Tweeky, one of the reasons why the question was asked in the first place is because it looked like the cafe was dying on its arse. Would it have been any busier, at this time of year especially, if the merge hadn't happened? I suspect not. Would people still be saying 'isn't it a shame that lots of the old posters seem to have buggered off completely'? I reckon they would, cos they've said that as long as I've been here. Would we have a shedload of really high-quality interesting threads covering all manner of topics under the sun on the go? More than likely not. They don't seem to have been overly abundant before the merge in any event?
I have my own theories as to why the forum is less popular than it was, some of which I'll keep to meself, but despite protestations to the contrary it's never really been the focal point of the site for most. It's not the draw that the other all-singing, all-dancing parts of the site are for new users, so new blood is always gonna be a trickle when what it needs is a flood. We should probably try harder to keep those that do venture in on board, and I don't think we're very good at that at the minute. ((( Myself included. ))) Having said that, looking at other swinging sites that are almost entirely forum based, they seem equally slow. Maybe everyone's using Facebook these days where it's a bit more on their own terms, among their own circle, where they don't have to put up with TTT&Ts*? Whatever the reason, I'm not sure you can put a lack of activity down to the presence of a handful of easily ignorable threads?
N x x x ;)
* Twits, twats, tossers and turds. ((( TM Jags 2004 ))) ;)
Well as I do often I'll disagree with the three posts above. Yes GNV a place for everything and everything in its place. Take that thought and check the start date of the all the old JFF posts. All 2009, in the old days of the cafe these dull threads didnt exist so there place never was here in the cafe so to speak. As I have said many times when the site owners split the forums they created spaces for new types of thread. Thats not exactly what was intended but it is what happened. So when we have reintegrated we have not reintegrated what was once together, we have reintegrated things that never co existed in the first place.
Neil what I am talking about is very recent and very simple. A few regular posters voiced objections at the JFF threads always being at the top of the cafe forum and now they dont post or if they do hardly ever. Admittedly its not very many but as there were not many to start with its significant. I do note too some accounts may have been banned.
Regardless of any of this its only my own opinion that matters to me here. There basically is now feck all to do here so I have started cutting down my visiting frequency. Its better that when I do log in there is actually some stuff to read and the only way that seems possible is to log in less often.
I personally don't like the games being in the cafe.. but that may be because I don't join in... perhaps I should then I wouldn't have anything to complain about.
I think that the forums should be archived every so often, maybe every fifty pages or so. I'm quite happy to start threads I started once before or read and post on other threads that have been started afresh, I've no doubt some of my views over the last five years have more than likely changed. What I don't like seeing is billion year old topics regurgitated with posters saying "This has been discussed before" and then linking back to a thread where very few of the posters are now known or active it stops or puts off current members having a valued input as what they might like to of posted has been covered.
Ideally i'd love to see the cafe's slate wiped clean so that currant members could be encouraged to post and feel they share ownership of of whats being discussed and feel that the forum belongs to the here and now and not to the long gone posters of yesteryear.
