News / No More Updates?

Update Report: Boards have been pretty dead lately? Any of the members feel like livening them up? It'd be greatly appreciated.... New Halloween Runner-Ups. Congrats to x-sector, ToonTowner, Evil WME, Twisted, and Aviator/Ozone for their great parks. New Spotlight coming next week (maybe, unless DDI doesn't ever get three pages of response). Looks like we're starting to have the same problem we did before, with lazy members taking advantage of all the updates. Only way to stop it, is to once again realllly slow down the updates. So, if activity doesn't pick up, then the updates won't either. I'm also a little unhappy with some of the older mods, who seem to hardly ever be at New Element. Regardless of if you're a friend of mine, I need the mods to be at the site. If you think I'm talking about you, then IM me.



That was taken from the Update Bar on the top of the forums. People have completely stopped replying/visiting the site, so, I'm just going to stop updating it. I really don't think anyone will have a problem with the lack of updates. DDI by Natelox has the fewest downloads ever by a spotlight, and only 2 pages of response. And of those 2 pages, only about one (maybe less) really discuss the park.

Until I see more activity, the new Spotlights, the Blockbuster Challenge, the new parkmaker pages, the Weekly Walkthroughs, and the new List will all be held off.

Sayanara
Iris

I see nothing wrong with this (if people do) because we, as a community, are supposed to keep NE alive. I am sorry you to have to do this, I will try my best to help keep the community alive.

Although, I really don't post because not a lot of people know me so I feel kind of...like a loner. But hopefully that will change when I get RCT2 tomorrow and start making parks again.

The reason why I haven't replied to DDI is quite simple. I am very busy lately and the time that I do have, I use it for RCT2 or to surf the boards.

A reason for the lack of replies could be the fact that it is a RCT1 park, and people that are working on rct2, don't want to load rct1 to see how DDI looks.

If you stop updating, start updating again as soon as you get rct2 stuff.

I can't help but think that you sound kinda like that whiney selfish guy who wants glory for his site again. No offense, of course.

I mean, you all but mandate a certain number of pages of response for the Spotlight. That's pretty immature and absurd IMO. Sure, you own and pay for this site, but did ya ever think that too much of this complaining might actually drive people away from your site?

After all, just about everyone starts out small. Have a little patience. And if you really want to attract more members, do some heavy duty advertising or something.

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It's late....

I dont usually post in the spotlight thread cos most of the time id be repeating myself every week "looks great","good job" etc and mainly i dont much wrong with the spotlights to comment about.

Its kinda sad having no updates but you got a good enough reason and yes ive noticed the mod problems too...things are little quiet but they will pick up again if u get advertising

I can't help but think that you sound kinda like that whiney selfish guy who wants glory for his site again. No offense, of course.

Yeah, what that guy said. Along with this one...

A reason for the lack of replies could be the fact that it is a RCT1 park, and people that are working on rct2, don't want to load rct1 to see how DDI looks.

...and if you can't find RCT2 content, make it. That's the "thing" right now, everything else is in the past. Trends fade, and that trend has faded. People rarely talk about, or engage in, faded trends.

well, im barely on my comp, so i cant get to the site. btw, f you need RCT2 content; make an RCT2 contest. I bet tons of people will enter becuz they wan to show off their skills.

A least I would. Just a suggestion that would both get forum activity and RCT2 content.

Im here almost 6 hours a day...i pray for updates every time i come and i always post about em...

I dont think there will be any RCT2 content for a while because it is going to take a long time before people are finishing parks in RCT2 of the quality that is needed for NE.

But the route you are taking Iris is totaly the wrong one. Not updating is not going to make more people want to visit the site and post it is going to mean they wont check back as often because they wont expect any thing to be updated. No one will send there parks in for spotlight because they will want to get there parks out and not have to wait months for them to be posted and therefore no one will post in the forums.

You should update more regularly, get more contests going, update the list and parkmakers pages and give the community something to talk about. Then eventualy more people will post general stuff and it will be busy on the boards.

Advertising might help but only if you have something worth advertising. Whats the point in advertising a site that never gets updated? Who he is going to want to join the forums there?

I also think you should continue the spotlights for RCT1 and RCT2 parks because alot of people, me included, started working on parks along time before RCT2 came out and dont want our parks forgoten about because of the sudden RCT2 boom. It will die down eventualy.

I dont think there will be any RCT2 content for a while because it is going to take a long time before people are finishing parks in RCT2 of the quality that is needed for NE.

Yes, which is why he must create it. Not nessecarily constructing parks himself, but by setting up features which focus on RCT2. More importantly, if he were to re-open Weekly Designs, then all these great (and not-so-great) rides which are being released on the forums, would instead by released through that. Certainly, it would get responses.

Anyways, this site is still 100% stuck on RCT1, with the exception of the forums, and whatever it takes to change that, must be done, if Iris really wants to keep the site a float. Of course, cutting off updates completely will do far more harm than good, but people have said that already.

Chauncey, the reason why I don't do that is simple: People aren't good at RCT2!!!!

