What happened to this forum?

[Songz]

What bothers me the most is that the BB Code shortcuts don't show when replying to threads. Why the hell am I typing out [[img]][[./img]] manually and shit... it's annoying

[darkness35]

What is MMORPG?
What is life?
What?

[annakieu541]

Reddit happened.

[chaoscauser]

Reddit happened.

You mean Discord?

[Abhorsen]

What bothers me the most is that the BB Code shortcuts don't show when replying to threads. Why the hell am I typing out [[img]][[./img]] manually and shit... it's annoying

that's your adblock causing this. (for some reason)

what bothers me is that parts of the forum are still broken and nothing has been fixed in the past 6 or so months lol, so if the dying mmo genre didnt contribute to the forums being a wasteland, the lack of a fully functional forum is.
examples: https://www.onrpg.com/boards/threads...-Thread/page42 dead links like this everywhere.
video tags work but youtube tags are still broken.

[MissyS]

that's your adblock causing this. (for some reason)

what bothers me is that parts of the forum are still broken and nothing has been fixed in the past 6 or so months lol, so if the dying mmo genre didnt contribute to the forums being a wasteland, the lack of a fully functional forum is.
examples: https://www.onrpg.com/boards/threads...-Thread/page42 dead links like this everywhere.
video tags work but youtube tags are still broken.

- AdBlock decided to be aggressive with our sites and blocked many of their core scripts, which is why it has to be disabled for giveaways on site too. I can't even get work done on the back end without disabling it. It's something they really shouldn't do, given that it goes beyond blocking ads to block actual site functionality, but there's nothing more we can do about it.

- Dead links are dead links. There was a loss of posts here or there in the database when we had that incident months ago, and we had no way to recover them. The thread referenced isn't broken, it's just that the link you referenced is going to a page that no longer exists because someone hacked the forums and nuked the database. We recovered most of it, but some threads managed to remain nuked.

- Youtube tags being broken sucks, and it's because we're using an old version of vbulletin and YouTube has since updated its embed coding (several times). Updating the forum software is on the to-do list, but it's a slow process as the tech behind the sites is all connected and other changes are being made first to the backbone of everything.

I definitely agree that it's frustrating nothing has been done in the past six months (not ignored, I promise you - just not going as fast as we'd like). However before that the forum code hadn't been touched for years, so there's more forward momentum now than there had been.

[GenoX]

Everyone is blaming reddit but the truth is forums like these are pretty much outdated. Kids don't even know what a forum is. Also conversation about mmorpg have dried up. There hasn't been any "new" thing out that people has not played before. Pretty much all talks are about the same old gw2, bdo, wow, ffxiv, and one or two not very known/old games. Anything new that is coming out are taking forever given they are mostly pre-alpha. Except for Camelot unchained it's one of the few games that might come out within q1 or q2. Possibly even q3. It's in beta 1 playtest phase.

[Gattsu]

The golden age is long gone.

[Abhorsen]

- AdBlock decided to be aggressive with our sites and blocked many of their core scripts, which is why it has to be disabled for giveaways on site too. I can't even get work done on the back end without disabling it. It's something they really shouldn't do, given that it goes beyond blocking ads to block actual site functionality, but there's nothing more we can do about it.

- Dead links are dead links. There was a loss of posts here or there in the database when we had that incident months ago, and we had no way to recover them. The thread referenced isn't broken, it's just that the link you referenced is going to a page that no longer exists because someone hacked the forums and nuked the database. We recovered most of it, but some threads managed to remain nuked.

- Youtube tags being broken sucks, and it's because we're using an old version of vbulletin and YouTube has since updated its embed coding (several times). Updating the forum software is on the to-do list, but it's a slow process as the tech behind the sites is all connected and other changes are being made first to the backbone of everything.

