Why aren't people staying around lately??

by **Sim Architect** Wed 16 Dec 2015, 17:33

Hi there!

I am just curious, we used to have a "regular" community before, but since some time ago (weeks, maybe months?) I noticed that almost everybody vanished (except for @Carlos, @Admin and myself, sometimes Ageha and eventually Anarchy)...

I am NOT complaining at all, but does anybody know of anything that could be causing people to disappear, where users seem to just come, serve themselves quickly and go away? What happened to our beloved helpers and staff? Are people scared of something or were they abducted by aliens?

Meanwhile, I am having my "curious tea" with some "chocolate chip curious cookies"...

Cookie from Carlos

by **The_gh0stm4n** Wed 16 Dec 2015, 18:45

Sim Architect wrote:Hi there!

I am just curious, we used to have a "regular" community before, but since some time ago (weeks, maybe months?) I noticed that almost everybody vanished (except for @Carlos, @Admin and myself, sometimes Ageha and eventually Anarchy)...

I am NOT complaining at all, but does anybody know of anything that could be causing people to disappear, where users seem to just come, serve themselves quickly and go away? What happened to our beloved helpers and staff? Are people scared of something or were they abducted by aliens?

Meanwhile, I am having my "curious tea" with some "chocolate chip curious cookies"...

I remember those times, until about 2 years ago (?), when we had the likes of me, Shamrock, Phoebs, J.T., Dieneryn, invalidusername, Sephymuffins, cezra, and even Lady ElDi & Admin answering to regular help requests on the forum. And while I found we did OK back then when replying to these messages, it was still tough to do. I believe because TS3 was highly popular back then. Not so with TS4 though.

Also, you got to give people some "incentive" to stay for a bit longer though. That can be achieved through various means, like

1) somewhat regular content updates (guides, tutorials, videos, etc.)

2) active presence of people, and I'm not necessarily talking about presence of the "colored usernames". It's already a blessing if users like Ageha or Anarchy occasionally come to the chatbox or help out a bit. Of course, presence of team members is equally important.

3) some organizational improvements, which I won't go into detail here, and at this point.

As for the content, the "surprise" that I have in mind for Christmas may help as a stepping stone to provide some variety in the forum content. About the aspect of the "people", it was in the era of TS3 already hard enough to find good team members, now it seems even harder. And keep in mind that most people who eventually join the team, leave at some point. Some just after a few days already, others maybe after several months. It's always a "cycle".

I did have a brief chat with the Admin recently about this topic (again). And I'm also going to say it here: "The Sims 4" alone isn't going to bring it. You got to have more variety in here. I don't have that many ideas, but how about a Minecraft-subsection ? There are always these posts in the off-topic forum about Minecraft, why not make a small, but fine subforum about this topic ? There could be guides or the like for beginner/intermediate/advanced-level players, and if feasible, you could even "advertize" this Minecraft-server (without necessarily giving everybody these admin/operator-rights in the playing world).

And as it was pointed out a few months ago (I think it was Lady ElDi), a new "recruiting" could also help bring in more life into all this. Though I would prefer a more balanced view on this: yes, new "brown" Helpers can be good and helpful, but I would not rely exclusively on them.

So far my thoughts. One thing maybe that I want to add: you (people) should not make the same mistake as I did back then: sometimes you can indeed feel angry or sad about the "emptiness" here, but in the end, this is part of the nature of this type of forum. Just being angry all the time is only going to make it worse. Try putting a good face on the situation. I will, and I will also use my creativity and see with what else I can come up.

P.S. it's become very hard for me too, to keep up with things...

Very Happy

by **Sim Architect** Wed 16 Dec 2015, 20:47

Thanks, Carlos!

I didn't know things used to be this way other times as well. As far I can remember, I always saw more people active than now.

I am ok with the forum "empty" until we can attract more people somehow. I love your idea on Minecraft, it can be a nice tool to bring people together and, also, integrate everybody more.

Another games that could be nice are Cities XL (and variations) and Cities:Skylines, since they fit the genre and are also very nice to play with.

Not sure we can give a lot of tech support on these, but even if we just have a section to exchange experiences etc, it could be fun.

It's interesting how technical our forum became, should we think on ways to make it a bit more social, I have no clue on how to incentivize people to share their creations here, we had the proper topics on Sims 3 but people didn't seem to be so interested in sharing what they were doing around, neither seeing what others were creating...