I've seen so many screens of practically the same exact thing over and over again, with all these people thinking their the "best rct2" parkmaker, and really, I have hardly been impressed at all. I will shift NE over to RCT2 content, when the members and parkmakers are good enough to keep up with it. So far, I can think of maybe 3 or 4 people (Foozy, Fanatic, Pyro, and ToonTowner) who would prosper in a RCT2 contest. Everybody thinks their good, because they "figured out how to make buildings" or whatever, but this is truly NOTHING compared to what the game will allow people to do later on.

People still have RCT1 parks worth showing. And definitely worth talking about. And while some people have uninstalled RCT1, the majority of the people here haven't. Robo, you don't have time to load up RCT? Are you shitting me, it takes 5 seconds. At most. It's not RCT2, which takes over 10 minutes to get started on.

I prefer old GOOD stuff, to new CRAP. I thought that of all people here, Chauncey would see this, but he too, has seemed to jump on the bandwagon. I mean, is there a point to dropping all your parks in RCT1, tht have taken months and months, just to try and rush to be one of the first RCT2 parks done? Why must you completely drop everything as soon as the game comes out? Are you that impatient?

Next, Corkscrewed, honestly dude, you're comments don't mean much to me. You were supposed to write walkthroughs for each spotlight, but you completely quit after like, 2 weeks. Plus, you're really never even at New Element, and when you are, you're just posting something that you can find the exact same thing at Danimation. I mean, I put you way up on the "mods list" here, but really, I find people like Coaster Ed, mantis, and ToonTowner doing a lot more then you (and a few others). And yes, I do have a certain number of reponses a park must get, and if you don't like it, then too bad. I feel that a park that has obviously taken this long to make, with this type of quality deserves to be commented on. And if every other spotlight didn't have 3 pages of comments, then I wouldn't ask it for DDI. But they do. And people just stopped giving a shit when DDI came out. And it's been like this since New Element opened up, and call me immature if you like, but I'll bet your ass you'd like it if it was your park being commented on.

And is it a dumb thing to do to stop updating? Maybe.
Is there really a better thing to do? No.

Why the fuck should I continue to update something, when nobody gives a shit? To me, it's a slap in the face to me, and to whoever made the thing I'm updating. Let's take a look at this:

-If I stopped updating spotlight, would the whole 39 people who replied miss it? I'll make you a deal, if I do stop updating the spotlight, then I will personally send the parks to those 39, because those are the only 39 I care about. If you're not helping with the spotlight, then you have no right to complain.

-If I stopped the Blockbuster Challenge, would the whole 15 people who entered miss it? Yes, 15. And only 5 of them are NE Parkmakers, the people I personally chose, to help lead the way when it comes to this shit. And on top of that, two of them weren't even NE Parkmakers at the time.

-If I stopped updating NE Runner Ups, the 24 people who replied last time would still get them. People who actually try and keep this site alive, and do what it was intended for, will still get the parks, because people deserve them.

-If I don't ever bring back The List, the 7 people who reply every time I make a list update will miss it. That's it. 7 out of 331. Not a big deal in my opinion.

-Weekly Walkthroughs, don't even know how well they will go over, but based on the "I don't need to reply, someone else will" kind of attitude that all of our members, and most of our mods (Cork) seem to have, I'm really tentative to adding.

I prefer old GOOD stuff, to new CRAP. I thought that of all people here, Chauncey would see this, but he too, has seemed to jump on the bandwagon.

No, I do agree with you on the point of old "good" stuff vs new "crap". However, I'm speaking from a bussiness perspective. If everybody goes and jumps on the bandwagon except you, and your site, both will be left behind in the dust. This is what you're seeing happen, and getting on ASAP is the only way to reverse the trend.

I was merely saying what needed to happen to be a popular site, which is all you seem to be after.

Good points there, Iris.

It's like this:

If you stop updating, you might be able to get more response from the people that are here NOW.

If you'd continue updating, it would probably attract more people, who might no be so active, except for the first week or so.

That's how I see it. Whether it makes any sense, I don't know. And don't care either.

Do as you wish. You won't see me complaining - I'm happy with NE as it is.

I would agree with Iris about RCT2, right now the screens comming out except for a few really are of a lower quality. Given time to expirement they will improve just as they did with RCT, but right now RCT parks are simply better. Plus, to finish a respectable RCT2 park it will take at minimum 3-4 months... so we wont see anything for a long time. Now is not the time to switch, and people still should be very much concerned with RCT as parkmakers finish up their last RCT masterpiece. Right now is a transitional phase, so interest will naturaly be split. Some will rush blindy into all out RCT2 totaly forgetting what they were workign on in an attempt to squeeze something out from the newer game which will most likely suck. People have worked very hard to finish these last RCT parks which are the epitome of RCT acheivement, and should very much be respected for these last few parks. You cant adapt totaly to the new game when notihng good is comming out yet. I really think the walkthroughs are comming at a great time, allowing people to look back on some of the great parks from RCT's long life in this period of transition, and you really wont know how they will fare until released.

