Do you like it here? :)

[SWard]

Hey folks,

Bug reports and spammers aside, I'm super interested to find out from our regulars what makes you stick around. This forum has been ticking on for a while and i'd really love some insight as to what makes this community, this community if that makes sense?

If you're able to answer a few questions, I'd love to know:

How did you find us?

What was your first post?

Why do you stick around?

What would you like to see in the future?

 

[mainer]

Yes, I do like it here, very much so. As to your questions:

-How did you find us?- While going through the PCG page, I don't remember if it was a specific article, or in the Discus section for an article, or just a link; but it was from the PCG site.

-What was your first post?- I think it was on your other post; "What was the first game you remember playing".

-Why do you stick around?- Because this is the best forum for gaming that I've ever been a part of. There's a core group of members, moderators, and staff that I find to be very open, and friendly. There is no negativity here. None. Even when someone disagrees, it's done respectfully. Do you know how rare that is on a gaming forum (well, you probably do know)? We all have varied interests in games and gaming, the topics cover a wide range of games and gaming issues; and spammers and trolls are hit with a big hammer in a timely manner.

-What would you like to see in the future?- TBD, just because I can't think of anything off the top of my head, though I may add to that later.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I'll follow @mainers format I guess I count as I was a member before I was a Mod.

How did you find us?

I check out the main sire fairly regularly and I noticed that there was a new forum.

What was your first post?

Had to do some scrolling back, It was in a thread about CRPG's

Why do you stick around?

I'd have to agree with Mainer, its a pretty chilled atmosphere compared to a lot of places.

What would you like to see in the future?

I'd like it if articles from the main site were posted to the forum officially so we could comment on them. I know theres already Disqus, but I'm not on their and I'm sure many other forums members arent either. Would be nice to be able to talk about them on here, and would give us all some more topics to talk about regularly too.

 

[Colif]

How did you find us?
I was informed they needed mods for a new forum

What was your first post?
First appears to be in forum feedback, first thread is in general gaming about sequelitis

Why do you stick around?
Something to do? I might be helpful here, no ones told me to go away yet (that I would listen to)

What would you like to see in the future?
More users

 

[Ryzengang]

How did you find us?
I found the forum via the main site.

What was your first post?
I don't recall.

Why do you stick around?
Even though they aren't frequented as much with the rise of social media, I strongly prefer forums. Social media tends to feature short-form discussions and more negative interactions. I prefer long-form discussions and I think that feeds into interactions overall. Expressing oneself in long form can often reduce the number of assumptions being made (because there is more information) and people are less likely to misinterpret things. While not perfect I think forums such as this one have dramatically lower toxicity than other popular media.

What would you like to see in the future?
Nothing I can think of in particular, but as @Colif mentioned, more users would be great, of course.

 

[Colif]

How to find first post -

• In left side panel under Find Threads
• Click on Threads with your posts.
• Go to last page

How to find first thread -

• In left side panel under Find Threads
• Click on Your Threads
• Go to last page

Just being helpful

 

[Colif]

i probably did buy PC Gamer as a magazine, I didn't think of that aspect until reading above. I had forgotten the dark times before the internet

 

[Zloth]

How did you find us?

It was mentioned in a PC Gamer article. (I think that goes for both board versions.)

What was your first post?

On this board? Third post in this topic (thanks Colif!). Naturally, it has a screen shot in it.

Why do you stick around?

Because it's a good place! The ability to put media in posts is top notch, too. I have never been able to get through so many screenshots before the hosting site shut the option down!

What would you like to see in the future?

No videos in the media section. You folks don't have the space to store them yourself, so they are always links to other sites. The posting software is great at linking other sites already, though, without bothering with the media section. So why allow them? Every video I've ever seen in the media section has been spam.

(It's an EXCELLENT place for hosting images, though!)

 

[Mazer]

How did you find us?

I check out the site pretty regularly, and when I saw the new forum I signed up immediately. I haven't been active on a forum since Facepunch Forums a few years back which had a lot of content outside of gaming, but I quit out of frustration with hearing the opinions of American teenagers. I do miss the swearing however, as I'm Australian and rely on a steady stream of F and C-words to express myself properly. Please add those in for yourself while reading this post.

