Absoltrainer
Active Member
To the Pokegym staff.
Are you ever going to try and revive the Gym?
Are you ever going to try and revive the Gym?
Pokegym....
- Thread starter Absoltrainer
- Start date
ShadowCard
Active Member
I was also wondering about this.
Maybe a related note: Firefox says the log-in connection for this site is not secure.
Maybe a related note: Firefox says the log-in connection for this site is not secure.
Absoltrainer
Active Member
It's not about forcing. You have to have something the brings members to the site and keeps them here. PokeBeach's forum still thrives, as does 6Prizes (albeit with a different format than normal forums) so even among the Virbanks and HeyFontes it is clearly possible. Even ********** (EDIT: This is still censored after all these years hahaha: "Hey...Trainer") has seen a slight resurgence in recent months. Pokegym has the Compendium. It is the only unofficial rules book that is universally cited across online communities. The Ask the Masters is another very unique feature (and really the only reason this site is still bookmarked for me.) I am hesitant to write out a long list of suggestions, solutions and ideas due to it taking time and effort that in the past has been met with general negativity and write-offs from the staff. Pokegym is near and dear to my heart, and to many veteran players. This place was essentially the birth of the Pokemon online community (along with Beach and Pojo.) Can the gym be revived? I think so. You have the resources, man-power, and potential kinetic energy (as it were) for sustained interest and meaningful conversation. Forums are not completely dead. There's something to be said about the semi-permanence, and conversational stability that a forum can offer over the more chaotic and random nature of Facebook groups.
I have ideas and thoughts on how to possibly revive Pokegym, but the question becomes: Does the Staff want to listen to those ideas? Do they even want to revive the Gym? Some of my comments are going to be critical of past policies and courses of action, things that I believe contributed to the mass exodus from the site...but I didn't make this thread to start a fight, so that is not my intent. If the staff wants to listen, I'm willing to articulate my thoughts.
Here is a thread where I voiced my thoughts on the issue in 2014. The thread started out...I thought...very well, but appears to end poorly by the end. Throughout it, comments are made in regards to attempts to revive this site. Were those attempts ever made? It doesn't seem so. Regardless, my big walls of text on this thread are going to closely resemble what I would post here. I think it would benefit the staff to revisit the thread and read it in it's entirety.
http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?181977-What-happened-to-The-PokeGym
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Absoltrainer
Active Member
I understand NAIC was this weekend, and a lot of Pokegym Staff helps runs these events (at least in the past,) but I look forward to some more discussion on this topic now that the tournament has concluded.
Absoltrainer
Active Member
That's a pretty dismissive and vague answer lol. If plans were in progress, I would have thought you would be excited to talk about them. Paywalls are it's own crazy discussion that I'll restrain myself from commenting on (much.) I am curious what goods/service Pokegym could offer that would be worthy of paying for. I would certainly hope that some of the services you currently provide for free would not suddenly be hidden behind a paywall. I'd say it would kill the site....but....not much left to die. In my mind it would be wiser to focus on getting an active member base to return before you can ask those members to be customers. It's your site, and I can only speculate, but hearing a dead site where I am online alone with 300+ guests/bots talk about plans to create paid content....it doesn't sound like you're addressing the core issues that drove everyone away in the first place. No one goes to PokeBeach SOLEY BECAUSE of the paid content. They went for a multitude of other reasons and then PokeBeach said, "hey loyal followers, want to pay for even more stuff?" The fans replied with "ok." Same with 6Prizes, same with all other other paywall sites...though I have my own arguments that a really good quality, free article website would blossom in the current TCG paywall environment.
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Absoltrainer
Active Member
Upon re-reading this, I realize I misinterpreted this entirely. I read it as "members can pay for content," not "we'll pay for content." My apologies, I rescind my previous statements in their entirety on the subject, excluding the statement that a quality website providing quality free content would in my mind absolutely flourish right now, and add that I think Pokegym could become that site. Also with your follow-up statement, the previous one doesn't feel dismissive, when I first interpreted it, it came off as such, but again, I was wrong in that regard. More than anything else, I am curious what Pokegym plans to do to convince people to come back. Quality content is certainly a step in the right direction, but I wonder if there is still a trust issue between members hesitant to return, and Pokegym staff? I watch with piqued curiosity, and though it may not seem it, I'm rooting for you guys to make a comeback. I'm tired of Virbank and Heyfonte being the center of attention.
Well, my thought is that we would need to loosen restrictions on discussion.
I still wouldn't allow anything R rated of course.
We see ourselves filling a niche, for TOs and Judges more than players, I would think.
A site with a lot of content for all the people coming in to those functions.
I'm stating a webcast, for example.
