Bungie.net Community
This topic has moved here: Subject: Septagon: No longer a community forum?
  • Subject: Septagon: No longer a community forum?
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

Read about the Forgotten Spartan I Program
Butane: To protect the world from devastation!
sir_brilliant: To unite all people within our nation!
Rainman89: To denounce the evils of truth and love!
sir_brilliant: To extend out reach to the stars above!
SpaceGhostFlyer: Jessie!
Butane: James!
sir_brilliant: Team Rocket blasting off at the speed of light
Butane: Surrender now or prepare to fight
sir_brilliant: Meowth, that's right!

Exactly, I think bungie needs to help us out. Not just KP, but think of bungie as the New York Yankees of Game development, and microsoft as George steinbrenner. No one expects Microsoft to talk to us about bungie. But if all the players on the Yankees refused to talk to the press or sign autographs, they would have no fans. Similarly, if all bungie does is make games, they will not have a popular community. They have done a great job so far of creating one of the greatest communities on this internet(which is not a big truck, but a series of tubes). I think if bungie helped, then countless more member would feel appreciated.

  • 07.20.2006 11:36 AM PDT

"I pledge to punch all switches, to never shoot where I could use grenades, to admit the existence of no level except Total Carnage, to never use caps lock as my "run" key, and to never, ever, leave a single BoB alive."

2B || !2B - Why don't you look Inside the Machine?

Posted by: Recon Number 54
By all means, don't stop.

This is what I am talking about though. Real people, real members, who for no reason other than wanting to do something good, have done just that. Done something good that other people have noticed and appreciated.

Now, it seems to me that many of these members and their feats are recent and current. That's GREAT! Maybe they feel as if their efforts went unnoticed and unappreciated. That is a failure on all of our parts.

Perhaps we need a mechanism to recognize and thank members like this and let them know that even "little things" are seen and appreciated. Perhaps that would help the feeling of the community being on a downhill slide. I don't know.

But please, don't stop with the names and reasons.



You see, my parents think that it is a little strange to do something, for someone...thousands of miles away...for no apparent reason or at least no beneficial gain. They don't seem to understand that this is a community...and that things that people do here inspire people and help others..as Recon suggest they should be appreciated for this.

Also, there is the "Say something nice about a B.net member" Sticky thread that you can use to leave feedback.

  • 07.20.2006 11:37 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

I'll give this a shot. impurity.

I've known the jerk for more than two years - indeed, I met him through the column (probably after spamming him a dozen times to join my chapter). He's always worked for other people to try and make the place better, and managed it in a fun or funny way. I remember we used to beat the crap out of the old 7th Column system with every hack there was, and we made way too much content for each others' chapters.

When the column that was already declining hit the upgrade and then more or less died altogether, he migrated to the main forums and, unlike many, went to the "moronic" Halo 2 forums and helped out there as well as in the Septagon. Whether he was awarded modship for that helpful nature or for his good attitude in IRC and friendships with the moderators, I do not know, but nonetheless he was one of the best choices there was. Unfortunately, I think he felt confined as a ninja and is now back to his old self without the responsibilities for morons.

GameJunkieJim was a riot back in the days of ye olde column. He and impurity were the pioneers of the 7th Column revitalisation project, aimed at helping out those smaller and less successful chapters. It died out over time as community interest was disappointingly low, but it was good fun while it lasted. He was also great with his chapter - always open, friendly, trying to bring people together as friends. I miss those days most of all - when the column was active and it was fun, and when there was something new and exciting to look forward to every day. That's what's been lacking and I've almost accepted that it'll never come back by now, even though I've logged on every day hoping that it will.

Of course, it was many other people that helped to make it such a great place. Interaction with them gave the element of fun and originality to being a community member. Unfortunately, they've more or less phased out of existence. People like Dark Halo (who still comes around but has no wish to interact in what the community has become), Thanatos 117, Masterchef88, Sniper_of_Death, Albie, Sniping Demon, WHITE HORSE, Geonosis and even WarHammer01, to name but a few. Even newer people like snowmanaxt are ceasing to visit.

Community-motivated, generally unselfish people who were alot of fun to be around. People who were people, who could act up and behave like human beings, not be goody little two-shoes posting common knowledge in every thread in the Septagon. In fact, I believe I met all of these through the chapters, when they were more open.

None of them participate, some never even visit, anymore, either because of the state of the community or the state of the chapters.

Recon's been around for a while, also, always being helpful and cheerful, never changing even when granted powers over the entire memberbase. People like Banshee Barron, too, have always been around and have always been true assets to the community. It's the willingness to keep going that helps make these "greats" exactly what they are today.

