The Solution to all of Zoklet's Problems

[Skittles]

^ Well, that's a bit of an overstatement, but hear me out:

Problem: Zoklet is steadily growing, but not as fast as expected. The articles are...well...what articles? The amount of users in the forums are pretty much 80% of Totse, and the website in general is just kind of...not quite there yet.

Solution: Competitions!!

Wha?....idonteven.....

Competitions give users a chance to contribute to the site while providing them with the actual motivation to contribute, a prize in the form of an avatar or user title. Competitions just need to be more frequent and constant than previous ones to give everyone a chance, by occurring every few months.


Sound good? So what kind of competitions should we have?

Article Writing
Yea...sounds boring, but think about it. Everything that this site needs is all here, in the users. Being the diverse community that we are, everyone must have skills in something, right? Article writing just gives the chance for everyone to participate. Articles will bring more people to Zoklet, which will in turn probably post an article through an article competition. Thus begins an endless cycle :D


Design
Anything from banners to backgrounds, icons, colours, layout, etc. Sure this targets just the visual side of things more, but will adhere to the development of Zoklet. Plus for anyone that can't digitally create or edit an image or is having trouble with it, I have created a group for queries and questions where I, or other members will do our best to help you out - Photozhokp (http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/group.php?groupid=204)


Whatever
Whatever else you can think of, I can't really think of any more at the moment. Programming? Advertising? Could even have a competition for the best competition idea...although, that's getting a little excessive :o

So...your thoughts?

[MandatorySuicide]

Couldn't agree more... Well, I agree that we need more frequent contests, not that this is the solution to all of Zoklet's problems. :p

People seemed to enjoy the previous contests well enough, and I don't know about the rest of the global mods and admins, but pretty often people ask me when they'll be able to contribute and get another chance to win.

If this thread gets more support (not much point in having more contests if no one will enter, after all), we could certainly try to work out some sort of monthly contest schedule. This isn't a very important issue, really, but it's something that needed to be discussed sooner or later. If we're going to do contests, it's not a bad idea to stick to a schedule, because I've noticed that a lot of people don't find out about contests until they're over.

[Zoklet.net]

Zoklet needs a custom theme/layout.

This generic bullshit has got to go.

[cellophane]

Skittles, I used to like you just for your fruity, rainbow-like flavor. Butnow I like the way you think.

We really do need some better articles. And more of them. Mcrtjn can only make so many articles about pot.

And fuck... If it means I get an avatar, I'd whip up an article too.

[Σnigma]

Zoklet needs a custom theme/layout.

This generic bullshit has got to go.

I made the Sunshine theme, so that's the custom one, technically. However, I'm not totally pleased with the final layout. I just haven't the time to fix whatever's wrong with it.

[Dfg]

Dammit, OP. I already had that competition thing planned out.

:mad: [Not really :p]


Anyway, I was hoping to start some competitions [upto 10 in LOL, Internet]. I already have some ideas about them and I will make a thread about it in LOL, Internet today ASAP. You're all welcome to suggest ideas. But the majority of competitions will be focused on the main page.

19,997 damn

[Junior Jacon Jeese Jurger]

19,997 damn

What does that mean?

[Zoklet.net]

I made the Sunshine theme, so that's the custom one, technically. However, I'm not totally pleased with the final layout. I just haven't the time to fix whatever's wrong with it.

Damn, I never noticed that one I like it.
When did you make it? Has it always been in the list?


edit: after about 3 minutes my eyes are watering
too bright for comfort.

[Vizier]

What does that mean?

The number of times he's raped a camel :thumbsup:

[Zoklet.net]

The number of times he's raped a camel :thumbsup:

One camel 19,997 times? (poor camel)

Or 19,997 different camels once?

[Vizier]

I don't know. Distribute that as you like.

ontopicb4spectrollcomesrollinground:

Excellent idea. More contests should be encouraged for more people to contribute to the site :thumbsup:

[Agent 008]

Zoklet needs an admin that gives a shit.

[Daily]

I think there should be a competition per 2 weeks.

