Where is everyone???

Southern Dandy · 29-10-2013 8:39pm #1

Well as some of you have already copped how quiet it is on here as of late, so I ask where is everyone gone all of a sudden?, what forums are there apart from here that are for the Irish airsoft scene?.

It really is a shame, that what was once ta hive of activity is now gone.

thermo · 29-10-2013 8:59pm

All the forums are quiet of late, i believe all the "younger" players are all chatting on bookface. Shame really as you cant really get the same level of knowlege imparted or the same type of discussion like you get on a forum.

ShRT · 30-10-2013 1:38am

I think they are all on the bookface aswell. I'm guessing as older players phase out and newer ones come in, the newer players will tend to be younger and use forums less in favour of youtube/facebook and its the new folks that keep a forum ticking over.

Also looking at some of the stickies, they are last updated quite a while ago so it might give the impression to a newcomer that this area is fairly dead. I know thats what happens with stickies as lot of the good info doesn't change but maybe a refresh or update would help?

Maybe there are too many sub forums? After a quick look, its possibly the main topic with the most sub forums on boards.

CpcRc · 30-10-2013 3:09am

Some of us are just staying in the shadows, judging.

OzCam · 30-10-2013 10:32pm

Out playing, one would hope.

K.Flyer · 01-11-2013 12:50am

I have noticed it as well, particularly in the last six months. I have no interest in F.B. nor will I, so I now have to ask my son for updates as all the upcoming events are rarely posted here now.
In saying that it was great to see so many of the *cough* "older" lads still giving it socks at SimTac opening day.

brenak47 · 01-11-2013 5:46pm

As thermo said there all on facebook only problem there is u have young lads with no clue selling there gear for top dollar.This is keeping facebook quiet on the sale end.In saying that depends what u are selling a few bits i couldn't sell here and removed i sold on there within a day or 2.Myself i think boards needs a revamp and a few rules changed and i think things might pick back up.If this dies off u will have nowhere to get good info from as the next gen feel they know everything already.

OzCam · 01-11-2013 9:53pm

K.Flyer wrote: »

I have no interest in F.B. nor will I, so I now have to ask my son for updates as all the upcoming events are rarely posted here now.

FB is good for some things, but has its limitations for things like events. Not everyone is on it, and those that do use it are at the mercy of FB's News Feed algorithms. So unless someone sets the Sort Order to "Latest First" then it's pot luck as to whether they see posts or not.

I'll try to be a bit more diligent about posting events in future. It really helps if event posts are thanked, at least the poster knows that they're useful to someone.

I'm not a huge fan of the subforum setup, I think it's a bit overdone. What do you think about the idea of leaving event posts on the main page for 2 or 3 days before moving them to the events subforum?

The next generation always knows everything. Until life reminds them that, in fact, they don't.

Darth Phoenix · 01-11-2013 11:10pm

I agree facebook has it's uses and the info is very temporary for anyone to keep track of, plus the fact it's a common trend to communicate via facebook.

Whereas boards in a sense you can track to a certain degree of info in many topics even if some questions remained unanswered.

But here's another question to add to Southern Dandy post.

Whats been done to keep people interested..?

Steve · 01-11-2013 11:26pm

OzCam wrote: »

I'm not a huge fan of the subforum setup, I think it's a bit overdone. What do you think about the idea of leaving event posts on the main page for 2 or 3 days before moving them to the events subforum?

Valid point.

The subforums are there because this place used to be really busy and needed them. Not so much nowadays.

It's something that's been on my mind for a while,

Steve · 01-11-2013 11:28pm

Darth Phoenix wrote: »

Whats been done to keep people interested..?

Any suggestions?

Darth Phoenix · 01-11-2013 11:36pm

Steve wrote: »

Any suggestions?

Love too but I have lost interest in airsoft too much due to family concerns :mad:

Gatling · 01-11-2013 11:39pm

Steve wrote: »

Any suggestions?

Give always for 10 likes ,

Hotties in camo,

Ohhhhh wait this is a discussion forum.

