YCM Revival Project [locked upon request]

[Guest Neo Galaxy]

I'm just gonna pop in here and say, while it's a nice cause and everything, you're going about it wrong.

 

1. Posting tons more in forums only gives the illusion that YCM is more active. It's not encouraging people to post in those forums without an incentive. I don't usually browse any of the CC sections anymore, and because people are putting up daily things in it, that won't either. Probably doesn't encourage any of the newbies either. It's completely irrelevant to what you want to do.

 

2. The site is obviously not dead because of Xyzs. If you haven't noticed already, the DN forums already are generating loads of interest because they have a 'Create A Yugioh Card' section in which they use the YCM software. None of them are aware we have a forum. Wanna go preaching? That's your best shot.

 

3. Why are you all trying to revive your own sections? You should all try as one big group to revive one section at a time, instead of trying to go on some one-man effort for each section. At the moment, the only two people in your committee who are even working on vaguely abandoned sections are Pop Culture and Card Contests. Card Contests is a stretch because there are enough RC newbies who go there, and Pop Culture is a limited place naturally because it requires you to have actually like a certain franchise. Of all things, you should all be working on sections like Creative Writing (i.e. go write a poem or short story, get it critiqued; read fanfics; encourage people to write more even if you don't yourself; blah blah), Showcase (case being that Showcase have tried several times to get the rest of YCM involved into downloading a free software and trying out a new hobby, and no-one seems to pay attention).

 

Now I think about it, you have a really clear list of things to do, in no particular order:

 

- Get more people aware of the forum, not just the site (i.e. go onto DN forums and spam them with messages with inevitable Star Wars 'join the Dark Side' jokes)

- Revive Showcase.

- Revive Creative Writing.

 

I might join later, but there's really no point since this is my only contribution :P

 

Edit: Also, oh my god, what's up with RC? Looking at the latest posts, it's mainly by a handful of users. I mean, ragnarok was banned for that precise reason of flooding the forums.

 

I agree with the Creative Writing point. Although we've started to see a bit more activity over there, the few of us that actually have Fan-Fics going, anyway.

 

As for RC, I know I personally have been making an effort to provide responses to every thread, all of which have been at least 2 paragraphs, if not more. Trying to help newer members as well as older members as I realize how difficult it can be to get responses over there.

 

Ragnarok was banned for posting one sentence that contributed nothing to any of the cards and had no constructive criticism at all. There's a difference.

[Guest .Rai]

I agree with the Creative Writing point. Although we've started to see a bit more activity over there, the few of us that actually have Fan-Fics going, anyway.

As for RC, I know I personally have been making an effort to provide responses to every thread, all of which have been at least 2 paragraphs, if not more. Trying to help newer members as well as older members as I realize how difficult it can be to get responses over there.

Ragnarok was banned for posting one sentence that contributed nothing to any of the cards and had no constructive criticism at all. There's a difference.

 

There's a difference, but still be careful about it. Flooding is the same either way. Never wan't to invoke the wrath of the imaginary CC mods.

[Guest Neo Galaxy]

There's a difference, but still be careful about it. Flooding is the same either way. Never wan't to invoke the wrath of the imaginary CC mods.

 

Well, I can't really see it as flooding if all of the posts are constructive and actually providing reviews for cards, right? I could care less about post count, if you're suggesting that's the reasoning behind it. It's just nice to be able to help newer members learn OCG and design better cards from the get-go, which could eventually lead to a much stronger RC community.

 

Not to mention, I even wrote a Guide (which I'm not sure if Alfred's considering or not but I digress) about card reviewing and whatnot for him to use for newer members and the like, so I'd like to think I'm not just mindlessly posting. ^^;

[Nu-Mou Knight]

1. Posting tons more in forums only gives the illusion that YCM is more active. It's not encouraging people to post in those forums without an incentive. I don't usually browse any of the CC sections anymore, and because people are putting up daily things in it, that won't either. Probably doesn't encourage any of the newbies either. It's completely irrelevant to what you want to do.

