Flagship - The Independent Magazine for Gamers

In my opinion the recent changes to the site have included too many adverts.

The early experiments with advertising seemed much better to me with the single banners across the top and bottom of pages. A few larger ones on the home page were also welcome especially if they were tied into content from the print magazine.

Recently however the home page seems to have lost focus as both the number of adverts and the variety in sizes has increased. I also particularly dislike the row of adverts between the first and second posts in a thread which interrupts the flow of the conversation.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this issue?

smurphboogie Wrote:In my opinion the recent changes to the site have included too many adverts.

The early experiments with advertising seemed much better to me with the single banners across the top and bottom of pages. A few larger ones on the home page were also welcome especially if they were tied into content from the print magazine.

Recently however the home page seems to have lost focus as both the number of adverts and the variety in sizes has increased. I also particularly dislike the row of adverts between the first and second posts in a thread which interrupts the flow of the conversation.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this issue?

Yeah, I have thoughts on the issue.

I have no idea, whatsoever, what the site should actually look like. Thus, I experiment.

As far as I know, the home page doesn't have a focus, per se. Thus, I don't know that it could lose what it has never had.

There is no actual advertising on the site, itself, as far as I know. I have received zero input on the advertising aspect from the advertising manager. It is my understanding that his health is not as good as it could be, of late, so there won't likely be input from that quarter on advertising issues on the site for the foreseeable future.

I incorporate game related images onto the site for two primary reasons: to make the site more colorful and more interesting to look at. That's it. There's no rocket science nor formula behind any of it.

The most recent announcement on the front page of the site was over a month old. So, I finally replaced that feature on the front page of the site with something that I felt was new, different, and a tad more interesting than looking at the same old announcement day in and day out, week in and week out.

I try to give a lot of lesser known games and lesser known companies a little time in the limelight, so to speak. How much is too much? I don't know. How many are too many? I haven't a clue.

I could put text content on the front page of the site, I suppose, but no one sends me anything to put there. Thus, I experiment.

Additionally, some things that you perceive as ads are currently being used as place holders. Some things are temporary, as I allow myself a little time to figure out what I like or dislike.

I, myself, am on a slow dial-up Internet connection, so I am not oblivious to how adding images to the site can slow down load time of pages. However, more people are moving to broadband Internet connections, and I try to take that into account, as well.

If I tie the front page's content to content from the print magazine, then that will effectively signal the death of the front page. I could be wrong on that, but that is my gut feeling. What magazine content, exactly and specifically, do you think that I should tie the front page to? I am open to suggestions.

It may very well come to pass that I will end up canceling my access to the Internet, altogether. If that happens, then site upkeep will transition to someone else, although I don't know, at this point in time, who that person or persons would be.

GrimFinger Wrote:

smurphboogie Wrote:In my opinion the recent changes to the site have included too many adverts.

The early experiments with advertising seemed much better to me with the single banners across the top and bottom of pages. A few larger ones on the home page were also welcome especially if they were tied into content from the print magazine.

Recently however the home page seems to have lost focus as both the number of adverts and the variety in sizes has increased. I also particularly dislike the row of adverts between the first and second posts in a thread which interrupts the flow of the conversation.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this issue?

Yeah, I have thoughts on the issue.

I have no idea, whatsoever, what the site should actually look like. Thus, I experiment.

As far as I know, the home page doesn't have a focus, per se. Thus, I don't know that it could lose what it has never had.

There is no actual advertising on the site, itself, as far as I know. I have received zero input on the advertising aspect from the advertising manager. It is my understanding that his health is not as good as it could be, of late, so there won't likely be input from that quarter on advertising issues on the site for the foreseeable future.

I incorporate game related images onto the site for two primary reasons: to make the site more colorful and more interesting to look at. That's it. There's no rocket science nor formula behind any of it.

The most recent announcement on the front page of the site was over a month old. So, I finally replaced that feature on the front page of the site with something that I felt was new, different, and a tad more interesting than looking at the same old announcement day in and day out, week in and week out.

I try to give a lot of lesser known games and lesser known companies a little time in the limelight, so to speak. How much is too much? I don't know. How many are too many? I haven't a clue.

I could put text content on the front page of the site, I suppose, but no one sends me anything to put there. Thus, I experiment.

Additionally, some things that you perceive as ads are currently being used as place holders. Some things are temporary, as I allow myself a little time to figure out what I like or dislike.

I, myself, am on a slow dial-up Internet connection, so I am not oblivious to how adding images to the site can slow down load time of pages. However, more people are moving to broadband Internet connections, and I try to take that into account, as well.

If I tie the front page's content to content from the print magazine, then that will effectively signal the death of the front page. I could be wrong on that, but that is my gut feeling. What magazine content, exactly and specifically, do you think that I should tie the front page to? I am open to suggestions.

It may very well come to pass that I will end up canceling my access to the Internet, altogether. If that happens, then site upkeep will transition to someone else, although I don't know, at this point in time, who that person or persons would be.

I've been happy to marvel at Grimfinger's experiments. It's best to discuss advertising with me at present...
Carol

GrimFinger Wrote:I have no idea, whatsoever, what the site should actually look like. Thus, I experiment.

As far as I know, the home page doesn't have a focus, per se. Thus, I don't know that it could lose what it has never had.

I can certainly sympathize with the situation of having no formal requirements for the site and like Carol I've been happy to watch the various incarnations of the site with interest.

In my opinion the focus for the home page should be to support the print magazine. Obviously with the magazine being bi-monthly this presents problems of keeping content fresh.

