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Is this forum dying?

veewee25

Pebble Pounder
Joined
Jun 5, 2007
Messages
165
Location
Red Bluff ,California
I have been a member of this forum for 17 years. I got into crawling when we were doing comp rigs. My first crawlers were a PTI Goliath and a Converted wheely king. Things tend to go slow around here any more. The threads don't get a lot of activity and the daily clean up of posts and general site updating is virtually non existent, Spammers take days to deal with. The home page's last update was 2010!! I remember when the classified section would turn over so fast that a post could get lost 3-4 pages deep in a matter of a day. So my question is simple is this forum dying? I know that Scale crawling is bigger than ever and even comp crawlers are starting to make a comeback so where is everyone at? I know Facebook has a lot of groups and pages but they kinda suck, the content gets lost quick and its hard to find a build after its been started. Maybe im just an old timer, but i like the forum format.
 
While I haven't been around this forum for that long, it seems on par with other forums I populate. RCC not dying per se, but the idea of forums as a whole that's not tied to big names with likes and shares for internet clout is slowing down as the likes of FB, Discord, Twitter etc etc get bigger everyday. Not trying to push the abandonment idea but I wonder if Discord could be a good move as its very similar(not same) to a forum plus adds the ability to have a VoIP and stream feature alongside being able to have sections, threads and other features we like on this forum.
 
It's still alive, not through the efforts of the owner apparently. Big thanks to the mods who keep it going to the extent they are able.

It's no different than other forums. Social media has put a huge dent in the traffic. The trouble with fb and others is, a week after you post something it's gone until the algorithm randomly decides to show it again.

I'll be honest, the main reason I still post on forums aside from occasionally being able to offer some help, is so I can find my own info months or years later.

Case in point, a friend messaged me a couple weeks ago laughing. He went searching for an obscure seal for his 1:1 crawler transfer case. He found the answer in a few minutes in a 6yr old post I had made on jeep forum after I spent a week searching for the same seal. Part numbers, brand names, cross reference. He realized after seeing the pictures that it was my jeep he was looking at. Lol
 
While I haven't been around this forum for that long, it seems on par with other forums I populate. RCC not dying per se, but the idea of forums as a whole that's not tied to big names with likes and shares for internet clout is slowing down as the likes of FB, Discord, Twitter etc etc get bigger everyday. Not trying to push the abandonment idea but I wonder if Discord could be a good move as its very similar(not same) to a forum plus adds the ability to have a VoIP and stream feature alongside being able to have sections, threads and other features we like on this forum.
Discord would be an excellent move in my opinion. Anyone who is solely active would be immediate candidates of staff.
 
The owner(s) are most certainly absentee landlords, which is sad. There is still revenue to be had if they would take the time and have the interest.

I doubt of this forum will ever return to its former glory, but there are most certainly ways to bring back users and vendors. If I were in the driver's seat at this particular moment, I would offer six months of advertising to the vendors with the first month free if the vendor does at least one give-a-way worth $25 or more.

The trick here would be to get more users on to the forum without the forum getting out of hand. Back at its peak, RCC was a little rough. A lot of times posting up was an invitation to getting punched in the mouth. With the aid of level-headed moderators with a published set of social norms, it should be ok.

JMHO...
 
I'm hoping the forum is just under the weather and doesn't completely die out. I don't have FB or any other social media and don't intend to ever have it. If the forum was to ever end I would sadly be done too.
 
Since I joined in 2013 I have witnessed nothing but a steady decline in participation. Giveaways and promotions seemed to happen with regularity. Some of the guys have gone on to run successful youtube channels. Others , as mentioned have just gone to social media to collect a larger number of affirmations in the form of likes. I like that this platform isn't connected to ****erberg or that silicon valley fruitloop who wants to tax cow farts and have us eat bugs...lol
I have come to realize that in many ways I like RCC just as it is. There is a steady flow of regulars who post interesting content are helpful and easy to communicate with.
My only real concern is that the software supporting it might collapse. That would suck.

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Regarding anyone saying that RCC is just like any other forum as it relates to traffic, posts, etc.. that's completely untrue. There are plenty of other forums that maintain three or four pages of new posts per day. I'm not saying that there's anything necessarily better about that, but maybe worth mentioning.

Likes/ rep also helps to generate activity on other forums because unlike here on RCC, it allows people to actually know that others are at the very least reading/ looking at their posts. Here on RCC, if you're not spending money on new parts, rigs, etc... your content isn't typically worth enough to garner a reply. I've seen some incredible builds, modifications, fabrications, projects, whatever with virtually NO replies and that lack of interest from the community will turn off someone pretty decisively.

