Forum Survival after Release?

I certainly hope these forums stay as lively as they are now, but I doubt it. I joined after a BWE and for some reason I got hooked and am unsure how often I will post when the release comes out. Especially if I have a PvE guild to manage. So REALISTICALLY who thinks the forums will suffer considerably a week after the release.

Lansing Kai Don

P.S. It just occurred to me that this great community is here in "preperation" for an unreleased game and I hope it doesn't disband, but realistically I think it lose alot of the current posters (I hope myself but you never know).

I'm sure after the first few weeks of release, the forum activeness will decrease in a little, but it might go up because of all the new comers. Either way it will even back out later.

Wow your quick, I didn't even get the poll up bobert. Shoot I didn't even get to inhale. Grats, I'm along the same lines, hoping I come back after a break period but hey no promises people.



Lansing Kai Don

I hope to use this forum to get help for my budding guild and to find new members. I do not have a site yet But I am here to help take the edge off my GW Withdrawals) When I can play all the time I may have less time to post between my Guild and game but will try . hope to see everbody in game though

Ren

It could go one of two ways methinks. Either everyone will get closer because we can all play together and share our experiences, which is what I hope. OR, it'll drift apart cause with the game out everyone will go and do their own little thing. I hope for the first :P

Forum traffic always goes up after game release. There are simply a lot more people looking for more information.

I think it will still stay an active forum.

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I have Administrated many, many forums and sites in the past, a few for considerable lengths of time. I've been doing it enough to know, that in matters like these, there tend to be certain patterns that a community will follow.

In the early stages (pre-release), your community is going to be composed primarily of people who are dedicated to the game. Even if they can't play it, they remain students of it, and often get into numerous deep discussions regarding matters in, of, and around the game. These people will make up the 'core' of a community, and in essence, will define the character of those forums. If people come to a forum and see intelligent discussions going on, they're either going to decide that they want in, or "That's not for me!" and leave. The same thing can be applied to flamey, trolly forums. Some people like that kind of stuff. But all of that is shaped at this point .. things tend to be slow, but very consistent.

When release comes.. you might want to bunker down and brace yourself for the storm. A lot of new people will be finding out about the game .. people who will pick it up off the shelf because online play is free, because it looks cool, or just because a friend said it rocks. They're going to have a lot of questions, and the first place they're going to look is either the official site (thus leading them to fansites) .. or GameFAQs .. *shudders.* What you end up with is a massive influx of people with little experience in that community, and a lot of questions. You'll see the same thing asked a hundred times over, and a lot of behavior that is discordant to what the 'regulars' have become used to. That's not something you can really fault a new person for, mostly .. as it is something akin to getting into a pool. The water is really cold at first, but you adapt. Forums are the same way.. it takes time to adjust, and this is definitely the 'growing pains' stage. You'll often find that a lot of 'older' members will start to act or feel distant, sometimes even becoming bitter. Question threads that used to be answered with a happy emoticon eventually turn to "Read the bloody FAQ" after the Xth time around. That is just the way things go .. it's no different from 'old people' complaining about those 'noisey kids' and their 'crazy rock and roll.' This is certainly one of the most critical points in a forum's life cycle .. if people remain patient, and stress friendliness in their actions .. then slowly but surely, the people that seek questions will find their answers (and not feel rebuked for doing so) which they in turn, can give to the next person that needs them. If everyone manages to survive this stage with their sanity intact, we move along to..

The point where things settle back down. Like a week after a little kid's birthday party, we're not as excited about 'having' new toys, we're kinda used to playing with them now. What this means is that you'll see a focus shift back to the social aspects of the game, something like it was in the 'pre-release' days, only on a much more grandiouse, and more informed scale. This is usually the stage when you notice friends, or groups, or even 'cliques' becoming more visible. Because people now have the opportunity to play as they wish, should they need someone .. where to turn? The people you already know from a forum is a good place to start. Sitting around and talking with someone about something, and actually doing it are two very different things .. and moreso than they would have, people might realize "Hey, so and so is cool." So, things start to take on a more congenial nature. You'll hear people talking about their exploits, or organizing get togethers, things of that nature. Most of the life cycle will happen here.. until..

