I always find that it is important that members have a say in what happens to a forum. Now...let's be honest, despite effort on our part, FFF is still sitting in a rather large slump. We need something new, something attractive to bring in more members. Discussions about the games alone is not enough anymore.

What do you, the members, suggest we do?

I'll say again what I've said many times before: Get rid of the 0-1-2-3-4-5 Post counters. The members with low post counts. The forum will look clean again, and visitors won't be frightened of the large member count.

I can't imagine why people would be hesitant to join an FF site where no one ever post about Final Fantasy. But seriously, don't ask me... I'm only good at destroying forums. haha

Yeah I don't know. I mean probably more mainstream stuff would help.

Like other console areas, like xbox 360, PS3, DS, Wii all those people like.

Um maybe some other interests sections like cars, bikes, hobbies, you know whatever.

People don't join because theres nothing here they can talk about. Well thats what I think anyway.

I'll second both what Aztec and Stephanie said. First, we as members need to be more active in creating Final Fantasy discussions. One major thing we could add is some sort of guide section; many people who look at forums dedicated to a game of series of games are looking for a place where they can get assistance in getting through the game. Sure, people can post questions and wait for replies, but the gaming generations are impatient and want instant answers. This site is lacking those. As for the inevitable argument that there's a ton of other sites out there with guides, there's a reason there's so many. People don't want to go to one place to talk about something and another to get useful information on that same thing. They want it all together in one neat package.

Adding some other forums with topics of interest would be handy as well. As Stephanie mentioned, creating a forum for each gaming platform is a good idea. I would also add that removing general gaming from its hidey-hole in Ross' Club and putting it on the main index could help.

There's also the appearance of the site. Statistically, if the first page of a website that a viewer sees has a scroll bar at the side, that page will be far less popular than one that doesn't. I'm not sure what's possible on Invisionfree sites, but a main page that isn't the forum index (and perhaps has links to a few other site resources, such as wallpapers, guides or whatever) might also help draw in more traffic. An index just isn't very inviting.

Being here for a long time, its hard to think of new and interesting FF discussions, everything has been done multiple times!

If i had to say something to add to FFF, is re add the gaming section as a seperate forum, if i was new i might get pissed off if there wasnt a gaming section.

All above are good ideas.
A console forum, one for each console.
The things that Vaskal mentioned, take SOME forums out of the boxes. In this case, the gaming out of Ross' club.

I also could think of a RP section, this might be crammed in Ross' club, or a box of its own.

Perhaps, if the gaming thing gets its own forum.

-Gaming
|- General games
|-Game reviews
|-Console1
|-Console2 (etc)

This CAN be an idea to the "forum tree"
as a general gaming thing might be in order.fsor games such as Oblivion, and FFVII, FFVIII. since they are multi platform.

Game reviews have been a success in more then one forum.
it might stand empty for the beginning, but as members feel the urge to say what they mean about a game, this might be more , and more used.

then there is the thing about the Skin. Don't get me wrong, this skin is cool.
But the majority likes a dark skin. A dark one, that has light, and easy to read text.

Also. For the FF forums that are there already.
some members are too eager to begin, and don't wish to read too much other then the post itself. so, the makes on the forums might scare them. Since they sorta have to read the names, and the explanation before they can enter.

Take the FFIX forum as an example.

This is ok for us, and the more seasoned players. BUT.
Not everyone knows, even after completing it, that Alexandria is in FFIX.
Do, they have to start reading he explanations, and this might scare some away.

Instead, if they looked like this

This might stop the "scaring" from happening. since it is less to read, to enter the right forum, and it is easier to see.

Off course, these are just ideas, that I have seen on other forums, but they MIGHT be successful.

Another thing we may to consider is just what are we shooting for? How popular of a site do we want, as opposed to a small, tight-knit community? Do we have goals of how many active members to have at a time? And who are we trying to draw in? Strictly Final Fantasy fans, gamers in general or people who just want to join the community?

maybe add a trivia/competition forum on FF games

I was thinking about getting some affiliates...like we used to have, I mean those had to bring in a few members.

And well, if you havn't noticed...FF isn't one of the most popular things in the world anymore lol...so I suggest having a Gaming section that has more than just FF like make it a PS, PS2, and a PS3 section, and have a sub forum for FF and then sub forums in that for all the FF games.

But leave it more open to the new members that it doesn't only have to be about Final Fantasy.

We need more exposure. People need to know we're here.

If you have close-ish friends on other forums or something, and you think they may be interested in posting here, why not tell them about FFF? I wouldn't suggest mindless plugging; that's basically just bad rep. So don't tell random people. But telling people you know should be fine.

Then, once we get a couple members going, implement an awards system. Tell them they'll earn something--privileges, special icons, just something that they can show off. Be creative--if they manage to find other active members.

We have an "Elite Members" group. I'm not really sure how that's run or managed, but revamping it and making it a reachable-yet-hard achievement is definitely a great way to start. I've done it on forums before and people generally love trying to earn superior status.


My point is, aside from what's already been mentioned, we can add fun to being members here. The more fun it is to post here, the more people will show up, the more they'll stay, and the more they'll be encouraged to invite others.

Alright...

