What's the future of this site?

[Darkwater]

From mostly a lurker perspective, I'm just kind of wondering.

For a few years, it seemed this site had a ton of news pouring out of it.  The front page was updated regularly, I'd get to see some cool photos of trade shows and stuff going down in Japan.  But over the past year, it's been nada.  I mean, over the past 12 months I see only updates for the Speaker Podcast, which I do enjoy (mainly because personal friends have been doing it, so they'll give me crap if I don't listen) and cosplay photos which honestly hold no interest to me (and I know they themselves have been the cause of some drama, which I mostly avoided).

And even on Facebook there seems to have been a splinter, MacrossWorld is now "Macross Fan Central" and/or there's been another spin-off group, I honestly can't tell.   I've attended MacrossWorld Con for the last 9 years or so, and now that's something else, apparently  The forums here are obviously plenty active, but at this point it seems like a lot of old friends who just connect via a message board. I'm not knocking that, I do the same thing myself on other sites.  But, is that all this place is now?

I guess I'm wondering why the updates here seem to have been all but abandoned.  For the one or two of you who recognize my username, I was big Robotech blogger for a few years back around 2004 - 2007.  Small timeframe, I know, but I managed to keep up to date with all of the Robotech news on a daily basis, and as we all know, Robotech and Harmony Gold have done next to nothing in the last 30 years.  Even then, I found daily updates to give.  Macross, on the other hand,  has done SO MUCH in the past decade that the updates should be abundant.  Why no front page update of the new series announced at the Walkurie concert?  Or the new Sheryl Nome video supposed to be announced in a week?  Shouldn't this be the one-stop shop for all thing Macross?

Like I said, just a lurker wondering...

[jenius]

I don't think the front page gets a lot of traffic so it's hard to argue that it really NEEDS updating. There are news threads that people would look to well before the front page. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has the forums bookmarked, not the front page. It also might have something to do with the mods being the same folks from a long time ago so now they probably are further in their careers and have more going on with their families but that's obviously just conjecture. 

[Darkwater]

Quote

There are news threads that people would look to well before the front page. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has the forums bookmarked, not the front page.

For long-time posters such as yourself, that seems like the norm here.  Again, not knocking that AT ALL, but it does seem to reiterate my thoughts that that's all this site seems to be for these days; a place for for long time friends to hang out rather than be an actual site to promote the franchise it chooses to represent.  An entirely new series came out in 2016!  Love it or hate it (and honestly, I wasn't totally in love with it myself), someone who may have been introduced to Macross through that series may have come here only to be left scratching their heads, because other than the podocasts, there was NOTHING about it on the front page.

Hell, last year I was the first person to find and publish Kawamori's live-action Macross treatment from the 90's on this very site and no one really seemed to care.   I was happy with it, I got to satisfy a decades-old curiosity that I had, and I wanted to share it.  Maybe I was expecting more people to be just as excited as I was about it, but that obviously wasn't the case.  To each their own, but if someone else can't be excited about it here, where else can they be?

[wmkjr]

Hmm, I thought that I remembered that before the server update and name change of the Facebook page we'd get updated info from the FB feed on the front page. The FB page had the latest info/news/pics from other sources condensed. There were the latest news/FB feed on the top, speaker podcasts, and/or cosplay sets or whatever category RSS that was pertinent.  Maybe the permissions to post on the MW front page changed or whoever's in charge of the FB page needs to redo the link for updates?

Edit: Here's some info about the FB name change taken from the "MW Back up! Please read!" thread:

Quote

Regarding our Facebook/Social Media presence change, I'll be absolutely honest. I don't use FB/Twitter, and years ago when Exo said we should have a FB account I literally said 'We already have a forum, but ok'. But what he created and nurtured is incredible, reaching out to thousands of fans across the world. It is more international that these forums will ever be, and that is my dilemma. 
I like a smaller community plain and simple. But he grew it into something larger and more successful than I could ever imagine, and that is why it changed.
He can now grow even more without this old man's stupid restrictions. If you have not bookmarked it please do so!! Again great job Exo!!
https://www.facebook.com/MacrossFanCentral/

Thank you all for reading, and please have a good time here!
Shawn

I think the site is still following along the lines like in the "About MacrossWorld" section.

Edited March 6, 2017 by wmkjr
added more info

[Major Focker]

5 hours ago, jenius said:

I don't think the front page gets a lot of traffic so it's hard to argue that it really NEEDS updating. There are news threads that people would look to well before the front page. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has the forums bookmarked, not the front page. 

same with me. and it's been like that for me since i joined well over a decade ago. 

that front page contributors frequently have to advertise on the threads to remind people to check the front page, suggests that for most of the membership it's the same way: dive straight into the forums.

so not sure what is meant by "is that all this place is now?". perhaps to most of the community, it's always been this way.

it's not just a message board either. there are tons of updates, contributions, discussions, debates (at times too much ), and content, regarding macross and whatnot. daily.

just not on the front page.

