So, Who Made it back Here (after the Site Change)?

Kolido · 27-07-2021 8:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117669465#Comment_117669465

Ah no, did he. Hope all is well with him.

Declan A Walsh · 27-07-2021 9:19pm

I saw Lord TSC on Werewolf. I had not seen his name until recently. Was he a Forum Game regular that returned - maybe a Werewolf regular?

Necro · 27-07-2021 9:37pm

I'm still here but to be honest I'm really struggling with the new upgrade. It's not user friendly and doesn't feel like Boards anymore. Haven't been massively active as a result as I'm a bit downbeat about the whole situation to be quite honest. It's been three weeks now, I've given it a chance and I just... I hate it. I understand the old site couldn't keep going as is but this thrown together piece of junk is just awful, it's quite clear that the new platform Vanilla is not capable of running a site in the way boards was.

It's upsetting tbh, I love this Forum but it's actually getting to the point where I hate logging on to the site.

Declan A Walsh · 27-07-2021 9:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117670712#Comment_117670712

On the plus side, we might rediscover the things we used to do - that was what I said coming up to the temporary shutdown of the site!

HeidiHeidi · 27-07-2021 9:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117670712#Comment_117670712

Exactly how I feel.

I'm hanging in, hoping they'll pull it together in the end, but that hope is waning by the day - and I fear even if they do, the critical mass of posters that made boards what it was will be gone 😪

I would have been all over a heap of threads before, and on a boring night dipping in and out of all sorts of weird and wonderful thread titles just to see what on earth was behind them (which I suspect is how I stumbled across forum games if I'm honest).

Now, I have about 5 threads on the go, and it's really boring, and at this stage it's just making me sad 😥

HeidiHeidi · 27-07-2021 9:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117670731#Comment_117670731

I still haven't even re-opened that book that I threatened to finish on the back of your post 🙄

Necro · 27-07-2021 10:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117670785#Comment_117670785

With one developer and more problems than you can shake a stick at I'd imagine it will be quite a while before everything is running as it should be 😥

ForumGames.ie anyone? 😂

Electric Nitwit · 27-07-2021 10:25pm

I'm the same 😔

Hardly looking at the site now. I threw the Welcome Back Sheep up as I'd written it but the fact it's so quiet, and the loss of PM downloading, means I'm not so enthusiastic now. Hopefully we'll get used to it, ultimately it's the people not the site that make it

Plus I've got about four walrus' planned now, I hope everyone stays around 😂

Gru · 27-07-2021 10:26pm

i'm still here, kind of, i was hoping i'd adapt in time to the new layout as i've always hated change, but i find it really awkward to use, more on the side of i'm not getting used to it, used to love popping into forum games and playing away but find it so hard to find anything i give up out of frustration and go elsewhere now.

nothing · 27-07-2021 10:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117670957#Comment_117670957

I've been testing today for my Doctor KangaWho reveal. Posts copied from word keep their formatting, sheepulator copies ok into excel, with a few tweeks, and I've only 10 or so entrants so copying one by one into it won't be too bad, plus it means I can double check each entry as I go.

Electric Nitwit · 28-07-2021 12:18am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117671003#Comment_117671003

Yeah, I saw the your test thread, I'll probably add to it

Not too worried about the mechanics of the reveal, hopefully people will be around. Copying the entries is a pain but not too bad. It's the missing people and posts that are the real issue, I'm missing my nemeses 😋

Necro · 28-07-2021 12:22am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117671003#Comment_117671003

It's fab you're doing that nothing. Massive kudos.

The major problem though is that it's a lot of extra work that wasn't needed prior to the upgrade and could be very intimidating for anyone new wanting to run a new game.

And that's not good for the long term future here because we need new people wanting to run their own games.

This turned into a soliloquy and it's not intended as having a go at you because you're a fabulous addition here who has taken to game running like a duck to water. And we need more like you!

I don't really have the answers but I do feel this change to boards is not good for this forum and that's what I'm mostly worried about.

Arghus · 28-07-2021 3:46am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117670712#Comment_117670712

Yeah. A lot of how I feel tbh.

I'm not going to even pretend to know enough on a technical level to start going on about the reasons for changing the platform in the first place. Maybe they were totally valid, you read all kinds of opinions and the golden rule of boards is that a lot of people don't have a clue what they are talking about, so who knows. But I find it a bit strange that a platform that was supposedly on its last legs worked so seamlessly from a users perspective. Boards was a dream to use and navigate.

And it is just a message board so how righteous can I get about it at the end of the day? I read some of the commentary in AH and feedback and think some people need to get a grip a bit too.

But, even with those caveats, it has been terribly handled really. A textbook example of how not to do this.

The week down - the horrible redesign, the lost functionality. It really does stink. It says a lot that it isn't just entirely the usual never happy whingers that are whinging, even mods and established users have been calling it out for being shyte. Because it plainly is shyte: it's junk. Forums are dying on their arse.

Something intangible seems to have been lost in the changeover. It kinda feels that you're not interacting with people the same way anymore. Tiny things make that difference: proper avatars not these shytey little circles and inane smiley faces, usernames that don't look tiny and disconnected from posts, the ability to quote people properly, thanks and the visual satisfaction of seeing them under posts, all that empty space everywhere. It all feels disconnected and devoid of something that made boards what it was. I'm still posting, but we all know the feeling of not being half as pushed as we were.

I'll still keep using the site, but I genuinely wonder what might happen now. The pace of alterations and fixes is glacially slow and the longer it goes on the more traffic dies and people stay away and then it becomes a vicious cycle.

