Revive Ranch Story Options

[Oscar]

So, I'm sure we've all noticed that RS has been pretty inactive (or at least not as busy as other times).
I believe it might be a good idea to start brainstorming some ways we can help RS get back to its busy days. Maybe we could come up with some big event that members can participate in? Maybe we can think up ways to advertise? Thing is, we need more people to seriously provide ideas on whatever.

Again, serious ideas.

Or maybe you don't think we should do anything, because it just won't help?

[trinest]

I made some fake backgrounds and a fake front page, just to see what kind of stuff I could come up with. I think my graphic designing skills aren't that great. It's mainly to show the differences between what's already up here, and what an amateur can create with GIMP.
(IMG:http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/zz114/HSGisME123/rsbgFP.png)
(IMG:http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/zz114/HSGisME123/clouds.png)


ideas anyone? Graphic design contest is the best idea I have so far. and now my brain is empty.

I love the brush look. I think it is a direction people should consider when doing the graphics. However I'm not sure if as community the design should sway away from the official style of Harvest Moon to much? or maybe?

Then I can't do it. Hahh. I can't draw/do pixel art. :c

I'd recommend learning- or just mucking around for the heck of it. It's pretty funky. I love sprite based stuff, I feel as if they will always be different and give the artists "soul" into the work much more then 3D models or other types of graphics.

Blah, I agree we clean up the HM sections.

I agree, but more in general, the whole forums. I look down the forum page and it goes on pretty far. I imagine a new user who wouldn't know where to go would be even more lost.

I propose that all we need really are:

Billboard:-
- Announcements
- Empty Space
(I'm unsure as if we really need a whole section for the Wiki? Maybe a thread somewhere else?)

Ranch Story Events could also become just one section under the billboard or a thread somewhere. Its not really that populated, and I imagine offical events would be better used in the announcement section, and unoffical ones elsewhere?

Ranch Story Social:-
- Town Square
I also think we could remove the Polls, Forum Games and Matters of the Misguided or make one section for them. They are really "unprofessional" types of things, and community wise can usually get to messy.

- Mature Issues

- [Entertainment] - I feel as if we should cut this up and make it into either one forum section in the social area, or convert it to down to two which seperates other entertainment and video games. I doubt we really need a section for Nintendo and Pokemon, and while major pulling factors from the community, I feel as if they set an unfair distinction from what the forums are really about if we keep adding forums like that.

- [ Any Colour You Like] - Either stay in its current state, or merge both together and put it under the social section. While a good thing to have- we don't particuarly have a huge creative community. We can get by, but its really not a factor to the forums.

- Train Station [Harvest Moon]:-
I feel as if this needs cleaning up the most. I feel as if we should copy how http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/ aranges their Zelda stuff. In that they have it under the consoles, a general section and a future section, as well as handhelds been a seperate arangement. While we shouldn't do that 100%, we should look at how they arange their stuff and apply simular here.

As for special, I'm really not sure what it really supplies us a community- however I'm not against it staying, same as the Archives- I feel archives are an important factor in the forums life, and for reviewing past major events to the forums.

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As for the main site, I'm quite confused, what is the sites primary objective now- the site- or the wiki. I feel as that as a community we should decide if the main site really does anything which the Wiki doesn't and see why it doesn't and if it can be put into the Wiki. I feel that the Wiki should be the main center of the site along side the forums. As this site has been a community based site, rather than admins powering the content like other sites. I think that the sector that says otherwise- the main site, which lacks in content and links mostly to the wiki, should be eliminated. We should then consider how the Wiki can be set up to be useful to our members and semlessly intergrate through the forum and provide users once on the wiki a good ammount of information.