Minecraft can be real fun, since we can talk real time and interact a lot, besides it being a more popular than Sims game and much lighter to run Smile

by **☠ ~ Aɳɳ ~ ☠** Fri 18 Dec 2015, 12:45

Hi Guys,

I've been having an extremely rough time on my end. Without going into too much detail, lets just say the stress caused me to loose 40 lbs and I'm now a single mother of 4.
On the up side, I should have a steady internet connection by the end of the month! And I can now use my spare time as I darn well please, so I'll be back much more regularly once my connection is up and running.

I really missed this place.

by **coolcandy3001** Fri 18 Dec 2015, 14:22

I already explained mine on the other thread lol, I really miss being her really often. I've got 2 weeks off school and 4 weeks until I can buy a new graphics card. I don't really like the mobile version of this site - and the main one glitches like hell on my phone :C

by **coolcandy3001** Fri 18 Dec 2015, 14:24

Also, since I haven't been able to update TS4 due to my PC being broke - I find it harder than usual to help people. Because I don't get to feel for - and fix any problems my self.

by **Sim Architect** Fri 18 Dec 2015, 17:41

Lady ElDi wrote:Hi Guys,

I've been having an extremely rough time on my end. Without going into too much detail, lets just say the stress caused me to loose 40 lbs and I'm now a single mother of 4.
On the up side, I should have a steady internet connection by the end of the month! And I can now use my spare time as I darn well please, so I'll be back much more regularly once my connection is up and running.

I really missed this place.

Nice to hear news from you, @Lady ElDi. I am so sorry you're passing through that kind of situation. I really wish I could help you somehow, but I am also broke right now Sad

It's good to have a place like this with good people to talk, be welcome to talk about your problems (or anything else you'd like) with us if you feel like it. Anyway, take your time and prioritize what's most important in your life right now. I didn't mean to complain at all in my post, I was just wondering why people weren't around as before, no worries about that at all Smile

Meanwhile, have some cookies and tea with your kids, calm down, breathe and let's hope you can get over this situation the best way possible! I am here for you, be welcome to PM or contact me in any way if I can help you with anything!

Cookie from Carlos

coolcandy3001 wrote:I already explained mine on the other thread lol, I really miss being her really often. I've got 2 weeks off school and 4 weeks until I can buy a new graphics card. I don't really like the mobile version of this site - and the main one glitches like hell on my phone :C

Also, since I haven't been able to update TS4 due to my PC being broke - I find it harder than usual to help people. Because I don't get to feel for - and fix any problems my self.

It's completely ok and understandeable, @coolcandy3001! No worries at all! I am glad I could borrow a computer from someone (I will even get an even better loaner soon, since it has a little BIOS defect and my mother prefers to use another machine she got), so I understand you when you say you have a hardware issue. You take your time, enjoy your vacations. I also can't test much stuff myself, so I try looking around for solutions at Google or in the Forum.

Cookie from Carlos

I am glad to know that you're both alive and fixing your situation! Sometimes life gives us lemons and we don't have $ugar to make them into lemonade, so we better law low for a while and try to survive/calm down to think better etc.

Let's all hope to find a way to better our lives, so we can be happier soon!

Meanwhile, let's enjoy and stock up some digital cookies and tea, since they are free Very Happy

by **The_gh0stm4n** Fri 18 Dec 2015, 20:37

Sim Architect wrote:Thanks, Carlos!

I didn't know things used to be this way other times as well. As far I can remember, I always saw more people active than now.

I am ok with the forum "empty" until we can attract more people somehow (...)

Beyond that, most of the other Moderators also said (months ago already, and in various threads in the Helpers/Mods area), that they either do not have enough time these days and/or cannot give support on The Sims 4. And as I myself also said back then, I'm not too thrilled about the game either. Though I can live with that. Therefore, any further topics about this don't make that much sense; sorry if that sounds blunt.

Time to get over it and put a positive face on the situation, at least in my opinion. Carlos is tha man

by **Admin** Fri 18 Dec 2015, 23:10

Sim Architect wrote:I am just curious, we used to have a "regular" community before, but since some time ago (weeks, maybe months?) I noticed that almost everybody vanished (except for @Carlos, @Admin and myself, sometimes Ageha and eventually Anarchy)...

I am NOT complaining at all, but does anybody know of anything that could be causing people to disappear, where users seem to just come, serve themselves quickly and go away? What happened to our beloved helpers and staff? Are people scared of something or were they abducted by aliens?

Carlos wrote:So far my thoughts. One thing maybe that I want to add: you (people) should not make the same mistake as I did back then: sometimes you can indeed feel angry or sad about the "emptiness" here, but in the end, this is part of the nature of this type of forum. Just being angry all the time is only going to make it worse. Try putting a good face on the situation. I will, and I will also use my creativity and see with what else I can come up.

