View Full Version : Let's make Capcom Europe bigger!
I've been really impressed about all of you over the past months, I think that together we've built a pretty amazing little community. Let's make it bigger now! :hop:
Apart from "the more the merrier" bit, the bigger we are, the more we can get from Japan in terms of support and involvement with our community - more competitions, more goodies (yes, you'd get more, not less!), more Q&As, more special events. Do you have nice friends, RL or virtual? Bring them here, spread the CE lurve! :D
As much as I'd love to see 100,000 registered users by the end of the week (oh yes!), please do not (a) create multiple accounts and develop a split personality (:shameonyou: ) (b) go around spamming every single board on the interweb, it's an ugly thing to do and we're much, much better than that ;)
Share the forum link on your social sites such as facebook, myspace, bebo ect ect.
I am always doing it on facebook.
Also if you use other forum and they allow it out a link in your sig to our great place.
And also word of mouth :)
How many do we have now?
I'd say the main pulling point of Gamefaqs is the wealth of guides and information. However, the more people we get here, it wouldn't be so close-knit either...
Do you have a target from your boss?
We're now just over 41k - consider that I'm used to 500k+ members, this feels really tiny to me :)
Nothing to do with targets (I set them! :p) and I don't think the close-knit atmosphere would be affected at all. Quite the opposite, more active people would make the conversations and activities flow even more. It's sad to see competitions ignored (see the cubee one, I won't get budget for any more such compos if I get 3 entries!) and activities organised by members getting lukewarm (the great advent calendar idea).
Wow, that's actually a lot of members!
You're making me feel bad that I didn't participate in either competition now.
You shouldn't :) That's exactly what I mean, we're all busy with things and can't take part to everything, but if we are big enough there will be always somebody partecipating :)
I would really love to give so much more to you guys (and I can), but I'm limited by numbers.
ok let me see what i can do ;) of course ill help getting this community MUCH MUCH bigger! :)
Sky_Dragon
05-01-10, 09:52
Do we get bonuses? I feel like I am working in dreams... Sir would you like to buy a bed? No? Get out then!
Maybe you could get some advertising on the US site? Let the Europeans over there know about us and how homely it is.
draconacticus
06-01-10, 12:13
I've been really impressed about all of you over the past months, I think that together we've built a pretty amazing little community. Let's make it bigger now! :hop:
Apart from "the more the merrier" bit, the bigger we are, the more we can get from Japan in terms of support and involvement with our community - more competitions, more goodies (yes, you'd get more, not less!), more Q&As, more special events. Do you have nice friends, RL or virtual? Bring them here, spread the CE lurve! :D
As much as I'd love to see 100,000 registered users by the end of the week (oh yes!), please do not (a) create multiple accounts and develop a split personality (:shameonyou: ) (b) go around spamming every single board on the interweb, it's an ugly thing to do and we're much, much better than that ;)
Will see what I can do :)
junglist_dnb
06-01-10, 12:49
PShome is a good place to get people interested, theres always people talking about the games in the Capcom themed areas.
Also Im always on Versus so I could get people interested there too.
Viva la Capcom Europe.
CaptainCortez
06-01-10, 13:51
My advent calendar was a sad case. :(
Haha, yea I'm fine with more members, so long as it doesn't make things worse, like it did on the official playstation forums.
I used to be one of the main names on the playstation forums, and then more and more people came along, and started causing arguments with me, as they thought I had a hidden agenda for being nice to people apparently. Others were jealous that most members knew of me, and then because I got annoyed and argued back (some of them hacked my username and password somehow, and purposely took my name away, which thankfully I got back), I was known on there for worse.
Anyway, eventually so many new people came in, that all of the original members dispersed, and eventually disappeared almost completely. So now, there are no familiar people on there at all (with the exception of about 3 members).
Anyway, I was on here back then as well, but much much less. That's why I moved permanently to the capcom forums, as it's a nice little community, with lots of friendly people. :D
If the same thing happens on here, there's not much anyone can do about it, because it makes sense business wise, for Capcom to get a community as large as possible.
