SAVE/HELP WG!!

[cutthecashflow]

Ok,I don't know what's going on, and I am sure some of it is due to my lack of involvement, but WG is moving at a snails pace. There are a few questions that may need to be addressed and analyzed.

1.)What is with the lack of new members and if you don't see it as a lack, why are they not posting?

2.)What happened to the heated, fun, and civilized debates?

3.)Is Nationalism too large of an issue?

4.)What can we do to make the site more attractive on the world wide web?

5.)Can we take the collected data from responses and forum posts (mostly numerical) and put numbers to the figures (possible regression, ANOVAS, population as well as sample techniques) to find statistical reasoning to advance to actual marketing (paid or nonpaid either works) in order to recruit more members (if you don't like "recruit" throw in join)?

6.) How can I and every other member of WG help to get us on track?

Cordially,

Chris

[Ikku]

My lack of activity is just due to the holiday season. I wasn't even visiting between Nov 18-27 cause my gf was in town, and I probably won't be visiting much between Dec. 16- Jan 8. for the same reasons.

[JTP]

My lack of activity is just due to the holiday season. I wasn't even visiting between Nov 18-27 cause my gf was in town, and I probably won't be visiting much between Dec. 16- Jan 8. for the same reasons.

Hell yeah, buddy; tear it up. In your situation, I'd have forgotten technology existed.

[Ikku]

She's been gone for three days and I just today got around to visiting again. Sorry guys.

[Weedguru_Fire_Inside]

I know what you're saying Chris. We can't really lay the blame on any one person.

I've been much more active recently, but my time will soon be taken up further by the new uni course i'm starting.

I know exactly what you mean by the lack of heated/fun/civilised debates. Once upon a time the boards were full of them, back when Caro, Jus.Me, Flynn, Tom etc were around (Tom made an appearance recently, which i was very glad to see) but the quality of material on here is inferior to what it was 4 or 5 years ago.

I also see alot more stupidity on the boards these days. A LOT more.

[AbbyRoad]

talking about how its so much better back in the day, and listing off people that havent posted in years helps fuckin zero percent

[cutthecashflow]

No, but he makes a good point in the fact that the ability to hold on to quality members is a difficult thing to do. Granted there is a whole other story behind a few of the names listed above and some of them had to go there separate ways, but how can we get back to the same atmosphere..

Criticizing current members for their input certainly doesn't help the situation either.

Even with the likes of the members we have now we have had some great debates, I know people like Jokerman, Ikku, Dan, AFI, Flow, Abby, Andria, JTP, StonerChris, Higher, Toonces, Spri7e, sugarstalker and a lot of others (sorry if I left anyone out, I tried here) are capable of engaging in thought provoking dialogue. I know this, because I have engaged in such dialogue with the said individuals. There seems to be a bitterness or a sour taste about the place lately and when a debate does start hardly anyone can take criticism with a grain of salt or it just degenerates into name calling and finger pointing. I just want to bring in some fresh air and some fresh faces.

One line comments criticizing other members is not going to do that.

[Weedguru_Fire_Inside]

Criticizing current members for their input certainly doesn't help the situation either.

Agreed.

Still, Abby does have a point. I wasn't constructive at all in that previous post.

I think the problem i have here is an inability to connect with other members on a personal level. I know very small amounts about each of you, except for the parts i have an interest in (which is my fault entirely). I find it hard to speak with people because hardly anybody shares my interests and i know it all too well. The poetry section hasn't been touched in months, the mass debate section always turns in to some display of disdain for americans, followed by an uber-bitching session and as much as i love cultivation, i don't wish to speak to people on the internet about it.

Some people on here are really chilled, then there's some people who are very hard and hot-headed. Unfortunately, I would class myself among the latter. I find it hard to communicate with those who display little passion for anything and i find it stressful to constantly argue certain issues with others.

I don't really know what to suggest, other than everybody should try to get involved in everything they can. Even if they have no interest in the subject, my opinion is that people should consider the matter at hand and have their say on it, which of course I shall try to do from now on.

Wow.... If anything that was just me realising what I am....

