Evolution?

[Spedius]

Ave!

When I joined RomanArmyTalk on January 13th I'd come from the Forum of "Legion Arena" where I had re-discovered the art of conversation through writing.

On this Forum the main emphasis is on historical study and re-enactment with games play trailing a long way behind.

On the "Legion Arena" Forum the roles are reversed, games play holds centre stage with the other subjects occupying a secondary role.

I've noticed that, in the main, the shape, tone and style of a Forum will be determined by the moderators. But the variety of content is dictated by the participation and will of the members.

I've also noticed how one topic will inspire members to write in, whereas another will not. As my old boss used to say "It's all a question of attitude"!!

A Forum is therefore in a constant state of flux, it's evolving, if you like. It only takes one or more members, who are not afraid to experiment, to aid the evolutionary process. They can shift the focus of the group in new and potentially exciting directions.

If the focus of a Forum is narrow then so are the interests of the members it is likely to attract. Whereas, if the focus is constantly expanding and evolving then the possibilities are endless.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Jeroen Pelgrom]

Did you know that the original idea for RAT came from a Shogun Total War-forum!

how's that for evolution :lol:

[Praefectusclassis]

Very true Jim. It's interesting to see how a forum develops and I wonder where RAT will go next. Over the years the membership base has grown considerably and the active membership (i.e. those who log in at least once/month) as well (now some 220 members). the growth of traffic and number of posts is, possibly, one of the things that might change the character of the board. I don't have the daily statistics at hand but I don't think it's much less than 40 or 50 posts/day. It's becoming an effort to keep up to speed with everything that's being said and thought. People will likely still come, but start to specialize, reading some forums and ignoring others. I wonder what the effect of that will be.

[Spedius]

Ave Jeroen and Jasper,

Thank you both for your thought-provoking comments.

Here are some more of my own thoughts on the theme of this thread.

We all have our own reasons for becoming members of RomanArmyTalk aka RAT.

We all have our own specialist interests but, as the variety of content expands, so does our own variety of re-awakened interests.

However, I believe that we have a golden opportunity and furthermore, a responsibilty to improve, enhance and enlarge the content and facilities that RAT has to offer.

To begin this process, we will need to pool our thoughts and ideas of ways to improve the RAT experience. Not only for ourselves but also for all of those millions out there who have yet to discover us.

If we are to attract and hold the attention of all those potential members out there, these possibilities need to be considered and developed.

I can come up with loads of "Dumb Questions" but it will take more than just my input to effect anything significant.

I urge you to put on your thinking caps and come up with your own suggestions.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Jeroen Pelgrom]

one of the reasons that people come and stay is the great amount of knowledge here at RAT (the reason why i joined). Fortunatly we have a number of members who know a lot and are willing to share this (info about diploma's for example :wink: ). But members come and go for different reasons.
strange as it is but after almost 5 years here at RAT i consider RAT-members something like family :o