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INTRODUCTION
Thread Background
Coming from a long-time lurker born in 2008, I have noticed that Armor Games is facing a recent "slump" of activity. In other terms, Armor Games is becoming inactive. In my quest for answers, I've contacted several Armor Games users, ranging from new users to veterans. Thinking that I gave people something to think about for the day, Ernie15 gave me a bold idea to convert these ideas into a thread where one can give his/her ideas on the matter instead of letting this issue be small-talk. In many's minds, this is an issue that needs to be addressed to immediately. There have been threads like this, but this is the central HUB of what we view of Armor Games today.
Armor Games, I give you The User's View.
Armor Games Background
AG3, a major update to the Armor Games world, has been in development for around 2 years. There are tons of beta testers for the website. Prior to and starting at the development of AG3, Armor Games was once a bustling "city," if you will, of ideas traveling by means of public forum posting to comments to one another, or "small talk." Many of these users have left for reasons we will discuss and are being replaced by users we will later discuss.
Staff Changes
Late 2011, Cormyn, a very popular admin, resigned from his duties and became a regular user. He was somewhat replaced with Justin Royster, aka username jroyster22.
Part 1: Cormyn
Cormyn was undoubtedly known for his ability to be publicly active within the community and was often described as strict. As strict as he was, he kept the trash out and helped shape our modern-day Armor Games. He wrote code for the community, laid down a lot of the rules, appointed moderators alongside the moderation team, and, short and sweet, held Armor Games together. In many people's opinions, he was the administrator's community face of Armor Games. Once Cormyn left, jroyster22, alongside his duties with AG3, became the one to contact if you needed help. Justin Royster had big shoes to fill, and so far, he's done a moderate job. He prefers to contact via email, taking away from that on-site communication charm. In my opinion, Justin Royster has been a little vague with his duties. I and others have complained that Armor Games needs a new head, and if Justin Royster was a little more open, we'd have that strong, great leader. I am not criticizing his work- I understand he's busy. I'm just asking that he showed a little more of his face.
Part 2: Inactivity
Sadly, many of Armor Games' moderators have been caught up with daily life to successfully fulfill their duties on a daily basis. Similarly, admins are busy preparing AG3 for its release and have a lot to do. I understand they have lives as well. Many other new members have complained that it is impossible to get in touch with anyone on the staff team. Cormyn had written moderator-selection software, and many are thinking, if it is still available after Cormyn's resignation, perhaps it could be used to find another addition to the moderator team. Freakenstein has been a fantastic addition, but I feel as though we need more. I'm not going to name names because I respect what our moderators do; I feel as though we need more. Maybe it's time we eliminated the "small staff team" tradition for the time being until we recover. As for admins, we don't need a lot, but just one public face to get contact with would be fantastic.
Migration
I know AG3 is going to be very different. I know forum activity has sunk. I know your friends have left. Because of multiple things, many users, newbies and veterans alike, have moved on to different websites. This is not going to help our inactivity problem. It will only make it worse. I am not only asking you all to stay, but I am asking you to help out. We can't sit around and let our users leave. Part of it is our problem; we can make things interesting again. We can make people want to spend all of their time here. We can show people Armor Games is the best darn website out there!
Generation Transition
Jeol brought this to my attention and it struck me. What if the reason so many people are leaving is because they are older? Now, some people will never change, but others will grow and move on. And, who replaces them?
Part 1: Veterans
It's summer. You've finished school and want to enjoy the outdoors. You've finished school and have to work. You've finished school and want to try something new. Whatever it is, whether you've gotten too old for Armor Games, or have something else taking up your time, you can't visit your favorite website in the world. You know what? That's quite OK. Just remember to drop by once in a while and talk to your old friends. Many users are finding that they are having difficulties connecting with new people if they leave right away. Sadly, this leaves many users bored and craving for a good conversation.
