I have been a member since 2013 although I have went into inactivity bursts a few times. Now that I am back, I see that the threads on the first page sit there all day long... This shows that many people just aren't talking/posting.... Why has the user base decreased? What are you (as a member or even site staff) trying to do to improve this?

fire emblem10604 :
These threads again.. Will smith you're up!


It's that time of year where people are busy and what not, 
Most of my pals are busy in college. They simply are too busy with their lives or stuff like that to hop on.  That's more than likely the case with this time.

I'd give it near christmas vacation before the site is blooming again with members.
If I were to help out I'd go to some of the recommended sites, and try to get people to sign up. Show em some nice rgr games that they might play, like a pokemon one.

Ok that makes since... It was simply an observation a made..... Have a nice day...

fire emblem10604 : I had a 600 word reply to this, and it never went through... Let's try this again.

I personally try to talk to the newcomers and pm them about any problems they have with things like RGR. I think that the future is with the newbies (Sorry veterans, you're already here for life), and we kind of push them away it feels like.

So what do I mean by that? Well.. We certainly know how to bombard the newbie forum section to throw everyone a warm welcome. Then, after that, it's usually radio silence. We need to actively engage more people.

I try really hard to get people to stay. I know that people are used to the people we have, and sure there might be more people come Winter time... but we do get a lot of new people every single day. Why not try to get them to stay too? I can go on forever on this tangent, but I'll try and quickly hit some key things I've noticed and/or heard from the people I talk to.

Quick points I'd say can be worked on:
Chat Room - It's always dead, maybe get rid of the 3 Viz loss that really affects no one but newbies, and possibly add 0.01 CP per minute.
Trust point system - I'll talk about this below in detail.
Two communities - It's no secret that some people feel the community is divided. Or maybe it is, and I'm telling secrets.

Chat room: As said in the quick points, it's always dead. At most you'll see 6 or 7 people on a great day for about an hour at most. I think it's for a few reasons, mainly the penalty to actually be in there. The 3 Viz cost per minute really has an effect on nobody but the newbies in specific. There's really no motivation to go in there, which I think should be reworked. We obviously want people to become active, so instead of always telling newbies "Hey, don't forget to read the rules, welcome, etc" we can tell them to feel free to join the chat at any time. We can really boost activity with the chat room alone.

Trust Point System: This might be less of a problem, unless it's abused. For instance, I'm pretty nice to everyone. I talk to anybody who talks to me, help people out with problems, heck - I even helped a person with his RGR problem in the chat room because the mod didn't say anything. My reward for being nice and trying to contribute? I lose points. If you're goal is to make trusted, or at least to be a contributing member who is slightly recognized, then losing trust points is great motivation to give up and assume that the staff is abusing powers.

Two Communities: When talking to about four different people, a common thing they said was that the site is intimidating. After the welcome thread, they're on their own. If they make a thread, it'll only receive attention during TdV, seemingly. The key exception here being people like Zanderlex, who will literally talk to anybody, and a few others. In my opinion it can be considered a problem that on non-TdV months, at least 50% of posts are by trusted/staff+, and on TdV that number is probably closer to at least 80%. It's just a staggering way to notice that new people simply don't last on this site.

So basically, before we look at why they leave, we need to look at ourselves and ask why couldn't we get them to stay. We need to actively push for them to stay, convince them that we are eager to see what they have to say. This is one man's opinion of course, but I thought I'd share it.

Skilledtree : Man, those are all valid points. Especially the chat. I've been checking the chat every time I log on, which is everyday since I joined, just to see if there's anyone on. Since I've been here, I have only seen 2 people in a room once. 99.99% of the time it's been 1 to 0 people. Only just today, was I in the room, talking to someone. The chat had 3 people in the room, so I joined and talked to one person. There should be some kind of chat that members or newbies can get into, to talk about games, or just hang out, without going through a bunch of Viz. I think that really would boost site traffic... Probably.

   Oh, and I'm actually listening to your review on youtube on Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards (Assuming you're SkilledApple, I think you mentioned that in a post a while back.) while I'm typing this. Your reviews actually sound better than most video reviews I've heard. It's just too bad not many people are interested in Retro Game Reviews, because it's obvious you've actually played the game, unlike some other video game reviewers.

