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    The Future of GateWorld (Community Discussion)

    Hello, everyone!

    This message is meant to kick off another of our GateWorld "family discussions" about not just this community (and not so much changes to the forum), but about the main GateWorld Web site. If you consider GateWorld something of an online home (whether or not you are a forum regular or not), we want you to participate.

    Several people have asked me since Thursday's news of SGU's cancellation about what will happen to GateWorld, now that we're all facing the prospect of having no new Stargate on the air after June 2011. The purpose of this thread is to discuss, get some feedback, and even brainstorm some ideas for GateWorld's future. There are some decisions that David and I will have to make in the coming months, and we want long-time members of the community in particular to be a part of the process.

    First Up: To be absolutely clear, GateWorld is not going anywhere! We are committed to keeping you entertained and giving you a place to chat with other fans. As long as we can still pay our server bills, we're committed to being here for you.

    Second: If the franchise ends up on hiatus for a year or more, I am absolutely confident that it is coming back, at some time and in some form. This is not the end of Stargate, and so we need to think about the future of the site and the community not so much as "A.S." (After Stargate), but in terms of what we do in the interim, before the fourth series or new movies arrive for us to enjoy.

    So, with that in mind, I'd like to open up the floor for your ideas and suggestions for the future of GateWorld. What kind of a site would you want us to be? What things do you want to see on the GW home page when you visit? You might have some thoughts about what the site is overall, and what sorts of things we do and cover -- or you might just have little brainstorm ideas about the forum, or the podcast, or a regular news column, or a design element.

    (NOTE: This is NOT the place for generic suggestions or requests for the current iteration of the Web site. This thread is about rethinking our identity without Stargate on the air.)


    Now, to kick things off, let me lay out a few really general options that I see. Feel free to discuss these, but don't let these few bullet points set the agenda for the whole thread. (We're not here simply to vote on what I've already been thinking about!)

    A few of the possible options moving forward, as I see them:
    • Archive Mode. We don't update the site as much with new content, but focus all our efforts on catching up on those static portions of the site that are unfinished or out of date (the episode guides for past shows, the Omnipedia, etc.). The site as it exists now is all here (yes, including the forum), when you want to visit and look up something -- but we don't do much in the way of new content.

    • Business-As-Usual. We continue on course doing what we are doing, in terms of news coverage and occasional cast and crew interviews. We just have a lot less to talk about when the show is not in active production. But we can continue to report on Stargate tie-in merchancise, conventions, what the actors are up to, etc.

    • Expand A Little. Since there are no new episodes of Stargate to cover after June, we might expand our coverage a little to include a small handful of other sci-fi shows that are "close to home." These would primarily, or perhaps exclusively, be genre shows with a Stargate connection (e.g. actors in common) -- Sanctuary, Rage of Angels, Riese, etc. There are not a whole lot of these on TV right now, however.

    • Expand A Lot! The idea here would be the same as above, but without the necessary restriction of having a Stargate connection in order for GateWorld to cover a show. We'd open the doors to genre television as a whole, no doubt focusing in on a few of our own favorites to give special attention (in the form of interviews, etc.). And we'd need more people to help accomplish the much greater workload.

      The model here is GW Forum: We have slowly added discussion folders for other shows over the years because people have asked for them, because they want one place to talk with people they already know about other shows that they enjoy. (You might love Doctor Who, but you're not hardcore enough to go establish yourself as a daily or weekly presence in a Doctor Who-dedicated site.)



    Part of me is enticed by elements of each one of these options. Maybe there's a fifth or sixth that I haven't thought of, which is part of why I want to open up a "family discussion" here. I also want to know that, if we were to choose one or the other of these, you guys who call GateWorld your home will largely be on board with it.

