Arguments against the idiotic merge of the Pokémon manga section and Pokémon General

I recently found out that the Pokémon manga section was merged with Pokémon General in order to 'boost activity'. Am I the only person who sees the idiocy in that? What you have done has effectively killed all remaining chances of ever having an active Pokémon manga section again.


Arguments for the merge:
- More visitors will see the threads


My arguments against the merge:
- Finding manga threads will be like finding a needle in a haystack of random threads
- Why was the Pokémon manga section even a subsection of Pokémon General in the first place? What does Pokémon manga have to do with random topics that doesn't fit anywhere else? While we're still merging random sections that have absolutetly nothing to do with each other I say that we merge the Pokémon anime section and Pokémon Gaming Central.
- Wouldn't the best solution to this be to give Pokémon manga it's own section where the threads are visible and easy to find? If the anime gets it's own section then surely more than 92 different Pokémon manga deserves it's own section and I'm not just talking about a sub-section that is randomly and awkwardly tucked away into another section.
- Both Serebii Forumus and Bulbagarden Forums have own sections for Pokémon manga that are quite visible.

To start off with... you're probably do better in putting forth your case without using the term idiotic like that.

There's more to it than that, on that note - I'd say the bigger reason for the merge was that the manga section just didn't have the activity there (and it isn't the first time a section got nuked due to a lack of activity). It being its own section probably wouldn't work either - if it didn't work out as a subsection to begin with then there's little to suggest that it would be any different. It doesn't make the section much easier to find imo if it's completely separate rather than being a subforum.

While we're still merging random sections that have absolutetly nothing to do with each other I say that we merge the Pokémon anime section and Pokémon Gaming Central.

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Pokemon general is for all stuff not just specific to the anime or the games, so the manga comes under that. No need for the sarcasm there.

As an indicator of the inactivity, it only had 14 threads with posts in it within the last three months.

If there is to be a new manga section made, then frankly I'd like to see an improvement to that activity state. Post some threads, try to drive the interest in it. If there's a reasonable call for it backed up by a clear interest by members in the subject, then it'll make sense to have a section for it.

Both Serebii Forumus and Bulbagarden Forums have own sections for Pokémon manga that are quite visible.

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What other forums might do shouldn't decide if we should have a section or not. Otherwise we should also have an Anime Battling section just because sppf does, or sppf should have a Celebrations subsection because we have one.

I believe the merger took place due to low activity, and very few new threads being made. Although there are definitely people who love to discuss the manga here, there isn't enough to sustain a subforum (and certainly not enough members for an entire main-forum).

RHCP and the higher staff can probably tell you more.


/ninja'd, by hstaff, proving my own point ;(

Oh well. I should probably leave The PokéCommunity and let the manga discussion rot to pieces without me having to watch this sad mess, but I'm probably too naive to give up yet.

If you think this decision will improve the manga discussion then you are truly naive.

bobandbill said:

To start off with... you're probably do better in putting forth your case without using the term idiotic like that.

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I don't know what else to call it.

Instead of arguing, maybe you can actually make some manga threads and try to lure out that activity which you think PC's manga people are capable of? I've been the only one making manga threads for months now. That's saying something.

Well, TSS will release Pokémon Special chapter 457 soon. Maybe we could have discussion / review threads for each chapter?

Manga Reader X said:

Well, TSS will release Pokémon Special chapter 457 soon. Maybe we could have discussion / review threads for each chapter?

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I think chapter discussion has been attempted before, but it sounds to me like a good idea to try it again! I'll make sure to get some people to realize that discussion exists ;)

It would also be kind of a PC exclusive since both SPPf and BMGf have to pretend that scanlations and scans doesn't exist.


Please tell me that there are at least plans to make a Manga tag or some kind of system to filter the manga threads from all other threads.

Well, we do acknowledge them and we may post snippets of chapters for preview and review purposes, but as you know from our previous conversations, we can't host or hotlink too much of it here. As long as you keep that in mind :)

If there turns out to be an upswing in the number of manga related threads, that might be an idea. As for now, there are no such threads... So unless things change, I'm not sure that would be necessary.

Manga Reader X said:

Oh well. I should probably leave The PokéCommunity and let the manga discussion rot to pieces without me having to watch this sad mess, but I'm probably too naive to give up yet.

If you think this decision will improve the manga discussion then you are truly naive.



I don't know what else to call it.

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Not to sound rude or anything, but it kind of was already rotting to pieces, which is why we decided to give it the axe. Serebii and Bulbapedia have a more active manga reading memberbase than we do. I find our forums are more gaming discussion and off topic based than anime and manga.

Red's Hawt Chibi Pelippers said:

Instead of arguing, maybe you can actually make some manga threads and try to lure out that activity which you think PC's manga people are capable of? I've been the only one making manga threads for months now. That's saying something.

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Close, but not entirely true.

Red's Hawt Chibi Pelippers said:

Well, we do acknowledge them and we may post snippets of chapters for preview and review purposes, but as you know from our previous conversations, we can't host or hotlink too much of it here. As long as you keep that in mind

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Maybe link to the release posts on the Team Special Scans forum, which will link to filehosts and online manga reading sites?

