The State of the Starmen.Net community
This is my first article ever, enjoy. Questions and comments are always appreciated, so after reading this email me if you have any.
Let me give you a little background history on myself...I discovered EarthBound.Net for the first time around January 2000, mere months before the move to Starmen.Net. When I first found the site, I had no idea what a forum was. I had no idea what mIRC was, what #earthbound was, or who any of the staffers were. So basically I was alienated from the community, because I had no idea that there was a community.
But still, I visited EarthBound.Net every chance I got. Why? Because I enjoyed the game info...it was fun to explore and look around, learning things about EB that I had never known before. But soon I discovered the community and I started getting involved (for a while though I went under the name "Lance").
Here comes the point of the article. The community I discovered was a fun one...but after listening to the insane chatter in #earthbound (and later #starmen) and visiting the General Discussion board for a while...I started thinking. Is this site really dedicated to EarthBound as much as it used to be?
Consider this...General Discussion posts outnumber every other board in the forums by about 1500! (forgive me if my math is wrong). EarthBound / EBZero Discussion and EarthBound 64 Discussion don't even come CLOSE to the number of posts in General Discussion, or Beyond EarthBound. I thought this was supposed to be an EarthBound site, but people prefer to talk more about any topic other than the actual game of EB, which is what this site is supposed to be about.
Then there's #starmen. With rare exceptions such as trivia by F4lx0r24 or guruzeth, I have NEVER heard anyone in #starmen talk about EarthBound. Its anything but EarthBound. I find that sad since it is supposed to be an EarthBound chatroom.
Some of you might say I'm wrong...EarthBound Funktastic Gameplay Summer 2001 was a good move by Starmen.Net to encourage EarthBounders to "get back in the game". But it needs to be encouraged more...and what about other seaons of the year? Summer isn't the only season to nudge EarthBounders back in the game. Articles that discuss EB are good too, so keep them coming.
Staffers, you are the role models of this site and the community within it, so try and encourage it yourselves as well. Instead of updating with "The Best of IRC" that include IRC EarthBounders rambling about anything other than EarthBound, why not talk about your own experiences with EB? Make this more of an EarthBound-ish site and not a site to talk about anything, like Yahoo.
Try and add more game info as well...while I agree there is already a ton of it, most of the "veterans" of this community have seen everything. By adding more game info you'll make the original EarthBounders feel like they are discovering something for the first time, the same feeling I got when I discovered the original EarthBound.Net. Give the older EarthBounders a reason to explore and discuss EB and the site...General Discussion should just be a "bonus" or "add-on", but not the main focus of a forum or site.
EarthBounders, you are the voice here. So without you none of this can happen. Please listen to my advice, and with your help, the staffers of Starmen.Net can make it a better place for everyone. I wish you luck...
This is my first article ever, enjoy. Questions and comments are always appreciated, so after reading this email me if you have any.
Let me give you a little background history on myself...I discovered EarthBound.Net for the first time around January 2000, mere months before the move to Starmen.Net. When I first found the site, I had no idea what a forum was. I had no idea what mIRC was, what #earthbound was, or who any of the staffers were. So basically I was alienated from the community, because I had no idea that there was a community.
But still, I visited EarthBound.Net every chance I got. Why? Because I enjoyed the game info...it was fun to explore and look around, learning things about EB that I had never known before. But soon I discovered the community and I started getting involved (for a while though I went under the name "Lance").
Here comes the point of the article. The community I discovered was a fun one...but after listening to the insane chatter in #earthbound (and later #starmen) and visiting the General Discussion board for a while...I started thinking. Is this site really dedicated to EarthBound as much as it used to be?
Consider this...General Discussion posts outnumber every other board in the forums by about 1500! (forgive me if my math is wrong). EarthBound / EBZero Discussion and EarthBound 64 Discussion don't even come CLOSE to the number of posts in General Discussion, or Beyond EarthBound. I thought this was supposed to be an EarthBound site, but people prefer to talk more about any topic other than the actual game of EB, which is what this site is supposed to be about.
Then there's #starmen. With rare exceptions such as trivia by F4lx0r24 or guruzeth, I have NEVER heard anyone in #starmen talk about EarthBound. Its anything but EarthBound. I find that sad since it is supposed to be an EarthBound chatroom.
Some of you might say I'm wrong...EarthBound Funktastic Gameplay Summer 2001 was a good move by Starmen.Net to encourage EarthBounders to "get back in the game". But it needs to be encouraged more...and what about other seaons of the year? Summer isn't the only season to nudge EarthBounders back in the game. Articles that discuss EB are good too, so keep them coming.
Staffers, you are the role models of this site and the community within it, so try and encourage it yourselves as well. Instead of updating with "The Best of IRC" that include IRC EarthBounders rambling about anything other than EarthBound, why not talk about your own experiences with EB? Make this more of an EarthBound-ish site and not a site to talk about anything, like Yahoo.
Try and add more game info as well...while I agree there is already a ton of it, most of the "veterans" of this community have seen everything. By adding more game info you'll make the original EarthBounders feel like they are discovering something for the first time, the same feeling I got when I discovered the original EarthBound.Net. Give the older EarthBounders a reason to explore and discuss EB and the site...General Discussion should just be a "bonus" or "add-on", but not the main focus of a forum or site.
EarthBounders, you are the voice here. So without you none of this can happen. Please listen to my advice, and with your help, the staffers of Starmen.Net can make it a better place for everyone. I wish you luck...