Part 2: New Users
The size of Armor Games' user list is rising exponentially- it's skyrocketing! Most would think this would create more activity, wouldn't it? Frankly, no. Many games require an account for online saving to work, and the new generation replacing the previous one seems to be filled with people who join, stay active for a day, and quit dealing with the forums, leaving a large gap to be filled by no one.
Armor Games v3
As mentioned earlier, AG3 is being developed. By my count, there are currently 5 admins developing it. Unfortunately, users are complaining because there is little or no status updates on what's going on. Not to sound demanding, but more frequent updates could make the waiting all the easier. Also, the new achievement system may scare veterans who are used to and have gained recognition by the current AP system. AG3 will also result in a clean slate for the forums... By deleting all of the material there. Of course, much of the material is repeatable, but many veterans have good memories of posting here.
Conclusion
We've lost the face of the admins, Cormyn, and would like to have another public face again. Many moderators are busy with their lives and some more help would be fantastic. A lot of people have given up on Armor Games and have outright quit. Old faces are being replaced with people who aren't as devoted the site. AG3 is coming with big changes, but has gone very quiet recently.
~Salvidian
Those who contributed to this information in some way, shape, or form
-jeol
-Ernie15
-daleks
-Skeleton_Pilot
-Cenere
-GhostOfMatrix
-MrDayCee
-johnmerz
- 339 Replies
I don't know if you noticed, but that spam was almost always there.
It's even fair to say that it will probably never go away. As long as users get away with posting 'good', '5/10' and 'bad' as a game review (to give an example) and aren't slapped on the whrist for it, it will continue as before... much like weeding, as it pops up behind you while you're busy working the front lines!
I don't suppose spamming the admins' email in-boxes would get them to notice?
LOL Oh, that's surely going to attract the admins' attention at some point! I wonder how quick a bann-hammer can be wielded, but... I don't care to find out!
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On a different note... how come the relationship between admins and mods is so cooled down as of late? That is... IF it wasn't already that way and... I hope it's not opening a can of worms by bringing this up. =/
I just can't seem to understand how it is even remotely possible to have a somewhat crooked communication between the staff and it's employees... that would surely interrupt the speed and thouroughness of the work getting done or not?
Anyone got Carlie's email perhaps? I'd love to see her becoming active again! =)
Anyone got Carlie's email perhaps? I'd love to see her becoming active again! =)
Sadly not. Though she is nothing like I pictured her(just don't ask how I know). The problem anyway even if we did have a good way to contact an admin who knows if they would be willing to respond.
When you see so many of the older users and friends get banned or just leave in a huff, you tend to get prickly.
True, very, very true.
I didn't like Cormyn as a person. I logged in about when he started moderating, and I left immediately. He changed AG, sure, he made it a lot better. But he was way too strict. I mean, when you compare him with a mod like Carlie? There's a huge difference. I think most of us just want a cormyn-type mod, but with the attitude of Carlie. Well, I think. But who am I to talk for the bunch of us, eh?
Go look at Raze 2, and I'm sure you'll find 90% of the comments are spam stating stuff like, "awesome," "good game," "so much fun," and etc.
I don't think you've been on AG for long enough. In 2008, the comment s were identical. There's scarcely any difference. Maybe just merit-worth comments were more common back then, but that's the only thing I can think of.
I understand that, but we're facing quite a bit of spam as of late.
Honestly, the only increase in spam is probably the spam-bots. That's it. Otherwise, game comments, profile comments, everything has the identical amount of spam.
I don't know about you, but sometimes the staff seems to have given up on us.
I don't even know which mods are still active these days, other than Strop. You've said it yourself, the mods have their own personal lives, just like every other person that deserted the site for a year or 2 or 3 did. I love AG and it's community, but if real life calls for me, I'm afraid I'll abandon AG, temporarily.
Of course we can't force people to come, but we can get new users to stay, and there's a lot of potential there.
I rarely see new users that post anything significant. Here and there in interesting threads you see some gems between the newbies, but they don't stay for long. How to make them stay is beyond me though.
I think most of us just want a cormyn-type mod
You mean admin? And I got news that cormyn wasn't a community manager or anything, he just helped out users and kept us up to date because he felt it was the right thing to do.