[Edited on 7/20/2006]

  • 07.20.2006 11:38 AM PDT
  • gamertag: iam117
  • user homepage:

The Frontline - A group dedicated to help improve the forums as a whole.

Posted by: Recon Number 54
Posted by: l iam117 l
Banshee Barron has always impressed me, and so he's my choice.

:\

It's not a contest. Everyone listed is a winner if you ask me.

Not just names please. What is it about that member that impresses or impressed you? What did they do that makes them memorable to you? You see, I know the names, but they impressed YOU. What did they do that made such an impression?

Because if we can identify that, maybe not bottle it, but encourage it, or highlight it, recognize it, or put in in the ground, fertilize it, water it and watch it grow... we should!

Did I make it seem that I was nominating him for a prize? If I did, I didn't mean to.

I don't know why he impresses me, I think it's his attitude towards posting, and that everything he says is clearly worded and has a valid point. He's a nice guy and I've never seen him flame anyone and I basically think he's a model Member.

  • 07.20.2006 11:39 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

Read about the Forgotten Spartan I Program
Butane: To protect the world from devastation!
sir_brilliant: To unite all people within our nation!
Rainman89: To denounce the evils of truth and love!
sir_brilliant: To extend out reach to the stars above!
SpaceGhostFlyer: Jessie!
Butane: James!
sir_brilliant: Team Rocket blasting off at the speed of light
Butane: Surrender now or prepare to fight
sir_brilliant: Meowth, that's right!

Psyched, I think that the problem with all the good members being in groups is simple;
New members won't see them. Are forums are clogged with spam and useless questions, but our groups are full of helpful threads and quality discussions. Its time for the groups to be second and the forums first. We need people like you out in the open, as a shining example of people who have truly advanced the community.

  • 07.20.2006 11:46 AM PDT
  • gamertag: iam117
  • user homepage:

The Frontline - A group dedicated to help improve the forums as a whole.

Posted by: Recon Number 54
By all means, don't stop.

This is what I am talking about though. Real people, real members, who for no reason other than wanting to do something good, have done just that. Done something good that other people have noticed and appreciated.

Now, it seems to me that many of these members and their feats are recent and current. That's GREAT! Maybe they feel as if their efforts went unnoticed and unappreciated. That is a failure on all of our parts.

Perhaps we need a mechanism to recognize and thank members like this and let them know that even "little things" are seen and appreciated. Perhaps that would help the feeling of the community being on a downhill slide. I don't know.

But please, don't stop with the names and reasons.

I don't know but maybe something like this could be of use. (Yes, I know it's not exactly the best site to be using as an example, but the system works brilliantly).

On the left (under people's names) are little pictures. These represent different things that they've done to help the community (hover your mouse over each one to see what they mean). These are something to aim towards, and actually are an incentive for people to help the community (in this case post mods).

It works. Read through that thread (and any others) and there's minimal flaming and I think everyone realises why they're there; to be part of a community which likes the same thing. There's no competing, there's no back-stabbing and it's a nice place to be.

  • 07.20.2006 11:46 AM PDT

Go to your room!


...Well I'm glad that worked, because those would have been terrible last words.

The gents I mentioned aren't strictly "model posters" in the traditional sense, but they do contribute a hell of a lot. They chose to stick to chapters because they feel more comfortable with the atmospheres in there.

  • 07.20.2006 11:48 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Posted by: Rainman89
Psyched, I think that the problem with all the good members being in groups is simple;
New members won't see them. Are forums are clogged with spam and useless questions, but our groups are full of helpful threads and quality discussions. Its time for the groups to be second and the forums first. We need people like you out in the open, as a shining example of people who have truly advanced the community.


Oh, those times are long past. I've tried to stay in groups but there's just no way I can bear the inactivity of the modern ones. Those of us who've stayed on from being mainly group-focused have now nearly all moved on to being publicly-orientated. In fact, forums have been firmly first since around the time of the upgrade. I don't recall whether it was before or after. I feel that I spend alot of time browsing groups and public forums, but alot of that time is spent chatting in IRC. There are rarely any topics to appeal to me.

  • 07.20.2006 11:52 AM PDT

"I pledge to punch all switches, to never shoot where I could use grenades, to admit the existence of no level except Total Carnage, to never use caps lock as my "run" key, and to never, ever, leave a single BoB alive."

2B || !2B - Why don't you look Inside the Machine?

