What is wrong with this place

[The J Word]

There is such little activity on this place that several forums could be merged.
The fact that there are more forums here than there should say something.
How can Domebo support 9 (13 including sub-forums) forums when SDMB supports 7 (main) forums.
So many could be merged, considering the lack of activity in many of them.
Why has this places tried to just make it a re-named SDMB, and not it's own forum?

If this place had "Questions & Debates", "Games & Arts", "News and Opinions" and "No Holds Barred", it'd all make sense, you'd have a lot higher traffic in each forum, and people would be more interested. Plus there'd be a lot less wanky, stupid names like "The Crucible".

If you guys expect to attract brand new members, you will fail.
If you expect to be a shell of SDMB (+ a chat room) you will succeed.

Those are my thoughts.

[McNutty]

Blunt but probably true.

[Elyanna]

Sweet Flying Hippopotamus Gods, another thread about the forum?

[NAF1138]

Sweet Flying Hippopotamus Gods, another thread about the forum?

We are our favorite topic.

[WhyNot]

It's the topic of the week!

Am I the only one who rarely even notices which forum something is in, much less how many threads are in it? I browse almost exclusively via New Posts and Your Posts.... Jibba Jabba could be a vast wasteland for all I know.

As for the SDMB clone issue: meh. Seems like pretending we all just met up randomly at IHOP is disingenuous. Yeah, most of us came from SDMB. So what? Most of us quite liked SDMB, or most of it. So what? Why would we want to change a bunch of stuff that most of us liked, just because they did it first? That's kind of absurd. As someone pointed out in another thread (which may have been on the SDMB, ironically), doing the opposite of the (m)asses is still letting them decide what you do. Takes what works for you, change what doesn't. But pretending we're not descendants of the SDMB seems akin to denying one's personal ethnic heritage. It can be done, it's probably not important, but why bother? Why give Them that power over you?

And like someone else said here on Domebo, I really don't care if we attract new members or if we distinguish ourselves from the rest of the internet. I'm here 'cause I like YOU guys. You're already here! New people that come along are gravy, and I'm always interested in meeting new people, but we're not trying to make a profit here. We don't need to be the biggest or bestest, we just have to keep plugging along with enough movement to not lose the interest of the members we already have. Focus more on content, less on marketing.

[What Exit?]

To me the forums are a filing system and gives the mods/rules some boundaries. I surf by the New Post option mainly. I don't surf by forums.

If you do surf by forums, I can see your point.

[silenus]

Sweet Flying Hippopotamus Gods, another thread about the forum?

We are our favorite topic.

Yeah, but this is bordering on self-abuse. That way lies madness, sterility and hairy palms.

[Tuckerfan]

There is such little activity on this place that several forums could be merged.
The fact that there are more forums here than there should say something.
How can Domebo support 9 (13 including sub-forums) forums when SDMB supports 7 (main) forums.

If you're going to count the subforums here, then you need to count the other crap on the Dope as well, which puts them up to 14, many of them put there against the wishes of the majority of posters.

One of the other boards I post on has a smaller number of active members and has 15 main forums and a couple of subforums (one is permanent, the others appear and disappear based on board activities [i.e. every year they have a "Best Post" nomination, and that goes into its own specially created subforum which only lasts for a few months or so]). They're doing fine, with the board taking spells where people post furiously, and then sections of it'll go quiet for a while.

They've been around for 5 years now, and it wasn't until the second or third year of the board being in existence that it "really" got going.

[dread pirate jimbo]

I'll tell you what's wrong with this place: people don't post enough in the threads I start! Granted, I don't start very many -- I think three or four so far? -- but COME ON! You people suck! I hate you all!

[Laughing Lagomorph]

I'll tell you what's wrong with this place: people don't post enough in the threads I start! Granted, I don't start very many -- I think three or four so far? -- but COME ON! You people suck! I hate you all!

I swear I'm going to post in your All-Star thread. Probably this weekend.

[Vox Imperatoris]

Well, I think we could do away with The Dark Room or combine it with Write Here, Write Now as the amateur arts forum, but I wouldn't get rid of any others. Combining Questions and Debates?: bad idea. (Is this a question or a debate?)

[dread pirate jimbo]

[quote=Laughing Lagomorph]

I'll tell you what's wrong with this place: people don't post enough in the threads I start! Granted, I don't start very many -- I think three or four so far? -- but COME ON! You people suck! I hate you all!

