Why is PokéCommunity so successful?

[Ho-Oh]

Firstly, I posted this in OC, rather than OVP because I feel it could bring about broad discussion, if you disagree, by all means feel free to move it to OVP.

There's something about PC that is attractive to members, and is why this forum continually is growing in size. Many could agree that aesthetics-wise, this forum is waaay ahead of the other big ones, being Bulbapedia and Serebii. Some could say that the the ROM Hacks produced by people here are a reason why PC is popular, while others could say it's those reasons as well as a multitude of other ones, too. Along with that, generally the community is welcoming in nature (and with the various get togethers, you could say we have a community spirit). When new members join you generally hear "I've come from so and so because I heard this forum is better". It's funny too, most of the time you don't really see our members mention that they're leaving PC for another forum, while most of the time you always get people saying they came from either Bulbapedia or Serebii. I'm only mentioning those because they are generally the larger ones you hear of. Funnily enough, one has a Wiki to back up its popularity, and the other has a website. PC technically has neither (only saying technically, because PPN's site is technically PC's and yeaaah), so how come PC's up there with the big names?

What are your thoughts? What keeps the members "rolling in" - in a sense? I'd also like to ask another question - how could the community be improved? Actually, do you even think PC is successful? Do you feel it fails in comparison to the other forums? Also, what do you think keeps people here?

Also, it would help if you posted in general why you think it's successful, rather than why you specifically like it. And if you have a personal opinion of someone here being why you don't like it, we don't need to hear that.

Oh and:

[16:00:11] <Toujours> well it has to count for SOMETHING that PC is the first result when you google things like "best pokemon forum" lol

 

[~Ryukaa]

Well, it's fun. I can bum around here and enjoy it. It's not really that tight, like some forums can be, and it really just feels natural and normal to just be here. Even with browsing around. Not to mention it's got some great people on it. What keeps the members rolling in is probably the ROM Hacks, lol.
I really don't know how it can be improved. I like it the way it is at the moment. It's lax, not excessively overcrowded, like some websites and forums can be, and yeah. o3o
It's definitely successful, and I hope it stays that way for a long time.
I think the people around here just like the place for being somewhere to communicate with others that enjoy similar interests, and to be able to express themselves at times. It doesn't need to change.
That's what I think.

 

[Eliminator Jr.]

I'd say the two deciding factors were the activity and the professionalism/layout. I was looking for a Pokémon forum to join after a roleplay forum I was at began to fade activity-wise (as the other moderators reached the senior grades of high school they couldn't attend to all the RP threads), and found PokéCommunity via a Google search. The layout was great and it looked really professional, and it was extremely active which meant it was unlikely to die, so I joined. I left PC for about nine months, I can't remember exactly why but I think there just weren't any threads that I had an interest in posting in or hadn't already posted in left. A year later I re-registered as Eliminator Jr.

Sort of went off topic there - but the forum is active, which means that there's usually something new whenever I check. It's also set out really well (I don't like the anime/canon much so I only use skins without characters in it (like Generation², which is what I've been using for the past year or so)), which was at first an incentive to join and is now an added bonus.

 

[Hybrid Trainer]

Well wasn't PC the forum for a couple of websites? My PC history isn't all that good but if i'm correct then that would've brought a hell of a lot of members to here, which would then have boosted the rank in search engines which would then mean more members could join. It's a sort of snowball effect.
As for comparison to the other sites, Serebii and Bulbagarden, the main thing there is that they have a website. As good as that sounds that can be their downfall. i'm constantly on Bulbapedia but i've yet to go onto Bulbagarden forums, the same goes for Serebii. With PC its the forum or nothing. Not to mention PC have a nice feel to it. It's hard to explain but on S&B have very dark colour schemes which make me feel really uncomfortable and unwelcoming. PC is really warm and comfortable :3
As for the new members now its mostly because of word of mouth and the hacking section, hell even i joined for the hacking section xD It's kinda like come for the hacks, stay for the community sorta thing.

I personally stay here because of the people. The community here all have pretty much the same interests as me so i can pretty much talk to anyone ^-^ Also i've managed to build up an image that i like here.

As for improvements i can't really say anything. A little less down time would maybe get people to join more but apart from that there is noting. This place is pretty perfect as it is.

 

[Captain Hobo.]

I think all new member join because there is something for everyone here.

The are ROM hacks, Pokemon boards on EVERYTHING, or just chat. :P

That is just my idea.

 

[Rogue planet]

Because Pokémon is awesome and all the competitor forums suck. I personally just liked the forum skin at the time I found this place (Forever Standing).

 

[Nihilego]

I expect it'd be the rom hacking section. As far as I know that's not something really common on other major forums and I see a lot of people going there.

Based on opinion that it is any better than other forums tho. Not that I don't think it is, in just saying.

I'd write a lot more but on my phone right now. Maybe I'll update this later.

 

[Livewire]

If I recall correctly, PC's one of the oldest Pokemon Forums there is, and seeing as it's been around for so long, naturally, it would begin to garner a reputation for itself. The massive ROM hacking section also had something to do with it, I'm sure. The people here, the organization, and the way we do things as a community also led to success.

 

[champagnepapi]

As Live, said it has established itself as one of the premier Pokemon forums on the net, since it's been around for so long. Not only that, it promotes creativity, with sections like Rom Hacking, Game Dev, G&P and Pixel Art, the forum skins are far superior to most other forum, as well, which might help, a bit.

 

[Sweet Candace]

I think the ROM Hacking section played a big part in the forum becoming so successful, honestly.

