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Vintage Community Discussion / General Community Discussion / Re: TheManaDrain.com - New Direction?
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on: March 04, 2016, 06:59:21 pm
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The membership issues here are software-based - basically, we were getting 100+ spambot members a day, even at the highest anti-spambot settings, so were forced to switch to the current system... Except that sometimes the forum software wouldn't allow us to register the accounts, so it would take a few days...
A lot of the other issues are just down to how long TMD has been around. For example, rules have been created and implemented because of specific issues (credit-grabbing, for example), and not reviewed, or reviewed but retained because the issues are still there under the surface, and there's risk-aversion in not wanting to re-open old wounds.
Similarly, the quantity vs quality issue is a huge struggle to find the right balance. Zherbus' M.O. was to slap poor quality into line, but that leads to more and more complaints about "elitist" and overly-strict moderation. This is an issue particularly where posts meet all the obvious quality rules (well-formatted and reasoned etc), but the actual idea behind it just won't work, or is unsound, or whatever - this has been a constant issue since day 1 of TMD. However, if we don't slap poor quality into line, and quality slips, other users moan and whine about it, or just stop posting entirely (when we ask why people don't post here, perceived poor quality is a common reason).
TMD was built on the membership tiers with open forums for all, and restricted forums readable by everyone (remember the Extreme Vintage Forum?), but restricted to the higher tiers to post in, and over time, despite having that resource, restricted forums have always died off. We've reinstated restricted forums for full members on a couple of more recent occasions, and the pattern has been the same - they start with a good surge of interest, and then die off due to lack of activity. Adepts have their own lounge (a hidden forum), and there is and has been very little activity in there for years.
What has become obvious to me over the 14 years of TMD is that quality and quantity are both major pieces of the puzzle. We've had high-quality forums which have died off due to lack of use. When given the opportunity to post in a restricted, controlled environment, people have not taken advantage of it, and when asked why, the answer has come back to quantity (not enough activity). On the other hand, high-quality users walk away (or don't join in the first place) because the quality of discussion is not high enough for them. It's a real dilemma.
In the meantime, though, for people pushing quality - be the quality. Take more time to write great posts and start interesting new threads. For people pushing quantity and activity - be the activity. Post more and start more threads with interesting scenarios or ideas.
Don't wait for staff - go and do it.
Wiley - your encyclopedia is absolutely phenomenal. I could set up what you're asking for tomorrow, but the issue, much like Wikipedia, is ensuring the editors are the right editors - it shouldn't stagnate or become an unchanging tome, but equally, we probably don't want everyone editing it either. I'm sure there's a balance somewhere though!
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Vintage Community Discussion / General Community Discussion / Re: Shrinking vintage in SE US
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on: August 26, 2015, 03:20:20 am
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The first rule of events is to not take a loss.
If you're running amateur events for fun, put up more, cheaper prizes - people like to win something, and it's better to have a lot of people win something of low value, as they are more likely to come back (to a point). Some cards are hard to get and popular, but not especially expensive (someone come up with ideas!).
However, if you really want to have a scene, and are prepared to pay for it, set a budget for your losses, and don't go over it. If you've got a good collection, you can probably sustain a few cards here and there, but don't over do it.
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