I must admit to finding that sentiment a trifle disheartening, as someone who has invested a great deal of time in endeavouring to make the forum much more navigable and organised than it would otherwise have been. At one point, before its threads were tidied, General Discussion was 60 pages deep. Also, the Episode Discussion section, which seems to be regaining some of its erstwhile popularity for obvious reasons, has all its threads logically titled as well as a guide thread, with links, that also lists teams. So our castle isn't entirely ramshackle.Alan wrote:how hugely disorganised ... the forum is.
The Knightmare.com Forum is what it is: a repository of nearly 11 years' worth of continuous and often spontaneous posting on a subject about which there is an awful lot to say. Being awed by that is understandable; being scared by it is something I have limited sympathy for. Now, as then, any newcomer who introduces him/herself to the forum is warmly welcomed; queries are answered swiftly, knowledgeably and gladly. When a newer member recently enquired about what the KM cast are up to nowadays, as well he might, one of us told him. There was no suggestion that he should be trawling long threads to find the answer himself. Active forum contributors may be in short supply but it is a definite case of quality over quantity. I hope that all of this forum's contributors will continue to feel valued here, regardless of anything else.Alan wrote:One problem is that many people are scared away by how hugely disorganised and cumbersome the forum is. Looking at the topic of a thread tells you very little about what you might find within it. Previous incarnations of the forum necessitated big threads that people were encouraged to update (e.g. "News relating to actor X"). However, in practice, these are very very difficult for new people to traverse or to search.
I'm inclined to think that the low forum activity is a reflection of a wider shift away from forums and blogs towards social networking sites. I suspect that a lot of the people who want to talk about Knightmare (or about anything for that matter) aren't choosy about where they do so or how impermanent it is; so if they happen to be on Facebook or Twitter or YouTube anyway then that's where they give voice. People are increasingly used to getting little more than passive acknowledgement (a like or a favourite) for their efforts: if they came here and got thoughtful responses consisting of words in paragraphs, I'm not sure they'd know what to do.
Expressing yourself as a Knightmare fan via any available channel is always worth doing. As for genuinely original articles: fresh interviews with cast, contestants and crew are always a possibility.Chris wrote:I'd be interested to get your views on this – are these articles worth doing? If so, would you have any ideas for a genuinely original article?
Some of the people who find the urge to write at length (and write well) about Knightmare would prefer to it in their own blogs, and that's understandable.
Is that why one of them has changed his name? Welcome back, by the way.Keith wrote:I honestly don't believe that the 'stock' of Knightmare is exhausted yet by any means. But as Alex and Chris have both rightly insinuated, it's more of a challenge now to be innovative than it once was.
In fact, there is at least one precedent for this, though the thread in question lent itself quite naturally to the conversion.Alan wrote:I'm not entirely comfortable merely converting peoples' posts into articles, though I suppose there isn't a good reason to do so.
There's a phrase that Alan has used three times on this page, and that phrase is 'time consuming'. There's no getting away from this problem: none of the paths is short, and those of us who've already invested great amounts of time in keeping the Dunshelm fires burning online are fully entitled to wonder, with no disrespect to Knightmare, how possible, fulfilling and fruitful further large investments of our time will be.
I've been trying recently on Twitter to draw attention to the forum. I mentioned our 'dreams about Knightmare' thread to @ChallengeTV; I suggested to @KnightmareLive that they join in with our 'Knightmare Live' thread, providing links in both cases. (If our newest member PaulTreguard is Paul Flannery of Knightmare Live, welcome and good luck!) I will continue to look out for more opportunities like those.
I'm coming up to my 10th anniversary as a Knightmare Forum user. Perhaps I'll put together an article for Knightmare.com that highlights the threads I've enjoyed and admired the most. I may also review my old posts and Lexicon entries for a similar purpose. Beyond that, I don't know how comfortable I'd be with other people harvesting my posts for articles. Most of my Knightmare writing is, first and foremost, for my own pleasure, and in many ways I'm happier with it having a more select readership.Chris wrote:Would there be value in careful curation of the forum i.e. are there threads worth turning into articles to ensure a wider readership?