Is the forum dead or just dead quiet?

[Wass Casino (Doc)]

I like the way the thread 'Is the forum dead' is a very active thread!

All other things aside;

1) This is the quietest time of year, theres a huge reduction in traffic accross most sites.

2) Wass being money motivated - this still REALLY annoys me when I read it. The Wass sites (WassOnline and WassPoker) BOTH do not make money. They never have, thats a simple statement. Infact, they are both operating at a pretty big loss. I am not sure how people get to the conclusion we are making money when we are spending thousands on live events, new developments, maintenance, etc etc. I don' think everyone realises quite how expensive this is, or really stops to think, well, actually, how does WassOnline as a site make money? Do they spam me? Do I get bombed with adverts? Do I have to pay anything to use anything anywhere on the site...the answers are no, no, and no. There is 1 advert on the forum. 1. Seriously. Think about this.

3) Is Wass dying? Take a look at the site...does it look like it is? Quietest time of the year, we stilll get 80 new members a day. We have just put the new leagues live, and there is going to be some crazy stuff going on with them come winter when people are less busy. WassPoker continues to grow and expand. The live events are busier and better than every before - Reading is going to be the largest and biggest event yet, and was essentially booked out about 2 months ago. Behind the scenes, one of the biggest developments EVER on WassOnline is taking place, that will revolutionise how the site works. Every year the same question pops up, and every year the site continues to grow...so I say - no, it's not.

4) One of the biggest flaws in WassOnline right now is we have no means of communication with members other than the forum. We can't send newsletters or reminders or invites to games. This is a huge issue as people don't know whats going on, and as you can imagine is frustrating as hell. After a very, very long wait, we have a new mailing system (again at great expense) that should make one hell of a difference.

Anyhow...I still love the site and I am confident that it has a bright future

Thanks
Doc

[zedmaster84]

well after a certain time, the same questions pop up again and there wont be a way to find a suitable solution for all

but to defend the wasscrew - 95% of you just dont know how much effort and work hours are behind all this stuff here and also the own pokerclient ... seriously

yes all the ideas are good and may improve the site a lot, but it takes ages to arrange all, we are used to see it all gonna happen within 24h but that is just impossible

I was also used to put a bit of my own effort into wass, but actually I cant do a thing because my work lets me spinning around and there is just no motivation nor time to do something - sure I would love to go in the chatroom, but I can use msn during work and thats all I need so far - sure the banter and fun is great, but I cant afford my time to be there 24/7, not even 30 min a day because I would not be able to my job properly

the site is not dying, it is just changing and the wasscrew is working hard to find more ways to attract more ppl to join the forum and also play on the site

but that work has also be paid (programmers, tech stuff, programs etc.) and the forum does not pay anything for that ... thats why we also have the WassPoker client - to generate income! the forum may be fun but it does cost money and without income, its a bit complicated to pay all the bills ... rite? if you want more action on the forum, get one or 2 buddies and start a project and present it on the forum, but dont expect that the admins will be here 24/7 and post like hell - they have to run the business and are busy enough

Originally Posted by Wass Casino (Doc)

2) Wass being money motivated - this still REALLY annoys me when I read it. The Wass sites (WassOnline and WassPoker) BOTH do not make money. They never have, thats a simple statement. Infact, they are both operating at a pretty big loss. I am not sure how people get to the conclusion we are making money when we are spending thousands on live events, new developments, maintenance, etc etc. I don' think everyone realises quite how expensive this is, or really stops to think, well, actually, how does WassOnline as a site make money? Do they spam me? Do I get bombed with adverts? Do I have to pay anything to use anything anywhere on the site...the answers are no, no, and no. There is 1 advert on the forum. 1. Seriously. Think about this.

sorry that you had to air that this way, but maybe a few will think about it and reconsider their positions ... I already knew that before and just seen my guess confirmed

[spytty]

Thanks for posting Doc, it certainly has opened up my eyes a little. I have also decided to stop posing questions and suggest some answers, as I always say to my boss 'Don't give me problems, give me solutions!'

Having worked in an Internal Communications function though there are many ways to get your message across, even if you do have only a forum to do it. Have you considered writing a weekly/monthly blog to tell us what you are working on? I think it would be just the solution.

The forum is a tricky one but I strongly feel that it is too fragmented, 61 sections is way too many and if we could find a way to reduce them the sections that remain will look busier as a result.

Chat is a tougher problem, I wonder if there's a way that we can restrict access to chat to active members only and then make us go there for passwords. This would get us used to going in and perhaps then staying there.

The tournament schedule is stale but it's been proved in the past that with some effort there is the potential for a lot of fun, it just needs someone prepared to oversee the format/communication side and someone to set the games up.

One thing this thread has proved is that we all care, we aren't complaining we are just saying that certain things could be better. Dave if you are working on things outside of the forum just ask for some help, we appreciate you can't do everything yourself and that some of the moderators are away and can't support you.

We're an excellent group of people with a true community spirit and it woud be in safe hands.

