[C&O] Revision and Discussion

[Mugendramon]

 

So, I hear we got post count again. That means things will get moving around here a little more in the near future.

 

Admittedly C&O has been lacking in attention lately, and with it both the club index and the rules of the section are a little outdated.

 

The index I can take care of whenever, but the rules I'd say are due for a rewrite.

 

                

 

---

WHAT THE PLACE IS FOR

---

I'll be blunt. If you could make a club to just "chill and talk about whatever", you'd just be making a damn skype chat and posting for people to join it in Misc.
 
If you're here, you're a club. If you're a club, you need to have an activity to get to keep being a club. 
 
BASICALLY YOUR CLUB MUST HAVE AN ONGOING ACTIVITY AT ALL TIMES.
 

---

THE funk DOES THAT MEAN?

---

 

What I basically need of you is to take a good look at what Pokemon Showdown or the Hearthstone Club are doing. Have something to do and discuss in your thread. Do something worth posting images or videos about that maybe someone who's not into it enough to get in a skype chat would like to watch or hear about.

 

It must be detailed in a spoiler in the club's first post.

---

WOAH SO YOU'LL LOCK MY sheet THE MOMENT I DON'T FOLLOW THAT?

---

 

No, I just want you to always be at least planning to do something, talking about it.

---

 

And then basic sheet like not being rude not flooding etc.

 

More rules to be written as deemed necessary.

[Storm Button]

Do i need to be a certain level to make a club?

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

No, you don't need to be a specific level (though it may help if you get yourself acquainted with the rest of YCM before you make a club).

[Dad]

I'd like to preface this by saying I currently do not engage with C&O at all.  I'd like to change that.

 

First, however, I'd like to hear from the C&O community.  I rarely speak with you lot, but I'd like to integrate you better into the community.  You feel isolated (to be fair that's sorta kinda what clubs do) but I don't intend for you to feel like this island on YCM.

 

Let's talk.

 

• What are some things you like about C&O?
• What are some things you dislike about C&O?
• What are some things that you'd like to make a part of C&O?

I do not intend to make any sudden, rapid changes to Clubs and Organizations.  This a discussion between you and I.  I want to get some ideas of how to turn C&O back into the swelling abundance of fun it used to be.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Sadly my club seems to have stagnated, though it's still going after all this time so that's something.

What I like about it, simply, is that it's a good place for people who don't necessarily talk elsewhere to get together and talk about a common hobby. It's really good for organizing tournaments and events. And it's just nice to have a place to put all that in easily.

My main issue is activity. If people aren't active, then it just doesn't work. Sadly this is hard to fix. We could remove post count but then that'd alienate people who can't keep up with the spam. Plus it feels wrong due to how many Club posts are either well thought out or include something that took effort.

[Blake]

It's just a nostalgia section at this point, barring things for niche subjects, such as Showdown club.

 

It's not that anything's bad, but that discord andskype chats have mostly taken its place, and the rule changes didn't help to prevent this.

 

also this was like dramaland #1 back in the day, Orgy, Powerforce, Club Pikachu to a lesser extent...

[Dad]

Sadly my club seems to have stagnated, though it's still going after all this time so that's something.

What I like about it, simply, is that it's a good place for people who don't necessarily talk elsewhere to get together and talk about a common hobby. It's really good for organizing tournaments and events. And it's just nice to have a place to put all that in easily.

My main issue is activity. If people aren't active, then it just doesn't work. Sadly this is hard to fix. We could remove post count but then that'd alienate people who can't keep up with the spam. Plus it feels wrong due to how many Club posts are either well thought out or include something that took effort.

 

This is something I've struggled to find a remedy for.  Bringing activity to C&O and really sections, in general, is not as easy as it sounds.  But that's why I'm opening this up.

 

 

It's just a nostalgia section at this point, barring things for niche subjects, such as Showdown club.

 

It's not that anything's bad, but that discord andskype chats have mostly taken its place, and the rule changes didn't help to prevent this.

 

also this was like dramaland #1 back in the day, Orgy, Powerforce, Club Pikachu to a lesser extent...

 

That's something that concerned me too.  I don't want to see this turn into Miscellaneous Pt.2 and have it end up hurting people or turning it into a place where people privately sheet on other members with or without cause.  That's not what it's for and that's not what I want it to become again.  These are all good points and all things I'm taking into consideration.  Keep it coming.

[Eshai]

Most of the time it ends up becoming a giant group PM and we talk there, and we end up not using the club page as much.

 

Personally, I think Discord is a bit better for clubs, but I like posting here since the community is all here.

[Dad]

Most of the time it ends up becoming a giant group PM and we talk there, and we end up not using the club page as much.

 

Personally, I think Discord is a bit better for clubs, but I like posting here since the community is all here.

 

I did some thinking last night, but I am admittedly flustered.  

 

It seems the overwhelming problem for Clubs and Organizations is Discord.  And the thing is, I don't know how to beat it.  Everything that can be done or discussed here can be done twice as fast in discord.  What does Clubs & Organizations have that Discord doesn't?  What can I bring to this section that is different from what Discord offers?  What does it need to stand apart from Discord?

