Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum

[Katchoo]

Unless the Forum is reaching a peak in storage capacity, there's no real reason to cut back on OT Threads.

There's no flaming going on, which is rare rather than the norm among Forums dedicated to Gaming. In the 2 or so years I've been here, there are/were only two members who behaved improperly/ignorantly, and both were corrected (and quickly) by the Moderators. The fact that it doesn't happen much at all is refreshing.

As Rex and others have pointed out, it's up to the Space Empires community to keep this place hopping in the absence of any new content out of Aaron & Malfador. I think everyone can agree that once Space Empire V comes out, that the ratio of On-Topic Threads to Off-Topic Threads will swing dramatically back in favor of the On-Topics. Take a look at the Dominions II Forum; that place has predominantly On-Topic Threads because DII is still fresh. But if Illwinter Games doesn't release another Game or major Update for 2 or 3 Years, then that Forum will either wither down to the occasional Thread, or it'll follow the path of this Forum and thrive on the interest, ingenuity, and commitment of it's regulars to keep comming back in the absence of fresh Developer content.

I for one won't regularly return to a Forum unless there's a regular stream of new Posts appearing. There's nothing less attractive than going to a Forum and seeing one or two new Posts per week. That's why I rarely check out the Starfury or Dungeon Oddessy Forums. I'm certain I'm not the only one who reacts the same way.

The SEIV Community is one of the most mature Groups I've ever been a part of in my Online experince. If the majority of the Off-Topic Posts were crazy gibberish, then that would be one thing, but the majority are either thought provoking, such as the Iraqi War, Passion of Christ, and numerous Space related Posts; or they're polite opinion fetchers, like the various Favorite Books/Movies/TV Shows Posts; or they're open dialogs into the happenings of the daily lives, pratfalls, and happenings of the Community Members, like the death of a loved pet, the birth of a new baby, or the more personal quandries revealed by Rojero & Narf, to name a few. In any other Forum or Site, I would expect such Topics and revelations to be met with smart-*** & insensitive responses. But not here.

Hopefully nothing is going to happen, and GandalfParker's Posts are good natured ribbing. But if change is in the works, then Shrapnel better not cry or complain when the traffic to the Site & Forums dries up.

This place is special.

That's about the best way I can describe it.