I definitely agree that it's frustrating nothing has been done in the past six months (not ignored, I promise you - just not going as fast as we'd like). However before that the forum code hadn't been touched for years, so there's more forward momentum now than there had been.

thanks for the detailed explanation Missys, im glad to see the forum is still being worked on.
also strange how ad-block is so aggressive, didn't it start being that way around the same time the forums got nuked? i think ive disabled it ever since anyway because the ads on this site dont bother me as much as on other sites, but it can suck for people who are unaware that all the functions are missing. ill try the report function within adblock itself, if that helps anything.

[Meis]

forum > reddit

I'm not ready for reddit yet
also i dont know how the new generation (age 10-16) thinks about mmorpg's these days, but for me (29) theres nothing coming out that interests me anymore, nor am i looking forward to any mmo in the works. the last mmo that interested me was tree of savior so its been a while.
and i still think theres potential for the mmofps/rpg genre and action based mmorpgs, however its very hard to do. if a company is too small the game could be great since the team communicates a lot, it would be a project they put all their love into, but the lack of funds will hold them back.
if a company is too big however they put all those funds in the wrong places and it turns into a mess that lacks any sort of quality content.
i feel like back in the day game companies had way more freedom and didnt look at other games at all, the goal was to make something unique and fresh without constantly having to worry about deadlines. they didnt have much games to rip off features from so they had no choice.

Overpopulation. Over-produce. Over-consumption. Hence, so many clones. Every day, there will be new releases in various countries... I don't have to name it out. Do you guys remember gamengame??? Even that is slowed down.

m m o rpg[dot]com
m m o site[dot]com
... still going strong. You can't say forums are dead.

The MMORPG has reached its peak or mature stage I guess, just like how POP music did in early 2000. The next stage is VR-MMORPG... which is taking too slow ZZZZzzzzz.

[Arnolddo]

Forums in general become obsolete. You have reddit and facebook groups, not to mention twich. Forums are mainly for the oldschool gamers

[Hello Kitty]

It deded .

[Songz]

Forums aren't completely dead, but vbulletin definitely is (maybe just our old version). Need a completely different board, and new target market. 100% the focus of the future off OnRPG should be Mobile MMOs. It's a no brainer there.

Forums are still alive and well, game-specific forums are alive, VR forums are alive. Obscure hobby forums are still alive.
Our community is dead because there is no reason to come here.
How often do we even have discussions on the latest games? We're a terrible MMO gaming forum because nobody cares anymore. Mabinogi mobile, maple mobile... we should be grabbing content, posting it on our forum, big well detailed threads again with pictures and videos, and linking that shit to Reddit to bring in traffic.

We 100% should allow guests to post again on the forum. We need active mods to take care of the trolls, spammers, and bots when we welcome open Guest/Anon posting.

Let's not roll over and die.
MissyS, is any of what I said actually applicable or actionable?

We're right in the middle of a new boom. Survival games, battle royales, and Mobile MMOs. Soon VR gaming. We need to direct our focus. Forums are great because of categories and organization. That'll always be an advantage over Reddit. Guides die and go obscure on Reddit, and FAQ links are never consistently updated.
This is our strength. Always has been. This is why we came here over the official forums for specific games. And for gods sake add a limit to the signatures sizes if the forum gets a rehaul on the look.

[MissyS]

Songz:

I think you've got some really solid points, honestly. Personally I'd like to move off vbulletin entirely, at the VERY least, I'd like to get us on the latest version. It's on the list of tech issues to be addressed, we're just not to that point yet.

As for Guest/Anon posting - I can probably turn it back on. In an experiment to try to thwart spammers, I've been able to find new methods they're getting around our systems.

A lot of what you're getting at though - is community. I'd love to come in here and give this place more life, but I've got a ton on my plate to keep everything running on OnRPG & MMOHuts. I've been trying to stir up discussion in the background, but it's not going anywhere. (Also, I'd love links/cached links of some of those old topics you're referring to if they're available.

