Hey everyone, Bittyboy here! As you may have noticed that the SixPrizes forums have limited to no activity, since day one there hasn’t been a lot of discussion. The most discussion those boards have seen was when Chinigo, Dragonlord, and I first made accounts and we had long spam like conversation on posts, we have since improved!
I wanted to write this article to find out why exactly people don’t use our forums. The forums have about 590 people who made accounts, however there are only roughly 10 to 15 people who actually use there accounts. I have also seen that no matter what time I am online the number of guessed is always higher than the number of actual users logged in.
So for my first article I just wanted to ask a couple of questions:
1.) Do you have an account on the forums?
A.) If not, why not?
B.) If so, how often do you use it?
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”?
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokégym and Pokébeach are as popular as they are?
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself?
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums?
Please leave your comments, thoughts, ideas, answers to the question, or any questions in the comment section below. If you have any other thoughts, questions, or idea feel free to e-mail me at bittyboy72@yahoo.com.
People have told me that the main reason they don’t post is because the lack of quality posts that actually are posted. I can agree that a lot of the forum post are low quality and some of the people don’t take the advice very well which is one of the main purposes of having forums.
I know this isn’t an article about the trading card game, but it’s something I wanted to let everyone know about. I am also aware this is a small article, but I plan on writing follow up articles with everyone’s thoughts and ideas.
1.) Do you have an account on the forums?
Yes
A.) If not, why not?
B.) If so, how often do you use it?
Never
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”?
Because this site is for articles etc. Most people use Pokegym or Pokebeach to discuss on.
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are?
Because they are forums. Not article sites.
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself?
Actually no.
1.) Do you have an account on the forums? yes
B) If so, how often do you use it? Almost never
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”?
I think it’s hard to put the effort to build a new forum here when the other sites are already really good
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are?
Because they have established a large base and a reputation. I honestly only use the Pokegym forums and not Pokebeach.
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself? Possibly, but I think that SixPrizes would have to develop something that would drive more traffic here.
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums? Not sure to be honest
Here are some other thoughts I had on this subject:
In my mind, each good Pokemon site has its own strengths- Pokebeach for “hot off the press” information and Japanese sets; Pokegym for forums; and Six Prizes for great articles. I still think this site should continue to focus on producing and releasing great articles on a daily basis which is a really cool and different approach than all of the other sites. Pokegym honestly frustrates me because the forums often have a lot of boring posts that you have to wade through to get to the good stuff. Six Prizes is great because the good information is right on the front page. At this point in Six Prize’s development, I would suggest keeping the focus on the articles and not on developing the forums.
With that said, a hybrid idea would be to post a really interesting topic on the front page regularly that could be more of a defined topic discussion. For example, what will be BDIF? What is best way to counter SP decks? That way, people coming to the site could look at the main article and also look at the current topic of the day/week/whatever. Having one really good topic and discussion that ‘s really easy to find on the front page would get me interested.
This is a great website, and I spread the word as often as I can. Hope this was helpful!
1 – Yes, Often
2 – The discussion is often weak at best, there aren’t a lot of good topics, most advice given in deck help is counter productive. Lack of posters, lack of notable posters.
3- Main reason, they’ve been around longer.
4 – Depends
5 – Don’t know how 1 person can fix a speaking platform for hundreds.
1.) Yes
B.) Never
2.) There are more discussions in the comments on the articles.
3.) They’ve been around longer
4.) No
5.) Yes
This was a really good post Brandon, I’m glad you wrote it.
I would like to get more discussion going in the forums, but they haven’t really panned out as I’d hoped it would yet.
One big issue I think was that you had to register a separate account on the forums from the main site in the past. I now have software that gives you accounts both on the main site and forums, so you don’t need to register twice which is good.
I think having to register twice deterred some people.
I also think that they layout was a little confusing. I have since removed a bunch of the unneeded categories on the forums so that it would be easier for people to know where to post and find information.
I don’t know if there are any special features people want to see in the forums. I would also like to make the colors and appearance of the forums better, but it is really difficult to do. I’d have to pay someone to do it.
Anyway I’m interested in seeing what everyone has to say…
Yeah, that’s a really great idea.