 

I was actually thinking along those lines. What I'm trying to do in PC is give help to the newbies who haven't gotten a taste of good, covering reviews and fixes. I'd like to think that that's a big part of what causes inactivity, as that's what I felt like when I started posting. Whether that helps is a question of how the recipient is affected, which I have very little control over.

 

2. The site is obviously not dead because of Xyzs. If you haven't noticed already, the DN forums already are generating loads of interest because they have a 'Create A Yugioh Card' section in which they use the YCM software. None of them are aware we have a forum. Wanna go preaching? That's your best shot.

 

Wait, you're saying they have the same program on DN? F* this, then. Seriously, though, I do agree with this point. We could consider getting DN to add a note to that forum containing a link to YCM.

 

3. Why are you all trying to revive your own sections? You should all try as one big group to revive one section at a time, instead of trying to go on some one-man effort for each section. At the moment, the only two people in your committee who are even working on vaguely abandoned sections are Pop Culture and Card Contests. Card Contests is a stretch because there are enough RC newbies who go there, and Pop Culture is a limited place naturally because it requires you to have actually like a certain franchise. Of all things, you should all be working on sections like Creative Writing (i.e. go write a poem or short story, get it critiqued; read fanfics; encourage people to write more even if you don't yourself; blah blah), Showcase (case being that Showcase have tried several times to get the rest of YCM involved into downloading a free software and trying out a new hobby, and no-one seems to pay attention).

 

That was kinda the point of what Future Paradise had with his layout of "Section Exec, Section Focal, etc." However, it appears the initial rush was less than he expected. I'd be fine with helping out elsewhere if you guys feel like it.

 

I'd like to get into Creative Writing, as I'm currently working on an actual book with a buddy of mine. If you need critics, I could get into that. Might start a fanfic during the fall months.

 

I play around with GIMP for some stuff, but not to the extent that Showcase would be a fitting place for them.

 

Edit: Also, oh my god, what's up with RC? Looking at the latest posts, it's mainly by a handful of users. I mean, ragnarok was banned for that precise reason of flooding the forums.

 

Raggy was banned for being a pointless poster, without really helping anyone out. If you're actually being helpful to an extent, I wouldn't call that flooding.

[Dark]

"however there is definitely a correlation between it and the decline of activity"

 

Correlation doesn't mean anything in this (or any, really) scenario. It's causation we're after, and the fact that we agree on is that the lack of sufficient advertising did not and does not cause a decrease in "activity." Sure, forums with less advertising are going to have less activity, but I can think of so many lurking variables - size of the forum, enthusiasm of the owner or administrator, money coming into the forum...

 

"I don't think that can be much of a reason as to why the activity has declined."

 

My point was that, three years ago today, you could still hold a decent conversation about controversial news topics, maybe even get a few decent fan-fiction critiques. Now, the quality of every single section has decreased. Before, I had an incentive to talk about the news here - my friends were here, and I could talk about other topics (I didn't have to split my activity between a news forum, a gaming forum, a Yugioh forum, etc.); now, since the quality has decreased overall, that incentive is gone.

 

"there have always been better places to talk about the news"

 

Yeah, you're missing the point. I don't care if we have a hoard of intellectual people here - there will always be a better place to discuss the news. But because of the massive decline of post quality, there are too many places that are better. Combine that with the fact that this forum isn't decent at discussing anything except Yugioh (and even that's arguable) and you have people leaving this forum. They want to talk about things they like, and if people are too stupid to partake properly, they'll find another place.

 

"This negates your point about people posting about things they don't know anything about"

 

I really have to question your ignorance, considering you've been inactive for a bit of time. If you really believe that people on this forum only post in topics they explicitly have a decent amount of knowledge about, you're absolutely insane. In fact, the reason post quality has been declining is because people post without thinking or knowing what they are talking about. Just because you aren't a complete moron doesn't mean you can assume others aren't.

 

"I solely believe that Xyz is not the reason for YCM's lack of activity as of late."

 

Excuse my lack of knowledge (hypocrisy if you read the paragrpah preceding this one), but how exactly can one "type" of Monsters kill the activity of an entire forum? I mean, I know that things like Synchro Monsters exist, but I don't understand why XYZ's have the potential to cause masses of people to emigrate from a forum. People make cards because it's fun, and usually not for any serious purposes, so why would lacking some special Monster be a huge negative?

