Next up on our list of small forums is the OSRGaming Forums and this one is quite small and oddly so. My impression is that this was started and then was rebooted, IIRC because of software/server issues or some such, but all that seems to have been worked out.
The current incarnation seems to have started in January of 2016. Since that time they have a huge membership in a very short time of 5679 members, but that has not translated into much activity as they have a total of 2846 posts and 518 threads. One would think that in two and 2/3 years they would have at least an average of one post per member.
Reading the forum, it appears that they want to be a hub for the OSR with OSR publishers calling it home and a few are present. They also provide a link of episodes of four podcasts
Here is my opinion of what I have found
1. The forum is in my opinion under performing and it not reaching its true potential.
2. The site Admin has 395 posts and in my opinion should up his average to at least 2 posts per day. In my opinion the site would benefit from the Admin and the mods being active and showing their own interest in the forum.
3. I think the discussions areas need to be built up and effort made to build an identity and a sense of community.
4. A little tweaking to make the site easier to read wouldn't hurt nor would a little reorganization.
5. The rules are reasonable and I applaud them for striving to have a family friendly environment, as that is all too rare these days.
6. Linking to the podcasts is a good thing I suppose, but it is generating precious little discussion. Someone on staff or an active member should listen to the podcasts and start some discussion about some of the things that are in the podcasts. Surely something is worth discussing.
7. In my opinion, they have not yet figured out who they are and once they do they should grow. With almost 6000 members, they should have some idea of what brought those people here and what would encourage them to participate.
The current incarnation seems to have started in January of 2016. Since that time they have a huge membership in a very short time of 5679 members, but that has not translated into much activity as they have a total of 2846 posts and 518 threads. One would think that in two and 2/3 years they would have at least an average of one post per member.
Reading the forum, it appears that they want to be a hub for the OSR with OSR publishers calling it home and a few are present. They also provide a link of episodes of four podcasts
They also have a forum titled "Community Creations & Kickstarters". There is also a redirect to a Discord server.Save or Die PodcastRoll for Initiative PodcastThacos Hammer PodcastSave for Half Podcast\
Here is my opinion of what I have found
1. The forum is in my opinion under performing and it not reaching its true potential.
2. The site Admin has 395 posts and in my opinion should up his average to at least 2 posts per day. In my opinion the site would benefit from the Admin and the mods being active and showing their own interest in the forum.
3. I think the discussions areas need to be built up and effort made to build an identity and a sense of community.
4. A little tweaking to make the site easier to read wouldn't hurt nor would a little reorganization.
5. The rules are reasonable and I applaud them for striving to have a family friendly environment, as that is all too rare these days.
6. Linking to the podcasts is a good thing I suppose, but it is generating precious little discussion. Someone on staff or an active member should listen to the podcasts and start some discussion about some of the things that are in the podcasts. Surely something is worth discussing.
7. In my opinion, they have not yet figured out who they are and once they do they should grow. With almost 6000 members, they should have some idea of what brought those people here and what would encourage them to participate.
I was Leary of what your mission statement was, but I am enjoying how you are executing this
ReplyDeletemao
Thank you, I am happy you are enjoying it.
DeleteI found the above to be true myself, I joined and looked around, finding little if anything to spur me to posting.
ReplyDeleteEvery successful forum I know of had owners that were very hands on and active until it was well underway.
DeletePeople like to think that the OSR is a play-style but it is more of a marketing gimmick. It reminds me of the great videogame bust of the 80's that destroyed ATARI. It is not a large market, it is a very personal one where each individual is like it's own company. A message board just won't do for the volume of material being produced; GOOGLE+ seems to be the best way. Trying to throw a lasso around the OSR is impossible.
ReplyDelete