Pokemon, What Happened to You...?

[Blademaster]

No, this topic isn't about that nostalgic Youtube video. But I think that the title fits just as well.

I just had a look around, at RPG, Fanfic, and a few other boards that have slowly dwindled almost without my notice... And I hate to say it, considering I've been here only about half as long as TPM itself has, but... What have we become?

I remember joining this site in late 2005. Just over 5 years ago... And man, was this place different. I remember not being able to wait to come back here, often several times a day, and there'd always be a good 50 or more new, unread posts. Fresh faces popped up everywhere, some newer than me, some older folks who'd been in archived topics and I assumed had long since left. Then when I started checking out other boards, I found the same, and much more.

It was probably 2006 and 2007 that were the most active here on TPM for me. There were so many people. Some old, some new, mostly friendly, welcoming newcomers like I had and posting everything, everywhere. It was a time of prosperity for me, and I imagine for many more of us...

But by 2008, something had changed... A few familiar faces had left, and I'd learned - and gotten involved in - some of TPM's darker secrets. Some formerly nice people became enemies, some of our Mods left or were replaced... Activity began to decline. In some way or another, TPM was changing.

Then, when the site launched again last year, a lot of newer folks started showing up. A glimmer of hope sprang up. Would things go back to normal? Was I just overreacting when I thought the site was starting to wither away?

I was not. Mt. Moon bloomed, and at least 33% of the site's activity since then has taken place there. Add in Misc., and more than half of TPM for the past year has been not about the P in that acronym. All of TPM's members have become uninhibited. I was warned... for months and years, friends of mine warned me that I was becoming a less desirable person to be with. Now, I see the site itself suffering the same fate.

We have new members now and again who aren't spambots, yes, but look at how much of this place has changed. Fanfic is dead. FanArt is dead. All factions of RPG are dead. Mt. Moon has turned us all into jaded, wiseasstic shadows of what we once were. The only really active forums anymore are ASB, Misc., and Mt. Moon, and in spite of shazza's wacky antics and DarkestLight's die-hard work ethic, those few remaining bastions won't last forever.

I don't really know where I'm going with this... I can't bring about change. I can't wax nostalgic about this place without purpose. I guess I just needed to vent a bit, because TPM is my Internet home; It used to be a functioning household where every roommate pulls his/her own weight. Now, I see it as a condemned shack where squatters gather and try to find some semblance of their more joyful, younger days...

:( I miss you, TPM. Why did you have to leave us?

[firepokemon]

We got old. Simple.

[Austrian ViceMaster Alex]

firepokemon is right - we got old ... well, even older in my case.

I also think that forums like FanArt and FanFic don't have it easy with places like Furaffinity and Deviantart about. Where'd you rather post your artsy stuff? On a small forum or a huge website?

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

When I came to TPM in September 2001, the forums were so full of life. I believe much more full than when Blademaster appeared. Heck, you weren't even through the EzBoard phrase. And you also didn't see members like Hanada Tattsu who posted every second post in Pokemon Anime. That's right, EVERY SECOND POST!! That guy shortly vanished after being modded.

But personally, I can find two positive points from our forum's current state. I know I'm being selfish here, but here it comes anyway.

1) I don't have to spend 25 hours a day to read new TPM messages.
2) I feel more noticed now that my posts aren't drown into the thread ocean.

BUTNOWI'LLSAVE TPM WITHMYNEWLAPTOPWITHMYFIRSTOWNINTERNETCONNECTION!

[kazr]

Pokemon is getting less and less popular, the webmaster has been AWOL forever, and the forums are stagnant. Mt. Moon is one of the few big changes to ever happen to TPM, and even though mt moon rocks face it's not an earth shattering change or anything and should have been added a long time ago because misc is uptight and boring.

All of these combined equals a dwindling community and as long as the initiative isn't taken to liven up the forums and make it more attractive to new users and old users alike then it's going to continue to shrink and only be a place where old members post out of habit/nostalgia.

[Lady Vulpix]

I think the problem is that most people have lost interest. I've tried to make the forums more active many times, but most of my attemps so far have failed. There's not much a single person can do, a forum can only be active if it has many members who are interested in it.

In response to kazr's post... In which way is Misc uptight? Whether it's boring or not depends on what people post.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Well nobody asked me again, but I think Misc isn't as uptight as it used to be. Now the threshold to post is lower than before, we aren't so afraid of breaking the rules anymore. Perhaps it's just us becoming foolhardier, but for instance one-line posts have become more common as well as flaming, even outside Mt. Moon.

[Magmar]

I know the quality of posting has declined in recent memory but I like change and am not really opposed to the fact that we are in a different posting environment. For most of us TPM is a nice distraction from the real-life blah-blah-blah of Facebook, etc.

There are still dozens of new things to read every time I log in, so I don't really care either way.

Edit: And on the note of the uptight rules, etc., it all depends on how you react to them. If you are posting something short and relevant, or something that kind-of contributes to the dialogue, it doesn't really matter. Nobody is going to call you out. If you're posting something stupid, memetic, or flaming (unless you're gay, have a fire Pokemon ID here, or both like me :D) then you are likely to get a warning. If there is no principal then there are no rules in the school. I think what is lacking is respect for certain members who are active and always friendly. Lady Vulpix, for example, who is almost always pleasant in her dialogue.

It's not like there really is a hierarchy of power here or anything. There's no real incentive to be a mod or admin, other than a small amount of extra responsibility. I remember when I was 13 and modding General, and thinking that it was like having a real job. I was very excited about that. If you modded me today, I probably wouldn't care much. Is there even a secret forum for mods anymore? Or if there is, do people even post there? If there's a ton of activity in a hyper-exclusive forum, then we should funnel that back into the forums. Otherwise, I think forums have become monopolized in the sense that only the very large forums are thriving any longer. Forums were big when there weren't other ways to engage in social networking online.

But again, I don't really care either way. I'll just keep posting until life stops giving me reasons to procrastinate. Which will be when I'm retired, dead, or retired and dead.

Facebook killed the forum star...

[Drago]

I hate to refer to the common theory that we all got old, but it's true. Most folks just ended up leaving entirely, while others lost interest in things we were once passionate in.
I remember there once being a thread about who would win between Dragonite and Tyranitar, and I was so pissed off that everyone was saying Tyranitar. I remember being in multiple RPGs, and every little post felt important (especially if they involved my character in some way), and I remember my desperate, shitty attempts at reviving them. I remember really having a lot of creative ideas for Minty Thrill, and although I much prefer the re-write, I confess that each chapter became laborious to write.

