Alright spring cleaning

Mithrandirxx

Mithrandirxx

The Administration Mage
Staff member
As I looked at the list of users we have currently, I realized we have twenty five names that are nothing more than place holders, by that I mean they are names or people who joined and never posted. Now I realize everyone has some times where they put something off for a bit but I am thinking a name without a post ever made, that is older than two months should be purged. Now as always I wanted the communities impute on this before I do something rash. So what is the reason that I want to remove these harmless names on the site ? Well that is a bit of a simple answer really. We have a hundred and twenty five members, and twenty five of them are inactive, and we have fourty nine active members. So by purging the unused names first we removed a false report of our membership numbers, and increase the percentage of active members a full ten percent. This means that when a potential member comes by and sees that almost half if not half the community is active it will inspire them to join with us, and add to any role plays that are going or start one of their own. As well this will free up some amount of system resources, though the numbers for those resources is almost negligible. This is more like a face lift more than something that is absolutely necessary. Will this completely increase the number of active players no, will it make the active players post more probably not, can it possibly improve the appearance of our site and increase the number of new people to the site yes. So please give me your thoughts and ideas I like to know what the whole of the community thinks about anything I plan to do.
 
Any specific reasoning Ceros ? Or is it just less work and perhaps less confusing to those members who joined but never spoke that if they do come back they will have to sign up again ?
 
Well, first off, erasing the inactive users isn't going to increase the percentage of active role players. Sure, it will fiddle with the numbers, but it actually doesn't change anything. It's like congress fucking with the budget numbers but not really changing anything - just the way they count the cost.

Second, as you pointed out, it takes time to go through and do all that and while I doubt someone who has yet to post anything will ever come here and post eventually, it could happen. If someone does ever decide to come back - get a wild hair to do so one night or whatever, they've got to re-register. I know I have an account on .Com that I don't think I've ever posted on since they've redone their boards (don't tell them that, I don't want them getting any ideas). I don't think I'll ever post there, but every now and then the thought crosses my mind and I go check it out.

Besides that, some people just register their name so it doesn't get taken by someone else.

The main point is, what do we get by doing it? Nothing tangible. What do we waste? Man hours that could better be spent on anything else - hell, reading a book or something. Leaving the entries isn't hurting anything - the database isn't going to fill up any time soon (unless we get another 63,500 users or so). Lowering the numbers could actually hurt the board's image as opposed to help it. Most people who have used the internet for less then two minutes know that on any message board not all of the people are active. But cutting off those inactive users, you only make the site look smaller. Anyone who wants an honest opinion of how active the message board really is needs only look for one second at the forums. (Yes, part of what I posted may be contradictory - the smarter user will check for activity, those that aren't that bright will judge based on total user numbers.)



If you really want to, go for it. But why bother?


(Oh, and as for not posting any reasons, I figured I'd jump on that band wagon.)

Edit: I had no idea someone would quit over this post. Really.
 
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