Just a suggestion...

Throw your ideas for Druchii.net around in here...

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Lois_griffin-must_die
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Just a suggestion...

Post by Lois_griffin-must_die »

Well, I'm relatively new to the site, and I am by no means an active member, but I have a reason for that that I think you should know.

As far as I can understand, D.net was the first large race specific forum. It grew faster than any RSF and is still the largest WFB forum out there AFAIK. Site members were once one of the most complete communities, with a large design team, a friendly and intergrated with the public moderating team and a healthy data base of active members.

I made a thread about a month or so ago about what happened to d.net. One of the answers that I got from an active member was that there wasn't anything to talk about anymore due to the army book being released millennia ago. He also said that there were less people reading and participating in the various events that happen on d.net.

I had a chat with some of the members about what the forum has done to entertain the masses. All of them had enjoyed the campaigns, and the latest magazine, but as Kala said in that same thread, there are less people that are willing to do work on the magazine and other things that are going on behind the scenes.

What I am proposing is having a 'site rejuvenation' if you will. Holding auditions for new design members for site events. I'm sure that everyone is eagerly awaiting the new DE book, how about getting a team ready to do something on it?

Granted that there is less to talk about nowadays, but shouldn't the admins and webmasters be trying to get more people to participate and volunteer to do site events to get people entertained, such as auditions for places in the design team?

Just a thought, but I wanted to see what you think.
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Re: Just a suggestion...

Post by Rork »

lois_griffin-must_die wrote:Granted that there is less to talk about nowadays, but shouldn't the admins and webmasters be trying to get more people to participate and volunteer to do site events to get people entertained, such as auditions for places in the design team?


Well, if anyone thinks they have something to contribute to the herald, they should take a look at the New Users and Initiatives forum and get on board something they think they can contribute to.

People should give it a shot regardless of whether they thing they're "good enough" or not. I suspect a lot of people just share what they've done on the forums, it's what their here for, after all ;), but never go into the magazine side of things (But given some of the stuff in the album, some should).

Maybe people should submit something adventurous (a conversion) and analyse where it went right or wrong.

(I'm not 100% sure what you mean by "design team", though.)
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Post by Lethalis »

Would it be an idea to advertise the New Users and Initiatives forum all over so that new users who are not familiar with the think before you act policy that runs across most forums are made more aware?
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Post by Belial »

I guess so. I'll bet you it's not the most visited place, especially since the magazine is not coming out as frequent as it did once. The volunteer-option might not be clear to everyone, and I'm sure there's a lot of people who wish to make an effort.

Also, how many of the initiatives are really active still?
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Post by Rork »

"Think before you act" policy?

Stickies and announcements would be the easiest way to advertise - it's just a matter of getting people to read them ;).
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Post by Belial »

@Leth: What do you mean "think before..."?

Rork wrote:Stickies and announcements would be the easiest way to advertise - it's just a matter of getting people to read them ;).



Stickies and announcements is a good idea, but I honestly do think that the initiatives tab need a good looking at... The sites you are directed to(those that work) haven't posted news since 2005...

The initiatives is, IMO, the best way to invoke more activity around D.net, but if they are all dormant, then what's the point? Are the initiative leaders even around anymore?


EDIT: Example from "The Black Forge":

Initiative Leader:
- Leithel And Odd
Initiative Members:
- Asmodeus
- Banshee
- Black Hydra
- Chaos Theory
- dungeon_god
- GREENie
- Hali
- Kaledor
- Mordred Kincrusher
- Radeem
- Rai Gunn
- SwedenPack

Have you seen any of those around lately?

Except for Hali I don't even recognize those names...
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Post by Linda lobsta defenda »

black forge has been abandoned and we really should remove it totally.
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Post by Belial »

My point excactly. And how are the other initiatives? Or even better than removing them: Announce the possibility for other users to fill the vacuum. Let them know that The Black Forge is dead, but that we would like to see the idea continued, but needs volunteers.
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Post by Lethalis »

What I meant is that nowadays, there's a whole package of reading material people must know before they can properly post. Forum rules, New Users and FAQ are all expected to be known by everyone who posts here but *still* there are people who ask what GoP stands for. If you immediately start posting (acting) before trying to figure out if the site has any specific rules or something (thinking) it will annoy a lot of people.

But it still happens. Hence the idea of spamming back.
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Post by Belial »

I am not sure I understand the idea. Do you mean that instead of constantly telling people to read the FAQ and stuff, we instead tell them to consider what they post before they do so? And loosen up a bit on the rules?
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Post by Lois_griffin-must_die »

I think he means making in a little more obvious to new members of the rules, ie thinking before posting.
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Post by Rork »

Belial. wrote:My point excactly. And how are the other initiatives?


The other ini leaders are, by and large, around (I've seen them online and I see them post in some of the ini forums).

The one that has concerned me for a while is the TMLAS (modelling) initiative. It's the sort of group that needs a lot of members or ideas to keep stuff coming. If there's someone out there with a conversion idea brewing, get on board and get it published.

Spamming back won't really work in getting people to read the stickies. Eventually those topics fall off the first page and we go through the same thing again with another newbie. The FAQ is even something you "have to" read before you sign up to the site.

