a) I meant ADMIN in the title.  Sorry for the typo. I'm just brimming with concern, though. 

1.  Your "contact  us" security solution does not work. So, we can't contact you.  This is only one failing of this reborn site.

2.  Am I wrong, or is this site sinking fast since the transformation?  Please re-think your model. After 6 years of posting here, I never come here anymore. What IS this site's identity and unique value?  What demographic are  you trying to attract? So far, you have ripped the heart out of your current following and its prolific mature discussion.

3.  PLEASE survey the loyal people (AND CONSUMERS) on this site as to what sets it apart, who it appeals to, etc. 

4. I think you can attract mature gamers (30+) who are not involved in bickering but more attuned to productive discussion, reviews, advancement, opinions, cooperations, and speculations about any number of games, action or adventure.  In other words, after the GameSpot reviews, your site elevates and enables the discussion an develpment. 

Originally Posted By Halcyon (17 MAY 2012 8:40pm)

a) I meant ADMIN in the title.  Sorry for the typo. I'm just brimming with concern, though. 

 

1.  Your "contact  us" security solution does not work. So, we can't contact you.  This is only one failing of this reborn site.

 

2.  Am I wrong, or is this site sinking fast since the transformation?  Please re-think your model. After 6 years of posting here, I never come here anymore. What IS this site's identity and unique value?  What demographic are  you trying to attract? So far, you have ripped the heart out of your current following and its prolific mature discussion.

 

3.  PLEASE survey the loyal people (AND CONSUMERS) on this site as to what sets it apart, who it appeals to, etc. 

 

4. I think you can attract mature gamers (30+) who are not involved in bickering but more attuned to productive discussion, reviews, advancement, opinions, cooperations, and speculations about any number of games, action or adventure.  In other words, after the GameSpot reviews, your site elevates and enables the discussion an develpment. 

'm far from convinced that I agree with you !

Perhaps you could make it clear just **EXACTLY** what is in your opinion wrong with the present JA-site as !

More importabtly IMO. **IF** anything (or things) REALY  **ARE** wrong perhaps you could propose ideas and methods to rectify them -----

------and maybe other members will help out PRACTICALLY !

Our government has (at least)one serious problem at present (I won't elaborate although it is not political -unless anybody specifically wants to know what it is) !

Evevery body, including the politicians wring there hands and say how bad this problem is and prophesy (correctly IMHO) that it is getting worse all the time and will continue  to do so with a vengeance !

BUT NOBODY COMES UP WITH A **PRACTICAL** SOLUTION TO THIS THORNY PROBLEM.

So what's the good of moaning ?

Either do something to help solve the situation or stop Whining !

IMHO, the same applies here - If there REALYY*ARE* probs (and apart from the scarcity of good Reviews, I'm not aware of them) then maybe the members can volunteer and improve any shortcomings ??!!??

Incidentally :-

I may very well be wrong about the following and if you think so I would be pleased if you would correct me and give your version.  - TIA !

I feel that there is an implicit comparison with the original JA to the geat benefit of the former..

IMHO, this is not necessarily so ! There were faults & troubles with the 'old' JA - different faults maybe but not EVERYTHING was OK.

In particular, juat one example only :-

The Forums slowly lost a goodly number of first-class members, many of whom were ultra-experienced game players.

I well remember that in the few months and weeks before the original JA cclosed down, there were several times when nobody posted on the Forums for a day or even two days - or maybe one single poster only.

IMO that was evidence that all was not as it should be !!!

I'm moving this to the Just Adventure feedback section.

Originally Posted By JA-Staff3 (19 MAY 2012 4:59pm)

I'm moving this to the Just Adventure feedback section.

GOOD  MOVE !

Exxcuse the pun !

No members' pros or cons ?

Or is the subject too controversial ??!!

Originally Posted By Len Green (22 MAY 2012 5:27am)

No members' pros or cons ?

Or is the subject too controversial ??!!

 

Would it honestly make any difference either way, Len?

Originally Posted By Traveller (23 MAY 2012 3:03pm)

Originally Posted By Len Green (22 MAY 2012 5:27am)

No members' pros or cons ?

Or is the subject too controversial ??!!

 

 

Would it honestly make any difference either way, Len?

IMHO  - ***YES***.

If everything is done in a true spirit o **CONSTRUCTIVE*** and not the destructive manner some members sometimes posted in days gone by !