    Thank you, and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
    998
    Being Human (Syfy / BBC)
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    BSG: Blood & Chrome (Syfy)
    8.92%
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    Doctor Who (BBC)
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    Eureka (Syfy)
    9.92%
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    Fringe (FOX)
    8.62%
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    Haven (Syfy)
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    No Ordinary Family (ABC)
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    Outcasts (BBC)
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    Sanctuary (Syfy)
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    Supernatural (CW)
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    The Walking Dead (AMC)
    6.21%
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    Warehouse 13 (Syfy)
    8.82%
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    V (ABC)
    8.02%
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    Other (post 'em below!)
    2.91%
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    GateWorld Podcast - Info - iTunes - Google
    The Stargate Omnipedia - www.StargateOmnipedia.com
    Stargate Image Gallery - www.StargateGallery.com

    #2
    The thoughts I've brewed up on the matter, and have been waiting to post....

    Podcasts
    Contrary to what may be everyone's first instinct, I urge you guys to not slow down in releases (to the best of your ability). I think it is and will continue to be important for the survival of GateWorld, for the activity level of the site to be maintained rather than allowing things to cool off. With the franchise that this site is dedicated to effectively dead for now, inactivity on this site would mean death for the site too.

    Understandably, this begs the question of subject matter to talk about. Quite some time ago, during one of the podcasts with the Fifth Race Podcast guy as guest, you guys talked about maybe doing some episodes where you talk about some of your favourite episodes for a whole show. In the past you've done little talks on movies you've recently seen, or as in the case of Star Trek 2009, an entire 'bonus' show devoted to that one movie. You could do more of these.

    And to reduce the load on yourselves, horsewhip Tame () into more frequent TameZone podcasts. I think she's had a whole bunch of technical difficulties plaguing her releases up to now, but hopefully that can change. You could even reduce your own workload with the podcasts if you manage to alternate weeks with the shows. Or you could even slow down a little and do one of each podcast per month. There are possibilities.


    GateWorld Main Page
    I'm loath to say so, but with the end of Stargate on TV, I think it's time to broaden the pallet as far as the news that's being reported. There are currently 18 franchise-specific subfolders in the SciFi Stream subsection of the forums (themselves comprising at least 25 different shows)--picking up news stories about those sites would be a great place to start.

    I understand not wanting to step on the toes of affiliated and friendly sites like SciFi Stream and Airlock Alpha, so it might be time to enter into discussion with them about information sharing. The simple reality is that there likely won't be a whole lot of Stargate news to report anymore, and to limit main page news to things related to it will only result in stagnation.

    I don't mean to suggest stopping reporting on Stargate news. That would not be in keeping with the spirit of the site at all. This is GateWorld after all. To address this, I might suggest drumming up Stargate news whenever it shows up. Report general science fiction news regularly, but make a big stinkin' deal of it when Stargate news presents itself.


    Forums
    I'll be very up-front about this: I think time for some radical restructuring in order to preserve the established user base. I'm going to suggest a couple of things which may result in some infighting in the forums, but I think we need to acknowledge that infighting means that there are still users here to be doing the fighting.

    First and foremost, I think the time has come to do some streamlining of the Stargate sections of the forums. I understood and completely supported the decision to split things off into separate sections for each of the series; but with no new shows on TV, this level of compartmentalization is only going to unnecessarily divide and diminish the continuing user base. I think there should be a single subforum for Science/Tech, a single subforum for C/R, and a single subforum for each of the shows.

    Ie:
    Spoiler:
    Stargate
    Stargate SG-1
    Stargate Atlantis
    Stargate Universe
    Stargate Science/Tech
    Stargate Characters/Relationships


    I know that this is a step back to where we were some time ago, and it's unfortunate that we are where we are. But I also think it would be a wise re(de?)structuring/streamlining in order to keep posters 'corralled' (as it were) into common areas in order to promote continued posting.

