Topic

Forum suggestions

1. A fifth board
I understand Glitch is still new and doesn't need HEAPS and heaps of boards or most of them will end up dead.  But I think General flows pretty quickly now, and I can hardly blame people for remaking the same topics over and over again if even 10-hour-old topics are falling off the front page. Maybe it is time for another board?  It means the forums will need closer moderating of course.

2. Closer moderating
Not that the staff aren't doing a great job already, but this would help with #1.  Right now, I'd say a lot of 'off-topic' stuff appears in General without being moved, and most of the time we aren't even quite sure (unless I'm missing a document that explicitly states this) what defines 'on' topic.  NB: I love how the staff get (or used to get, based on older threads) involved with the community outside of just arbitrating disputes.  the "Ignore the badge, I'm just joining in" type thing.  Don't know how I could encourage this more, heh.

3. Increase awareness of other boards
Maybe by not necessarily loading General by default?  Maybe by making it clearer what belongs there and not there?  It's possible most people post everything in General because everyone posts everything in General.

4. Thoughtfully stickying certain forum-related threads
Like the 'hot topics' but specifically for forum use.  Such stickied threads could be an index of other important threads, such as periodically repeated threads (eg, tree war threads), frequently asked questions (eg, where can I get salt), relatively important documents (eg Community Guidelines, stoot's 'about changes to gameplay' thread), or an explanation of forum usage should there arise one later :).

I realise most of these would require effort to implement and continued increased effort on the part of moderating staff.  There just might not be the time to do this, hence we should just keep what we have now to avoid worse chaos...!  And I understand that too.

Posted 14 months ago by Lara Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Lara, thanks for your thoughtful post. There's *so* much we can do with the forums to make them less noisy, and....well, usable. Some of the bigger changes are not high on the list of priorities right now because we're focusing on making the game itself better and more engaging, but some, like being able to see your own posts and comments, are almost here. In fact, the "stickies" are already around, we just need to figure out how to best use them. And as far as moderation goes, everyone is working on so many things at once it's easy to forget the forums for a little. All that being said, there do need to be Forum Guidelines. They've been in the works while the Community Guidelines were being cemented and while we were observing how the forums would be used with an influx of new players post launch. But soon. 
    Posted 14 months ago by Blanky Subscriber! | Permalink