Zelaron needs changes

Not to burst your bubble or anything, but it isn't the Admins that the blame should be placed on. When the upgrade of vB3 came, WW made it so that only he and Chruser could do anything with Zelaron. The only difference between myself and Sov (when I was Admin) was that I could IP ban and change User Groups. Nothing else. Of course, my opinion was asked on issues, but as you can see from WW response, Chruser is the final say. Period.

Penguin is just... well... there. IMO, Chruser should keep the Owner tag, WW the Webmaster tag, and Sup Mods should be given all the priviledges I had, which is only slightly more than what they have now, but keep the same tag. I only say this because as "Admins", they get more shit because of their tag, but in all seriousness, they ain't jack shit, just glorified Sup Mods.

As you've stated before, this is a predominantly teenage based community. WW is not a teenager. WW actually has a job. Meaning, I certainly wouldn't expect Zelaron to exactly be on the top of his priority list, so don't expect all these great suggestions to be implemented. I do agree that over time, they should be done, but there is only so much 1 person can do.

There is more problems at Zelaron than some of the obvious issues you've brought up. But that is a good start. Activity is something that is fixed with money for advertising, and unless you are willing to put it forth, don't expect others to deliver for you.

Not to burst your bubble or anything, but it isn't the Admins that the blame should be placed on. When the upgrade of vB3 came, WW made it so that only he and Chruser could do anything with Zelaron. The only difference between myself and Sov (when I was Admin) was that I could IP ban and change User Groups. Nothing else. Of course, my opinion was asked on issues, but as you can see from WW response, Chruser is the final say. Period. Penguin is just... well... there. IMO, Chruser should keep the Owner tag, WW the Webmaster tag, and Sup Mods should be given all the priviledges I had, which is only slightly more than what they have now, but keep the same tag. I only say this because as "Admins", they get more shit because of their tag, but in all seriousness, they ain't jack shit, just glorified Sup Mods.

Okay. Well, then that's my fault. This thread is then aimed mainly at Chruser and WW.

As you've stated before, this is a predominantly teenage based community. WW is not a teenager. WW actually has a job. Meaning, I certainly wouldn't expect Zelaron to exactly be on the top of his priority list, so don't expect all these great suggestions to be implemented. I do agree that over time, they should be done, but there is only so much 1 person can do.

Well, if he doesn't have time for the community, then he should say so. I don't think that's the problem, though. I mean, okay, perhaps he may run a bit short on time, as he is an adult, and probably has a lot more bullshit to put up with than we do, but (I'm not sure about this) he sure has put in a lot of time on the eye candy at this forum. And it's great. Seriously, this is one of the best-looking forums I've seen, period. Some of those suggestions I've made shouldn't take long to implement at all. I don't think WW has serious time problems, although I could be wrong. If he does, then perhaps it's time he let someone else do everything on the technical side of things.

Again, WW, I really have nothing against you, personally. You're probably one of the smartest people here, and have certainly been one of the major players in bringing this forum as far as it has gotten. You've been here since day 1, I believe. I'm just stating what I'm observing. If you honestly don't have time, then perhaps you should allow someone else who would have the time to also join the group of elite admins.

There is more problems at Zelaron than some of the obvious issues you've brought up. But that is a good start. Activity is something that is fixed with money for advertising, and unless you are willing to put it forth, don't expect others to deliver for you.

Well, the thing is, this is Chruser's forum, not mine. If it were mine, I would have put forth some money on advertising, or try to find another scheme to bring members in. But it's not. Thus, Chruser needs to at least take the initiative in the advertising side of things. If it's money that's the issue, then I'm sure there are folks here who would be more than happy to deliver. All I want is their word, man. I just want them to acknowledge that activity is dwadling, and something needs to be done. I just want them to say, "Okay, Mj, we'll consider some of your ideas." That's it. I just want my ideas taken into consideration. I don't think I'm above everyone else, there are obviously going to be some suggestions that will seem bazaar to some members, but I just ask that they are considered. If I can get that much, I swear to god I will do everything I can to get this board back to it's topmost level. I will post news like crazy, I will spam other forums/newsgroups/IRC channels, and any other reasonable thing that's asked. I'm willing to send money, if that's the problem. I'm sure other members feel the same.

