Are you happy with GL's activity?

A thread inspired by a little piece of conversation in the Liverpool section (the Community thread).

It's my perception that Goal Legacy has been going downhill for a while. It's natural that some members drop out of an internet forum, but we haven't been getting enough new, active members to compensate for that loss.

Or what do you think? Is your club's section doing well enough, in your opinion? Has it been more active in the past or has its activity maybe increased?

The Liverpool section was quite nicely active last season, but it's only about half a dozen actively contributing members now. I could be wrong, but I think the General section is less active, too, than what it used to be.

On the other hand GL has a very strong core of members who will surely stick together for years.

But what do you think of Goal Legacy's current state? Are you happy with it? Should we try to get more members or not? Should we consider re-designing the forum at some point or keep it as it is? Also, if you're a lurker reading this, your thoughts on what you like and dislike about the forum would be appreciated.

Chelsea section is confirmed GOAT section of GL

i would personally like to see a larger variety of posters, we have plenty of barca/madrid/chelsea/arsenal fans how about the atletico's/spurs etc etc..

Well, I have the impression that a lot of people who support the Bundesliga have been driven away due to lots of negative posts about it and belittling it etc. (i.e. constant calling it Bayernleague, then calling Bayern names, too etc). If the climate is more or less mainly negative about things, it is pretty much logical that people would look for more agreeable shores.

Art Morte wrote:Or what do you think? Is your club's section doing well enough, in your opinion? Has it been more active in the past or has its activity maybe increased?

The Chelsea section is booming imo
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Art Morte wrote:On the other hand GL has a very strong core of members who will surely stick together for years.

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For me, this is the biggest strength of this place. Though it mightn't be the politically correct thing to say, I feel that while new members coming in on the regular may appeal on its face, it also threatens to dilute the sort of close-knit coterie I'd like to think the lot of us make up more or less. That's certainly not to say new members coming in, as a matter of necessity, is a negative thing by any means (look at what a great addition Robes has been, for example — not to mention the fact that the majority of us ourselves were each 'new members' at one point), but having newcomers flooding into the site en masse and scores of users you scarcely even know as is the norm with some of the club-specific forums across the board out there (Bluemoon, ShedEnd, Redcafe, RAWK, etc.) isn't really something I, or a great number of our fellow members I suspect, would like to see, and the absence of that here is what sets GL apart from (and imo above) the rest for us, I think.
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Art Morte wrote:But what do you think of Goal Legacy's current state? Are you happy with it? Should we try to get more members or not? Should we consider re-designing the forum at some point or keep it as it is?

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Visually speaking, I don't this place could be any better. Minor [periodic] renovations such as background and banner changes may alter the look of the forum one way or the other temporarily (which is all subjective and varying from person to person, of course), but on the whole, I'd defy anyone to find a forum more appealing aesthetically than this one. The banner and background, as already mentioned, as well as avatars, sigs, club badges indicating your affiliation, flags denoting your nationality/location, and so on and so on.

rwo power wrote:Well, I have the impression that a lot of people who support the Bundesliga have been driven away due to lots of negative posts about it and belittling it etc. (i.e. constant calling it Bayernleague, then calling Bayern names, too etc). If the climate is more or less mainly negative about things, it is pretty much logical that people would look for more agreeable shores.

Perhaps the persecution complexes of some users plays a part in it as well....
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rwo power wrote:Well, I have the impression that a lot of people who support the Bundesliga have been driven away due to lots of negative posts about it and belittling it etc. (i.e. constant calling it Bayernleague, then calling Bayern names, too etc). If the climate is more or less mainly negative about things, it is pretty much logical that people would look for more agreeable shores.

If this means it attracts humorous people like Hans who can take a bit of "Buyern" and "Bundesfodder" instead of people who feel insulted by such banalities then all the better. Such banter is part of the community for me and to be fair everyone is at the receiving end of it ("Lol Liga, Mule League, Serie ZzzzZzZ"). Actually one of the greatest things about GL is how civil it is between rival club/NT fans. There is almost 0 serious, childish catfights which ends in personal insults (check out "Messi vs. Ronaldo" debates on Barcaforum or even Redcafe ) and the few "DMzema vs. any other much better CF" and jiopsi's "why Messi could cure cancer based on OPTA Stats' successful dribbles per 90 minutes and why GELnaldo couldn't even cure a cold" dicussions are GL classics by now more than real disputes.