I don't even know which mods are still active these days
Strop isn't really active but shows up from time to time. Frank and Nemo I see a lot. Gantic I see too. Voidy from time to time. I have never seen Zophia, Asherlee, or MRWalker.
Larry is lroot FYI.
Indeed.
Why would such an IP ban cause you to divide the OP into 2 posts?
I think there's a memory limit because I attempted to post the same information again, but had the same problem. I removed pictures, links, etc. and it worked fine.
As far as getting admins to notice us, let alone WANT to post, I'm sure spamming email in-boxes would result in a ban hammer, as MrDayCee said. Frankly, if they want the future of AG to be bright, we'd still need to employ another community manager. One with a better attitude, and one who can control newbies. Credit on that comment from Patrick2011, Cenere, jeol, daleks, and sensanaty.
While I agree that spam hasn't neccesarily changed much in the past to now, I'd have to say that more of it is coming from potential newbies. In other words, newbies who would usually be taking the leaving veterans's places. This is due to the fact that we aren't proffesional or friendly as we could be. This includes all staff AND regular users.
Sorry for the bad spelling and grammar, I'm using IE and am having a hard time re-reading my post.
I think that the major problme is showed by the diffrince, lets say, from 'giant in the playground' and armor games.
While GITPG is based on a comic, which make people to visit and stay on a weekly {mounthly maybe -_-} basis, armor games is based on little games, most of a couple of minutse. peopel dont stay for much.
another problme is that as said, the forums are based on small talk, who got off from the topic and go to becaume something like a chat. sure, it has it advantagse, but it dont let people "to go deep".
on other sites, ther are comeptitions of fan art and stuff, which keep a strong seed of followers, making the site look more "alive". here it look like, again, a wastland of small talks. you dont see much of site games, who show that there are people who come on a daily basis. when i started, i looked at the forums and i was sure that no one enter. i think that there should be an update of the forums. making sub-topics, so "the tarven" or "opular media" will have more wings, and "forum games" will help peoples who want 'full games' as RPGs and werewolf to make them.
also, a contest of artist and stuff {like i tried to make -_-} will help keeping interest in the site. not only entering, play a game while waiting for THE game to open.
because lets face it, less and less peopels play internet games. when you have all of these smart phones and be a pirate and getting games is much much more easy, why should i play a flash game while i can play the new mass effect {for say}?
if armor games could suppore videos creators, and stuff which will attracte more peoples, it will make another step for returning to it golden age.
Armor games HAVE to move foward. in the internet, if you stay for too long, you just flushed with the stream away. and, im sorry to say, armor games as stant still for a while.
i remmeber armor games since i was just a little kid, who almost didnt knew a word in english, and i always was a big fan. when someone asked "do you know good games on the internet?" i always showed them armor games. when i say peoples play in 'miniclip', i always told them "go to armor games, its better".
i realy dont want to see armor games becauming one of these little site who got forrgoten in the past. i want it to be the best site in the world! but we got to go on.
another problme is that as said, the forums are based on small talk, who got off from the topic and go to becaume something like a chat. sure, it has it advantagse, but it dont let people "to go deep".
The forums are only based "small talk" within The Tavern and sometimes in Popular Media. If you have ever entered WEPR, you would find that people are as intelligent as one could imagine. The WEPR greatly allows users to go deep. I don't understand how The Tavern could let anyone go deep- It was made for small talk. Popular Media occasionally will have musicial aficionados discuss traits of their favorite music. In other times, many will drop in, put their short-hand opinion in, and leave.
on other sites, ther are comeptitions of fan art and stuff, which keep a strong seed of followers, making the site look more "alive". here it look like, again, a wastland of small talks.
Error 404: Evidence of "small talk" not found. AMW contains nothing but competitions aside from personal threads showing skills.
you dont see much of site games, who show that there are people who come on a daily basis. when i started, i looked at the forums and i was sure that no one enter. i think that there should be an update of the forums. making sub-topics, so "the tarven" or "opular media" will have more wings, and "forum games" will help peoples who want 'full games' as RPGs and werewolf to make them.
