Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum

[Fyron]

Threads do stop on their own at some point... your comments did not stop those OT threads (as evidenced by the fact that they continued for a while after your Posts in them, and did not even slow down).

[Slynky]

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
The conversation was going really good there for awhile but now its getting panicky so lets tighten a few things. The hints to cut back on the OT Posts which are commonly considered not the best subjects for polite conversation is abit far from "banning OT Posts". Lets back up to about the post done by "General Woundwort" which painted a fairly true picture and contine from there.

By the way, things already look much better. Thanks.

I think you realize it's a bit difficult for a group of people who play a game such as SE to NOT want to also "chat and discuss" topics unrelated to the game. Besides, we're all a bit smarter than the average guy ( ) and we like exchange thoughts and ideas from time to time.

Not sure how many forums people participate in but I "travel" to a few others and this one is the mildest mannered (the worst being found in Renderosity, IMO). I've mentioned more than once how this forum is just about devoid of personal attacks. That's a good thing. And something the members should feel a bit proud about.

But if it's a problem with bandwidth and space, I guess that's another concern.

[Ed Kolis]

Thanks for clarifying, Gandalf. I'm glad to hear your side of the story; it makes a lot more sense now - Last night was pretty hectic and I completely missed your original Posts! It just still makes me a bit wary to have someone constantly hovering over my head ready to delete any of my Posts, but I guess I've just been spoiled by the lax moderation around here in the past.

[Fyron]

Bandwidth is extremely cheap. A few extra gigabytes a month would cost maybe a dollar or two more a month. This would easily cover any useage that OT threads generate, and I have extreme difficulty imagining that Shrapnel Games could not afford an extra 2 dollars a month. It would not cut into profits in any significant manner.

Required space to store a post is very little, though it can add up over the long term. Space would be better freed by deleting old, obselete Posts (such as 4 year old Posts that nobody cares about), rather than new ones.

[Ruatha]

I must say that this forum has changed my view on many things, mainly becouse of OT threads.
I try to get input from the vast experiance that exists in this forum.
If I ever get to the US again I hope I'll be able to look up some of you in RL.
If it wasn't for this forum, I wouldn't still be playing SE4, let alone make a side program to it!

[geoschmo]

This is my own opinion. In no way am I speaking as a forum moderator here.

Personally, instead of trying to discourage OT conversations on the SEIV forum, I think Shrapnel needs to figure out ways to generate more conversation, OT or otherwise, on the other game forums.

SEIV is by far the most vibrant, active forum at Shrapnel, and according to Shrapnel SEIV and SEIV Gold has shattered all their sales records. Is that a coincindence? I don't think so.

The forum generates interest. Interest generates sales. Sales are the reason Shrapnel exsists.

The forum is a lot cheaper, and much more effective, then conventional advertising.

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Bandwidth is extremely cheap. A few extra gigabytes a month would cost maybe a dollar or two more a month. This would easily cover any useage that OT threads generate, and I have extreme difficulty imagining that Shrapnel Games could not afford an extra 2 dollars a month. It would not cut into profits in any significant manner.

Required space to store a post is very little, though it can add up over the long term. Space would be better freed by deleting old, obselete Posts (such as 4 year old Posts that nobody cares about), rather than new ones.

What you say is of course true. But then when it comes time to upgrade bandwidth, CPU, harddrive space, and software; in a business there will always be an "audit" of what those things are going toward, whether that what was in mind when it started, and whether its worthwhile to upgrade for it. The fact that its "very little" would be a better point for fan sites than for business sites. Now dont jump to interpret some gloom and doom from that. Im just making a point to your point. Of course its obvious that the SEIV forum does a wonderful job of supporting the SEIV game.

[ May 29, 2004, 21:36: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]