F. Starr :

That's exactly how I feel. The chat is in my opinion the star player here. In a world where you can instantly talk to anyone on Facebook, your phone, etc. and where we have gotten accustomed to getting instant feedback, we should take advantage of the chat - providing what people are used to having is key in my opinion.

And thanks for checking out that video! I have been updating my stuff to actually sound better, because I know the quality is medium/low. Yeah, not many people are looking for Retro game reviews, but I really just wanted to provide video reviews for the people who prefer watching and listening over reading on the site. (Ironically, this ties back to me trying to reel in the newcomers by offering different options).

And yes, I play the crap out of the games I review. I'm trying to do Resident Evil Gaiden right now and it's driving me borderline insane haha.

SkilledTree is absolutely right. The reasons why some members leave are always personal, whether it's real life or just think it's their time to search for something else. The newbies must be encouraged to keep visiting the site. We all have been newbies, and here we are, getting a name for ourselves through our actions. 

About the chat room, it's something I can assure you we are working with. The 3 Viz per minute isn't any problem, we must encourage people to earn Viz and also to spend it so the site's traffic is dynamic. How to get more people into chat? Some say that we should speak more openly about it in the forums so people is drawn to it. 

It's no secret that the community is intimidating. Even in Twitter there exist hundreds of thousands of unused accounts, simply because they don't know how to break the ice and enter the huge community it represents. Here it's not different, but hey, it's not like the current staff+ members started posting right away. I, for example, got nearly 50 posts after my first year around here. We must add the fact that a ton of users are here merely for the RGR and can take months or years to step in the boards.

I personally like to welcome newbies everytime I can, and I'm also open to talk with anybody, as long as I have something to say. I wasn't like this when I joined, time has made me grow and get accustomed to this site. I'm sure many other users feel this way.

F. Starr : Yeah, the chat room, even though I used it less than 10 times since I joined, always seems kind of empty.

As for the threads "just sitting there": it really depends on the forum. General chat is always busy, and school is as this time of the year.

fire emblem10604: Well, during the summer and early fall (or autumn, whatever you want to call it), the site gets pretty dry. Like SuperCrash64 said, wait until the holidays.
Skilledtree : Yeah, I feel like new users just don't last. It's really these legacy (pre-RGR) users that keep this site alive. However, some new users keep it lively with new content. I can just tell you that I'm probably not one of them...
EX Palen : I've been here for over 4 years. I've seen and heard a lot. But not anymore. The site - no, the board is really getting dead.
I think that this site needs a major face lift. We aren't stuck in 2009, are we? We should have more color than just blue and green or Christmas. Material design sounds good!

mario102 : David is working on a new site layout, you know. I admit that he will keep the electric blue layout, but let's be honest, Vizzed must keep at least a bit of what it was before. The redesign and the new features will get us out of 2009, trust me.

And well, it's not really like pre-RGR users keep this site alive. Zanderlex, for example, joined way after the RGR was implemented, and he's the 4th major poster in the site. Leggy joined around the time the RGR was created, and he's the second most active poster even if he rarely posts anymore. What's more, only two of our locals and one of our globals, joined before the RGR existed (I don't know the exact date, but it was around 2010 and only those three mods mentioned registered in 2009 or before).

There are several post-RGR members that keep this site alive, both by posting and by adding new content. However, I'm pretty sure the percentage out of the total post-RGR registered users is very low, and there lies the real issue. Nothing we can do against that, though.

I've been inactive a few times as well, the 2nd time was because I was moving, but there's still a lot of people on Vizzed,but there may not be as many as there was anymore.

I may not be the most active person here. But it's certainly improving! Although there are a lot of reasons that there's inactivity. Not one person is to blame for it. Nobody wants to sit around in an empty chatroom. And also the General Chat, Your Forum, Cafe Corner, and Video Game forums are all actually active.
Another thing is, well, this site is just plain unwelcoming. All anyone ever does is complain about post-RGR users. And how they miss the "good old days" or that "Vizzed has one downhill" but do you ever see anyone getting up and actually doing something about it? Does anyone tell globals about their ideas for the site? No. The fact is, the good old days of Vizzed aren't over because of people's coming and going. It's over because they decided they didn't care enough to put any time into fixing a problem.

