Ways to get people posting...

[cuchulain]

I just thought I'd start a topic and see how many people are still keeping up with SPC and KNT.  It was still buzzing here the last time I was on, when Tsuneko was releasing new quality uploads (though those are obsolete now with the upcoming DVDs) and Super Sonic had his FTP up.

Anyway, I hate to see that traffic has died down so much, even though it's my fault as much as anyone elses, considering I haven't been posting.  Having said that, it seems to me that SPC could maintain an online community if enough people want to keep it going.  My idea is to model it on Starmen.net which is an Earthbound fan site, and it's incredibly active.  They keep it going with a lot of fan contributions, internet radio, and ways people can contribute.  So if people are interested, maybe we can post different suggestions in this thread?  No offense to EarthBound, but if an SNES game can keep its fan community going that long, surely an SPC board can stay afloat.

Also, no one seems to be checking new user registrations.  I forgot my log in, tried to register again, and it's been over a week without a response.  If anyone running the board would be interested, I would be glad to volunteer my time to do that, or maybe someone else with more history here would like to step up?  I'm guessing there will be some renewed interest when the DVDs hit, but if new users can't register it will all be for not.

Thanks, and I'll try to keep posting!

[PizzaCatFan]

Well, I think part of the trouble is life in general.  Lots of folks get insanely busy.  That's the too-obvious answer though, even if it's a legit, understandable reason.

I'm not sure how this Starmen.net is run, Cuchulain, but having seen how rapid Internet technology has evolved, it's pretty easy to tell that forums in general are a dying format of online communication.  Sure, they're still used, and there's still some healthy forums out there with lots of traffic.  However, I wish not to see all smaller communities jump on this whole Facebook/Twitter/(name any other new form of social media) bandwagon.  (Aside:  I do also think FB has passed its peak in userbase and may even be decreasing.  Also some parts of the world haven't embraced Facebook, like some of the EU and East Asia, so you'd lose those folks).

Yet, to reach the masses, to expose the younger generations to the series and the community, newer forms of social media are where people connect nowadays.  It's really a balancing act....get more people interested, yet keep the close-knit nature of the SPC/KNT fandom.

I do mill about YT and Facebook (as I have accounts for both), and this series 'is' being discovered and enjoyed by the younger generation.  The rub of it is trying to get them to join on, what is to them, an antiquated means of connecting with other fans.

Also like you, I feared I forgot my password.  I had my user ID in mind, but I was almost ready to request to change my password.  Nope, couldn't do that because my old email I registered with was still in their records.  I just kept trying different password combos I used over the years, and eventually one clicked, thus here I am once again.  It was the news of the official DVD release, plus having been 15 years now since I saw SPC on-air.....the whole 'nostalgia' bug.  Plus I wanted to state my own excitement for this series finally being released in an official form.  I was rather surprised that people weren't more excited here.  I guess it was just all a shocker to everyone when Discotek made the announcement last year.  I was pinching myself and refreshing AnimeNewsNetwork's frontpage several times that day to be sure I wasn't dreaming like I had been the last few years.

I digress.

I do hope there's some way to lure and welcome with open-arms, those who are new to the SPC/KNT fandom.  It would sure inject some life into the community and those of us who've been into this series for years would show and tell them all we know.

[cuchulain]

Glad to see I got a response.  Anyway, Starmen.net is kind of unique, but I would encourage you to check it out.  Oddly enough, they still have an extremely active IRC channel and forum, along with constant fan submissions (artwork, fanfics, whatever).  They make and sell a lot of merchandise as well, that goes to paying for server costs and whatnot.  I'm not that into Earthbound, I actually found out about them because a Trigun board that I kept up totally died off, and someone floated the exact same idea there (obviously it didn't work).  You do raise a good point though, about whether forums are really dying out or not, and I don't think there's an easy answer to that one.  It's just that Edoropolis.org has been around so long, I hate to see it die.  

I just really wanted to throw this out, because the DVDs are a big deal.  People are going to find them via Amazon, Shout Factory!, etc. and start googling SPC.  Maybe there aren't enough people interested anymore, but I hope there are.  I think a very good example of that is newsgroups; almost all of them are dead, but there are a few that have just stubbornly hung around even though they were on their deathbed in the 90's, because the members were committed to keeping them going.  Maybe it's a lost cause, who knows, but I think bulletin boards will always have a place so long as they are tethered to websites that have an active community.  I hope some other posters will comment here, because it really would only take a handful of people who want to keep SPC going to rev things up again.

I just hope one of the admins saw my post about new registrations not being done, because that is never good for any board past or present.  Also, lest anyone give up hope, go check out the Anipike.com forum.  It is a wasteland.  Anyone over maybe 22 remembers when that was THE go to site for anime links, and it is completely done for.  As slow as this board is, it's already outlasted Anipike, and that is saying something.