1.) Do you have an account on the forums?
Yes
B.) If so, how often do you use it?
Never
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”?
Sixprizes has active discussion in the comments, and many of the articles are similar to forum posts.
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are?
Because they don’t have articles with comments like six prizes does. Those sites are basically only message boards
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself?
No. There isn’t really a huge need for message boards here. If somebody has an idea their either write an article or discuss it in the comments. Other than that most people here also use pokebeach or pokegym. Even the gym and the beach share a ton of the same members. Look at the threads on those websites and you will see the exact same threads posted by the exact same users on both websites.
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums?
No. It’s fine to keep the forums for those of you who use them, but I Sixprizes is more content based. If I really need to use a forum I check pokebeach.
1.) Do you have an account on the forums?
Umm… I think I do… I’m not really sure o_0. Never looked.
B.) If so, how often do you use it?
Have never even looked at the forum to be honest :/
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”?
Most forums and posts generally revolve around decks, possible decks, and help with deckbuilding. When you can post it on beach/gym and have thousands of people look at it within a few hours then why post it on here?
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are?
They got there first, so they’re going to have the biggest user-base. It isn’t merely about “what features can this forum have that will make this better than beach/gym and make users come here”. You could make it infinitely better; but as the majority of forum posts require people’s opinions on what to change in their decks, the only thing that will make someone move from using beach/gym is if this has more people answering posts than gym or beach. Therefore, it’s pretty difficult if not impossible to do.
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself?
Most likely not. The thing that makes this site stand out from the others are the style of having daily articles which to be honest is the only reason i use this site. Daily articles are AWESOME! The only solution I can think of is advertisement/publicity.
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums?
Of course, if you have some kind of plan for it ^^
1.) Do you have an account on the forums? mmhmm
A.) If not, why not?
B.) If so, how often do you use it? not much recently
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”? not sure
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are? they have been around forever
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself? no
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums? I would, but I have no time :(
1.) Do you have an account on the forums?
No, not yet?
A.) If not, why not?
Actually, because I use the forums as PokeBeach
B.) If so, how often do you use it?
N/A
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”?
I think people come here to read the articles not the forums. Personally I come here once I day, read the article or see a vid and I’m done.
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are?
People been using them…keep using them.
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself?
No
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums?
Sure
1 yes
2 offten
3 idk i dont use them
4 no
5 yes i would be intrested in any way postible! but you know that bitty lol
B. 5 posts a day come here about 20 times per day
2.3/4’s of accounts have 0-1 posts
3.Also have Video game Topics
4.No
1.) Do you have an account on the forums?
Yes.
A.) If not, why not?
…
B.) If so, how often do you use it?
Not so often, I run my own forum, so it’s kinda difficult keeping track.
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”?
Forums as it is with Blogs, are dead, with social networks like Twitter, and Facebook, people have been leaving this kind of sites.
Also, there are what I call “forum seasons”, some times your forum will be crowded with newcomers, and threats, sometimes it will be dead as hell.
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are?
They have been around for some time now, forums grow with time, and spam.
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself?
You may be able to do buy Google Ads, or Facebook Ads, but otherwise, no.
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums?
You betcha.
1.) Do you have an account on the forums?
Yes.
A.) If not, why not?
…
B.) If so, how often do you use it?
Not so often, I run my own forum, so it’s kinda difficult keeping track.
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”?
Forums as it is with Blogs, are dead, with social networks like Twitter, and Facebook, people have been leaving this kind of sites.
Also, there are what I call “forum seasons”, some times your forum will be crowded with newcomers, and threats, sometimes it will be dead as hell.
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are?
They have been around for some time now, forums grow with time, and spam.
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself?
You may be able to do buy Google Ads, or Facebook Ads, but otherwise, no.
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums?
You betcha.
Hmm… Your hybrid idea it interestiing, It give me an idea!
I think that there is a good enough discussion in the comments section about the article for each day. That’s what I love about this site. You can go to the front page, check out the great article for the day, and read/post comments and thoughts on the subject. I think that’s what makes this site very unique.