Ah well, we shall see. I won't be forgetting about the regular's on here,t hat's for sure. It's good fun talking to all of you. ;)
Trust me, 40,000 or 400,000 registered members the atmosphere here will never change. The Sledgie of Doom is always watching :p
Seriously, with such a friendly community I can't see how anybody remotely intelligent and nice would want to cause problems :)
CaptainCortez
06-01-10, 14:11
Yea, but it's the dodgey ones you want to watch out for. :p
I trust you and the banhammer though, ten!
As of today I've only managed to successfully invite one of my friends, most of them would rather write in Portuguese and are not comfortable in writing in English :whackangry:
draconacticus
06-01-10, 14:48
My advent calendar was a sad case. :(
Haha, yea I'm fine with more members, so long as it doesn't make things worse, like it did on the official playstation forums.
I used to be one of the main names on the playstation forums, and then more and more people came along, and started causing arguments with me, as they thought I had a hidden agenda for being nice to people apparently. Others were jealous that most members knew of me, and then because I got annoyed and argued back (some of them hacked my username and password somehow, and purposely took my name away, which thankfully I got back), I was known on there for worse.
Anyway, eventually so many new people came in, that all of the original members dispersed, and eventually disappeared almost completely. So now, there are no familiar people on there at all (with the exception of about 3 members).
Anyway, I was on here back then as well, but much much less. That's why I moved permanently to the capcom forums, as it's a nice little community, with lots of friendly people. :D
If the same thing happens on here, there's not much anyone can do about it, because it makes sense business wise, for Capcom to get a community as large as possible.
Ah well, we shall see. I won't be forgetting about the regular's on here,t hat's for sure. It's good fun talking to all of you. ;)
Pfff, I liked the advent calendar challenge. Every day had an entry, i call that a win :)
Talking of which, have the results been announced yet?
I know what you mean though, more members means more work for mods but I guess the number of mods could be increased to cover it.
I know what you mean though, more members means more work for mods but I guess the number of mods could be increased to cover it.
There are enough members here who are already mod material, can't see a problem at all :)
PShome is a good place to get people interested, theres always people talking about the games in the Capcom themed areas.
about that...
i requested to join 2 CAPCOM 'clubs' on pshome about 3 months ago. is that a fault on pshome or are the people there not bothered to look at new requests? (not in a bad way, just saying should i give up on it?) :whosthere:
but yes! i will try to get more people into the community the best i can, although everybody i tell don't really get interested :weird: .....until i mention the giveaways. And i don't want a bunch of people just joining so they can get free stuff.
CaptainCortez
06-01-10, 15:10
Pfff, I liked the advent calendar challenge. Every day had an entry, i call that a win :)
Talking of which, have the results been announced yet?
Might be able to do it today or tomorrow, but I don't want to push poor Ten about, as I need to aska few things about it.
Soooooooooooooo, Ten expect a pm in a little while. :p
There are enough members here who are already mod material, can't see a problem at all :)
Yea, I can see that working. Should be fine. It's just getting there, which will be the hardest.
I've done all I can do unfortunately, every friend of mine knows how avidly I support Capcom and they get really jealous of the events I attend, but none really want to register for the boards or do anything else, anything short of a gun to the head (no, I won't do that, I promise. :P) won't make them any more eager...
The only thing I can put a word in for is more mentioning on Capcom products, surely there's not anything wrong with a tv advert for an upcoming game ending with "Exicted about this title? Discuss! capcom-europe.com/forum", I see its in game manuals, but at the very back, I was grinning eagerly at an advertisement that appears to make so many far-fetched promises, and yet it was all true.
Carbonox_Ratchet
06-01-10, 17:07
In terms of getting the community out to more people, little things like giving them incentives for purchasing Capcom games (either on the back of the box or in the game itself via a little section ala Uncharted 2's advertising in-game; I'd also say manuals but seriously, how many people read the instruction manuals these days?) or making the community/website address stand out more prominently may help.
