So...the Future of OWF
 

Okay, so I don't want this to be some Glass Asylum shit, I also didn't think this was necessarily blog material. I was wondering what our collective opinion is on the future of this esteemed forum? As it stands there's few of us left and let's be honest, a part of the internet we care deeply about is on its absolute last legs. I've spoken to a few people, whom I shan't name in case they don't want to be associated with the idea, but there's at least some interest in setting up a new site and archiving OWF, or making a concerted bid to buy this place and turn it around...

Maybe we can have an open discussion about this, if we keep the discussion taboo and confined to private conversation we might lose this place.

A few questions:

• Why would the new site be any more active than OWF?
• What would you do to turn OWF around?
• Who the hell thinks these topics are taboo?
• How the hell can we overthrow Peter and put me in charge?

> Advertising
> Advertising and posting in overdrive
> Everyone is scared of you Nate
> Make him realise that he is a cruel and selfish god.

Do we know where he lives?

I'm not scared of Nate. Is that a bad thing?

I’m not scared of Nate, I respect him.

There’s so many problems with this forum that would need to be fixed which would go a long way to reviving the place. To list a few:

• We’re far too hostile as a whole. We haze new members, we’re unpleasant toward members who aren’t considered regulars, and there are some downright aggressive arguments on a semi-regular basis.
• There’s not much activity or content here that would motivate someone to join and post. That goes for Zulag 1 and 2.
• The forum themes are all creaking at the seams, most of them are ugly and mobile/tablet unfriendly.

Then there’s the stuff that we can’t really fix ourselves:

• Oddworld isn’t the most fast-moving subject, so new discussion material isn’t usually forthcoming.
• Forums just aren’t as convenient as social media platforms are.

After the incident of the forum going down I'm skeptical of what will happen in the future. I honestly expected the forum to never come back and just fizzle away as if it never existed, which would have been a damn shame. I'm a bit worried of this occuring down the line.

I'm all for archiving it and just starting a new forum. Crack down on the toxic behaviour so we don't just drive away newcomers.

You're suggesting opening an Oddworld Forum. This place may have, at one point, been that, but as it is now, it's just a community. We've had I think one member show up and stay since I joined.

I don't understand how you can say that a new forum would be better and more populated because advertising. We could just advertise this forum.
I know at least 2 people who gave up on owf because they couldn't use it on a device.

1. Because it would be not shit.

2. Make it a recognized part of the Oddworld fan community, like it once was back in the peak days of OWI. These days OWI and JAW wouldn't touch us with a 10 foot pole. The fact our URL is mentioned in the credits for NnT is a mistake someone at JAW is going to pay dearly for.

3. No-one does.

4. Start a new forum with a new domain, download the database because that's still something admins can do on this old piece of shit software and port it over to the new domain. Alcar might not like it, but he's never here anyway so he probably won't even notice until Christmas 2077.

The only thing that will cause a resurgence in the forums is when there's something to justify it.

A new game, new ideas, new characters, new artwork, new worlds and new stories to captivate NEW imaginations - not just us bunch of moaning farts.

The forums will reap the benefits of the Oddworld Brand when Oddworld establishes itself as an active brand again. At the moment it's more like the Oddworld Estate - it's focused on remakes and thus doesn't need anything more than it's Facebook Page to reach their audience.

This. We all hoped this would come from nnt, but we got like, not a single member from nnt.

I was going to say exactly the same thing.

Oddworld is an expansive universe. WE know it all, most people don't.

I like Havoc's idea, supposing it can be done. Even without, a new site is better than none. Squeaky bum time now then, do we do something or just idly talk? :P

Don't kid yourself. We got plenty of new members around the release of NnT and we scared them all away with this horrendous attitude of ours. This forum being from the stone age and still requiring manual account confirmation certainly doesn't help either.

I was nice to some, it didn't help

So, why did the forums go down?

What’s the benefit in doing this compared to trying to fix up the current forum? Moving to a new domain would just kill all the SEO that’s built up over the years and make us harder to find.


This could take years though. This forum was active for a long while after Stranger’s Wrath was released and OWI closed down, so there’s nothing to say we can’t be active during downtime.


This. Although, we do get a high number of bots registering, so there’s another thing to try and fix.


I think Alcar forgot to pay the hosting bill.

There is no benefit, but Alcar downright refuses to give server access of this website to anyone who remotely cares. As a result we're stuck with this grossly outdated website that Nate can't possibly fix, update or change, no matter how badly he wants to.

So I guess the benefit would be that shit could finally get done.

