We really need to boost the activity here

[Makoeyes987]

Our site and forums are growing but for the past 3 weeks or so, it seems the activity in the forum has been declining save for the Clubs section, the LTD and General Chat section. Nothing else is getting any real activity.

Most of the posting though in Clubs is spam in Faith and General Chat is just...general chatting and stuff going on.

I'm trying to crack down on the spam going on there and stuff but it's gonna take a village

So ITT we need ideas to get more activity in our main FF forums, because its kinda what I feared; the Clubs and shit are sucking away the posts and activity from everywhere else. I don't know if we need more members, more advertising, or what.

So let's discuss

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Man fuck all these gay ass clubs.

With that said, yes, we do need to advertise and really take advantage of our near monopoly on Ultimania translations; I don't think some of you guys really know how valuable that is to the fanbase. With that also said we need some more translators.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I really thought clubs would be a shitty idea. It's just sucking discussion away from the main forum and into just a pocket where they discuss the same thing over and over. But what's done is done.

I don't know where we could get more translators though. They don't grow on trees and stuff

I just want more posting and activity, and I'm trying to make more topics to get people to post but its either they just...aren't there or are in the clubs/general chat posting

 

[Cat Rage Room]

About the clubs, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to make a decree saying "Look, I know you guys like the clubs, but post elsewhere too, alright?" Seriously!

As far as translators, I don't know either, but if we were to make a topic asking everyone to look for some (and looking ourselves), we'd find some, I'm sure.

And as far as getting more people, like I said, I IMPLORE the site to start advertising our Ultimania resources. If everyone knew how many translations we have and keep getting, we'd easily be one of the biggest FF sites on the internet, period.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Decree made and let's see what other staff have to say about getting more activity and advertising done and stuff.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Well, this is something I mentioned back on ACF...shouldn't we focus on more than just the Compilation? There's a lot of interest in Final Fantasy XIII, which we're not getting. If you want this place to be as successful as ACF(member base & activity wise), we're going to need to cover more than just FFVII related material. Most of the general Final Fantasy fanbase is focused on future games not past ones.

All we have going for us is Dissidia and ACC, after that we have nothing. So, we should definitely consider expanding our coverage, imho.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Our site focus IS the Compilation and FFVII

And so was ACFs. We've been focusing on Dissidia and we of course will focus on other new games, but in the end we're still a dedicated FFVII site.

I'm sure after Dissidia and ACC, there will be others. Because like every other time, there is

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Yeah but, that well is beginning to run dry, man. Perhaps we should diversify our bonds?

 

[Makoeyes987]

How's the well running dry when we have 9 more years of the Compilation

And that's not including other FF stuff that'll come out that we'll keep up with.

 

[Cookie Monster]

I doubt during these nine years they'll be releasing material that will generate massive amounts of activity.

From what I can see, there haven't been any articles written on non-FFVII material. Clearly our primary focus is on the Compilation. I'm not saying we should change that, I'm saying we should expand on what we're covering. We don't have to focus on the minor details of other games, but major news should be covered. Release dates, trailers, ect, of other games should be covered.

With that said, if we decide to stick with covering FFVII related material only, don't expect this place to become like ACF was in terms of activity. It's just not going to happen.

 

[Makoeyes987]

If they intend to continue working and adding to the Compilation of FFVII for 9 years, then that's nine years worth of new material (games, movies, or whatever) so I don't see the logic behind assuming that FFVII is anywhere nearing an end.

And what about the Dissidia stuff we've been posting? In our weekly reports of website activity, the Dissidia stuff has been ranking higher in terms of page views and visits than the FFVII stuff. We've been covering Dissidia and stuff pretty well. We're notonly covering FFVII stuff here, clearly.

 

[Strangelove]

Translators seems to traditionally have a very high turnover in fandom They apparently come and go quickly.

I stayed at the same place for like 4 years, so I guess I'm an exception there.

That said, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to find one for something as popular as FF. The trouble would be finding someone who does it well. It probably wouldn't help matters to be known for having a bunch of incorrect translations.

Although the people looking it can't tell the difference between a good or a bad translation. As long as it looks like English (and even if it doesn't sometimes) you'll still get "that's great, thanks!"

 

[Cookie Monster]

Dissidia is clearly FFVII related material dude. The two stars of the game are in it. And the fact that it ranks higher than the other stuff pretty much validates what I'm saying here.

Also, I wasn't saying the Compilation is going to end, but they're not going to release a movie or game every single year. They'll probably release new toys, books and material in other forms of media. And, toys and books aren't going to cut it.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Well you and Schala are probably some of the best we've ever had so I'm glad we have you two.

The thing is though, is that we can't just....tell you what to translate any time we want, you know..you having real lives and all I don't want to just dictate "DO THIS" or "DO THAT."

However, I think what would be a really interesting project that no other site has or anything would be some more of the FFVII Early Material Files from the FFVII UO. It's always interesting to see what FFVII could've been and what got left out. If we made a little topic on that, it'd be interesting.

@Cookie Monster

Dissidia is the entirety of Final Fantasy. Cloud and Sephiroth only make up one-twelfth of it. It's not just about them and the coverage we've been giving hasn't just been about them. It's been about all the characters and the scans of said characters. It ranks higher than everything else because its newer.

Yeah, the Compilation isn't going to have new stuff every year, but for the times they don't, there will be other things to look at, such as Dissidia for example.

 

[Strangelove]

I was doing/sorting out my stuff on the Early Files, which is most of it I've been going though all the UO things I've done and reworking them, but it's been a little slow while I had other things I need to do that are more important.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Well I know you're busy and trying to enjoy Dissidia, hehe. But if you could get together all those translations we have of the Early Material Files, it'd make a great series to post on the front page of the site. Each day we could like...post 1 bit from the Early Materials Files.

We could call it, "The FFVII That Never Was."

 

[Cookie Monster]

I'm saying your focusing on FFVII related material...meaning it has some connection to FFVII, which Dissidia clearly has. Maybe that wasn't done purposefully, but some how we've managed to pick out the one title that has Cloud in it, and ignored the rest.

And yes, it ranks higher than everything else because it's newer and it's a major title, which validates exactly what I'm saying.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Perhaps we should ask the members what they think? What they expect, and what they think we should cover?

Aye?

 

[Makoeyes987]

Well there's not much else to cover now that has any real news going for it, save for maybe FFXIII. That's not a lot of options from Square right now.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Yeah, the Compilation isn't going to have new stuff every year, but for the times they don't, there will be other things to look at, such as Dissidia for example.

If you want to focus on only the Compilation fine, but I think what everyone is trying to say is that you'll only get so much activity by just doing that alone. If we want more members, we should at least expand our scope a little bit. It wouldn't hurt.

 

[Makoeyes987]

But I don't intend to do only that alone

 

[Cookie Monster]

Then it seems we were on the same wavelength this entire time.

Which is still great justice, imho.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I probably didn't state what I meant clearly. Sorry for the misunderstanding

 

[Cookie Monster]

So, we still haven't really come up with a solution here. You guys think it could be the website itself? Other FF webites have a more sophisticated and more organized setup. Personally, I don't have a problem with the blog setup, but that's just me.

Side Note: Mako should bring back his old Balthier avatar, fgj.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I'm not too worried about the hits our website gets. It's been steadily increasing and as long as we keep the content coming, they'll come.

I'm more worried about regulating forum activity and getting more members. Which I think requires us to advertise our forum more and get more members to join.

And I'm bringing it back now. LOL.