Thoughts on Forum Games section on Forums?

Yes its very much not, I closed the forum games section as soon as it was starting to get abused. All sections had Activity on AdminBB, and not just the forum games section. Members would just post there to raise their post count.

 

We've got a games section, and yeah, the posts there are disabled. I like the section as it really gets the new users posting where they might be too shy to get involved in the site otherwise.

 

No really. Even if your other sections got many posts per day, people will tend to post more on games section, as its fun for them, but obviously not for us.

 

Yea I agree, and most post there to raise their count instead of posting for fun.

 

This was a huge problem on Chatting Time, I actually almost put that in bold when I quoted Ashley's post. Yes, we are a general discussion forum, but this sort of thing is definitely not needed even for this genera of forum. I used to love playing forum games, but now I just see them as a waste of my time, and the reason why they were removed from CT, because they were a waste of my time, the other Ashley's time, and pretty much the whole member base's time, which is why we removed it, so as to encourage discussion in more significant topics.

 

I find it useless, its like a shoutbox, it keeps members from posting in important places. Its a distraction. And its best not having one if you are running an admin forum. So good move Kaiser.

 

Even with post counts turned off I still wouldnt have a games section as its a big distraction. But thats just my opinion.

 

I personally hate them.

I hate posts that require one word replies and or answers they make a forum look messy and untidy.

That being said my forum has one lol but my members specifically requested it and brought up some very valid points as to why they were a positive addition to have on any forum so by a vote I was outvoted and decided to leave my forum games section be.

 

Good to know, your members opinions are taken into consideration. You run a General Discussion forum so a forum games section is something that would not hurt your forum.

 

I don't have a problem with forum games on my community. It gives the users something to do - when they're bored, and keeps them participating. Like numbers games, what are you listening to, things like that. You can learn more from your fellow members with the act of forum games - especially with the person above you game, the true or false game, etc. There's a lot of things you can do regarding forum games.

 

I try to disable post count in those types of forums,
A reason why there is no "forum games" section at my new forum is because my banking add-on is unable to disallow gaining of credits at selected forums.

 

I always had one and left post count enabled simply because post count meant absolutely nothing on either board I owned in the past. I really can't wrap my head around the idea that someone would have something they want to discuss but not discuss it simply because a shoutbox or forum games section exists on the board.

 

I think it can be a useful outlet for a lighter side of your forum. Members who feel like discussing "off-topic" things are usually provided with a forum for such discussions. Why not let them inject some humor into a forum as well?

 

Personally, I don't like them. They seem like clutter and a huge waste of time. That being said, I do know a lot of people enjoy them, so I can't say they're completely a bad idea. If people aren't doing it to raise posts counts, then to a certain extent, it still helps you by getting page views (read: advertising impressions, stat boosts, etc), so if you contain it and it's desired, then meh, it's not all bad, right?

 

Rubbish. I have no interest in filling up the forums with useless posts just to have bigger stats, not to mention I'd hate it for my members to be distracted to this and not post REAL content. i am not 'selling' games to my visitors and potential members, I am 'selling' some quality content

 

Forum games work on a forum when you actually give people a reason to play them.

Without incentive, they might build the community, but that's a BIG maybe because not many people care for those without reason. And it also depends on what kind of forum games we're talking about here.

If these are like flash games, then you might have a better shot at making the games useful. If these are things like word games, then it'll be tough.