Hexus.community: where's it heading?

[pauldarkside]

Browsing the Hexus forums, as I do practically every day, I stumbled across this little gem; Final Fantasy III DS Friend Codes.

I'm all for seeing new members appearing and contributing to our community but when a thread decends into multiple pages of one post wonders, I have to question its value; it doesn't encourage people to hang around after they've posted; there's not even a discussion.

I feel the same can be said for the Hexus competitions. Not wanting to sound ungrateful as I've won a few myself but even the new entry form does little to encourage further participation as it now includes the line "Please tick here if you would like to receive info on new HEXUS.winners competitions via e-mail". Might as well add people's entries automagically for all the good it's doing to the community.

/rant.

[kalniel]

I think you have to look at what the thread is purporting to be about. Some threads really are suited to short, one post replies, such as the one you mention - there's simply not much discussion you can have about posting a friend code!

But if Hexus became only about those kind of threads I could understand where you're coming from, thankfully the vast majority of threads seem to be much better, so I don't think there's much of a problem - variety is good.

Competitions.. I'm not really sure what they're about anyway - they just seem to happen and then we don't hear anything more about them. Definite opportunity missed.

[abaxas]

The amount of language has nothing to do with it's quality

[Jay]

I think there have been a lot of spammers about recently, I think the core Hexus community is still looking good though

[pauldarkside]

I think you have to look at what the thread is purporting to be about. Some threads really are suited to short, one post replies, such as the one you mention - there's simply not much discussion you can have about posting a friend code!

So, for example, having a thread with multiple pages of people joining purely to post "ooh add me" only for them never to be seen on here again is okay? If the thread had been for those who actually are members, those that join and stick around, I'd understand but since it's full of "randoms", what's the point?

It just hacks me off when I keep seeing one post wonders trying to get something for nothing.

[kalniel]

So, for example, having a thread with multiple pages of people joining purely to post "ooh add me" only for them never to be seen on here again is okay? If the thread had been for those who actually are members, those that join and stick around, I'd understand but since it's full of "randoms", what's the point?

I agree that it's not adding anything to the community, but does every single thread absolutely have to? We have loads of silly threads from established forum members that are no better.

Again you have to look at the nature of the thread - in the case of friend codes most people are looking for others to play with - randoms included. I don't see anything wrong with Hexus becoming an informal resource for such things, just as many gaming related forums are. In the case of the silly threads it's just to blow off a bit of steam and waste some time. Best thing is that we have a choice of threads to read and we can ignore ones that don't fit what we want, as long as they are sufficiently few in number as to not get in the way of our Hexus enjoyment.

I got annoyed when there were about 10 'favourite game of 2009' type threads full of people just posting the same thing in multiple threads, but that's only because there were so many of them that were so similar

[Rob_B]

We can choose to ignore the post like the friend codes one so no biggy for me, I do however think comps should only be open to members, perhaps a minimum post count?

[menthel]

We can choose to ignore the post like the friend codes one so no biggy for me, I do however think comps should only be open to members, perhaps a minimum post count?

I think that may defeat the point! The comps are here to pull in new people to the hexus site- ie the reviews etc to make money so that the whole show is kept on the road!

[mycarsavw]

So, for example, having a thread with multiple pages of people joining purely to post "ooh add me" only for them never to be seen on here again is okay? If the thread had been for those who actually are members, those that join and stick around, I'd understand but since it's full of "randoms", what's the point?

It just hacks me off when I keep seeing one post wonders trying to get something for nothing.

Most "randoms" use those sort of threads to achieve the much lauded 20 Posts for Free Shipping. The larger than normal influx of new members is probably down to other forums requiring their users to spend £75+ with Scan in order to qualify.

The Steam/xfire/friend codes threads only really become useful when the people joining stay around in the forums to know who it is they're adding.

[Rob_B]

I think that may defeat the point! The comps are here to pull in new people to the hexus site- ie the reviews etc to make money so that the whole show is kept on the road!

So make them register to enter, most other sites do

[jim]

So, for example, having a thread with multiple pages of people joining purely to post "ooh add me" only for them never to be seen on here again is okay? If the thread had been for those who actually are members, those that join and stick around, I'd understand but since it's full of "randoms", what's the point?

It just hacks me off when I keep seeing one post wonders trying to get something for nothing.

I think that thread might be fairly unique - if you look at some of the posters they want to get some kind of "achievement". I'm wondering if maybe a lot of them signed up just to get their name on the list, to potentially get 100 DS friends and meet some weird requirement for an "achievement". Could be wrong, it's just an educated guess.

You'll always get people who appear and then disappear - maybe they find that they just aren't that interested. But then every so often people join up and stay - me (effectively) and scaryjim both joined up in January 2009 and stayed, and then other people leave. The only thing that bothers me about Hexus is the Scan minimum 20 posts requirement - you get so much spam and ridiculous thread revivals as a direct result. But you can't have it both ways - too low, and people spam their way to it. Too high, and nobody can be bothered to reach it, so it's a perk to current members, not an incentive to outsiders.

Some of the best discussion forums are closed to outsiders - you have to post in a holding forum until you prove you've got common sense, and then you're promoted to being a fully-fledged member. But in doing that you will put a massive number of people off signing up. For discussion forums which exist purely for discussion, that's fine - for Hexus, where every forum member is earning them money to pay off their bills, it's another story.

[jim]

So make them register to enter, most other sites do

To be honest I reckon you'd just end up with half as many entrants and a massive number of people registered on the forums who don't actually post.

At the end of the day I don't think that getting people onto the forums is of *particular* interest to Hexus. If people enter competitions, and keep coming back to read the reviews, then that's fine - they're earning Hexus money. Whether they join the forums or not is probably inconsequential, especially if you're risking scaring them off by encouraging them to sign up for the forums.

[[GSV]Trig]

I feel the same can be said for the Hexus competitions. Not wanting to sound ungrateful as I've won a few myself but even the new entry form does little to encourage further participation as it now includes the line "Please tick here if you would like to receive info on new HEXUS.winners competitions via e-mail". Might as well add people's entries automagically for all the good it's doing to the community.

/rant.

You've won a few?!
What you win, I havent won anything yet...

It's a fix I tell thee

[pauldarkside]

me (effectively) and scaryjim both joined up in January 2009 and stayed, and then other people leave.

I've often wondered about you "pair", you've not got a multiple personality disorder by any chance?

You've won a few?!
What you win, I havent won anything yet...

It's a fix I tell thee

Oh, a couple of games and a sound card. It's no fix but I couldn't sit down for a week

...

Yes I realise I can choose to ignore posts or even entire threads, etc but I could easily miss something insightful or thought provoking if I did. Perhaps the garbage needs clearing out once in a while?

I guess I can't have it both ways; an open, inviting forum without leeches.

[jim]

I've often wondered about you "pair", you've not got a multiple personality disorder by any chance?

I hope not, or else I sold myself a hard drive and then posted it to myself as well .

[pauldarkside]

I hope not, or else I sold myself a hard drive and then posted it to myself as well .

If you start making soap, I'd be very concerned