Posted by: Psyched
Posted by: Rainman89
Psyched, I think that the problem with all the good members being in groups is simple;
New members won't see them. Are forums are clogged with spam and useless questions, but our groups are full of helpful threads and quality discussions. Its time for the groups to be second and the forums first. We need people like you out in the open, as a shining example of people who have truly advanced the community.


Oh, those times are long past. I've tried to stay in groups but there's just no way I can bear the inactivity of the modern ones. Those of us who've stayed on from being mainly group-focused have now nearly all moved on to being publicly-orientated. In fact, forums have been firmly first since around the time of the upgrade. I don't recall whether it was before or after. I feel that I spend alot of time browsing groups and public forums, but alot of that time is spent chatting in IRC. There are rarely any topics to appeal to me.



Agreed...almost any group that I join is dead or is in the process of becoming dead. That and between the Spam Wars and Flame Wars, as well as Group Conquerers...I am just sick of thinking about it. I am not an oldie, like most of you...but when I came here it was rather pleasant and fun. Now I just sit around in the main forums all day trying to stir some conversation...helping others with mis-posted topics. And I try to let everyone know that there are rules on the Main Forums. I bore myself sometimes, in fact I am bored now. This thread is all that has been keeping me from watching TV and getting something to eat.

I just wish there was a way to fix this, like a re-do button.

  • 07.20.2006 11:56 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

The problem is, the majority of the forum-goers don't care too much about the 7th Column or the community. They're just here for Halo. If even half of the people who focus on the Halo 3 forum started helping out with the community, the Column would be fairly active. But again, they're not here for the Column.

  • 07.20.2006 12:14 PM PDT

Go to your room!


...Well I'm glad that worked, because those would have been terrible last words.

Posted by: Dark Wolf00
The problem is, the majority of the forum-goers don't care too much about the 7th Column or the community. They're just here for Halo. If even half of the people who focus on the Halo 3 forum started helping out with the community, the Column would be fairly active. But again, they're not here for the Column.


I agree, and whilst it is a laudable aim to get the column infused with new members, the question they'll be asking themselves is, "Why should I?" To me, there is a missing sense of purpose. Yes, it is most definitely a good thing to "do something for the column." But to an average user, who doesn't have time to sit and plan massive large scale things, what outlets are there for them, realistically?

  • 07.20.2006 12:18 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

I didn't really intend on posting again, but too many people have been forgotten here...

First of all, Mr. Smiley. I hope I do not need to explain what he has done for the community, if people here don't know what he has done I'll be very depressed (again).

But, a lot of the moderators here have tried to a lot too, many people seem to forget that! Who can forget stosh avatar contest, or the community chat he put up? The website soffish that he owns that holds so many things we take for granted?

Goweb made a website, and a Bungie wiki that is very nice. He may have been interrupted by his real life (bah), but he has tried... many times.

Impurity has always been a nice guys, and has done a lot for b.net, some cases helped secretly with contests and other things.

Psyched, for his constant devotion to the community, Coke for his brilliant java movies, JAFfy, Ghandi 2 for the Myth Jumpers, The Inside of the Machine and the Mathematic guys who're doing a lot to help other members here, and yes... YOU (I'm saying you, because you know you should be here too but I can't remember your name at the moment [no, not you].)


There are so many people here that has done so much, I can't even start to make a proper list with all those I want on it.... I know I've left a lot of great people, and a bunch of friends who deserve to be mentioned... I'm sorry.

I've always been involved with communities, big and small, but B.net has never been on the top of my list so I haven't been a contributer myself. I still come here because of the small group of people that I still like, the people I respect and who still after many years of being treated like dirt like from most of the members here, keep going on to help the community here. You all know who you are, and you know I love you all. <3

  • 07.20.2006 1:06 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Posted by: Johnrap
Posted by: ReturnofAnnFrank

Edit: No offense John but the (links) to the home page are getting sort of annoying


RAFie, you're totally paranoid man. There are no links to the homepage in any of my posts.

* History is written by the conquerors.


Maybe I am...maybe I'm not.

  • 07.20.2006 2:02 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Elder Mythic Member

Recon said name people who made an impact here.

Here's 2.

Banshee Barron
Shai Hulud.

It's a -blam!- sin that they were never chosen to be Mods. Two of the finest members of this community, and they're just tossed aside. Anyway, I'll just back out as I know nothing of this threads original purpose.

One more thing, why's everyone being het-up lately? Either Het-up (like me) or stuck-up.

Something's in the water.