Advertisements for new games on TV could end with, "for more information, go to Capcom-Europe.com now!", for example. Same could apply to advertisements on gaming sites, with a link enabling viewers to hop right on straight away.
Word of mouth helps indeed, but there's more reliability in viewing figures when said marketing is put out in to the mainstream via advertising in broad daylight. Sites, TV, etc.
chaosriotzero
06-01-10, 17:57
i always register my EA games on their website but I never use their forums. I only joined up with this forum after I found out about the Gathering Hall that was in London. I think more things like that would really get people involved with the community. Real life social activity FTW!!!
Events such as MCM expo and Eurogamer (thats a few that I go to anyways) have a great potential for picking up new members.
I've tried getting a couple of my friends to join up already but they're pretty rubbish, I told them about the freebies as that seems to grab anyones attention, then I mention the meet ups and the pre-play events and everyone always seems excited to join up after that.
Carbonox_Ratchet
06-01-10, 18:37
...then I mention the meet ups and the pre-play events and everyone always seems excited to join up after that.
In order to reel in the sharks, you need big chunks of meat. ;]
For me personally, it's saddening that many people would only come here and contribute just so they get what they want out of the experience. Namely: free goodies. Not because they genuinely want to contribute to the community and share their passion for games with others. Communities can be dampened when there are many agendas at play. However, the flip-side is that they will still stick around and contribute at the same time, further boosting the community's numbers. Win-win for everyone.
But I digress, this is a topic for another time.
My friends are pretty rubbish in english and they dont own consoles or play so much games as i do, even when i told them what i´ve won so far, they are not interested in joining the forums.
I agree with cortez, i know that the more the better but i like how small our community is, when i look at playstation forums im terrified by the amount of new threads(like 100 a day, most of them useless)and the amount of people. Thats why capcom forum is the only forum on the internet im active on.
We're now just over 41k - consider that I'm used to 500k+ members, this feels really tiny to me :)
Nothing to do with targets (I set them! :p) and I don't think the close-knit atmosphere would be affected at all. Quite the opposite, more active people would make the conversations and activities flow even more. It's sad to see competitions ignored (see the cubee one, I won't get budget for any more such compos if I get 3 entries!) and activities organised by members getting lukewarm (the great advent calendar idea).
As much as I would love to enter, I'm just too young. Ah heck. But if Capcom of EU holds more events, then I guess you can get more members. Oh and I guess advertising Capcom's website on TV ads is a good way too.
CaptainCortez
06-01-10, 19:48
Thing is, it's nice to have a variety of different people from lots of different backgrounds to talk and interact with, but it's not always a good thing.
I'd say that the best thing I can see happening, is having a good amount of new members, but saying that, they all need to be passionate about the games, and not just make four word topics about the most pointless things.
A common occurance in most forums is having people make topics, when they can't even type properly, as they're stuck in "text typing" mode.
It's a forum, not a quick message to your mate, asking what he's up to.
Granted, some people are dyslexic, so they try their best. Problem is, I know a fair few dyslexic people, and even when they get their letters muddled up, they're still doing better than some people who can use proper english, but just prefer to abbreviate everything.
I think everyone on here say their opinions in best interest for the Capcom Community, but it's hard to find that balance of good posters, when searching for mass members. It's just so hard to determine what kind of people will turn up, when trying to reach out to so many people.
I probably seem kind of against it. I'm not, but I feel if people do come on here, I wouldn't want the regular's to be shunned away for the new members, which in a lot of cases happens.
It's a really nice community, as it's small and compact and everyone seems to get along, but another problem when new people come along, is that sometimes they can get ahead of theirself, get involved in things which maybe they shouldn't, and inevitably side with people and cause arguments.
It's good to have a good community that would flourish, but the point is, you just can't tell what kind of people you're letting in.
Anyway, I'm in no form of power on here. I don't have a throne (even though it would be nice to just sit in a massive chair at the top of capcom, and think all day), so I shouldn't be saying much on the matter.