Also, it seems a lot of people are really raffled up about the post count thing. I asked Sov if he thinks that its going to be re-set, and he seems really against that. I was suprised that my issue was actually posted about, though.

Well, while Sovereign may be against it, as am I, it's not really his call. I don't think he has any say-so in whether or not your post count is reset. WW/Chruser probably make that call. Now, I certainly hope that they wouldn't reset your post count for something as silly as this, but it's completely in their hands.

It's not like Zelaron makes any money for Chruser either though. You gotta think about that.

It's not like Zelaron makes any money for Chruser either though. You gotta think about that.

On the contrary, yes it does.

Im pretty sure chruser does some side advertising for Taco or something, and Taco pays chruser. My intake in it all is that it covers most of the cost of zelaron.

It sure could bring him money, if he put up advertisements everywhere.

Shit how much do you think a giant company would pay for a 6000 member forum to advertise?

IMO, this could be just a giant get-rich scheme, for chruser to get 10000 members and then put ad's everywhere

I'm sure its not though

Considering we don't have any advertisements. I'd say that's correct. What does taco need advertised?

It's not like Zelaron makes any money for Chruser either though. You gotta think about that.

That's besides the point. By putting up a forum publically on the internet, the webmaster should have an unofficail obligation to kep the members happy. And Chruser has upheld that for most of the time, it's just that it's hard to see this forum slip from greatness after so long. Like I said above, money's not a problem. If that's why Chruser can't advertise, then I'm sure there are more than enough members willing to cover that cost.

Can we get a list of all the members willing to cover the cost please? I've got to see this. If none of us will even donate a dollar to K_A for a video card, I doubt anyone would be willing to help out for advertising.
I don't think he does have any sort of obligation to us, if you don't like the way its going, join a different forum.

Can we get a list of all the members willing to cover the cost please? I've got to see this. If none of us will even donate a dollar to K_A for a video card, I doubt anyone would be willing to help out for advertising.

Of course I can't say for sure, but if Chruser were to ask for money, I'm sure that people would be willing go give some, and in fact, I believe it has happend before. The difference between KA's video card and Zelaron's best intrest is that we really don't care about what video card KA has. I would hope that we care about Zelaron's well-being.

I don't think he does have any sort of obligation to us,

Again, my bad. Bad choice of words. I should've said he has an obligation to keep the forum running without bumps, which I quite honestly believe he does, being the founder and leader of this forum. I mean, if not, at least be straight up with the members and let them know that he has no intention of keeping the forum running smoothly. But I don't think that's the case. In every thread, he says he still cares about Zelaron, so we know that he does care about Zelaron. If he wasn't willing to even keep the forum running smoothly, why would he even be paying for Zelaron?

if you don't like the way its going, join a different forum.

Of course not. That's a punk move. You don't just give up on something becasuse you don't like the direction it's taking, especially after being so dedicated to it for such a long time. It's like saying, "Oh, you don't like American politics? Go join a different country." It just doesn't work like that. You do everything in your power to make American politics better, if you really care; you don't just walk out on your country. Similarly, I have no intentions of walking out on this forum.

1. You can't change America in the least. It's run by big brother now and forever. The most you can do is get around the restrictions for yourself. Bad example but I know where your coming from.
2. He wouldn't be paying for zelaron, but he would be paying for the advertising, or someone would. Unless we had a situation where we know people who know people who would let us put of free advertising.
3. I'm sure most of us do care about the well being of zelaron, but not to the extent that we could be willing to dish out money, atleast for me its that way. This whole thread, just like the previous, "improve zelaron" threads are mostly just talk, I know you don't feel this way mj obviously, but thats the sad fact of the matter.

Activity is something that is fixed with money for advertising, and unless you are willing to put it forth, don't expect others to deliver for you.

Last time I checked it doesn't cost money to tell friends or classmates or other gamers about a forum. I think we are all to blame and we all have to pitch in to save this forum. Of course we are the only ones who see it as dying.

A forum doesn't get real active by telling people in your direct area, trust me.
This is by all means the worst time for the activity of forums, ever.
I've never seen so many unactive forums, so many forums simply dieing...