 

For starters, I'd like to find a way to bring contests back to clubs.  I also want to start up Club of the Month again.  Maybe I can find some unique rewards for the host of said club and its members.  These are all just general pitches right now, but as always I'd love to hear more from you all.

[Yui]

One advantage C&O has over Discord - small though it may be - is that not everyone on YCM has a Discord or is willing to get one. Due to being a post-based forum instead of more of a chatroom, it also makes it easier to keep track of events and memberships in the C&O threads, as the opening post can just be updated as events and members come and go. However, those advantages aren't quite enough to bring activity to the section on their own merits, and most clubs (despite everything, the Showdown club is still ticking somehow (it's because Cow's great at running sheet)) end up stagnating without regular activities to keep them moving. At the same time, however, these regular activites can become stagnant and repetitive depending on how broad or narrow the club's focus is. A club dedicated to video games in general (Fusion ran one previously, seems the thread is locked now) can do more than a club dedicated specifically to one game or franchise, such as Minecraft or Civilization.

 

Not really sure how to fix that, though a decent starting point might be to get another club or two going with some new sets of goals to see how they compare to the ones we've already got. Science!

[Darj]

I think another advantage of forum club is that you can track back topics in discussion more easily, or recall them, especially with the quote function. From my experience in chatrooms, sometimes it goes fast and you cannot follow a topic properly. For example, you are typing a response to someone regarding X topic when the conversation shifts to Y topic, and when you drop the reply on the X topic, then you get both X and Y topics going on simultaneously and in real time... IDK, it gets messy sometimes.

So, if you could highlight this perk a forum club offers, I guess it would help with sparking activity in the section. What comes to mind is encouraging clubs to have some sort of "topic of the week/month/etc.", or perhaps update the opening post with ongoing, trending or hot topics in the club.

[Dad]

I think another advantage of forum club is that you can track back topics in discussion more easily, or recall them, especially with the quote function. From my experience in chatrooms, sometimes it goes fast and you cannot follow a topic properly. For example, you are typing a response to someone regarding X topic when the conversation shifts to Y topic, and when you drop the reply on the X topic, then you get both X and Y topics going on simultaneously and in real time... IDK, it gets messy sometimes.

So, if you could highlight this perk a forum club offers, I guess it would help with sparking activity in the section. What comes to mind is encouraging clubs to have some sort of "topic of the week/month/etc.", or perhaps update the opening post with ongoing, trending or hot topics in the club.

 

I like this a lot.  The thing is, that would require me to dive into every club, track down their hosts and be like "okay what's your topic for the week?".  Generally speaking, I think it would require a sort of commitment from both myself and club hosts to keep topics moving.  But when you start getting into niche animes, activities, and hobbies, those topics become scarce because there's no changes to it every week.  We can accommodate that by going from topic of the week to topic of the moment or month or something, so this is a step in the right direction.  Keeping the OP updated with new and relevant information, as you said, is key to keeping those topics thriving.

 

 

One advantage C&O has over Discord - small though it may be - is that not everyone on YCM has a Discord or is willing to get one. Due to being a post-based forum instead of more of a chatroom, it also makes it easier to keep track of events and memberships in the C&O threads, as the opening post can just be updated as events and members come and go. However, those advantages aren't quite enough to bring activity to the section on their own merits, and most clubs (despite everything, the Showdown club is still ticking somehow (it's because Cow's great at running sheet)) end up stagnating without regular activities to keep them moving. At the same time, however, these regular activites can become stagnant and repetitive depending on how broad or narrow the club's focus is. A club dedicated to video games in general (Fusion ran one previously, seems the thread is locked now) can do more than a club dedicated specifically to one game or franchise, such as Minecraft or Civilization.

 

Not really sure how to fix that, though a decent starting point might be to get another club or two going with some new sets of goals to see how they compare to the ones we've already got. Science!

 

I would like to institute a new club myself.  When I said I wanted to revive my old Bleach Club I wasn't kidding.  But then, Bleach is over and there's really no point.  That is unless of course, I manage to generate an RP from it somewhere down the line with alternative timelines, different characters, etc.  But again that's very niche.  

 

But you made a great point about going from specific genres of clubs to general clubs.  The only thing that interferes with is YCM's various sections already dedicated to "general" topics.  There's one for video games, anime, manga, and most of the more popular topics that one may create a club around.  So this will take some serious fine-tuning.

 

I'm going to keep trying to wrap my head around the issue, but please do keep all of your comments coming.  This discussion is great and I appreciate your help.

[Dad]

I'll be honest, I'm stuck like a pizzaboy in the wrong hood.

 

I really, really want to reinvigorate clubs, but ideas are lost on me.  My only lasting idea is Club of the Month and even then I'm not sure how much success it could bring.

 

However.  I won't know until we try.  I'll try to get my own club going next week and see if I can't spark some life in here.

[Dad]

Me managing a club right now is not going to work with my schedule.  Instead, I'm looking for one volunteer to assist me with putting Club of the Month together.  Id' love to get some challenges going between clubs and I need someone to bounce ideas off of.  It doesn't have to be a staff member, it can be anyone who wants to work with me.  The only requirement is that you want to help C&O.

[Darj]

I volunteer as tribute. I do want C&O to be more active, after all.