So...the Future of OWF

[STM]

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.

[Nate]

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?

[STM]

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

[Varrok]

Do we know where he lives?

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

[Manco]

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.

[Jordan]

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.

[Job McYossie]

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.

The forum themes are all creaking at the seams, most of them are ugly and mobile/tablet unfriendly.

I know at least 2 people who gave up on owf because they couldn't use it on a device.

[Havoc]

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?

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.

[Fuzzle Guy]

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.

[Job McYossie]

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.

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

[STM]

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

[Havoc]

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

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.

[Varrok]

I was nice to some, it didn't help

[moxco]

So, why did the forums go down?

[Manco]

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

So, why did the forums go down?

I think Alcar forgot to pay the hosting bill.

[Havoc]

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.

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.

[Crashpunk]

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.

[Vexen]

>owf
>future

kek.

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

[STM]

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.

[Havoc]

>owf
>future

kek.

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

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.

[Manco]

>owf
>future

kek.

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

Didn’t you register this year?

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.

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

[Vexen]

Didn’t you register this year?

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

[Havoc]

Didn’t you register this year?



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

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

[STM]

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

Also Havoc is right, you're all cunts.

[Jordan]

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.

[Job McYossie]

Yeah but. We like being assholes.

[Vexen]

Yeah but. We like being assholes.

I suppose that's the appeal of this place.

[Alf Shall Rise]

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.

[Nate]

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.

So, why did the forums go down?

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.

[Varrok]

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.