It's not just about the level of activity, it's the level of enthusiasm. Back in the day, each new generation was met with excitement and speculation on the forum, but nowadays there's little more than mild anticipation. I know shit all about Black and White, and I don't really care that much either. Frankly, you can have better and more active conversations on any subject anywhere else. Why discuss anime here when there are active anime forums elsewhere? Why RP here when there are other, richer avenues elsewhere?

Misc and Mt Moon are fortunate, because their strength still lies in the uniqueness of our members. I've stayed this long simply to chat with y'all suckers, and I would happily hang out with Andrew or DL IRL; we're all friends here really, the only difference between your usual friendship is that it's through a computer.

And that's the sad thing; our strength lies in our small, vibrant community. But it's hard to realize that when you're new, all you're likely to see is the lack of activity. There are some, like Oslo, who see past the inactivity and become welcome members of our community. Unfortunately, most do not.

[Mr.E]

Pokémon's still going pretty strong, it's just this place that's died. It happens, dudeski. :/

[shazza]

I think we are still much more fortunate than other forums, and we should not take the amount of active/semi-active members for granted. If this forum remains online, I am confident that many of us will remain for the long haul, even on a semi-regular basis. So too will other old members return at some point down the line.

With the exception of Houndoom_Lover and PancaKe, no other once relatively recent members have become inactive.

Just enjoy the ride.

[Gavin Luper]

I think we are still much more fortunate than other forums, and we should not take the amount of active/semi-active members for granted. If this forum remains online, I am confident that many of us will remain for the long haul, even on a semi-regular basis. So too will other old members return at some point down the line.

With the exception of Houndoom_Lover and PancaKe, no other once relatively recent members have become inactive.

Just enjoy the ride.

Houndoom_Lover and PancaKe were two of the biggest, most active forces across TPM, and both of them, especially, were based in Fanfic. We've also had Mr Pikachu go AWOL for the best part of a year now ... also one of the most prolific and enthusiastic members we've ever had. The loss of those three, plus Mistysakura and a handful of others, and my own year of full-time work and adulthoodness, has seen Fanfic grind to a standstill. Even up until the close of 2009, we had four active mods there, plenty of activities and awards still running ... we were far from dead, really. But a year on, it feels like things are drying up unless something changes soon. Shonta and I can barely manage to organise catch-ups between us, but, even when we do, it feels pointless: you can only stimulate activity in a forum for so long before people stop responding to it.

I agree, we're just getting old, and that's that, really. It's a tad nostalgic but it is what it is. Nonetheless, it would be nice to know that there was a new generation of teenage fans ready to swoop in and take the reins from us and keep the forums alive. This place has been an internet home for most of us, so I guess it feels weird to let it die rather than to let it pass hands to someone else.

At the end of the day ... we need fresh blood and lots of it. Simple as that. To get that, we would actually need some enthusiasm, some hard work and some strategy if we cared enough. Most of us don't, of course, since it's just a pokemon forum we frequent for funsies; but if enough of us do care, then we probably could put our heads together and find a way to bring new life to this place.

I'd be willing to spitball ideas if anyone else is.

Cheers!

[Drago]

Thing is, we've basically thrown all the ideas we've had out there already, haven't we? At one point I was pondering what would happen if we steered away from the Pokemon motif, but that seems borderline blasphemy. :lol:

[Gavin Luper]

Rebrand ourselves as TPM: Twilight Pwns MyLife?

I know man. I dunno. Maybe spread our wings to other forums and entice people here, promote it as more of a mature, laid-back place to discuss pokemon and shit than serebii and BMGf? Recruit some younger members who will actively update the main site themselves not because they have to, but because they really love Pokemon, esp Black and White, etc?

[shazza]

The rest of us just make a pact we don't leave!

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Yeah FanFic fell so suddenly. When I left to mental hospital, it was still full of life. Perhaps some of the people got depressed because I had to leave. Nah, it rather was just a part of a bigger course of events.

Something just came to my mind. What about advertising TPM on serebii or some other places? Has anybody tried that? That is, if we are willing to take any new members possible?

[Lady Vulpix]

That would be nice, shazza. I'd be willing to make the pact.

Gavin, I agree with most of what you said, but speak for yourself when you say you're getting old. I was your age when TPM was at its peak and I wrote some of my best Battle Range stories. And I'd still be interested in writing more if people wanted to join me (or even reply to the stories I do post).

[Magmar]

I like the environment because most of us are older. We can get away with a lot more because just about all of us are adults.

[Asilynne]

I think a good deal of the people posting in here are right, we're older, we are shrinking in population rather than taking in new members to replace those lost etc. As for what to do about it, the answers are easy to say but harder to pull off- get an influx of new members to foster activity, guide them and be friendly and welcoming rather than bitter and saying things like " damn noobs" or "back in my day". But this relies on getting those new members in the first place, which is hard to do when there is very little activity. It seems like a self defeating circle, but I dont believe it is.

As Ive said recently in RPG, I dont believe that activity is directly related to number of members, I believe even a small population can show a high activity level. And what we have going for us is we are a tight knit community, we are familiar with just about everyone on the boards even if we dont actually talk to some members one on one that often. So we should use this, and make a pact as shazza said, but not just to stay forever, but to be active all around.

How you might ask? Well anytime there is a new thread in places such as fanart, fanfiction, misc and others, respond to them. Even if all you do is skim the fanfic and leave a short comment, even if you just give an encouraging word to an artist or your two cents to a misc post, write it. Itll take two seconds and it will help you procrastinate which is what we come here to do XD Even if only a handful of people actually do the pact of posting in everything, it will spark some sort of activity because people will start to feel like their threads arent being ignored. Part of what made me stop going to fanfic (I was far from active in there, mainly sticking to poetry corner) was because the things I posted were passed over, and people only commented on everyone else. Everyone loves feedback but people can only try so long with no results before they get weary of trying. Thats been the problem, and it is so in rpg too, we've all been here so long even if we dont mean to, we adopt an elitist attitude.
So lets start showing attention and give comments and feedback to everyone, especially the new people. We need to have an attitude of welcoming when someone new comes, not just automatically assume they are going to end up being spammers.

