Server Renewal and Fate of the Forum
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 9:37 pm
Hi all, we're coming up to the end of my paid up subscription term for the current hosting provider so renewal is on the horizon. I thought this would make a good opportunity to discuss where we're at after 6 years in the new digs.
The forum is ticking over at a quietly steady rate, we only really see 5-10 posts a day on busier days and it is often even slower than that. I think a lot of the community has transitioned to the Discord server just because it's easier to use the chat features on there for informal discussion whilst the forum doesn't facilitate the same kind of chit chat and requires more of a concerted effort to post something on. Whilst the server has undoubtedly been great for the community in keeping us in touch and actually playing games together again it has without a doubt dealt quite a blow to the forum traffic. I wouldn't suggest for a second that we should kill off the Discord server just for the sake of driving more activity here though.
So with that noted, I think the question worth asking of everybody is do we still see the value in keeping this place up and running? Is it time to close doors and embrace Discord in its entirety. I have certainly seen other communities make use of it, there's a lot of scope for setting up different conversation topics to manage where discussions are had.
I absolutely do not have the same amount of free time anymore to really devote towards making anything more of the forum than it already is with regards to updates, new features, an attached website etc. Not that I ever actually was able to realise the plans I had for the place when I took over anyway. There isn't really any prospect of the community growing any further either as the number of spambot sign-ups that we were getting on a daily basis which I kept having to delete has led to me disabling sign-ups outright to manage it. If we were to keep the forum online then it would be with acceptance of the fact that things are basically going to stay as they currently are.
I think I will be able to negotiate a fairly good price for the renewal if they let me make use of their new sign-ups offer so the overall cost of a few more years on the forum won't be enormous. Though with the cost of living as it currently is and me moving to a new, more expensive home at the end of the month I will likely be opening up the renewal to donations which would be much appreciated as always. That is of course if we decide to go ahead with the renewal.
Just thought I'd put this out into the community early as it warrants a discussion that I think everybody should have the opportunity to contribute to. The actual deadline for renewal isn't until the very end of the month so there is plenty of time to reach a decision.
Cheers all
Dave
The forum is ticking over at a quietly steady rate, we only really see 5-10 posts a day on busier days and it is often even slower than that. I think a lot of the community has transitioned to the Discord server just because it's easier to use the chat features on there for informal discussion whilst the forum doesn't facilitate the same kind of chit chat and requires more of a concerted effort to post something on. Whilst the server has undoubtedly been great for the community in keeping us in touch and actually playing games together again it has without a doubt dealt quite a blow to the forum traffic. I wouldn't suggest for a second that we should kill off the Discord server just for the sake of driving more activity here though.
So with that noted, I think the question worth asking of everybody is do we still see the value in keeping this place up and running? Is it time to close doors and embrace Discord in its entirety. I have certainly seen other communities make use of it, there's a lot of scope for setting up different conversation topics to manage where discussions are had.
I absolutely do not have the same amount of free time anymore to really devote towards making anything more of the forum than it already is with regards to updates, new features, an attached website etc. Not that I ever actually was able to realise the plans I had for the place when I took over anyway. There isn't really any prospect of the community growing any further either as the number of spambot sign-ups that we were getting on a daily basis which I kept having to delete has led to me disabling sign-ups outright to manage it. If we were to keep the forum online then it would be with acceptance of the fact that things are basically going to stay as they currently are.
I think I will be able to negotiate a fairly good price for the renewal if they let me make use of their new sign-ups offer so the overall cost of a few more years on the forum won't be enormous. Though with the cost of living as it currently is and me moving to a new, more expensive home at the end of the month I will likely be opening up the renewal to donations which would be much appreciated as always. That is of course if we decide to go ahead with the renewal.
Just thought I'd put this out into the community early as it warrants a discussion that I think everybody should have the opportunity to contribute to. The actual deadline for renewal isn't until the very end of the month so there is plenty of time to reach a decision.
Cheers all
Dave