[TheDarkRodent]

Zoklet needs an admin that gives a shit.

QFT

Contest are fine but I could give a crap about a user title or an avatar. I mean of what value are they? I can't eat them, I can't smoke them, and I sure as hell can't F... well you get the idea. I guess if you are 15 those things would be pretty cool but at my age it really is not much motivation TBH.

[FrY]

I agree with more regular contests, or getting a reward for achiveing a certin postcount with no infractions.

[MandatorySuicide]

Ding!Ding!Ding!....we have a winnah!!!!!!!!

These meager contests are just another short-sighted outlook from the supposed "leaders" around here. They want to hand out balloons and lollipops to entice members to post, and then wonder later why their userbase is made up mostly of snivelling kids. ;)

Good point, but I thought contests were mostly just for a bit of fun. People seemed to enjoy them, anyway. If it encourages people to write more articles or help out in other ways, that's great, but I doubt anyone would do too much for a silly title or picture that they wouldn't have done just for the sake of fun or contribution. You're right though; that's probably a big part of the reason we've never had a ton of submissions. If we want more user participation, and a lot of real effort put in, we need to offer something better than pictures and text.

I don't put much stock in titles or avatars either, and it would be fair to offer something worthwhile for others who feel the same way, but I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I'll think about it for a while, and hopefully we can have a few different options for future winners. Some suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Like TheDarkRodent said, most people probably don't care about a prize if they can't smoke it, and no one lives close enough for me to smoke them out as a contest prize. Last time I checked, anyway.

[cellophane]

Do you really live in Alabama? Cuz so do I. I mean... You can always smoke ME out...

[Kazar]

Sounds good :D :thumbsup:

[Skittles]

Dammit, OP. I already had that competition thing planned out.

:mad: [Not really :p]


Anyway, I was hoping to start some competitions [upto 10 in LOL, Internet]. I already have some ideas about them and I will make a thread about it in LOL, Internet today ASAP. You're all welcome to suggest ideas. But the majority of competitions will be focused on the main page.

19,997 damn

Sorry [Not really :p]

I just thought I'd make a thread about it to see what everyones thinks. You're still more than welcome to run it :)

QFT

Contest are fine but I could give a crap about a user title or an avatar. I mean of what value are they? I can't eat them, I can't smoke them, and I sure as hell can't F... well you get the idea. I guess if you are 15 those things would be pretty cool but at my age it really is not much motivation TBH.

This is what I was thinking too, but what else does Zoklet have to offer? If you can tell me something better then I'm all ears.

IRL people work to get money, but on Zoklet how can we make people work...well...pretty much for free? Avatars and user titles are the only things Zoklet has at its disposal. I agree it's not going to motivate everyone, but if it gets even one, that's better than none right? Plus putting it in a contest makes it fun :D

[Mantikore]

i can support this idea

[spiralds123]

I have 32 text files I want to upload that are re-touched from totse. I sent a message to Zok asking him if I should upload them to zoklet. I haven't gotten a response yet and that message was sent a few weeks ago.

[Sookie]

Some people genuinely have nothing to contribute article-wise, but they are good posters regardless.

I don't know that I'm a good poster, but I certainly know I have no articles (art skills, etc) to contribute either.

Do I suck?

[Skittles]

I have 32 text files I want to upload that are re-touched from totse. I sent a message to Zok asking him if I should upload them to zoklet. I haven't gotten a response yet and that message was sent a few weeks ago.

Why are you asking permission? Just do it :thumbsup:

http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/showthread.php?p=1838120#post1838120

Some people genuinely have nothing to contribute article-wise, but they are good posters regardless.

I don't know that I'm a good poster, but I certainly know I have no articles (art skills, etc) to contribute either.

Do I suck?

Do you have a job, hobbies, interests?

Example: Say you work at McDonalds so your article can be anything like "How to make a Big Mac", "How to make Fries", "How to tell if your burger was spit in", etc... anything!