I feel more pessimistic now about the future of the site than I did when it initially came back, nothing has changed really since then. It makes me think of that "We had to destroy the village in order to save it" line. I thought initially, okay, this is crap, but there's still a big userbase and hopefully the wheels will start turning to improve the user experience - but there's really been fck all change since the relaunch and you can really feel forums starting to quieten now.

Electric Nitwit · 28-07-2021 7:39am

It kinda feels that you're not interacting with people the same way anymore. Tiny things make that difference: proper avatars not these shytey little circles and inane smiley faces, usernames that don't look tiny and disconnected from posts, the ability to quote people properly, thanks and the visual satisfaction of seeing them under posts

That's a very good description @Arghus

I've not been able to put my finger on exactly what's wrong, or what would fix it for me, but you're right. And the changes to how avatars and names are displayed should be an easy fix

quickbeam · 28-07-2021 8:33am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117670626#Comment_117670626

Very much an old and regular Werewolf player. The bastard killed me a few times too!!

[Deleted User] · 28-07-2021 8:39am

I have just seen this thread, which is typical of my experience with new boards.

I have never been the most technical person and I am no genius with computers and stuff. It is so hard to find things now, either on purpose or by accident!

My followed forums have disappeared or have become hundreds of forums........

I don't know, I'm trying, I always loved forum games, but it's been made harder to find/use.....maybe I'll get more used to it.

cee_jay · 28-07-2021 9:00am

I went offline from 16th July until this Monday. I expected things to be better from the initial release but it doesn't feel like much has changed. I've been using mobile exclusively and only this morning found the forum I mod!

I spent some time this morning following all my favourite forums again. I turned on notifications (thanks to those in the WW dead room for some guidance on how to do all this).

This is giving me some sense of normalcy as to what I see but it feels like a ghost town with very few posts everywhere.

Baggly · 28-07-2021 10:46am

Ive been posting on boards for a long time (too long some would say) - ive seen a lot of changes and improvements in that time - ive seen platform changes and introductions of new ways of using the site - but suffice to say i had found my way of using boards that i was happy with and had gotten into a deeply ingrained habit of doing (the unofficial app for checking in and quick posting, desktop for WW, modding and anything else that required a little added functionality - never used the mobile site). This has all been thrown out of alignment for me. The app doesnt work anymore and desktop on mobile isnt perfect. The mobile site is ok but has a long way to go.

No sugar coating it, the transition to the new platform has been bad. Functionality has disappeared that i hadnt even noticed i needed until it was gone; some of the basics arent working or arent working consistently; and we dont really have visibility on whats coming back and/or when.

Having said that, ive treated the past 3 weeks on boards as a holiday. Ive stopped logging in as much and, frankly, havent been able to mod - certainly not as i was before.....and its been ok. Ive been posting pretty much 5 posts a day on boards (minimum) for a decade and a half, and taking the break has been fine. The sky hasnt fallen in; im a bit less stressed; im maintaining contact with people from FG.

I understand people are frustrated and disenfranchised with the switch. The only thing i will say is that boards and FG isnt the platform; its the people that contribute. FG will be fine and we will find ways to adapt (as we always have). Dont leave over the platform - it will keep improving and will eventually get where it needs to be. If you need a break or cant get used to it, my advice is to take a break, but do come back and we will all eventually get used to the new platform (and will do so as it becomes more and more familiar in function and navigation). The old site as it was before the migration took constant development over the course of 20 years to get right, so im willing to give the dev responsible for restoring function some time to get back where we were (and my understanding is thats the intention).

With regards to new game runners and game mods coming on board - this has been a constant worry for myself since i became a FG forum mod. Its nothing new here. Boards traffic is down, it seems to me, but all we can do is remain the forum we have been and trust that if we keep hosting games and having fun, others will want to return and/or join in on running games. I have learned the hard way that whether i worry about recruiting new game runners or not, what will be will be, and i can only control my own input.

Im not speaking for Boards by any means here - and i dont really have more info than anyone else. Im just adding this here because i believe that the absence of control over this situation, combined with a level of uncertainty over if things will improve is affecting members of the community; which is really hard to see. I am determined, personally, to stick with the site; mainly to try to protect the FG community, which is, after all, the best part of boards.

Electric Nitwit · 28-07-2021 12:26pm

Baggly now...

You're right though, of course you are. I think we'll lose a few people as a result of this, which is a real shame, but hopefully the games survive

HildaOgdenx · 28-07-2021 1:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117671637#Comment_117671637

That's a comment I have made on a few different threads. It feels like shouting into the void, rather than chatting or discussing stuff now. It's not great (to say the least) and stuff stays on the front page for ages whereas previously it would have moved rapidly on with the level of traffic there was. I'm getting used to some things though and finding my way around, hoping that it will improve...

Declan A Walsh · 28-07-2021 1:21pm

Also returned I see from another thread: jluv.

Tauriel · 28-07-2021 5:15pm

Reberetta hasn't returned has she?

Will be interesting to see if Omackeral will return for some of his ultimate tournaments.

Declan A Walsh · 28-07-2021 7:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117674734#Comment_117674734

I'm guessing you are a regular too - still don't know my way around all of the Forum Games! Reberetta said she was taking time out a month or so before the change - I hope she is okay. Omack does not seem to have returned. Nor has Hello D2.

Deja Boo · 28-07-2021 7:56pm

I miss our friends list and had no idea that I even looked at the "who is about" settings on the old site, but I miss seeing anyone floating about here and there... Hilda says it best "like posting in a void" ...Vanilla has taken the human connections factor out of a chatting site - almost feels like we are all bots now, and few and far between ones, at that.