Im going to try to post in nearly anything, but as LV said, one person cant do everything. Will anyone join me? (Disclaimer: when I say post in everything I dont mean spam in everything, it will be relevant posts. And while it might not be every day, it will be often enough)

[Bear]

My activity drastically fell off because my interests became focused elsewhere. I used to even be active in the pokemon related parts of the forum when I played competitively on NetBattle. Of course, this was back in GSC and the beginning of RSE, at which point I simply lost interest in competitively battling and subsequently posting in the pokemon forums. I was an active member of RPG for years and years (since that's where I got my start back in 2000) and I made several "returns" after long breaks. However, over the years, each new return became more and more short-lived, and much less contributory on my part. In fact, this past year was the first time I ever posted in Misc. I would love to get back into RPing on here, but I just don't see it happening. To be blunt, all the good ideas have been done. Sure there are a few interesting topics that arise now and then, but the RPGs have all begun to follow the same pattern and formula, and do not garner even close to the activity or interest that RPGs like Pokemon School and Eeveelutions used to. Right now RPGs are kept alive by 3 or 4 intrepid members who refuse to let it die, which is rather disheartening when you think about how it used to be when you would have 20+ new posts every day.

Sorry, I've digressed a bit. As far as the overall forum goes, I think an influx of new members would definitely liven the place up, but it has to be on a larger scale than people think. 10 or 15 new members isn't going to cut it. If we're going to spark the activity of this place and make it a relevant forum again, we need at least 50 new, eager members to bring the energy. I think that a youthful blast of energy to this place would not only make it fun for new members, but would also spark the interest from our old members. It would be new inspiration for us to come back and post, because we won't feel like we're doing all the work anymore. It's not just about motivating new people to join and post, it's about motivating the old people to be active again.

Not only should we be advertising on other sites, we should be taking ideas from how more successful sites run things. Maybe there's something other sites are doing that we just haven't thought of yet? A recipe may already be out there for us to find, rather than having to brainstorm and come up with the solution on our own.

As for myself, I'll try to be more active in places I used to be (read: RPG). Time for less "I don't have the time" excuses, and more holding myself accountable for my commitments. OO RAH!

[Drago]

Of course, when people return, it helps too. Bear went from longtime absentee to one of the more frequent posters... We should all recruit a friend to come back! :D

[shazza]

Getting a friend to join/return makes us sound like some sort of cult.

I have tried before, such as the return of Lawrence_III_Fanatic or one of the returns of PancaKe, however most of the time the returns are short lived. Bringing an old member back and then seeing them leave so quickly is just a whole big tease.

[RedStarWarrior]

I'm not leaving.

Since joining in 2000, I've been modded and subsequently banned like 3 times.

This is the first time I've been modded without being banned...lol.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I was about to get one new, young Finnish member to join TPM last year. Her mother asked me about the site after seeing me frequenting here. But then it turned out that the girl prefered Digimon to Pokemon. And now I think I wouldn't get her to join anymore, not even by advertising this as a general forum.

[Link]

I was here in like 2000, lurking mostly, and then I started getting an attitude and then I just followed topics around to see what people were doing. Green Pikachu was the mod that I looked up to the most and then he just started ripping new people's teams apart when the n00bs would post in the GSc team rating forum. I didn't know what to think, so I just made a new account here and had the time of my life, but I am sad to see and read that most of the folks from when GSC came out no longer post here as this site slowly dwindled away into what it is now.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

OMG I saw the girl today this topic is calling her to join us!!

Perhaps this forum deserves to die :(

EDIT: Hm, I can't believe I actually said that. But it seems we are facing the same problem about what PancaKe complained before she left. We can't think of anything new, the posts resemble too much each other.

No, not really. It rather was when there were like 100 registered users online at the same time, then the posted really vanished into thin air.

[Bear]

OMG I saw the girl today this topic is calling her to join us!!

Perhaps this forum deserves to die :(

EDIT: Hm, I can't believe I actually said that. But it seems we are facing the same problem about what PancaKe complained before she left. We can't think of anything new, the posts resemble too much each other.

No, not really. It rather was when there were like 100 registered users online at the same time, then the posted really vanished into thin air.

...what?

[Blademaster]

You know, between darktyranitar, Charles Legend, and now Mikachu, I'm starting to thing prolonged exposure to this site induces mental disorders... :(

[Link]

Mikachu, your post made absolutely no sense. :)

[kazr]

Something that definitely couldn't hurt is upgrading the forums to the latest version of vBulletin, but I have no idea if that costs money, and if l_p and lv could do it or if Kevin would have to. Updating the color scheme and images would be a huge plus too. The image at the top of the forums is like 9 years old now, same with the posting buttons, and while it's only aesthetics having a new layout and sharper, cleaner images would be a good start to breathing life into TPM.

[Telume]

Part of it also has to do with the fact that for about 3 months the main webserver went out and I haven't gotten ANY word as to when it will be fixed. Luckily I had Jeff back everything up so we don't have to do much when we do get a webserver.

I really do apologize and I'll try to find another way to get it back up.

[Bear]

I like our logo, and especially the blue and black color scheme. I think it looks like we tried a little harder than if it were brighter colors. Just as long as they don't take away my balls again...

[RedStarWarrior]

I like our logo, and especially the blue and black color scheme. I think it looks like we tried a little harder than if it were brighter colors. Just as long as they don't take away my balls again...
I love the classic colors as well, but having newer images wouldn't hurt. We can try breathing a little more modern into this...

[Dryk]

If we advertise, I think we should hit up bulbagarden, because that was how I found my way here.

I came for the ASB, but I don't think a new images would be bad.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

You know, between darktyranitar, Charles Legend, and now Mikachu, I'm starting to thing prolonged exposure to this site induces mental disorders... :(

No Blade, that wasn't TPM's fault at all. At least if it didn't affect me already in 2004.

But like my last senseless comment, in TPM's past, it would just have been skipped by everyone and they would've just comment on the easier replies. But now it caught at least the attention of Bear, Blademaster and Heracross.

[Jeff]

If we advertise, I think we should hit up bulbagarden, because that was how I found my way here.

I came for the ASB, but I don't think a new images would be bad.

I have an ad in my sig there. That's probably the best way to advertise. Also, if you want to advertise, I think the best thing to do is not just advertise TPM as a whole; people advertise other sites in their sigs all the time, especially at popular sites like Serebii and Bulbagarden. Instead, we should focus on specific aspects of the forum, like ASB, the fantasy football league, anything that might capture people's interest.

And yeah, another aspect will be getting the site back up. As Telume said though, I have the whole thing on my hard drive right now, so when we're ready, it can go back up exactly as it was when it went down.

