Boards of the Month -- we need to try to make them a little more active

[Lotos]

We've had about five or six now, two being boards that were already boards.  So far, we've only kept one.  I don't mind losing the Anime board, and I personally couldn't get into 1999, but I think that we could have made technologic a little more active.  I mean, we're a forum of ex-NSiders for the most part -- we're all interested in technology -- we could have made that board a little more active.

The Mario board.  We only have 25 topics, some of which were moved from the Nintendo board.  Not too bad, but I think there's enough to talk about that each of us can make a topic.

I admit, I haven't been using them much either, but I'm going to try to change that

[Kayo]

The real problem: We need better Boards of the Month. 1999 was just horrible. I got tired of it after a few days.

[Cornwad]

I think Starship Mario is one of the most active boards on the forum.

[SkyMyl]

Starship Mario deserves to stay. It's proven that it can hold up rather well on its own.
Notice how many of the topics are from MYL...just saying.

1999 was a waste, Technologic was an okay idea, and Akihabara just came at the wrong time.

[Macawmoses]

The real problem: We need better Boards of the Month. 1999 was just horrible. I got tired of it after a few days.

1999 was a gimmick, and meant to be. When I came up with the idea, it wasn't just to have trial boards meant for practice...while that's the end result for most, it isn't the end all. It's meant to try different, and sometimes stupid things. As I see it, BotM is simply about directing discussion. Frankly, it's NOT about adding boards (even though it was a delightful result of Power Down). The Anime Board was a consideration, but just couldn't hold its own. Pokemon was back to get a bit more focus (and it did) while TF2 has failed. Starship Mario is great in showing that series discussion boards, in combination with proper timing, can work well (and I'll surely do something along the lines of it for Metroid: Other M, The Conduit 2, Starcraft 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and titles similar). Technologic was really an idea that I was mulling over that didn't come to fruition. The end result though is that we get discussion focused, and sometimes it means keeping the board. We shouldn't try to keep the boards unless we really see a reason for long term lasting - unless that's the case, just have fun with them. Yes, more gimmick boards like 99 will be coming. Yes, more featured boards like Pokemon will happen. Unique ideas like Technologic and Akihabara will be created, and series boards like Starship Mario will pop up. But what you make of them is your choice.

[Java]

As for my personal opinions on the Boards of the Month...

Power Down - I loved it. Glad it stayed
Anime - Not into Anime. Obviously, couldn't get into the board.
1999 - I hated it. I couldn't get into it at all.
Technology - I can't really make a comment about it. I rarely visited  it.
Starship Mario - Great idea. I just haven't posted much on it, if it at all. :-x