What was your first post?

The forum says my first post was in a thread about Soul Calibur VI but I'm pretty sure it was actually in the thread for introducing yourself. First thread I created was asking about what demos people had played for an inordinate amount of time.

Why do you stick around?

I appreciate the focus on PC gaming, I don't have many gamer friends IRL, particularly PC gamers, so having people to discuss the finer points of ancient dos games is a godsend.

What would you like to see in the future?

More users would be good, we don't seem to get many people who stick around beyond posting oddly worded questions once and then disappearing. More old timers would be preferable as I just can't muster the energy to care about battle royale games.

 

[Brian Boru]

Good topic Stevie, should make interesting reading and feedback. The "Why do you stick around?" answers so far are great to see!

How did you find us?

Read the print mag since mid-90s, then the website for ~the last decade. Spotted the forum link last year, lurked a bit, liked what I saw, and joined. Forums have always been my preferred online interaction, so PCG forums: Live Long and Prosper!

What was your first post?

It was a couple of days after joining, first time I had something useful to contribute—yeah, I see you winding up that "Last time too" comment, shelve it!—as it was about digital distribution and marketing practices, which I am familiar with from business.

I think dropping titles out of nowhere is a good move.

Persona 4 Golden is being played by a ton of people. I honestly think its the element of surprise. What do you do when you see the trailer for a new game? Play it, right now. Persona 4 just dropping and being available I think really taps in the impulse buy. Instead of that immediate dopamine of...

forums.pcgamer.com

First thread was about forum function. It's a particularly fine thread, because all the posts are by me—likely to become a collector's item, maybe even a $1m NFT!

Solved - 'New Posts' since last visit

Is there a way for 'New Posts' to NOT also show older threads I haven't read? Ie only show threads where there's been a new post since my last visit. I visited Saturday and read the threads I wanted to. When I visited Sunday, there were still threads with last posts from Thurs & Friday showing...

forums.pcgamer.com

Some rambunctious people claim it's the earliest example of me talking to myself…

Why do you stick around?

Like most everyone here has said so far, the atmosphere and the content. Friendly knowledgeable people engaging in interesting conversations and debates about our favorite hobby.

I've never been a console or mobile gamer, so PCG is far more productive for me with its focus on PC Gaming.

What would you like to see in the future?

Threads about individual games, players discussing their experiences, sharing tips, getting help etc.

I'd like it if articles from the main site were posted to the forum officially so we could comment on them

This too. Create a separate forum for magazine/blog articles, let either the authors or a specified admin post them—they're the only one(s) who can create new threads, and all can respond. Jody generally gets good replies to his Q of the Week, so I expect it would be a productive exercise and of course provide more good content for the forum.

 

[SWard]

Ahhh these posts are brilliant so far, thank you to those who are contributing! I 100% echo sentiments about prefering forums - I find discord and slack to be a lot more fleeting and I like being able to give Kudos! Just realised I didn't do this myself -

How did you find us?

I got hired! I'd bought PC Gamer loads and when I heard there was a job going at future, I jumped at the chance to perhaps maybe get to work on PC Gamer. Lo and beyhold, I did

What was your first post?

I wish it was one of my most popular threads but it was test posts when this forum was but a shell!

Why do you stick around?

Honestly, I love this community and seeing the forum grow has been one of the coolest things I've gotten to be a part of. I've loved working on the charity initiatives, studio spotlights and working with the admins. I echo the sentiments above it's just a lovely group of people, and my co-workers shaines, mknott and mo are honestly the best people I've ever worked with. Not in stepford 'always happy and pleasant' kind of way, in a "Guild members are online" kind of way It's nice working with folks who really GET community, and working on a community that gets it too.

What would you like to see in the future?

Yeah more users for me too, (building these communities can take time, but we're on track!) also working on more cool giveaways, studio spotlights and hopefully some seasonal stuff! If anyone wants to talk about fun ideas for threads for Halloween/Winter holidays let me know

Fly safe,
Stevie

BONUS CHAIR SPIN UNLOCKED

 

[Colif]

we don't seem to get many people who stick around beyond posting oddly worded questions once and then disappearing

Would be nice if a few people from 2021 broke the pattern and actually stayed to post more than 20 posts.