If mature sensible opinions are give in a spiorit of friendship & cooperation and in good faith even if they are criticisms with the sole view of improving  any aspect, then "YES" I firmly believe that they **CAN** make a difference (assuming some are neede !?!) - and I see no harm whatsoever in trying..

If however things were to revert to the situation where a very few remaining members were to continue to seek opportunities simply to throw mud - then your feeling of impotence in changing anything would be justified.

I am not implying that everythiong is perfect - not even the VOLUNTARILY hard workink mods (who **I** personally don't always agree with)

But I get the impression (I may be wrong) that there is some sort of frustrating obnoxious dictatorship restricting free speech & opinions.

I do not think this is so.

I certainly know that on the odd occasions I have turned to "Support" they have been helpful, polite and kind and done their level best to assist - if not ALWAYS completely successfully) !!")

There will a;most certainly be typos here since althouh I am usind a special (US$100) ;arge keyboard, my declining vision causes me frequently to miss the correct key.

I often get Sylvia (my wife) to correct - but, like now,It's late at night & I don't want to bother her !

But **EVERY**

Len, your comments are sloshing back and forth like a rubber duck in a kid's bath water.  Are you all right?  Seriously.

My goodness, the reaction to critical comments is "fix it youself"?  It is not up to me to wring my hands, it is up to the site's owner.  If he/she chooses to ignore feedback, then his ship will sink or swim. That's business.   No one has paid me or voted me in to control this site's good destiny.  

But this site's "fix" is the community. It is allllll about attracting people who will stay and participate and relate. So you have to know how to attract the audience you want, and hopefully they have money. Then, you have eyeballs to attract advertisers and partners.

I don't come here anymore. Until it is a "home" for me again, I will still not come back anymore.  Compare these forums to, for instance, the Nexus forums.  Look at the design, the moderation, the ads and picitures (virtually none), but most of all read the sincere, knowledgeable and engaged posts.

http://forums.nexusmods.com/

I'm just sad that to be here and converse I have to sit myself down in this ugly, clunky, misdirected, and apparantly arrogant environment.  BTW, see how long I've been here?  2006?  Wrong.  I had another identity I had to abandon due to certain circumstances dating back to 2003.  Sad.

Someone turned my local tavern into an ice cream shop.  

Originally Posted By Halcyon (7 JUN 2012 5:34pm)

 

Someone turned my local tavern into an ice cream shop.  

 

Amen.

The thing is,  with the Nexus, do they discuss a wide variety of games?  Your link isn't working for me, sadly.  I think these days you have to highlight your link, then copy it, then click on that little chain icon above the post window, then paste your link, and say "ok". 

 Anyway, it seems like you might just be linking to the home page there, if that is you entire link address showing there?

Yes, RPGWatch is also a nice place, though sadly their Off-Topic section isn't as nice as this one used to be, and they're not into adventure games as much.

I'm ignorant !

Is "Nexus" a computer game webzine ?

If so - what is its main 'speciality' ?

Halcyon,

Believe it or not a lot of time & effort has gone into updating JA. I am sorry to hear you say the that you feel the new site is "ugly, clunky, misdirected and apparently arrogant environment".

We are open to any & all forms of constructive criticism, good or bad. The questions you bring up have been the subject of many long conversations, yet we have not come up with the magic potion to make everyone happy, sincere & engaged in the forums.

The bottom line is that the old site was running on a platform that was very outdated, full of security holes & in jeopardy of crashing beyond repair so some changes had to be made. Unfortunately there were some hiccups along the way. We're doing our best to fix the issues and make improvements to the layout & design.

Everyone please feel free to post your comments about the new site, good or bad. We will certainly take everything into consideration.

Platform is a necessity to accurately market your site.  You have the platform, not the marketing.

Nexus is a collection of "sites" that serve certain popular games with mods and forums. Games such as Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Oblivion and Skyrim. They are engaged, non-patronizing, rich-information sites that connect discussions to experts, modders, and fellow serious gamers.

Go to Google, type "Skyrim Nexus" hit Enter and click on the first result.  Please....tell me you DID research the competition before launching thsi JA kindergarten?

This JA site could be an excellent forum of discussion and reviews for serious gamers who read the reviews on GameSpot and IGN and other sites and want to hear the gamers' consensus of opinons and become invovled in informed discussions.  Non-constructive ("I hate this game, it sucks) threads are not welcome.  

I am disappointed that I have to provide this 101 tutorital.  And I'm sad this site has been demoted.  

The many mature gamers who once populated this site have....guess what....money.  They have money for games, hardware, video cards, info on upcoming releases to pre-order, etc.  Wake up, please.  Look at the past threads. If you see no targeted money potential, maybe you should try plumbing. 