Well, it definitely drove at least three gals away whom I tried to get into GL.

rwo power wrote:three gals

... so what I really wanted to say is that Goallegacy should be renamed Bundeslegacy and "Bundesfodder", "Buyern" etc. punished with temp bans. That's unacceptable behaviour.

Fussball

@Shed: By re-designing I didn't mean the visual design, I think GL is very pleasant on the eye, but something like instead of having club sections, we could just have league sections which would gather the fans of that league in there (if there are not enough members in club sections to keep them alive). Yet that has its downsides, too.

You either die a lurker or live long enough to see yourself become a poster

A lot of it is also down to personal circumstances and responsibilities. Two years ago, I would spend HOURS on here, from the moment I woke up to the moment i went to sleep, almost everyday. Now, I have a son to look after and have more hours at work to fulfill, so my time on here has been severely curtailed to the odd couple of minutes whenever I can

rwo power wrote:Well, it definitely drove at least three gals away whom I tried to get into GL.

I wouldn't want to be part of a forum that's dominated by people who can't take a bit of stick, better without them. Part of the reason the Chelsea section is so successful is that I can remind Shed that he's an overrated pos on a regular basis but he knows (thinks) I'm just joking and we enjoy the banter.

Anyway I agree with what shed said in this thread, one of the best things about GL is the close knit-ness of it, some of the posters here have had a huge impact on me personally and a big reason that's occurred is due to the low member count

Quality>quantity

fatman123 wrote:I wouldn't want to be part of a forum that's dominated by people who can't take a bit of stick, better without them.

Amen
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fatman123 wrote:Anyway I agree with what shed said in this thread, one of the best things about GL is the close knit-ness of it, some of the posters here have had a huge impact on me personally and a big reason that's occurred is due to the low member count

Amen

fatman123 wrote:Quality>quantity

Amen

fatman123 wrote:I can remind Shed that he's an overrated pos on a regular basis but he knows (thinks) I'm just joking

F U, pos
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I love the activity tbh. The whole group on here is very close and that's really what sets this place apart.

If an outsider wanted to sign up, they would get lost in all our inside jokes and such.

Shed wrote:

fatman123 wrote:I can remind Shed that he's an overrated pos on a regular basis but he knows (thinks) I'm just joking

F U, pos
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pls go scrub

rwo power wrote:Well, it definitely drove at least three gals away whom I tried to get into GL.

A part of me died after reading this.

Lex wrote:A lot of it is also down to personal circumstances and responsibilities. Two years ago, I would spend HOURS on here, from the moment I woke up to the moment i went to sleep, almost everyday. Now, I have a son to look after and have more hours at work to fulfill, so my time on here has been severely curtailed to the odd couple of minutes whenever I can

I think this is what is going on - the current userbase is becoming older and thus has more responsibilities and less time to post. Without a steady inflow of new posters activity drops. That being said there are new users that find their way here, many of them very good, just not enough to make up for the decline in posting.

I enjoy the "personality" of the forum and its posters mostly. An example would be the subtle nuances of the posters. Gil's constant flip flopping and double standards, Mole's Newcastle banter and hipster lifestyle, Hans' lighthearted take on things even with Bayern, Rwo's (weird) fascination with goal keepers (pretty sure she talked about that but I wasn't around), Dani's prissy way of talking when he lost his patience, Lex and Futbol's sense of humour, Izzy's serious demeanor, just to name a few.

While many forums offer something very much similar, I prefer this one. The views can be polarising and agreeable all at the same time. Speaking of which, I've seen posters say stuff like "only on GL" and I always wonder why would anyone say that. The amount of madness that tend to be written on other forums is insane.

Anyway, I agree with Shed in that there's nothing much the admin can do with this forum as it's pretty good as is. TL;DR, I'm happy how it is honestly...