Sim Architect wrote:Minecraft can be real fun, since we can talk real time and interact a lot, besides it being a more popular than Sims game and much lighter to run

Imagine how depressing it is to literally see all kinds of people come and go since 2010...
But a good team really makes up for that loneliness, if you ask me.
Having lots of fans is nice and stuff, but if you don't have a "solid" team you can spend time with and talk to, it's going to be really depressing.
And the Minecraft server really helps with that, if you ask me. It's nice to all meet again every now and then. Not just for the gameplay, but to just catch up and talk to each other. I sincerely believe that helps.

See it this way: if you guys weren't here, I probably would've quit this place a long time ago, due to loneliness and depression. It's nice to talk to users every now and then - I used to talk to people for hours while doing TeamViewer support "back then" - but they never stay for long.

by **Sim Architect** Fri 18 Dec 2015, 23:51

You're absolutely right, Admin! I am here because of you guys too, honestly!

Sorry it makes you feel sad, Admin! We're here and Minecraft is really good to bring people together, since it's an on line game Smile

by **☠ ~ Aɳɳ ~ ☠** Tue 22 Dec 2015, 13:22

Sim Architect wrote:
Lady ElDi wrote:Hi Guys,

I've been having an extremely rough time on my end. Without going into too much detail, lets just say the stress caused me to loose 40 lbs and I'm now a single mother of 4.
On the up side, I should have a steady internet connection by the end of the month! And I can now use my spare time as I darn well please, so I'll be back much more regularly once my connection is up and running.

I really missed this place.
Nice to hear news from you, @Lady ElDi. I am so sorry you're passing through that kind of situation. I really wish I could help you somehow, but I am also broke right now

Ah, well, financially it's going to get better for me I assure you. I'd be happy once I can get back on here and spend some time in the chatbox. Good times!

by **The_gh0stm4n** Thu 14 Jan 2016, 06:32

I also wanted to bump this topic here, to give you all a (small) heads-up. Smile

Sim Architect wrote:Hi there!

I am just curious, we used to have a "regular" community before, but since some time ago (weeks, maybe months?) I noticed that almost everybody vanished (except for @Carlos, @Admin and myself, sometimes Ageha and eventually Anarchy)...

I am NOT complaining at all, but does anybody know of anything that could be causing people to disappear, where users seem to just come, serve themselves quickly and go away? What happened to our beloved helpers and staff? Are people scared of something or were they abducted by aliens? (...)

While it may indeed look empty at times, let's not forget about the positive aspect of the (relative) absence of "problem users". Thanks to a good degree of kindness from the team plus good and regular moderation, problem users are not so common here. Usually, you can find these users more on platforms such as "reddit" or "4chan", where it appears that literally everything is allowed, from child p0rnography, pictures of dead/mutilated bodies and of course lots of swearing, flaming, etc.

Of course, that may be an oversimplification, but still. There is some good (and civilized) content on these sites - if you know exactly where to look.

I recall a high number of users coming here shortly before The Sims 4 was released. But quite a number of them were "problem users". People you would not want to have around here, even if they generate some "traffic".

Take further into account that the attention spans of people (especially among teenagers and young adults - the primary audience of G4TW) tend to be rather short. While that sounds like discrimination, you may have noticed (also in real-life) that interests of people in that age group change can very quickly. Also think about your own "times" when you were in that age. I'm sure that your interests also changed very quickly. At least they did so for me.

Another aspect: in the past, a number of users (mostly on the FB page) have also voiced their "displeasure" about the way I handled certain things on the page; usually stuff related to warnings or bans. But then, in my opinion, these are also people with negative intentions and you don't necessarily want to have them around either way. I'm sure these people will be better served on the aforementioned "reddit" or "4chan"-platforms, though.

So yes, it's not just dull and sad, but of course, certain things can be improved, too. Very Happy

There is a lot of potential in sites like G4TW, but of course, this would also involve a lot of work...

And all of this leads to my final "argument", for the time being: as Games4theworld operates on a free-hosted platform and is made up of volunteers, we do not depend on the goodwill of advertisers or any other commercial pressures. One example of the opposite: even if it's not directly stated by the higher-ups on reddit, it is obvious that the company running the site is driven by commercial interest, and to some extent (just like any other commercially-operating platform) is "dependent" on ads. And if a third-party comes up and says "hey you will now tolerate racist posts or else I will not advertize on your site", then you can bet what the consequence in most cases will be: namely racist posts being largely permitted. Of course, a company may take into account potential risks of allowing dubious content, but lawsuits against online content (as long as it's not game/software piracy) tend to be rare. You know, "freedom of speech", and so on...