Patchisou Yutohru said:

Not to sound rude or anything, but it kind of was already rotting to pieces, which is why we decided to give it the axe. Serebii and Bulbapedia have a more active manga reading memberbase than we do.

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That is true, but it wasn't always that way. Until the spring of 2008 (when PC banned scanlations and scans) this was one of the most active and diverse Pokémon manga communities (just look at the thread archive), even more active than Serebii Forums at one point, if I remember correctly. And I honestly think that this decision is just making things worse.

Manga Reader X, I want to interrupt here just a minute and thank you for your feedback. It may not be obvious by some of the replies here but we do appreciate your thoughts and input on this.
Thank you.

Aaah.. thing is, PC is very geared towards the gaming end of the franchise, so it would make sense that Bulbagarden is ahead of us in the way of it's manga discussion. It's too late now to liven up the manga area, buuuut we could certainly try to make more discussion threads for it. I've been meaning to read the manga lately (catch up), sooo I'm game for contributing. XD

I have to agree. It's like finding a needle in a haystack to find threads about manga. It's just that Pokemon's manga is distinctive to it's franchise, so I don't understand the deciscion to merge it with General. A lot of good points were brought up in the OP.

You folks could add a quick link to the Pokemon Manga DCC in PG's forum display description, like how the Trade Corner has one for the Quick Trade Thread. Very subtle addition, but still helpful for making it more out in the open.

EntwinedSilence said:

the manga

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Unlike the anime, where there's only one official series, there are at least 92 different official Pokémon manga, so it's not just Pokémon Special / Adventures. I was making a list here over all the different manga, but I'm not sure if I will continue with it.

Rukario said:

Manga Reader X, I want to interrupt here just a minute and thank you for your feedback. It may not be obvious by some of the relies here but we do appreciate your thoughts and input on this.
Thank you.

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Thanks and thanks for your contribution to the Pokémon manga community back in the end of 2006 ;)
Sorry if I express my opinions in a bit of a harsh manner, it's just that the manga section is a place that is very close to my heart. I wasn't around in it's golden era, I've just read a ton of threads from the archive, so I would like to experience something similar. And honestly this place does have a perk that both SPPf and BMGf doesn't have, it acknowledges and to some extent allows scans and scanlations, not as freely as back in the day, but enough for there to be hope if handled correctly.

How about to make it a little more accessible, just like we have with all the other ones?

Then again, there's really no "color scheme" to the Pokémon manga, but I mean, some sort of button and a series of complementary thread prefixes like you did with the HG/SS and DPPt forums when they started to rot.

I can't really speak for all 90 series because I'm more of the off-topic sections kind of guy, but I think with the level of activity, you really only need one tag until it gets back to where it was, if ever.

Suggestions:

[Manga] - Tag for various and multiple Pokémon manga discussion

[PokéSpe] - Tag for Pokémon Special / Adventures discussion
[DPA] - Tag for Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure! disussion
[EToP] - Tag for The Electric Tale of Pikachu! discussion

[PGB] - Tag for Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys discussion


These are some of the biggest and most popular series available in English. I don't know if the PGB tag is necessary at the moment since Golden Boys isn't as popular as it used to be, but Team Special Scans has plans to scanlate the missing Golden Boys chapters at some point, so it might be relevant then.

Ok children, complete this sentence for me...

Anime and _______

One guess as to what this word is.

Traditionally these two things are grouped together. Manga should have been a subforum for anime instead of being grouped together with general.

Wolflare said:

You folks could add a quick link to the Pokemon Manga DCC in PG's forum display description, like how the Trade Corner has one for the Quick Trade Thread. Very subtle addition, but still helpful for making it more out in the open.

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Totally doing that! Thanks.

Manga Reader X said:

Suggestions:

[Manga] - Tag for various and multiple Pokémon manga discussion

[PokéSpe] - Tag for Pokémon Special / Adventures discussion
[DPA] - Tag for Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure! disussion
[EToP] - Tag for The Electric Tale of Pikachu! discussion

[PGB] - Tag for Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys discussion


These are some of the biggest and most popular series available in English. I don't know if the PGB tag is necessary at the moment since Golden Boys isn't as popular as it used to be, but Team Special Scans has plans to scanlate the missing Golden Boys chapters at some point, so it might be relevant then.

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I think a [Manga] tag should be enough, possibly a [PokéSpe] tag as well at some point. But then again, only if there actually appear some threads on manga.

Mr. X said:

Ok children, complete this sentence for me...

Anime and _______

One guess as to what this word is.

Traditionally these two things are grouped together. Manga should have been a subforum for anime instead of being grouped together with general.

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That is because in other franchises, the anime is often adapted from the manga. In Pokémon, there is no such thing. Rather, there is one or several manga that are adapted from the anime, and the biggest (or at least most popular outside of Japan) manga is a completely standalone series, only based off the games. The manga, in every way that matters, has nothing to do with the anime here.