forums.rs

Forums

increasing forum population

Quick find code: 278-279-67-66179831

of 7
Aeon Queen8
Jan Member 2018

Aeon Queen8

Posts: 16,162 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I think there are some good points raised here and it’s nice to see a well-reasoned discussion.

I think there are a number of reasons for the activity decline, some that have been mentioned here and some that haven’t. For me, that is:

-Declining player base in general (plus the player base having been effectively split into two with both RS3 and Old School RS).

-The growth of social media. I do have a bit to add on this one – I do think that the increased Jagex engagement on off-site platforms is definitely a draw to people using them instead, as mentioned (and the earlier discussion points have covered this very well so I won't say too much more on the subject), but I think it’s also about changing practises on the internet. Twenty odd years ago, if you wanted to discuss something that interested you on the internet, you looked for a forum (or subforum) of fans to go and chat with. While forums still exist now, a lot of internet users are maybe unaware of them – if somebody liked, say, a TV show or game nowadays, they go to Twitter or Facebook. The idea of going to a forum would be unlikely to enter their thoughts – and even back in the hey day of the forums, they weren’t massively well-known – the amount of times I had to refer people to the forums for things in game and the response was “there are forums?”.

I suppose that people discussing the game off-site also effectively serves as an advertisement for the game, whereas on the RS forums we’re all players already – maybe that partially comes into why it might be preferred to be engaging more off-site?

20-Sep-2020 11:45:51 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2020 11:47:22 by Aeon Queen8

Aeon Queen8
Jan Member 2018

Aeon Queen8

Posts: 16,162 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
-Forum needing updates has been mentioned. This is a bit of a catch-22 for me: people may avoid the forums as they are outdated, but equally it would be incredibly inefficient for Jagex to be devoting a lot of dev time to forums with as little activity as these have. I also think it would have very little effect if done with nothing else changing. (From a personal point, I’m also very against certain social media features appearing just in the name of “modernisation” – the like button for instance. I think it hinders discussion as if you can just like instead of respond, people are likely to do that and it ultimately may just decline post activity further. And dislikes cause many of their own problems.)

-I use the forums a lot less nowadays for another catch-22 reason: with such a small amount of users, it’s hard to find discussions I’m interested in replying to. There’s also another one which I think is underestimated: I rarely visit the RS website anymore, because of the client. When you had to physically travel to the website to go and play the game, you’re more likely to remember about the forums and take a look – but now I just launch it from my desktop, bypassing the website/forums. I do think that makes a difference. It also makes some options – say highlighting a few threads of the week on the homepage – not particularly useful as the site just doesn’t have the traffic for it to make much of a difference.

-

“I hugely agree with "featuring" forums in Twitch competitions or events.”

This I think would be a good start. If there’s going to be increased activity at other social media platforms – and we all admit that there is – it’d be ideal to use that popularity to point people at the forums, even if it’s just to read rules or sign-up to something or anything – it’d be a start to make people a bit more aware that the forums exist. Babysteps before making giant leaps and all that.

20-Sep-2020 11:46:08

Aeon Queen8
Jan Member 2018

Aeon Queen8

Posts: 16,162 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I also think the survey idea is good. If you want honest opinions, that’s probably the best way to go – although I suppose creating a survey may create expectations of changes being made, so it’s probably only viable if there is a commitment to actually look at forum activity and amend things.

“We need forum achievements.”

This is an interesting one. I’m not sure how I feel about that – would you be tying it into the in-game achievement system? If so, it might increase activity (if it’s even possible to manage to make them link) as a lot of people like going for, say, comp cape requirements, but may also cause it’s own problems – if you have, say, “make 10 posts” you’d potentially have people just spamming something 10 times instead of actually getting involved in discussions, which might make things worse rather than better. I think you’d have to be extremely careful with how to do this for it to make a positive impact. If it’s a forum only achievement system, we do technically have one with the gems?

20-Sep-2020 11:46:24

Vakn
Dec Member 2019

Vakn

Posts: 418 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I would love to see some sort of embedding here. I don't mind that other sites are just flat-out more popular to use, let's take that and run. Open the Forums page here and it displays Reddit, etc. in their own embedded sections.

Of course, you can get lost in Reddit. So maybe some sort of organization, similar to how the Reddit mods can pin important topics at the top. - Vakn | Always learning. |
Essayons!

22-Sep-2020 23:41:26

mr togue
Sep Member 2020

mr togue

Posts: 6,957 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
good morning every one... sorry about my absence but i was actually playing the game,, and have gained a few 99s since last posting here,

i am glad this thread is still going,, i am going to have to re-read the entire thread to catch up..

keep posting every one

24-Sep-2020 14:34:50

Quick find code: 278-279-67-66179831 Back to Top