[shazza]

New members can tell fairly quickly that this is a pretty closed community, so most will always feel unwelcome. And if we did achieve new members, what are the benefits of this? I enjoy the current situation, and feel that an influx of new members will not essentially increase general enjoyment. Although, I do see how having more frequent posters will mean already existing members will post -- so I guess it's somewhat of a domino effect. @_@

[Bear]

New members can tell fairly quickly that this is a pretty closed community, so most will always feel unwelcome. And if we did achieve new members, what are the benefits of this? I enjoy the current situation, and feel that an influx of new members will not essentially increase general enjoyment. Although, I do see how having more frequent posters will mean already existing members will post -- so I guess it's somewhat of a domino effect. @_@

I agree that this place can seem pretty unwelcome. Most sites that have been around a while tend to be like this (smogon comes to mind), where old members are crabby and would rather shun newbies than actually take the time to help them out and mold them into quality posters. Maybe we could work on a type of mentoring or orientation program for newbies, where we actually help them learn how to survive here and not just tell them to "read the rules". I realize this would require alot of patience from us old folks, but I think it would greatly benefit the site in the long run.

[Lady Vulpix]

I personally think that shunning new members is ridiculous. Not only does it prevent the forum from becoming more active, but it makes us gain a bad reputation, not to mention that it's only a matter of chance that you found the forums a long time before they did. How would you feel if it had been the other way around and others were shunning you for trying to join?

[shazza]

It is not so much purposely shunning them, it is the new members observing the already established friendships which makes it increasingly difficult to feel comfortable posting on the forum for they feel out of place on a forum based a large extent on nostalgia.

Or they feel bored when there are a number of many more popular forums. Popularity attracts more popularity, so it's quite the conundrum we are in if we feel more members are vital.

[Heald]

I don't think it helps that most of the established forum members appear to act like dicks to each other, so new members think that behaviour is acceptable and so they get told to STFU when they also act like a dick.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

What comes to FanArt and stuff, I have some things which I keep hidden in case we really need something to talk about one day. But now I don't know if I should rather hurry on with them. I remember classy_cat18 once said the forum is not going anywhere but in a way it is and people are leaving.

[Telume]

It is not so much purposely shunning them, it is the new members observing the already established friendships which makes it increasingly difficult to feel comfortable posting on the forum for they feel out of place on a forum based a large extent on nostalgia.

Or they feel bored when there are a number of many more popular forums. Popularity attracts more popularity, so it's quite the conundrum we are in if we feel more members are vital.

How do you think I feel 80% of the time and I've been here 2 years.

[shazza]

I have always felt you were well established into the community, Telume. I enjoy reading your input. I am sorry if you have felt otherwise!

[Bear]

But Telume we're friend!

I know something we can do that is small but may help. Each day, take a look at the member list and see who joined that day. For each person, take a look at their profile and see if they made any posts or started any threads. If they did, go find one or two of those posts and see if you can add your input, or at least respond in some way. Whether we agree or disagree with what they say, the fact that we at least acknowledged and responded to their post will show them that they are seen and heard, and will make them more likely to continue posting. Promoting someone to be active is the FIRST step. Once they are active, if there are any issues, we can work on them. That may seem like a lot, but it's really only a few minutes of work. If you're not interested in that, try just sending them a PM, welcoming them to the community. Not one of those preset ones that sounds contrived, I mean a REAL PM, a personal one, that makes them feel like they have been noticed by another human. I think this alone would go a long way to making new members feel welcome and more inclined to post.

[Gavin Luper]

We should not only advertise TPM's site and forum to the rest of the pokemon online community, we should make sure our product is actually appealing. Nobody's going to buy a half-dead forum and a main site that is essentially sub-par. I mean no offense at all to the guys who have put in all the work into the site - it's fantastic - I simply mean that, if we really want to hook people, we'd need to compete with Serebii and Bulbagarden and that would mean kicking it up to a new level.

Two ideas I would float would be:

1) We seek out prominent, young, active members on various forums on other communities - members who are enthusiastic enough and intelligent enough to be mods. We offer them the position of being in charge of whatever field they seem to be most adept at for the main site. Ie, if there is a member on some other forum who is passionate about Black and White, we offer them the role of Mod on our Black and White forum (a role that maybe they deserve, but aren't given on their current forum of choice) and offer them or someone else similar the role of Black and White content contributor on the main site, on the condition that they bring their mates across to TPM to join the party. This is probably the crucial first step that needs to be done - we need the content and the right people before we can try to appeal to more members.

2) Once we've established all that, we then all invest ourselves into the forums for a solid 2-4 weeks and make them as lively as all hell. Each and every forum needs to look active as all fuck. And look fun, vibrant, and appealing to new members. There should be threads dedicated already to new member welcomes, etc.

Once these weeks have passed, we then launch a full-scale ad campaign across the pokemon online sphere. Not just BMGF and Serebii, either. We all sign up to as many boards as possible, we advertise in our sigs, we chat to other members about the forum and link them to our own initiatives - we network and advertise at once, en masse. People would be more interested in a board that looks fresh, populated and active.

If we invest a solid few months into this project ... I seriously feel that we could claw back our position. TPM would take on some new flavours and textures, but I think that's a given and it's a good thing - otherwise we will simply become stale and die out slowly. I think more activity and more fresh faces means more stimulating discussions, more fun procrastinate-y time and more fun in general for all of us.

Thoughts?

[Heald]

Here's what I think: TPM's future as a Pokemon website are finished. The vast majority of the membership have little to no interest in Pokemon at all. The only Pokemon-related part worth preserving in its current form is ASB. To survive, one must adapt. Rename ourselves TPM (as in just TPM, and it isn't an acronym). Then rework the forums so it is more general interest (although we would keep a dedicated Pokemon forum and ASB forum) and change the graphics on the forums so it isn't Pokemon centric (although we would at least keep a traditional The Pokemasters skin for those who wanted it).

Finally, the website ought to reflect the contributions of those on the Board. All content on the Website would be generated on the Forums or by the members of the Forum.

I also suggest we revamp the "The Pokemasters Website" (http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=55) forum in a forum for both the Forums and the Website, and that is where threads like this should go.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Some great ideas you got there, worth considering. Now I don't know if they worked, but I have already done some welcome-greetings in the past.

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z83/Mikayuta/Reshiram.png

[abunaidesu]

i think we should turn tpm into a jersey shore based forum.