It's even mentioned in the welcome PM that people receive (along with the GoP - I don't see those threads that often, to be fair). It even got all snazzy and put on the menu bar at the top...

(And I added that there was no excuse not to read the 40k one when I wrote that. That's three different ways alone that I thought of that I reckoned would help. More fool me?)
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Post by Belial »

Rork wrote:
Belial. wrote:My point excactly. And how are the other initiatives?


The other ini leaders are, by and large, around (I've seen them online and I see them post in some of the ini forums).
But do we see any products from them? This is not a critique; this is a concern

The one that has concerned me for a while is the TMLAS (modelling) initiative. It's the sort of group that needs a lot of members or ideas to keep stuff coming. If there's someone out there with a conversion idea brewing, get on board and get it published.
Also, their site under the Initiativs tab does not work. So many new users might not even know one such initative exists

Spamming back won't really work in getting people to read the stickies. Eventually those topics fall off the first page and we go through the same thing again with another newbie. The FAQ is even something you "have to" read before you sign up to the site.
But they don't. But do we really have that many issues where it is lack of reading the FAQ that is the problem? Is it whats wrong with the activity on the site?

The initiatives need a status check, I think. And then we might aswell start cooking up ideas for improvement of user-participation on the site.
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Post by Rork »

But do we see any products from them? This is not a critique; this is a concern


Aye, I think it's fair to say we'd all like to do and see more done. We need people who are capable of organising (i.e. the leaders) and those capable of being organised (i.e. the general writers). It's difficult - if we say there are around 2-300 active (or semi-active) posters right now (discounting lurkers), not all of them will want to write for the herald and some just won't be capable (i.e. they might be very new - looking for advice rather than giving it).

That cuts down the numbers available for the initiatives. I can't speak for any of the ini leaders, so I'll let them chip in with what they are capable of doing or want to do. Maybe the entire structure needs to be rethought, I don't know.

Belial. wrote:The initiatives need a status check, I think. And then we might aswell start cooking up ideas for improvement of user-participation on the site.


In my opinion, I'd rather prefer that 20 people submitted stuff of varying quality from which 5 articles were accepted than 3 good quality articles being submitted and all being accepted.

The only problem with that would be it could dishearten the 15 who perhaps created something that was worthy, but needed a lot of improvement to "fit" with the magazine (which could still work).
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Post by Lois_griffin-must_die »

Rork wrote:
But do we see any products from them? This is not a critique; this is a concern


Aye, I think it's fair to say we'd all like to do and see more done. We need people who are capable of organising (i.e. the leaders) and those capable of being organised (i.e. the general writers). It's difficult - if we say there are around 2-300 active (or semi-active) posters right now (discounting lurkers), not all of them will want to write for the herald and some just won't be capable (i.e. they might be very new - looking for advice rather than giving it).

That cuts down the numbers available for the initiatives. I can't speak for any of the ini leaders, so I'll let them chip in with what they are capable of doing or want to do. Maybe the entire structure needs to be rethought, I don't know.

As far as I can tell, there are 5 Initiative leaders that are no longer active ; Z’Ghan (Reporters), Dark Harlequin (Seventh covent) MDK isn’t not active, but for an Initiative leader is absent a considerable amount (The Illustrators), Tastyfish is also similar (Cult of Pleasure), Rasputin II (P&M).

Not that this has anything to do with what we’re talking about, but there are also 3 admins no longer present.


Belial. wrote:The initiatives need a status check, I think. And then we might aswell start cooking up ideas for improvement of user-participation on the site.


Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

The initiative sites are completely out of date as well. If a new member did want to join, they'd probably not know what to do and how to do it :)

I suggest getting more users involved, by asking some of them. Getting a few new Initiative leaders that have the time to go out and find fluff writers or some such thing, and asking them if they'd like to join.


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Post by Rork »

lois_griffin-must_die wrote:
The initiative sites are completely out of date as well. If a new member did want to join, they'd probably not know what to do and how to do it :)




I'll just point out that all the initiatives have their own forums (if you want to discuss your article once you're "in"), and the New Users and Initiatives forum covers what they are all about. While the sites are bit out of date, what each initiative does hasn't changed.

The sites could do with some work, but the information as to what each ini is about is fairly accessible. It might be an idea in the next Herald to add a link to the appropriate post in NU&I somewhere. It could go some way to de-obfuscating what the ini's are about.

Text to NU&I wrote: New users go here for any questions you may have about Druchii.net. Also go here to read about or to sign up to the many initiatives on the Druchii.net site.


That's what it says now. We could have a more explicit "Herald Forum" that only included the info about the initiatives and move the other stuff to Suggestions (To keep the number of forums down).

And instead it could say something like:

Hypothetical Herald Forum wrote:Find out how to contribute to and join the Druchii Herald, Druchii.net's online magazine, here!


(Thought out in less than 5 seconds, of course)
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Post by Lois_griffin-must_die »

Good thinking. That sounds a lot better to me.
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Post by Tijminator »

Yeah, I think a "Herald Forum" would be a good idea. I myself joined the Cult of Pleasure (fluff) a little while ago, just a question of a PM to Tastyfish, a link to one of my stories in the boards, and a small 'test' story.