EDIT:  Also, here is an interesting article about message boards anyone who ends up reading this might find interesting: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/remembrance-of-message-boards-past/

2nd EDIT:  Here is another article on the same topic, with a somewhat sunnier outlook: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/201107/1992/

Also, if you don't want to read all of that, here are the highlights:

"Don't focus on tools - focus on what you can do with them. Like newspaper publishers needed to learn to see their publications as something more than a collection of staff-written articles, discussion board admins needed to grow their sites from simple boards into true community hubs. That might mean expanding beyond the board to add blogging, news articles, Twitter feeds and Facebook pages to provide multiple avenues of communication for readers. And it might mean that board administrators themselves grow from simply managing the board tool to becoming leaders willing to advocate for issues and causes in the community's best interest (as the best newspaper publishers have done for generations).

Remember as well that as a publisher or a featured writer on a website, if the only way that people reading the site are communicating is with you or through you, you don't have a true community. You have a kind of cult of personality, one that will whither without your daily participation. You must find ways to get readers engaged with each another, and ideally in ways that get them engaged with each another in common cause offline as well as on. Message boards can continue to be part of this mix, but if the board's identity needs to extend beyond the board tool itself."

[PizzaCatFan]

Anytime, especially when it deals with SPC and it's online fanbase.

Servers and hosts are just one of those things you can't really control unless you are the IT techno-geek type.  Whilst I wish this board were a little faster (it's like I'm on dial-up again...on a 2.0 Mbps DSL line?), it is what it is, and I'm just glad it's still around.  Like you, I used to use the Anime Turnpike.....they were the Google of the entire anime online community.

Did THAT one ever go from 'Hero' to 'Zero' in a hurry.  Ouch!  It really was a sad thing to watch.

Seems the masses can shake Usenet to the ground, yet IRC still lives on to some extent.  The trouble with Usenet was all the headaches it posed for ISPs, most of which of the biggies all had some form of free access.  IRC has 'some' form of moderation at all times, and the ability to run auto-moderation via scripts and the like.  Usenet servers were basically set up and left alone.  Without all the needed monitoring to oversee their use, you wound up with tons of spam posts, tons of illegal porn, and other illicit activity going on.  ISPs that offered free Usenet access got scared of this and also got big headaches from the insane congestion the servers caused on their networks.  They eventually yanked the plug on their free news servers, spelling the end of the Usenet era..

As for domains, I was poking around the backlog posts since returning here, and found that the 'pizzacats.com' domain is now in this host's (Edoropolis.org) hands.  It should be utilized to its fullest potential.  A new front-site, the ability to host fanpages/sites (Princess Vi's pages in example), fanfiction, fanart, maybe Discotek could kick-back to this as a place for fans old and new to connect, have the obligatory links to FB, Twitter, etc, to use for community announcements, along with the traditional email newsletters and such.  If desired, link back also to the old 'Pizza Cats' IRC channel (I forget what server it was on) for fans who want a real-time chat experience.

Talent, and of course, money.  Those are the hurdles.

Another thing of note that touches upon your cited Starmen/Earthbound example, and how you said you once ran a Trigun fan forum that croaked, and it always frustrates me to say this truth because I am a big anime fan, but unlike the 'otaku' sort, I choose to remove the rosy glasses.  Anime just plain isn't as HUGE as gaming is in Western markets.  I swear, I think there are more fans of games like FF VI and Chrono Trigger put together....way more, than those who are dedicated anime fans.  Now of course, one need not be into anime at all.....some ignorantly write it all off as nothing but 'animated violence and pr0nz', but still love SPC/KNT none-the-less.  Still, out of all the 'geek' hobbies out there, anime's got the smallest pool.....at least the die-hard fans, FAR fewer than any video game series.

Finally, it's just a case of where it was popular in the world.  SPC saw it's greatest popularity where it ran the longest....my northern neighbors, Canada.  Up there, it ran at least from 1991-1997, hopping around various channels and timeslots.  Helped it was run mostly after school hours as well.  Here in the U.S., it wound up replacing Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball in most markets, but its timeslots were oddly chosen.  In my area, I could get the two stations (a UPN/My TV, and an indie-turned WB/CW affiliate) that ran SPC.  The former at 9:30am, the latter at 2:30pm.  Kids are in classes at those hours.  Didn't help it only ran its 40 episodes for just one season. 

KNT had a decent run in Japan, but it didn't pull ratings gangbusters like Evangelion or Pokemon would in the later '90s, but it did well enough where Tatsunoko has really given KNT a huge push for their 50th Anniversary reissues series....the entire anime, a fanbook, and figures, have all been reissued last year into this.  Gotta applaud them for that.