 

"Posting tons more in forums only gives the illusion that YCM is more active."

 

There's a huge sociological principle that can loosely be applied here - people do what other people do. If people start randomly playing basketball on a street corner, one person might join in an hour. And then two in the next hour. And if this is left unchecked (which, for a game like basketball, it isn't), the amount of people playing will grow without bound. Their incentive is that perhaps they can make new friends, or perhaps they wanted to play basketball but not alone. If no one is posting in Realistic Cards, even if I have a new card idea, I won't make a thread because I know I won't get proper critiques or comments (or praise).

 

Just my two (or, I guess, a few more than two) cents.

[Doc.]

Hack Trollandtoad.com and just spam YCM ads. (Nah just kidding.)

 

Because DN are using something YCMaker spent his own time on and not even CREDITING, is what pisses me off.

The need a big banner in the Create a card section that says IF YOU ARE USING YUGIOH CARD MAKER PLEASE CREDIT THEM IN THE POST OR IT WILL BE LOCKED.

[Nu-Mou Knight]

Hack Trollandtoad.com and just spam YCM ads. (Nah just kidding.)

Because DN are using something YCMaker spent his own time on and not even CREDITING, is what pisses me off.

The need a big banner in the Create a card section that says IF YOU ARE USING YUGIOH CARD MAKER PLEASE CREDIT THEM IN THE POST OR IT WILL BE LOCKED.

 

Or, they remove the CaC Forum altogether. It's just sucking up more traffic that we could use, when they have plenty as it is. I doubt DN is bleeding activity or anything.

[Doc.]

Or, they remove the CaC Forum altogether. It's just sucking up more traffic that we could use, when they have plenty as it is. I doubt DN is bleeding activity or anything.

Yeah. YCMaker should Copyright the software and then just say f*** YOU DN.

And then update the card maker, so they just get mad like "OMG HE COPYRIGHTS IT AND DEN HE ADDS XYZ WTF"

[ihop]

Nah Dark, the fact that there's no XYZ in the card maker is pretty crucial as it's the main factor that makes the site unique, and many senior people on YCM originally came in using just the cardmaker and then went on to forums. If the cardmaker is out of date and doesn't allow people to create the latest cards it won't be nearly as attractive.

[Randomflyingobjects]

Nah Dark, the fact that there's no XYZ in the card maker is pretty crucial as it's the main factor that makes the site unique, and many senior people on YCM originally came in using just the cardmaker and then went on to forums. If the cardmaker is out of date and doesn't allow people to create the latest cards it won't be nearly as attractive.

The Xyz doesn't matter in increasing activity, it's basically only for bringing in the new peeps. Basically, I agree.

[Doc.]

The Xyz doesn't matter in increasing activity, it's basically only for bringing in the new peeps. Basically, I agree.

More people = More Activity.

[Randomflyingobjects]

More people = More Activity.

More hateful criticism towards new members = Fewer people

 

If people keep scaring off the new members, who are trying to get into the swing of things, we'll get nowhere.

[Nu-Mou Knight]

I just made a post on the DN side of the CCG I'm a part of about this site, describing how we have a whole forum dedicated to creating cards, as opposed to their tiny section. Whether it will bring anybody is debatable, but I can imagine that at least a few people look at it regularly. Hopefully, since they're on DN, they'll have some much-needed knowledge for CC.

[Guest ~shadow~]

More hateful criticism towards new members = Fewer people

 

If people keep scaring off the new members, who are trying to get into the swing of things, we'll get nowhere.

Good point, but is it better to have 1000 sh*t topics posted a day, or to have 100 intelligent topics in a week?

Also, If new members would actually look at some topics made by competant members, they might make better cards, then people wouldn't Flame/Troll them as much.

[Guest - Neo -]

A lot of the newer members have been geniunely surprising in terms of making good cards. It seems as though the section's overall quality has begun to improve, albeit slowly. People are willing to learn and make changes which is really the most important quality, is it not?

