Is this place deaderer than dead? 5 5

[oakman29]

11 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

Yeah, that and the eBay coupons have tapered off.  March was a heck of a month - it threw the comic budget out the window.

I'm still trying to recover from my daughter's wedding last month, no comic book budget .

[Logan510]

@lizards2

Have you thought about contacting Hector to see what he can do about this? He's at the top of the likes leader board in case you weren't aware.

[lizards2]

1 hour ago, oakman29 said:

I'm still trying to recover from my daughter's wedding last month, no comic book budget .

[nepatkm]

[porcupine48]

[nepatkm]

[Senormac]

1 hour ago, nepatkm said:

That's just wrong on a thousand levels 

[nepatkm]

2 hours ago, Senormac said:

That's just wrong on a thousand levels 

Yes it is. 

[Get Marwood & I]

[Erndog]

For me, there's 2 pretty clear reasons.

First, the switch over.  As soon as that happened, this place became a morgue.

Second, the derailment of threads.  Now I've never been a huge contributor myself, but I lurked/followed many threads.  The constant derailment (usually via GIFs or whatever) has grown tiresome.  Its exhausting clicking in a thread and seeing random gif after random gif that doesnt contribute a single thing to the thread at hand.  Now I click a thread, see the same , and press the backspace usually within seconds of entering a thread.  You dont see this sort of thing on ANY other board.  In fact, the mods on other boards I frequent shut down or clean up threads that derail.

 

Anyways, it's my 2 cents.  See y'all in a month.

[Ride the Tiger]

Memes have definatly taken over most threads. Fun to see in some threads, kinda bothersome in others. Either way I try and contribute whatever I can in the more serious threads. Now off I go to grade a few books.

[Get Marwood & I]

1 hour ago, Erndog said:

For me, there's 2 pretty clear reasons.

First, the switch over.  As soon as that happened, this place became a morgue.

 

I don't know of any board member who disagree's with you on this Erndog. Arch has said in other threads that traffic is normal / comparative with the old boards, but this does not seem to be the case on the ground.

1 hour ago, Erndog said:

Second, the derailment of threads.  Now I've never been a huge contributor myself, but I lurked/followed many threads.  The constant derailment (usually via GIFs or whatever) has grown tiresome.  Its exhausting clicking in a thread and seeing random gif after random gif that doesnt contribute a single thing to the thread at hand.  Now I click a thread, see the same , and press the backspace usually within seconds of entering a thread.  You dont see this sort of thing on ANY other board.  In fact, the mods on other boards I frequent shut down or clean up threads that derail.

 

Anyways, it's my 2 cents.  See y'all in a month.

I see what you mean about the gifs. They do get a bit tedious after a while, and I for one am going to knock them on the head now unless they make a valid point better than words can. I think what hasn't helped is Lizards did his original thread, then a second and third and I, foolishly, added a fourth. So we have 4 threads now saying the same thing. 

I've spoken to a few people by PM and we all agree that things feel like they are drifting here. There doesn't seem to be any focus about the place and people seem to be able to post what they like where they like. Lizards2 did his original 'this place is deader' thread in good faith. I think it was his way of showing his alarm at the tangible sense that the place is drying up. The thread went on forever and so many people chipped in. Almost without exception, their comments supported the notion that we were in trouble.  

What didn't happen though - and this is the key point for me - is that no one in authority took the comments seriously. Arch upped the likes a bit but appeared to ignore / gloss over all the other heartfelt sentiments raised. This is the real world. We don't know what percentage of the admin teams time is allocated to managing the boards in a proactive / productive way. Maybe Arch, Scott and the team are supporting multiple clients and sites and this site is allocated only 2% of their working time. We don't know, and we are never given any insight. So all we can do is judge what we see (or not see).

I see drift, lack of focus and unfairness. I could outline 10 things I would do straight away to try and spruce the place up and make it a more interactive place. Lizards second and third thread, and my one should have been pulled by the mods. Needless repetition, clogging up the place. It's not how to promote the place - they need to be firmer. It's not about censorship. Just a polite message saying "I'm pulling this thread as it's repetition - by all means carry on in the first thread". I don't think you could argue against that really. Otherwise, we could have all four threads in the 'popular now' section / at the top. What message does it send to members, new or old? 

The boards have thousands of members. CGC send me emails often with embedded youtube videos about aspects of their comic services. They're really professional and make you want to join in. Imagine a video with a tutorial for the CGC boards. How to do the basics. An overview of each section. Attaching pictures. That kind of thing. Then an email to every member reminding them they once joined, and inviting them to contribute again. Add a competition to it - free slabbing etc, for the best question, best thread, best etc.

Before the above, tidy the place up. Create an archive area and move everything that is no longer relevant to it (moderation, questions about the new boards etc etc). Refocus the main areas of activity. Drop all the Announcements to the bottom, of just have a link - do we need to see Arch's face three times every time we log in? 

Bring the popular places to the fore. Cut out duplication. We only need one area for questions. Etc etc etc

On a personal level, I'm losing interest in participating here because there isn't anything happening. If I feel this way after less than two years, imagine how people who've been here 10, 15 years must feel.

I'm going to flag this post to Arch and Scott. I know I've said before I wouldn't, but I'm a hypocrite.

@Architecht 

@Scott =) 

Gents, are you in any way concerned by what is being said here in these threads? If not, just tell us. We're adults. If you are concerned though, what can you realistically do about it? Please, please, please take this post as a genuine call for change for the better - not a self aggrandising cheap shot at you. The new boards (not so new anymore) drove half the members away. Would that email / video tutorial suggestion bring some of them back? It can clearly be done, as it's done for CGC's other services.