WhatDidUJustCallMe?

by **☠ ~ Aɳɳ ~ ☠** Thu 14 Jan 2016, 12:23

You make a good point Carlos.
I can only speak for myself, but the kindness of the team at the time (Admin and Narong) was reason for me to stick around. I wouldn't post anything anywhere if the replies are expected to be .... MATY-like. I never understood the need to be harsh to newcomers and noobs, I mean, why call someone stupid for not knowing something. Everyone has had to start somewhere.

There's plenty of time to fool around once you get to know people and know they're not seriously in to hurting others' feelings Very Happy

by **Admin** Sat 16 Jan 2016, 23:13

Carlos wrote:Also think about your own "times" when you were in that age. I'm sure that your interests also changed very quickly.

Too bad I can't look into the future. Long way to go.

Edin ElDi wrote:... but the kindness of the team at the time (Admin and Narong) was reason for me to stick around.

I love how you didn't mention @Michael Myers. I'm sure he understands though.
Good ol' times, huh? When Admin was still nice to people. Razz

by **☠ ~ Aɳɳ ~ ☠** Sun 17 Jan 2016, 00:56

MM was just as present then, as he is now :p

by **Michael Myers** Sun 17 Jan 2016, 15:48

Wow, thanks for excluding me, you [RETRACTED].

by **The_gh0stm4n** Sun 17 Jan 2016, 18:13

Admin wrote:I love how you didn't mention @Michael Myers. I'm sure he understands though.
Good ol' times, huh? When Admin was still nice to people.

Edin ElDi wrote:MM was just as present then, as he is now :p

Michael Myers wrote:Wow, thanks for excluding me, you [RETRACTED].

The last quote (even though I would have worded it differently). Past events aside: what happened, happened. No need for any more arguments about the past here, in my eyes. Even though, I guess, Admin's remark was only meant half-seriously. And from what I get in the posting history, m4dm4n & Narong & MM were mostly active before Edin even joined the forum, so there's that.

In times where it seems that nearly everybody is hating or bickering over someone else, we need to all lean back and take a deep breath. And then ask the question: is all of that negativity in the end really necessary ? I don't think so.

Getting mad about someone or something is natural and part of human life. But those with a really great character are also able to get over the "madness", at some point. And the latter is what we all should try to achieve.

Tea 5

by **☠ ~ Aɳɳ ~ ☠** Sun 17 Jan 2016, 18:42

Relax Carlos Very Happy

I sincerely doubt MM is talking seriously.

by **The_gh0stm4n** Sun 17 Jan 2016, 19:08

Edin ElDi wrote:I sincerely doubt MM is talking seriously.

Not so sure on that one, but maybe you're right. Given the recent events though, I guess it's better to be safe and "pre-emptive" in the beginning, than sorry at the end.

Talk to my left hand

by **Michael Myers** Mon 18 Jan 2016, 11:58

Hahaha yeah, Edin is right. I wasn't being serious. You wouldn't be able to tell because we barely talk, but I've talked to Edin a couple of times (on KIK, together with Admin AKA Gert) so she knows when I am being serious and when I'm not.

by **The_gh0stm4n** Mon 18 Jan 2016, 22:44

Michael Myers wrote:Hahaha yeah, Edin is right. I wasn't being serious. You wouldn't be able to tell because we barely talk, but I've talked to Edin a couple of times (on KIK, together with Admin AKA Gert) so she knows when I am being serious and when I'm not.

OK. Problem solved, topic closed, I guess. Carlos is tha man

by **Admin** Tue 19 Jan 2016, 20:49

Michael Myers wrote:Wow, thanks for excluding me, you [RETRACTED].

Carlos wrote:OK. Problem solved, topic closed, I guess.

What?

by **The_gh0stm4n** Tue 19 Jan 2016, 21:16

Admin wrote:
Carlos wrote:OK. Problem solved, topic closed, I guess.

What?

Of course, I can't close a topic in this area, but the message was more meant figuratively. Talk to my left hand

If the above message wasn't meant seriously, then I guess we are good. Of course, that's only my opinion.

Carlos is tha man

by **coolcandy3001** Fri 13 May 2016, 19:35

Damn guys it's been ages..... stupid exams WhatDidUJustCallMe?

I've not touched TS4 for like..... 5 months now? So I'm useless with helping out. I'm out of school is 8 weeks, so I hope to catch up then<3

by **☠ ~ Aɳɳ ~ ☠** Fri 13 May 2016, 19:38

Real life always does come first, especially something as important as exams!
Good to hear from you though Smile

We will see you around after your exams Very Happy

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