1.) Do you have an account on the forums? (Yes)
B.) If so, how often do you use it? (Never)
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”? (Nothing to discuss. I get deck help over at HT, which is a higher quality of play, imo)
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are? (News, and TCPi actually cares about the gym. I don’t get much from 6P – lots of deck analysis on Tier 2/Tier 3/League decks :/)
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself? (Nope.)
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums? (The problem starts on 6P itself, not the forums.)
1.) Do you have an account on the forums?
Yes, but it’s rarely used
B.) If so, how often do you use it?
Rarely, once a month.
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”?
because if you need to submit an article you just submit it on the front page.
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are?
because you can’t always submit an article on da gym or da beach. so you go to the forums to post articles.
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself?
No. I recommend making the forums cooler and give the forums new features.
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums?
I could help, but only by giving ideas. I use technology, but I don’t make it.
1.) Yes
B.) I go on the SP forums almost everyday, but I don’t post much.
2.) Probably because of the articles on the main page(Jordan had said this). Also because of people like me who don’t post often.
3.) PokeGym, i think, looks better to the young/new player. Pokegym has the actual pokemon font for its title. Also, they have a main page, much like the SP one but, they are listing the featured threads, not separate articles. Pokebeach on the other hand has articles about the games to come, pokemon tcg sets to come and other spoilers of pokemon in the future. I only use pokebeach for their scans and news feed so I can’t say much about their forums. And pokebeach is about the tcg, casual/competitive pokemon video gaming, and general discussion. They have a lot more options for people who sign up but, they also probably have two different groups of people; one for the video games the other for the tcg.
4.) This is a definite no. Although, with time we will get more people to register. This doesn’t automatically mean that they will use that account. I probably have at least 10 forums I am registered in but I don’t use them often. I only frequently use maybe 2. The only thing that veers me away from the other sites is, lack of information or activity. I’m not going to post if I know only 1 person is going to respond who doesn’t even know what I am talking about.
5.) I would gladly help but, only if there is a general plan on how to do so.
While most of my thoughts are expressed in the answering of the questions, I really don’t have a clue as to how we should achieve this goal. It is defiantly not going to happen overnight, and it will take a huge committee of dedicated people to run through with bring the forums up. Even though I said that pokebeach and pokegym look better to new/young players, I DO NOT want to see sixprizes messed with. Along, the lines of looks. SixPrizes, now, looks good, new, and professional. Of course in a good way. Even though pokegym and pokebeach are colorful, its the content that counts. And I believe this what you/we are aiming to change?(Changing the content for the better?) Im going to stop here before I start rambling, which I had probably have done so already..
1.) Yessir I do
B.) At least once a week to update the J-Wittz’s Prof-It! thread, but not much else
2/3.) (I’ll answer both at the same time)
I think the forums here are “dead” because there are better forums for different reasons. Pokegym’s forums have the most Tournament Organizers, PTOs, judges, and just about every one of the greatest Pokemon Card Game players have a name there. Even if they aren’t frequently posting, Pokegym has discussion from Ness, Silvestro, Erik Nance, Pooka, etc. When you’re looking for a tournament report, 9 times out of 10 you’re going to find it on the gym. The Pokegym’s forums host a tally of the winning decks for each tournament season, and I feel like it is the best place to get a grasp of what the popular metagame is, even if not every player there is a “pro” player.
The beach sees more success from its front page and news, but their forum is still popular because of its large numbers and activity. Even if there aren’t many high-profile players on the beach, there is a ton of discussion and lots of people willing to talk about their strategy, even if it isn’t the highest tier. I’d say the beach has a very similar feel to the sixprizes forums, the only difference is they’ve been around longer and have a TON more members to talk.
Heytrainer might have the least amount of members, but because it’s such a niche site, most of its members post frequently and there is a lot of discussion. I wouldn’t recommend it to a new player, I think it’s only a place for seasoned veterans to the game who aren’t sensitive to language and silliness. However, because I fall into this category, I find myself actively posting in Heytrainer more than anything else.
4.) I think that some things, such as the kick-start to Underground, could help a lot. If the site had some credibility by being linked to some higher-profile players, it’d have more prestige and desirability. Think about it–how many high-profile players would you associate with Sixprizes? Adam has some great achievements in his time, Jason Chen’s a great writer with some solid accomplishments this year, and Kendle has a lot of solid rogue ideas and usually has solid seasons. Other than that we don’t have any world champions or national champions representing the site : /.
