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Post by CJ on Dec 5, 2014 16:26:25 GMT -5
Hey everyone!
Looking back on our stay here at Manga Blast, I can really say that I've had a great time with you all. We've had a lot of fun through discussions, RP threads, random threads and outside events. I hope to continue enjoying this forum with you all.
As I've thought about things though, I've realized that there was one crucial error in making this board that neither Hitotsumami or I recognized.
I believe it was a mistake to make this a "manga" focused website.
When the average Internet user reads a manga, they don't think to themselves that they want to join a "manga" website. Truthfully, I think that this place should have been focused primarily on one series. Obviously, the best series that comes to mind would be One Piece, with Naruto ending and Bleach not looking too good.
I'm proposing that we change the title of our website and make it primarily a One Piece centered site to attract new members. I'm not looking to make our forums some mega hit like Arlong Park, but I feel that we are hindering new members from coming in. I'd like to meet more people and invite them to share this experience with us, especially since it's become apparent that we are losing members rather than gaining them.
All of the old boards will remain, though Naruto's section will be transferred to another location. I will add new boards to focus on the One Piece Manga, Anime and other materials.
I understand that this would bring some unfortunate changes to the board, like the removal of the many cool banners we've had. There would be new banners added that would be just as great, but I understand that there would be some consequences to changing our website and I welcome any criticism for what I've posted here.
What do you think of this proposal? Do you have any suggestions for names? I hate to ride on the coat tails of Arlong Park, but I've always been fond of naming it after a location like Water 7 or Impel Down. It could even be abstract like "All Blue."
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Post by Kyubey on Dec 5, 2014 20:41:45 GMT -5
We've basically been a One Piece forum since the very beginning, haha. I don't see any problems with changing the name to reflect this. While gaining new members could only help us (Shark has finally convinced me that this is, in fact, true) I think it's important to remember the core group that made up the website to begin with, and I think One Piece is the one thing that all of us like anyway. So yeah, it's a good idea. Even though this means my dream of a Kill la Kill banner will never come true. This will also allow us to really emphasize the RP as a selling point, since that's desperately in need of attention. I'm not really sure if gaining a sizable amount of members is plausible at this point, and certainly won't happen overnight, but I'd still very much like to try.
As for names, "All Blue" is too... Sanji. I like Water 7 or Impel Down, though. But if we're going for place names, my first vote for a name would be either Long Ring Long Land or Kamabakka Kingdom.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Dec 5, 2014 23:31:09 GMT -5
One Piece HQ
kek
In all seriousness, if it gets a name change, it should have One Piece in the name somehow, so that it actually shows up in internet searches. Obviously not something as blatant as "One Piece RP" but some iteration of the name, so that people can do a google search and maybe find us. That's how I stumbled onto this whole scene to begin with.
Though honestly, is there anything wrong with, or preventing us from actually naming it OPHQ again? If nothing else we might be able to scalp some nostalgia folks who never came back, let alone that we'd actually have some legitimacy being original members ourselves.
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Post by Mise™ on Dec 6, 2014 8:15:27 GMT -5
Re-branding from Manga to One Piece probably won't change much. I don't think that the issue is that no one is interested in 'manga' sites and that One Piece would be any more popular, rather than that there are already hundreds of similar sites that people will find more attractive.
It's all about finding some niche that will attract new people here and also promoting it so that potential members hear of the site.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Dec 6, 2014 10:58:23 GMT -5
I spent awhile looking around for alternative RP sites, and specifically One Piece RP related ones is a pretty small niche. Particularly the kind ours is, most have lots of rules and a required way to play.
Again though, my suggestion was a combination of that as well as running off the lasting potential the old site had. I could be wrong but I figure that might at least attract a few other people. At any rate I don't think it would lose us members.
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Post by CJ on Dec 6, 2014 11:14:32 GMT -5
I'm not really sure if gaining a sizable amount of members is plausible at this point, and certainly won't happen overnight, but I'd still very much like to try. Yeah, I'm not aiming to be a huge discussion board. I'd rather just attract new members. I feel that we need to aim to obtain at least 25 more members. That way, even if we don't reach that goal, we're still working toward gaining new members rather than consistently losing them. I don't think there's anything ethically wrong with naming it OPHQ. My only problem is that it's not very creative, but it does have that appeal of attractive old members, which means the world to me. That's true, but at the same time there's no doubt that more people are interested in "One Piece" than they are in "manga." It's honestly a win-win situation. Even if we don't attract that many more members, we still needed to rebrand ourselves with the ending of Naruto. Honestly, the only discussion we really have any more is over One Piece and Seven Deadly Sins. At this point, I would like to ask members for at least one or two name suggestions. I want to start a poll to see what everyone's favorite name is. I might do it on a separate website so we could include several options like ranking the names in the order you like the them. We'll definitely include One Piece HQ up there. |
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Dec 6, 2014 17:23:33 GMT -5
I don't think there's anything ethically wrong with naming it OPHQ. My only problem is that it's not very creative, but it does have that appeal of attractive old members, which means the world to me. I think at this point, we can afford to sacrifice creativity, if it means having the chance to get some more people. My reason for suggesting OPHQ beyond personal interest reasons, is that I get the feeling it might be able to scalp some old members from sites that we know people frequent but they don't come here. I imagine some talk of OPHQ starting up again, run by actual original members, would turn a few heads at least. That, and it probably has a higher random search profile, with One Piece in the name and past recognition, than something more specifically One Piece related like "All Blue" or "Water 7". Not that those are bad name suggestions, they're just very esoteric for someone looking for a place like this, whereas having One Piece in the name is interest-relevant. Also if it really is an issue, the lack of creativity and a need to distance ourselves, then we could just use it as a working title for like a few months to a year, and then if we get some more members, old or new, then we can have a proper vote then to settle on a definitive reboot. |
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Post by CJ on Dec 6, 2014 17:29:43 GMT -5
The more I'm thinking about, the more I actually like this OPHQ idea. It honestly works, like you said, in both ways. Older members could find it much, much easier and it allows new members to know what we're about right away. That's a really excellent point. I think we might have to go with it unless someone can come up with something catchier.