A user of this : I am convinced that Vizzed will return as before. Wait and you will see. It is true that chatting is empty and for this must do something. There are still many things to do for this site but I ensure that Vizzed is the the best site and the most popular in the world in terms of retrogames. I come here every day and I am for Albania (poor country). I like Vizzed so much and now Vizzed it is a part of my life. Sorry for my poor english.

It is certainly saddening to see active, good members come and go. If you've been on vizzed long enough, you will notice that users come and go. This part of the year is generally pretty dead, but give it another month or so, and things will start livening up a bit.

It is pretty obvious why things have become dry though, the chat is always empty, and no one really bothers putting any effort into suggesting ways to improve vizzed. The reason so many older users have left Vizzed is because they feel that things have gone stale and aren't the same as they used to be. This has become a cycle with each wave of vizzed users. I really wonder what the future ahead has in store for vizzed. If anything, I hope it motivates people to have a reason to stay on the site.

Razor-987 :

Following up on what you said, yeah I agree. I know I read earlier that apparently the site is going to be changed and hopefully will be more modern to fit in with the rest of the sites around these days. It's a small thing to change how the website looks and works - but small things can be pretty big when it comes to member retention. Right now it kind of feels like the board is stuck in 2009/2010, which I mean isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'd imagine that if features and focus was set to look modern (styled like you know, Twitter/Facebook - just the sharp look in general), people would be more inclined not only to stay, but to even join up in the first place.

Whatever we do, I really hope that we focus on bringing the live chat to life. Maybe keep a bar on the right side of your screen (like Facebook) that shows what users are in the chat room - or even make the bar a constant chat room that stays there no matter what page in the board you're on.

Yes, it is upsetting that some members are inactive, such as myself. But it really it isn't easy to be active due to school and life issues. I found this website in 2013. Made a couple internet friends, all had never came back on since our good bye.
I love this website dearly, but there are just moments that I can't be active on Vizzed compared to YouTube and other websites.
Maybe cause it gives out 2009 vibe. I try to be active as much as I can, just I don't know. It's hard to explain.

It really sucks that the number of people, who are active, to be lowered.


But we all can agree, that this website is a wonderful community for gamers around the world.

From an online marketing point of view... This forum, as well as the RGR, is intended to be used on a PC. But these days, one third of all traffic on the internet is coming from people on mobile devices, like phones. I haven't just noticed this about Vizzed, but a lot of text-based or flash-based online games that I play are slowly getting less and less traffic. It makes me sad to see retro websites being affected negatively by this trend of hand-held browsing. It's something that a lot of websites are struggling to deal with. And on top of that, unfortunately, it's not that simple to upgrade. I used to work for a website design company, and making an old website work on phones was a lot of work. I imagine that making an Android or iOS app to stay with the times would require a lot of hours as well.

Annette :

Also its an old school game website with a forum that don't really cater for the elderly even if there have been many Nobel efforts but you are right. Maybe its starting to get too frumpy for the kiddies but the whole "gotta catch them all" and earn vizzed and be all you can be- spirit of it all scares away lot of us guys who played these games originally.

But don't get me wrong. The forum is surprisingly diverse, yet small. It always has been and I think it will be. I hope there are way more people playing the games though.

I have had many inactivity bursts hell i was gone for a year at one point but i barely get on now. Im only on to check the forums and see how everyone is doing or i'll write one of my god awful reviews i think im just bored of the site, i only get on when im very bored

We have quite a lot of inactivity recently and this has been the least active year that Vizzed had and not sure on what the cause of the inactivity. It could be lost of interests, other stuff getting in the way either on or offline, having issues with another user, or other things that cause a lot of users not coming on.

3/4 of Vizzed's activities comes from the RGR, and we got more non-posting newbies than any other ranks combined times 5 (like every active user, we have 50 non-posting newbies). But maybe activity will pick up once again, when will this happen, we will never know.