News of the next Expansion comes .. and we start all over again!
I don't have any doubts for the longevity of this forum, it's just a matter of being an oar in the water .. you're moving with the flow, but you're also directing it.

Honestly? I don't think site has come anywhere near the point of maximum usage yet. There is a ton of room to grow yet and with all of the people already here adding to it, the only place it can go is up, up, and AWAY!! (underdog)


(oy can't beleive I flashed back on that one )

Lively? Are you kidding? After release tons of people are going to flood into all sorts of fansites and forums asking newb questions! Hopefully all the people with the answers that make up 70% of the population here are still around when that happens.

Well said, Spooky. You should give that little speech its own seperate place on the site somewhere. I wouldn't mind being able to find it easily, if I ever need to reference or quote it.

Perhaps we all need to take an 'oath of order and allegiance' to gwg:

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I promise to never tell people what to do, only provide helpful suggestions. I will never say "READ THE F%#$&*G FAQ!!!!" or similar. I will continue to keep GWG in my 'favorites' folder, and click on it often and lots. I will un-newbanize as many players as possible, so they can in turn un-newbanize others to come. And most importantly, I will a keep a link to the "New Players Section" on my clipboard...always.
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And with that, I depart in preparation...

I think Spooky's got it pretty right.
There'll be a huge inrush of newbies and the dedicated, educated long-time fans will get very annoyed and irritated with them, but after a while it will settle down and get to a state close to what it was before. Of course, a lot of the current regulars whi use the forum to help alleviate their withdrawal symptoms will finally be able to play the game and therefore won't be around as much but eventually they'll come back too.

Is Spooky some kind of god or soemthing like that? Well said as usual...

I know that I will stick with the forum and a lot of us will. Some of us who are here from the betas who are not admin might get well known among the forums. Like stated above, there will be a huge influx of people coming to the forums at release. I believe Spooky on what he said. Let's just hope we can all make it through the Times of Great Newbage.

Yes, Spooky is some kind of god.

There will probably be always something that I don't know/understand, and this seems to be the best place to ask my questions. So I'll be staying .

i think after the real game comes out there wont be as much to talk about really. like i mean there will be alot of talking and stuff but they will be mainly just questions or so unless u have a post that shows what we want for the next expansion or somthing it will probably have alot of people looking at this site but not as many posting ideas or comments

I don't believe it will die at all. The only thing that will kill GWG forums is if there is a snobbish attitude that presents itself as many new players who really need help come here and ask seemingly "dumb" questions. I think there is a fine line between moderating a forum and being repressive in its moderation. Repressiveness will drive people away despite excellent discussions.

There will always be those cluseless people who don't know how to finish a quest or where to find X and Y and item Z...

Well put Spooky, I posted something similar to what you said in an earlier thread, only mine had a tad more cynicism.

Since most of what I would have said is spoken for, I'll just condense my predictions;
You'll see a huge influx of new users. As shocking as it sounds, there are still a hell of a lot more prospective players who either never heard of GW or were not tempted to buy into the whole BWE thing. Granted some of these new players will be experienced and mature online gamers, and know the general standard procedures and etiquettes of fan forums (i.e. reading the FAQ). However most of them will be a fresh faced and confused lot, some will be newbs who really don't what to do etc, while some will be n00bs who would demand answers from one of the most frequently asked questions, and yet still think they are teh hax. Some of the old timey forum users will grow bitter by the influx of n00bs, soon they will no longer to be able to distinguish newbs from n00bs and will end up snapping at both. Afterwards they usually say their farewells and disappear forever off the face of the forums, either to hang out in their own guild forums, or a different forum so as to relive the 'old days'. After a few months things will start to settle down, as people focus on more important things such as debating that 'X class isn't broken, you just don't know how to play them' etc. Guru will never really be the same again. I'd imagine the standards of maturity will become more relaxed with the increase of new players, and become a forum not unlike TGH's. The worst case scenario is that Guru becomes a munchkin site, something unique to Guru due to its high level of in depth content.

the only thing needed (besides all the work of the admin/mod) is the willingness to answer the same question for the 50 th time in 2 days from 50 people who dont know what or where the search button is with a friendly answer

the admin take care of the trolls and the forum takes care of the guests and new members

the words are helpful PATIENCE

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Laughs I'd have to agree with that.

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