To the reader - if you agree with the sentiments of this post, like it. That way, you send a message to Arch and Scott, our only contacts to the owners, that we love the site, are troubled by a sense of decline, and want things to change. If you think this is me trying to get likes, I say again for the 10th time, turn off the leaderboard then there is no physical manifestation of who is 'winning' and, therefore, no reason to like other than to like something you like! It is so obvious. Like this post, and show Arch and Scott that you care, and me that I've not just wasted an hour of my Saturday afternoon  

 

[Get Marwood & I]

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.... Great WiFi here. Let's see, I always liked comics as a kid. There's bound to be some great chat rooms and forums about them. Let's see.....

Here we go. C, G, C. Looks promising!

Lets' see what's happening here...

Oh, that's handy - popular now. Nice job! Let's have a look.

Oh. Which 'foot cover' do I perfer.....good grocery stores....  

 

Tips:

1. Take the WC threads out of the Popular Now section. 
2. Invite members to go on spelling courses.

 

[DeadOne]

@Get Marwood & I

I posted this in the other thread, but wanted to move it here so others could chime in as well.
_______________

I think you're on point with the majority of what you've stated.
The only thing, and I mean this with absolutely no ill intent whatsoever, that I think you could scale back a bit is calling out Arch, Scott:) and other admins. as much as you do. I see why you do it, they are the go to people for us, but I look at it like they have their limitations as well. Sometimes we might not agree on what their limitations are or if they are actual limitations or more self-imposed.

I like your archive idea. Maybe each section of the boards could have one.
Arch implemented one after the changeover for the VCC Forum and it really did clean things up. Keep in mind though that it is very time consuming to do so and the reason for this is an actual limitation with the software.

I like your tutorial idea as well.
Again, I did a similar tutorial for the VCC with step by step instructions on how to do certain things. If I knew how to create a video tutorial (and I didn't have a face made for radio) I would have made those as well.
But keep in mind that these are paid employees and not enthusiasts like us who do it because we like it. A lot of good ideas by members probably do not see the light of day because they are not cost effective. Maybe if people volunteered their time, worked on things themselves, and only asked admins. to review it would be easier to get some things done.
This might be something for the admins. to consider if they really want the boards cleaned-up. Allowing certain members (after a proper vetting) limited mod powers to help organize things a bit might not be the worst idea in the world.

I think the personal invites back into the fold would do a world of good as well.

With all this being said, I think we really need to think about how important it is for CGC to actually have a chat board in the first place. At one point in time it probably made a world of sense, but as times change and the ability to contact through a multitude venues grows exponentially with each day, it may not be high on their list of things to maintain. It might not even be low on the list.
My only hope, if this Chat Board ever ceases to be, is that members are given fair warning so we can save as much of this wealth of information as possible and get contact information, maybe even say farewell, to those who have become important to us over the years.

[Get Marwood & I]

7 minutes ago, DeadOne said:

I think you're on point with the majority of what you've stated.
The only thing, and I mean this with absolutely no ill intent whatsoever, that I think you could scale back a bit is calling out Arch, Scott:) and other admins. as much as you do. I see why you do it, they are the go to people for us, but I look at it like they have their limitations as well. Sometimes we might not agree on what their limitations are or if they are actual limitations or more self-imposed.

Thanks DeadOne - I think you're right here and I do honestly want good relations with the admin staff. I get a little frustrated with the open goals and think a few more attempts to score would help us all feel that things, and our opinions, mattered. Especially when the overall intent is good. Accepting that there may well be limitations, I still can't see why we can't have a decent open discussion about the state of play rather than keep glossing over it. 

Thanks for a gif free response - and good luck with the VCC this weekend. You put a lot of effort into it and it reflects the best of what the boards can offer. 

[1950's war comics]

22 minutes ago, DeadOne said:

With all this being said, I think we really need to think about how important it is for CGC to actually have a chat board in the first place. At one point in time it probably made a world of sense, but as times change and the ability to contact through a multitude venues grows exponentially with each day, it may not be high on their list of things to maintain. It might not even be low on the list.

you are so right DeadOne ... what so many fail to realize is that CGC is doing us the favor by having this chatboard for us ,... not the other way around ....

[1950's war comics]

1 hour ago, Get Marwood & I said:

On a personal level, I'm losing interest in participating here because there isn't anything happening. If I feel this way after less than two years, imagine how people who've been here 10, 15 years must feel.

Please don't take the boards so serious , this place is fun (except for a dozen or so)  , you are one of the greatest member ever !! it's just that the attention span given to a great thread is brief.....

you deserve boardie of the year award this year Steve   and then you too can give silverjanet 15,000 more likes !! 

[Get Marwood & I]

24 minutes ago, 1950's war comics said:

Please don't take the boards so serious , this place is fun (except for a dozen or so)  , you are one of the greatest member ever !! it's just that the attention span given to a great thread is brief.....

you deserve boardie of the year award this year Steve   and then you too can give silverjanet 15,000 more likes !! 

[Get Marwood & I]

3 votes in 18 hours tells it's own story I suppose. Even the OP has better things to do! 

[StingerMcK]

On 4/18/2018 at 9:15 AM, lizards2 said:

I don't know.  I come on here at night to play (last night it was 9 pmish) , and there is no one around.  Comics General hasn't had a post in an hour and half.  Even the GA/SA/BA sales forum has no real substance, other than peddling the same three or four issues of Fantastic Four.

It was nice to see all those old posters come out of the woodwork in the first dead thread, but again, I am frustrated with the lack of posting, lack of people, lack of traffic around here.

if I am ever in the market for a 1st Galactus or Black Panther, I know where to go.