Building a Community

[Buster's Uncle]

No one else has reported anything...

[I)arkness Falls]

Those of you who've been following my act for about the last year have heard all this before, but it's still true.

We've got a real opportunity here; this is the first forum I'm aware of BY SMACers For SMACers, without all the outside stuff getting in the way.  That's a thing worth nurturing, if you ask me.

We can build this place into something fun, entertaining, informative and worthwhile - more than it is already.  All it takes is all of us trying.  Go to that little extra effort to post, generate content - whether art, modifications, how-tos, scenarios, AARs or whatever - recruit others, and generally get involved.  If you're like most people reading this, you check by and read a little once in a while, wishing there was a more active SMAC(X) community to participate in.  Much of our reason to be here is to socialize and be entertained by one another.  Well, someone has to go first; I'm looking at YOU.

AC2 was a static skeleton at the beginning of February, but a handful of people quickly turned it into a real, live, forum.  Now it's time to step up our game.

One person can make a difference - I've demonstrated this repeatedly.  But it's never much of a show for long without someone to talk to.  Two people can make a big difference.  Everyone trying a little harder makes ALL the diference.

We need MPers, modders, hardcore players, scient fans/contributors, fan fiction writers, people with technical problems and people willing to troubleshoot.  We need fun, thoughtful people to joke with in Rec Commons and science-oriented people posting articles/commenting in the science forums.  (We need more Americans, 'cause it gets real slow on here in my evenings, between the Euros going to bed and the Aussies waking up.)  We need whatever interesting, appropriate-to-a-SMAC(X)-forum, thing I haven't thought of/mentioned, because putting our heads together is what it's all about.  It's all worthy and important, and we need all of it, and the people into each thing.  We need active people, and we need to bring in more of them.

We need YOU.

Just pitch in however you can; make that extra little effort, because we we're greater as a group than as individuals.  Try, please.  Make that comment.  Post that faction, story, art, ect.  Get in on that MP game.   Send those acquaintances a link to the forum.  Post to entertain me, and I'll do the same.  Let make a lot of friends here, and make the most active AC forum in the world 10 times busier.

We can do it.

I can help you in the fan fiction department.

[Buster's Uncle]

Good man.  Extra points for new threads in Planet Tales, y'know.

[Buster's Uncle]

So, let's have a little fun here - anybody want anything within my power to bestow? 

Extra points for entertaining requests....

            

[Rymdolov]

I'm back on the forum again. Thanks to all of you for maintaining a community for me to return to.

 

[Buster's Uncle]

  indeed.  Really good to have you back.

[Buster's Uncle]

It's been a busy(er) month - which comes as a surprise in the middle of Northern Hemisphere summer.

Everybody goes through phases of greater or lesser interest in our mutual hobby, and late-May through all of June was pretty slow, which is fairly typical for that time of the year, at least in the 4x forum circles with which I'm familiar.  So, it's pretty heartening to me to see a resurgence before September.  Multiple people I hadn't seen around in months are springing back to life, and we've had enough competent modders sign up out of nowhere this month that I've actually lost count.

Activity creates more activity, so all this is good news.

My point?  All I'm saying, really, is that now might be a good time to strike while the momentum is building and the iron is hot.  Business really does tend to come in clusters.  If you've been considering a project, or contacting another SMACer, now might be an ideal time to get to it.  People taking initiative, and supporting each other's initiatives, is what made this forum.  It's a winning formula.

There are a lot of wonderful people out there who haven't heard about AC2, people we'd enjoy knowing, if only.  We need to A.) keep at making this a wonderful place to share our work, hang out, and enjoy each others company, and B.) spread the word about how well A.) has worked out.  Now is always the time, the present surge of interest being better than some others.  So do me and yourself a solid, and get to work.

We CAN do it.

[JarlWolf]

I have a friend I've known online for a while now, migrated from the Age of Mythology game with. He's been lurking for a while and he'll probably read this post once im done posting this and I know you are reading this you moldy. I told him to create an account and get on with it. We'll see if he does, I think he'll enjoy the place.

[Buster's Uncle]

That's the spirit.

Everybody: get out there and spread the word!  And don't forget that everyone can contribute to the forum - it's not just big projects we need.  Every bit counts.  The community is less in the "important" content than in the dialogues in which we engage.  I'm in this for the company of bright people, and I suspect I'm hardly alone in that.  Every comment is worthy of response.  Join the conversation; post!  Post!  POST!

