Creation Forum Traffic

[livid imp]

Originally posted by Illuminatus
At least ten percent of threads created here are questions answered in FAQ and/or questions about finding SMAC. We even have people asking if anyone is interested in multiplay games, despite the fact there is multiplaying forum.

That is caused by lazyness, not confusion. Besides, what does that have to do with an extra 9 or so posts per month in the general forum usually by poly vets?

Originally posted by Illuminatus
Skimming through Apolyton I noticed a lot of forums that have low traffic, but nobody wants to merge them. :P
Fiction should stay where it is, as it is easy to find all fiction there, and so is creation. They do have low traffic compared to this one, but keeping them separate makes sense. All other games have separate forums for creation as well.

Just cause "everybody else is doing it" is no reason to continue the stasis quo

[Clear Skies]

Doesn't this discussion come up at least once a year?

Categories are there for a reason. The forum divisions are perfectly logical - tinkerers, scribblers and the rest of us, as a friend of mine once put it. Just because the Creation and Fiction forums are lying fallow right now isn't a reason to lump it all together - who's hurt by keeping them separate? 'What's the point' works both ways; I for one find the current forum system much easier to navigate than having to flick through page after page of OMGSMACXPHOW? and WTFPATCHWHERE? to find the piece of fiction I'm looking for. Forum usage is always cyclical - I can remember when Fiction was getting almost more traffic than AC-General.

In short, it may be baroque, but it ain't broke.

[Petek]

Actually, a forum consolidation took place several years ago. We used to have separate forums for "General", "Help" and "Strategy". IIRC the site owners proposed the consolidation (due to lack of traffic) and solicited opinions.

I favor keeping the status quo.

[DilithiumDad]

As author of several Creation therads, I would appreciate it if they could be moved here rahter than frozen in a ghost town never to be bumped again!

[Illuminatus]

Purpose of separation of forum is to find fiction and mods easily, not activity or traffic. This is where you are wrong. Merging them would create chaos. This way there is always an easy way to view fiction or mods separetely, and thus they must exist separate from main forum. Merging them would make it hell on earth to make searches.
Do you really believe that people who are too lazy to check other forums will reply to threads when they are in a single forum? I think not. Most of regular SMACers check all forums regulary anyway, and they are capable of answering 95 percent of questions.
If you want to solve problem, ask owners to alter software like this: add option in user control panel to set a default level to view threads since last X, thus eliminating need to manually adjust it. By setting it to say 100 days instead of 10 days, that will prevent forums from looking like desert. This is only sensible solution, not merging forums.

[Commy]

Okay, so maybe it is easier to find fiction and creation on separate forums...

But when I make posts, I don't go to each forum...I just go straight to strategy forum and click on each thread, read it, make a response, go on to the next forum...

So maybe I have some crackpot responses, but the point is, I don't respond because I am looking for a certain category, I respond because that thread is on the same page as every other thread I respond to...

Most responses, I would assume, are made because they can be...people make posts because they can...and having different categories is nice, but ultimately it kills the whole idea, because you end up getting less responses...

[livid imp]

Originally posted by Clear Skies
who's hurt by keeping them separate? 'What's the point'

Who is hurt? Anyone that posts in the those forums. I have posted my share of ideas in the Creation forum that only get seen by folks who just so happen to be wandering through at the time. Those of us that want to give a little something to the SMAC community need feedback. Any knid of developer will tell you that you need feedback from potential users in order to put out anything of quality. The Creation and Fiction forums are ghost towns. 9 posts between 2 forum in 1 month is not exactly busy.

Originally posted by Clear Skies
In short, it may be baroque, but it ain't broke.

If it ain't broke, then why is there a call to fix it once a year as you stated in the opening of your post?

[H.Humpel]

Yeah, there is no much traffic anymore in these forums (sad but true). But I feel very uncomfortable with merging them into the General forum because you may see the opposite effect as than these posts will/may "disapear" too fast onto the next page and - even worse - finding new creations (and their ideas) and/or fiction will be more difficult.
Merging these two forums into one Creation/Fiction forum seems to be an option as the title of the thread itself should be indicating enough on the topic/field.
But on the other hand... is there really any advantage/need in cuting down one forum ???