I swear I'm going to post in your All-Star thread. Probably this weekend.[/quote:3oid3cru]
Harumph. I'll believe it when I see it.

[Truth and Beauty]

There is such little activity on this place that several forums could be merged.

Here is my idea. Create just one forum called Stuff. At the end of each day, look at the topics with posts from the last day and attempt to categorize them. At the end of a week, take the most popular category and make it its own forum. Repeat until you reach a predetermined number of forums.

Like that you can't be accused of just dumbly copying the SDMB forum layout.

[Myglaren]

Why reinvent the wheel?

You have to start somewhere and a clone is as good a way to go as any until the board develops its own character, when it will likely morph of its own accord.

As the majority of members came from the SDMB then the format is familiar and it is reasonably easy to navigate.

If it is any help, I always dive straight into TG then dot around some (not all) of the other forums. Never look in The Thunderdome or the sports/games thingy.

IMO TDR could well become a part of TG.

[sublight]

I like Vox's idea of merging TDR and WHWN into a user art forum.

[Butterscotch]

I like Vox's idea of merging TDR and WHWN into a user art forum.

I think it's a good idea. Someone, somewhere (sorry, I was reading yesterday but didn't have time to post then so can't remember where I saw it...) mentioned keeping TG for talk about telly, films, art etc and then having a place for posters art. Merging TDR and WHWN could be that. Giving a place for all domer creations, not forgetting our artists, knitters, builders, carpenters etc. I think I see it as a place to share ideas about projects and where we can see pictures of completed things.
We have a lot of talented people here, providing a place for them to talk about and show what they can do may be a way of encouraging others to post as well.

[AllWalker]

I like Vox's idea of merging TDR and WHWN into a user art forum.

I think it's a good idea. Someone, somewhere (sorry, I was reading yesterday but didn't have time to post then so can't remember where I saw it...) mentioned keeping TG for talk about telly, films, art etc and then having a place for posters art. Merging TDR and WHWN could be that. Giving a place for all domer creations, not forgetting our artists, knitters, builders, carpenters etc. I think I see it as a place to share ideas about projects and where we can see pictures of completed things.
We have a lot of talented people here, providing a place for them to talk about and show what they can do may be a way of encouraging others to post as well.

I really like this idea. Creating a user created arts forum as a subforum of the Gug would be elegant, as well as possibly attract, or at least encourage, the creative people to get involved. We have the Mafia/RPG subforum for the more serious gamers, so something for the artists could work...

I say this issue be raised. I vote yes on it.

[fessie]

I think the OP's post was somewhat mean-spirited, but I have to agree. Too many rules, too many fora, just too much...stuff.

I like the people here and will continue to lurk & post, regardless of how it develops. I'm just not a fan of complications.

[Winston Smith]

I think the only thing wrong with this place is that we're turned inward, and most of what we post here is about posting here. I think if we all started posting about stuff other than the board, the snarkers, chat, policy, porn, elections, etc. we'd all be a lot happier. That's not to say we shouldn't or can't talk about those things, but there are certainly more interesting things to discuss, and I think as a community we've become very self-centered. And for the handful of you already preparing to lampoon me: I'm not trying to stifle criticism or discussion - I'm trying to broaden it.

That's what happened over at the dope, in my opinion. Ed started meddling in the day-to-day ebb and flow of the board, and all of a sudden the focus of the Straight Dope Message Board was discussion of the Straight Dope Message Board. That could happen here, too, and will really wreck this place if we let it.

[AllWalker]

I think the only thing wrong with this place is that we're turned inward, and most of what we post here is about posting here. I think if we all started posting about stuff other than the board, the snarkers, chat, policy, porn, elections, etc. we'd all be a lot happier. That's not to say we shouldn't or can't talk about those things, but there are certainly more interesting things to discuss, and I think as a community we've become very self-centered. And for the handful of you already preparing to lampoon me: I'm not trying to stifle criticism or discussion - I'm trying to broaden it.

That's what happened over at the dope, in my opinion. Ed started meddling in the day-to-day ebb and flow of the board, and all of a sudden the focus of the Straight Dope Message Board was discussion of the Straight Dope Message Board. That could happen here, too, and will really wreck this place if we let it.

I'm inclined to agree. It first struck me when there were three or so threads dedicated to post padding running at the same time, which when combined with self-reflection meant there was very little content going on.

Not to say that those post-padding parties weren't fun...