I'm sincerely hoping when that and SPC are finally unleashed to us Western fans, it will experience the same sort of renaissance.

======

Whew.......that took a lot out of me.

I'll read those articles too, even though I have zero direction with this site's endeavors....I'm just a humbled, yet stoked fan waiting to get his grubby paws on those DVDs.  I'd say we should use the tips in those articles, plus some of the bits and pieces I put forth about websites/social networking, in conjunction with the DVD sets' release, and who knows?  Maybe this place will really come to life then.

[cuchulain]

I shot a pm to purrcat about the registration issue as well, hopefully that gets addressed anyway.  I've got a few more suggestions also, if anyone is still out there to read them:

1. Set up supporter status.  - If we get some traffic going, maybe we could all pitch in and help purrcat.  A lot of boards do this, and you can contribute $5 a month or $50 a year via paypal to help with costs.  Users could get some sort of icon or title, or whatever.
2. Edoropolis.org merch - To get off the ground, a cafepress store could be set up, too.  If we had enough support, eventually you could set up contests for prizes, i.e. fanart, fanfiction, whatever.
3. Offer sub-forum status to other related boards that are losing hosting/traffic/administrators.  There are a lot of boards (like my old Trigun one) that went down because people quit donating and maybe stopped by once a month, and server costs got high.  A lot of people might like SPC, but have another series that is their favorite.  It's a great way to gain some cross-polination, so to speak, plus it's always good for your karma.
4. Set up viewing/listening threads.  For instance, set a time when people are free each week, and host a mini-viewing party in the forum where people watch each episode of the series at a time until we're through to the end.  Once SPC is done, we could do it for related series or movies.  It would be a great way to celebrate the DVDs.


I'll try to think of some more and throw them out, as well.  Hopefully we hear back from purrcat sooner rather than later.  Like I said, I lost a Trigun board with less history than this one, and Edorpolis is too cool of a forum to let go idle just as the long awaited DVDs hit.

[PizzaCatFan]

That would be awful to lose this place 'just' as the DVD sets are released.  I know for sure, I'd love a place where I can go through KNT (that's the first set that will get released, and it will be the first time I've seriously watched it), and SPC, and with each episode do little reviews citing differences, offering my own opinions on which 'version' of the episode came across better, etc.  So far, this is the only place I feel I could do such a thing and be taken seriously.

Good on giving Purrcat some of our advice.  Hopefully it's at least considered.  I'm not looking for a mod or admin position.  I again am just a long-time fan of this series.  Like you, I just want to see this place carry on through the eventual release of the DVD sets and beyond.  Unlike a lot of anime series which have gotten 'license-rescued' and reissued multiple times, SPC's been a long time coming.  The only other  'classic' anime title that lies in limbo with a cult fanbase bigger than SPC is Sailor Moon, and THAT in itself isn't the fanbase's fault or that of any interested Western licensing companies....that's all on the Japanese side of things, namely Toei.  As such, the chance to re-expose us old-timer fans and newbies into the fold can't be left to waste.  Our chance has been granted, so grab it by the....whiskers? 

Still can't get over that this is FINALLY coming out officially.  I'm stoked and ready.

[Violet]

I think a lot of fans are in a waiting mode, waiting for the DVDs to come out.  For the average person, unless you have SPC saved on your hard drive it's not easy to even be able to watch the show.  In Japan now that the DVDs have come out there has been a resurgence of fan activity (new doujin and fan art), we can probably expect something similar here. 

Of course the best thing that could happen to get more activity would be to have the show re-run on TV.  A DVD may bring old fans back, but a TV run would create more new fans.

[DashStPierre]

I think you raise a fair point Violet...Im a regular contributor to the RP section and Id love to see some of you guys (including you cuchulain) contribute to the current story (Little Tokyo High School: Beard Growers Anonymous) and to my Creators Corner story, "A Dash Of Something Special"

[cuchulain]

I will definitely get going on that; I was really bogged down with my university studies and running my own messageboard over the past few years, but now I have the time to contribute.  You have my word, as soon as I finish this new Gentoo installation (why did I stick with that distro...) I'm your guy. 

Also, I'm really glad to see people coming back and responding to my topic.  When I saw PizzaCatFan's post, and then couldn't start a new account (I'm just glad I remembered what the last topic I responded to was and found it to save my old account) I was really worried. 

Also, Violet, I'm really glad to see you responded.  Are you planning to move your site to the main SPC page?  It was the first SPC website I found years ago, so I'd hate for it to not be available.  It really stinks that Geocities was shut down, but at least there's always archive.org  To your point, I do think that Discotek putting the show up on hulu could be the next best thing to a T.V. airing.  Hulu has a huge anime selection (I would recommend it to anyone who still watches anime to check it out) and a lot of viewers follow distributors they like.  So basically, if you watched Galaxy Express 999 and Fist of the North Star, and decided that you like Discotek's stuff, Hulu would recommend SPC to you when/if they upload it (I hope they secured the rights to stream it as well!).

