Restructuring the forums ~ voice your thoughts and contribute!

[Lady Vulpix]

Hello, everyone!

I'm sure you've all noticed the changes Kevin has made to the forums. However, you may or may not have noticed some subtler changes in the forum structure.

Basically, we (the mod team) are trying to make the forums more comfortable for everyone to use, and more attractive to new potential members.

So far we have unified the TPM Website and Forum Help forums into the forum where this post is located. We have also turned the 4th Generation forum into a subforum of Classic Generations. And, of course, we have created the X/Y forum.

We would like to hear your input about some other ideas we've been discussing (and have not reached an agreement).

1. Making The Binary District into a subforum (of Misc?), since it doesn't have much activity.

2. Merging FanFiction and FanArt into a Fanwork forum. The Writer's Lounge may either be merged as well or become a broader subforum for meta discussion.

3. Merging RPG and RPG Lounge.

4. Extending the reach of Anime and Manga to visual entertainment in general (films, TV, comics, etc.). If we were to do this, name ideas for the new forum would be welcome.

5. Getting rid of the Archives section and instead having each forum have its own archive as a subforum.

6. Turning AC/CC into a subforum of GGG again.

7. Any other ideas to make TPM better?

So far, nothing is set in stone. We can do any of the above or none at all. Items 3 and 6 already have firm opposition from some mods (because RPG Lounge, while not currently very active, will become useful if activity picks up, and because if AC/CC becomes a subforum again, then no one will notice it and it is bound to die like it nearly did last time it was made a subforum). But it is all open for discussion.

Also note that items 2 and 3 would be irreversible. Once two or more forums become one, there is no way back.

All this said, whatever we do will affect everyone who uses the forums, and we would like to hear your thoughts. So please post them here.

[Magmar]

Not to be a negative Nancy, Gabi but maybe you can answer this question for me since nobody else will: Should I or should I not still be paying for the server. Thanks!

[Lady Vulpix]

I'm sorry, Magmar, but I don't have an answer to that question. I've never had access to the server and I don't know whether we're going to keep using it for the website or we're switching to Kevin's server instead. Perhaps Jeff and Telume know the answer?

[Telume]

Magmar, we're not really using the server you're paying for, so it seems like kind of a waste to pay for it.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

1. Making The Binary District into a subforum (of Misc?), since it doesn't have much activity.

Is it that there are no active nerds these days on TPM? I remember if we want to discuss for instance Facebook then we don't have to decide which forum to go for. In the current activity situation, I think yes, this is a good idea.

2. Merging FanFiction and FanArt into a Fanwork forum. The Writer's Lounge may either be merged as well or become a broader subforum for meta discussion.

Sounds great! I know there may be people against it, but we can still post the same things in these too.

3. Merging RPG and RPG Lounge.

I never really got into that so I better shut up.

4. Extending the reach of Anime and Manga to visual entertainment in general (films, TV, comics, etc.). If we were to do this, name ideas for the new forum would be welcome.

I may be a conservative, but I'm against this. I think we'd better keep that stuff in Misc or create a new separate forum for that. This is the one I'm very strongly against, because I was against merging Pokemon Anime and Other Anime in the first place.

5. Getting rid of the Archives section and instead having each forum have its own archive as a subforum.

Sounds logical. Topics will be easier to find.

6. Turning AC/CC into a subforum of GGG again.

No. Although not active at the moment, AC/CC is another world with all those topics and it was a good idea to make it separate in the first place.

And yes, I know you are not behind this all Lady Vulpix, but I found quotes a nice way to reply.

[Magmar]

Magmar, we're not really using the server you're paying for, so it seems like kind of a waste to pay for it.

Alright, I'm canceling it effective today.

[Knight of Time]

1. Making The Binary District into a subforum (of Misc?), since it doesn't have much activity.

Hmm...not sure what to say about this one. But I suppose it would be a good idea, if it can potentially increase The Binary District's activity.

2. Merging FanFiction and FanArt into a Fanwork forum. The Writer's Lounge may either be merged as well or become a broader subforum for meta discussion.

I actually like this idea...even though I don't post in the former, and I haven't posted in the latter in a while, fusing the two forums into one sounds like a great idea...but would it be necessary to make them both into separate sub-forums so that it's easier to find a certain topic belonging to either one?

3. Merging RPG and RPG Lounge.

I haven't posted in RPG in a long time (not since the days of the PokeBabies RPG, IIRC)...but if this merge gets enough thumbs up, I don't see why it wouldn't work.

4. Extending the reach of Anime and Manga to visual entertainment in general (films, TV, comics, etc.). If we were to do this, name ideas for the new forum would be welcome.

Hmm, this might warrant a new name for the forum, since for example, not everything we see on TV (especially in the animated department) is anime...but if we go with this, I suppose maybe it ought to be called the Entertainment or Pop Culture forum or something...my suggestion here would be to make sub-forums for the major divisions of pop culture, which should definitely be one for movies, one for TV, one for music, etc. That's just my two cents on this one, but this is one of my favourite ideas so far.