Problem is you need a community here to grow a bigger one and if there aren't enough regulars to create a base, no new people will keep coming back. If no one answers their attempts at communication, they get lost in the countless posts we get that don't make any sense and that are a waste of time for anyone to answer. We been trying to reduce the amount of those questions to let real questions get answers.

 

[Pifanjr]

How did you find us?
I had been checking the main website every so often and happened to see the notification that a new forum had been created.

What was your first post?
My first post was me wishing for new instalments of LotR: BfME, Company of Heroes and Sins of a Solar Empire. I've since been happy to learn about the new Company of Heroes game, as it does look very promising.

My first two threads were a feature request and a bug report.

Why do you stick around?
I agree with mainer that it's the positive attitude from everyone here, as well as the great work from the moderators. It's also just the right activity level for me: enough posts that there's something interesting every day but not so many that I cannot keep up with every interesting thread or cannot catch up if I don't check the site for a few days.

What would you like to see in the future?
I support Kaamos_Llama's suggestion to have a thread for each article to comment on on the forum. I left the last forum I was active on because people stopped posting interesting content. It seems there's usually only a few users who consistently create new threads and once they stop or leave, it can create a downward spiral of less and less interaction. However, PCGamer has a consistent stream of new content already, so I suggest using that directly for the forum as well.

 

[Colif]

Article/News comments threads would be nice, it would mean this page would have a use - https://forums.pcgamer.com/find-threads/unanswered
as right now I doubt there many on there, I can't tell for a number of reasons. What I see isn't what users see in there

Considering we have this forum, no reason it can't have our news and not anyone else thinks we need to advertise there - https://forums.pcgamer.com/forums/game-industry-news.16/

If we weren't restricting what can be posted here, why even have a front page? We would be everyone else's front page and some posters think there is nothing wrong in posting other peoples articles here as their own... on a regular basis. Some websites are very popular

I imagine the system should work, since it is same sort of thing Toms Hardware does with all its articles.

 

[ZedClampet]

How did you find us?
I beat someone up in an alley until they gave me your location. Either that, or I read the article on PCG announcing the forums.

What was your first post?
"You are now the last character you played. What do you do?" I answered, "I'm a pirate who keeps clipping through the world and crashing to desktop." Apparently I was playing Atlas.

Why do you stick around?
I love talking about games. Have been commenting on PCG for years. Plus, the community here is strangely very nice.

What would you like to see in the future?
I'd like to see an off-topic "Life" category where you can post anything but religion or politics. Don't want to add arguments to the site, but it might be interesting to hear about people's pets or whatever is going on in their lives, that sort of thing. I'm not deeply committed to this, just thought it would be fun to learn more about the posters.

Could also add a cybersecurity section since that is becoming a bigger and bigger deal.

 

[Alm]

How did you find us?

I regularly read the home page, and saw that the forum was coming back.

What was your first post?

A guess to the "Name the Film" thread.

Why do you stick around?

I enjoyed being a forumite on the PC Gamer forum in the early 2000s. I like that the people here are fairly mature and have a shared interest.

What would you like to see in the future?

I don't really have any ideas or wishes (apart from somehow lowering the amount of bots, and attracting more members). But I'm interested in seeing how the forum progresses with time.

 

[Frindis]

How did you find us?

A long long time ago in a kiosk far away, I stumbled upon a PC Gamer magazine with Diablo 2 on its front page. I loved the content and for several years I would buy the magazines whenever I would be traveling by train. Often a two-hour trip, just perfect for reading through everything. Of course, a big thing was playing all the CDs

Then I found the Internet and after a decade with Altavista and Encarta 95, getting more culturally refined, I managed to find this page on the net. I had to visit and I stayed for more.

What was your first post?

Page 4 - Competition - Win an EPIC Black Edition gaming chair from noblechairs!

Page 4 - Love gaming? Join the PC Gamer community to share that passion with gamers all around the world!

forums.pcgamer.com

Why do you stick around?

