Zelaron needs changes

We had IRC. It faltered and died.

Do it again.

it most likely faltered and die becuase not enough people were using it. I have been on zelaron for a while, and in reply to one of the previous posts about what caused our big surge in new members/activity was D2. I mean we used to have some really skilled D2 players/hackers here. I remeber when i first started here that i was really interested into learning how to hack, and the more i asked around on the servers i became aware that people like Hellmonkey was known to be in the elite group of hackers. I also remember people like User Name#1, as well as most of the other mods being really nice and helpful to new members and newbies to the game. Also I remember that our old PvP mods where really something to brag about i mean when i got into serious dueling i heard mentions of both Apoq on east, and Blckshdwdragon on west as them being recognized as being top notch duelers.

Nostalgia rant end.....

so what i am trying to say is that one thing to increase activity on zelaron would be to try and recruit some top notch players for WoW, which i am not sure how WoW plays and if PvP is an applicable example or not. Also i have recruited some members via school they registered along time ago when we all used to play D2 and they have been inactive for along time, but with the introduction of Their Halo 2 clan being hosted i believe that they will be more active.

Edit:

I would have to whole heartedly agree with Penguin, because i know that personally i am a senior in high school this year i have become tremendously more involved in other activities that i placed zelaron further down on my priorities list. Zelaron has been through a ups and downs before, like the time during our peak when we had like two weeks with no server. I remember coming back to find that we had lost quite a few members during that time. So what i am trying to say is that people grow up and move on. I mean i plan on continuing to be part of the zelaron community but i personally dont have much to start threads about because i am so busy in life that i do not play many games anymore and if i do it is just for leisurely fun not to be a great competitor like i once tried in D2. I remember that not too long ago, this summer, that i used to have so much useless D2 info memorized like all of the items, runewords, approximate item value in current currency, lots of PvP info like Ias breakpoints for many different weapons and skills, Damage Formulas, and just general D2 info like where to level. Then one day after i stopped playing so competively i realized how much of my life i wasted on a GAME, then i started to hang out with my friends more and started to live a real life and stopped living on the internet. I have found that i like the real world alot better once i figured out that ABSOLUTELY NOBODY should live thier life on a game, or rather let a game live thier life. I remember that in the zenith of my addiction i would play for 4 or more hours a weekday and about 8 hours a day on the weekend.

I remember the Hellmonkeys part aswell.
I used to scroll the forums, but I never got to registering back then.
Then I stoped d2, and when i started playing again, the first thing I did was register here, heh.

I think integreting IRC into the forums (there is a hack on vb.org which can do this) would be a good idea.
I never bother to run mIRC, go into a chatroom, etc... That takes up to much time.
However, if it would be on the board itself, I would visit it.

I think integreting IRC into the forums (there is a hack on vb.org which can do this) would be a good idea. I never bother to run mIRC, go into a chatroom, etc... That takes up to much time. However, if it would be on the board itself, I would visit it.

That is just pathetic. I am constantly on IRC and we need to put the channel on a server like GameSurge where all the gamers are. Having a private server for our IRC would just be stupid. And Hellmonkey is a fool =P If we are talking about the same one. (Hellmonkeyz/Hellzmonkey) I still talk to him alot. I just cant remember where the Z is. I just call him hellz anyway.

http://zelaron.com/forum/member.php?u=845

No z

http://zelaron.com/forum/member.php?u=845 No z

Hate to break it to ya but... Yes Z =P
His AIM name and his name from UO (Where I originally met him)

I cannot bare to see Zelaron die. I am coming back and there is a very simple way to get members. WoW or World of Warcraft. People are going crazy over it. I don't know if this was already said.... i didnt read all of the posts.

Okay, first of all, it appears that some of you think that I want an admin position really badly. Trust me, I don't. At this point, I would not make a good admin. Though I love Zelaron dearly, school is my first priority at this point (which is why it took me so long to respond), and I'm hounded with homework. Furthermore, I don't know PHP, so it completely defeats the purpose of me being an admin. All I would want to do as an admin is remove some of the rules that I and many members think are foolish to have, and perhaps implment a couple of hacks.

That said, I do believe we need one more admin on the technical side of things. WW, I understand your situation. I understand that after coding all day, you might not feel like doing it at home. I can see why it may take you a long time to put some of these ideas into play. But, another admin could solve this problem. Or if you don't want anyone else to have admin powers, perhaps you can select a designated coder, so we can speed things up a bit. Trust me, if this were summer, I'd go to Barnes and Nobels immediately, buy me a good book on PHP and dedicate myself to learning the Zelaron code, but as time is somewhat limited for me at this point, I can't do that. But if we find someone that can, it'd be nice.

Also, there were two things I was trying to accomplish in my original post. First of all, I was bringing the obvious to the staff's attention: Zelaron is constantly becoming less and less active, and something needs to be done about it before it's too late. Secondly, I was trying to give suggestions on how to make Zelaron a better place for the existing members. Many of you seem to be trying to draw a relationship between the two. Allow me to clear this up once and for all: There is no relationship between the two aforementioned points.