A new domain/site could really breathe new life into the Forums. It would give the mods more control and more feature for the members to use.

However. It's not the site which is the reason why people turn their heads to this place. It's us. -well. it's some of us.

Some of our attitudes are downright disgusting. Shit posting everywhere, in jokes which all sound offensive to an outside observer and a great lack of engaging conversations. It's just things like "ur opinion sucks". No wonder people get scared off. I don't blame them.

Recently, Even I wanted out. I almost left for good. I'm not naming names but some of you drive me nuts. This is not how a community should interact with each other. If you want to be a nasty fuck, go to Reddit or something.

I want this to be the place Oddworld fans interact and discuss the games. Nowadays this place is just an excuse to post shit. Now I'm not saying off-topic isn't a bad thing, I love the off-topic section. But it always seems like if there isn't any Oddworld related stuff. We might as well shit post everywhere.

>owf
>future

kek.

Forums are dead, let's face it. Everyone has migrated to alternate platforms.

Bull shit, there's another forum I post on semi regularly that has probably about 50 active members, with another 50 semi active members behind that.

Forums in the format we currently use are dead, yes. Because this forum software is what, 6, 7 years out of date? People have come to expect a certain standard in usability. Social media integration, AJAX support, responsive design, automated spam management. All of which this version of Vbulletin lacks because it simple hasn't been updated in forever.

But what Chris says is also true. Either way, getting server access, either for the current site or starting completely anew, is the first step to solving the problems this place faces. With a fresh site comes fresh public. If we can then stop being assholes for two seconds we might just be able to build this place back up to acceptable standards.

Didn’t you register this year?


This is minimizing the bigger problem. How do we stop being assholes?

It doesn't take a genius to notice that this place is dead.

Turn the mods into assholes instead by dealing out warnings and bans :D

So...is this a thing that's happening?

Also Havoc is right, you're all cunts.

A more strict rule set that discourages shitty behaviour and attitudes would be a good start. Without making people mardy as fuck in the process though. A lot easier said than done I guess.

Yeah but. We like being assholes.

I suppose that's the appeal of this place.

I've also found that while forums have definitely been losing popularity over the past five years or so, they aren't completely dead. It's still possible for a forum to have a good amount of activity happening on it. Advertising is important, especially if you're looking to have a huge forum, but I get the impression that nobody here is really too interested in having a forum that's absolutely booming, right? Like, having about 50~ active members would still be sufficient. And in that case, I think the most important factor is going to be the community. People like strong communities with strong personalities, even if it's relatively small.

I haven't been consistently active here since like...2008? I pop in here and there and check out threads and such and sometimes stick around for a month or two, but I'd be lying if I said that I was on top of even 20% of what has happened here over the years. But I still feel as if the sense of 'community' here has really dwindled, although it might just have a lot to do with the fact that most members are no longer active, for various reasons I'm assuming.

Also, yeah, being an utter asshole on forums kind of stopped being cool at this point. Also, yeah, this place is in dire need of an upgrade big time.

And if this 'new forum' idea does end up happening, then I'd be all for it. That way I won't have to have this fucking stupid username anymore.

I originally quoted a shitload of posts in this thread, but most of them make the same points, so I'm just going to address the points and not the specific people who made them.

Advertising:
Where the heck do you think we should be advertising? If people were interested in discussing Oddworld, they'd have found this place.

Lack of content:
This thread is meant to be about what we can actually do. Lack of content is a chicken and egg problem.

People being rude and aggressive and we should have a mod crackdown:
Two points:

• If you see something you think is too rude and aggressive, report it. I've had like one report in the last year. There's no point you complaining that I'm not infracting people when you're not telling me what you think deserves infraction.
• Saying that people don't stay because they're treated rudely is a very 2013 thing to say. Have you looked in W&B lately? We're not scaring anyone away because no-one is even joining

Forum themes/interface:
I don't really buy that this is enough to put anyone off joining or staying if they really did want to discuss Oddworld.
I do agree that a mobile site/app would help, though.

That said, we're more than willing to update the themes and interface. The problem is that Kristin/Cloverfield/Abe Babe doesn't have the time to lend her expertise any more. And I don't have the requisite skills. And the less said about the last attempt to build a forum theme, the better.

Make it a recognized part of the Oddworld fan community:
Hmmmm... I'm not sure how that'd happen. OWI kinda suck at fan relations at the moment anyway.

