How to make the site more active - 5 steps I propose.

[FOTEPX]

Feel free to give feedback to this below - I was just thinking that this site could do with a shot in the arm, and here's a few pretty obvious ways to do it.

1 - Don't lurk, get stuck in! Instead of just sitting back and browsing through the threads, really get into it and say whatever you've got to say about the topic.
2 - Promote the site! If you know any robotics/gaming fans that might be into this sorta thing, get them involved!
3 - Set yourself post goals! Instead of just posting whenever, be aware of your posts, and set yourself a goal of how much you plan to post (say, 10 posts a day), and really strive to fill that quota.
4 - Get involved in tournaments! Nothing's better than seeing bots get ripped to shreds, so get into it and submit something, even if it's crap!
5 - Post often! Raises your voice in regards to whatever the thread is! If you've got something to say that's nothing to do with the thread, that's what the Playground's for.

And there you go - 5 seps that you can take to help fan the flames of this site. Have fun!

[Badger]

I think we need a sitewide tournament thing to get people excited, something that will get vets and noobs entering. Yugi's mentioned something similar before but to my knowledge nothing has been done about it. I think yearly is too long too, small official monthy 8-man tournaments with a persistent score table would rekindle some interest I think. Maybe give challenges a bit more purpose too.

When it boils down to it, we just need to incentivise people to actually play RA2.

[R01]

I think we need a sitewide tournament thing to get people excited, something that will get vets and noobs entering. Yugi's mentioned something similar before but to my knowledge nothing has been done about it. I think yearly is too long too, small official monthy 8-man tournaments with a persistent score table would rekindle some interest I think. Maybe give challenges a bit more purpose too.

When it boils down to it, we just need to incentivise people to actually play RA2.

Ninja'd my reply, yearly would be too long, every month maybe a bit too soon but it would at least allow everyone to enter.
From what I've seen tournaments are getting more and more active now so it's mostly about getting people to play RA2 again.
The difficulty doesn't seem to be as hard as before, so as long as we don't see the same design(and components, because they're the only choice) spammed over and over again, with only that winning, it should get people interested I think. This is also part of the reason why I'm usually trying out unique things instead of following the meta "use X wheel Y motor and Frenzy Hammers".

[Mr. AS]

that's what the Playground's for.

Should we tell him?

[Jonzu95]

that's what the Playground's for.

Should we tell him?

Nah

[botomatic1000]

1. Its nothing special most people post.
2. HELL NAW to the naw naw naw!
3. I know no-one who would do that.
4. I suppose that's alright but I don't find any of them beginner friendly (other than N00b Wars).
5. Sounds like number 1.

[frezal]

Contrarian rebuttal time!!!

Feel free to give feedback to this below - I was just thinking that this site could do with a shot in the arm, and here's a few pretty obvious ways to do it.

1 - Don't lurk, get stuck in! Instead of just sitting back and browsing through the threads, really get into it and say whatever you've got to say about the topic.

Simply having more posts won't increase actual activity, but rather reduce it. If people feel the need to comment on every thread—regardless of whether or not they actually have something to say—it'll just create a bunch of noise. When I see a thread full of noise, I generally close the tab.

2 - Promote the site! If you know any robotics/gaming fans that might be into this sorta thing, get them involved!

Do this with caution. Back when RA2 was the hot new thing and Battlebots was still on Comedy Central, lots of people had their own robot combat sites. Every day, people would post on the official forums, AceUplink, B4B, RA-R, etc. and tell people, "Hey, go to my site!!!" This is annoying. Bring this place up only if it's relevant, or stick it in your signature.

3 - Set yourself post goals! Instead of just posting whenever, be aware of your posts, and set yourself a goal of how much you plan to post (say, 10 posts a day), and really strive to fill that quota.

Again, this encourages spammy garbage. One good post that actually stimulates a conversation is vastly superior to quota-filling nonsense.

4 - Get involved in tournaments! Nothing's better than seeing bots get ripped to shreds, so get into it and submit something, even if it's crap!

RA2 bots don't really get "ripped to shreds."

5 - Post often! Raises your voice in regards to whatever the thread is! If you've got something to say that's nothing to do with the thread, that's what the Playground's for.

Previously you said to post nothingness regardless of quality. Now you're advocating taking it to the Playground? You've conceded your argument before you even finished. Well done.

And there you go - 5 seps that you can take to help fan the flames of this site. Have fun!

Three of your five suggestions are exactly the same. Combine them and make this a Top 3 list. Top 5 lists certainly seem better than a Top 3, which is why you shouldn't have formatted it as a Top list. Psychologically, people like groups of three, so really all you had to do was format it in standard essay/paragraph format.


Do better.

[playzooki]

i agree with frezal on most points. maybe entering tournaments will make the site more active but entering joke robots with little to no effort in them into tournaments with limited spaces is bad, as it stops people who put effort into their bots from entering (unless that is the point of the tournament)

[toAst]

might be a problem that this place is super touchy now. like when people go all asperger over what is and isnt spam in a thread. or people who want to be mods or something debate the value of the post content for two pages in some type of overwrought pissy baby slap flight shtick. dudes crying and jacking each other off about people or things they don't like. its just not super inviting to regular normal people and nobody wins. i honestly sometimes hate you people hth

[toAst]

on a separate note a tournament is always a good idea and if done the right way and really gets hype would at least contribute to forum morale even if it doesnt draw new membership 

[Hi5er]

I agree with toast! And a forum wide "official" event needs to happen I think. Most new people to the forums have heard about bbeans through the wiki, then to find out its no more is tragic.