[Guest ~Renegade~]

Username: ~Renegade~(Ren)

Why do you want to join?: I imagine for the same reason as everyone else. I want to help bring back YCM to its former glory

Rate yourself as a debater out of 10.: Starting debate this coming year, often told I am pretty good. 7-8/10

How long have you been a member (estimate): 2 years?

Notes: I can help out in RC, PC, RP, or C&O(wow, lots of abbreviations there). I don't want to be in charge, but I am happy to help wherever.

 

---

I'll just jump into the conversation. I saw the Xyz topic was going a little while ago, so I'll just add my opinion. The card maker is definitely the biggest attraction to new members. So, the fact that our card maker is outdated, but Yugico's isn't puts us at a disadvantage. While YCM is obviously superior in the forum aspect, it takes a little time for a new member to move away from just using the card maker, and venturing out into the rest of the forum.

 

A lot of the newer members have been geniunely surprising in terms of making good cards. It seems as though the section's overall quality has begun to improve, albeit slowly. People are willing to learn and make changes which is really the most important quality, is it not?

 

Feeling the exact same way. I usually find that level 3 or lower members make fairly disappointing cards, but lately there have been quite a few good/dedicated card makers popping in RC. Taking the criticism other members give you(good or bad) and applying it is definitely (at least imo) much more important than being good at card making(especially right off the bat).

 

 

Good point, but is it better to have 1000 sh*t topics posted a day, or to have 100 intelligent topics in a week?

Also, If new members would actually look at some topics made by competant members, they might make better cards, then people wouldn't Flame/Troll them as much.

 

While I agree that new members do tend to overreact to the criticism they receive, it also wouldn't kill us older members to remember that being nicer is usually more effective than trolling/flaming. But yes, even though I want to revive YCM, quality is definitely valued over quantity.

[ihop]

Good point, but is it better to have 1000 sh*t topics posted a day, or to have 100 intelligent topics in a week?

Also, If new members would actually look at some topics made by competant members, they might make better cards, then people wouldn't Flame/Troll them as much.

 

Most senior members, including myself, started off as morons. Eventually people will progress.

[Guest ~Renegade~]

Most senior members, including myself, started off as morons. Eventually people will progress.

 

I 100% agree. I still remember my first card created and I laugh when I think about it...especially compared to today's metagame...

[Nu-Mou Knight]

I'm writing up a PM to VantageSP, a Super Mod who seems to be greatly involved in the Create-a-Card Section of DN. This is what I'm planning on sending:

Title: YCM

 

Message: Since you seem to be the head of Create-A-Card, I figure you would be the proper person to pose this request to. Since a good portion of your users here go to YCM's Card Maker, then just post back here, instead of on the forum that was doing it before it was cool, a number of members over there were thinking that you could have a link to the actual forum section of YCM here. It could be in the form of an announcement, or as part of the "Read Before Posting" topic, but something more than the link to the software would be great. We could use card makers that have a good idea of what they're doing when it comes to card effects, balance, the game in general, etc., which are in short supply on YCM nowadays. Thank you for your time.

[ihop]

I 100% agree. I still remember my first card created and I laugh when I think about it...especially compared to today's metagame...

 

I'd rather people attracted new members then tried to help them and make them better, rather than troll and flame them and scare them off.

[Guest ~Renegade~]

I'd rather people attracted new members then tried to help them and make them better, rather than troll and flame them and scare them off.

 

Wouldn't we all? Although some of the new members do bring it on themselves. A member will give them a fairly honest review, and then the new member will overreact and provoke the flaming/trolling.

[Durandamon]

Most senior members, including myself, started off as morons. Eventually people will progress.

 

Agree, except I'm not senior yet, but elite. Still, people change and we must help them become good members...

[Nu-Mou Knight]

Anyone have an issue with the above PM I was planning?

[Brushfire]

Anyone have an issue with the above PM I was planning?

 

Feel free to do whatever you like. Just don't make it seem like you're representing us.

[CinnamonStar]

Where is the club leader and did he even agree to let all of us in?o_o

 

Also, I've been considering hosting a murder-mystery RP. Nothing fancy story-wise and everyone knows my English is meh, but with enough character interaction.