[mickyg]

I'd have to echo this as well - I stopped checking the front page a good 5 or 6 years ago.  Unless something was mentioned in one of the threads that pointed me back to the front page, that is.  It's not that I didn't like the front page news, it's just that the threads were often more recent and up to the minute.  That, and my method of checking the forums is a lot more like "news" than anything else I've managed to find.  It's become habit.

Here's what I mean:

First thing in the morning, I click the "Unread Content" button on the upper right corner of the page.  This brings up every topic I haven't read, including content I've never posted in.  If I'm interested in what I see, I read it, if not, I move on.  It's up to date "news" direct from people who are interested in whatever it is that's being discussed.  That can be product news, the latest series, or stuff that's not Macross related at all.

Curious as to how others do it, actually...

[dizman]

Wait hold on.... we have a front page?   A quick google search even brought up the forum before the front page. Count me in for the people that just go straight to the forums for the news and hubbub. Sure the front page could be updated more often but the main goal is to get people on the forum to talk about goings on. That's how I've always seen it anyways.

[Major Focker]

2 hours ago, mickyg said:

 

First thing in the morning, I click the "Unread Content" button on the upper right corner of the page. 

i reckon the more accurate statement is: click "Unread Content" before going to bed, first thing in the morning, and several times during the day for good measure 

Edited March 7, 2017 by Major Focker

[mickyg]

Guilty as charged, sir...

[pengbuzz]

On 3/6/2017 at 1:34 AM, Darkwater said:

For long-time posters such as yourself, that seems like the norm here.  Again, not knocking that AT ALL, but it does seem to reiterate my thoughts that that's all this site seems to be for these days; a place for for long time friends to hang out rather than be an actual site to promote the franchise it chooses to represent.  An entirely new series came out in 2016!  Love it or hate it (and honestly, I wasn't totally in love with it myself), someone who may have been introduced to Macross through that series may have come here only to be left scratching their heads, because other than the podocasts, there was NOTHING about it on the front page.

Hell, last year I was the first person to find and publish Kawamori's live-action Macross treatment from the 90's on this very site and no one really seemed to care.   I was happy with it, I got to satisfy a decades-old curiosity that I had, and I wanted to share it.  Maybe I was expecting more people to be just as excited as I was about it, but that obviously wasn't the case.  To each their own, but if someone else can't be excited about it here, where else can they be?

Well, you cannot really base your happiness on Macross upon how others react to it. But as far as the new Macross series go, they don't really excite me so much as IMO they're rehashes of what came before. Personally, I'd like to see a series about the origin of the Zentraedi and the Protoculture civilization that came before ours.

Edited March 8, 2017 by pengbuzz

[Big s]

I'm also one of those that goes straight to the forums. In fact my first visit to the site was because of a google search about macross news because I was trying to find out more about the Macross hmr toys and that search went straight to the forums rather than the front page. Now I use these forums for not only macross toys, but just about anything else sci-fi. The people here are far more friendly and helpful than other forums on other sites.

[derex3592]

I go straight to the forums...I know there is a front page, buuuut never really look at it. 

[Wolf-1]

I deal with the front page every time I visit here; I scroll to the link for the forum and might glance at the most recent posted photo, but basically pay it no attention anyway!

 

[Roy Focker]

Yes most people do skip the front page and go right to the forums.  For the longest time the front page had no news.  People now can just go to the news thread for the latest updates.  I actually do miss the Facebook feed.  It was nice to see some news on the front page besides Cosplays & Podcasts.  As some have already guessed us mods are kind of too busy now to feed the front page with daily updates.  I've thought about using my front page access to make a monthly summary for it.  Then I think maybe a monthly allows too much time go by and even I don't always have the time to write one myself.  Also thought about allowing members to suggest stories for us to share on the front page. 

If people would like to direct our attention to things for the front page and willing to include a brief write up to go along with them I think I can maybe post them to the front page on bi-weekly schedule.

[seti88]

I flipped between the front page and forums back and forth for the past few years. 

What i liked abt the front page was it balanced lotsa up-to-date notable happenings + cool stuff. If it could tap into the various FB/twitter/Insta/Youtube? feeds that would be great. Of course i have no idea how much effort or cost (sever space etc) that takes so its stays just as a comment.

It also pointed back to the threads which had notable postings, which i would say contain the meat of the conversation. Not everyone wants to monitor so many threads all the time, and i felt that the front page nice provided a nice snippet of forum life to the world. 

Lastly, i thk the front page should try to stay current with news, otherwise folks would just skip it.