5) I’ll post from time to time like I do, but I’m not going to forcibly post when I wouldn’t normally
For a new player like myself, 6P is a great website. 1. No 2. I tend to listen or read rather than share bone headed ideas. 3. Don’t know 4. Don’t know 5. Maybe
totally marvellous! did anyone knew the fact that there’s a hack chip for ps3 console? I hope it’s for real and not fake. It is titled PS Jailbreak.. anybody tested this thingy?.
1.) Do you have an account on the forums? Yes
A.) If not, why not?
B.) If so, how often do you use it? Frequently. I usually check it atleast every 2 days, sometimes multiple times a day
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”? I think people bring up great points about the comments on the front page. I don’t go to Pokebeach or HeyTrainer, but I do frequent the Gym. Their home page “articles” are just posts int he forums (for the most part). Another big problem is, the most active people on the forums are very inexperienced players (myself included) on the grand scale of things. Me, for example, have only been playing for about 6 months. While I think I’m pretty good, I don’t have a league to go to to test decks frequently and there some decks/matchups that I’ve never learned (like GG) because I knew they would rotate out soon and I wouldn’t be completive the rest of this season. I can get answers to rulings here, and they are right, they just have no clue as to why. And, as Adam pointed out, the structure was weird. So, there is a multitude of reasons but I think the biggest is growing pains. How active were the forums on the Gym when the site started?
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are? Experience. Also, I think the Gym does a lot to keep things interesting. Rules updates, contest (which, I think would be a great way to get them going here), TONS of traders, and, as mentioned, the relationship with TCPi. Everyone has a niche to fill, and thankfully, there are many niches. For example, the Gym’s forums are WAY to strict. Someone told me the other day the got a warning for putting **** in a post b/c it was a “reference to profanity.” OK…I don’t agree with it, but I understand the profanity issue…but “making a reference to profanity?” That is ridiculous. I’ve received a warning for having too many trade threads open because I had an old thread that hadn’t been posted in for a while, another thread for a specific card, then a thread I opened as my permanent thread. The problem, I’ve known people to get warnings for bumping old threads…wow. So, I think their Nazi like need to control has opened a niche that has been semi field by HeyTrainer. I think 6P has the potential to step up a bit fill it as well, while offering many other things.
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself? Easily
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums? Absolutely. I think contest would be a great way to increase popularity. Set up some system to get donations of some sort, be it cash, cards, or other prizes to be given away. I think a jump start with something like a competition for a Lux X or an Uxie X would get tons of publicity. If I had one, I probably wouldn’t donate it, but I would certainly give $5-10 to pitch in to buy one for the site. I would donate other good, sought after cards though. If there was a contest say once a month for prizes up to $20ish and one big one a year, I think it would attract a lot of attentions to the forums.
1.yes
b.no
2.People already have a forum which they are committed too and have good players visit. That is something 6p’s forum doesn’t have.
They are popular because they are popular. It sounds weird but it is true, they are trusted sites that people have been going to for years.
Perhaps after a while people will come to the forum, but don’t hold your breath.
Im not programmer, but If ya really want me to, hit me up yo.
Wow after reading all your comment I definably have some things to say in the follow up article…
1.) Do you have an account on the forums? -Yes, I do.
B.) If so, how often do you use it? – I check every new post and about half of the posted materials like 12-20 times a day.
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”? -Not enough intresting threads around, maybe? After the new tournament season begings, I’m sure boards will be more popular.
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are? -Pokégym has been online for like 8-10 years. It offers list of cards on format and official information about Pokémon. PokéBeach has astonish detailed information about upcoming TCG sets. Both of those are really handy sites.
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself? -Well, it needs some work IMO. Main idea why I started to follow 6P was because of the articles it had published. When it starts to make again a lot of good articles daily, it might get some attention again. More articles about MetaGame, decks, new sets impact to the format, sometimes a good rogue ideas, etc.
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums? -I can try.