Even if you don't have a job, hobbies, interests you can tell stories, make lists, etc - "How to survive without a job", "100 ways to fail at life", "I have no talent, this is my article", it doesn't have to be very informative. Totse's articles were a mix of lulz and info, just share whatever. IMO it's better than nothing, and articles can always be edited.

[spiralds123]

Why are you asking permission? Just do it :thumbsup:

http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/showthread.php?p=1838120#post1838120



Do you have a job, hobbies, interests?

Example: Say you work at McDonalds so your article can be anything like "How to make a Big Mac", "How to make Fries", "How to tell if your burger was spit in", etc... anything!

Even if you don't have a job, hobbies, interests you can tell stories, make lists, etc - "How to survive without a job", "100 ways to fail at life", "I have no talent, this is my article", it doesn't have to be very informative. Totse's articles were a mix of lulz and info, just share whatever. IMO it's better than nothing, and articles can always be edited.

I was asking permission because none of them are written by me. I went back into the old totse, and fixed the grammar and spelling for many of the text files. I wasn't sure whether I should upload them to zoklet to make them easier to access, and if I would run into any trouble when it comes to stealing other people's information.

[spiralds123]

Something I forgot to add is the link to the rules of uploading articles.

http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/showthread.php?t=89127

Rule #2 is very direct in saying that you must be the creator, so I was hoping to get clearance from Zok.

[Skittles]

I was asking permission because none of them are written by me. I went back into the old totse, and fixed the grammar and spelling for many of the text files. I wasn't sure whether I should upload them to zoklet to make them easier to access, and if I would run into any trouble when it comes to stealing other people's information.

I see what you mean now, I thought you had rewritten them in your own words. If you've already contacted Zok about this then I'm not sure how else you can get the Totse archives edited. Try the Halp forum? Or rewrite them in your own words and submit them to the Zoklet main page?

[spiralds123]

I see what you mean now, I thought you had rewritten them in your own words. If you've already contacted Zok about this then I'm not sure how else you can get the Totse archives edited. Try the Halp forum? Or rewrite them in your own words and submit them to the Zoklet main page?

I was thinking about that. I think that the next project I'm going to work on is going through and basically pulling every text file from totse. Some I don't think I would be able to re-word so I would have to contact Zok for his permission.

In all honesty I think Zok really needs to look closer at some of these issues.

[Tunicate]

The thing I've been hoping for is some kind of regular erotica writing competition. People would be super entertained, probably would compete for little stuff (because they want thanks as well), and it would boost morale. Totse had lots of user written erotica, and it wasn't especially well written, but we have English and creative writing type majors, man! We can do it :mad:

[spiralds123]

we have English and creative writing type majors, man! We can do it :mad:

I'm thinking of putting up something I typed for English 12 last week. They wanted a descriptive essay and I put up something that I've been thinking of using for a book.

[Sookie]

The thing I've been hoping for is some kind of regular erotica writing competition. People would be super entertained, probably would compete for little stuff (because they want thanks as well), and it would boost morale. Totse had lots of user written erotica, and it wasn't especially well written, but we have English and creative writing type majors, man! We can do it :mad:

Oh right, I remember those... I like the positivity in this thread.
But if we had an articles page, wouldn't we need a separate site like Totse did?

[Tunicate]

I'm thinking of putting up something I typed for English 12 last week. They wanted a descriptive essay and I put up something that I've been thinking of using for a book.

I have the absolute capability to write cheesy erotica for the masses... but yeah, I suppose I could use some of the stuff I haven't posted in Original Works (I think I've posted a grand total of 2 things there). I have things from Creative Writing 056A and 057A. 046A was mostly a survey in fiction, but I could scrounge something up :p.

[TheDarkRodent]

Sorry [Not really :p]

I just thought I'd make a thread about it to see what everyones thinks. You're still more than welcome to run it :)



This is what I was thinking too, but what else does Zoklet have to offer? If you can tell me something better then I'm all ears.