Consideration? No I didn't take the time to plan out the use of uShop then install and test it on my private server only to find that it was a bug-ridden stability nightmare, I just said that to shut you up . No, I'm not testing the new vBStats because you guys won't shut up about it. No, I won't give someone admin who appears to have vision because everyone was complaining about the way things were.....

Call me an idiot, but I'm not sure whether you were trying to be sarcastic there or not. I have a hunch that you were being sarcastic. If you were being sarcastic, then that's great. I appreciate your dedication, and I don't mean to gripe, but with you hectic schedule, I understand that some of these ideas may take a while to implement. That is all the more reason to have another admin, or a designated coder. On the other hand, if you weren't being sarcastic, then we're having some serious problems. That would mean that you would've once again completely overlooked any suggestions that a dedicated member may have. That would completely defeat the entire purpose of this thread. If that's the state that the Zelaron staff is in, then I suggest we get new staff, or at least add some people to it.

Pay for Zelaron, pay for Zelaron. WTF guys, Zelaron costs nothing. The licence lasts forever and it's running on a server that I own that I pay for co-location, that also is used for other things.

That news to me. I didn't know that Zelaron didn't cost anything. Still, I would assume that adcertising it would cost a bit, in which case I'm willing to donate to the cause, if it is required. Just letting you guys know.

First of all, slaynishs comment about this making chruser lots of money? Well he does not know anything. Problem with this forum? Simple, not enough active members. The biggest reason? D2 is dying. We have not been able to pull the crowds of any of the other major games and we have tried. This is not really a problem with the staff, ww could install a billion hacks and change the rules but that will not bring active members.

Understood. In fact, if you look to one of my first three paragraphs in this post, I agree with you. New hacks aren't going to get new activity. They might make this place more enticing to the older members, though. And, again, I agree that the biggest problem here is not enough new members. That's the problem. It needs to be solved. Now, I suggest making another thread, or just posting here, brainstorming ideas on how we may go about solving that problem. That much can be accomplished. Just brainstorming. Members, please post your ideas.

How many of you can honestly say you are Less busy in life today then you were when zelaron was really popular? I would bet most of us are older, and we all have more responsibilitys and prioritys and Zelaron is not as big as it used to be. Zelaron is starting to feel more and more like that old friend you grew up with that you dont really hang out with anymore because you have new friends (prioritys now), you would still help them if they need you or lend them money if you could but you just dont hang out a lot anymore. Or even, how many of you can even say you spend more time playing games now then you did when zelaron was popular? Slaynish dosent count because hes always for some reason been 12 years old (I dont know how that is possible).

I understand what you are saying. Many of you are more busy with life and stuff today then you were a couple of years ago, and Zelaron is not as high of a priority. But for some of us, it still is. For those few of us, I think Zelaron should be kept alive, and if the staff doesn't place as high of a priority on Zelaron, then lets bring in new staff who does. Lets bring in staff that can rejuvinate this place. I'm not saying it's going to work miracles, but an active staff which places high priority on the forums usually helps.

Also, I know we have heard people say how they will make zelaron better then ever if they are admined, and we know enough that its just hot air. You cannot cause tons of active members to join if we make you admin, you can get active members to join just as well as a member as you can as an admin and if you dont feel like doing it unless you are admin, then you obviously dont care about zelaron as a community anyway.

Once again, I don't want admin. I want someone who can install hacks and such, but that's it. It's not going to draw in new members, but it'll make this place more fun for older members.

Also, I'm completely willing to try and bring in new members, but I want the staff to atleast acknowledge what I'm saying first, and say that they're behind me on this. I could go out and spam forums/IRC channels/Newsgroups if I have the time.

I don't agree on this. If I see a board, with a cool exclusive hack, I register and see what it's like. If I like it, I go scrolling around the forums, see how it's like.

Death, I can somewhat agree with you on this. I do think hacks make forums cooler, but the topmost factor in getting members is getting them to come to the forums first. I think we have enough eye candy to get people to stay.

Also, a new motivated, devoted Admin could get more active members, I'm sure. If you, for example, get a new Admin who already administrates 1, 2 or 3 other forums, he can advertise on his own forums, about Zelaron.

That may bring in a few members, but nothing extensive. I don't thiink a new admin is really going to help draw activity. He might make the forums cooler, though.

I still think my idea for an IRC channel on gamesurge or something like that could draw new members. Didn't we use to have a CS forum? Why dont we run a CS server. Not sure how WW is hosting this or if the ping would be any good but. If its possible we should look into it.

How would IRC draw in new members? IRC may be cool for older members, but as said above, almost nobody used our old channel.

As for a CS server, I've wanted to have one, but I don't want to do it untill I can afford to upgrade the server. One of the people who uses my box for webhosting is considering putting up a CS box, though, so we may be able to have one.

That would be pretty cool. I don't know how many play CS, but we could certainly advertise that to get people here, and it would make it cooler for the current members who play CS also.