I'll check back from time to time.  

I guess what Halcyon is saying is that's it's not teh children who has more money to spend, it's their parents and seniors.  ..and those were the people who used to patronise this site.  There were very few kidz around. One has to keep in mind that kids aren't really your target market when it comes to adventure games or RPG's, strategy games, and the like which were the main fare gamewise we used to discuss around here.

..but mature people prefer to have mature discussions, as well as some fun.  Nobody is ever too old to have a bit of fun, isn't that mainly what gaming is about?  ..so environments that allow for both or the aforementioned is the ideal for lovers of adventure games, I'd say.

Also, with GOG offering up so many old games now playable again on modern platforms, an archive where one can look up reviews and info regarding older games is a treasure trove these days.

Hi there Halcyon,
QUOTE :- "Len, your comments are sloshing back and forth like a rubber duck in a kid's bath water.  )
Hehehehe

I was born and "BRED" in England and whilst young baths were prevalent - showers were an innovation of Americans !!!!

We got rid of our bath MANY years ago and replaced it with an additional toilet and a modern utilitarian shower !!!

"

What is it that makes you make statements like "JA Kindergarden" or make you think that we're trying to market to kids?

Also what is it about this environment that changed & no longer allows for mature, fun & engaging discussions? 

Originally Posted By Traveller (9 JUN 2012 3:54am)

Also, with GOG offering up so many old games now playable again on modern platforms, an archive where one can look up reviews and info regarding older games is a treasure trove these days.

Good point Traveller. We are making this a priority. The problem is that the old reviews have to be manually entered into the new system which is a time consuming process. Old reviews are being added to the site on a regular basis. One of our forum moderators has chosen to stop moderating & will be spending more time working on bringing the older reviews back. 

Also many of the older games are available in our store as well. 

Hi Halcyon & Traveller ,

In my last post on this thread I wrote that I would continue later today when I was free.
In the meantime some other posts have been added - so there may be some duplication  although I don't think so !

Have you considered trying to do something constructive to make the site a better place ? For example :- write a review, or a walkthrough. or whatever ?

Originally Posted By digitize (9 JUN 2012 10:58am)

Originally Posted By Traveller (9 JUN 2012 3:54am)

Also, with GOG offering up so many old games now playable again on modern platforms, an archive where one can look up reviews and info regarding older games is a treasure trove these days.

 

Good point Traveller. We are making this a priority. The problem is that the old reviews have to be manually entered into the new system which is a time consuming process. Old reviews are being added to the site on a regular basis. One of our forum moderators has chosen to stop moderating & will be spending more time working on bringing the older reviews back. 

 

Also many of the older games are available in our store as well. 

 

I hope I'm not out of line and please forgive my intrusion if this has already been put on the table, but in the interim might it not be helpful to place a link to the archive JA+ Main Review Index in a prominent location? Fortunately I happen to have it bookmarked, but then again I tend to bookmark everything.

To Halcyon *& Traveller - In continuation of my previous post :-

It's more than just possible that I was the first person here to access the original JA on a permanent basis as soon as it was started.
For a long time I *only lurked* - although I had contacts with Randy. 
Then together with 2 or 3 others remaining now in JA about a decade ago I actually registered & started posting.  But for the *WHOLE "HISTORY"* of the original JA I accessed it daily right until its demise !!
And so I am VERY aware of its ups & downs

somewhat frequent allusions to and comparisons with the old JA serve no positive or useful or any constructive purpose !

It has been outlined in a previous post above that as far as possible, as much of the
'good & valuable' material from the old site is being redone & added. But this is a slow, laborious and costly business and can only be achieved bit by bit in the long run.
" The King is dead - Long live the King (or Queen" !

Again, my reaction is my own and my own opinion. It is not incumbent upon me to rebuild this site. Any Web marketing person worth his/her salt could focus it properly without much effort, then the IT people take over.

If this site is successful now, with its juvenile homepage and 10-year-old XP-looking interface, great! Job done.  But I wonder... Are the forums bursting? Are clicks to the reviews booming?  Are feature and ad clickthroughs making money?  Are downloads and orders to parnters a goldmine?  Are new registrants coming in droves?  These are the things that need watching.

