Suggestion: Changes to Increase Forum Activity

What category does this suggestion apply to? (Map, Addons, Discord, Forums, Other): Forums

 

Details/Information about your suggestion: Changes to forums to increase member activity

 

The main issue the forums has is despite having a large number of signed up members, a majority of them are not actually active or interactive. Trusted applications tend to get replies only from the few who are active (mainly staff), and suggestions tend to get very little attention as most people only look towards suggestions posted in the discord (I find the problem with discord suggestions is they usually get lost in the feed, and only receive an agree or disagree aka. little to no discussion). I have come up with a few suggestions below that could hopefully help to improve activity on the forums. My (concept) suggestions are:

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1. Daily login bonus. Members could receive a small in-game reward for logging in each day, or perhaps from logging in 7 days in a row. This could motivate people to actually go onto the forums in the first place, and maybe they might take some time to check it out/or they might see something that they want to comment on just before they hit that close button (maybe they'll see a specific member they know has made a trusted app or a suggestion that they agree or even disagree with).

 

Of course, the in-game reward would need to be economically balanced and fair, but also not so little that people won't find it even worth 5 seconds of their time to go on the forums and gain said login bonus. An example could be: login in each day for $1000 in-game, login 7 days in a row get an additional $5000 in-game)

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2. Rewards for forum activity. Members could receive a small reward for actually contributing on the forums. I would recommend an in-game reward, or a few more unique achievement/trophy options instead of just reach a higher quantity of comments/likes. (Trophy improvements discussed below). Whether its providing feedback on suggestions, or leaving a + or - 1 to an application, this could encourage players to actually contribute more and actually have an influence on changes in the community.

 

Of course, there would need to be some kind of moderation put in place to stop members from leaving or spamming unhelpful/pointless comments to get said rewards.

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3. Give forum trophies a purpose. Getting trophies on the forums is a bit bland and doesn't have the 'achievement' feel. It's literally go to profile and see "1 point" and that's it. My suggestion would be to add more glamour to it. Perhaps whenever a member that has trophies makes a comment or post, a little visual display next to/under their name could show off all their impressive trophies (similar to Reddit rewards maybe?). In-game rewards could also be an option for each trophy gained, the harder the trophy, the higher the reward maybe. Giving more purpose to the trophy system could encourage members to actually be active as they will gain something personal out of it.

 

(again, this would also need to be moderated).

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4. A gallery section. Members could upload photos to the proposed 'Gallery' page. This could range from them showing off their builds or knives, group photos of events, or maybe even just a bunch of players gathering together and striking a pose. This could encourage people to see more of the 'community' side of the server. There could even be monthly competitions judged by the majority or just the staff team, with whoever has the best photo of 'insert example' wins an reward.

 

(I recognize that people can just upload photos in discord-media or just a forum post itself, but I feel that doesn't have as much of an effect as having a whole page covered in community photos that members could scroll through.)

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*Note*: By in-game reward I pretty much mean money. (box items/access to features reserved for specific roles is definitely too much to ask for). I understand that some may feel that this would screw up in-game economy, but I would like to add that it would be the server owners who get to decide the amount to ensure that it is reasonable, worth it and certainly not abused.

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How do you think this will benefit the server?: The forums is essential if people want to try and go further in contributing more to the server, whether it be through suggestions or applications, and in order to do this, they need votes/feedback from the community. By introducing these changes, this could possibly increase the amount of traffic, activity and feedback on the forums. By having members contribute more and have more control/influence over what happens on the server, this could hopefully cause a more trusting and closer together community.

 

Links: Nil

 

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*Additional Note*:

I would also like to state that I understand that some people may be a little or even very hesitant about the in-game reward idea. However, I would just like to reiterate that I'm just throwing the idea out there, just as a concept idea or a brainstorm. I also understand that some people may +1 only some of my ideas, or even -1 them all together. Whatever you choose, any feedback or additional ideas, or any comments at all, is very much appreciated!

+1

Hey, first of all, thanks for formatting this out as it just makes this so much more easier to read.

 

I pretty much agree with everything said here and I would love to see an increase of activity within the forums . I really like the idea of a gallery, I think this would be a great addition.

 

Although I think the in game rewards of money is fine, I think it might be hard to implement, especially day to day if it isn't automated. I don't know how hard this would be but maybe there could be an forum store instead, where members can earn credits to spend there based on login and activity. And as you said, the whole issue of moderation. It would definitely suck if people abused the system.

 

Anyways thanks for being in-depth and taking the time & effort for this post.

The only thing is,

 

This forum is for Orbital Servers, not just DarkRP..

We have minecraft, starwars rp, who knows what else might be added in the future..

 

Creating an ingame reward for forum activity wouldn't really work.

We know that forum activity is a major factor with trusted and staff application for GMOD, that's a good reason to use the forums?

 

It's the same thing for discord, you don't get rewarded for using discord?

 

If anything, I think a giveway incentive might work..?

Weekly/Fortnightly give aways hosted only on the forums?

 

I do agree with you that activity here needs to be increased

Edited October 4, 2021 by Tuppy

+1 I think instead of cash rewards, like Tuppy said, giveaways would be a more practical method of rewarding as I imagine it would be pretty difficult to implement something like that. However I pretty much agree with everything else you state in this. Very well done as always Dexter, love your work.

+1

Hey, first of all, thanks for formatting this out as it just makes this so much more easier to read.

 

I pretty much agree with everything said here and I would love to see an increase of activity within the forums . I really like the idea of a gallery, I think this would be a great addition.

 

Although I think the in game rewards of money is fine, I think it might be hard to implement, especially day to day if it isn't automated. I don't know how hard this would be but maybe there could be an forum store instead, where members can earn credits to spend there based on login and activity. And as you said, the whole issue of moderation. It would definitely suck if people abused the system.

 

Anyways thanks for being in-depth and taking the time & effort for this post.

Implementing my suggestions would definitely be difficult, and require alot of work. It would be almost impossible if it wasn't automated. And I do like your idea of a forum store, that does sound like an interesting idea - and a-lot easier to implement.

 

Thank you so much for your feedback and your kind words, I really appreciate it!

The only thing is,

 

This forum is for Orbital Servers, not just DarkRP..

We have minecraft, starwars rp, who knows what else might be added in the future..

 

Creating an ingame reward for forum activity wouldn't really work.

We know that forum activity is a major factor with trusted and staff application for GMOD, that's a good reason to use the forums?

 

It's the same thing for discord, you don't get rewarded for using discord?

 

If anything, I think a giveway incentive might work..?

Weekly/Fortnightly give aways hosted only on the forums?

 

I do agree with you that activity here needs to be increased

I'm not gonna lie, I completely forgot about the minecraft and starwars rp - those sections seem so dead on the forums I forgot they even existed lmao. But I do get how my suggestions may seem unfair to be biased towards one game... and additionally seem unfair towards those that just prefer discord.

 

My idea was to try and bring more people to the forums so that more feedback can be left to such applications, to ensure more variety and a 'everyone gets a vote' kind of feel.

 

I do like the idea of a giveaway. That would definitely bring more attraction and engagement on the forums. Thank you, I appreciate your feedback!