Now I joined, I see the Initiative Forum is nearly dead, the last post being made in september 2006. This might be stirred to life again by making the forum public. I still think, however, a 'closed' part should excist to post works (be they fluff, images or models) for discussion.

I also think a little PM-ing around to check who's still active would benefit all Initiatives.

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Post by Rork »

Tijminator wrote:Now I joined, I see the Initiative Forum is nearly dead, the last post being made in september 2006. This might be stirred to life again by making the forum public. I still think, however, a 'closed' part should excist to post works (be they fluff, images or models) for discussion.


What might be a better idea is to unlock all the ini threads in the NU&I (and any successor) forum so posters can ask questions and the like in the right thread. Some people might be put off using our dark and mysterious PM system (Don't be shy, they don't bite. I filed down Kala's fangs, for a start...) and there isn't really a "proper" place to talk about it for those who are just thinking about it.

Ahm huntin' ini leaders, ma!
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Post by Kida »

It might be slightly OT and I don't plan to be any part of Herald team, but here and now I swear that I'll do a proper big report on European Team Championship. The army will be finished painting-wise, the team is selected and seems I'll be one of the few Druchii attending, photos as well as notes will be taken.

And by report, I mean the whole bloody affair, the trip, the problems to be, the drinking, everything. After that, I'll leave to the editing team to trim it out and sort the language issues...

So, one big article is coming your way in several months' time. I reckon it should be interesting to read about, since so many countries are attending, with cream of the crop players from each country.


*phew, now that I've said it, I guess I'll have to do it...or suffer the shame - something, being a Druchii player, I'm not accustomed to.*
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Post by Belial »

Rork wrote:
Tijminator wrote:Now I joined, I see the Initiative Forum is nearly dead, the last post being made in september 2006. This might be stirred to life again by making the forum public. I still think, however, a 'closed' part should excist to post works (be they fluff, images or models) for discussion.


What might be a better idea is to unlock all the ini threads in the NU&I (and any successor) forum so posters can ask questions and the like in the right thread. Some people might be put off using our dark and mysterious PM system (Don't be shy, they don't bite. I filed down Kala's fangs, for a start...) and there isn't really a "proper" place to talk about it for those who are just thinking about it.

Ahm huntin' ini leaders, ma!


Agree that they should be opened.
But just to remind: When you talk about the initiatives, you talk about the Herald. Initiatives could be about non-Herald stuff, for an example, what the Black Forge was.
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Post by Khel »

Its good seeing the mods get together once more :P I would certainly contribute to the Herald if there was a forum for them, or is the suggestion forum a place for that?
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Post by Rork »

Belial. wrote:Agree that they should be opened.
But just to remind: When you talk about the initiatives, you talk about the Herald. Initiatives could be about non-Herald stuff, for an example, what the Black Forge was.


For all intents and purposes, the initiatives write the Herald, and that's what they exist to do. The Black Forge is dead, effectively (I'm not sure any of its members are active) - I don't really see that as a big issue. As it stands, the two ideas are indivisible.

Its good seeing the mods get together once more :P I would certainly contribute to the Herald if there was a forum for them, or is the suggestion forum a place for that?


I'd like to see any Herald forum as a jumping on point for members - somewhere where they can make suggestions, but primarily as a place where they can get on board and contribute. Ideas aren't much use if there aren't enough people to implement them!

I should also point out that the herald is open to "freelance" contributions from members who have an article they'd like to submit, but not something they'd want to do on a regular basis. You don't have to be a member of an initiative to get an article in the Herald, but obviously it would be nice if members could contribute on a regular basis.
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Post by Fr0 »

I gotta say, we have had some very interesting and dedicated people come through this site. While the new DE book was being worked on, this was the place to come post about playtesting, and mass questions. That, of course was before I registered.. I lurked. I came to this site, and thought it was a DnD site so I clicked back. I found articles and posts in Google cache, and it grew from there.

This site has indeed, decayed a bit.. people took time off, quit the game, stopped posting (not just here, but a lot of sites). There are still plenty of members that are willing to, and do make daily contributions in order to keep the site running or looking good. Croatia, you submit that article, and I'll submit my trade article I meant to um, a year ago. :oops:


As far as I can understand, D.net was the first large race specific forum.

Yes, Druchii.net is larger than any other race fan site I've come across. Unfortunately, not all of our members still post, though I see a lot of people browsing (while at work) unregistered, so there is no reason to lose hope.

I really like the Monthly (yes, I called it that.. I voted against renaming it :P) the campaigns are kinda cool too. The difference between the last book and this book, is that we have absolutely zero influence, so that's probably why we're less motivated. Feel free to post speculation threads, as there are several members willing to yak about that. :) I for one can't wait to see my assassins played again, as I'm sure they will get better.

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Post by Loran »

And there's the editors! :) Although as the Herald doesn't appear every month like the Monthly did, there isn't that much of a need for editors as there was back during the days of the Monthly.

But yes, more members would be great for the team :D

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