[ete]

BU, I was just looking over the stats, you've been online almost twice as long as the next highest nine people put together. I would not be surprised if you've been logged in longer than the top 200 users put together, looking at the way it's decaying. And if you discount sisko, you've been online over four times as long as the rest of the top ten added together.

How do you find that much to read or do on here? Do you reread topics a lot, or just leave it logged in overnight/in another tab?

[Buster's Uncle]

There are times when I'm not doing anything but AC2 stuff, though most of that is related projects and art and such - but most of the time I just keep a tab open while I'm entertaining myself elsewhere on the innerwebs, and check back frequently.  This is the first place I come when I sign on in the morning, and the last tab I close at night, except for checking email.  I don't have a life outside my hobby of building this place; I'm a caregiver, but my mom and sister rarely need anything that takes up a lot of time. 

A part of it is a sense of duty; I made a commitment to AC2, and I don't want ANYTHING to EVER go wrong here just because there was no one around in charge and on top of things.  I've seen that happen too often on other forums.  It's evolved, over the course of my partnership with sisko, that a big portion of my end of the division of labor is I mostly do the people management.  I gotta be around as much as humanly possible to be effective at that.  It's a suitable gig for a crusty hermit like myself, given an effort to keep a good/positive attitude in general and working at applying my best people skills.  I can't handle people very well in RL, but through the distance of the internet, I do pretty well, and it makes up for RL loneliness somewhat.

Seeing as how I have way too much time on my hands, it works out.  When I feel like it, I take on big projects.  Even when I'm pretty depressed and lethargic -a non-trivial portion of the time, BTW- keeping on top of what's up isn't a problem (though having anything to say can be).

Bottom line is, the job gives me something back - I get to chat with you.  Not blowing smoke when I say that means a lot to me.

[JarlWolf]

Hrm. I am retired for the most part but I do the odd construction job and project, but for the most part I keep to my property, sometimes I go out with old friends and family. So this forum is a nice little way to piss some time: and I always love doing creative work so making factions and AAR's is probably my best niche, I can be sociable but I've become very bitter over the years so I like to keep it brief in terms of contact: I'd rather not sour any relations I garner here and keep it light hearted, as you may have noticed.

What I think this forum could use is a youtube channel of sorts: an Alpha Centauri channel, devoted to updates, new factions or patches, the forum itself and gameplay if possible. Promote it off and on and that should gather new blood.

[Buster's Uncle]

I think there's definitely something to the idea of an AC2 YouTube channel.  With strong branding -everything mentions AC2 forums and has a link prominently appended - we're talking some serious traffic potential.  Something like this could be huge.  Hard to beat YouTube for a place to be visible.


But there are question to be answered; who takes care of this?  I don't wanna. 

And more importantly, where are these videos going to come from?  Who's gonna make them?  Most of what we do here isn't directly video-friendly; the game itself is turn-based, and lacks actual motion.  Are you suggesting something in the line of news reports?

I'd love to see this happen, and would throw my support behind such an effort, but it's a major, major project for someone - or several someones.  It's certainly an opportunity for someone comfortable with video-making and narrating, comfortable with YouTube, and looking for a way to boost this community.

Anybody game?

[Green1]

I think there's definitely something to the idea of an AC2 YouTube channel.  With strong branding -everything mentions AC2 forums and has a link prominently appended - we're talking some serious traffic potential.  Something like this could be huge.  Hard to beat YouTube for a place to be visible.


But there are question to be answered; who takes care of this?  I don't wanna. 

And more importantly, where are these videos going to come from?  Who's gonna make them?  Most of what we do here isn't directly video-friendly; the game itself is turn-based, and lacks actual motion.  Are you suggesting something in the line of news reports?



I'd love to see this happen, and would throw my support behind such an effort, but it's a major, major project for someone - or several someones.  It's certainly an opportunity for someone comfortable with video-making and narrating, comfortable with YouTube, and looking for a way to boost this community.

Anybody game?

Problem is... Alpha Centuari HATES Fraps. GrimithR (Youtube) and Quill18 (Civ Fanatic AAR/Youtube) do it, but I have not found out how they have done it.

Otherwise, either I would have been on it or Kilk would have.

[Buster's Uncle]

Fraps?  Whazzat?