- I changed all the titles to each of the FF forums. I also combined the Den and Village into a General Final Fantasy Discussion forum.
- General Gaming has been moved to its own Category, and I added three other gaming forums to support it.
- I have added a new forum ' The Symposium' in Ross' Club. This is FFF's debate forum, and it will be heavily watched. Do not bother to report any posts you find offensive, that is solely the judgment of the Staff.

Coming soon...(to a theater near you)

- A new skin. While this one is new, I really am starting to find it just a tad bit stale. It doesn't have that initial appeal that some other skins do. Expect something more eye popping, and I can assure you it will probably be bright, perhaps violet. With that new skin will come new buttons, pips, etc etc etc.

w00t tomatoes. Good job Aza! Three huzzahs for him!

Allright...Skins...hehehehe...

These are the three I like.

http://s14.invisionfree.com/MagicTestBoard1
http://z15.invisionfree.com/freshpants_21 (This one will need heavy modifications)
http://s7.invisionfree.com/domietest31

Feel free to hate me. ^^

the last one was ok, but the first two made it look like the internet threw up over them

No, no and no. All three of those color schemes will mean that people will click out of the forums the second they get here. No successful forum looks like that... and I've been a member of tons.

Yeah personally I think darker is better, try looking at that skin for half an hour. Not healthy. The purple one is okay but still darker is better, I would go black and blue.

Gay, gayer, gayest. Those are absolutely horrible. We'd do better if we had Busta in a thong as our backdrop. Quit drooling Steph...

orange and green look just um very southwest~ , but just are way to bright, i think going with a color is a good idea tho, not just plain black or grey, as far as the purple goes -- and this is hard for me to say since purple is my all time favorite color -- but it just is wayy to abrasive, much to bright. maybe a more muted purple.

I'm going to have to agree that the colors can't be that bright. All of those hurt my eyes, and I have the brightness of my monitor turned down quite a bit. If you really like purple, try a darker purple.

Yup, way too bright, and the color schemes don't really seem to match...

Hello everyone back from a rather massive busy spell to put in my two pence... (and on new years eve too when I should be getting sloshed but I've only just got over the flu and feel shitty)...

Anyway I would like to suggest the following:

• We get rid of some of the massive member list. I know Ross for one is massively against this but I can't help but feel newer members may be put off by a such a huge member list that is 95% inactive, it would also mean that when new members do sign up they have a wider range of user names to select from and it might help encourage some of those members that have signed up and not posted to pop by again. I say the last comment because I think that rather than straight deleting everyone you can e-mail them all (I'm hoping on invisionfree you have the option to send a mass e-mail to all members, because active members can ignore the e-mail) and gently remind them about FFF and also give them a time period in which they can come and post before you delete inactive accounts. Of course all those people who do come back after the e-mail you don't delete. Maybe the threat of their account being deleted may entice some more people back rather than a simple "Hi we're still here come and post" message. *phew* I hope that all makes sense!
  
  
• Maybe we active members could also be more talkative when a new member comes and posts their introduction. This is a harder thing to enforce but you could always put it in a tip at the top of that forum (in the forum rules). So what I mean by this is instead of us all saying the usual "hi welcome to FFF, follow the rules, post lots, have fun and eat your greens" we could prompt more things out of them like; what they do for a living, their favourite games/TV shows/movies/anime/music, or what got them into FFF. Things that make them feel welcome but also encourage us all to get to know them, encourage posting, and give a better first impression. It suddenly struck me that although we do post and say hello to a new member it could also be off putting because all the welcomes are all so similar it might not feel to that new member that we really do care they took the time to sign up and start posting. Now I feel like a psychologist! lol!

I can't think off much else right now... If anything comes to me though I'll try and post it.

I like the changes that have been made so far... I'm not sure if it's because I've been gone so long or because the new forums have encouraged posting but it's great to see so many green/turquoise chocobo on the main page!!

As for the skins I have to say that I'm not fond of any of them. They are all way too bright and the second one is painful to look at. I do think the darker theme suits the place well. Maybe making one that all fits together smoothly like adventchildren.net's forum theme (I'm not posting a link cos I don't want to break any rules but I want to give an example) would help. I don't really feel we need to try and squeeze as many FF characters into the skin as we can works too well, I'm not saying our one is awful but it might help make the place look more appealing especially as there is so much competition with other foums. Plus you could change the banner every 6 months or something to keep the place feeling fresh. I hope that helps inspire you...

Also affiliates would bring in more visitors. It would be good if people on here could suggest other forums they frequent that would be suitable for us to affiliate with. That way we aren't gust stabbing in the dark and know that the forums we affiliate with would bring in people who are genuinely interested in posting here and not just here to spam/advertise etc...


Anyway that's my two pence which turned into two pounds!

EDITZ: I just remembered something that might help... Ages ago we did this thing where we posted a list of the inactive peoples who used to stop by a lot and we really missed and asked the members on the forums to go away and right them an e-mail that was basically encouraging them to come back and telling them we missed them etc... I can't remember how successful it was but it could also be something that helps the forums....

I'll second both of Vespertine's main points. The idea of being more active/interested in welcome topics is an especially good idea.