It's a tricky thing anyway. There was some discussion a while ago about making OWF an official OWI forum. The problem then is that if they're officially lending their name to the site, then we'd have to follow their rules for behaviour, language, various legal shit that can get a company into trouble. And given we didn't go down that route, they took two steps further away because there was a time when they were considering setting up their own forum, like Double Fine did.


Ownership/Power:
If I became an owner, I'd have been able to solve this week's outage quicker. But with respect to the problems listed above, I don't think there's much more that I could actually do to fix the place. I'm more than happy to listen to suggestions.

If you truly believe that this place would be better with an active Owner, send Peter a message on Facebook. The only way he'll ever share that with me is if he's convinced it's what everyone wants. And even then... only maybe.


I don't know the full story, but apparently the ISP detected what they thought was malicious activity. Last time something like that happened, it was that Oddworld Universe (which is hosted on the same account) had been hacked. Anyway, their response was to take down the whole site. Not sure what Peter did to rectify it.

I do think we are nicer to newcomers, even to the point we seem really desperate. They join and leave anyway. Maybe they're being put off by all those in-jokes they don't get.

I'd like to put it out there that providing you have an actual drive and interest in rejuvinating this place, I fully support pressing for you to take over ownership of this place, Nate. I don't think anyone would do a better job.

My interest in a new site is born out of necessity in the fact that Alcar is unlikely to hand over the keys, so to speak.

Forums aren't dead, this place is just a shitstain upon the internet. I know of plenty active forums, that dont have any stupid ass Facebook integration or the like.

The new forums should be called Forums ala Oddworld.

Don't think it needs advertising percé, but it ties in with making it part of the Oddworld community as mentioned below.

This ties in with modern forum software, which is much easier to code for. Vbulletin is a messy pile of junk when it comes to coding and making themes. Say that we'd migrate the forum to Xenforo, there are many many pre-made themes for sale that can be altered to fit our needs, I'd be able to help out there if you want. Building a completely custom theme from scratch is a little harder and honestly something I'd advice against unless someone is willing to put in the cash to have a professional theme designer do it. It's easier and cheaper to buy a professional theme and alter it.


Isn't Wil their current PR officer? If anything that should make it insanely easy to have relations with OWI, assuming they don't have their own forum plans, which I doubt. Having the forum conform to some rules set out by OWI isn't a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. An official OWI endorsed Oddworld forum would be great for the fan community without any additional required man- or financial power from OWI themselves, as it would be essentially fan managed. We used to be in that position years ago when we were at the very top of OWI's fan site list. These days they understandably want very little to do with us, but it's not too late to turn that around.

I don't know if this is still some sort of sensitive subject, but I genuinely think this place can be turned around and be made great again. If you think you lack the know-how to manage this forum on your own (as in technical know-how, migrating to new software, altering themes, server management), I'd be happy to help you out in managing it. I've been kind of reluctant to mention it so far because I haven't always been the most likable/endorsed member in the past and there's been some 'political' struggles over the years I guess. But now is as good a time to mention it as any, I suppose. So if you'd like my help, consider it on offer. I have all the technical experience you might need to pull this off.

It's worth pointing out that the rude behaviour doesn't just affect newbies, but also existing members. I can't speak for everyone but the hostility is offputting for myself. It makes it a chore and an unpleasant experience joining discussions.

We'd probably be better off as starting a new general gaming forum with the current members as a foundation for it.

I’ll echo the calls for a more active site owner. This place has been stagnant for years and Alcar simply isn’t doing enough to help.

I think jumping ship to a new forum isn’t going to help anything. Better to build on what we already have.


I think this is actually solvable if we put some effort into it. I mean right now we have a new thread like what, once every two months? There’s no attempt to get discussions going, other forums generate new discussions a lot faster than we do.

We’ve not really done anything as a “community” in forever either. Every so often someone throws out an idea for like a TF2 competition or something but nothing ever goes anywhere. Remember when half the forum was playing Minecraft together? That was a high point of this community for me.

There’s more we could do to interact with the wider Oddworld fandom as well, y’know? We play host to a couple of fan projects and the occasional fan art post, but I’m sure there’s more out there we could do something with somehow.

We've done Minecraft. We've done TF2. I say it's time for OWF does Terraria.

Recently came out for Mac too, so all the more reason to get in on it.

There used to be an RP section.

D&D has been floated as an idea before too.

I've come to terms with the fact that doing D&D with a bunch of you guys would be nigh-impossible. Seriously. Timezones are a bitch. I'm already involved in two campaigns anyway, doubt I could juggle three. But hey, don't let me stop you.

Terraria would be super easy to pull together. And fun. Just saying!