The lack of activity recently I guess could be a very real concern, but some of the numbers are insignificant. The Blockbuster Challenge simply came at the wrong time. Most NE parkmakers it seems were working to finish their park before or shortly after RCT2's release, a process that would be slowed by participating in the contest. I really wouldn't worry about that number If I were you. You really also cant expect a ton of comments for each time you move a park from #1 to #2, I mean what do you say to that. While it is an appreciated process there isnt much you can do in the way of comment. However, when/if you add the list back in then you would be due for some nice response, and would hopefuly get it.

And on a final note, yes, some of the original mods have fallen in visitation time and duty, but we have plenty of new mods who are very active and keeping the site in control easily. I love how you left out the NE award winning best mod from your useful mods list .

Ehh..

Here at NE there are, what 300 some-odd members..

At Dnet, there are over a 1,000..

Over at a graffiti forum I belong to, there are nearly 3,000..


Now, consider that maybe... 35-45 members post here often..

There's a whole lot of lurkers over at Dnet, too, so we'll say that maybe-- half of those members rarely post...

At the graffiti site I'm at, literally maybe 20 people have more than 500 posts, and they are VERY old members that have vanished into thin air..


I think that Danimation has so many posters because it's so broadened... That diversity makes members join. Unfortunately, Danimator has indirectly mentally-conditioned the majority of those fags into thinking that NE is a pagan site.
But, this site focuses on a game that most people have gotten bored with... And you're holding things hostage until people post about something they just don't care about anymore.. You may still get a kick out of choosing Spotlights and Runner-ups and things like that, and people download them, but they just lack the enthusiasm to post a praise.. Hell, it may take 2 minutes(or even seconds) out of their lives to make a few comments, but it's just the way they are... And they probably won't change..
My point is that RCT is basically dying.. Nevis revived it for a while, but then everyone began whoring his style and now it's back to where we started.
That's why I personally think NE needs to go down.. Unless you have another elsuive friend up your sleeve that can redefine Rollercoaster Tycoon again.

Here's a suggestion, though..

Do a few more Spotlights for RCT1, then switch NE's premise to RCT2.. See Danimation's spotlights? They got better as time went by.. People need time to get good at RCT2, and if that means that their product work will be sub-par, then so be it.. You may like to see old good shit, but it seems to me like there's very few members who want to do that, and compremises have to be made if you want to keep your members active(and most importantly, happy).

Did you see that drag-menu conflict over at Danimation? Emotions were running so high I thought a war was about to break out.

I prefer the personal feel. I like the small community. I treasure the way people know each other to some extent, rather than looking at a member name and wondering who the hell they are. I also like the way you get 39 members replying to the spotlight or whatever. It shows who appreciates. Really appreciates. Has something to say. Analysis, support, criticism, reviews - these are the things I love on these boards. I can happily ignore the things I don't find interesting. NE has just the right amount of thoughtful content, and I think it's fantastic.

I think slowing down updates would be counter-productive in livening up the boards. If people don't think there is going to be new content they are less likely to check the boards out in the first place. Threatening to slow down updates may cause in temporary surge in posting, but will not affect it long term (if anything it may have the opposite effect). I feel it is just a very slow time right now because (a) noone is starting new RCT projects and the ones due for release soon are no longer in the advertising phase and ( most parkmakers are not showing their RCT2 stuff yet cause it probably isn't too good. I know for myself the Ad District is the first forum I visit when I log on and lately there hasn't been much there to pique my interest. We will see, maybe RCT is just on a major downturn?

I think that you should do whatever you think is best Iris. Its your site, you pay for it. If you want more posts and more member interaction, do whatever it takes. I will be a little disappointed because I consider myself one of those 39 people that post to the spotlight forums. I like telling people what I think of their parks. It dissapoints me when people download it but doin't say anything about it. I appreciate what you do for us with this site Iris, and I think posting about a park is the least I can do for your site.

I realize that I am probably looking like a brown noser now, but I just want to tell you what I feel about everything here. I know some people are busy with their lives btu so am I, it takes only five minutes of your so-called-lives to write a post in the spotlight forum. Just be considerate and write something.

well i'm with iris mostly on this topic, except for a few things.

I was voted #1 parkmaker here at NE (by one vote...anyways), and yet BOTH my parks boast the lowest downloads, lucky i careless what people think now compared to when i started to play. Now i play for me, if people like my stuff, good for them, if not, insult it all u want, its for me, i like my parks. I've got a rct2 going, showed it to Iris, obviously its not good enough for him, but i like it, and i'm not gonna start something new because of that.

i'm on these boards everyday for atleast half an hour. i'm in chat every once and a while. i love this site! The lack in activity may be fixed by reducing updates, for when something great does come out, everyone will be excited to see it, not like "oh, another new park", they'll be like "DAMN! ANOTHER NEW PARK!".

Run your site the way you see fit iris, just don't shut it down.

excuse my double post.