IRL people work to get money, but on Zoklet how can we make people work...well...pretty much for free? Avatars and user titles are the only things Zoklet has at its disposal. I agree it's not going to motivate everyone, but if it gets even one, that's better than none right? Plus putting it in a contest makes it fun :D

Well it depends on what you want to in terms of "work" from the users. If you just want the usual one line useless posts then nothing needs to be done. If you are looking for "work" in terms of contributions that will move the community towards something that is known for it's unique content as THE place for information on wide range of both technical and fringe topics that is a different story.

I have seen a few users in here suggest user titles and avatars at certain post levels but only without infractions. That would be a better motivator than contests in that it would require more than a one time contribution. It would actually require a long term self imposed behavioral modification to achieve.

This would have the potential to create a self perpetrating "upward spiral". Follow me here for a minute. Humans are creature of habit and of a pack mentality. Just like wolves we band together and do as the stronger members of the pack do. In the case of humans most tend to emulate the more popular members of the pack in terms of behavior. We do this at a subconscious level in order to be accepted by the pack for the sake of survival.

So here is the trick so to speak. A two pronged approach with reward and punishment. Create a formula based on time + post count without infractions that reward the users with the things at Zoklets disposal you have mentioned (avatars and titles). Craft the formula so that the more posts + time - infractions over the initial qualifying mark that a user achieves the more often they can change titles and or avatars. This rewards desired behavior and sets an example.

Now to the other side, the punishment. This is Zok's board at the end of the day but without users he really has nothing. So in that sense it belongs to all of us. I mention this only because it is up to Zok how lax or strict he wants to run the ship. That being said it goes without saying that the more lax a community is the more asshats you will have. There is no reason that LULz can't exist without asshats. Unless someones idea of LULz is 3rd grade lowbrow fart humor. Even I can find that funny in very small doses but in short order it loses it's appeal due to the low level of mental stimulation it provides in anything but the smallest of doses over long intervals.

Now to the meat so to speak. If the reigns are tightened up just a bit (and I am not talking about censorship or infringing on freedom of speech) to a point where it takes about 20% - 30% less "infraction points" to get the boot. Then combine that with allowing the MODs (who know their forums and users much better than the Super Mods or admins) a bit more leash. Along with a slight policy shift in the more serious forums to send the message that there is a right time and right place for everything.

This dual approach if applied in small but steady increments (only because humans react poorly to drastic change but are extremely adaptable in the long haul) will allow for the following. A minimal lose of the current user base, a greatly increased potential for new users capable of contributing content of lasting value, and an improvement of the existing users experience and maybe even the way they treat one another.

I know that a certain demographic of the user base will balk at this concept and scream that it would ruin Zoklet. They will also scream about how it will kill Zoklet and attempt to scare the management into thinking that if the ytry anything like this it will mean the end of Zoklet. But even though I was never at Totse, I have read enough from those who were to get a overall concept of how Totse declined in it's final years.

I have also heard it said that one of the reasons Jeff Hunter closed Totse is he got sick of dealing with the kidiots. If things are left as they currently are it can only get worse not better. So the management needs to stop operating form a standpoint of fear and start operating form one of confidence. I am not saying this from a standpoint of disrespect or loathing as in the case of DaGuru. I am giving my cash register honest evaluation of the current situation as I see it.

It should also be understood that my assessment is based a considerable amount of experience over two decades. Experience gained from both being a member of many communities much larger than this one. As well as experience MODing in several underground communities. One of which had over 500,000 registered users. (L2extreme) I have also been an admin at two separate open warez communities in the 90's with users bases of around 8000 - 10,000 and a "Super Mod" (not what is was called on the script set that ran that board) on a private warez board with around 1000 members.

My reasons for mentioning what I did in the previous paragraph have nothing to do with trying to appear to be elite or any other ego driven motivation. I mention only to convey that I have seen what can build or destroy online communities first hand over a period spanning many years and a variety of user demographics.

I have little hope that any of this will be implemented but I am the type of person who will do my level best to contribute the success of anything I am involved with. That being said, you have my best advice from my heart for whatever it is worth to you.

Peace.

[Yggdrasil]

I made the Sunshine theme, so that's the custom one, technically. However, I'm not totally pleased with the final layout. I just haven't the time to fix whatever's wrong with it.