[Jeff]

Here's what I think: TPM's future as a Pokemon website are finished. The vast majority of the membership have little to no interest in Pokemon at all. The only Pokemon-related part worth preserving in its current form is ASB. To survive, one must adapt. Rename ourselves TPM (as in just TPM, and it isn't an acronym). Then rework the forums so it is more general interest (although we would keep a dedicated Pokemon forum and ASB forum) and change the graphics on the forums so it isn't Pokemon centric (although we would at least keep a traditional The Pokemasters skin for those who wanted it).

Finally, the website ought to reflect the contributions of those on the Board. All content on the Website would be generated on the Forums or by the members of the Forum.

I also suggest we revamp the "The Pokemasters Website" (http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=55) forum in a forum for both the Forums and the Website, and that is where threads like this should go.

I kinda like Bulbagarden's approach. Their Miscellaneous forums have a different, non-pokemon-themed, skin.

I do agree with renaming the website forum to just "The PokéMasters". That way, we can keep all the discussion about the site and forums in one place.

[Asilynne]

I agree that this place can seem pretty unwelcome. Most sites that have been around a while tend to be like this (smogon comes to mind), where old members are crabby and would rather shun newbies than actually take the time to help them out and mold them into quality posters. Maybe we could work on a type of mentoring or orientation program for newbies, where we actually help them learn how to survive here and not just tell them to "read the rules". I realize this would require alot of patience from us old folks, but I think it would greatly benefit the site in the long run.

This is exactly what we've talked about setting up for RPG. A forum-wide mentor program would be awesome. And I agree with LV too, a lot of new people that join most likely get scared off by the cynical attitude a lot of us have towards younger/inexperienced members, which shouldnt be the case.

Some, like shazza, don't mind the small community and actually like it this way, which isnt bad either, but in this case, the members we have now could make it a point to branch out from their typical haunts on the forum and post in a new spot or check out a new topic, or heaven forbid respond to a poster theyve never acknowledged before. Many posters, like Telume has said, and like myself at times, feel they are overlooked or passed by in topics. Case in point, this one. And while Im sadly used to being ignored in misc or fanfic or a few other places on tpm, newer, younger or even some people that have been around awhile may take it that they are unwelcome, that their prescence on TPM doesnt matter and therefore lose interest. No one going to want to come to a place where they feel unwanted. We need to give off the air of being friendly and welcoming, these are the good qualities of a small cozy site, and if we dont have them then we are just a dwindling, dying population.

Edit- I also like healds ideas, branching out more will definately help!

[firepokemon]

Pokemon site was a big failure lol. Jeff and Telume did their best and others did news but the rest of us were lazy useless bastards.

And the suggestions that we join other pokemon boards and advertise TPM in our sigs etc is frankly a stupid idea. No offense Gavin. But no way in hell would I do that.

Heald talks about member contributions on the main website. But what the fuck are you really talk about? Or what contributions do you think members here could make?

ASB seems to be the only thing bringing in new members but those members don't seem to care about any other forum. Fanfic is dead as a dildo now and RPG is also dead.

And those three areas plus maybe Adopted pokemon are the only forums that can really bring people here. Because our misc forum is quiet and Mt. Moon itself, well there's thousands of forums just like it and they're super big.

Bulbagarden does interactive games similar to ASB but on a RPG level but even then its not like such role-playing games attract that many members. But really that is the only way I can see people joining this site is if we had large interactive games on the scale of ASB. And the main site is used to advertise those games and keep profiles of the games, leading players, columns/blogs from active members.

In my opinion its frankly pathetic that there is no real information about ASB on the main site.

I know my opinion isn't worth much but when we were talking about a pokemon site many of you talked about the value of forum members and their contributions. I believed we had to have a pokemon site. I regret that now because in the two years or whatever of that site it hasn't added a single member I predict. My real vision was a side-by-side pokemon site and focus on forums. With ASB, RPG, Fanfic, Adopted Pokemon Games and other interactive games all having profiles on the site and actual information.

There is no reason why ASB itself couldn't be treated as if were a Serebii.net or Bulbagarden.net site but instead of being pokemon is ASB with its own news, own pokedex, own attack page etc.

RPG could have a profile of any up-coming games and current running games with their own information. Would need to be more active.

Fanfic could have a page where finished stories are put on the main site as well as short stories, poems etc. Another aspect could be writing tips and all the fanfic reports put on the site. It would need to be more active to work.

Pokemon Adopted Game could do with a thorough sweep out and redone with a lot of information on the main site while the more interactive aspects are done on the forums.

And finally someone or several people need to come up with 1 or more interactive games that can be as complex or as simple as you want where battling, buying etc is done on the forums but where a lot of the information, attack lists or whatever are on the main site.

I really do think some type of interactive game alongside ASB is the best option and over time we rebuild Fanfic and RPG and keep the pokemon forum and videogame, anime forum and grow from there.

I mean Adopted Pokemon forum could in itself be changed to a more general adopt a pet or whatever type game.

Just what I think anyway.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

ASB seems to be the only thing bringing in new members but those members don't seem to care about any other forum.

Well, there's a pretty friendly atmosphere in ASB, and is actually lacking the big players on the forums who roam Misc, Mt.Moon, etc. Perhaps newcomers who like ASB either don't like the rest of the forums anyway, or are intimidated by the 'elite-club'-feeling it gives at times.

Aside from that, to me ASB is cool way to spend time when I wanna do something 'pokemon-ish'. I'm not really a writer, so that cuts fanfic and rpg, or a gamer (videogames and pokemon-consoles), so there's not much left. There's actually much room for progress, with our Safari Zone which is unique on the internet IIRC. And ASB-points have been used to by FanArt, so you can bring in other forums if you really thought it out nicely.

But perhaps DL should talk here, he's a better talker:D

[DarkestLight]

Aaaaand here I am ¬¬. MLG prodded me twice.

If we're talkin' about survival, then maybe focusing on what we actually have life in would be the best bet. ASB, Misc, Mt Moon, and the new section that'll pop up once B/W hits store shelves here. Now I'm a lurker at Smogon, and you all are right. That elitist attitude is what stops me from really leaving a mark, and if I wasn't as experienced as I am with forums, I would have left a long time ago.

Now, if we're trying for a forumwide recovery,then fp's right. Start with expanding what we have and make it something people want to be a part of. If I came to TPM, and I saw the site, I would give it about 5 minutes-maximum. Look through info...try to find something funny to read/steal, and then be on my merry way.