I cannot stand this. Other sites are impossible to navigate through because there's seas of information. If you're picky about specifics, it isn't hard to click on the link and see what the thread's all about.
also, a contest of artist and stuff {like i tried to make -_-} will help keeping interest in the site. not only entering, play a game while waiting for THE game to open.
Not addressing this. You need to go into the AMW first.
because lets face it, less and less peopels play internet games. when you have all of these smart phones and be a pirate and getting games is much much more easy, why should i play a flash game while i can play the new mass effect {for say}?
if armor games could suppore videos creators, and stuff which will attracte more peoples, it will make another step for returning to it golden age.
This thread is not concerning games nor is it concerning the mechanics of the forums. Those aren't problems.
Armor games HAVE to move foward. in the internet, if you stay for too long, you just flushed with the stream away. and, im sorry to say, armor games as stant still for a while.
It will be until AG3 comes out.
i remmeber armor games since i was just a little kid, who almost didnt knew a word in english, and i always was a big fan. when someone asked "do you know good games on the internet?" i always showed them armor games. when i say peoples play in 'miniclip', i always told them "go to armor games, its better".
i realy dont want to see armor games becauming one of these little site who got forrgoten in the past. i want it to be the best site in the world! but we got to go on.
Armor Games isn't dead. The forums are a little inactive.
No offense, but I recommend you look through this ENTIRE thread and ACTUALLY SEE what's it's all about. You aren't addressing problem areas.
It wouldn't surprise me if AG3 was just a clever joke, so the admins would have an excuse to take a two year vacation. Or would that make me a cynic?
My thoughts on Cormyn is that he threw the baby out with the dish water. Did he do his job? Yes. Was he effective? Yes. But he tended to ban under the pretense of 'where theres smoke, theres fire.' Perhaps I can't talk though, since I can count on one finger the times I dealt with him.
The failure of CAPTCHA led some to believe that the adbots were the 2012 April Fools Joke. However, there was no April Fools joke this year.
You were the only person I ever saw making that claim. I mean really, the admins would have to be sick to flood the site with links to sites of questionable safety and legality.
If you have ever entered WEPR, you would find that people are as intelligent as one could imagine. The WEPR greatly allows users to go deep.
I beg to differ. The WEPR is filled with such a pleothra of hypocrites and pseudo-intellectuals, who draw content merely from using their so called "experience" to shout down and violently suppress differing opionions. Its okay to argue, so long as you don't go against the self-proclaimed infallible bastion that is their ideology.
Or perhaps the joke is on me for thinking that such things as 'respect' and 'tolerance' could exist on the internet.
You were the only person I ever saw making that claim. I mean really, the admins would have to be sick to flood the site with links to sites of questionable safety and legality.
I was not the first to make such a claim. In fact, I saw some others make the claim and believed it since I had no idea of the actual joke. I simply stated the claim more than anyone else. However, the adbots turned out not to be the April Fools joke.
It wouldn't surprise me if AG3 was just a clever joke, so the admins would have an excuse to take a two year vacation. Or would that make me a cynic?
In You're banned (a forum game), GhostOfMatrix joked that the admins were trolling us with AG3. However, I have a recent comment containing his actual thoughts below:
Well, no. I think they'll eventually come out with it, but it feels like it won't be for a while. It's already been about two years since they announced AG3; they estimated it'd be out in summer 2011, when that passed they said winter, when that passed they said spring, and that was around the same time Cormyn left (I think) so we don't get any more updates.
I also check the beta site and their GetSatisfaction page weekly and they haven't added anything major since the profiles.
I don't think anyone has an idea of the release date of AG3.
