DZComposer Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I was thinking about the Star Fox fanbase recently, and with the official death of Arwing Landing (though the community had been essentially dead for a while), I think SF-O is the only full Star Fox fansite left. Honestly, that's kind of sad. So many great sites. Starfox.org. Lylat.net. OTG (site still exists, but forums are gone). Starwing HQ. The original SF-O. And now ArwingLanding. Even SF-O.net is feeling the times. Far less activity than the site had during its heyday circa 2010. Hopefully SFZ will breathe some new life into this fanbase. We need some new blood in our ranks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arminius H O Fiddywinks Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Conscription perhaps? Maybe reenacting the Draft? In all seriousness, I am worried that SF-O will go the way of the other sites. Let's hope not, though. But I do wonder if the people at Nintendo actually notice these fanbases and their slow decay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drasiana Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I don't think this is necessarily a sign of the Star Fox fandom TRULY DYING, but the increasing unpopularity of forums as fandom spaces. People nowadays seem to gravitate more to broader social networks like Tumblr, Reddit, and even Facebook pages to discuss their interests. There are several reasons for this: broader social networks are more accessible (beats having to go through the reg process for every fan forum you find) and have tools that make it easier to reach a wider audience. It's less awkward to post about Star Fox on your own blog and attract attention from people searching the tags than it is to barge in on a conversation with a bunch of forum friends that you've never met before (fan forums get really insular, especially for smaller fandoms). It's less effort to reblog some Star Fox fanart, then comment on your favourite band's latest song than it is to seek out two separate spaces for both those things. Forums are cool for small community cliques but the broader internet audience probably doesn't have the attention span to hang out in one. The people who are used to forums see this as the fandom rapidly losing interest and the impending death of the franchise as we know it but SFZ gifsets posted to Tumblr have gathered more reblogs than posts made here this year. There's plenty of interest. It's just the venues we use to discuss those interests have changed over the years. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoprimedonna Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 3 hours ago, DZComposer said: I was thinking about the Star Fox fanbase recently, and with the official death of Arwing Landing (though the community had been essentially dead for a while), I think SF-O is the only full Star Fox fansite left. Honestly, that's kind of sad. So many great sites. Starfox.org. Lylat.net. OTG (site still exists, but forums are gone). Starwing HQ. The original SF-O. And now ArwingLanding. Even SF-O.net is feeling the times. Far less activity than the site had during its heyday circa 2010. Hopefully SFZ will breathe some new life into this fanbase. We need some new blood in our ranks. OTG came back this year after going hiatus. Now we have no AL (didn't see that comming!). Well, we always have this:http://web.archive.org/web/20071110065912/http://www.arwinglanding.net/gallery/ I guess this is a natural trek any fandom has, especially after SFXC. And I don't put faith in SFXZ, since it will probably a Sonic Boom of a game (not being a pessimist, though... Just being honest). By the time I have a family, maybe Starfox will be just another Q*Bert or Alex Kidd, a very misunderstood one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drasiana Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 ah yes, I know how to encourage people to join sfo: constantly talk about how much sfz will suck for really unclear, flimsy reasons 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrypticQuery Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 It's a shame that the other notable sites have come and gone, but the fact that SF-O has stood firm up until now (and hopefully into the foreseeable future) is certainly a good sign. Having excellent leadership and a fantastic userbase will do that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clearwater Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Early 2010's, twa's the days... I was chatting with Star_Dragon on Steam, and he was saying how Lylat Life (Small SF community he persuaded me to join) had so many members in 2013, only for most of them to drop out in 2014. Nowadays, we're only 7 or 8 members on that site, me included. But coming back to SF-O, while I agree that the heydays have long gone, I'm still glad we have lots of fellow members around this place. DZ, OneUnder, the admin and mod team... Dr.Orange, Hoobanana, Fedora, Geoprimedonna, me and many more are still around after all these years... Well, in the case of some members, some have been around longer than others. My point is, we're all still together to this day. Sure, members have dropped in and out, returned to us, left us forever for their own reasons... But the core family is still here. We all are. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellipzocore Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I am with Drasania on this one. I think social networking sites are the path of least resistance when it comes to a share of ideas. Why juggle all these different sites when you can communicate with your IRL friends AND share ideas with certain fanbases on just one site like Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecha-Katt Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Kind of reminds me on the german fansite 'Starfox-Fans'..and while the site itself still exists, the forum is long gone. Sad, really, it was one of my first forums I ever joined. And yes, I agree with Dras here as well. I see a lot of Star Fox content on tumblr and many fans of it. Perhaps one day that'll change again, as it often happens that 'old stuff' is cool again. Just like it is with 2D games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SF Redd Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I was going to read Farewell Beloved Falco on ArwingLanding the other day, only to find out it was down. I was pretty bummed. This site is strong right now though. It may not be as strong as it once was, but it's strong nevertheless; strong enough to survive. I for one love this series and this community too much to abandon this site, and I'm sure others agree with me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph. Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I Hope you read this DZ. I love this site but we simply need something that will attract fans other than a forum. Forms are a dime a dozen & are mainly for socializing or asking questions but not every fan are into those things. Actually, before i became a member i would go to Star Fox Wiki to learn more on the series and I would also come here (back in 09) to listen to SF music. Those were my interest (Learning & Music) If I were to come here today for the first time I would leave because i wouldn't know where to find what I'm interested in & nether would i ask anyone for help since i had no interest in forums (Also there's no point in asking for help since i could just go to You Tube to hear music & avoid the hassle) If you make the things that fans are interested in more accessible or easy to find (Such as: Comics, Music, Series information, Fan Art catalog, etc.) then fans will gladly stay & maybe over time they will join the forums just like i did. EDIT: Like Dras said, Social Media has a lot of SF fans but the question is how do I attract those users to my site? Fans go to tumblr mostly for Art. Fans go to Facebook for news & other information. Fans go to SF Wiki to learn & to discover more about the series. SFO is basically the only SF fan site left so maybe things can be more user friendly. Im sure tumblr & facebook users aren't use to this navigation layout or at least won't bother to learn how to use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Krystal Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 You're not the only one left. The Krystal Archive is as active as ever. I know I'm staying busy, and I can promise that my site is never going away. I will continue to post Krystal and Star Fox stuff for as long as I can. If I ever have to stop, the site will remain online as an archive. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Ain't Falco Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 ArwingPedia is still up, I believe. I don't have much need for it anymore, it is good, though. We definitely will experience user influx with SF0, however. Let's not consider ourselves the sole survivor of an apocalypse, but the shining beacon of a fandom forgotten. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Orange Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Y'know I'm going to be the positive guy here and say: It may be slow but we're not doing, in anyway shape or form, bad. We get a nice constant stream of users and generally 1 in every like 12 actually stays. But I'll agree with Dras and Joseph in saying that we need some excitement or more content(?) to really reel people in. Or some kind of advertising. I mean I only found this site from looking up Krystal (guess the rest) back in '09. Also if more people HELPED OUT WITH THE ARTICLE WRITING THAT WOULD ADD A LOT OF CONTENT TO THE SITE HINT HINT In all reality, SFO at the moment is nice, calm and active all together. See what happens after SFZ is dropped. My guess is it's going to be more lively around here, maybe not to the good sense, who knows, and if that's the case like maybe we could put more pictures up or make it more user friendly in terms of sharing art or music or fan stuff. People like to talk about themselves. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unoservix Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 On 12/14/2015 at 0:59 PM, Drasiana said: Forums are cool for small community cliques but the broader internet audience probably doesn't have the attention span to hang out in one. not to mention you don't have to pay server costs and whatnot to keep a tumblr blog going. less time spent on the overhead means more time on the actual content. and even if you can afford it, well, tumblr is still free... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drasiana Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 5 hours ago, Dr. Orange said: But I'll agree with Dras and Joseph in saying that we need some excitement or more content(?) to really real people in. I more meant that the actual technical setup of a forum is more of a deterrent than anything actually found in the forums. I don't really think there's much anyone can do about that, it's just the way that the internet has evolved recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clearwater Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 8 hours ago, Dr. Orange said: But I'll agree with Dras and Joseph in saying that we need some excitement or more content(?) to really real people in. Such as bringing back the TF2 gamenights, I presume? Yeah, such a shame that DZ let them go. I dream of us being able to get them back one day. TF2 always brings a lotta players and members together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoo Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I never got to play on that TF2 server. If we somehow got enough money to keep it running, that would be pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellipzocore Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 43 minutes ago, Hoobanana said: I never got to play on that TF2 server. If we somehow got enough money to keep it running, that would be pretty cool. I'd pitch in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DZComposer Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 Content is something I am working on, but it is slow going. I have two weeks off for the holiday, so I will try to get a lot of SF-O stuff done. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I will have to do everything myself given that my efforts to encourage community involvement in creating site content always end up going nowhere. My current priority is getting the custom theme done. It's been a lot slower going than I want to be, mainly because I'm not sure I like the theme as it is at this point but I don't know what to do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellipzocore Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 What don't you like about the theme? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Darnell Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Been here since 2013, thats when i remember there being alot more people coming on here and there. Now those people are very rarely seen, moved on from the site. Now granted I forget about this site from time to time but I still remember it. I hope that we do not follow the other wonderful sites path's, and like someone said (very lazy and doesnt want to scroll up.) hopefully a new game will breathe new life into this fandom, who we then can expose to the old games and all that good stiff. ^X^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph. Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 12 hours ago, DZComposer said: Content is something I am working on, but it is slow going. I have two weeks off for the holiday, so I will try to get a lot of SF-O stuff done. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I will have to do everything myself given that my efforts to encourage community involvement in creating site content always end up going nowhere. My current priority is getting the custom theme done. It's been a lot slower going than I want to be, mainly because I'm not sure I like the theme as it is at this point but I don't know what to do with it. This site actually does have a lot of content but its not as simple to find & its not user friendly. I recommend you organize the navigation first before working on the site's theme. For example have icons that represent forums, comics, booklet scans, fan art, music, and sound effects on the top part of the website where "SFO, Community, & All Activity" are found. Instead of having to choose gallery under the category of "Star Fox Online", it should just be in plain site. Same thing with the wiki you're working on. Things that should be under a category should be blogs, calendar, and staff, but not actual content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Darnell Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 7 hours ago, Joseph. said: This site actually does have a lot of content but its not as simple to find & its not user friendly. I recommend you organize the navigation first before working on the site's theme. For example have icons that represent forums, comics, booklet scans, fan art, music, and sound effects on the top part of the website where "SFO, Community, & All Activity" are found. Instead of having to choose gallery under the category of "Star Fox Online", it should just be in plain site. Same thing with the wiki you're working on. Things that should be under a category should be blogs, calendar, and staff, but not actual content. The site does need work with its navigation definitely, like I remember logging in four years ago, seeing that red color contrasted by the blank space (literal stars and all) behind it. Although it had the forums in one place and easy to find as ya went down, which they still are but it includes a few more extra clicks. The tabs could be useful, taking some getting used to but still the old site was a bit easier because everything was there in your face up at the top of the page. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DZComposer Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 I am open to suggestions concerning navigation, but please keep in mind that I am somewhat limited in what I can do. I can't put every single content category on the main navigation menu. There just isn't enough room. If I put more than 5 or 6 items up there, there would be issues with lower-resolution screens. There is a thread for navigation suggestions here: http://www.starfox-online.net/forums/topic/13045-menu-structure/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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