5. Getting rid of the Archives section and instead having each forum have its own archive as a subforum.

I'm thinking this is going to be a complicated project...I mean, we do have some forums with their own Archive sub-forum (such as ASB), but I'm predicting this one may take quite a bit of time to do. But I certainly like this idea; it's a great way to make looking for those "blast from the past" topics easier.

6. Turning AC/CC into a subforum of GGG again.

I highly doubt that would work. As one of the workers at Goldenrod Tower, I strongly prefer AC/CC the way it is; as a separate forum. I mean, this forum may not be as popular as it was years ago, but I'm not the kind of person who would easily give up on something that has potential to become better than it's ever been. For example, I better post something that I talked about with Gabi in the past...I made the suggestion to make battles at the PokeZoo Battle Tower even closer to the games, where trainers can use up to 6 Pokemon in the battle, with only one or two out at a time (depending on whether it's a single or double battle), and for every opponent defeated in a battle, a Rare Candy would be awarded to the other trainer (the one whose Pokemon scored a KO)...this is just one idea, but any idea that can improve a forum or make it more active (not just for AC/CC) is worth considering, right?

7. Any other ideas to make TPM better?

Well, I'm thinking ASB may need a fourth moderator. With the current situation, the forum has been getting surprisingly quieter these days, which in my opinion, isn't exactly what I'd call normal for a forum that has attracted a lot of new people in the past few months...I can't even remember the last time ASB had four moderators, but I'm fairly sure it may have been back in the old ASB (when we had signature moves and yen instead of points, among other stuff)...I could be wrong though.

So yeah, this pretty much makes up all the ideas I can think of from the top of my head right now. A great forum cannot exist without great members who dedicate a part of their daily lives to keep it going; I'm just glad we have each other for these kinds of situations, where multiple voices can be heard on these important issues.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Merging FanFiction and FanArt into a Fanwork forum. The Writer's Lounge may either be merged as well or become a broader subforum for meta discussion.

I actually like this idea...even though I don't post in the former, and I haven't posted in the latter in a while, fusing the two forums into one sounds like a great idea...but would it be necessary to make them both into separate sub-forums so that it's easier to find a certain topic belonging to either one?

Sorry, but I don't know if there would be any difference from before if they did that.

4. Extending the reach of Anime and Manga to visual entertainment in general (films, TV, comics, etc.). If we were to do this, name ideas for the new forum would be welcome.

Hmm, this might warrant a new name for the forum, since for example, not everything we see on TV (especially in the animated department) is anime...but if we go with this, I suppose maybe it ought to be called the Entertainment or Pop Culture forum or something...my suggestion here would be to make sub-forums for the major divisions of pop culture, which should definitely be one for movies, one for TV, one for music, etc. That's just my two cents on this one, but this is one of my favourite ideas so far.

I thought they were just going to change the Anime and Manga forum name to Entertainment and Movies or Pop Culture and that's it. Not a good idea, because anime was an important part of the Pokemon phenomenon, and also, Anime Style Battling would seem even more out of place as a forum listed below a general Entertainment forum.

BUT on the other hand, if there were sub-forums called 'Movies', 'TV', 'Music', 'Anime and Manga' it would seem more logical. I just don't know if there would be too many sub-forums for the current activity then. More things, it could eat Miscellaneous Stuff activity.

I agree with you, my friend KoT, in the other things you said.

[Lady Vulpix]

OK, archives have been distributed as subforums, since there seemed to be a general agreement on that.

I don't think tuening FanFic and FanArt into subforums would bring any benefits. The original idea was to turn them into one forum, but since there doesn't seem to be an agreement and the action would be irreversible, I'm not going to go through with it for now. Not until there's a general consensus (at least among the people who are active in those forums) that it would be a good idea.

[ChobiChibi]

So you're moving the archives already? Cool beans.

Please don't merge the RPG lounge. I thought we'd already agreed to give it a little longer, since we have plans for it, and if we don't end up using it, we'll get rid. So please, don't delete it yet ><

[Lady Vulpix]

Don't worry, Becki, I wasn't planning to.

I listed all proposals for discussions. That doesn't mean we're going to do all of that. It doesn't even mean that I agree with all of them. In fact, I firmly disagree with item 6, weakly disagree with item 3, have doubts about item 1 and am unsure of items 2 and 4. I just went through with 5 (and the few things I did before posting this thread) because everyone seemed to agree on that point and I didn't see anything wrong with it.

So, in case anyone else was wondering what my opinion was, there you have it. It's only fair that, since everyone else gets to say what they think, so should I.

Any and all ideas are open to discussion, which is why I posted them all regardless of whether I agreed with them or not. In the end, whatever is done will be done because we've come to an agreement that it will be best for TPM, not just because one person said so.

[Magmar]

here's an idea: let's find some active members! oy!