[AbbyRoad]

i didnt mean to sound like i was "criticizing" Fire Inside.
i was too blunt and vague. but luckily he understood my point...as uncouthly as i put it

being blunt and vague are my main issues when it comes to posting.
i cant really do much about the bluntness because it is a real part of me. lots of my friends appreciate the candid honesty my type of bluntness reveals.
but the vague part i know i should work on. it will help cushion the blow of my blunt statements and given a deeper understanding of my thought processes. which will in turn create a better line of communication between myself and other members, opening up the way for deeper discussions.

and im gonna admit for the last little while ive been logging on for prolly like 15 minutes a day reading a few new things and posting quick essentially thoughtless responses. BUT its not like im not having thoughts im just not sharing them at all. i dont type out any of it. and its really because i cant be assed to type it all out. my grammar and punctuation has taken a complete nose dive since i finished college 3 years ago. i can no longer eloquently express myself in writing without putting real effort into the task. this realization saddened/distressed me; when i had it originally.
i actually owe dan a lengthy apology that i have yet written because of my crap writing skills.

i guess what im trying to say is i feel partially inadequate at holding up my end of a debate, so ive been avoiding them.

i will try to stop
(maybe start with an email to dan.....)

[weedguru tom]

i will tell you how to get it goin again..

you need a new web page/site design and a re jig on the forum, less stickies and sections and get rid of the ',must get account authorised by the admin/mod' part of he sign up process.

i can help with all of that above if dan wants, this is how it was before and we got things goin great then!

this place used to be the dogs bollocks and im sure with a lil help it will be again

[Ikku]

I remember a long time ago I suggested that we nix most of the sections. We end up looking even deader than we are because the posts are so diffusely scattered amongst the what, 15-20 sections. TV, movies, video games, music, those could all be combined to one Entertainment section, for instance. All the growing sections could be combined. We have an entire section dedicated to skins, and another one dedicated to rolling. Why?

[logically]

I pretty much quit coming on here because I had a daughter and gave up smoking weed....

I check in everyonce in a long while and the thing is it seems like I can go away for months and come back and there are like 5 new posts minus the random topic....

That and around the time I left every topic turned into some sort of flame war. Like seriously almost all of them!!!! It just wasn't worth coming on here to read interesting things only to find everything turned into who can insult each other in the most creative fashion games going on.

It just seemed like after a few years of being on here no one had anything new left to say (that wasn't hateful).

I think the new members never stayed because
1. they saw all the flame wars and said fuck this.
2. were intimidated by by the number of large sticky threads and huge forum size.
3. Got bored very quickly with the lack of new content.

Like ikku was saying I remember also having a discussion of reducing the size of the boards and consolodating a lot of the never used forums. If I remember correctly I was all for it.

I had a few great years on here... so when I randomly decided to stop by and saw this thread I was more than glad to come by and share my thoughts. Maybe I haven't been around enough to have the right to share my opinion... I don't know... I would like to see this place hoppin like it could/should be though.

[andriaSRH]

I blame Flow.

The end.

Lol

But for seriously, I think the homepage needs to be fixed up. If the homepage looks pretty and members actually contribute, it might make a world of difference.

Also starting the lottery up would be a cool as hell idea.

[Ikku]

Also, we have tons of competition. If you google "weed forum" we are not even on the front page. In fact I didn't find this place by looking for a weed forum, I probably found it when looking for "how to make a bong" (weedguru is on the front page there, albeit pretty far down). So yes, fixing up the front end of the site would be good since people probably find that first. IDK how to fix the fact that we don't show up on the front page for "weed forums" though. That's one reason members never stick around, they weren't looking for a weed forum to begin with. They were just looking for info on rolling or bong making, so they get their questions answered and then disappear.

[WeedGuru_Flow]

yeah I found WG whilst searching for tuturials on home made bongs.

Lots of valid points in here.

I am partly to blame, albeit a tiny percentage.


There is no new input, you can't say anything without someone taking offense, the boards are so vast they are hard to moderate and I can imagine people new to the forum have issues finding their way in here.

For the past four years the active member base has remained somewhat stagnant so it's no surprise that people simply don't know what to say to each other, you can't keep coming up with new, exciting and deep subjects to discuss.

We need a total overhaul of the website, we need to condense the existing boards, maybe keep three main forums with three sub forums each, keep it manageable.

Furthermore we need to update and upgrade our spam protection, that way we won't need to restrict new members right off the bat making them feel like they are untrustworthy bastards out to spam us.

I have spent a lot of time on this forum, as a member and as a moderator and will remain faithful, all the while trying to steer my life in a good looking direction to scour the horizon and get the lemons life gives you! (or something like that ).


Peace!