Guess I'm just airing opinion, but fact of the matter is. It may be good in a lot of ways, but then a lot of things could go wrong. It's a tough choice to make.
I agree with everything cortez said.
Also, i think if people are interested in capcom games, they will eventually find this website, as i did when i bought sfIV and i was interested in some sfIV info.
If we start to invite people here who are not interested in capcom related stuff, they will only be here for the goodies, nothing else.
Carbonox_Ratchet
07-01-10, 12:53
Thing is, it's nice to have a variety of different people from lots of different backgrounds to talk and interact with, but it's not always a good thing.
I'd say that the best thing I can see happening, is having a good amount of new members, but saying that, they all need to be passionate about the games, and not just make four word topics about the most pointless things.
A common occurance in most forums is having people make topics, when they can't even type properly, as they're stuck in "text typing" mode.
It's a forum, not a quick message to your mate, asking what he's up to.
Granted, some people are dyslexic, so they try their best. Problem is, I know a fair few dyslexic people, and even when they get their letters muddled up, they're still doing better than some people who can use proper english, but just prefer to abbreviate everything.
I think everyone on here say their opinions in best interest for the Capcom Community, but it's hard to find that balance of good posters, when searching for mass members. It's just so hard to determine what kind of people will turn up, when trying to reach out to so many people.
I probably seem kind of against it. I'm not, but I feel if people do come on here, I wouldn't want the regular's to be shunned away for the new members, which in a lot of cases happens.
It's a really nice community, as it's small and compact and everyone seems to get along, but another problem when new people come along, is that sometimes they can get ahead of theirself, get involved in things which maybe they shouldn't, and inevitably side with people and cause arguments.
It's good to have a good community that would flourish, but the point is, you just can't tell what kind of people you're letting in.
Anyway, I'm in no form of power on here. I don't have a throne (even though it would be nice to just sit in a massive chair at the top of capcom, and think all day), so I shouldn't be saying much on the matter.
Guess I'm just airing opinion, but fact of the matter is. It may be good in a lot of ways, but then a lot of things could go wrong. It's a tough choice to make.
For a community to progress, evolve and expand, it would need more traffic than at any given time, which would in turn lead to growth, which in turn leads to more avenues. Any professional community site goes by this and many strive for this. How do you become more successful than you already are? How do you expand and appeal to the masses?
Forums aren't about just getting a set amount of users and then sitting on that amount all day, every day. This is an official game forum. A community that can grow and has room to.
There is no such thing as reaching a limit where forums are concerned. It would be foolish to assume such.
In terms of the user traffic, you're ALWAYS going to get a wide variety of people coming in. Some good, some bad, some in-between but mostly, gaming fans. They wouldn't be here otherwise if nothing about the Capcom brand name initiates some form of excitement. Whether or not they're here just for the goodies. Let's think outside of the box.
One thing to take in to consideration is that by approaching the masses, marketing your community and site to a bigger audience, you can attract a LOT of people. Then, over time, you'll start to see a gross amount of users who want to remain. Some may disappear over time, some will lurk, some will pop in every now and then but otherwise, any growth in traffic can be met by indirectly weeding out those with little interest, leaving those who are genuinely interested.
If there's one thing I've learned, you have to take the good with the bad. Time and patience are crucial elements in the growth of any given community, be they professional communities or not.
For any community to evolve, it HAS to grow. Aesthetic changes, new features and whatnot are all well and good, but you still have the same community.
CaptainCortez
07-01-10, 14:21
I'm always thinking outside the box. I'm just saying it can go either way. :p
Communities are a collection of people from all different backgrounds.
Communities flourish with an incredibly high amount of members.
Communities need to expand in order to grow and become even more successful.
All of these are obvious facts, but speaking through my own experiences, it's not always a good thing.
Getting a large sum of people to become active on a forum every day is something to marvel at, when it happens. It's just that getting to that level, allows for a large amount of people who you might not want to interact with, to post and get involved.