  • 07.20.2006 2:38 PM PDT

"It's like a cake filled with pies." -Pete "Mango" Parsons

Seventh Column Contests

You're right, Simen. There are a lot of people who've helped this community move along but a lot of those people have moved on themself. Jay, those two people are a role model to this community but they're not the only two. I can seriously write a whole essay on who're all the members that deserved the modship but didn't get it. Sometimes ignoring is the key.

  • 07.20.2006 3:00 PM PDT

The way I see it, Psyched's thread could have possibly been seen as an advertisement in the eyes of certain moderators, however, I don't see how the movement of one thread to another forum would be any basis to establish the opinion that The Septagon is no longer a community forum. There are still new posts every day here that have to do with the 7th Column community.

  • 07.20.2006 4:42 PM PDT

This thread has really evolved. I was angry when I read the first primordial post by Impurity. I was bored when several ideas arose and then became extinct. And then within the past ten thousand years (er, in a geological sense) Recon's post came out of nowhere like that first caveman who said to himself one late night: "what if I made that one stone over there round..."

It's like an organism, really. In fact, the entire forum is. Everything. I never was very good at biology, but, I know enough to know that cells are what make the body of any creature (as far as we know) work. They keep things in motion, keep them working properly. No organ simply functions independently; it's part of a group, a process. It all comes down to these little things that are so small that we can't even see. And the thing is, when they all work together, they can make things so large that they overcome us by leaps and bounds (and by that I don't mean stosh's male reproductive organs).

We are the cells of Bungie.net.

We can't work alone. A single cell by itself is worthless. But, when they work together, that's when they really can do things.

What I'm seeing a lot of lately is people trying to get themselves ahead and not caring about everyone else. Monkey see, monkey do. Folks, mirroring the actions of moderators is not original. It's boring. You'll find that people value creativity more highly than mimicry. You are, in effect, the cancer in the Column. Simply cells trying to be something they're not.

If we cut right down to the truth itself here, there's always been that segment of the community here that everyone dislikes because they are rude, arrogant, and (so called) idiotic. You know, the mindless masses we're always talking about. Welcome to humanity, my friends. They're not the problem, they've always been here. The problem is, not the ones being observed, but the observers. A man a whole lot smarter and wise than myself once said: "perspective changes reality".

But I digress.

Cells die, and are replaced. So it is, so it'll always be; whether we're talking about civilizations, human bodies, or a simple internet forum. Things change, yes, but new cells step in to take their place. In the large picture that most of us can't even see, they always work for the same organism, even if they don't know it. This isn't the forum changing, this is a cycle, people may leave the community but that doesn't mean the community is radically changing.

*sigh*

But I've made this a whole lot more long-winded than I should have. So many ideas to convey and so little caffeine. Now please, excuse me while I go to bed and undoubtedly have a dream about some massive human organ attacking me in my sleep.

  • 07.20.2006 9:03 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

What the community needs is a leader whom they can trust to work for the better of the community and others as a whole. We need someone they can trust to make every important decision and shape the community into what it is supposed to be. We need a leader that will decide what is best for the community. We need a strong leader with real power, absolute power, to manage the community and restore its better days.

  • 07.20.2006 9:46 PM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Posted by: Rundal
What the community needs is a leader whom they can trust to work for the better of the community and others as a whole. We need someone they can trust to make every important decision and shape the community into what it is supposed to be. We need a leader that will decide what is best for the community. We need a strong leader with real power, absolute power, to manage the community and restore its better days.


<cough> Sketch <cough>

  • 07.21.2006 12:05 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Posted by: Rainman89
Well I would say Just a Fan, but...

Sir_Brilliant helped start a whole Fanfic craze, and then started up the OFG.

Guardian Hunter began the largest group, and helped create a guide to Halo 2.

People like Blackjack, SgtSTFU, and Hobo GRunt help keep the flood sane.

And then there are countless people like Mabian, and JohnRap, GodsProphet, who, without doing some spectacular thing, still manage to make the forums better, simply because of their intelligence, kindness, and just the fact that they are there.

Now, As much as I would like to put my name there, in no way should I.

Sir Brilliant has a much more popular fanfiction, my created groups have no more than 30 members, and People in the forums just don't seem to know(I hope not from lack of activity).
See, that right there is the problem. People that do great things here aren't recognized. When someone posts something great on say, the Halo 3 Forum (I shiver at the name) it WILL get swept under the rug. But when someone posts spam, it get tons of replies and continually gets bumped to the top until it gets locked. I haven't been here long enough for anyone to know my name, but my time will come. Honestly, do ANY of you here recognize me? No.

