My two cents on the state of Sythe.org

This.

My fear is that if Runescape was to go down we would find ourselves as a community in a bad spot with a huge portion of our membership missing. As demand for the game goes down so does demand for the black market from Sythe.

We should be prepared for the if ever possible failure of Runescape/Jagex.

 

Runescape won't die anytime soon, no need for urgency.

I just feel like the bond between sythe and runescape needs to be split amongst other games, so it actually feels like a real blackmarket for all games. But because there are so many users who don't play these other games, the interest isn't there. The only way to make this all work is to gain members from other gaming communities.

 

Id suggest Wildstar. That game is going to be unreal!!!

 

I'm not entirely suggesting that there is any urgency in the near future, just suggesting that we should begin placing eggs in other baskets as well to try and draw more members.

 

My input on the staff. I honestly don't see why everyone thinks the staff needs an overhaul. One of the contributing factors as to why I resigned was because shit was getting done and I had to priorities some things in my life; for like that whole month up until before I resigned there was no problem what so ever with scam and spam reports not being done #roary #ame. My personal opinion is that you can never have too many trusted staff members. Kicking out someone who may not do as much anymore to make room for new blood doesn't make sense in my mind (the more the merrier assuming they still make contributions).

 

The ranks need overhauling if we're gonna move away from being RuneScape centered.

 

Was going to make a thread on this primarily. Donation ranks especially, at least have 2-3 options for your rank images for a certain donation amount that aren't runescape related.

 

Same here, the staff is completely fine. Pretty much the same reason I resigned. The GFX section can be taken care of in a matter of minutes really, there isn't an actual need for a lone gfx mod for the section as of now. Overall, the status of staff is definitely okay.

 

This would be a step in the right direction

 

Honestly what I'd like to see is more suggestions for new topics for games that are coming out. Who cares if they fail, it's always been my personal view that if a new game is coming out, we should throw out a section and try our best to get that game popular on Sythe.

Also, I've been strongly considering suggesting that we get ourselves a LoL Sectional Mod, I think it would be very useful.

 

Thats a good idea Dave, but haven't we already tried that with PokeMMO and Path of Exile? It didnt seem to work.

Pretty sure LoL is one of the biggest sections, i feel it needs a moderator tbh.

 

I'd like to see the search function re-added.

 

Seriously, if we can't even maintain BASIC features, then how can we grow as a forum.

Yes, it brings some form of lag, deal with it somehow, heavily cache results, set flexible limits on searching. Hell you could completely re-code it if it's that bad, in a language like C, which PHP could call and get results from. Anything but disabling it altogether.

 

Yea it would be nice to see search come back, it's been disabled for so long.

 

Sythe possesses a unique atmosphere of regulated casual chat and trading. If there were slight improvements in both directions then I believe this could become one of the most welcoming and therefore active gaming forums on the web. In terms of the utility of the site, the rank and mini-rank system are superb. Customization to one's profile in terms of user titles and images are great. These special features are unique to Sythe and they should be used as often as possible by the community. The Halloween 2013 event was an awesome idea, and more events like this will only help with member retention and interaction. I had almost no interest in referrals prior to October 25th, but the referrals contest gave me some incentive to actively look for new people interested in joining a solid gaming community.

But the search bar has to come back as it's a basic feature that many new registrants would be turned off by once they see it doesn't work. In terms of trading, an adequate feedback system a few steps above a simple vouch thread would benefit trading heavily. It might take some work (coders, this means you!) but designing a unique and integrated system for feedback would be the cherry on top of this already bustling economy on Sythe.

Sythe can remain Runescape-centric but it doesn't mean that new sections should be condemned. In all honesty most of the Runescape community who ever planned on joining Sythe are already here. To increase membership the only solution is to expand. Starting with large titles such as League of Legends (which you guys implemented last year, thank you!) and continuing with other massive games that have the potential for both player discussion and trading will be beneficial to the site. Hearthstone is an up and coming monster that definitely deserves its own section.


EDIT: Speaking of referrals, maybe a monthly leaderboard for referrals which resets on the 1st of every month?? And maybe some support for referrals so a user can see exactly who they've referred (links to the new registrants' profiles as well as backlinks from the referred user's profile to their referrer's page).

 

Add another game in as an equivalent to our runescape market. I don't know what this could be WoW for example.

 

I agree with some of your points. A site overhaul would be nice, a new look, a new leece of life. A new Sythe.

You wouldn't have to drop Runescape, there are after all still a lot of trades going on for Runescape, but here we're all set up in the market. The majority of traders who RWT know of Sythe. Unfortunately I no longer think having Runescape as the main focus is the answer anymore.

What could take it's place? Well, first and foremost, what is being played? LoL without a doubt is massive, but is the RWT aspect of that as good as Runescape? In my opinion - No. It's just skins & accounts, which are good don't get me wrong and will pass Runescape without long I would have thought, but not enough to be the main feature of the site. What about Hearthstone? If we get a decent section up and running, which I believe it is going along nicely, when this launches it could be a goldmine. You HAVE to spend to get better, like the Fifa Ultimate team market...

... Which leads me on to Next Gen, why don't we really push this? Could be huge. CoD boosting, Fifa Coins, Forza race wins, discussion forums, places to find people to play only with just for fun. Lets get the Console gaming section active.

If we all refer 1 person, literally ONE who we think would remain active that would be a huge help.

I for one don't want to see Sythe die. The least we can do is give it a good go.

 

That's why Hearthstone was implemented. It's already a big game and is on closed beta.

 

Elderscrolls Online will be a good choice. It's already backed by Skyrim which is massive.

Why don't we have a large WoW presence?

 

eso really isn't a good game right now. wildstar on the other hand has been in development for a while now and the following is progressively increasing. im trying to not get my hopes up to high because the last 3 mmos i highly anticipated were inevitable failures in the long run.

apart from that, im looking for community involvement in sythe. been searching for a good forum where people participate and so far its pre good.