[R01]

I feel like frezal and playzooki are a bit too harsh here:

The steps as they are currently written do allow for bad things, but refining them you can get to this:

1. If you check a few members histories you will quickly find out that they've been lurking this place for some time, same can happen to new and old members where you simply check stuff but don't actually comment(even through you could) or start building bots. Doing said thing can greatly increase the activity(in my view it doesn't need to be insanely active, but this place can be a bit dead at times).

2. Of course you wouldn't put this into everyone's face, and attracting so many new people to this would be bad as well, but I'm sure there would be a few people out there that would enjoy this game and perfectly fit into this forum.

3. It's not really about spamposting and posting useless stuff but to get over the "I could post here but nah".

4. Again, not directly joke bots but one shouldn't think that they need the perfect bot to enter a tournament, especially now I'd say there are easier chances to advance and people try out different designs, so you should feel free to do so too.

5. Just being active in the forum in general can lead to other members seeing activity and starting to post more.

[frezal]

I feel like frezal and playzooki are a bit too harsh here:

Too harsh? I took it easy on the kid.

[toAst]

oh heres another idea: condense down some of the forums. whats the point of having a separate forum for music or politics or whatever when it would all fit just fine in off-topic? having one post a week in separate sub forums just makes things look dead.

forum games can dump out into the chatter box, existing games (as opposed to non-existent games, as if someone hasn't figured out the distinction) could just be games and make development a sub forum of that. throw most of what remains into off-topic and make people's personal art threads it's own little subforum of that.

and who's the compartmentalizing ocd weirdo who thought it necessary to warrant three different levels of casual discussion with different rules (i.e. off-topic, chatterbox, playground)? keep up with off topic and let the chatterbox get a little playground-y. anyone who gets agitated about a sub forum dedicated to nonsense should be run out to make room for the two better posters the jerk would've scared off, and that's positive growth. this also staves off some of the bitter, bitchy in-fighting over posting quality in each respective sub-sub-sub-catergory of "off-topic chit chat". you can post pretty much whatever you want in one, you can't do that in the other. you don't like one, post in the other. mind blowing sh**, yall.

offtopic
-creative showcase
real robotics
-user showcase
games
-development
chatterground

hell, while we're at it you may as well throw online matches into sub forums of there respective game (ra2, ra3 respectively) and give real robotics the spot separate from off-topic that it's occupying to show that real robotics isn't just a thing that happens to exist alongside the community but something that is a focus of the community to draw more real life builders and robot discussion considering the sport is back on tv again. matches would be a sub forum underneath ra2 or whatever with it's four sub forums inside it.

now we look busier, our sub-boards are broader and more active, and the individual focuses of the board are each highlighted justly to make for an easier at-a-glance look for the prospective new member

capice?

[toAst]

on the topic of promoting the site and attracting new members, it's not a matter of attracting them. maybe this is super hard to believe, but there aren't a whole lot of places to chat about the things that are the subject of this message board anywhere else on the internet. the game here is presenting the forum in a better, simpler and non-intimidating way, and following that up with not being a repellent hyper-dweeb and driving people away. heaven knows if i hadn't already been posting here since the god damned millennium i wouldn't register and start posting on this forum today, and that's who you're losing. so take this advice and run with it, alright? 

[kill343gs]

I don't disagree with anything toAst said

[toAst]

thanks, i'll be here all week. try the roast beef 

[toAst]

site news & feedback
introduce yourself (could even be a sub-forum here or off-topic. i mean who gives a sh**, really? collapse this into something. and what the **** is that forum i see and never click on where guests can post? might as well let 'em do it in this stupid subforum. c'mon yall)

ra3 discussion
mods and tech support (it's all techie sh**, one forum and sub-it if you need to keep 'em separated. there are two separate individual threads taking up entire individual forum spaces on the front page, though. clean that sh** up)
showcases

ra2 discussion
mods and tech support
--support (tutorials can be a sub-forum of support, mash installation support into general. the last post was made months ago ffs)
--mods
showcases
tournaments and contests
-- blah blah blah sub forums etc. how much room did i just save collapsing this whole box into one with sub forums under here

real robotics discussion
--user showcase

offtopic
--creative showcase
games
--development
chatterground



see you leave a mess on the front porch nobody's gonna knock

tell me it ain't all of a sudden easier to breathe huh

[toAst]

also heres a great idea: if you report a post in the play chatter ground ****in box or whatever it should actually automatically suspend your posting ability for twelve hours instead of reporting your post to a moderator. or the report should go exclusively to one single ball-pit dedicated moderator, which may or may not be me, so i can decide whether i'll likely suspend the user who sent it for twelve hours. we have an off-topic forum, where rules already happen and what-not, check that thing out some time bad boy. thanks

so, that takes care of any content politicking and moderating difficulty in your dedicated bullsh** forum. now everybody's happy. you're welcome

[cephalopod]

What Kill said.