Now if TPM site had something a bit flashier-and I don't mean animated gif on page-.- like a stat sheet or the "Latest Swarm in Safari Zone" or whats available for Adoption-you know, generic things that people still visit message boards for, then maybe we can go see life. Hell, we still haven't found a way to bridge the Oekaki folk over here have we?

I also do remember trying to add a casino like structure in GGG that connected to ASB, so there could be a pathway to both parts of the site. That actually was chaos's idea-still gotta get it running in ASB, but its still a great idea form one of the quieter members here. The sig-making stops in Fanfic were novel, and they're sure to get a hit in buisness once B/W hits.

As for the kinda closed community feel of ASB to the rest of the forum, its kinda funny. Yeah; most newer people there are there for ASB alone. I don't think they're nervous about being overlooked in the rest of the forum, I just don't think they've posted anywhere else that doesn't spark their interest. Hell I joined here and only hung in ASB for like a year before I decided to see what else this place had to offer. I felt like I made myself a staple so if I got chewed out, at least I could retreat back there. Gonna hafta be real accommodating if we are gonna break that trend.

Hrm...forumwide overhaul. I think I like it. ~_n But I'm not a thinker. I can talk and I can work, but I don't think too well. And SZ isn't super unique, I know GHPD has/had one and so did umm...Pe2k? One of them that uses "real money" and has like 15 different organizations in their RPG-ish realm. Yeah pe2k....they have a pretty large base too. I digress.

Down for overhaul/re-prioritizing to make ourselves larger again. But as well as we all can talk. we should list out our current options/innovative ideas and decide which is the best way to go. We still got 3 months before B/W hits America (enough time for us to reboost ASB numbers again).


>> Now I go back to reffing. ::Drops 3 cents:: Keep the change.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

Well, GHPF only has an ASB because I'm a Supermod there and I introduced it to them; so booboo. They have recently changed all their rules though, with a whole new ASB concept. Might wanna check that out for inspiration! :hellyeah:

[Asilynne]

I like your stance on things DL and MLG, and yeah, for awhile it seemed ASB was the most active thing here (still prob is actually).

As for the Oekaki people, back when the main site was nearly up and people were looking for a new banner for the forum and such, I posted over there to recruit their help for it. I figured it was a perfect way to get them involved in the forums by using what they love and are good at. It WORKED, because one of them started on a pretty decent banner for tpm, and I think even posted it on fanart (not sure, cant find it now). But it hardly got any attention and eventually we got the ancient TPM banner up instead.

It was a perfect opportunity to help to meld both forum and oekaki but disinterest killed it. However, we have that same opportunity now. As other people have suggested, a visual update for the site might help make it more fresh and attract people. So why not get the people of oekaki to make the graphics for the forum? They are quite talented and it will make them feel like they are a part of TPM, since they are. And maybe they might actually see how well received their art is here and decide to post in the forums! Fanart may actually come to life again if we can do this. We screwed up last time, lets make them feel welcome this time?

[shazza]

We screwed up last time, lets make them feel welcome this time?

nah fuck that ay they are our enemys

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I just hope TPM is not going to split up in two. The worst scenario is that the Miscellanous Stuff/Mt. Moon people build their own new non-Pokemon forum order and ASB is left alone and dies. Fortunately that's not likely because we have all these nice members.

[Magmar]

This thread helped me realize one thing that I just did not know prior to lurking it. I was unaware that there were other active, thriving Pokemon forums out there on the Internet, because this is truly the only forum that I post on. It's interesting that there are other forums out there full of Pokemon-related activity as well.

I have a recruitment & selection theory final exam tomorrow and so here goes the test of my knowledge. Woohoo! :D

First of all we have all identified that the problem here is attraction to the forums. Who is our target market? Are we looking for more folks who are attracted to the role-playing and Pokemon fan aspects of the site? Or are we looking to fill the forums with new life in Misc, Mt. Moon and the Games sections, where more general, non-Pokemon/anime-related discussions are held.

It seems that we have two very distinct crowds that post here, but the one thing we all have in common is that at some point in our lives, we were all fans of Pokemon. There was a point where we woke ourselves up bright and early during the summer to catch "morning" Pokemon because we just had to catch 'em all. At some point, we were all Pokemon Trainers. So whether your current gauge of interest is a 1 or a 10 in Pokemon, there is one thing we all share in that we can joke about and reminisce on old-school Pokemon and share laughs and create memories via social media.

That being said--ten years have gone by since many of us joined. It will soon be eleven years since I registered for TPM. What keeps me here? Well, there are a fair amount of members here that I can relate to. Like the other old-timers, I've been to a few different schools now, had many relationships, gone through personal drama that I've escalated and been brought back to earth by my pals here. I've come out of the closet :partyhat: again like a fair few of us here have. I've been through many phases of life, one of which was Pokemon. I've gone to university and am getting ready to graduate in a few months, again just like many of you. We share a lot of life experiences in common, and the one thing that remained consistent is that we all found the time to log on and shoot a quick post or two onto a dying Pokemon forum.

But is it truly dying? Take papabopp for example (sorry for picking on ya), who despite being 14 and a whole ten or more years younger than many of us, is integrating himself into the forum and is apparently active in the battle arena. There is still that other side of the forum which despite seeing low activity is alive and well. This side of the forum is attractive to a distinct group of folks--those who didn't know us when we were pimply, hormonal middle schoolers looking for friends when it felt like the whole world was looking at us and judging us. They don't share our life experience, but now we are those older folks who can help our younger pals get through the same trials that we did.

The meeting point of the two groups has always been the Misc forum, which has more activity than anywhere else on the whole message board. It is there that we share Happy Birthdays, talk about politics and news, show pictures of one another, and bitch about dead celebrities. I feel that Mt. Moon is a whole other beast, that second side of the forum, that is the "other place to go" for those of us who have just lost interest in Pokemon in general.

So then the question is, who do we want to recruit? What are other forums doing? We've benchmarked ourselves against the other forums, and we've found that other forums are more colorful, brighter, and the folks are cheerier yet stricter. It almost seems like we are all working here in a job without a boss, getting away with whatever we want and getting by. We can survive like that due to our small size and having active Supermoderators, particularly Lady Vulpix. But in larger forums, we have to look at the quality of the posting. Can people express themselves freely like they can here? It's not likely that members of those forums enjoy the same liberties we do. We can come and go as we please without any real obligation. Our mods and supermods only need to do work when they feel like it, because the amount of spam is so low. Again, the low spam is due to our small size.