In normal times, forums would become active by just mouth to mouth advertising (e.g. classmates talking to eachother about it), but as I said, these are not normal times.

To my opinion, populairity can be gained by paying.
Google Adsense had a unique system, which will display ads where appropriate.
On a Diablo II forum, it will show Diablo II advertisements.(just an example)

This is, to my opinion, the best way to get new members, in times like these.

Getting a new permanent Admin wouldn't fix it, but what about a temporary one?
An Admin whom is still a teenages, with priorities set differently.
I'm sure there are atleast 5 (including me) expierenced vBulletin Admins, who would love to help out installing a hack or 2.(even coding one)

I have recently been doing a job for a friend at his forum, which -if done by pro's- would normally cost him over 200$(no kidding), and I did it for free.
I'm sure there are more people here who would love to do things like that for this forum, completely free.

It's a shame the sup. mods don't know anything about vBulletin hacks, else you could maybe make them an Admin(you trust them, right?).

What would be the bad thing about making a teenager, who has different priorities, an admin?

Even though making changes might not be a nice thing when you do it, its always nice when you can look back and say "Pfff, I'm glad we did that a year ago, else this forum would've probably been dead!", isn't it?
I'm one of this people who hates changes, really.
But sometimes changes are needed, and you have no other choice...

Personally, I don't see where installing any form of vbHacks is going to draw members to us. I mean, how often do you go to a site and see something slightly out of the ordinary, then proceed to make that your primary forum?

I don't think the hacks will draw NEW members, but something new to play with may keep older members around a little longer (for the novelty).

I don't think any staff-shuffling is going to do anything either. If people aren't coming, they're not coming. We need something to catch peoples' eye to bring them here, and our community itself should convince them to join merely by our posts.

Personally, I don't see where installing any form of vbHacks is going to draw members to us. I mean, how often do you go to a site and see something slightly out of the ordinary, then proceed to make that your primary forum? I don't think the hacks will draw NEW members, but something new to play with may keep older members around a little longer (for the novelty). I don't think any staff-shuffling is going to do anything either. If people aren't coming, they're not coming. We need something to catch peoples' eye to bring them here, and our community itself should convince them to join merely by our posts.

I don't agree on this.
If I see a board, with a cool exclusive hack, I register and see what it's like.
If I like it, I go scrolling around the forums, see how it's like.

Also, a new motivated, devoted Admin could get more active members, I'm sure.
If you, for example, get a new Admin who already administrates 1, 2 or 3 other forums, he can advertise on his own forums, about Zelaron.

I say it again, Google adsense will also help.
If you do a bit of research on their ad program, you will find that it's actually not that expensive.
You don't need a fancy 1st spot on every google search including the word "game", but using their banner system helps.

You can then also add a banner, which will be only displayed to guests.
This is a very easy thing to do, it can be done with one of the most basic conditions.
As most of the users browsing these forums are usually guests, they will either register to get rid of the ads, or just keep on being a guest and make money for you

I also got an idea while I was falling asleep.
What about a vBulletin hack team here on the board?
I'm sure there are atleast 5 expierenced coders here, who can join the team.
After we make a cool hack, we can distribute it at vbulletin.org(we will add a copyright notice, saying it's copyrighted to the www.zelaron.com hack team).
This is also some free advertising, which is pretty populair.

With that same team, we can also code exclusive zelaron only hacks, if needed.

Tell me what you think about this.

I enjoy reading Death's posts. While having a few good ideas. He also is saying he would make and awesome admin and should be one.

I still think my idea for an IRC channel on gamesurge or something like that could draw new members. Didn't we use to have a CS forum? Why dont we run a CS server. Not sure how WW is hosting this or if the ping would be any good but. If its possible we should look into it.

I am just giving examples of what I would do as an Admin, or already have done on my board, and that I'd love to be one.
Ofcourse, everyone would like it, so I'd better put those wishes aside

An IRC channel wouldn't be that hard, as far as I know, it can be set up on a normal server like the one Zelaron is hosted on.

Hosting a gaming server would be a little harder though, and would probably cost money.
A friend and me will soon be launching a Webhosting service soon, so I might be able to host the server for free .

I will look into the IRC channel, and the gaming server, if you want.