There's a base-crowd here on RCC just like with any forum community and although it's an extremely knowledgeable bunch, it's hard to get them to comment or assist others outside of that group. This doesn't necessarily apply to the standard noob post of "which crawler should I get?" or "which esc/ motor combo should I get?" because a lotta folks seem to love throwing out their .02 cents in that regard but aside from that, many posts and follow-up questions get ignored. I posted recently about an issue that I was having with my Capra and I was floored that a few guys assisted and felt not only fortunate but almost privileged to get some good feedback. Still haven't had a chance to dig back into that project but I digress.

I have a great deal of respect for the guys still here and still helping as their combined experience and expertise is genuine and invaluable. Not sure that there is a more qualified group of guys on the interwebz these days honestly... and again, some of these guys will graciously help as much as they can. But yeah.. overall this place has reached a fairly stagnated profile.

The biggest issue I've seen (which is sad because it could have been avoided) has been the complete lack of caring and involvement in this place by administration/ owners. They can barely be bothered to patch even a pinhole in order to keep their own boat afloat. In fact, aside from the moderator(s) that have tried to keep this ship from sinking, the owners/ admin don't do anything to generate activity, update security measures, streamline the user interface, listen to or consider member/ community input, etc, etc.

Administrators/ owners of this forum are absolutely non-existent and that is imo the primary reason for such a pronounced and steady decline in all aspects of forum activity. It's almost as if they are intentionally trying to self-sabotage this place... which I would probably suspect if it weren't for the other only plausible reason to keep the lights on here, which of course is revenue.

But even at that conclusion, you have to wonder what kind of morons would abandon a forum that could otherwise with their involvement, bring even MORE revenue to them if they would just update things and simply acknowledge that this place still exists? I dunno... Maybe they don't need much revenue and with the advertisers that are still here, it's just enough for them to not deliberately shut it down... Who knows? But they are at least bringing in some amount of dollars and that's pretty damned easy money when you literally do NOTHING to generate those bucks.

This forum doesn't have to continue in decline, but it will. New guys... not noobs to the hobby, but experienced and knowledgeable guys that come here, don't stay around long because this place just feels slow, outdated, and old. The forum overall just puts out that vibe and so with very little enthusiastic participation from others, they leave just as quickly as they come. There's just not much engagement outside of the core members interacting with one another... oh, and those that continue buying all the latest rigs and parts.

A forum that will appeal to others and subsequently generate traffic, has to have more to offer. And while that may not necessarily be seen as a negative in the eyes of some, it will indeed stunt a forum's growth and appeal. As stated many times on RCC, "I like it the way that it is". And while that's understandable to a certain extent, that mindset does nothing to actually make better or more appealing, the place that they enjoy and continue to frequent.

Old timers like me get very used to the status quo and we often times have a hard time looking at things from a different perspective but the fact is that if you want to generate more traffic in a place like this, you sometimes have to work at it a little... engage in more discussions, support others when they post a build or even something off-topic. That's why forums exist after all.

I think that a lot of the old guys are just locked in the same place that they were 10-20 years ago and as they/ we age, it just becomes harder to act outside of our comfort zone or to feel inclined to participate more than we're used to. And that attitude also will have a fairly negative impact on a forum over time. I know that just for me in general, I'm more crotchety and less enthusiastic about almost everything than I was back in my younger days... just goes with the territory. But again, an abundance of that does nothing to help keep a forum active or appealing.

I doubt very much that many folks are gonna read all of what I wrote here regardless of breaking it up into paragraphs lol but I figured that since I don't really post on here anymore outside of seeking help for specific issues, that I would vent a little before attending to my daily chores and projects. And who knows? I'm probably off my rocker with these opinions, still though, figured why not share as it sorta relates to the OP's inquiry?
 
These threads make me sad... I seen it the other day and was going to try explain things again but it just is what it is...

With there no longer being a work star system, which was shit canned due to charge backs cause the site is so out of date, its only floating due to the ads now... How long that will last I dont know... All I can hope is that if the plug is ever pulled that their is a back up as there is a TON of history here...

-Mike
 
These threads make me sad... I seen it the other day and was going to try explain things again but it just is what it is...

With there no longer being a work star system, which was shit canned due to charge backs cause the site is so out of date, its only floating due to the ads now... How long that will last I dont know... All I can hope is that if the plug is ever pulled that their is a back up as there is a TON of history here...

-Mike




Is there anything that we can do to help breathe life back into the forum? Anything we can do to help the mods? Can the owners be reached and talked with?
 
It's sad but it's true, this place ain't what it used to be, there is so much good info here that is easy to find but when it dies it'll all be gone, there's tons of info on Facebook groups also but good luck finding it, I'm on Facebook but I don't really care for it, but if you wanna see anything new that's where you'll find it, but again good luck finding it to check it out again, Facebook sucks in that aspect. it also sucks because it has wiped out the forums as well, it's been slow but it's happening.
 