Cause I love talking about games, creating posts, and reading/commenting on what other people are posting. Also, I work as a moderator because I want this forum to be a fun and safe place to visit and stay at.

What would you like to see in the future?

- Music thread
- General banter thread
- A competition for forum users to write a game review or similar for PC Gamer. I think this would be both a fun writing experience and also an interesting bridge between channels.
- Community Showcases is gone and I think it should start up again, showcasing the interesting, funny, cool, and so forth. Could also be a way to get new users to join if they could get a little snippet of something similar on the main page.
- Discord Q&A, Podcast with forum users as guests from time to time. For example, a guest could be talking about hot topics on forums, maybe a thread he/she made, a fan wanting to talk about a PC Gamer magazine/demo memory, etc.
- Halloween forum/main site contest: Users decorate their PC with Halloween-themed decorations. A twitch showcasing contributions.

 

[Zloth]

I keep thinking of a quiz topic where the first few notes of a game's theme song are played and you're supposed to guess the game, but I haven't figured out a way to make it work yet.

...as I'm Australian and rely on a steady stream of F and C-words to express myself properly...

Hmmm, strange custom, but I'll give it a try.

I appreciate the focus on PC gaming, I don't have many gamer friends IRL, particularly PC gamers, so having people to discuss the finer points of ancient dos games is a godsend.

Australian Translation:

I'm doing back flips over the focus on computer gaming, I find myself with few gamer friends close by, particularly computer gamers, so having companions to chat about the finer features of past-century command-line games is my favorite feature! (queue Men at Work)

 

[Colif]

I hate that Men at Work song... I heard it the first time around, and now every National Holiday/fireworks event its dragged out again (I am Australian too) and after 30 years its getting old. All the Australian cliches just grind on me... but I went off topic. One discord channel I use has it so if you say Aussie a bot will show that video link... sigh

this forum won't even let me say words I don't classify as swear words as I knew someone whose every 2nd word started with F and it wasn't Focus or Facilitation. They just words after a while, lose all meaning if heard all the time. So its probably good it doesn't let them get posted as half time I don't notice them in posts. Took a while to adjust to what some people find are bad words.

 

[SWard]

Of course, a big thing was playing all the CDs

I see you are an intellectual like myself! *tips top hat*

 

[SWard]

Discord Q&A, Podcast with forum users as guests from time to time. For example, a guest could be talking about hot topics on forums, maybe a thread he/she made, a fan wanting to talk about a PC Gamer magazine/demo memory, etc

Would this work as a forum thread? I could see this being a really cool thing a forum member could host each week. Could also be a cool way to merge the "find out about users pets and other hobbies" suggestion. We could trial it, have it sticked and if it works do one a month?

 

[SWard]

- Halloween forum/main site contest: Users decorate their PC with Halloween-themed decorations. A twitch showcasing contributions.

I love this.

 

[SWard]

Moving technical forum feedback discussion to that area so we can keep this on topic. 💛

 

[Frindis]

Would this work as a forum thread? I could see this being a really cool thing a forum member could host each week. Could also be a cool way to merge the "find out about users pets and other hobbies" suggestion. We could trial it, have it sticked and if it works do one a month?

I think that is a great idea Sward. Maybe it could be kind of like the new community [Member] showcase, but instead of focusing on several posts of the month, the focus is on one member. Pets and hobbies💗 💗 as mentioned, his and her PC/config, favorite/fun gaming memories, gaming food, etc. Perhaps a thread beforehand asking members what types of questions they would like to have in such a showcase.

I also like the idea of having the forum member themselves making such a thread each month with their own questions, which then could be stickied monthly.

 

[SWard]

I think that is a great idea Sward. Maybe it could be kind of like the new community [Member] showcase, but instead of focusing on several posts of the month, the focus is on one member. Pets and hobbies💗 💗 as mentioned, his and her PC/config, favorite/fun gaming memories, gaming food, etc. Perhaps a thread beforehand asking members what types of questions they would like to have in such a showcase.

I also like the idea of having the forum member themselves making such a thread each month with their own questions, which then could be stickied monthly.

Hmm so we could basically have set questions and then pick a user a month to answer them with one post for each question? That could work!