    You might've noticed I've neglected to mention the various series' News and Merch folders, which is because I have a different thought for them. My suggestion there also involves restructuring. I think it may be prudent to roll a single "Stargate News" subfolder in with the existing Merch and Fandom folders, and move that new fusion up into the Stargate section higher up in the forum tree. I know that fandom and news aren't quite the same thing, but with the franchise effectively dead on television for the foreseeable future, I suspect that news regarding cons and whatnot will be the only Stargate news we'll be hearing for some time.
    "A society grows great when old men plant trees, the shade of which they know they will never sit in. Good people do things for other people. That's it, the end." -- Penelope Wilton in Ricky Gervais's After Life

    Comment


      #3
      i say go into Archive Mode for a year or so catch up on the old stuff. build a new fanfic up loader and bring back the episode polls. i also like the idea of keeping up on the actors from stargate on other shows Stargate (connection (e.g. actors in common) -- Sanctuary, Rage of Angels, Riese, etc. There are not a whole lot of these on TV right now)

      other then that i say just sit back and take a breather while the franchise does the same.

      as for the forum just leave it as it is and focus on keeping it stable no reason to move the folders around again.
      https://twitter.com/#!/Solar_wind84

      Comment


        #4
        I could definitely see the main page of Gateworld expanding on the news to include other shows that have that stargate connection (Sanctuary, Riese, etc.) and maybe couple that somewhat have a stargate connection (Eureka and Warehouse 13).

        Maybe even expanding to exclude more Convention News, like for example, someone goes to a stargate related convention if they would be willing to type a report have them type it up or multiple people if more went and are willing and get it up on the main page. If there is something like this already then expand on it by excluding more conventions.

        Signs by Scifan and me. | My Forum - Planet TV Role Play | My Fan Fiction | My Mini City - Rygel City

        Comment


          #5
          Site Interaction - not sure of specifics - perhaps some sort of games (stargate related or other), trivia games - maybe get some rep points for winning. Maybe spruce up the roleplaying section (could bring, and keep, users) - Maybe set up a wiki for the rolepaying so players can create profiles etc.

          Competitions (even if you only get rep points) - pictures etc

          Not sure what else. Except keeping up to dat with all Stargate news etc.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Darren View Post
            First Up: To be absolutely clear, GateWorld is not going anywhere! We are committed to keeping you entertained and giving you a place to chat with other fans. As long as we can still pay our server bills, we're committed to being here for you.
            First of all I want to thank you for the wonderful work you all do! And I'm relieved!
            I am relatively new to this forum and it's become kind of a home for me. I love to read a lot, post a little and feel comfortable to be connectect with like-minded all over the world.

            I listen to all of the podcasts although I never saw one single episode of SGU. I LOVE your voices ...
            I appreciate the talk about my favorite series and I admire your inside knowledge.

            I think I'm not the "Expand-a-lot-type". I do not have time to read through "SciFi Stream" but I would love to read more about the actors, probably more interviews and updates on the episode guides and Omnipedia.

            Originally posted by Darren View Post
            Thank you, and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
            Same to you, Darren, David and all the other GateWorlders!

            sigpic

            Comment


              #7
              I think an slogan change wouldn't go astray. "Your Complete Guide To Stargate" into... "The Gateway to your true Sci-Fi" or something that utilises the whole "gate" thing into something that also notes the site's sci-fi-i-ness. Scifiiness. Sciffinity. Sci-ficitiy. Sci-fi-ness. I'll get back to y'all.
              ~ When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take back the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! WITH THE LEMONS! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that BURNS YOUR HOUSE DOWN! ~

              ~ Burning people! He says what we're all thinking! ~

              Comment


                #8
                Honestly I don't think anything really has to be done to keep people here - many people dislike SGU and still come here. In fact, the amount of people is growing....
                (So, business as usual)

                I like the idea of pursuing "SG-related" shows, but not so much of following everything. Shows like Dr Who which are supported by a lot of members are one thing, but....
                Updating some things could be a good idea too, but not so much putting everything on hold....

                EDIT: I like the motto.