Simon

[pastieman]

A message from the Boss goes a long way Dave and is appreciated. We all know that you are a busy man trying to run the Forum and WassPoker and like many others I don't understand the business side of both. We have spoken privately about trying to liven up the forum but nothing has come of it that I can see, perhaps a little post from yourself occasionally with whats in the pipeline/planning, it's not knowing what's going on behind the scenes, I personally would like to hear about these things. I know there is a problem with the mail system but there is always the forum to post up this information to the members.
MSM we all know that some Admin/Mods are working their asses off, but from what I see there are those who are never here to share the burden of responsibility that comes with the promotion, again lack of information about whats going on behind the scenes and who's doing what could be the problem as I see it.
If as you say Dave the forum is running at a financial loss perhaps you should consider a subscription fee which will gain you access to all the passwords, say £5 a year. If we are getting 80 new members every day on top of the 30,000+ members on the books thats a good turnover which would more than pay for our live events and help the coffers.
Don't get me wrong, I love this place and will never leave but I want it to be like it use to be, call me old fashioned but I don't get the same feelings lately from the forum. Mind you I have not been too well lately and perhaps this is distorting my views.
Thank you Simon for starting this thread it has opened a new debate which this forum is all about, not one 'one liner' in the thread, no arguing just general discussion and personal views. Excellent.

[buggerlugs47]

Just a few comments on what others have said...........Thanks doc a word from you about what is going on is good to read........Thanks msm we really do appreciate what most mods do..........perhaps it is just that we cannot see what the others do so more info on that would be good...........Thanks to spytty as well for the thread it has brought out into the open things people were thinking..............

and pastie I agree with you as well I am a wasser and always will be through thick and thin and I would be willing to pay £5 a year........

[Wass Casino (Doc)]

Hi

I would much, much prefer to keep WassOnline free if I am honest. I think that in the future there will probably be more advertising on the forum, but in a much more 'worhwhile' way than most other sites. I don't mean banners and spammy e-mails, but targetted, useful information. I will have a think about how we can do this, whilst keeping the ethos of WassOnline alive.

As for what we are working on...thats fair enough that you want to know. I will make a list of all the upcoming projects tomorrow and post it so eveyone can see what is coming up! The good news is that the league software is finally online, and will be officially launched very soon!

you can check it out here - and feel free to use it to run your own leagues and things!

http://www.wassonline.com/wass-leagues/

Its not the most nicely designed page on the site, but it all works and is really, really clever!

[welshgit]

Originally Posted by Wass Casino (Doc)

2) Wass being money motivated - this still REALLY annoys me when I read it. The Wass sites (WassOnline and WassPoker) BOTH do not make money. They never have, thats a simple statement. Infact, they are both operating at a pretty big loss. I am not sure how people get to the conclusion we are making money when we are spending thousands on live events, new developments, maintenance, etc etc. I don' think everyone realises quite how expensive this is, or really stops to think, well, actually, how does WassOnline as a site make money?

ok doc so my first post was wrong on that subject ( i always thought it was a numbers game here )
i know wassy is spending a fortune on development + live events + extras for all the games + other shit ,
just assumed it was comming from advertising and if you can give the advertisers big numbers of members you can get better payments lol .

4) One of the biggest flaws in WassOnline right now is we have no means of communication with members other than the forum,

ok doc whats wrong with that ? why send emails out to 30.000 members who prob wont bother to read them unles it says freerolls here lol ,
i think all the members who realy want to be on wass are happy to read all the info " on the forum " and not everywhere else .

Thanks
Doc

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BUGGERLUGGS DONT STOP SPAMMING LOL.
--------------------------

AND PASTIE M8 IM SURE LOADS OF US WOULD BE WILLING TO PAY £5 A YEAR MEMBERSHIP .
MAYBE PAID UP MEMBERS COULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR SPECIAL GAMES ON WASS , DOC ????????????????

AND FINALY ( FOR NOW ANYWAY LOL )

DOC I CAN ASSURE YOU SOME1 WILL POST EXACTLY THE SAME THING AGAIN THIS TIME NEXT YEAR LOL

[buggerlugs47]

Thats good news doc so am i right in thinking if say a brl team wanted to run their own league that they can without getting someone else to set it up???????????????????????

and GIT there is no chance of me giving up how ever much he moans....so tell your mate to lay off me lol............

[Wass Casino (Doc)]

Originally Posted by welshgit

DOC I CAN ASSURE YOU SOME1 WILL POST EXACTLY THE SAME THING AGAIN THIS TIME NEXT YEAR LOL

I know I will just copy/paste this all next year lol

Originally Posted by buggerlugs47

Thats good news doc so am i right in thinking if say a brl team wanted to run their own league that they can without getting someone else to set it up???????????????????????

Yes, thats entirely correct, it can all be done on your own without having to rely on us to organise it all....its all down to you

Thanks
Doc

[oups3308]

Originally Posted by Wass Casino (Doc)

I don't mean banners and spammy e-mails,

hum, who's got a big Wasspoker banner in his signature ??