We now have come to a point where we have to stop and realize that we are not a go-to destination for information on new Pokemon. While there are some of us here who get giddy when new Pokemon releases occur (and despite not playing the games I like to see what's new in the world of Pokemon here and there), most of us judge the caricatures of the new Pokemon against the scale of what Pokemon was like when we grew up, and move on from the subject. This is not attractive to fans of current Pokemon, but may be attractive to fans of vintage Pokemon.

Our target market, then, is smaller. The first stage of recruiting is attraction to the forum, so we need to change our image, maybe slightly, to appeal to the older fans of Pokemon. We're a geek retreat where we let that side of ourselves out. Maybe we don't need bright green colors and debates about every individual Pokemon card, but what we need is appeal. Who are we--a gathering place for Pokefanatics, or a lounge for former fans of Pokemon who reminisce and chit chat together?

This is where we can spot our competitive advantage--we are that free state in the world of Pokemon forums. We lack the stringent norms of social media in favor of bantering with one another. We truly enjoy one another's company. We may not be a Pallet Town, but we are certainly Elite. We have been here and survived for a long time, gone through many changes, and are still loyal to our forum.

What I propose is that we begin to market the forum as a long-lasting retro Pokemon-based forum where folks gather to chat and occasionally talk about Pokemon but mostly other stuff. But we are a geek sanctuary, if you want to suddenly post a super-nerdy meme, it's totally okay. We accept nerds, geeks and dorks here, as long as they aren't like that MollyIsMyBestFriend guy. Perhaps vintage appeal is our niche, something that will set ourselves apart and attract former as well as current, older fans of Pokemon to the forum.

When these new folks arrive, they are first off going to get their "realistic preview" when they start posting and realize that we can be catty and snide with one another. They say the more you fight, the stronger your friendship is. I don't mind getting picked on a bit here and doing a little bit of picking on, because I'm sure most of us experienced it at some point while we were growing up. I think everyone does but when we are kids we only see from our own perspective. They are going to find that it's tough to integrate here unless you are relaxed and not expecting rules to be strictly enforced. We have a spam forum that has quickly turned from a "spam" forum to a "discuss adult topics and pick on each other" forum, where crappy quality posts were once welcomed but like Misc have become obsolete. It's really an upgraded version of Misc, and now most times we find ourselves wondering whether a thread belongs in one or the other, but realize that it would thrive in either.

So the former fans of Pokemon wander on in and they find that we also have an active gamer section of the forum, with RPGs, a complete Battle Arena, adoption center, Fanfiction, Fan Art and plenty of outlets for fans of the series. These forums are filled with a different crew, that occasionally step out of those subforums and wander to Misc, but whether you are a current or former fan of Pokemon there is a place for you. As a whole we have gotten better with posting everywhere versus just in the one place you are most comfortable. We will appear as a group of folks who have real-world issues and care about things outside of Pokemon, but not ashamed to express that side of ourselves. We are that group of folks that our target market wishes they knew sooner. It's like saying "Come on over and geek out with us over Pokemon and grab a beer." I'm sure there are folks out there who wish they had that group of folks in their lives. We would be satisfying their needs and increasing our activity without doing much different.

Some of the former fans may begin to reminisce and remember how special they felt when they finally caught Mewtwo or discovered the 8th gym leader was Giovanni of Team Rocket. It may bring more activity to the Pokemon-based sections of the forum in that they will relive their childhood and maybe dabble in some fanart, fanfiction or an RPG. Things like Lapras Valley High School would quickly become popular because that too would be a way of reminiscing, and I remember it as an RPG that was very easy to jump into.

As for retention, sometimes the real world gets in the way and folks don't have the time to go online. With the way technology is changing (suddenly everyone has a cell phone and can go online with it), people may stop relying on their laptops for checking Facebook and may start using their phones to do that while they are out and about. So while at home and killing time, rather than memorizing the Facebook feed they will need something else to do. As we grow larger more unique threads will get started and we will find new things to discuss. Eventually we may need to start getting stricter but with our market matching our current demographic we will find that our geek sanctuary will continue to thrive.

All without appearing in their Facebook news feeds.

Ah, that's my spiel... Sorry for flooding your screens with chunks of text! I just spruced up the colors a bit so that way it wouldn't be so monotonous. I'd love your thoughts on this.

Finally this is my most important suggestion. Everyone with StumbleUpon should like the main page of the forums. Ensure that you are "liking" the link to the direct main page (http://www.pokemasters.net/forums). This will bring folks to the page who simply share an interest in gaming or social media.

[ChobiChibi]

TPM's Oekaki is pretty much dead... There's only been 9 posts in there since I last drew something there, and that was right at the beginning of August... If you could get hold of Absol or AikaChan21, perhaps they would, since they've posted frequently, but I dunno...

To be honest, I lost the Oekaki once the site went down.

If you want art, I can give you art. It's just when you guys were all searching for the old banners and stuff, when I tried doing an update of PCG's banner, no one gave me any feedback. I don't wanna draw something and it end up in a banner that everyone thinks "Ergh, that's so blah" every time they see it.

Also, the only other issue I have is that I can only do cute... (http://chobichibi.deviantart.com/#/d34tnzg) (<3 Eevee)

Oh, and the issue that next semester is dissertation time...

But if you come to some kind of decision about graphics or whatever, let me know sooner rather than later. I did Mt. Moon, I can do the rest...

[crown34]

i think we should turn tpm into a jersey shore based forum.

...

[Bear]

In honor of this thread...

ak8sOWiRO3Y

[Asilynne]

Magmar: You should ace that test XD I totally agree with you and that would be the best thing for TPM. I never liked the idea of trying to compete with serebii and bulbagarden because if we were trying to fit their niche we would always lose, they dont have to recover from anything and we would have to spend a very long time getting people to come to us instead of them, and thats assuming we could get everything they have up and running.
I believe in the website planning forum I also suggested we find a new niche for ourselves but like so many other things it gotpassed over. I hope people actually read what youve written and take it into serious consideration because that would be perfect for us.

Bex: Im all for you doing all the banners, I love your work, and you are good at pokemon AND people so whichever we choose to do you can do it!! Im also all for finding the couple of oekaki members you've mentioned and recruiting them for the site too. at the very least if they posted their oekaki pics in fanart it would bring some extra life to it.