Please do. I love the sunshine theme (it's my default) but it's really pesky how links aren't bolded or underlined or anything.

[spiralds123]

I have the absolute capability to write cheesy erotica for the masses... but yeah, I suppose I could use some of the stuff I haven't posted in Original Works (I think I've posted a grand total of 2 things there). I have things from Creative Writing 056A and 057A. 046A was mostly a survey in fiction, but I could scrounge something up :p.

I have stuff from my grade 11 and 12 English classes. Just to clear things up, the essay I wrote wasn't erotica, although that was the first thing that came to mind when they said descriptive essay that appeals to all five senses.

[Tunicate]

haha yeah I understand the difference. I've completed all of my basic English class requirements by a couple quarters and now I am focusing on my creative writing classes.

[Dfg]

https://www.zoklet.net/bbs/showthread.php?t=116692

^There you go folks. Enjoy.

[Shrike]

This is what I was thinking too, but what else does Zoklet have to offer? If you can tell me something better then I'm all ears.

IRL people work to get money, but on Zoklet how can we make people work...well...pretty much for free? Avatars and user titles are the only things Zoklet has at its disposal. I agree it's not going to motivate everyone, but if it gets even one, that's better than none right? Plus putting it in a contest makes it fun :D

Well maybe the mods and admins could put up some money for a decent prize, specific to the forum. So in TV & Movies it could be a dvd, in Fragyard a game, in Maths and Science a calculator or something...

[TheDarkRodent]

Well maybe the mods and admins could put up some money for a decent prize, specific to the forum. So in TV & Movies it could be a dvd, in Fragyard a game, in Maths and Science a calculator or something...

:hrmph:

So you propose that people who run the site for no pay that you pay nothing to use should dig into their pockets and spend their money to entice you to be a better user?

:picard:

[Rodrat]

not really taking the time to read this whole thread but i read the first few posts.

i wouldnt mind entering a few competitions if it was something i could readily handle

[TheDarkRodent]

What do you think those advertisements are for.............?

For getting paid to run the site, dipshit....

Since this is the Ideas and Feature forum and not PEOO I will not stoop to returning your minor flame. I will point out which one of us is the "dipshit" however by reminding you of that the MODs/Super Mods.Admins do not get paid. Zok may make some beer money from the few T-shirts he sells here and there and the few donations he gets. (how many times do you look at the bottom of the index? Do you notice how few people have stars?)

Or perhaps you think he is getting filthy rich from the thousands of click throughs to T-shirt hell and the hundreds of t-shirts bought there every month by zocklet members.

His suggestion was that the MODs/Admins buy DVD's, video games, calculators, and whatever for each forum for monthly contests id ridiculous. If you had thought it out before whipping out your pathetic little torch you might have realized that the ad revenue from a site with 3 ads, some self sold t-shirts/mugs/stickers, and user base of a scant 2,200 people (most of whom are probably to cheap or broke to pay attention) plus the odd donation here and there probably covers costs and leaves enough for Zok buy some beer here and there.

If all that was purchased for prizes per month was 1 DVD, 1 Video game, and 1 calculator per month for prizes that would come to somewhere in the neighborhood $80-$100 per month. How much do you really think can be earned from ad revenue with this user base?

Have you ever ran a website like this?

Have you ever worked directly with online advertisers?

I am not even going to get into what I know about it because it is not worth my time to explain it to you but the bottom line is their is not a whole lot of money to be made on a board this size.

So in the future please keep the flames out of Ideas and Suggestions and perhaps you won't make such a fool of yourself.

[-SpectraL]

Keep the insults out of it, Cloudcat.

[Dfg]

Since this is the Ideas and Feature forum and not PEOO I will not stoop to returning your minor flame. I will point out which one of us is the "dipshit" however by reminding you of that the MODs/Super Mods.Admins do not get paid. Zok may make some beer money from the few T-shirts he sells here and there and the few donations he gets. (how many times do you look at the bottom of the index? Do you notice how few people have stars?)

