Fiyero said:
I have read a few posts show distaste toward the topic, but I know many of them would rather have some kind of forum than none at all. As Oswald said, I would love to have a better forum too. I am all for a paid forum software if that is what the moderating team is looking for, which I believe is, as they have stated multiple times they are looking into new solutions.
I promise you, however, that no one is seeing the forum and is like "Oh no phpBB! I can't handle this software, I refuse to sign up!!" People are glad to have a way to get updates and discuss, which you can see through the 629 members and counting we currently have.
And about your comment that you know what you're talking about. I know what I'm talking about to. I've Administrated and Moderated on forums before, as well as run my own forums for a Minecraft server I worked on, which had about 300 members at it's peak. Trust me, I realize forum software and our online presence is very important, especially as we look to attract newer players to the site. However, as Oswald and others have stated time and time again, the game is what people want right now more than anything.
But like Kevin said, they're switching forum software soon, so there's not much to worry about
Yet again, not true. Why are you so sure about yourself being right? And yeah, they may sign up, but who says they'll stay? Where are those 3000 members OVMKF had, huh? Exactly. They know about the project, so why haven't they joined yet? Mhm.
Also, I never implied that you nor anyone else doesn't know what you're talking about
, but that's not what we meant. A lot of people have administrated and/or moderated before, but unless you've actually owned many forums, have been a head administrator, have actually done research about them, or in general, just have years of experience, like I do, it's completely different
. Like for me, forums are actually a passion.
I love vBulletin (and really just forums in general), so I can guarantee you it's different than your scenario. I don't really get what your experience (especially with a Minecraft server?) has to do with anything, but okay, thanks for telling me? I didn't even bring up my experience until you brought up yours, lol... I was simply saying I know what I'm talking about because I've seen this before. (I've seen and experienced quite a bit on forums, which is why I try to share my knowledge of running them with others.)
It's a known fact that forums running on free forum software don't do as well as forums with paid software.
And yes, I agree; I'm glad they're switching software soon, but yet again, all I'm asking for is an update. What does "soon" mean? Which software are you thinking about?
@Kevin, can you answer these questions?
And yet again, I agree that people want the game, but the point is, if they can't stand to stay on the forum,
how are they going to get updates? I have a friend that joined, but she doesn't really come on. She finds phpbb confusing, and I don't blame her. That's my point, and I know that there are many others who feel the same way. That's precisely why there are only 600 or so members. That, and not to mention the whole drama with OVMK. I can guarantee you a lot of people won't play this game simply because they don't want the drama. These are extremely unusual circumstances. Under normal circumstances, forum software wouldn't mean this much, but in this case,
it means as much as the game itself, especially since the game isn't even open yet. That's my point. But like I said, I'm done. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."