Rubberslug Forum Users/Readers --report

The interesting thing is that there are tons of gallery owners here that like RS as a gallery site, but enjoy their discussions elsewhere.

Namely-- Anime-Beta v.80

Take a look over there and you can imagine the success of that cel collectors forum. Now, I am not suggesting that RS do the same, since it is not AB, but they have a very lively, positive, and interactive group of collectors there...

I am also a member, although I have spent most of my time over here.

What is the secret to their success? -- Is it format, design, topics, moderators, admins.?

Also to take note is that a large portion of the Beta members there> have galleries right here on RS..

Maybe other innovative ideas might come to mind, that AB doesn't have-- Or that may have, and be improved upon or taken to the next level (whatever that might mean).

*Can someone turn on a light? =)

It's a good thought E, but you have to remember, the RS forum is still fairly new. Anime Beta has several years under it's belt already. It's been running a lot longer than many believe, and then there was Anime Alpha before that. A lot of Beta's current members were from Alpha. When Beta first started out, we were a small group, it's really only blossomed (and the membership count exploded) in the past year or so.

Yes, I see your point..

I know that AB went through a few changes, but what do you think accounts for the sudden spike in activity?

Alpha to Beta? Hmm...lets see...Alpha Beta--- Isn't that a name of a grocery store or a Fraternity? =)

Do you think that there is a lot of spill to AB off due to Animanga being lame?

Do you think that there is a lot of spill to AB off due to Animanga being lame?

I'd say yup to that. Although despite it's lameness I still check it once avery few days or so, but I visit Beta a few times daily.

And the reason I don't post here much is the fact that I've pretty much always been a lurker. I guess you could add me to the shy group. ^_-

I don't think I've said this outright, so now's my chance I guess. Here's how I decide what to work on next:

Part of the problem is that I just don't like the sterotypical Internet/anime culture and I'm not personally interested in developing things that support it. I have been around bulletin boards since the days when one had to dial in to individual boards to post in the late 80s and early 90s (fidonet, anybody?). Maybe it's just not new enough anymore.

I don't buy the "Internet" thing. I don't blog. I consider goofy little Flash games a waste of time and bandwidth for the most part. I don't read Slashdot. This board may have been the first board (web-based) I've ever posted on. I am young, but I am old school.

That being said, I would like to support whatever it is that will make the community happy. I'm not terribly interested in active forums, but if it helps the site grow then I'll put more developer time behind it.

The flip side is that if I'm not convinced that enough people want a certain feature, I won't waste my time developing it. I could make the coolest new gadget in the world, but if no one uses it (and if I have no other use for it myself) then I've just wasted somewhere between 2 hours and 2 weeks of my life on something no one will ever see. The buck stops here, so to speak, and sometimes the bill is quite high.

Don't be shy! Ask for whatever you think will be useful to you and others. If I don't hear opinions, I have to guess.

My guess, right now, is "make the forums more obvious". I can put a link on the home page that has the most recent forum topic. In addition, we can probably try to tackle both the editorial idea and the shared gallery idea (personally, I want both of these anyway).