I've a few ideas already mentioned previously I'll come back after the weekend

Steve · 01-11-2013 11:40pm

Darth Phoenix wrote: »

Love too but I have lost interest in airsoft too much due to family concerns :mad:

Sorry to hear that, hope all is ok.

Steve · 01-11-2013 11:44pm

Gatling wrote: »

Hotties in camo,

You mean like when you melt plastic toy soldiers?

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT0lNuinPGmu69d7-LqzTv0eYwmopXp4EQVYQXW_SYmusFZ_r-vGg

Or this?

Gatling · 01-11-2013 11:46pm

The plastics ones of course

Can't stand them fb spam chic's with guns

bushball · 01-11-2013 11:48pm

well lets not rule the lather out altogether...:P

YbFocus · 01-11-2013 11:57pm

Christ she'll be in bits trying to get through the trees in that get up!

Kashkai · 02-11-2013 12:10pm

YbFocus wrote: »

Christ she'll be in bits trying to get through the trees in that get up!

I'll volunteer to patch her up;)

Southern Dandy · 02-11-2013 1:06pm

Now they are some seriously nice Boo.........................ts she has.

K.Flyer · 02-11-2013 2:01pm

Steve wrote: »

Any suggestions?

If I remember correctly, site owners were charged for opening or having threads about upcoming events or anything in relation to their site and thats why they migrated over to F.B.
Maybe the cost factor is something that could be looked at to encourage them back and increase activity here again.

OzCam · 02-11-2013 10:54pm

One slight change to the rules might be to allow event announcements to be posted by site owners or their staff.

I'm suggesting a slight relaxation to the shilling rule, and I mean one post to announce an event, not making posts to bump it every 10 minutes.

Site owners should still pay for their own threads, where they can do their usual promotion. But allowing an event post once a month or a couple of times a year should be ok.

Mods?

Steve · 02-11-2013 11:08pm

OzCam wrote: »

One slight change to the rules might be to allow event announcements to be posted by site owners or their staff.

I'm suggesting a slight relaxation to the shilling rule, and I mean one post to announce an event, not making posts to bump it every 10 minutes.

Site owners should still pay for their own threads, where they can do their usual promotion. But allowing an event post once a month or a couple of times a year should be ok.

Mods?

It's above my paygrade to say yes to that - but - we could do a sticky on the forum to announce genuine events. Site owners could pm a mod to get it posted.

Would that work?

K.Flyer · 02-11-2013 11:40pm

Steve wrote: »

It's above my paygrade to say yes to that - but - we could do a sticky on the forum to announce genuine events. Site owners could pm a mod to get it posted.

Would that work?

But, would it only be the announcement allowed or would there be room for the questions from interested players and the aftermath banter.
I dont see the point in allowing the single announcement post... and for further information join us on F.B. or phone...
Maybe consider, event announcement thread where people can post in relation to the event, closing the thread on event day or maybe a week after it.

andy_g · 02-11-2013 11:46pm

K.Flyer wrote: »

But, would it only be the announcement allowed or would there be room for the questions from interested players and the aftermath banter.
I dont see the point in allowing the single announcement post... and for further information join us on F.B. or phone...
Maybe consider, event announcement thread where people can post in relation to the event, closing the thread on event day or maybe a week after it.

We already have the events sub forum for this, players can post and discuss the events.

K.Flyer · 03-11-2013 12:27am

Ok Andy, I'm gonna blame old age, tiredness and a stressfull week on that last post of mine.

