "hey look Erk!" (replace Erk, with ccoa, or other member who left the other site). Already some people who found out Erk and ccoa was here (which I was unaware of at the time I joined) are asking for this site's url. Personally I don't see why (no offense). But there is an actual starfucker quality to this for some.
You know, I was well aware of this since I signed onto the project, and it is still insanely weird to me. Wtf, folks? We's just people. Heh. It's hilarious how many people have assumed we are administrating the site though, rather than just helping out the admin staff with experienced advice.

But anyway. We don't need to worry about site growth so panickedly now. All this thread needs to do is contemplate how we want to drive the community as it inevitably gets bigger. How are we going to integrate the gradual influx of newbs and keep the place from becoming a leecher haven, is what I see as the biggest deal.

[FoxDemonSoavi]

so far we don't have a ton of stuff to give them. and just about everyone has posted something in creation. Though the project forum as it stands now is creeping up past art.

[GubiD]

I have an idea. What if we "guard the resources"? by this I mean that you must be active and done # of post before you can download, and even then you have a download limit. That would force people to contribute a little more before rapping us for the resources.

[FoxDemonSoavi]

GubiD this isn't a resource site. Thats a great idea for a resource site Xd