I still wouldn't allow anything R rated of course.
We see ourselves filling a niche, for TOs and Judges more than players, I would think.
A site with a lot of content for all the people coming in to those functions.
I'm stating a webcast, for example.
ShadowCard
Active Member
There is a lot of historical information on tournament decks on Pokegym but I have so much trouble using the search on Pokegym. It never works for me. The archetype subforum looks like its missing decks from before DP.
For both old and new decks, could a better index be made to organize deck information?
For both old and new decks, could a better index be made to organize deck information?
Otaku
Active Member
Perhaps not something you can even entertain, but with Poképedia so out of date while the official card database is so light on options, getting a searchable database of cards is something I'd love to see... and if it can be reduced to just simple data entry (a coder I am not), something to which I would be willing to contribute.
Does anyone have the contact for the person behind Pokepedia? I'd love to revive it and make it current, update the look and feel, and add some more search options.
Cyrus
Iron Chef - Master Emeritus
Conversation has mostly moved away from the message board specifically because things like YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit are so much more accessible. But as long as a message board serves a particular function or goal, there's never really a reason to get rid of it.
Pokebeach's forum has always been surprisingly secure, though. Contrast that to the membership here or on **********, which proved to be much more fickle audiences.
Pokebeach's forum has always been surprisingly secure, though. Contrast that to the membership here or on **********, which proved to be much more fickle audiences.
Otaku
Active Member
You and me both... oh! Your comment reminded me I had PMed him via the 'Gym before. Guess I can try again and include you (which I mention here as I cannot remember if he ever officially connected Poképedia to his 'Gym account). Looks like he hasn't been here for several months, but at least it was still within this year.
Edit: Back on topic, another thing that might make PokéGym more appealing is... finding a way to convince players to come back here and freely discuss the content from various paid Pokémon sites. Assuming that is already okay to do here.
One of the websites where I am more active is really bad about censoring references to one of their rivals. Okay, I get it; don't want to give them free advertising. The thing is, this extends to Private Messages and - as it uses the automatic censor functions of the board - not only breaks links but would prevent me from even saying "This site is better than this other site!". I get tired of dealing with all the constraints from the official PTCGO forums, so even if one thinks this level of censorship is justified, it seems like a great way to convince me to stop using the free portion of a message board, let alone never bothering with a paid membership. XP
(Which means the ol' 'Gym is looking better and better).
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Benzo
Front Page News Editor<br>Forum Moderator
awesome to see long timers posting in here again!
I myself have been busy in real life, and have been using other sources like Facebook because I do use it more frequently verses here.
Knowing that the 'gym is like the commonality spot among all the other sites and groups is great and all, but I myself see (more on facebook) discussions posted then berried with in hours and just hard to follow. I lose interest fast and there are to many comments that are off topic or do not contribute at all.
I do think the 'gym can use a better uniting of the site staff and a revisit at relaxing the rules for here.
I think that if a member here is also a member of another group, why not post on both here and there?
I myself have been busy in real life, and have been using other sources like Facebook because I do use it more frequently verses here.
Knowing that the 'gym is like the commonality spot among all the other sites and groups is great and all, but I myself see (more on facebook) discussions posted then berried with in hours and just hard to follow. I lose interest fast and there are to many comments that are off topic or do not contribute at all.
I do think the 'gym can use a better uniting of the site staff and a revisit at relaxing the rules for here.
I think that if a member here is also a member of another group, why not post on both here and there?
ShadowCard
Active Member
This is the only active thread on this board and even the ATRT board gets less threads now. Even news doesn't make it onto the forums anymore. Things like promo cards or special events used to get a thread but not anymore. Even in rulings, Pokegym is slow to keep up. League Challenges/Cups happen monthly but questions make it onto other sites first or go unanswered on here.
censoring "rival" sites names is an example of overmoderation. You drive more people away because it is so petty to get a warning for something like that and makes it hard to bring conversation onto here.
Pokemon has changed its wording templates/phrases within the past few sets so the text string search is becoming less useful as phrases become less consistent so a check list or "special effects" layout that Pokepedia uses may need to be redesigned to the the primary way of searching for what cards do. For a long time, I was using the text search to compare cards.
censoring "rival" sites names is an example of overmoderation. You drive more people away because it is so petty to get a warning for something like that and makes it hard to bring conversation onto here.
He is very active on Facebook so he is around but doesn't say much about Pokemon.
Pokemon has changed its wording templates/phrases within the past few sets so the text string search is becoming less useful as phrases become less consistent so a check list or "special effects" layout that Pokepedia uses may need to be redesigned to the the primary way of searching for what cards do. For a long time, I was using the text search to compare cards.