What I'd like to do that's most actionable at this time:
- Reopen guest/anon posting
- Hunt down ways to shut down more spammers. They follow patterns, I've just got to find the best way to block those patterns. Our mods are pretty fast on removing the posts, but that's only part of the equation.
- Clean up and clean out the forums. Possibly a bit of reorganizing. I know everyone loves their history but the forums -look- dead, especially when the most common topics are a year+ old and we're getting necros on threads from 2011. I don't mind archiving, but our active forums should have some sign of life in them.
- Get people being active in creating daily topics & discussions. There's plenty to talk about, it's just not being talked about here. I see people replying to new threads, but there's just not many new threads happening.

What's on the list, but can't be done yet:
- Forum software (security, updates, etc)
- Chat software (we'd like to add some sort of live chat again to the site even if it's a chatbox/shout box that actually works)

I am all for suggestions and feedback. I think for too long the attitude toward the forums (from the business end of things) was to try to twist them into shape that would work for business purposes. We've long overlooked what makes the forums the community they are and have been for years, and that's kind of a shame, because they still provide a lot of traffic to the sites and a less gimmicky way of engagement than other social media.

[Hello Kitty]

I said stuff.

You should hire a thread-starter. Ou~

[Songz]

Songz:

I think you've got some really solid points, honestly. Personally I'd like to move off vbulletin entirely, at the VERY least, I'd like to get us on the latest version. It's on the list of tech issues to be addressed, we're just not to that point yet.

As for Guest/Anon posting - I can probably turn it back on. In an experiment to try to thwart spammers, I've been able to find new methods they're getting around our systems.

A lot of what you're getting at though - is community. I'd love to come in here and give this place more life, but I've got a ton on my plate to keep everything running on OnRPG & MMOHuts. I've been trying to stir up discussion in the background, but it's not going anywhere. (Also, I'd love links/cached links of some of those old topics you're referring to if they're available.

What I'd like to do that's most actionable at this time:
- Reopen guest/anon posting
- Hunt down ways to shut down more spammers. They follow patterns, I've just got to find the best way to block those patterns. Our mods are pretty fast on removing the posts, but that's only part of the equation.
- Clean up and clean out the forums. Possibly a bit of reorganizing. I know everyone loves their history but the forums -look- dead, especially when the most common topics are a year+ old and we're getting necros on threads from 2011. I don't mind archiving, but our active forums should have some sign of life in them.
- Get people being active in creating daily topics & discussions. There's plenty to talk about, it's just not being talked about here. I see people replying to new threads, but there's just not many new threads happening.

What's on the list, but can't be done yet:
- Forum software (security, updates, etc)
- Chat software (we'd like to add some sort of live chat again to the site even if it's a chatbox/shout box that actually works)

I am all for suggestions and feedback. I think for too long the attitude toward the forums (from the business end of things) was to try to twist them into shape that would work for business purposes. We've long overlooked what makes the forums the community they are and have been for years, and that's kind of a shame, because they still provide a lot of traffic to the sites and a less gimmicky way of engagement than other social media.

Sadly most of our history was deleted with that Database error.
Even edited posts on previous threads are missing a chuck of the information:
https://www.onrpg.com/boards/threads...ask-questions)

Every time I would play Mabinogi, I'd go to that big Bag o' Tricks thread on these forums, but I cannot find it anymore, must've been deleted.

Very detailed Bright Shadow and Conquer guides are gone...
https://www.onrpg.com/boards/threads...Guide-amp-Info

Gosh, very sad. Our history is already stripped and deleted.

But yeah, basically the posts format were: Basic info, video or picture, news, Discuss:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130506...nline-2-Thread
https://web.archive.org/web/20130524...er-Help-Thread
https://web.archive.org/web/20130508...ter-Discussion
https://web.archive.org/web/20130518...nds-Discussion

[Ronin]

- Clean up and clean out the forums. Possibly a bit of reorganizing. I know everyone loves their history but the forums -look- dead, especially when the most common topics are a year+ old and we're getting necros on threads from 2011. I don't mind archiving, but our active forums should have some sign of life in them.
- Get people being active in creating daily topics & discussions. There's plenty to talk about, it's just not being talked about here. I see people replying to new threads, but there's just not many new threads happening.