Or perhaps you think he is getting filthy rich from the thousands of click throughs to T-shirt hell and the hundreds of t-shirts bought there every month by zocklet members.

His suggestion was that the MODs/Admins buy DVD's, video games, calculators, and whatever for each forum for monthly contests id ridiculous. If you had thought it out before whipping out your pathetic little torch you might have realized that the ad revenue from a site with 3 ads, some self sold t-shirts/mugs/stickers, and user base of a scant 2,200 people (most of whom are probably to cheap or broke to pay attention) plus the odd donation here and there probably covers costs and leaves enough for Zok buy some beer here and there.

If all that was purchased for prizes per month was 1 DVD, 1 Video game, and 1 calculator per month for prizes that would come to somewhere in the neighborhood $80-$100 per month. How much do you really think can be earned from ad revenue with this user base?

Have you ever ran a website like this?

Have you ever worked directly with online advertisers?

I am not even going to get into what I know about it because it is not worth my time to explain it to you but the bottom line is their is not a whole lot of money to be made on a board this size.

So in the future please keep the flames out of Ideas and Suggestions and perhaps you won't make such a fool of yourself.

I agree with this.
We actually don't have enough resources to send DVDs and video games to users.

On a side note, I can however offer free invites to various sites but I don't think it will work. We work for free people, I get 0.0% money/profit from Zoklet.

[Clover]

^ Well, that's a bit of an overstatement, but hear me out:

Problem: Zoklet is steadily growing, but not as fast as expected. The articles are...well...what articles? The amount of users in the forums are pretty much 80% of Totse, and the website in general is just kind of...not quite there yet.

Solution: Competitions!!

Wha?....idonteven.....

Competitions give users a chance to contribute to the site while providing them with the actual motivation to contribute, a prize in the form of an avatar or user title. Competitions just need to be more frequent and constant than previous ones to give everyone a chance, by occurring every few months.


Sound good? So what kind of competitions should we have?

Article Writing
Yea...sounds boring, but think about it. Everything that this site needs is all here, in the users. Being the diverse community that we are, everyone must have skills in something, right? Article writing just gives the chance for everyone to participate. Articles will bring more people to Zoklet, which will in turn probably post an article through an article competition. Thus begins an endless cycle :D


Design
Anything from banners to backgrounds, icons, colours, layout, etc. Sure this targets just the visual side of things more, but will adhere to the development of Zoklet. Plus for anyone that can't digitally create or edit an image or is having trouble with it, I have created a group for queries and questions where I, or other members will do our best to help you out - Photozhokp (http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/group.php?groupid=204)


Whatever
Whatever else you can think of, I can't really think of any more at the moment. Programming? Advertising? Could even have a competition for the best competition idea...although, that's getting a little excessive :o

So...your thoughts?

Zoklet is growing? Really? You got any stats to back this up? I hardley believe it. And lol 'HEY I'm A GENIUS I THOUGHT UP COMPETITIONS...ZOKLET IS SAIVED!!!!!!!11'. Lol. *Pats skittles on the head*.

[-SpectraL]

This forum isn't for calling out the staff either, DaGuru. Yes, know I've done it myself in the past, but we can get more cooperation, more feedback, more everything if we keep this civil in F&I. If we call out the staff here and insult them, they're going to MUCH less into even reading these threads, much less act upon them. We have to put away our angers for now in Features and Ideas and use what we do have here to our best advantage.

[-SpectraL]

My apologies for adding some honesty and sincerity to this discussion. Considering you have several people here putting up the time, effort and honest contribution wanting to fix this place.....its a bit awkward watching all these ideas knowing their words are posted in vain. Cmon dude, by now you know the formula....:(Yes, I'm keenly aware of the formula. Let's see... I've tried blackmail, overthrow, infiltration, destruction, impersonation, extortion, coercion, insult, deletion, and every other kind of evil under the sun, and I'm still not where I want to be. This leads me to the conclusion that these methods are quite ineffective. The only way to affect real change here is by logical and reasonable discussion; of that I am quite sure now. And the only way to carry out logical and reasonable discussion is by omitting the call-out's flames and general insults. If somebody is being continually insulted, they WON'T talk, and that's an obstacle which has been removed somewhat recently, and we are making progress in that regard, and I'd hate to see that progress diminish just for the sake of momentary satisfaction.

