What would you like to see in Loose Threads in the future?

[Fraser]

We have some big plans for Loose Threads and the forum in the coming months and we thought it only right to give you lot the opportunity to dig your oar in too.

So what would you like to see?

Are there any topics we have skipped over that need to make an appearance?

Would you be interested in competitions?

What do you think of the format of the Loose Threads feature?

Is the way the forum is organized easy to use?

What do you think of forum participation?

Would you like to hear more from the admin?

Of course, these are just the questions we think you might be interested to answer, but there are doubtlessly others that we haven't thought of.

So pipe up and make your opinions heard, after all this feature is all about you.

[hunter_alien]

First of all the site would need more activity in the forums . There arent enough posters to start a "real" debate . Whenever I post there are the same exact 4-5 guys whom usually post .

Maybe some kind of competition could boost the forums activity . It should be creative and it should make people post as much as possible. Not spamming , that would just ruin the forums , but something new . Also game/movie/music of the day/week/month voting , or forum RPG games could help to .

Still chances are slim for it to happen . After all this is a site that only posts news for hand-held devices , and we all know that people whom use hand-helds are usually busy , and thats why they even use them Well except me , Im just hooked on my PSP

[HiddenAway]

I agree about the forum activity. It can't really be helped but more traffic around here would create more debate.

The Loose Threads feature is good but it shouldn't be restricted to just the topic at hand. Maybe a new feature to look at what else is happening on the forums. Again this depends on the first point.

I'd certainly like to see the admins here a lot more. I know you all manage to spot a lot of things though

If someone posts in previous Loose Threads posts, they're never usually heard from again on the site. Maybe capture some of these posts if the current topic is stagnant and not drawing enough debate. Same with the comments that are made once the post has been published.

I say yes to competitions and also try to see how we can organise some online games against each other. As you can tell in the PSP section, I've been pretty unsuccessful :p.

I'd also like to make a suggestion of putting all of the Loose Threads posts in their own section on the forum. That way I don't have to hop around looking for the current one.

I think that'll do as a starter

[SetsFireToPoshHammer]

I'd obviously like to see more people posting too and I think competitions are a good way to do that, so long as they are reasonably original.

I'd second the point about covering more topics in each loose Threads, but to be fair, there are often few other active threads to speak of.

[Accelorata Jengold]

Agree with all above points.

I'd also like to hear more from both the admins and the PG writers. Come on PG, show us you care about us forum denizens

I know it's tough getting people to comment on pocket gaming, but if any site deserves it, it's this one.

One last thing - any chance of a 'Tell us what Pokemons you have' Loose Threads sometime?

[HiddenAway]

Something just hit me. How about a general forum for announcements on all gaming platforms?

[danskmacabre]

I thought I'd dig this thread up and answer in it.

So what would you like to see?
Are there any topics we have skipped over that need to make an appearance?

I reckon a discussion about Piracy and realistic ways of reducing it would be a hot topic.

Would you be interested in competitions?

Oh yeah I love competitions, they are fun.
But lots of competitions of small prizes rather than a few big comps.
I bet you get lots of pointless stuff, promotions etc you could fob off in competitions.

What do you think of the format of the Loose Threads feature?

Yeah it's mostly good, but a button on the front page that points to a directory of all loose threads would be nice.

Is the way the forum is organized easy to use?

The new forum software is far superior than the old forum. yay!

What do you think of forum participation?
Would you like to hear more from the admin?

Not many regulars, but it takes time to generate a community.
More Admin involvement or promoting some of the regulars to mods to kick things into action helps.
If newcomers see lot of activity, they are more likely to stay.
If a newcomer posts and doesn't get an answer for days (or even aknowledgement), they are a lot less likely to stay.
There needs to be someone ( or people) who spend an hour a day scanning the forums and keeping it alive or it simply won't get any busier (or it will take AGES) I reckon.

[Fenrir]

Is there anyway we could have a Loose Threads thread instead of it just being posted inside whichever relevant platform category? It makes it a bit hard to find the latest one as the forum link in the article on your site just points to the Forums generally (not specific posts). Not saying to not have them in the platform threads but maybe it's own dedicated one would make it easier to find! If there is something like this feel free to point me in it's direction...I'm new but couldn't see anything like that.

[Fraser]

Hi Fenrir,

It's certainly not a bad idea, I'll put it in the melting pot with the other suggestions.

Just out of interest, if we did limit the Loose Threads topics to their own section, would you all still make good use of the rest of the forum?

[Fenrir]

Thanks Fraser - I also saw the last one now has a direct link to the forum post which is great!

I don't think it'd stop people browsing and posting in the rest of the forum though but can see why you'd want people to be entering those areas rather than just contributing to loose threads alone. I know people dislike dual posting but you could always have a Loose Threads section and cross post it to the releavant platform area too. But that might be a bit much I guess

[danskmacabre]

If you're worried about people not browing the rest of the forum if you create a loose threads forum, why not create a new block on the front page which contains only loose thread posts.
Then each loose thread post could still be in individual forums, but they are still accessible to everyone from one place.

It'd also give your forum more visibility from the front page.