Real quick, just wanted to add ( as if I haven't said enough) that Jato recently coming back into the community was a much needed boost. He's deservedly a respected part of this place and it was definitely cool to see participation and enthusiasm rise amidst his presence. And it speaks volumes as to how a place like RCC can/ could actually become more active and more appealing for others to post here. It takes effort and engagement. And I feel like it's the only hope that RCC has at this point without ownership intervention/ interaction.
 
Real quick, just wanted to add ( as if I haven't said enough) that Jato recently coming back into the community was a much needed boost. He's deservedly a respected part of this place and it was definitely cool to see participation and enthusiasm rise amidst his presence. And it speaks volumes as to how a place like RCC can/ could actually become more active and more appealing for others to post here. It takes effort and engagement. And I feel like it's the only hope that RCC has at this point without ownership intervention/ interaction.
I definitely agree with you about this, I don't come around as much as I used to but definitely noticed that Jato was back.

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I pop in every day, sometimes multiple times, depending how busy we are at work. It sucks this ship is sinkin n theres not a thing in the world we can do about it. Im thankful n appreciate everything Mike has n still does around here to get us by. Id hate to see all the info, build threads, pics, n esspecially friends/memebers disappear. And i agree with HPD, jato comin back was a huge suprise n a much needed boost. Hopefully that helps this place liven up a bit

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Im incredibly ignorant in this matter, Does anyone have any idea what it would take to own this forum, hosting fees, monthly outlay etc...???
Good luck, the owners wont sell. Seems theyed rather let it die, than see it thrive, sadly

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I hate to see the decline in forums in general due to the instant gratification of social media. I know I'm not a "big name" builder, but their are some cool builds on here and their is some serious knowledge. I have referenced builds on here for the 24 years I have been in this debilitating hobby.
SBG tried to have FB page, but it was locked and archived. Has anyone been over there recently? I haven't been on it. Should probably check it out at some point. I know they're (Matt, if I remember correctly) making YouTube videos on a regular basis. Maybe that would help this forum if members made videos?
Also, thinking of FB pages, I've tried to have separate pages for "toy car/truck" builds but they are overran with spam. I'm pretty sure that's how my main account was hacked and I lost 18 years of friends and pictures. Now I've lost the admin roll of those pages, I try to report the spam and porn links only to have FB disagree with the decision and allow the posts to stay that my friends and family can see.
I signed up for FB back when it was for college students only. I remember the rise of the interwebs in the 1990's, but I digress.

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Regarding anyone saying that RCC is just like any other forum as it relates to traffic, posts, etc..

High Plains Drifter pretty much wrapped up the whole thing.

Case in point here, there are a couple of spam posts in the newbie section that were posted on Saturday. Why are they still there?

I fully understand one of the first steps is updating everything, which is no little task, and likely no little expense either.

As stated, FarceBook has claimed the lion's share of the traffic, and it seems like people there are fine having group members ask the exact same questions a thousand times. Back in the day, posting on RCC without searching was a guaranteed virtual punch in the mouth. That is one of the core things about RCC that brings a lot of us back is the wealth of knowledge that is here. You can search through group posts on FarceBook, but by design, it is combersome and offer search results are dubious, at best. Old posts on FarceBook do not generate ad revenue.

Of course, any update to RCC should be well thought out. The Traxxas forums were updated to the Vanilla engine, and that alone killed a lot of the traffic there. It is frustrating to find old posts on that forum now.

So, what do we want?
As a user and a fan, I would love to see the proprietors of RCC make proper investments in the site, along with involvement with advertisers to bring traffic back to RCC. Or, put the whole mess up for sale, and give opportunity to someone else that willing to take on the task and the risk.
JMHO... :|
 
It sucks. Crawling is getting more popular and the forum should be growing instead of dying but a lot of that traffic is on Facebook now. FB groups can be annoying with the same posts over and over and searching on them is absolutely terrible. I love how you can search on here (or at least on Google) and actually find what you are looking for. On FB there have been times where I go to a group and try to search for a particular post from earlier in the day, even knowing a keyword in the post (such as bearing) and will end up getting a bunch of BS from months ago that isnt even related instead of the one from the same day that actually said "bearing" in the post.

Them taking away the like feature on here was not a good idea. They thought it would get more posts, but it definitely did not. If someone posts a build thread for example and there are no likes or posts replying, the thread started will stop adding to the thread. Likes were a quick and easy "nice job" that were at least some sort of feedback or incentive to keep posting.
 
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