I love meeting new people, but the point I made beforehand was that it can go either way.
I also said that it makes business sense to get new members involved. I know forums a little too well, but my biggest concern which will always remain, is that it can go either way.
It might not come to that, and I don't think Ten would let people treat each other badly, but other sites only care about statistical figures, and not the actual people posting.
The only things which Sony and Microsoft see are numbers and pound signs. The same probably goes for Nintendo. Also, the playstation forums are just a mess to look at.
Anyway, time will tell. ;)
I've tried getting some of my friends to join, but the only things that they're bothered about are free things. They even said to me that they don't have time to contribute, so there's not much point of being on here, if you don't want to get involved with things.
That's the way I see it, at least.
Carbonox_Ratchet
07-01-10, 15:33
You have to deal with people you may not get along with anyway. It's a walk of life; you're GOING to meet people you're not keen on. Just as they may not be keen on you (I STILL WUV YOU). It's how you and the other person go about their business and how they portray themselves. You can be a fool and make enemies quickly if you want, but you'll get a pretty hard hit of reality sharpish.
Companies do not go about setting up communities worrying about some guy bowling on in with an attitude and negativity emanating from him. In the world of communities, it's a non-issue as it's going to happen; don't bother planning for it. Instead, plan for when it causes concern (i.e. flaming/spamming, etc. - general forum etiquette applies). You're always going to get your good guys and your bad guys and those in-between. The thing is, how will you know? How will you know if the latest registrant is an arrogant fart? They might be but they might portray themselves in a manner that determines on if they're being treated with respect.
I think it's rather selfish to automatically assume who's going to be the next bad guy or when the Brady Bunch arrive. We can't go elitist and start judging users.
If you go in to a supermarket, you're always going to find bad apples sitting next to the good juicy ones. No point worrying about it, it's going to happen. Weed them out and get the good ones instead when you need them.
No Community Manager wants a bad bunch but instead of thinking that it's going to happen, think about when it happens and move from there. I have to deal with people every day on multiple communities because it's my job. When the bad ones rear their heads, you deal with it in order to make the atmosphere and experience better for those who are doing a good job.
I work on multiple SCEA communities and the large numbers do not register in my head as a 'mess' or 'horrible to look at'. Instead, I see the large numbers as a success, a success I can contribute to myself. This means many topics and discussions to divulge yourself in and a massive variety of people to talk to. THAT is a successful community, irrelevant of the metrics or people.
I apologise if I might come across a bit harsh but in my honest, honest, very honest opinion, I seriously think that assuming who's who and what's going to happen is incredibly ignorant. Not wanting a bigger community because you might encounter horrible people epitomises that. Instead, think about wanting a bigger community because you'll meet more nicer people than we already have here. Just because the community enlarges doesn't mean we're all going to change. Your pals will still be here. :)
CaptainCortez
07-01-10, 16:06
Well, it's more of a concern than an assumption that everyone who's new will be bad really.
I mean, it'd be a bit hypocritical if I was to turn around for example, and dub every new member as a troublemaker, seeing as we've all been a "new member" in our lifetime, as well.
The only way we'll know truly what these people are like, is if we give them all a chance to prove theirselves (so to speak).
I've had my fair share of enemies in my life, and now thankfully I pretty much have none, as I don't find it hard to get on with people. I pretty much take everyone for who they are, and don't try to change their opinions of things, as I respect that everyone is different, unique and entitled to their own opinions on everything imaginable. Though, I've always been like this.
Apologies if what I've said has lead you to believe that I think every single person that comes along from now on, is a bad apple. That's not what I've intended to put out.
I think the real concern at hand, is that I don't want Capcom to fall into the category of "just another samey forum".
This is due to the fact that right now, I feel that it's the best forum out there, and enjoy the small community.
Having said that, the general section does need to be a lot more active. A lot of the topics which are made, are just forgotten about, and left out in the cold to die.