Also concerning groups. Great groups don't really have that many members. Once a group gets bloated like the Marty Army or Prominent Communique (I hate all of the large groups) it ceases to be a community and more than half the members usually don't post; now what you are doing is hauling around dead weight. The larger 'groups' only seem concerned with getting more members. The small groups are where things are born.

Fanfictions. I am in a fanfiction (The Mirratord) group with currently fifty members that I helped co-found. I have set up three or four groups by myself, and get a pat on the back. If those groups get big, will I be remembered? Not likely. Anyway, most great members get no recognition outside of their 'group'. The only ones that publicly get spotlight? Moderators and Overlords, thats it. Usually it is these "no-name" newbie guys like me that come up with great things, and it all gets dismissed under "ZOMG, Moar Spartunz!!!11oene."

How to solve this, you ask me? You can't. The Bungie community is far too large for one person that doesn't have shiny white or yellow text to get noticed. So what will I do? I will drive on, hoping that someday, I will get that chance to rocket off into Bungie.Net fame; but that will not happen, without shiny text. I may get accused of being a fame grubbing selfish bastard, but I only want to do great things, everyone does. So, I will try.

  • 07.21.2006 2:20 AM PDT
  •  | 
  • Elder Mythic Member

OMG!!! Gaming For The Fun Of It In The UK and Europe!

The OMG Community Montage - a unique Halo3 DVD montage.

Don't try arguing with idiots. They'll bring you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

I never come in here... hell, I rarely venture into the forums anymore, but it's nice to get a namecheck.

Cheers Niall. Cookie in the post for ya! :)

I've been admin on some extrememly busy forums before and can promise everyone that it's not a fun job. It takes hours and your time is spent between ignoring sycophantic, transparent suck-ups (forum pseudo-mods, you know who you are!) and those out just to cause aggravation. Somewhere in the middle of that, you're supposed to be making life easier, better and more enjoyable for the normal members...

Remember, mods aren't paid. They don't get bonuses. They have to put up with crap. That's why doing the job AND being active community members is pretty rare - I'm sure Recon must spend 4 or 5 hours on here some days - not much to some of you, but when you've got a job, it's a pain in the arse.

After doing that, I'm loving being admin of out Bungie.net group - the stress is low, the banter is great and even better, it's not all Halo related. Sure, we have a couple of problems, but transparent rules and (I like to think) a reasonably fair hand for those that step over them has enabled us to build a good, working community... Our return rate and member retention is good, and everyone seems to enjoy the atmosphere.

Now, can you guys do it here?

You've got a couple of problems that don't apply to groups:

* The size of this place... there are so many people joining, leaving, using alternate IDs etc that keeping a really close community simply isn't going to happen. You need to build a central, core community of maybe x hundred, or thousand members to which the new comers can gravitate to. For a newbie, there's no way to distinguish between a troll, a waste of space and a contact that may be useful to them...

* Halo 3 forum: It's in it's infancy. Before the release of any game, the forum will ALWAYS be crammed with repeat threads, speculation and general crap. It's the nature of the beast. I'm sure the mods do their best, but don't expect it to be the best of what Zanzibar was until a while after the game has been released.

* Group links: Bungie should be promoting the groups in this place... It took a thread of well over 1500 replies in Zanzibar until a mod suggested setting up a group for us. We didn't even realise there was any point... Lazyness on our part? Maybe. But the groups are the core of the community here and more should be done to advertise the fact.


BASE

  • 07.21.2006 4:11 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

Read about the Forgotten Spartan I Program
Butane: To protect the world from devastation!
sir_brilliant: To unite all people within our nation!
Rainman89: To denounce the evils of truth and love!
sir_brilliant: To extend out reach to the stars above!
SpaceGhostFlyer: Jessie!
Butane: James!
sir_brilliant: Team Rocket blasting off at the speed of light
Butane: Surrender now or prepare to fight
sir_brilliant: Meowth, that's right!

SO, I saw another thread in the septagon entitled- Please Bungie we need more member roles. I thought, that is what we need(the thread was actually about groups, though)

A very easy way to make people get involved is adding one or two more roles, just as limited in size as theme masters and mods, but awarded for other things. That way people would have a thing to strive for if they weren't mod matierial, or if the can't make themes. It is currently too hard to get that member to change to something better, and I think just maybe two more roles for people would be enough to spark a community upheaval.

So, What kind of roles should we have?

  • 07.21.2006 4:33 AM PDT