12-25-2004, 10:02 AM
After giving this some more thought, I think the "signal" part of the equation is far more important than the "noise" part. A lot of websites and forums were created as spinoffs of the DSF. Being mostly community-type sites, none of these that I can recall ever died from too much "noise". The only ones that had staying power filled a specific content niche that kept new people feeding in. With Bolty updating news multiple times per day, and several gurus posting game mechanics info here before it was known anywhere else, this site put out so much signal that high standards were needed just to keep things from getting out of control. The standards, the archives, the reputation, and the base community reading this post all remain, but the signal behind it all is not the same.
General discussion forums keep longtime visitors, who have grown familiar with each other, coming back. They are not signal generators for anyone else. Nobody outside of this community gives a darn about this thread, or what some Lurker thinks about geopolitics, or what some Lurker got his Secret Santa for Christmas. The best this particular forum can do for newcomers is to avoid scaring them away on day one. :rolleyes:
The signal generated here by Diablo and Diablo 2 is below the point of critical mass (hooray for mixed metaphors!). It's not just that these are old games that nobody outside the community is getting started with, although that is part of the problem. The other side of it is that there aren't enough players inside the community doing anything noteworthy enough to attract interest.
World of Warcraft? There are plenty of people outside the Lurker Lounge who are new to this game. The question is, "Why would they come here?" We have other existing threads discussing that issue, so I don't want to turn this thread into a discussion on that point. But I think it is really at the crux of the issue.
You see... this isn't just a stuffy elite society with high standards. It is a stuffy elite society with high standards and very few worthwhile benefits to offer new members! :rolleyes: But that's a gross exaggeration. This site still has visibility, many Lurkers are getting into WoW, the content will progress, and people will trickle in. Then, it will be up to the rest of us to understand what this site's niche in WoW is going to be, and not screw it up. Perhaps we will get lucky, and the {Jarulf/Trucidation/Crystalion}s of WoW will be mature adults with perfect grammar and spelling who read every FAQ and back every argument up with strong logic. ;)
General discussion forums keep longtime visitors, who have grown familiar with each other, coming back. They are not signal generators for anyone else. Nobody outside of this community gives a darn about this thread, or what some Lurker thinks about geopolitics, or what some Lurker got his Secret Santa for Christmas. The best this particular forum can do for newcomers is to avoid scaring them away on day one. :rolleyes:
The signal generated here by Diablo and Diablo 2 is below the point of critical mass (hooray for mixed metaphors!). It's not just that these are old games that nobody outside the community is getting started with, although that is part of the problem. The other side of it is that there aren't enough players inside the community doing anything noteworthy enough to attract interest.
World of Warcraft? There are plenty of people outside the Lurker Lounge who are new to this game. The question is, "Why would they come here?" We have other existing threads discussing that issue, so I don't want to turn this thread into a discussion on that point. But I think it is really at the crux of the issue.
You see... this isn't just a stuffy elite society with high standards. It is a stuffy elite society with high standards and very few worthwhile benefits to offer new members! :rolleyes: But that's a gross exaggeration. This site still has visibility, many Lurkers are getting into WoW, the content will progress, and people will trickle in. Then, it will be up to the rest of us to understand what this site's niche in WoW is going to be, and not screw it up. Perhaps we will get lucky, and the {Jarulf/Trucidation/Crystalion}s of WoW will be mature adults with perfect grammar and spelling who read every FAQ and back every argument up with strong logic. ;)