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Post by Morcombe on Dec 6, 2014 18:32:56 GMT -5
we were One Piece HQ so we might as well just take our name back now that the old site is actually down and gone.
or we could turn ourselves into a boku no hero academia site since it appears to be the next big thing lol.
Didn't you guys start that manga/anime blog to get new members? cause I can't find a forum link there which might help out.
but ya we need to do something because the only active threads outside the rp is the one piece chapter discussions.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Dec 6, 2014 18:33:46 GMT -5
One suggestion I would like to make if possible though, if we do do this, is to offer a legacy theme, which would be the same as the old OPHQ site actually was. It wouldn't be the default theme, but optional for fun. I suppose you could do that with the other past sites as well, but it just feels necessary that if you're going to do a spiritual successor to OPHQ, that the old look is also possible. That is, if we are running on nostalgia for some members, the older ones.
As for possible banners, you could still do non One Piece related ones, just have them be very few in number so that they're almost like easter eggs. Like if you have a total of 20 banners of One Piece, just as an example, then one or two non One Piece ones wouldn't hurt.
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Post by Kyubey on Dec 6, 2014 18:36:22 GMT -5
You guys...
First of all, while I guess I do see the logic in having One Piece in the name, it kind of ignores the fact that all the most popular One Piece forums currently active are named after either places or boats. So there's that. Conversely, there are a million different forums with One Piece in the title, none of which are distinct from each other. Not that I'm fully objecting to the notion, just that I think standing out as individuals doing our own thing would be more important than following some imagined lead.
Speaking of standing out, I've gotta be the Sole Complainer again and admit that I am completely, 100%, against naming it OPHQ.
My reasoning is that, while I do respect the old site as being the thing that brought us together and is the symbol of our glory years (pfft) I think we also have to admit that, well, we aren't OPHQ. We did come from there, yes, but I believe we've evolved to the point that we're a completely separate entity entirely. I think that should be embraced, instead of trying to cling to the past. If we had more of the original founding members, and our outlook and discussions were closer to what we had there, maybe you'd have a point, but directly calling ourselves by the name of a dead forum just feels false to me. Aside from the RP, even our most notable features are different (we aren't connected to a scanlation site, for one thing.) Remember, most of the prominent old members have already been alerted to this forum in some fashion, and that hasn't done much. It's possible that changing the name again would call some of them back, but that's appealing to a limited and microscopic demographic, which goes directly contrary to the whole point of us changing our identity in the first place. Not to mention that, outside of our community, OPHQ really doesn't have the best reputation. As much as we love it, it's more in a nostalgic sense, and it's absolutely not something shared by the majority of the fandom. I believe this is best exemplified by Shark's own experiences bringing up the subject in another One Piece RP forum, and I didn't hear the best things about it from the older posters at APForums either. For younger fans, meanwhile, the site name just doesn't mean anything. While I don't think we should cowtow to such opinions, we have to keep in mind that they're exactly the people we need to attract to our new site. Just as much as we need to think about who we might be bringing in, consider who we might be discouraging. Just a thought.
We're something different! Fresh! An alternative to the established! Smarter and tighter than the big dogs! With a cool RP and everything! I think that's what we should be selling here, 'cause let's face it, that's really our strongest card.
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Post by Morcombe on Dec 6, 2014 18:47:13 GMT -5
if we wanted to stick with being a manga/anime site for all then everyone still here would need to get some sort of discussion going about what is currently popular wether we liked the show/manga or not and try and advertise our forum with a banner with said show.
example from this seasons anime batch would be using
Parasyte
Shingeki no Bahamut
Psycho Pass 2
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works
or we could be pre-emptive and get completely caught up on the assassination classroom manga, get some discussions on it going, give it's own sub-forum, get a banner with a link to us out there and wait for the flock of new fans from the anime in January. I'm expecting this to pretty much be the next big boom anime since the manga is doing so well on it's own. plus the manga has just been released in the usa as well.
Edit:
as for names besides OPHQ
we could use Marineford, Whitebeard, Straw Hat Pirates, Thousand Sunny, Impel Down, Alabasta, Going Merry, Will of D.
