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Future of Hobby Forum Discussion Over On Chaos Dwarfs Online

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:18 pm
by Karak Norn Clansman
Sharing just in case any nugget from this lively discussion would be of use somewhere.

Some points: Consolidation, resource library, getting the site's good stuff out there on Facebook and whatever other platforms exist, to draw people in (maybe simpler for single-army forums, maybe not). Lots of detail tweaks. For sites other than CDO I'd also stress the need to compile resources and gems in handy sections (e.g. a dedicated Tutorial section like on DakkaDakka) and try out some get-together events, e.g. contests (which tend to work over time since they exploit human competitiveness). Of course the conditions discussed are CDO's own, but some common ground may still be found, possibly.

Cheers!

Re: Future of Hobby Forum Discussion Over On Chaos Dwarfs On

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:38 pm
by Shannar, Sealord
If we lack anything here it's people with the drive/time/knowledge to grow the place again. And that's a shame, because we do need to grow or there won't be anyone left to talk to before long.

Maybe during my upcoming 3 month trip to switzerland I'll put some of my attention on that since i won't be taking paints.

Re: Future of Hobby Forum Discussion Over On Chaos Dwarfs On

Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 11:30 am
by Karak Norn Clansman
Best of luck! And don't be too afraid of uniting remnants with Druchii for an All Elf forum if that is one way forward.

Re: Future of Hobby Forum Discussion Over On Chaos Dwarfs On

Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 3:09 pm
by Prince of Spires
It's an interesting discussion to read. We've had similar here as well a few times (with many of the same conclusions). And it's a difficult discussion. In large part because I don't think there is a single right answer that fixes everything.

I'm not in favour of merging with Druchii. Mainly because it destroys the sense of community many of the currently active members have. It would be like pulling an "End Times" on our own forums. The risk of losing the few active members and the occasional old-timer dropping in again is greater then the potential benefits. It would basically be starting a new forum. Which I think will only work if you have a strong incentive for people to come here. Like the 9th age forum, which draws people because it's the main resource on the 9th age.

The problem I think we have with things like contests is that we don't have enough history with them and not enough active member to make them a succes. It would risk simply having the same 5 members post pictures of models they would post anyway.

I think ways of drawing in more casual visitors is one of the ways forward. A facebook group could definitely work to draw in interest.

Another way could be to see if we can draw in some age of sigmar users. I'm not sure yet how to manage this (except by finding one or two very active AoS players). AoS is slowly growing. And by all accounts starting to do better and better.

Rod

Re: Future of Hobby Forum Discussion Over On Chaos Dwarfs On

Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2018 1:39 pm
by Calisson
How would doing nothing achieve to fix anything? :?
Is AoS of any support for keeping Aelfs separated?

Re: Future of Hobby Forum Discussion Over On Chaos Dwarfs On

Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2018 1:55 pm
by Shannar, Sealord
What's an Aelf?

As a new forum, united like AoS would be fine. But if we make that change here, then all we've really done is accelerate the end of our forum. It might still be a great forum. It might even be better than this one. But it won't be a High Elf forum. If someone wanted to do a untied elf forum I would hope it does well, But it's not something I'm interested in giving my time to.

Re: Future of Hobby Forum Discussion Over On Chaos Dwarfs On

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 9:08 am
by Prince of Spires
Shannar, Sealord wrote:As a new forum, united like AoS would be fine. But if we make that change here, then all we've really done is accelerate the end of our forum. It might still be a great forum. It might even be better than this one. But it won't be a High Elf forum. If someone wanted to do a untied elf forum I would hope it does well, But it's not something I'm interested in giving my time to.
This is the main reason for me to be very cautious with any changes to the nature of the forum. Many of our current active members (few though there are) come here because we're a High elf forum. Any change to that nature means we effectively create a new forum and have to start from scratch in regards to our member base. And while an AoS forum may work, we don't have enough AoS players to make it work. So, doing this is for someone else.

Just as an example, I think the Ogre Stronghold tried this. And a short while later I think they completely shut down. Of course, there are differences between them and us. It may very well be they had no other options left. But it shows the danger of such a move. And I would much rather try things that can be reversed if it doesn't work then going all in on a gamble that may or may not pay off.

Which of course doesn't mean that doing nothing is the way forward. Anything that can increase activity is a welcome. But it begins with nurturing the few active members there are. I'm very open to suggestions in this regard. Which is also why I'm reading the discussion over a CDO with interest.

Rod

Re: Future of Hobby Forum Discussion Over On Chaos Dwarfs On

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 11:31 am
by Shannar, Sealord
And there is NOTHING at all stopping anyone from creating an Aelf site. If they think they need the users here to make it work then it's not going to work.