thx everyone, I really feel a lot better but still I dislike myself. Maybe if I try the methods you mentioned, I'll feel better. I hope so. Thx guys..ur da best!
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Just run in the sun while smiling and you've got it made! :D
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I know I'm a bit late with this its... all said and done basically (you've posted some great things here guys)
But just want to mention that if you want to chat Mudokon... just PM me... I know that I find it really difficult to talk about my feelings but writing them (typing them!) helps me to open up!... Infact... I used to keep a journal and write my thoughts and feelings in it... if the stuff I wrote was a little "dark" shall we say... I used to rip the pages out and burn them (safely!) It was great... a real feeling of release! Try writing stuff down... you don't have to show anyone... but like I said... if you need a listening ear... or rather "reading eye" I'm ya gal! :kiss: And don't worry... you're perfectly normal to feel this way... don't be ashamed of it... it'll only make it worse. CB xx |
Mudokon, on the internet, originality and technology are the winners. The reason all your attempts to start something up have failed, is because everything you've tried to do has already been done.
If you want some advice on making successful websites and forums, PM me and I'll tell you my secrets. :) |
Well share it with me while your at it... help is always welcome :P
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Death, dont downgrade the guy, he's tried to his limit. I'm sure you could do MUCH better, but hes done his best and i'd say its not bad.
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What I'm saying is, that people will only go to a forum if it's A: the only one around, or B: the best one around. Doing B is nearly impossible, and is usually only possible if your forum was the first on the scene. People will not change to another forum when the one they are already on is the best of its type. Here are a few top pointers: You need originality. As much as you may want to make an Oddworld Forum, or Oddworld fansite, there is no demand for them and your efforts would be wasted. Try to think of something else you could do. Something you've tried to search for on the net and just reached a dead end. That is where your potential is. Now that you've got your idea, you can start to build up your website around it. Things like guestbooks, about me pages, and rules are the LEAST visited - omit them if you can. Instead of "links" type in "useful links" - this helps your visitors realise that they might find more of what they are looking for if they check them out. Also, when composing your website, remember that visitors have a short attention span, keep the text down to a bare minimum, and don't put more than you need anywhere. Think about what they will be looking for when they get to your site, and make it easy for them to reach it. Don't make them have to go through miles and miles of pages before they get to what they want. Keep in mind that Updates are rarely read, and are only read out of boredom - don't waste too much time on them. And flashy little graphics all over the place looks horrid - animated construction workers are a big no no. Don't create content or sections just for the sake of filling up space. Put what you need where you need it, then sculpt that into something attractive. Readers won't pour over every part of the page, they will skim it, keeping their eye out for key words. Make sure you think about this, and try to cut it down so that visitors can read what they need to know as quickly as possible. Remember, appearance is something that can be worked on later. Your layout should be purely functional, and help with accessability. At the end of the day, an ugly site that's easy to use, will end up getting more hits than a pretty site that's hard to use. Be conventional - make things blindingly obvious to visitors. Don't try to be a pioneer by putting your navigational links somewhere strange. Put them where the user can expect to find them. The same goes with content. You want the user to feel "at home" browsing the site. And that's about all you need to know. Feel free to copy and paste this into a notepad file for later reference. You can always PM me if there is any more you wish to know, although I think I've pretty much covered everything here. Hope you find it helpful. :) |
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How about Oddworldhounds.com.:p: Lets see you have slogs,slegs... um.. and thats it!
Are we ever going see oddworld cats, or Abe can make a great cat... or ice pop,tears,bones and lets not forget that trophy:lol: Poor Abe... |
God now, i'm the bad guy....
Death, get out of my House, NOW! |
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Um...you could try doing a humorous dog site, I guess. Like people send in funny/weird pics of their dog or something. Or, you could do a web comic strip or flash cartoon oriented around dogs. You have to have something they'll keep coming back for, not just look at/read once and then be done. |
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Sorry, but there is already an animal rights forum. I was going to make an Ed Edd n' Eddy forum but it doesn't seem to be a reality anymore, though maybe one day I'll have enough free time an energy to start it.
PS: don't steal my idea, damn you! |
Sligslinger, I'm not going to steal your idea, besides, who wants to steal lame ideas anyway? ;)
Mudokon, you are basically listing all of the LEAST original sites I can think of. Animal rights and petsites are some of the most numerous on the net. Music, Art, and Film are about the only types of website where it doesn't matter how many others are already out there, if they are fans of your work then they will come. My suggestion to you is that you browse the net for things that interest you, and take note of all the searches you do that turn up little to no results. Those are your potential areas of originality. If you can be the first to make the best match on the search engine you use then you will achieve that originality, and you will get all of the traffic. |
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and my Ideas are not lame, that show rocks many socks. |
I guess I'm really late in replying to this, and the original topic has changed multiple times since the beginning, but there was something that I wanted to say about the whole forums and Oddworld thing.
One thing I have noticed being a fan of both Oddworld and Final Fantasy is the difference in how sites are constructed and how the communities are structured [these are examples that I can refer to, it may or may not be the same for other larger games]. With Oddworld we have a main forum and several major fan sites. Then we have other fan sites as well. Web-masters help each other out, or combine their efforts on a project. But the community all remains in the one place. There are a few other smaller communities around [one which has remained there from the beginning and ever earlier than OWF is the Yahoo Exoddus Club]. But generally other Oddworld based forums come, gain a few members and then dissapear due to inactivity. Usually smaller sites like to link to this forum instead, although this doesn't of course mean that someone can't create their own forum too. The Final Fantasy community on the other hand consists of many large and popular websites, all having their own forums with lots of activity and members. People will sometimes be a member of more than one site, but usually stick to one main site. It is rare to see sites join up to form a community [although it does happen], but instead sites will affiliate with each other which is really just a linking program. Occasionally you will come across a site that sees you as a "rival" site and doesn't want anything to do with you because you are covering the same game as they are. And you know, having experienced both sides first hand, I prefer the way the Oddworld fan community is. We are all together in one place, we work together, we help each other. Sure we have our spats and arguments, but in the end we are a group of fans together. I think the main reason it is like this is because the Oddworld fan base is much smaller, so maybe it would change if Oddworld were to become more of a popular mainstream game. Generally there are not enough of us to support lots of active forums. But everyone in the one place is like a family. :) Abe Babe... |
I personally think the way the Oddworld fan community is structured is the worst. There is only one site that gets lots of participation, and all the others either don't stand a chance or don't get visited at all.
I much prefer fan communities where everybody has an equal opportunity to create something successful. |
Oddworld doesn't have a very large fanbase. It makes sense to have one central community, where we can all congregate. Rather than five or six smaller communities, each independant of eachother. Arguements break out, and superiority is sought. This is true with many Final Fantasy communities, and something I don't wish to see here.
We do not discourage the creation of new communities. We are, however, aware of what usually happens to them, and so we inform those that need to know. Alcar... |
Making a forum or site about something that has been covert a long time ago over and over again is never a good idea. Its all been said: Be creative, think of something to put on your site noone els has, and maybe your own style of making site's helps 2.
For example: Here in the Netherlands 10 years ago we had a lot of gameing magazine's. They where all dead serieus about what they wrote and their layout was professional and classy. Then somewhere around 1992 there was a small magazine started called Power Unlimited. They did something completely diffrent. They wernt serieus about a thing, you just couldnt read a page without laughing. Their layout was colourfull instead of white and gray and they where just totaly diffrent than every other game magazine. Now, ten years later they are the biggest gameing magazine in the Benelux (being the netherlands, belgium and luxemburg). So the moral of the story: Be uniqe and you will grow!!! |