[Lady Vulpix]

Well, we're trying to revive the Adopted and Captured Pokemon subforum right now (and I still hope to get clubs back someday, but that's another story). If anyone would like to join us, please contact me and/or make a post at the Goldenrod Tower (http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/showthread.php?t=15511&page=43) (there's a poll you can reply to in there). If you think it's too complicated, we can talk and think of a way to make it more accessible to new players.

These days I particularly recommend the Battle Tower (http://www.pokemasters.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11277). It's a place where you can battle other players, but it's more like the games than ASB (battles are fast and the results are determined using the formulas).

[Knight of Time]

Yeah, I have to side with Gabi on this one...with the revival of the Adopted and Captured Pokemon subforum already started, I'm crossing my fingers that this effort isn't going to eventually fail, I mean, the main problem with the subforum is the low number of people that are (still) in it...most of the members who made it what it is today aren't on TPM anymore, and even if Gabi or myself were able to contact any of them via e-mail, instant messaging, Facebook, etc., chances are those old members don't have enough interest or time to come back.

For that matter, I was the one who created the poll in Goldenrod Tower that Gabi mentioned...if anyone wants a quick reference as to what the poll is about, it's basically asking what you'd do if you could make any changes to the AC/CC forum, like adding, deleting, or changing something. I created the poll in hope to raise some awareness of what AC/CC has been going through these days, just incase anyone here (including any new members) wants to help out, you most certainly can. Adopting a Pokemon at either of the two adoption centers (Dragon Tamers Adoption Center and PokeZoo Adoption Center) is one of the best things anyone can do here if they want to help; the more new people we see in AC/CC, the higher its chances of survival.

Now, no offense to ASB here, but I'm starting to feel a bit saddened that its popularity is far exceeding that of the AC/CC subforum...I mean, I am doing my part to try and keep AC/CC alive since it's closer to the games themselves than ASB is, but in truth, it's hard for someone to be in both ASB and AC/CC, especially if you have a major job in either. I know a few people from ASB are into AC/CC as well to some degree, among them, Wolfsong, Crazy Elf Boy, Kurosakura, etc, do any of you guys find it difficult to be a part of both ASB and AC/CC, e.g. happy one is running well, but feeling some concern about the other?

Anyway, I'm just crossing my fingers that maybe some new people can take up an interest in AC/CC and actually stay there for at least a month, I mean, it can't hurt to try something new, right?

That's just my two cents for now.

[DarkestLight]

Say wha? What is AC/CC? I never see it advertised and therefore I never know what the hell it is. Once I read through it, I can effectively answer KOT's query. And well I'm sorry that you feel that way, but that is one main thing about what we're trying to do. Revive ALL sectors. I honesty...haven't see any advertising for it o_o...

Anyway, not too hard to do two things at once and maybe I'd be able to battle more than once a month -.-... But not derailing things here.

[Knight of Time]

Say wha? What is AC/CC? I never see it advertised and therefore I never know what the hell it is. Once I read through it, I can effectively answer KOT's query. And well I'm sorry that you feel that way, but that is one main thing about what we're trying to do. Revive ALL sectors. I honesty...haven't see any advertising for it o_o...

Anyway, not too hard to do two things at once and maybe I'd be able to battle more than once a month -.-... But not derailing things here.

Well, technically AC/CC stands for Adoption Center/Capture Center, but we generally use the shortened term as a truncated reference to the Adopted/Captured Pokemon sub-forum and anything major (like Pokemon and items) within it.

[Gavin Luper]

Magmar, I like your ideas and A++ for the amount of effort you put into that post, too. I think what we need is some kind of cohesive brand and I agree that, at least as it stands, we don't have it. TPM doesn't stand for anything. Both Serebii and Bulbagarden are powerhouses in terms of online pokemon sites: the bulk of fans would always go straight there for any news and info. So I guess we could either go all the way in that direction (somehow try to rival both of those sites in terms of content and popularity) or, the way I think you and I are both leaning, would be to market ourselves as the alternative pokemon fan site.

I think you're right: our laid-back style (formed over time due to our size) would be something special that other forums don't have. If we did market ourselves as a vintage geek hide away for alternative folk ... I think we might have a chance at survival that way.

Also, Bear, thanks for posting that vid ... I swear every time I look at the thread title I think of that song!

[Jay Umbreon]

in the first 3 years after i joined in 2000, this place was the hub of the online pokemon world :) it was incredible, and I couldnt wait to get on each day, it was so so active. and the chats on AIM were incredible too, such a community.

whatever TPM's state now, those memories will always be with me.

I enjoyed every second

[Blademaster]

.....Well said.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

When I won my lastest three Unown Awards, I linked the TPM topic in question to my Facebook status. It got three people liking it. Two of them TPMers. So there was ONE POTENTIAL NEW FINNISH TPM USER!

[Lady Vulpix]

AC/CC is getting some more activity these days and becoming more user/friendly. Ideas and new players are always welcome.

I miss the activity in Fanfic: the Golden Pens and Silver Pencils, the contests, the E-Zine, the reader's replies... >_> It would be nice to have those things again.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

It's pretty confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's cool. I can see tons of new possibilities arising now! Ulthuan region is pretty cool, I already had loads of stories in my head, and I don't even like RP:D

[cash]

I love to come to TPM and spend time here. I find it a better means to spend time than social networking sites like Facebook and Orkut. But, you are right that we have become quite old. This place has almost lost its energy. So it should be boosted up. Though pokemon still holds its energy, TDM does not.

[Blademaster]

...Who are you? You're new, but you talk like someone who's been here for years.

[Gavin Luper]

AC/CC is getting some more activity these days and becoming more user/friendly. Ideas and new players are always welcome.

I miss the activity in Fanfic: the Golden Pens and Silver Pencils, the contests, the E-Zine, the reader's replies... >_> It would be nice to have those things again.

Gabi, I miss the fanfic activity so much, too. I guess we can't forcibly manufacture activity, but the best news I can offer in that department is that I've given in my notice that I'm leaving my job and going back to Uni, so at least one Fanfic mod will be back to full activity in 2011.

[Chris 2.1]

It's difficult trying to stay afloat when there are so many bigger competetors. I think also most the older members are now grown up, working, too busy to spend their time here. I used to balk at people who took weeks, even months to post fanfic chapters when I was 13 or 14 since I reeled them off in all my spare time, but now, at [almost] 22, I feel burdened with work, social life, etc.

I don't really post in ASB anymore but keep writing my fic, although readership has dwindled to about 3 people. It's quite gutting really, but I'm driven by my story, not it's reception.

All we can do is pledge to keep pumping life into TPM. That's what I'll do.