Damn it y'all (Low site activity)

First and formost - and this is something the mod team have been strongly discussing lately - the offtopic thread is in question of being removed. Too many people log on here just to comment about 'cake' or other random unrelated things, it's not constructive in regards to keeping this site active. I put to you, what is the point in signing up to an Alien/predator related forum and not discussing those things in question? Secondly, it's not rocket science to see that the increase of attention to the offtopic thread on the main board has all but killed off most of the clans, which were originally a haven for members to discuss anything at free will.

Some will argue that much has already been discussed and they have exhausted their thoughts and feelings on the matter of ALiens/Predators, but for that, I beg to differ seeing as we are on the verge of seeing something spectacular with Prometheus almost in cinemas - that alone should have this place buzzing, as it seems to be on countless other alien/predator sites.

It's not unusual though, for many of us to be busy with our own personal lives, so I think a lot of the issues with inactivity lately boil down to that.

Moving on, the only thing I would ask, is for members to pay a little more attention to contributing outside of the offtopic thread, without that, this site may as well just be a general purpose forum.

I do agree that the off-topic thread should be postponed as soon as the movie launches. Between this and the next prequel we should have at least a few months of good discussion.

Yes very good points I will agree. But still I can't help but to feel that maybe if we some how advertised more then that would bring in more people. You have to realize that some people may lose interest in certain things I.E. the sparring chamber, there are many that have been deactivated (I'm assuming because of inuse)that's why we need to constantly evolve and change the site.

I brought this up recently, maybe if we create a topic where people could create fan fiction on how they think the Xenomorphs became and things like that it would spark more activity.

And yes people tend to think of these things themselves but unless you advertise that it is acceptable to them, most will just never share their fantastic and creative stories.

And yes while I do agree the off topic thread has gotten out of hand I do not believe that it should be completely shut down. Maybe set some restrictions and let people know. "Yes this is a fun community and a off topic thread, but please discuss things relevant to the site."

That's even sillier. Discussing only things relevant to the site in the off-topic thread would not only make it on-topic, but it would make every other thread useless.

Well then what do you suggest we do? Because to me it seems the only thing keeping most of the members of this site here is the off topic thread. It might be silly but you can't just get rid of everything you don't like we have to be more productive than that.

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And Xenomorph2000 for Spamming the thread and not reading the rules I am Issuing you a warning, You need to read the the rules, if you have a question please ether post in the Ask a Mod topic or the New member help thread.

Peterson if I'm going to get any support it would be from you come on man tell 'em we can't just up and close it we need a actual plan.

I think that after the movie, people will start to get interested again and site activity will increase.

The offtopic thread on the site is EXACTLY the problem that is causing the bulk of inactivity.

I've been with this forum since its 'birth' and for years we enforced a strict NO Offtopic rule and this forum flowed beautifully.

Another large problem is the fact that a lot of members here are quite young and have very short attention spans, they'll come here, log in, read some stuff, use the offtopic thread and leave, they don't actually bother to contribute to relevant conversations out of laziness and then wonder why the 'main' part of the site is dead. It's down to EVERYONE to make the effort to keep this place rolling. As I said before, the clans used to be bursting with life, as everyone used them to talk offtopic instead, but now they're just graveyards with the odd tumble weed blowing by.

Prometheus is giving everyone here a chance to make this place active but it's clear right now that a large portion of people can neither be bothered or simply just have more important things to do outside of the internet, which is not an uncommon thing.....

The quickest way for people to influence activity is to BE active. Contribute. Post. Debate.

I know I've said in the past that I'm for the Off-Topic threads, but I understand what's been said and I'd manage without it, honestly.

"a strict NO Offtopic rule and this forum flowed beautifully."

