The main problem with this community

General Discussions
#1

I’ll be honest, I’m not really feeling the love enough to do this, which is a shame, as I normally love helping out communities. I really feel like me and my games aren’t cared about here. I get very little feedback, if any, and most people who do give feed back never check my games out again to see what’s different. Maybe if there was a review swap like place where I could go post five reviews for other peoples games, than in return get five back I’d feel more like people even noticed me here, but right now I just don’t think that this, or any other java community is worth putting any effort into helping. I think we need to have tighter bonds here and more usefullness before we ask something like this.

Post taken from here.

You’ll need to visit that thread to get the context for what I’m saying for some things, but you should be able to get the point without it if you just aren’t interested enough to click it.

#2

I fully agree with you. There are lots of discouraging post. The problem was brought up before, but nothing has changed . That’s the reason I stopped posting here…

#3

That’s really sad that it’s came up before and nothing was done.

#4

Well, the attitude here is why we just had one of our longest and most valued members delete his account. KevGlass is no longer a member here at JGO. Why? It has devolved from a community of helping each other to too much bickering and fighting.

To be honest, my limited attention I was able to give here is decreasing with my new responsibilities at Sun. So…

I am going to be looking for someone, or a group, to turn JGO over to run, improve, and buildout. If there is anyone here that is wants to run JGO as a volunteer, PM me. After a bit of time, I will put it to a vote in the community and use that to determine how this gets transitioned.

JGO has been here for 8 years now and some remarkable stuff has come out of the community. As with all growth, it has hit a point in the curve where things need to change and we need others to step up and help.

-Chris

#5

Sorry, but you have not been here long enough to see what went into getting JGO off the ground and the transitions it underwent. This site generates no revenue, does not accept any advertising, etc. Jeff and I ran it for ever, I did all of the implementation online and it’s not my core job. I always wanted it to be more than it ultimately became, and the first site iterations showed this (news, articles, demos, etc.)

Part of the frustration is having community members say “it sucks!” “you should do this or that” and offer no answers or assistance, just complaints. Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand. Those of you on the forums here who have known me for years know the work that has been done thus far. Just sorry I could not push it further.

As I said in my previous post, I am looking for others to step up and run the site. This includes making changes, adding features, etc. PM if you have any interest in helping to helm JGO. And, if you make demands, please be ready to volunteer to implement.

#6

KevGlass deleted his account? Man, that really sucks. He helped me out on my website. :frowning:
I hope this isn’t a trend, or JGO really will end up sucking (or sucking more, depending on who you ask) :frowning:

ChrisM, maybe you should try adding a review swap subforum. The topic worked out nicely, and I think it’d be helpful to everyone.

#7

Don’t know if it’s a trend, but we need to step up as a community to fix things if we want to keep this community growing. I no longer have the cycles to really run JGO. For those of you who have not heard, I was just named Sun’s Chief Evangelist and Chief Gaming Officer. So, lots more work and much less time to do it in.

Keep the PMs coming!

#8

Let’s invite some girls to the forums ;D

#9

If it weren’t for JGO I’d probably would never have gotten into game programming. So, hats off for ChrisM and associates :slight_smile:

I’ve been an “online participant” for 16 years now, long enough for me to know how these things work. I’ve developed an impenetrable skin against the bickering that seems to be a constant for online communities, which I’ve had the “pleasure” of managing.

In the end, the bickering doesn’t matter. I selectively don’t participate in it. Stressing myself about something I don’t have to stress myself about is pointless. Take this post as an example, if I were ChrisM I’d probably just ignore it, not my concern. Trying to convince others of something is futile, but good luck with it. Personally, I just do whatever I enjoy and feel like I have fun doing. What others think doesn’t really matter to me.

CyanPrime: You’re trying to convince people of doing something they might not care about doing. Figuring out how to make them do it without having to convince them is KEY. Until you figure that out, your time is better spent on things that you enjoy.

Hopefully that’s convincing enough :wink:

#10

Frankly I don’t think java-gaming.org is a bad community at all. Yes sometimes people say thing bluntly or without tact, and people may have strong differing opinions, but it’s nothing like the comments you’ll get on other message boards. And anonymous review sites are even worse. Which reminds me of this: http://xkcd.com/202/

Anyway, I hope we can keep the community going. Gratz ChrisM on your new position!

#11

Its sad that KevGlass deleted his account.
The reason why I come to JGO in the first place was because I didn’t like the community over at the Java site. I still think its better. But maybe there needs to be more people here to improve JGO.
I don’t see why you don’t add a Google add to the bottom of the site?

#12

I think JGO is one of the best forums going - almost no trolls and solid (albeit sometimes harsh) advice given to people.
I hope kevglass is OK, it’s sad when someone leaves without saying goodbye but I’m sure he has his reasons. I’m fussy about who I respect but he gets max respect from me. Good on you Kev - come back when you can!

Does JGO suck? No.

#13

Congrats?

I hope you’ll still be able to write some blog posts.

on topic fostering a community is simply hard - don’t most AAA games have community managers -sometimes even one per locale- these days?

#14

This is a sad post indeed…

JGO is the first in my list of java/gaming forums, the first I look through and the first I respond to. I do believe there is a very strong community here and definitely a much appreciated one. If I had to pick the 1 forum out of the 8 or so I frequent, JGO is definitely the best. Hopefully the community can and will pull it together to keep it going.

#15

im fairly new and I do not think JGO sucks. Sure people say some negative things, or do not check your revision of code and comment on your new release. People are busy and it’s hard to check up on every new post and staying with old posts with new versions of a game. I never felt ignored or was told off that I suck. I think JGO is great. Way better than most forums :slight_smile: Sad KevGlass is gone, and congratz on the promotion, thats really awesome.

#16

I just joined a little while ago. and am already senior member. People are so active it isnt like other forums where you wait 4 days for a reply. Or for someone to aska qeustion.

Life without JGO would be dark and lonesome :(. what else would I do wiht my time :wink:

#17

I agree with you but when I complained about the fact that some people complained but didn’t offer any assistance about the previous JGT, you said that they had not to help me, you’re not coherent.

I have the same feeling. It is important to get some feedback and some help, it is a nice place. I don’t think JGO sucks. I don’t think that the JGT sucks even though I disagree with the way it has been done.

Lol, tact is not my cup of tea but I test almost all Java games here even though I don’t have enough time to post more frequently.

#18

JGO rocks! I’ve never seen a better community.

There are so many people here who are willing to help out. That’s tragic about Kev, he helped me learn how to do webstart…

Congrats Chris about the promotion!

EDIT:
One thing that i think might be a problem is the rank system on the forum. It encourages new members to post lots and lots to achieve non-n00b status which is not good… Maybe the rank should depend on the time since you first joined JGO instead of the post-count.

#19

Being a JGO strike force isnt gunna change anyything. people wont worship you.

they will check how good you actually are.

#20

Javagaming.org most certainly does not suck! It’s one of the very few forums I frequent, and very much enjoy seeing what people make and reading discussions on different matters.
When I feel I have something to add, I do, and the java 4k competitions are just amazingly entertaining.

I’ve met many people on these forums, and I have much respect for many people here. Kev is probably one of the people I respect the most, and least expected to ragequit. If you’re reading this kev, I want you to know I consider you a very talented and good person.