AG has gotten well... boring. I see it as just the problem of too much going on in too many people's lives to be on a website for hours on a day. I don't think there's much we can do about it, I've taken some hiatuses myself from this site. It feels good for a while. I'll be interested to see what happens. I'm usually here, just watching the forums, and if something peaks my intrests, I comment on it. I also post poetry in the arts section. I am a veteran of the site, and it's cool being in the forums. I like these forums because it's so nicely organized, and you don't have to go the equivalent of 4 miles to get to the bottom of them. it's one page. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know.
Hello Salvidian, you haven't been into the AMW it seems, because tonnes of it really is small talk sloppily disguised as art related stuff.
Or when you are in the AMW thread you tell someone what they can do to make there work better and they ignore you or get mad at you for degrading their work. That is why I like Cen's threads. He let's me comment and actually say what I think.
I have observed in recent months, that the forums are kind of being ignored by the newer users. Most newcomers to the forums post 50 to 100 times, then become inactive. Out of these many, of course, there is always those few who stay, and remain active users in the community. This process is what keeps the community alive. When an veteran user retires so to speak, he/she is replaced by new users who stay and become active in the community. The process is perpetual. New users come, old users go, and the community grows.
The above process has been dying off recently. More & more veteran users have become less active (due to work, school, ETC...), and there are no new users to replace the older users. The most recent newcomers to the forums only post >50 times in the forums, then become inactive.
The next question that comes up is this: Why are the veteran users leaving? The cause for this problem, has been posted before. There is a growing lack of trust/confidence in the AG administrators concerning AGv3. The constant deprivation of information has led to a frustration among users, thus making them get bored with AG, and becoming inactive.
I think that if AG were to present an administrator that will inform us with updates and info concerning AGv3.
Something else that I think may contribute to the resolution of this issue, is to somehow make the newcomers to the forums more welcome. After all, the more satisfied the new users are with the AG community, the more likely they are to stay.
(The above statements are my observations only. I have not claimed that they are completely accurate, nor will I claim that they are the reasons for the inactivity in the community.)
You know I hope this thread does better than the last. Basically it was us all just complaining and doing nothing. This one should motivate people to go and get up off their lazy bums and make a decent well thought out forum. I don't care what your favorite fruit is. I don't care what soda you like. I DON'T CARE! Is it too hard to have a decent convirsation with someone? Back last year when I first joined I was over whelmed. It was amazing honestly, I had stumbled apon a hidden community that I had no idea was here. I enjoyed it too. The people were nice and I made friends. Lots of people were on then too. You could talk with people really. I really enjoyed it. I mean I had hour long conversations with people sometimes. Now I'm lucky to get a message on my profile. So sad. Another thing about the new people is that their are some semi new people who are scaring them away. You have seen it I'm sure. The new guy who is so happy here and makes a thread. It turns out he made it in the wrong section. Then they are attack by back seat mods. "wrong forum noob" or "this will get locked" helps no one. Be nice. Your not even posting more than 7 words. Way to set an example. Instead say, "hey, you might have put this is the wrong area." not "link" or "look here first". Sorry, that was bugging me. But c'mon just stop. Maybe that's why new comers don't stay. So instead of saying " no new peoples " I urge you to go and take a look at the new comers forums and be nice to some new people. Who knows, maybe they will be te next vets of this site.
First of all, good presentation of this topic OP, better than "forums suk".
Why would someone have to take time out of their schedule to do something they don't care about and isn't essential?
I can name 1,000,001 things that people do reguarly that are'nt essential...
The above process has been dying off recently. More & more veteran users have become less active (due to work, school, ETC...),
I'm not saying I don't have a life, because I'm busy, but I dont really find it all that time consuming to log on, respond to my messanger and post in a few threads. I may skip a day here or there, but I do it pretty reguarly.
On the Cormyn topic, i felt like he cared, since I mostly flooded his messanger with uber noob questions about AG3, and he always responded politley and calmly. I think he temp banned me, but, hey, who's fault is that?
I like to think our Admins are just hustlin their bustles with AG3. Im not saying I don't get annoyed when I see spam... But the forums are nice and clean in my opinion.
I agree with Ernie's mortals-on-Olympus idea. They usually input better ideas too.
Thread is locked!