Dogwatch · 03-11-2013 9:43am

Site owners can and do use the events sub forum.
However there was a problem with some of the postings not being events but glorified Sunday skirmishes.

matty1994 · 03-11-2013 10:40am

I must say i have seen this get really slow myself, this time last year i joined the firum and it was crazy, there was so much people on asking questions and giving advice, i myself have learned so much since then having notion about airsoft to where im at now, i have to say that i do use facebook, but honestly i prefer this site because there are the more genuine sellers, who wont care if you ask a hundred questions because they are happy to answer them, i do find though that boards.ie itself needs a complete update ie, an app maybe or revamp to make it easier and quicker to access the forums, espically on the mobile site, its a nightmare for uploading pictures and not loading, not sure if its just me but thats my view, would love to see this forum back up and buzzing with activity

Kashkai · 03-11-2013 12:01pm

+1 Mattie

When I took up airsoft 18 months ago, this forum was a great help with advice. It has died a death since. Even the adverts section is slowing down compared to what it once was, ie my main source of aegs and pistols!

While I personally don't like Facebook, it does have a lot of advantages over Boards, ie video reviews (like Hobbys or Oddysairsoft reviews), plus it doesn't have heavy handed moderating like Boards (and this is not a pop at the Airsoft mods who are pretty fair compared to the Mods on the other Boards forums).

I know Boards is a commercial enterprise but not allowing sites to advertise their up coming events without paying a fee or sticking within rigid rules and regulations is making a lot of airsofter's go straight to FB or to the sites own webpages for info and banter. Boards used to be my first port of call when I logged on to the net. Now it's an afterthought. Maybe Boards has had it day cause it won't move with the times? Hell, even I managed to get onto FB to keep up with current events in the airsoft world!

andy_g · 03-11-2013 5:02pm

Kashkai wrote: »

+1 Mattie

When I took up airsoft 18 months ago, this forum was a great help with advice. It has died a death since. Even the adverts section is slowing down compared to what it once was, ie my main source of aegs and pistols!

While I personally don't like Facebook, it does have a lot of advantages over Boards, ie video reviews (like Hobbys or Oddysairsoft reviews), plus it doesn't have heavy handed moderating like Boards (and this is not a pop at the Airsoft mods who are pretty fair compared to the Mods on the other Boards forums).

I know Boards is a commercial enterprise but not allowing sites to advertise their up coming events without paying a fee or sticking within rigid rules and regulations is making a lot of airsofter's go straight to FB or to the sites own webpages for info and banter. Boards used to be my first port of call when I logged on to the net. Now it's an afterthought. Maybe Boards has had it day cause it won't move with the times? Hell, even I managed to get onto FB to keep up with current events in the airsoft world!

Video reviews are allowed here, just people that make them dont want to post here, Oddy is one example he had enough of certain members having a pop at his video's and accused him of constantly promoting MIA.

Tbh I'd love to see review video's back as it's a change from the discussions.
As Dogwatch mentioned we encourage site's to use the events forum if its a genuine event and not a regular skirmish day/let the players discuss and ask question's not the site talking to themselves to keep their event at the top of the page.

Site's/Retailers used to have their threads in the sub fora for them I thought it was a great idea but when the charge was brought in by a former mod i wasnt really for it however as Steve said it's above our pay grade to deal with.

se conman · 03-11-2013 5:31pm

Site's/Retailers used to have their threads in the sub fora for them I thought it was a great idea but when the charge was brought in by a former mod i wasnt really for it however as Steve said it's above our pay grade to deal with.[/QUOTE]

If the charge was brought in by a former Mod, would it not be within the remit of the current Mods to request its removal?

In my opinion, the decline in traffic here on Boards (Airsoft) is not something that can or will ever be changed. This is a discussion forum based in text and by that fact it visually appears "bland". The longer term airsofters who, in the past, were active here have either moved on from Airsoft or have very little need in GAINING info (they already know what they like and where they will play) and with newer Airsofters favoring the more visually appealing FaceBook????? , there is little call for the longer term Airsofters to PASS ON info. Even if a new player DOES want info, a quick search will gain them all they need without actually asking any questions thus even less traffic. FaceBook is MUCH more friendly to creating an event page for any big or small event that a site is planning and is easier to guage attendence due to actual names rather than call signs.
In conclusion, Boards (Airsoft) was great in it's day, but times move on.
P.S. I will still check in here, it's where I got my first info.

Where is everyone???

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