[Matt Pushinka]

Well, when I was younger, I was an active member in a Sonic Forum. Even in times where there are no news about games or TV series, the forum always had things like drawning competitions, Fanfic competitions and even design competitions, and often the prize was to have the winner art in the forum's design/background. Maybe we could do something like that here too? I think It'll be good even for refreshing the forum visually, what could bring old members back.

RP's are cool too, maybe I'll play some when I feel more confident about my english, heh.

[Violet]

Also, Violet, I'm really glad to see you responded.  Are you planning to move your site to the main SPC page? 

I moved it a long time ago.  http://www.edoropolis.org/violet/   I was originally hosting the main page on AOL, which stopped doing web hosting.  I can't say I've worked on it any time recently, usually if I find something new to share I post it here, but that doesn't mean I'll never update it again.

[cuchulain]

Cool, I'm glad it's still up; even if it isn't updated it's still super nostalgic!  Also, whenever purrcat has time, the link on the main Edoropolis page needs to be updated (it still goes to your old url).

[PizzaCatFan]

I too, am glad it's still around.  When I first came online back in 1998, I won't forget the time I spent hitting up all the various SPC websites (yours included) that were out there.

[cuchulain]

Well, when I was younger, I was an active member in a Sonic Forum. Even in times where there are no news about games or TV series, the forum always had things like drawning competitions, Fanfic competitions and even design competitions, and often the prize was to have the winner art in the forum's design/background. Maybe we could do something like that here too? I think It'll be good even for refreshing the forum visually, what could bring old members back.

RP's are cool too, maybe I'll play some when I feel more confident about my english, heh.

I'm always glad to meet a fellow Sega/Sonic fan.  I pretty much quit playing videogames when the Dreamcast died off, and I just replay my old Saturn and Genesis stuff mostly.  I actually am still reading those Archie Sonic comics, I bought the very first issue as a kid and I feel like I might as well finish it.

[Someone who does Something]

That feeling when you completely forgot to visit the site this year.

Oh well, back on the site. Good to know more then 2 people can be posting.

[cuchulain]

Glad to see you back as well.  I'm really going to try and make more of an effort to keep up with the board as well; for years I just stopped by to see if new/better quality episodes were up and took it for granted.

[Tigriss]

If anyone has any problems in the future with their accounts, you can always e-mail Purrcat or one of us mods and we'll do our best to help you.

cuchulain, starmen.net may be more active, but I think we have a better message board.

However, I wish not to see all smaller communities jump on this whole Facebook/Twitter/(name any other new form of social media) bandwagon.

Ditto. If someone wanted to create a Pizza Cats FB/whatever group and link it here, that would be okay, but I would hate it if everyone just left EE for some social media site. Maybe I'm outdated, but I like good old message boards just fine.

Like you, I used to use the Anime Turnpike.....they were the Google of the entire anime online community.

I remember that thing too. I think they had some links to Pizza Cat sites.

Of course the best thing that could happen to get more activity would be to have the show re-run on TV.  A DVD may bring old fans back, but a TV run would create more new fans.

I think the Hub channel would be ideal if SPC were to be shown on the air again. They rerun a lot of good old stuff. Maybe some of us could write in and ask them about it once the DVDs are released?

And to address the original topic, one way to get people posting here again would be to tell a friend. If you know someone that would like SPC/KNT, get them to watch it with you, then see if they'd like to sign up here.

[cuchulain]

And to address the original topic, one way to get people posting here again would be to tell a friend. If you know someone that would like SPC/KNT, get them to watch it with you, then see if they'd like to sign up here.

See, that's the thing!  I have several friends who watched the show when it aired, and one who marathon watched the torrented shows with me over the course of a week in college, but they all have fallen into that "What? Messageboards are so 1990's/early 2000's, just use facebook" trap.  I appreciate your responding with the idea, though.

[Tigriss]

I have several friends who watched the show when it aired, and one who marathon watched the torrented shows with me over the course of a week in college, but they all have fallen into that "What? Messageboards are so 1990's/early 2000's, just use facebook" trap.

Bleh. Well, I guess having a Pizza Cat facebook page isn't a bad idea altogether, but again, it'd be nicer to get more activity here.

[Methid Man]

Ugh, I can't fuckin' stand Facebook...

As for re-airing the show, I think the most likely place for that would be Netflix. They've brought back lots of old shows like Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Bobby's World, He-Man, Rocko's Modern Life, etc. I could see it happen.