Bring Back dedicated Anime forums

[TheShinje]

Hello OB. It's been a while, but I'm back. If you missed me the first time around, hello. :)


I thought I'd kick off my comeback by kicking around the idea of bringing back the separate anime forums that we used to see for individual series. We had a dedicated Dragonball, Digimon, Yu Yu Hakusho and .HACK//whatever-it-was forums.

I think it should go back to this to some degree. Not a forum for everything under the sun mind you, but perhaps a dedicated forum for the top 3 or 4 anime? You could have a dedicated Naruto, Bleach and One Piece forum at least. This is why I think this deserves more consideration. Separate forums allow for a deeper level of discussion. With a one thread per anime rule, discussion would naturally gravitate to the latest events in the series. I like the idea of being able to talk about anything in, for example, One Piece. From the theories and speculation on where the story is going, right through to the inevitable silly topic on why Coby's hair is pink. Honestly, it's what I miss about OB.
You stick all those discussions into one thread and it can get messy.

I came back and saw that most threads are barely getting the number of replies they used to. That Trayvon Martin thread? I can remember when it would have been a topic of fire easily generating 10, 20 even 60 pages of discussion, five replies?
Bad example perhaps, the discussion probably went nowhere due to the universal support for Martin and his family. Still, I have seen topics that are one-sided get page after page of replies.

I think allowing for more varied discussion on the bigger anime series would allow OB to expand it's base. I have a trickle-down sort of vision where a bigger forum for anime discussion, so to speak, would likewise bring more activity to the Lounge, as those who come here to discuss their favourite series will inevitably desire to discuss off-topic opinions and current events.

Can we give it a shot? I think it's worth it, Edited April 8, 2012 by Saiyangohan2002

[Boo]

I've got the anime forums shrunk, and some times forget they even exist, so I'm not even sure when they all disappeared. Remember them vividly though. Question to anyone who knows: Did they disappear because there was no activity, or did the egg come before the chicken?

Personally, I have never been a big fan of dedicated threads for anything. I don't know about the anime lounge, but I've always fought them in the Art Studio, as I got the feeling that they reduced activity in there. Edited April 7, 2012 by Boo

[James]

[font=palatino linotype]The reason that dedicated anime forums were merged together in the past was because they progressively died - activity in each one began to drop, until even the larger dedicated forums became pretty dead. So at the time it made sense to roll them together, rather than to have a bunch of empty forums sitting around.

I do like the idea of having dedicated forums though. It would be truly awesome to see dedicated forums come back (with the activity level that keeps them going, too).[/font]

[Sangome]

[font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900cc]We did try to have a dedicated anime forum again a couple of years ago; Fullmetal Alchemist had one and it garnered maybe a handful of threads when Brotherhood rolled around, but otherwise it didn't really do much but sit, and then died shortly thereafter. We also now allow duplicate threads about the same series/topic, too, I guess to garner discussion.[/color][/font]

[font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900CC]I think it all really just boils down to OBs activity as a whole. It finally got a nice nudge with the new software, but the only thread that continues to routinely remain posted in is the "what are you watching/reading thread". Maybe it also has to do with so few series coming out now to generate interesting discussion? I dunno. But I think it's the former, really. I know it's a dead horse at this point, but...yeah.[/color][/font]

[font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900CC]I feel like I should have more to say since that's actually my district, but it's late, so.[/color][/font] Edited April 7, 2012 by Sangome

[TheShinje]

[quote name='James' timestamp='1333789332' post='711324']
[font=palatino linotype]The reason that dedicated anime forums were merged together in the past was because they progressively died - activity in each one began to drop, until even the larger dedicated forums became pretty dead. So at the time it made sense to roll them together, rather than to have a bunch of empty forums sitting around.

I do like the idea of having dedicated forums though. It would be truly awesome to see dedicated forums come back (with the activity level that keeps them going, too).[/font]
[/quote]

I thought Dragonball remained quite popular, but now that you mention it, I do seem to recall a loss of activity there, it is possible that's how such discussions about the hue of Trunk's hair came to be.
Yu Yu Hakusho was a hotbed of spam if I recall. Not helping my cause here. =/

I guess the only way to spin it would be rotation. I think that has also been discussed before when it was suggested to bring the separate forums back. You have the top tier anime in their own forums while anything else goes into Anime Central. Coupled witht he relaxation of the one-thread rule this could work.
When a series drops off in popularity (like the Fullmetal Alchemist forum) it can be quietly retired and the threads merged into AC. Likewise, should an anime in the AC become popular and see a surge in threads/activity, it can be moved up into a new separate forum (sorry that increases your workload Sangome ^_~)

[quote name='Sangome' timestamp='1333789914' post='711326']
[font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900cc]We did try to have a dedicated anime forum again a couple of years ago; Fullmetal Alchemist had one and it garnered maybe a handful of threads when Brotherhood rolled around, but otherwise it didn't really do much but sit, and then died shortly thereafter. We also now allow duplicate threads about the same series/topic, too, I guess to garner discussion.[/color][/font] [/quote]

Yeah I remember that, I poked my head around the corner to see OB musing over a return to separate forums. I remember campaigning quite strongly for the One Piece forum, knowing I could be a part of the activity there as opposed to FMA.
After the forum got picked and it was FMA, I kind of drifted off again. Not much One Piece discussion. See my avatar. It's basically the only series I'm living and breathing, the one with the biggest influence only m own comic making attempts. If a One Piece forum was there, I could invest my time stimulating some discussions around the series, anything else, I cannot make that same commitment of dedication. ~_^


[quote name='Sangome' timestamp='1333789914' post='711326']
[font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900CC]I think it all really just boils down to OBs activity as a whole. It finally got a nice nudge with the new software, but the only thread that continues to routinely remain posted in is the "what are you watching/reading thread". Maybe it also has to do with so few series coming out now to generate interesting discussion? I dunno. But I think it's the former, really. I know it's a dead horse at this point, but...yeah.[/color][/font]

[font=trebuchet ms,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#9900CC]I feel like I should have more to say since that's actually my district, but it's late, so.[/color][/font]
[/quote]

I think it's those threads too. They allow for an easy way to announce what you are into without going through the motions to create your own thread for a series/game/book/movie.

It's not a lack of franchise material. This year there is Men in Black 3, The Avengers, Hunger Games, the last Twilight film (eew) etc. Big franchises to discuss and that's just White Noise [i]alone[/i]. I guess that the OB member base is content to put these discussion int he 'what are you...' thread rabbit holes (a term I will borrow from The Sims.)

It's the same in the Lounge. There is a big old rabbit hole there for random thoughts, Padded Room Party, biggest thread on OB history. Every time I come to lurk it's in the top 4 or 5 slots. Random thoughts, it covers just about anything that could go into the Lounge. No need for any new threads.

I'm not entirely convinced that killing off the rabbit hole threads is the simple solution to inactivity though, considering the individual threads have a low reply count and die quickly. Perhaps separate forums for popular anime, in conjunction with culling [i]some[/i] rabbit holes? Would we then encourage more discussion into separate threads/forums, or the opposite? It can be a hard judgement call, that's for sure.

[Boo]

Well, we just had a Mass Effect discussion of about a page long in one of those "What Are You" threads, right next to the ME thread. Ha. Blame Shinmaru.