Member Count vs. Post Count

[loonawynd]

Aug 7, 2014 14:14:04 GMT -8 garth said:

Aug 4, 2014 17:42:54 GMT -8 loonawynd said:

How do you judge this though?  What would be the perfect amount?  Why would smaller amounts of members make it harder for new members to fit in?  Wouldn't it actually be easier because there are fewer members?

Sometimes its very difficult to push yourself into a forum where its 3-4 normal members, Often they will prefer the company of their friends than someone new. Its like being the new kid at a school, in a large enough school you may end up being alone and just drifting. Some large schools tend to have cliques which you can put yourself in, whereas a smaller school may just have a few tight groups and if they aren't looking for more you're just a loner in a small spot. Not every small forum will be like this, but there are a few like it. 

I guess I can sort of see that.  Still how do you judge that when just looking at the forum before joining?  A lot of that is really something you can only experience if you join.

[garth]

Aug 8, 2014 11:42:37 GMT -8 loonawynd said:

Aug 7, 2014 14:14:04 GMT -8 garth said:

Sometimes its very difficult to push yourself into a forum where its 3-4 normal members, Often they will prefer the company of their friends than someone new. Its like being the new kid at a school, in a large enough school you may end up being alone and just drifting. Some large schools tend to have cliques which you can put yourself in, whereas a smaller school may just have a few tight groups and if they aren't looking for more you're just a loner in a small spot. Not every small forum will be like this, but there are a few like it. 

I guess I can sort of see that.  Still how do you judge that when just looking at the forum before joining?  A lot of that is really something you can only experience if you join.

Usually smaller sites with a large post count is something I can usually take as a small tight group which may not be looking for more. Sometimes attempting to talk in a cbox and being referred to as "person" or "random" is another sign of a site not looking for more, if the site seems to turn and put you in the center of attention that's when I say to myself this group is looking to expand ill look more seriously.

[loonawynd]

Aug 13, 2014 16:55:16 GMT -8 garth said:

Aug 8, 2014 11:42:37 GMT -8 loonawynd said:

I guess I can sort of see that.  Still how do you judge that when just looking at the forum before joining?  A lot of that is really something you can only experience if you join.

Usually smaller sites with a large post count is something I can usually take as a small tight group which may not be looking for more. Sometimes attempting to talk in a cbox and being referred to as "person" or "random" is another sign of a site not looking for more, if the site seems to turn and put you in the center of attention that's when I say to myself this group is looking to expand ill look more seriously.

I see.  I can sort of understand that.  Right now I'm trying to build my forums membership.  Several members have followed me from another website so some of us do know each other but I'm hoping we can get new members to join and spark discussions.

[Former Member]

Mar 8, 2010 11:06:09 GMT -8 The Dark Knight said:

Thankfully ProBoards has that "Members Active in the last 24 Hours" feature, that gives everyone a good idea about how active a forum is. Usually though, if a forum has over 50,000 posts it's safe to assume that they have at least 25 active members (during the forum's peak growth time). It's a stretch to think that they'd have less than that, unless the forum's under decline.

Good answer.

[Sonikku1011]

I tend to look more at how many members the forum has rather than posts when going to join a new forum. If they have a very high post count with only a handful of members to me that looks like they are posting spam throughout the board or perhaps they have one too many sub forums and it can get difficult to figure out where certain posts should go. Then again if only a handful of members have been active in the last 24 hours then it's safe to say the forum is declining and I don't join forums such as this because there would be hardly any members to start conversations with.

[loonawynd]

How about looking to see how many threads have been active in the last few days? If no new threads have been made or if no threads have had any activity than there is little life in the forum. For new or starting forums this can take some time to build up though so...

[Ward]

I don't usually pay much attention to member and post count unless the member count is exceptionally high. Then I look at post count to see if there's any correlation. But even if the two don't match up (they usually never do), I don't automatically dismiss the site.

At that point I peruse the site further and see how many members actually post and how often, as well as when the last few posts were. I almost exclusively visit RP sites, and being the owner / admin of one of my own, I understand that sometimes sites encounter periods of less activity due to work / school.

Mostly, though, the thing that matters to me most is presentation and the setting / information. If there's a decent amount of information the site, and the site doesn't hurt my eyes to look at, I'll usually end up joining it if I have the time and feel I'll be able to keep up with it on top of running my own site (which takes up a very large portion of my time online, even if I'm not always posting on it).

[Himms]

I have done both APC and APP, to me there is no difference in the grand scheme. Expect they are mirror image of each other.

Why? The player will still play the same amount of characters, regardless of the system used.

[The girl who waited]

Oct 9, 2014 20:45:46 GMT -8 Himms said:

I have done both APC and APP, to me there is no difference in the grand scheme. Expect they are mirror image of each other.

Why? The player will still play the same amount of characters, regardless of the system used.

Yes. Also, I notice that the ones who play a lot of characters are the most active, anyway, so it really DOESN'T matter. Also, doesn't ANYONE read, like, the who-plays-who lists? They're there for a reason; use them, please. A little bit of research goes a long way. If you're not willing to read the important things BEFORE you join, that is a red-flag to me that you're unwilling to do it AFTER you've joined. 

Good post, Himms They are the same, aren't they? Never thought about it in that way....

[Beyonder]

Doesn't matter to me.

[Cuethelaugh]

This is just my personal opinion (and I used to be the complete opposite) so take it with a grain of salt or however that saying goes..

I used to subscribe to the whole separate account per character thing but not anymore. For me I find it incredibly misleading. You join a sit with 100 accounts then it turns out there is like 4 active people. Now this may work for other sites (and I totally get it) but I far prefer to be truthful with potential members so we adapted the one account per RL individual for everything rule. Now everyone knows the site has 30 people and exactly how many people have been on and active that day. I see so many admins create like 10 accounts and only logs into them to have the active member thing seem more active which isn't really truthful especially if they don't post with them at least once a month >.<

I ALWAYS look at post count but ALSO most recent post count. If the first page goes beyond 3-4 days I usually don't join because it means that it isn't that active.

[Himms]

Cuethelaugh, nah, the who's who should do the trick esp if the Admins keep it up to date with accurate number of players if the APC method is being used.

I have done both and can see their pros and cons (like with everything in life...haha!).

[Cuethelaugh]

Nov 15, 2014 1:19:33 GMT -8 Himms said:

Cuethelaugh, nah, the who's who should do the trick esp if the Admins keep it up to date with accurate number of players if the APC method is being used.

I have done both and can see their pros and cons (like with everything in life...haha!).

I disagree. If someone is just visiting your site I'm not gonna go digging for a who's who. I'm going to look and see who's been on in the 'active users' and go by that. After I join and see that those 80 different accounts are played by 8 people (4 of which are actually active) I'd be annoyed and probably leave.

Just my way of doing things and I'm sure others do the same. Even if 75% don't that means 25% still do

[Himms]

That sounds fair, Cuethelaugh. Given each site has their own methods, whether we agree to their system of choice or not, however at the end of the day, it's their site and preference.

We can also agree to disagree

[Cuethelaugh]

Yep definitely going to have to agree to disagree here. I've done both (one account per character for a LONG time) and that's just what I learned. For me after 6 years of doing it all I learned is most sites use it to make the group look bigger. This generation is very 'want it now no wait time' so a lot of folks (more than you think) wouldn't waste time doing that.

Having a site around since 2009 that has done both (we had one account per character until THIS summer) this is just what works for us.