For some time I haven’t had mood to reply topics on the boards very often. I hope the topic quality will rise soon and I get motivated to reply on messages again.
This is a very interesting point of view. Your blog is refreshing, but I wish one could find more content, though. I am looking forward to reading more from you. Keep up the good work. thanks.
1.) Do you have an account on the forums? yes
B) If so, how often do you use it? Almost never
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”?
Other sites are more established.
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are?
Because they have established a large community with high volume.
4.) Do you think this is a problem that can fix itself? Probably not, but I think that SixPrizes would have to make a concerted effort to change the behavior.
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums? Sure
What would be great is a tool that feeds all of the established community at once. A site which pulls and feeds all communities, Pokegym, Pokebeach, Six Prizes and others. Almost like an RSS for each.
To be honest, I would use my account a lot more if I didn’t have to log back in every time I checked sixprizes for new comments on articles, and maybe I’d use some forums too.
Where do you get logged out of?
I need you guys to tell me if stuff isn’t working, I don’t always know. :(
I really loved this brilliant article. Please continue this awesome work.
It’s simple. It’s the same point I made when the forums were first announced.
Sites fill niches, or they perform certain tasks. PokeBeach is a news site, and nobody can really beat PokeBeach on news. PokeGym is a forum, and in my opinion, no forum is as great or will ever be as great as the PokeGym. In my opinion, SixPrizes is an informative, educational article site. And neither PokeBeach or PokeGym are doing any better at writing informative, education articles.
SixPrizes wants to expand their services to include a forum. Right away, I think it will flop because people don’t come to SixPrizes for the lengthy forum-like discussions. They don’t come to SixPrizes to be met with a PokeGym-like layout. They come to SixPrizes for the articles and the small discussions about the articles. SixPrizes fills that niche rather well.
Although PokeBeach does have a forum too, it hasn’t resulted in much either. Although PokeGym has articles now and then, PokeGym isn’t seen as the place to read informative articles. SixPrizes can try a forum, but it isn’t going to change what SixPrizes is and why people visit the site.
I never looked at the forums because I come to SixPrizes to read the articles on the front page. I’m not interested in a chat room, an online flash game program, nor a forum because I come to SixPrizes for the articles.
Well, I think that clears up 2 issues for me personally. How about anybody else?
1.) Do you have an account on the forums? If so, how often do you use it?
Why Yes, I do have an account on the forums. I don’t go on it frequently, but I do comment on it whenever I find something interesting to talk about.
2.) Why do you think the forums are practically “dead”?
As most people have said, first off, the Six Prize Forums aren’t as popular as the Pokegym and PokeBeach Forums. This is because both the Pokegym and Pokebeach forums are much more recognizable, and they both have something that is pretty iconic about them. The Pokebeach has almost everyday up to date news about the latest things in the Pokemon world, while the Pokegym has a large forum base that has some very frequent discussions about many things, mostly the TCG. Secondly, there aren’t a lot of recognizable professional players in the forums, so don’t expect to see guys like Pooka, Drew Holton, Ness, John Kettler, Con Le, and other very well known players to appear on the forums of Six Prizes because these guys mostly appear on the gym. Thirdly, Six Prizes already has its day-to-day articles, and these articles generally generate the majority of the discussion on this site.
3.) Why do you think the forums on websites like the Pokegym and Pokebeach are as popular as they are?
Well, as I said earlier, the Pokegym and the Pokebeach forums have a larger reputation compared to the forums here. Pokegym is well-known for having a pretty large forum, while Pokebeach almost has updates every day about what’s new about Pokemon, and the news generates tons of discussion there too. Moreover, most of the best players in the Pokemon TCG will frequently visit these sites too.
4.) Do you think this problem can be fixed?
That’s kind of tough to answer. Since popularity is one of the primary reason why the forums are “dead,” it’s going to be tough to fix the problem. Generally, I think that the best way to fix the forums is generally give some more effort to it. This way, the forums could develop some good iconic trait that can make it popular so that more iconic players will join the site.
5.) Would you be interested in helping me fix the forums?
Well, I’m not that much in the mood to do it, but I will still comment on the forums from time to time since it seems like I’m pretty well-known here in this site.