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After the dust settles. What is next for 2old2play?

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doodi

Well now that things have settled a bit and we're down to making things pretty and small bug fixes I'd like to ask you guys what's next?  What would you like to see us do with V3 to make it easier to use, navigate and ultimately build a better site for more older gamers to join and play along side?

I have a general list of some things in the request forum, but with so much noise it is a bit difficult to sift through it all.  What I really want to know is, are things still hard to understand in terms of figuring out the daily navigation of 2o2p? If not, what annoys the crap out of you about the new site?  What feature would make things 200x's easier for you?

 

Divisions

I'm really happy about what these forums have done for 2o2p and Id really like to see a lot more of them.  I think the idea behind a community controlled game forum is ultimately what the site needs to spawn meaningful conversation about a subject on 2o2p.  My idea is that division leaders will be the type to not just moderate of forum, but bring a forum to life when it comes to the topic at hand.  

Just one look over at the Halo Division and you can see just how that idea can take seed and grow.  Deep NNN has used his love for the Halo universe to create topics that a much larger group of halo fans are joining in on.  Wam and Johnny help to keep the conversation flowing and new people are joining in to talk about what Halo means to them. 

My hope is that these leaders can not just run the Halo forum, but run EVERYTHING Halo on 2o2p.  The goal for Divisions is for them to be a place where news,  updates, playdates, and discussions all happen in a centralized location and lead by members who are passionate about that subject.  I even had thoughts of giving them their own "home page" for news about events, stories, and highlighted forum posts.  I think it's better for the admins and mods to step back and let the members be the ones to invite new blood and shape those areas of the site.

 

Groups

Clans are still a really important thing to 2o2p and help to run the rest of what we do here on the site.  While I'm not sure our closed off policy was ever the right idea, it has become a mainstay of why people remain on the site day to day.  Because of that, I'd like to embrace the format a bit more and make sure I can create as many tools as possible to allow group leaders to run their own show.

We've made decent strides with that in V3, but I'm still not totally happy with how things have worked out.  The groups home page is way to disconnected from the group forums and I'll be continuing to find ways to bridge that gap.  My hope was that group members could use the home page for their news, events, images, and member management but the reality is that very few people venture to that section of their group.  

If you have any ideas as to what you might like to see for your group, please feel free to list them in the comments below.  My goal with groups is to allow them to be as insular as they want, but still give new people an avenue to join or learn about the groups we already have.  

One problem we often see on 2o2p is that groups become so insular that new people have no idea how to join or contact a group and the group slowly dwindles in numbers.  At the same time, current group members never see any 2o2p content out side of their own group so they miss out on important updates, events, or even new members they might be interested in playing with.

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Outside of more forum improvements and the stuff listed above, I want you guys to know we're still improving on bugs, formatting and speed every day.  Let us know what else we can do to make this the greatest older gaming community on the web.  Thanks for all the support.

doodi

Comments (12)

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CiaranORian·
I have to say I agree with most of the points you raise. Achieve all that and you'll be doing well!
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CroMag·
How about we start with baby steps like not forcing us to login every time we visit the site. Old site would leave login persist much longer. New site is annoying with constant login requests.
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doodi·
The site is set to the same time as the old one. I've been logged in since launch. It is probably a browser issue unless someone else can confirm the issue. I haven't seen anyone else talk about constant log outs so I have to assume it isn't that wide spread. There have been some times where I reset the login for the site in order to fix some bugs, but that has only happened maybe a handful of times. P.S. Issues like this should be logged in the bug forum. I can't know they exsist without the help of you guys.
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TANK·
Have you guys thought about a community calendar and actively putting on like weekly or by-weekly community events? Maybe the division leaders can organize site mixers in their particular games of choice. It would also be good to put up there when you guys are on Twitch and stuff like that. We have plenty of clans here but I'd like to see more frequent site wide stuff as if 2o2p was one huge clan. Otherwise i've got th ehang of the site now. It bogs down sometimes but most the time it's pretty snappy and i've tried clicking on most things to see what they do. Keep up the amazing work.
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landdon·
I like your suggestions, and I'm glad you are going to continue to improve the site! I like the idea of a community events calendar very much as long as it has a variety of events for all different interests. Groups, or clans, are interesting in that as you stated they make the site kind of segmented. On the other had it's a place for people with common interests to gather. So, I wonder if having exclusive group membership is really such a good thing? What if groups were just open to come and go as you please without needing permission to join. You would still have people with common interests together, but you could also have the possible added benefit of more people casualy taking part as well. I would like to see more interclan mixers. I like when one group has a friendly competition with another. It's a great way to get to know other members. If you are able to implement the changes you have highlighted above, I think that would go a long way to making the site very very nice.
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anotherdae·
The catered advertising can be creepy and quite telling.
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ThyEnemy·
I've been thinking and this is what I would like: I visit many forums on the site, the group forums I'm in and a few more, on a regular basis, but I have to navigate through the site each and every time to get there. It's not that hard but it could be easier. What if we could have a small customizable pallet (if that's the word) with lets say up to 5-10 buttons. Each button represent a forum on this site, this would be my choices, and when I click on the buttons, it instantly takes me to that forum?!? That would be awesome!!!! =D Only gripe could be you get lazy and ONLY visit those forums once you've customized your pallet, but I don't think so. Just a thought...
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wamam87·
i like this idea. i see how it might make some not look at the rest of the site, but it wouldn't stop me. there are a few forums i go to all the time. if i'm in another forum, it's becuase i saw a particular thread of interest under the "new and updated" tab. i don't browse into other areas unless there is a specific reason. that's how i roll.
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wamam87·
i regularly log in from 6 different machines and a phone and i only have to log in again when i clear cookies or the few times when doodi was working on stuff and everyone had to log in again. other than that, i just open the page and i'm logged in.
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buckeye75·
I wish there was a way to mark threads as read. When I go to new and updated threads, there is a huge list of stickies that bury other posts. Some of those stickies I don't even have access to so they stay there forever.
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Hunturic·
I would request an "App for that"! I have seen several site on the internet that have made their sites compatible withanipad forum app. When you are on the ipad and visit a site with forums, a pop -up screen will appear and let you know that the site is compatible with a certian forum app. If you don't have the app you can then download it, or you can just browes the site in your mobile browser as usual. I am not sure what all goes into getting a forum site ipad compatiable, but I assume it is easier than an app from scratch. This is just a wish list item, I am happy with the V3 changes. Anyone else run into this?
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FadeIntoBlack·
I also log in from multiple different places. The only thing I use that occasionally won't save the login is my iPad. I get 3-4 before I need to login again,so that is a function of my iPad, not the site. I use Firefox from home,IE from work and safari obviously on my iPad so maybe it's a safari issue?