This isn't a debate of opinions.  It's a bottom-line oriented study. Previously, this site was a home for mature, engergetic and enabling discussion on a wide variety of topics, in an environment that was virtually non-commerical and respectful.  Now, it's Vegas for teenagers, in my opinion.  You are soooo poised to ride the coattails of big sites by providing an environment for mature gamers and developers to come to discuss and collaorate and, perhaps, direct the future of adventure gaming....hey, maybe even save it.  

Tell me, what's the name of this site?  What you are delivering now is yesterday's news, instead of tomorrow's big ideas. 

I'm done.  Thanks for reading.

For what it is worth, Len, I'm 62 years old.

Peace, all.  

Cheers Halcyon !

very young 62 I think !!

We may have differences but neverthless - I hope you are well and wish you a long, healthy and happy life !")

All the very best -------- Len Green.

Originally Posted By Len Green (9 JUN 2012 1:24pm)

Hi Halcyon & Traveller ,

 

 

Have you considered trying to do something constructive to make the site a better place ? For example :- write a review, or a walkthrough. or whatever ?

                        ----------------------------------------------------

Yes, indeed, there were reviews and at least one walkthrough of mine on the old site.  Of course, not anymore, and not because I had removed them.

Originally Posted By Traveller (10 JUN 2012 12:36pm)

Originally Posted By Len Green (9 JUN 2012 1:24pm)

Hi Halcyon & Traveller ,

 

 

Have you considered trying to do something constructive to make the site a better place ? For example :- write a review, or a walkthrough. or whatever ?

                        ----------------------------------------------------

 

Yes, indeed, there were reviews and at least one walkthrough of mine on the old site.  Of course, not anymore, and not because I had removed them.

Yes - I well remember your walkthru' !

But that was on the old site which is now as dead as the proverbial doornail.

What would be helpful would be interesting, helpful, informative material for the new site.!

Unfortunately that is the drawback of the Internet as opposed tyo hard copy.

Sites have a habit of self destrucing and often takeng with them excellent material which authors have sweated over.

I have had ***TONS*** of stuff 'disappear' that way - although a giood deal of it I probably backed up in the past ?!??

In particular stuff from various defunct sites including the very old JA and especially a **LOT** of my reviews, walkthru;s and several articles were originally posted on QUANDARYLAND, nearly all of which are no longer accessible - maybe floating around cyberspace !?!?

Could be the basis for a Quest game ???

What a lovely pair of Af Australialns ran that excellent site - NEVER  A  HARSH  WORD  ANYWHERE,

Unfortunately it took up much too much time with no compensatory finanances !

But hopefully, much of th GENERAL material from the old JA may (slowly) be resurrected !?!?

Originally Posted By Len Green (10 JUN 2012 1:48pm)

Originally Posted By Traveller (10 JUN 2012 12:36pm)

Originally Posted By Len Green (9 JUN 2012 1:24pm)

Hi Halcyon & Traveller ,

 

 

Have you considered trying to do something constructive to make the site a better place ? For example :- write a review, or a walkthrough. or whatever ?

                        ----------------------------------------------------

 

Yes, indeed, there were reviews and at least one walkthrough of mine on the old site.  Of course, not anymore, and not because I had removed them.

Yes - I well remember your walkthru' !

But that was on the old site which is now as dead as the proverbial doornail.

What would be helpful would be interesting, helpful, informative material for the new site.!

 

Unfortunately that is the drawback of the Internet as opposed tyo hard copy.

Sites have a habit of self destrucing and often takeng with them excellent material which authors have sweated over.

I have had ***TONS*** of stuff 'disappear' that way - although a giood deal of it I probably backed up in the past ?!??

In particular stuff from various defunct sites including the very old JA and especially a **LOT** of my reviews, walkthru;s and several articles were originally posted on QUANDARYLAND, nearly all of which are no longer accessible - maybe floating around cyberspace !?!?

Could be the basis for a Quest game ???

  ") 

 

 

What a lovely pair of Af Australialns ran that excellent site - NEVER  A  HARSH  WORD  ANYWHERE,

Unfortunately it took up much too much time with no compensatory finanances !

 

 

 

But hopefully, much of th GENERAL material from the old JA may (slowly) be resurrected !?!?

Yeah, not to mention that, just a few months before the site was sold, I spent a considerbable amount of time gathering and resurrecting three year's worth of game data for the "Recent and Upcoming" schedule and updating the schedule. I did put out an offer to the new owner to  help with the new site free of charge, but it was never taken up.  I imagine he has enough people working on the new site.  I did keep backups of everything, btw, but was never asked for any of it.  I imagine the new site might not make use of HTML anymore?  ..or so I was told, anyway.