In regard to the site in general I tend to feel that one of it's main roles is to be pretty much the only place on the Internet where there is space for general discussion of PBEM gaming. While the magazine itself has moved towards covering all gaming, there are already many places where active communities exist for discussion of boardgaming or roleplaying. However there is nothing for PBEM and for me that points to a very useful and unique function that the website fulfills.

smurphboogie Wrote:In my opinion the focus for the home page should be to support the print magazine. Obviously with the magazine being bi-monthly this presents problems of keeping content fresh.

I don't have a problem with the home page of the site being used to support the print magazine. However, what - exactly and specifically - does that mean, and how do I accomplish that? Also, do I dedicate the entire home page for that purpose?

smurphboogie Wrote:In regard to the site in general I tend to feel that one of it's main roles is to be pretty much the only place on the Internet where there is space for general discussion of PBEM gaming. While the magazine itself has moved towards covering all gaming, there are already many places where active communities exist for discussion of boardgaming or roleplaying. However there is nothing for PBEM and for me that points to a very useful and unique function that the website fulfills.

I don't know that I would agree, however. PBEM games are discussed on many sites. Some games have their own discussion forums or discussion groups, and some sites feature discussion of most any game that site users show interest in.

Personally, I think that the biggest problem lies in the area of manpower.

why not rope in experienmced admin to help you on the question of manpower?

Toppers Wrote:why not rope in experienmced admin to help you on the question of manpower?

Well, we could, I suppose, except that it would not be the manpower needed, I don't think.

GrimFinger Wrote:

smurphboogie Wrote:In regard to the site in general I tend to feel that one of it's main roles is to be pretty much the only place on the Internet where there is space for general discussion of PBEM gaming. While the magazine itself has moved towards covering all gaming, there are already many places where active communities exist for discussion of boardgaming or roleplaying. However there is nothing for PBEM and for me that points to a very useful and unique function that the website fulfills.

I don't know that I would agree, however. PBEM games are discussed on many sites. Some games have their own discussion forums or discussion groups, and some sites feature discussion of most any game that site users show interest in.

Personally, I think that the biggest problem lies in the area of manpower.

I agree most games have there own site with forums where the emphasis is on there own stable of games but which other sites out there have general discussion and news regarding PBEM?

Can you clarify how you see the manpower problem? Are you alluding to getting a bigger active user base?

smurphboogie Wrote:I agree most games have there own site with forums where the emphasis is on there own stable of games but which other sites out there have general discussion and news regarding PBEM?

I would have to do a search, but I've been on websites in the past that featured such discussion areas. That's how I know that they exist.

Many sites will feature discussions by PBEM game type, such as they do at:

http://www.rpglibrary.org/news/

smurphboogie Wrote:Can you clarify how you see the manpower problem? Are you alluding to getting a bigger active user base?

For pretty much anything to get done, be it with the magazine or the website, it requires manpower. For new content to be added, it requires manpower. For new content to be added, either someone searches for new content to post, or someone posts it on their own, both requiring manpower in some form.

Flagship magazine is a commercial publication, one with a paid subscriber base. Whether that base increases or not, for discussion forums on the Flagship website to become more robust, an increase in the active user base is desirable, I think.

If forum users post frequently, then site content builds. It gives others something to read, when they next visit the site. If I only post reviews of games that I, myself, play, then hardly anything would ever get posted. Most games that interest me, I never even try. Games that interest me the most tend to be miniature wargaming, board games, multi-player computer games, and RPGs. However, I hardly ever play any of those, and miniature wargaming is something that I have never tried, at all.

For the site to really be unique, it requires unique content, I think. Manpower is required to generate that unique content. I don't mind that many site visitors only browse the site and read. However, reading alone does not generate new content. That requires someone to post, be it a site user or a site admin.

News and game announcements could, in theory, become a largely automated affair, but it would require game companies to submit RSS news feeds to the site. Currently, I only have the RSS feed from RPGNow.com set up to automatically post to the site.

The core problem with an automated RSS news feed system is that it can quickly flood the site with news. Now, this can be both a good thing and a bad thing.

I try to maintain a usable, functional website and forums. Carol, I think, has her hands full trying to get the magazine out. On top of that, I think that a lot of the electronic medium stuff has yet to be sifted through by Carol, in order for her to know what her own vision for the Flagship site should be. If she knew what she wanted, then she could simply tell me, couldn't she?

In the absence of vision and guidance, I pretty much change things around and add things to the site as I take a notion, and as my own limited time allows. Limited time equates to limited manpower on my end.

I have considered cloning Carol as a possible solution to the omnipresent manpower problem. But, sometimes, the cloning process goes wrong, and we might end up with who knows what.

GrimFinger Wrote:

smurphboogie Wrote:I agree most games have there own site with forums where the emphasis is on there own stable of games but which other sites out there have general discussion and news regarding PBEM?

I would have to do a search, but I've been on websites in the past that featured such discussion areas. That's how I know that they exist.

Many sites will feature discussions by PBEM game type, such as they do at:

http://www.rpglibrary.org/news/

That site has the same problem that nearly every "PBeM" site has, little to no active posters. I tend to credit that to the 'yet another forum' mentality. Just because you create a forum it doesn't automatically mean you’re going to have allot of posters no matter how many eyeballs are looking at your site and without those dedicated posters your going to loose said eyeballs.

What the PBeM business needs is more sites like [Star Ranger] for instance. The site does have a forum but it's not the entire site. The bulk of the site is built around good journalism, they actually report on stuff inside there realm of expertise not just rely on users or owners to do the work for them.

Granted that takes extra manpower to call(Skype) all of the big game companies for news releases but that's my take on the industry or lack-there-of.

- Brad