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
Well, it looks like some stuff has happened recently, but not too much compared to what could have happened.
boppins has a pretty long To-Do list right now. From what I've seen, he's promised to fix the Kingdom Rush ad problem, fix the "activity dot," otherwise known as the dot next to your username on your profile, and he also as to keep up with Dan's demands. The guy is awesome for replying to the comments and whatnot, but he needs to prove himself. Simply promising to do one thing and not doing it is no way to maintain a community with so many technical problems.
I feel like we've been hit with a wave of threads dealing with all of this revolution stuff. It's not that I don't like trying to fix the problems here, but the community has gone a little overboard. Remember we're here to have fun, not complain 24/7.
The contests in the AMW forum need to be fixed, like, now. This isn't something we can blame the staff for. It's our fault, through low skill in judging to lack of participation. I'm not going to point fingers or name names, but some people need to pick it up. Not to mention the forum is facing severe lack of participation altogether. I mean, look at the bottom of page 1. Seriously? Last post was on the 18th, 9 days ago? That's ridiculous! I want them to all say "Sept. 25th!" There's lots of interesting stuff there, and no one's looking at it. If they are, they can't care to take 5 minutes of their time to write out a few sentences on what they thought of the OP's work.
The Programming forum is pretty dead these days. I know people know enough to contribute to the OP's question or idea. I see it on their profiles, when they'll say "I'm learning [blank] scripting language," or "I want to make games someday just like John." C'mon people, the from is there for these people. No one's going to insult you if you get bold, stand up, ad ask your own question. In fact, I'll even answer it. If people see an active forum, they'll naturally be attracted to it, thus causing stimulation.
It's our fault, through low skill in judging to lack of participation.
You're right, the judging is god-awful as it is, but the judges were selected by the participants so it appears that this is the way most people want it... you can try to intervene but they're much more about quality than punctuality, even though neither are evident when you have no judging at all!
Part of it is that the contest as its currently being run is on the basis that the judge knows best, when some of the problems have been because of the judges. Judging is surprisingly difficult, and its kinda hard to keep the quality up over extended periods of time.
Which is why I think the judgeship should pass to a new person, among other reasons.
The rotation is actually working better than prior rounds; we just need judges to give us updates as to when they can realistically post results if they're going to be late. Then again, life is unpredictable.
And Wolf needs a better hamster to power his wonky Internet.
The contests in the AMW forum need to be fixed, like, now.
When you are saying that, are you just referring to the stickied ones, or is there some kind of critique the rest of us are missing? As for the rest of the AMW: Would be active, but I would also like to win a million and have my own private jet. It just isn't doable beyond what I am currently doing, and it would not surprise me if other people feel the same way.
AG is and always has been a game site. It will be primarily a game site for the many millions of people; hence tap on that to draw them in. Get people/gamers/Forum Fanatics/ Devs if possible to write in depth game guides. Link them to the Forums where the guides are via the game descriptions. Or put in a guide section on the front page that links to the Forums. That'll bring traffic here, and hopefully they'll creep out of just the game/guides sections once they know about it.
Which is why I think the judgeship should pass to a new person, among other reasons.
If judging does not occur within 4 days of the deadline, either the judgeship should be passed on or at the very least a new theme should be chosen. It isn't the judge's fault if he can't get online, but that doesn't mean the contest can't progress just because one person is unable to find a way to judge it. If said person is unable to judge for whatever reason, it's everyone else's responsibility to keep the contest going rather than to just let it die. That's why the poetry contest is in the toilet. Nobody who can come online is willing to take responsibility for it.
Wolf isn't that bad of a judge, and we don't want to see that quality disappear and get really bad judging.
This has nothing to do with Wolf's judging. If he can't meet the deadline for whatever reason, that's no excuse to stop the contest altogether; it's the responsibility of every participant to keep the contest alive, and if that means choosing a new judge for that particular round, so be it.
And even if a great judge is replaced for one round by a punctual but mediocre judge, at least the contest still gets judged. Bad quality is better than no quality at all.
Has anyone left him a message about it?
If he can't get online, leaving him a message isn't going to solve anything.
There's lots of interesting stuff there, and no one's looking at it.
That is entirely debatable. In my opinion, their is nothing. I dont feel like rant out, "This has been done before" or, "Thats stupid." So I ignore them. Instead of sitting here complaining about nothing happening, I say you go and make new forums. I have tried. It didnt turn out too bad. As long as you have an interesting topic and have 5 minuets to spare, please I beg of you, make it a thread.
I concur. There seems to be willingness in participation - there just needs to be some participation in the judging section. Might I mention that perhaps no one is asking to step up as judge because, well, self promotion is rather awkward, and no one wants to see themselves getting pushed down because they asked. Plus, Wolf isn't that bad of a judge, and we don't want to see that quality disappear and get really bad judging. It makes for a lot of awkward silence, I suppose.
Has anyone left him a message about it?
Bad Internet at his university.
I would have judged, but I have a poem entered this round. Orion seems to be working on it at any rate.
I am locking this because someone decided to bump this thread. It is less relevant right now. Changes to Armor Games have been rolled out. We have an active Community Manager. Forums are still quiet... but anyway, unless anyone has a good reason this thread should be unlocked this thread will stay locked. Otherwise, you are free to create a new one.
