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?