Topic's would thrive with a lot more people actively giving out their own input, and this in turn, would make competitions actually feel like a competitive challenge, as you'd be up against so many people.
Anyway, I didn't say lots of bad people would come on here and ruin things. I just said it's a possibility, but maybe people already know that, and don't care, as it's not a cause for concern to them?
It's just nice to have a closely knit together community, that's all. I also think that's what Bobafet feels.
Also, I love you too Alex. <3
Carbonox_Ratchet
07-01-10, 16:49
"think the real concern at hand, is that I don't want Capcom to fall into the category of "just another samey forum"."
I don't think it ever will, to be honest. I've yet to encounter a forum where the community team and employees actually integrate themselves in to it. Throwing events, competitions, etc. are pretty rare in this day and age, as is a general interest and desire to know what the fans want. This is carried on over at Capcom-Unity which is an even bigger community.
The attention we receive is second to none from a company-to-fanbase point of view.
The community expanding won't prove detrimental to that focus, I think. Sure, that means more people to look after but I doubt it will change how Tenebra and everyone else portray themselves to us lot. It just means more opportunities for us and more things to do, talk about and see.
To be frank, I'm very excited about where Capcom-Europe will head.
Again, dont you guys think that people who are interested in capcom products will find this website if they want to? It seems that every capcom fan in europe is here, there are surely more but maybe they dont speak english well or they have other reasons why there arent here.
I guess what people expect once entering the site is starting at nothing and heading up to a quick access to all the features - and so once all the features have been found, the rest of the member is already back at day and not really concerned of the people that write here.
What I've seen is that, at least from my point of interest, for as long as there were really interesting issues going on, that there was really much of an activity; While at some point where the spirits settled their thoughts, and no new ones came along, the process kind of died out. It is kind of how I feel when I look up for new threads and posts I could contribute to, but honestly I don't have much of a relation to plenty of the things going on here. Only a few I guess will then actively look and search for what they may bring to the community.
Thinking of free offerings and give-aways, I guess some sort of index showing the chances to win, like, correct versus false answers, could drive people to join in and take their chance a little more.
The first thing I thought as starting to read these posts was that we would need more interesting things people could want to contribute to... thinking of inviting people to join the community arrives at me as forcing them to play with it, and so if they do may come up with a number of posts that they write out in an awkward state of playing good - and well, yeah, either they make friends or not. Yet however if they fail to catch interest, they won't be really happy about it.
Well, among the forums I visit the CE forum is one of the nicest and well-behaving ones while still being funny, surprising and awkward from time to times.
While I don't have much users to contribute to the 500k+ threshold, I made a point by prominently linking to here since right now. Good things should get bigger, right?
Cheers
:)
Sky_Dragon
11-01-10, 06:23
Good things should get bigger, right?
Cheers
:)
That's what my girlfriend keeps telling me!
That's what my girlfriend keeps telling me!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
HAHAHAHHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
AHHAHAHAHHAHAH
Hilarious! :worthy:
back on topic, i asked everyone i know and we might have a potential member on our hands!
im gonna tell every1 on twitter and XBL!!!
:mexwave::mexwave::mexwave::mexwave::mexwave::mexw ave::mexwave::mexwave::mexwave::mexwave:
raine_ryuzaki1
14-01-10, 09:32
*spread it on me!*
i have no friends to share with
:mad:
and i like it that way!!:thumb:
I managed to get a friend to sign up since he's a Monster Hunter and Lost Planet fan. Turns out he only signed up so I'd shut up about it and hasn't posted since he joined. It's not really the type of thing for most of my friends, half of them aren't particularly connected to the gaming scene, and others aren't massive Capcom fans.
Carbonox_Ratchet
14-01-10, 19:52
I think one of the main things to take in to consideration is not whether or not they're gaming/Capcom fans (although yes, they probably would be to want to come here), it's whether or not they're in to the community scene. A lot of my friends are gamers but have no time or desire to actually want to get in to the forum lifestyle. It's another 'hobby' to fit in alongside gaming and what ever else.