Your thoughts and ideas are welcome, my friend! I thoroughly enjoy each and every post you make! Whether I agree with the elements you bring forward or not is immaterial... you make me think!... and that's exactly what I came here for in the first place. My only wish is that we could have more order to our approach on these issues, and thusly more success with our goals. I do respect your honesty... always.

[TheDarkRodent]

DR.....that was a great post with oodles of great ideas, along with an accurate assessment of many things around here. But the term "casting pearls before swine"...has never been more appropriate at Zoklet. You are talking WAY over the heads of the higher ups, and you'll see nobody of any power around here will ever address anything you said.

While reading that post I felt it was quite inspirational, at the same time it was somewhat embarrasing to witness knowing the audience you were trying to direct it to. It would be like watching a Grand Master try to teach a chimpanzee the very basics of chess. It looked great and all, but when the chimp just picks up a pawn and starts banging on the table with glee from the new found sound he can make.......you can understand just how futile your efforts were, and how much wasted time it all was.

Zok and his higher ups "got" 2 things out of that very wise post, and both had nothing to do with your takes. I can guarantee his little herd of losers in IRC first started mocking the length of that post, as once you go past a couple of paragraphs they are intimidated to such a degree they can't even hear you any more. Then after those laughs subside after a few minutes they went right back to the game of playing "Who is DR really?"..and just focused on the whole Zoklet Hills 90210 group gossip idiocy. That IS how their minds work, the message makes them uncomfortable......they just tear apart the messenger with very simplistic silliness and immaturity.;)

I admire and appreciate your efforts Dark Rodent, but NOBODY at the top who has any pull around here will ever give any of that a response with any sincerity or dignity....they don't have the intellectual prowess to even understand (and most imporantly IMPLEMENT) what you just said, or the maturity to recognzie someone other then "them" came up with an idea for this place. :thumbsdown:

First of allow me to thank you for the kind words. I can sense your level of frustration as one who has already walked the path I am not attempting to traverse. I can project into a not so distant future and see myself just frustrated if the dynamics of the community remain as they are. For if they do not progress they will surely decline in an inevitable downward spiral. I can only offer my thoughts to Zok and his senior staff from a sincere desire to help the community achieve it's potential. Whether they choose to consider the information or simply dismiss it as the rambling of an old fool is beyond my control.

I am one person and a relatively new member of the community so in that respect it would seem that my chance of effecting any positive change is slim. But I know there are others here who would like to see zoklet grow and mature into a community not dissimilar to what Totse once was. I can hear their whispers barely spoken in parts and pieces of posts as I read. As I can hear it in your frustrated outcries as well DaGuru. I believe I understand why you lash out with the venom you muster at times. Also I am aware that you realize that the energies you spend at this time do nothing to improve the situation. Yes, I know you have all but given up on Zoklet and have no illusions which give you hope that thing will ever change.

I invite you to turn yourself around and rally others in a calm peaceful effort to help make this community better one post at a time. We may not be able to control what Zok does but the one thing we can control is what we do. Each of us, among those who truly would like to be part of a community we can take some pride in, can make a difference if we take the high road. It will not happen overnight and who knows, it may not happen at all. But if we aren't willing to try than what are we doing here?

I remember in January I ran across what little still remained of Totse. There were some articles still up and you could see one link deep into the forum. I thought to myself, "Damn, this looks like it was once a great place to bad it is gone". Then I noticed a post this post by oddballz194 was still viewable.

http://www.zoklet.net/totse/community/announcement.php@f=149.htm

And I saw his link to Zoklet. I thought, "Cool maybe a lot of the members from this site migrated over there." I bookmarked Zoklet, a few weeks passed, and one night I was looking through my bookmarks and saw the one for Zoklet. So I decided to sign up and see if I could add some cool stuff to my knowledge base. I had always had an interest in fringe politics and then I saw the "energetics" section and thought about how I almost went DoD when I entered the service but choose instead to go Field Artillery. Well I said to myself maybe I can learn a bit about that topic after all these years.