                Comment


                  #9
                  I'd say definitely focus on some interesting features and maybe do a Gateworld Rewind review of 2 episodes per podcast of SG-1, I'd also love to see reviews of the novels and other stories as they come out.

                  I do hope you guys continue, especially the podcast, as I enjoy listening.

                  Tim

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I'm torn between voting for going into Archive Mode and Expanding - but I think somewhere in-between is the best bet. I can't speak for anybody else, but I've been regularly visiting GateWorld despite spending comparatively little time in the Stargate folders since SGA finished.

                    My personal preference would be for GateWorld to expand its outlook a little, to encompass anything that is even tenuously related to Stargate. Since we're almost certainly going to be waiting a while for the next incarnation of Stargate on our screens, whatever form it takes, the only new Stargate stories being produced will be the books - and fanfiction. I'd definitely vote for the fanfiction section to be redesigned, rebuilt and reintroduced.

                    Without any new Stargate coming out for some time, this is the perfect opportunity for a) R & R, b) housekeeping and c) expanding.

                    It also occurred to me that with Stargate news very likely to be dropping off sharply over the next few months, we should see more opinion pieces on the front page. Perhaps encouraging this more, asking for retrospectives, editorials and such would help. Combined with accepting news on vaguely Stargate related franchises (at least until Stargate itself returns in some form), it should provide enough to keep things moving whilst also allowing more time to refine and perfect the site.
                    And now it's time for one last bow, like all your other selves. Eleven's hour is over now... the clock is striking Twelve's.
                    sigpic
                    Stargate Ragnarok | FF.net | AO3 | Lakeside | My Fallout 3 Mods | Poppy Appeal | Help For Heroes | Combat Stress

                    Comment


                      #11
                      IMO the activity of the main page is crucial.

                      personally i'd like coverage on everything the actors of SG are doing now. what hewlett is doing, what Anderson is doing, etc etc

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I think we should expand a lot. Weather or not stargate is returning after a years hiatus or a few years for another movie.

                        There are a lot of Sci-Fi genres not covered by other general Sci-Fi shows, and we are known as the biggest Sci-Fi/Stargate forum around. We would get a whole new kind of poster, expanding our horizons and adding a little more fun into our endless debates too

                        Merry Christmas Darren and Co.
                        sigpic

                        I'm not dead. Yet.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I'm all in favor of expanding a bit, as long as gateworld doesn't become just another generic sci-fi site. I've seen a few of those, and ultimately most succumb to user inactivity, because there's just so much stuff and the sense of community suffers.

                          I'd like to keep the folders as they are for now, unless there's a drastic drop in activity.
                          sigpic

                          Comment


                            #14
                            First off, Thank-you Darren (and other Admins) for running this site, and letting everyone know that you and it are not going anywhere.

                            Secondly, I think that everything DigiFluid is good. The Stargate folders should be compressed quite a bit. Now that all the shows are off there's no real need for 12 (or however many there are) folders dedicated to the shows. I especially like his idea about the podcasts. I wouldn't mind hearing podcasts reviewing new movies that have come out (mostly sci-fi movies of course). Also I like timmciglobal's idea of doing a rewind of SG-1 episodes.

                            Thirdly and finally, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you too.
                            "Goodbye Eli Wallace, you're a good man."
                            - imlad, from http://www.readandfindout.com/

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I hope the Forum can stay as it is.
                              But further coverage of other Sci-Fi shows is a good idea. As I have interests in a fair few.

                              And I agree with a lot of what has been said here.

                              Let's hope the franchise does continue. I hope they finally get the promised TV Movies made.

                              later fellow gaters
                              Starfist
                              "What do you mean by 'Oopps'?"
                              Team Starfist protects all. But having a fully loaded P-90 helps...
                              Reality is an illusion... Created by those who cannot handle Stargate...!
                              Jankowski's Rules: Rule 1: Check your Six!
                              I'm not perfect. But parts of me are excellent I also cook...!
                              To thy own self... Be true
                              May the odds.... Be ever in your favour..!

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