Those are as I see it the core points in what you talked about. The first one is easily actionable, but harder to get right. It probably should get down asap, if there is a compelling idea on how to do it floating around. It also is imo of all the points the riskiest. That's why I would be weary to call it a priority, but it's overdue.
Things that I would do, even though they are my opinion and people might disagree:
I duno if anyone has an attachment to "the lounge" as a name for the OT space here. I can would rename it. It's name is itching me for since it exists, tbh. and others might see it as a good name, but I think it's bad. It's passive, it doesn't give a clear idea of what to do, it's way to general and that doesn't lead people towards posting anything engaging.
Another thing are adds. Many people have turned them off (nowadays, personal security and software security are really important arguments to block). Imo the page needs to look fresh out of the box, no matter what. I think the layout, the color-template and all that are not screaming "let's spend time here".
So finally, there is the actual board. It's also not screaming "let's spend time here". It's not screaming let's read, it's not screaming let's refresh, it's not screaming let's return. I have a simple suggestion about that: We have that fake internet points on here. They should be used for something practical. Basically as I see it the idea is to make people more engaged. It might be a bit inflationary, but IMO, as it is now, people should get rep for making threads. Now how does that not lead to spaming?
That leads to the next of my loose lists of ideas: Moderation is very important. You need a forum police, that is on top of things. That also means that, if a section is meant to be spammed by the rules and the general idea of the section, than it should be. It's not part of the execution of moderation to dabble in that. As i see it, Moderation is key. On here I had to deal with many good mods. I don't have any gripes with anyone that i currently know, they are all good. Mods just need to be active, rational, fast, fair and pragmatic. Of course something like a "no ******* <- "rude word for baddie" rule" makes sense. People who can keep a difficult situation from escalating and who put out fires quickly and systematically. I mean the mods are fine from who I know on here and give no reason to complain. There is just one thing right now: I don't see them to be very engaged in the forum, just as users aren't.
However the way the OT area is structured, where I hang out/used to hang most and the only one I really posted in, also by it's makup removes need for a tight moderation. Derailing, endless parroting of memes, etc. are pretty much encouraged. I see it this way: There is no point in having all too strict rules of staying on topic and so on. Making jokes and even going of on tangents doesn't have to be uninteresting. That just works much better when there is an actual audience. Without it, I would say it's kind of a distraction bombardment. It's always hard to see, from one pov of a single person, what makes an interesting, engaging read. As it could be anything, the rules should be as liberal on that as could be. Still, as it is right now, the forums are geared towards what should be the grease that keeps the conversation flowing; That, I think, should be used in adequate moderation, as to not distract from stuff that is meaningful (and a person who posts something took the time to do so and if it only gets memed to death made fun of an derailed, that won't make that person say "I want to post again, so that I can relive my input getting shit on".) As it is now, I have to say, I think rather strict regulating is in order. All of that is why I think the lounge needs a reform. As I see it, inside jokes only work when there are insiders. Memes to work, need enough people. Otherwise they are just odd blurbs. Even with a large audience, riffing on something only works, if the actual focus is talking about stuff. Stuff that later can be riffed on. Where the riffing does not take up anything but a minority role. Imagine having a circle of friends who only every mock-parrot anything you say and never even listen to the content. You'll skip town and find new friends pretty darn soon.

As a note: This is my personal point of view, which is quite obvious, but I am still repeating it to show you all guys, that I respect anyone who disagrees with all of the above. I frankly don't know how to run a community, so that's that. See this as the "add your own comment box" in some survey MissyS.

[Xenonight2]

I think it's because I banned too many people.