BarrileteCosmico wrote:

Lex wrote:A lot of it is also down to personal circumstances and responsibilities. Two years ago, I would spend HOURS on here, from the moment I woke up to the moment i went to sleep, almost everyday. Now, I have a son to look after and have more hours at work to fulfill, so my time on here has been severely curtailed to the odd couple of minutes whenever I can

I think this is what is going on - the current userbase is becoming older and thus has more responsibilities and less time to post. Without a steady inflow of new posters activity drops. That being said there are new users that find their way here, many of them very good, just not enough to make up for the decline in posting.

Very much agreed, i'm in my 3rd year of uni and i can't post as much as i did in 2012-13, my academics have taken priority right now. I try to find time whenever i can, but i haven't been participating consistently as much as i'd like to.

I logged in just a year ago and I am still here and I write daily although the english language isn't my language (and generally it's difficult for an italian communicating with another language more than others,we study it not much even at school . probably also  for this no italian users here except me ) .
I changed sundry forums during these years why I didn't like it or I didn't feel good , instead here I felt as being at home immediately tbh.
I like much GL so yes I am happy about it,  for  users ( even juve fans look different to me than in italy ... and I think you can find an user also by Singapore here . An international forum :  ) , design , quality etc
I don't complain . for example I don't feel the "need" to increase number of users, i think it's an activy forum, I notice when I log in on "members"  logged every day..
About my section , yes , the only "defect" in my eyes on GL is that there are very few Inter fans here ( I had to log in in previous years ffs I mean it's normal there are more EPL fans in an English forum , but it's strange for me this great difference with Milanisti , probably why I am used to Italy where i't s same number basically, or even being same or less than Romanisti )  but of course it is NOT a problem for me

Doc wrote:Rwo's (weird) fascination with goal keepers (pretty sure she talked about that but I wasn't around),

What's weirder about this than so many other people fawning about strikers?

BarrileteCosmico wrote:

Lex wrote:A lot of it is also down to personal circumstances and responsibilities. Two years ago, I would spend HOURS on here, from the moment I woke up to the moment i went to sleep, almost everyday. Now, I have a son to look after and have more hours at work to fulfill, so my time on here has been severely curtailed to the odd couple of minutes whenever I can

I think this is what is going on - the current userbase is becoming older and thus has more responsibilities and less time to post. Without a steady inflow of new posters activity drops. That being said there are new users that find their way here, many of them very good, just not enough to make up for the decline in posting.

Yep Most of it is down to this.

I mentioned this in the liverpool section and I'll say it for the mass in here. The activity is normally pretty low during the start of the new academic year. Always has been, but this year it is far worse than normal. And most of it is down to the reason BC and Lex mentioned.

2 years ago, people were either in early higher education or were not working full time. There is a lot more time to spend in those situation. But then people started working full time or are in their final years so the time constraints is higher. It's not like people have left. 400+ people have signed-in in the last 4 days but only 50 posted. Those who are busy have resorted to just lurking but they are still here. For example Moto and Lex were on every day but both became parents and have extra responsibilities. So we know that the activity isn't as high as it used to be but it's really understandable why it isn't. And there is nothing to do about that. Obviously this doesn't apply to me since I consider this as my 2nd home

As an Admin, I can now say that we predicted this about a year ago or before. There was a time where we had to decide between taking this forum into the category of redcafe, rawk etc or we can just be happy with what we have. I think reading the posts in here, most would say that the latter was and still is a better option. Everyone in GL know each other. Even if someone new joins, they get integrated very quickly. If 200 joins in a week, then that would be impossible. Honestly we are happy with how the forum is. I don't think GL will ever be dead. This forum often reminds me of how skype, facebook, twitter operates. People will all be here as long as their friends are here. It's a closely knit community and that lasts for quite a while.

I am really happy people see it the same way.

Having the same group of users for 3 years, with the same gimmicks and traits eventually gets stale. It just gets repetitive discussing the same things in the same way year after year. It's not just down to regular users being busy. One of the biggest problems with GL is there's no serious debates. People just don't want to disagree with each other. How many of the top 10-20 posters actually debate with each other in serious way on here?

Best way to improve would be try and get an influx of new users to freshen things up. Make things more serious and maybe start a new section where people can follow smaller teams and discuss the players etc.

I'll email them MT.