Imagine my disappointment as I have slowly discovered over the last three months that the potential I saw is simply not being developed. But yet here I am bashing my fingers on my keyboard (and sometimes my head against the wall it feels like) trying my level best to contribute and inspire others to do the same. I have been called all manner of rude names by children who would shit their pants before they would speak to me that way IRL and have taken most of it in stride. Why? Because I know I am above that for the most part and I believe this community is better than that or can be.

So to you DaGuru I say work towards what we both know this place can be. And to the others who want more from Zoklet than petty name calling falsely labeled as flaming put your best foot forward and show the management what we, the members of the community, want from our community. We will only get out of it what we put into.

This forum isn't for calling out the staff either, DaGuru. Yes, know I've done it myself in the past, but we can get more cooperation, more feedback, more everything if we keep this civil in F&I. If we call out the staff here and insult them, they're going to MUCH less into even reading these threads, much less act upon them. We have to put away our angers for now in Features and Ideas and use what we do have here to our best advantage.

True words there Spectral, I wonder why you do what you do at times. I wonder why you try so hard to make Zoklet something when all you get in return is snot nosed kids ripping on you day and night. I can only believe that you still see the potential that I have mentioned and have some unspoken plan to move the community forward. With the patience that our age affords us that is not unreasonable to assume. So to you, to the users of Zoklet who give shit, and to the management. If there is something I am missing or if I am just spinning my wheels in regard to the possibilities I see in this board tell me now and I will sit back quietly and post some half assed shit here and there along with some occasional insightful ramblings in the politics and news section and leave the rest to fate. :bluecool:

P.S. I have been up all night due to pain from a torn rotator cuff and I can't be bothered to double check my spelling and grammar atm so trolls have at me for that if you must.

[TheDarkRodent]

I understand, accept and respect what you are saying -Spectral. All I am saying is that it is going to take more than actions by the management to make Zoklet a great community. It will also require positive involvement from the users who are the community.

[Skittles]

Well maybe the mods and admins could put up some money for a decent prize, specific to the forum. So in TV & Movies it could be a dvd, in Fragyard a game, in Maths and Science a calculator or something...

I don't see that happening, but second hand goods might work? Don't want an old game, book, etc...put it up as a prize! Even though its second hand, a few paragraphs of text would probably be a good 'trade' for it.

Zoklet is growing? Really? You got any stats to back this up? I hardley believe it. And lol 'HEY I'm A GENIUS I THOUGHT UP COMPETITIONS...ZOKLET IS SAIVED!!!!!!!11'. Lol. *Pats skittles on the head*.

They were in here

http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/showthread.php?t=22679&highlight=statistics

Its a little old, but eh.


To everyone posting huge paragraphs of text, in all honesty I only skim read it all, but did see some good ideas in there. Like one of you said, your post will go unoticed to the majority of Zoklet, but if you shorten or even summarise it a bit, I'm sure more people will read it. I'm glad this thread has provoked conversation, even though its a bit too much for me to keep up with. But still, thanks for sharing.

[Shrike]

I don't see that happening, but second hand goods might work? Don't want an old game, book, etc...put it up as a prize! Even though its second hand, a few paragraphs of text would probably be a good 'trade' for it.

Could work. And by the way I wasn't suggesting buying those prizes every month, rather as a once-off to get the ball rolling.

I don't think it would be that big a deal, after all real websites have to pay contributors for their work.

Anyway, I thought of a semi-idea for an article, can you hyperlink and put images in them or is it just plain text like Totse?

[Fza]

Prices for writing articles? Or if someone could just make the article submitting easier to do, people might be willing to submit some. Took months before I could make articles on that wiki thingy that existed before. And now eveything is changed again? It's seriously not worth the trouble to invest any time in writing anything for this site.