 

[Esper]

It's hard to explain but on S&B have very dark colour schemes which make me feel really uncomfortable and unwelcoming. PC is really warm and comfortable :3

I think this was a big part of why I picked this forum. If I remember, it was Sinnoh Springs which was the theme I saw when I came here and it was quite professional looking, especially compared to the other forums, and felt kind of warm and welcoming.

I think PC is successful because it's good for the casual fan as well as the serious fan. I don't really know much about Bulbapedia and Serebii as far as their forums go, but I would guess that they aren't as casual or relaxed as this place is. And when you think about all the specialized forums then you can really expect casual fans to pick somewhere like PC.

 

[Overlord Drakow]

I think this was a big part of why I picked this forum. If I remember, it was Sinnoh Springs which was the theme I saw when I came here and it was quite professional looking, especially compared to the other forums, and felt kind of warm and welcoming.

I think PC is successful because it's good for the casual fan as well as the serious fan. I don't really know much about Bulbapedia and Serebii as far as their forums go, but I would guess that they aren't as casual or relaxed as this place is. And when you think about all the specialized forums then you can really expect casual fans to pick somewhere like PC.

Darkness appeals to a lot of people too!

Pokecommunity constantly grows because of the wide range of appeal that is available to people. There's pretty much something for anyone and everyone here and that variety brings in a lot of different kinds of people. The community itself is nice and friendly too which only augments the attract to this forum.

 

[Dawn]

Let's see...

Features, features, and more features.

Pokecommunity has a ton of features for a forum. It's also fairly generous with avatar and signature sizes.

Speaking of signatures. Most forums, even ones using the exact same software as Pokecommunity, restrict the life out of signatures. Most sites only allow BBcode, and BBcode is essentially a very restricted set of HTML commands. Pokecommunity on the other hand has CSS. CSS is extremely powerful compared to BBcode and delivers a huge range of visual possibilities that aren't available elsewhere.

Some other reasons...

We have a lot of skins to choose from.

The site is--even with the exception of some tasteless OC topics, reasonably child friendly!
That includes being reasonably smut free. (Though I seem to recall a time when this wasn't always the case.)

The mods have a sense of self control, which unfortunately cannot be said for certain other pokemon forums.

We have a wide variety of boards that allows us to come here and do other things besides simply discuss pokemon.

People who want to be in communities at all usually prefer the bigger ones, so leader's advantage.

Also, Pokemon in and of itself. After having surfed the internet for way too long, I've noticed that Pokemon is absurdly popular among social net goers. Like, think of what you consider some extremely popular game besides pokemon. Now go try and find a forum for it. Now compare it to Pokecommunity. I'm willing to bet right here and now that Pokecommunity is the biggest forum dedicated to a single game series on the entire internet.

 

[Speed]

Because of the variety of people here, and that there's so many different things to discuss on the forum.

 

[Kenshin5]

It's a compilation of things for me. PC is on the top or 1st pages of many search engines, the site has been around so time establishing an already huge following, it is active I can go to every forum and see that it is highly to moderately active that is more then you can say about most forums where they have specific sub forums that go days upon days without posts, it has a plethora of skins/styles the users can choose from, it has plenty of features even for none Supporters, the community as a whole people see how the members and Staff conduct themselves and see that it is a community they want to be apart of, ROM Hacking this is honestly the biggest forum on the forums I see over a hundred users/guests browsing those forums alone on top of that I see many people in New Users forum that come here for ROM Hacking or something related to it.

 

[Ray Maverick]

I think it has to do with the age. Back when PC was made, there weren't so many Pokemon forums, and its name simplicity helped more and more people join.. so, someone with good judgment picked the best members to be mods...

if you get what I'm saying? It's just a hunch..

 

[Miz en Scène]

It's kinda like come for the hacks, stay for the community sorta thing.

This put it more succinctly than I ever could.
My personal opinion is that PC somehow made a name for itself with ROM hacking, which, in itself, is a fairly big community online. After a while, the hackers who were linked to PC when studying the tools of the trade would inevitably explore other areas of the site, which, I don't need to say, were all equally amazing. You're sure to find your niche if you stick around long enough. As for me, I came here through ROM hacking, but when I got bored, I moved over to the F&W community, which is friendly, albeit not the most active one out there, sadly enough.

 

[Shining Raichu]

As for comparison to the other sites, Serebii and Bulbagarden, the main thing there is that they have a website. As good as that sounds that can be their downfall. i'm constantly on Bulbapedia but i've yet to go onto Bulbagarden forums, the same goes for Serebii. With PC its the forum or nothing. Not to mention PC have a nice feel to it. It's hard to explain but on S&B have very dark colour schemes which make me feel really uncomfortable and unwelcoming. PC is really warm and comfortable :3

I'd second this too. The PokeCommunity is more of an actual community than any of those other sites combined, whereas a lot of other places are just very down-to-business and don't care much for the actual people in the place.

As for the colour schemes, I'd definitely agree with that. I went on Serebii a few times (never joined) and found the constant green kind of ugly and off-putting. I haven't spent enough time there to judge accurately, but from what I've seen it seems like it's really just a forum and nothing more.

 

[Amaruuk]

As has been said to death already, I feel PC's success comes a lot from the warmth of the community. Here are people who are kind, fun, and memorable. It's also so very broad in many ways - the different boards, especially. I think this year I've finally stopped really caring about Pokemon, and yet here I am - still keeping tabs on the art/pixel art scene as well as contributing my thoughts to OVP and OC.

I think one of PC's strengths is not just to gain members, but to keep them for a very long time. I will have spent 7 years here myself come October. I also like that PC is ever-evolving. It grows with you. New features, new activities, new people; PC is alive with forward momentum. :3

 

[twocows]

Obviously it's because people just can't get enough of me.

Yeah, you all know you love it.