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Post by CJ on Dec 6, 2014 19:12:04 GMT -5
After reading your suggestions, I think I've come up with a solution that could hit both points. You guys are bringing up really good points. Please be critical so we can reboot this website more effectively.
I think "One Piece HQ" would still be a fantastic idea, but there's another way to use the name but still keep our creative drive. For this idea, I'll assume that we use something like "Water 7" as our title.
Our header would read: "Water 7: Your One Piece HQ"
Sure, it's not One Piece HQ, but it still would attract old members while giving us the new identity we strive for.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Dec 6, 2014 19:41:57 GMT -5
You guys... First of all, while I guess I do see the logic in having One Piece in the name, it kind of ignores the fact that all the most popular One Piece forums currently active are named after either places or boats. So there's that. Conversely, there are a million different forums with One Piece in the title, none of which are distinct from each other. Not that I'm fully objecting to the notion, just that I think standing out as individuals doing our own thing would be more important than following some imagined lead. Speaking of standing out, I've gotta be the Sole Complainer again and admit that I am completely, 100%, against naming it OPHQ. My reasoning is that, while I do respect the old site as being the thing that brought us together and is the symbol of our glory years (pfft) I think we also have to admit that, well, we aren't OPHQ. We did come from there, yes, but I believe we've evolved to the point that we're a completely separate entity entirely. I think that should be embraced, instead of trying to cling to the past. If we had more of the original founding members, and our outlook and discussions were closer to what we had there, maybe you'd have a point, but directly calling ourselves by the name of a dead forum just feels false to me. Aside from the RP, even our most notable features are different (we aren't connected to a scanlation site, for one thing.) Remember, most of the prominent old members have already been alerted to this forum in some fashion, and that hasn't done much. It's possible that changing the name again would call some of them back, but that's appealing to a limited and microscopic demographic, which goes directly contrary to the whole point of us changing our identity in the first place. Not to mention that, outside of our community, OPHQ really doesn't have the best reputation. As much as we love it, it's more in a nostalgic sense, and it's absolutely not something shared by the majority of the fandom. I believe this is best exemplified by Shark's own experiences bringing up the subject in another One Piece RP forum, and I didn't hear the best things about it from the older posters at APForums either. For younger fans, meanwhile, the site name just doesn't mean anything. While I don't think we should cowtow to such opinions, we have to keep in mind that they're exactly the people we need to attract to our new site. Just as much as we need to think about who we might be bringing in, consider who we might be discouraging. Just a thought. We're something different! Fresh! An alternative to the established! Smarter and tighter than the big dogs! With a cool RP and everything! I think that's what we should be selling here, 'cause let's face it, that's really our strongest card. Our identity is different from OPHQ. Our identity is the current site, Manga Blast. And it's effectively dead. There's what, maybe five of us total, that remain active? The RP itself, traditionally our strongest suit, is like, four active people, maybe three. I wouldn't even call that an RP anymore, it's just a fanfic. I believe people are misunderstanding my reason for suggesting OPHQ as the name. I personally would actually prefer that name simply because contrary to what Ky said, I do actually still identify mostly with the old forum. It was the most invested there, I had the most online friends there, I spent the most time there and I had the most fun there. There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying to recreate that, even literally. That's not my main motivation for suggesting it though, my main reason is simply to draw people, at least initially. To my logic, is that if we reboot the site in that vein, and effectively recreate the old site, there's a good chance that if word gets around, we'll probably draw some people, be they old members or people who just knew of the site, simply because it would be pretty sensational to hear of the old site coming back. Just look at the time the old site went down for awhile and actually did come back, it had a huge surge of activity, not just from old members but new ones as well, simply people who had heard of the site and now had a chance to check it out. I can understand if we don't want to in the long run, just duplicate OPHQ. I still honestly believe though that we should try to do so as closely as possible even if only for a couple of months, just to see if we can recreate the surge of activity. If it works, and we get some new (or old) blood, then we can approach this topic again, of recreating the site but with a renewed userbase. Not just five people, and if it doesn't work, then we'll know it doesn't work and we can try something that isn't just a recreation. I think I can say for now that if we have a vote, as it stands my vote is going to go simply to more or less, recreating the site in the old sites image. Even if only in the beginning, and it being a temporary thing. |
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Dec 6, 2014 19:56:41 GMT -5
Also something I'd like to add to my previous point, which I feel was worth an actual post rather than just shoving it in via edit;
We've tried recreating ourselves in some fresh new, different image from OPHQ twice now. Both times were fun, but in the end didn't really work. Manga Ground and now Manga Blast, or else we wouldn't be talking about this subject to begin with. I believe at this point in the game, the market of sites like ours and sites like we want to make, so to speak, is simply too oversaturated to try to be getting into it fresh and new. Knock the old site all you want, but whether you're biased towards it or not, you can't deny that it was successful. Some people didn't like it, but a lot more people did, otherwise it wouldn't be a populous and active as it was.
We know that our previous efforts in the end, didn't work, and I don't think simply subbing the words "One Piece" or some iteration thereof (location or ship) for the word "Manga" is going to work either. Conversely, we know that OPHQ worked, and that goes beyond just the scanlation connection.
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