That's not true at all, Dave. I know you guys like to use the "good old days" idea as if it were a time when every thread was bursting with interesting AvP related discussion and there was no off-topic talking ever, but that's just because it happened a long time ago and you remember it fondly.

http://www.avpuniverse.com/forum/610.html Thread about joining a clan and how Dave got his avatar

http://www.avpuniverse.com/forum/533.html Thread about Alien Resurrection and Jurassic Park

http://www.avpuniverse.com/forum/462.html Thread about how something has already been discussed

http://www.avpuniverse.com/forum/562.html Thread about crossovers

I did not pick these ones out, I clicked four random threads on the last page of the forum. I joined the site about a year after it was made and there was already an official off-topic thread, but there were plenty of on-topic threads because for about two years after the site was created we had lots of movies, books, comics and games to talk about. But we were all kids and enjoyed debate in a whole different way than we do now. The problem is not that the teenagers joining the site nowadays add off-topic discussion to the site, the problem is that we're not teenagers anymore. We're too old, we have college, we're in the army, we have jobs, we have stressful lives, we can no longer appreciate this community like we used to and we expect our overinflated standards to be met by something that has never existed. This site was NEVER what you like to think it was. WE were different. And now we're old people in charge of a kids' playground, telling them how to properly slide and swing and build sandcastles.

And you, Dave, are the worst kind of old person, blabbing about how awesome YOU were, because you didn't have such luxuries as an off-topic thread back in your days. But back in your days, you joined off-topic talk freely and now a member gets a warning for a single off-topic post. So new members will stay safely in the off-topic thread for fear of getting warned. But yes, take away the off-topic thread and tell the members to discuss AvP related things only. And then they'll make a topic about why aliens have have such long tails and we will say "We've already discussed this, it's because (insert long, complete explanation here)" and the thread will end with the second post saying "Oh, ok." So the new members won't make any more new threads because they only want to discuss things we've already discussed, but don't worry, Prometheus will come out and we will have about a month of discussion until we've talked about everything and then the site will go to sleep again.

If you had actually any real insight into the moderating duties i've undertaken over the years (Which you don't), you'll know it was ME who banned the offtopic threads AND crossovers in the first place. When this site was in its infancy it was indeed lax, which is what eventually bothered me the most, as people would take too much time talking junk instead of focusing on the site and it's proper intentions. Besides, I think you'll find I clearly stated in this topic and others that inactivity is more often than not caused by people having other priorities outside of the internet, which is, again, common place.

After the begging and pleading of many members over the years, the offtopic/crossover threads were allowed a little more room to breathe - most notably when I was rarely around, which is no coincidence, as most older members on the site will tell you how much I detest both.

And on the subject of exhausted topics, then I ask, why be here anymore if that's the way YOU feel? If there's nothing here to discuss anymore, then why bother repeatedly coming back? Or do you just (as it appears evidently so) like posting only when you want to instigate some form of antagonising statement?


If you're going to go down this road with me, I'd warn you to tread carefully. A little respect goes a long way, no matter who is involved. I'm well aware of your penchant for quick digs and sarcasm, but there's a time and place for everything.

Oh god. It's nice to see you know so much about me. Well, anyway, Peterson, I'd like to say that it is my sincere opinion that you should not be a moderator, because you kicked everyone out of Alpha Draconis that one time.

DrDiabloSatan, I do not support the idea of having the Off-Topic thread, I'm sorry but its one of the main contrabutions behind the loss of members, people join this site to discuss franchise related topics with other fans no to just random bull shit in the off-topic thread, If you look at other AVP related fansites then you can clearly see that most if not all of them will not have an off topic thread, Why would it matter if the off-topic was deleted? Are most of you not in a clan? Do most of you not have the ability to post off topic in your clan? The answer is this, yes, almost all of you are in a clan, and im positive that your clans have off topic threads in your clan. So once again why you you feel that our site is so dependant off of one single topic? I'm sorry but im going to be blunt about this, I'm with dave it should be deleted.

It was passed just the other day that new members could not join a clan right away. And if you all delete the off topic thread... Well then what will the people without a clan do? Most people don't have the grammar skills to be in a sparring match. I barely do. Most people stay just to talk about bullshit Peterson, that's the point in an off topic thread.

I can live with out the damned thing, but I'm not sure if the site can. Plenty of battles happen on a daily bases. Or when people have the time. But you have to understand not everyone can/wants to fight. Maybe they want to just read about Xenomorph or Yautja backgrouds. Look all I'm saying is that if you get rid of the Off Topic thread completly there may be consiquences.

Get the RPG up already. We were promised an RPG yonks ago and yet to no avail.

As a newcomer myself, I don't really understand why we have a off-topic thread on a Alien vs. Predator forum; It defeats the whole purpose of a topic forum.

@ all

I'm not that active but the least I can do is support this ...

Burn that useless topic and let that be the end of it.