[NOT official lol] Your thoughts on PoC?

[Sun]

Keep these in mind:
This isn't an official thread for Pokemon Clubs, I'm just asking as a PoC regular/club owner and I'm seriously wondering for the lack of activity. :)
This isn't really a feedback or suggestion thread either, thou shalt maketh such posts here.

This thread is actually aimed for non-regulars of the said section.

What makes you stay away from the section and is there anything that can lure you in the section? I wonder if I smell? *raises arm and sniffs*

 

[moon]

I should join pokémon clubs c: But I guess since I don't watch the anime nor play the pokémon games anymore, I just can't contribute much to discussion when it touches onto such topics :/ I'm just a very general pokémon lover these days and idk. Would I still have something to talk about in PoC?

 

[Sun]

I should join pokémon clubs c: But I guess since I don't watch the anime nor play the pokémon games anymore, I just can't contribute much to discussion when it touches onto such topics :/ I'm just a very general pokémon lover these days and idk. Would I still have something to talk about in PoC?

You should. *sobs*

You have topics to talk about in PoC, you can (and actually welcome to) dig the old topics in their respective clubs.

PoC can be both restricting or free, depending how you see it. :) Let's take a club as an example, you can talk about Water-type (TCG/Game) in a Water-type club, you can also talk about Water-type trainers, art depictions of Water-type or even Water-types in the anime and so on.

 

[Corrin]

I just feel like I don't have much to offer, discussion wise ;; I'm not really good at it which is why I tend to stick to trivia

 

[Sun]

I just feel like I don't have much to offer, discussion wise ;; I'm not really good at it which is why I tend to stick to trivia

That's false. You are one of the biggest asset of PoC, in fact you are seen as a star member from the club you are part of, for real! :) It's just unfortunate that the club's owner is a bit busy/investing time in other areas.

 

[Megan]

I remember looking through the section a couple times, but idk. Most clubs are just about one of the typings and those that are not, usually deal with a topic that I'm not interested in like breeding and stuff. I mean, even if I were looking for something battle related, there's still a whole subforum for that stuff.

But to be fair, it's fairly similar for the other club section that deals with anything not Pokemon related. Man, I sound so boring, now that I think about it. {XD}

 

[Aquacorde]

as a pokéani person i was always against clubs focusing on pokéani characters due to the fact that it legit dragged discussion away from the forum itself

i think other types of clubs do that for other pokemon forums as well. and there's really only so much you can say on a particular topic when everyone is in the "yes i like it its awesome!" camp. i prefer there to be dissenters or people who question involved in the discussion; keeps things alive.

there are some things that work as clubs, like shiny hunters or breeding or that type of thing. but straight discussion on a limited topic where everyone is in favor of it gets stagnant fast.

 

[Aquacorde]

oh oh i thought of another thing- user groups or whatever they were called. i think taking inspiration from those could help PoC as well- like, you have this particular shiny hunters club that focuses on shiny breeding, or this one that is shiny chaining, or just multiple clubs that are kind of the same area but are different members, different atmospheres. i feel like clubs should promote more of a sense of community rather than just [insert topic], [insert reply to topic].

so what i'd like to see in PoC, basically, is clubs where the users are participating in doing something. and maybe if that works well, multiple clubs with different styles and communities within them. wasn't the absolute biggest and best club like, a shiny club? oh, this i think. and there used to be a battling club maybe? but we have forum for that now

 

[Sun]

I remember looking through the section a couple times, but idk. Most clubs are just about one of the typings and those that are not, usually deal with a topic that I'm not interested in like breeding and stuff. I mean, even if I were looking for something battle related, there's still a whole subforum for that stuff.

But to be fair, it's fairly similar for the other club section that deals with anything not Pokemon related. Man, I sound so boring, now that I think about it. {XD}

In other words only battle related things attract you, right? :)

as a pokéani person i was always against clubs focusing on pokéani characters due to the fact that it legit dragged discussion away from the forum itself

i think other types of clubs do that for other pokemon forums as well. and there's really only so much you can say on a particular topic when everyone is in the "yes i like it its awesome!" camp. i prefer there to be dissenters or people who question involved in the discussion; keeps things alive.

there are some things that work as clubs, like shiny hunters or breeding or that type of thing. but straight discussion on a limited topic where everyone is in favor of it gets stagnant fast.

Thanks for letting us know your valuable thoughts, love how critical it is. :)

 

[Sun]

oh oh i thought of another thing- user groups or whatever they were called. i think taking inspiration from those could help PoC as well- like, you have this particular shiny hunters club that focuses on shiny breeding, or this one that is shiny chaining, or just multiple clubs that are kind of the same area but are different members, different atmospheres. i feel like clubs should promote more of a sense of community rather than just [insert topic], [insert reply to topic].

so what i'd like to see in PoC, basically, is clubs where the users are participating in doing something. and maybe if that works well, multiple clubs with different styles and communities within them. wasn't the absolute biggest and best club like, a shiny club? oh, this i think. and there used to be a battling club maybe? but we have forum for that now

Yeah, I tried making the members engage in real topics. While it didn't backfire, everyone was to reserved -- Not instigating to make them fight, but I would really love an intellectual convo.

I also tried organizing events, but it's too late -- the section's too quiet.

I actually told Janna once (in a convo; not an official feedback) about merging certain clubs together, to up the discussion topics. The shiny club's quiet lately, in fact the whole club is deserting... ugh...

 

[esperance]

i'm gonna rehash a bit of what has already been said that if i was interested in discussing a particular topic, such as the merits of water-type pokémon, i would much rather discuss it in the appropriate subforum than in a club thread. the thing about clubs is that they are supposed to be like dccs for a specific subject, right? this seems like a wasted opportunity for other subforums, which could benefit from the discussion that the club might be taking away.

and then there's the whole "club" aspect of it. i'm cool with people joining together to basically say, "yeah! i like this stuff!" but this also has the effect of excluding people from such focused discussion as well.

i think what i'd like to see is a dissolution of the clubs across the other forums. you could still have the "club" aspect if you feel like it, but that part isn't really all that necessary, is it? the point is meeting up with people to discuss a common topic, really.

 

[Aquacorde]

events are a little bit harder in PoC due to the fact that each club is meant to be self-contained. i don't agree with merging clubs; it's not like merging topics when the discussion is too similar. merging clubs would erase what little identity they put together already.

my main point is that really successful clubs have
1) things to do, constantly. this means that the club should have events/activities running all the time, or be focused on an activity. that's why shiny hunters has survived; it's people DOING something, all the time.
2) a sense of community. people in clubs should be discussing on their own always. admittedly, the reason there isn't as much personal conversation going on in threads is due to the advent of VMs. however, members of clubs should be constantly talking amongst themselves and getting to know each other through sharing experiences and commenting on others'.
3) a true identity. a short name, an acronym, inside jokes, a culture. that's what clubs are meant to be.

the best way to start out would def to have a few friends already interested in whatever you're doing that will help you promo activity and such. talk about your club in places you know there are interested parties. talk to PEOPLE, not about TOPICS.

 

[Sun]

Sadly clubs nowadays, specifically the elemental clubs are too similar. They are mostly rehash of each other, some just die out after a few months, wash rinse repeat. Only a few really manage to make themselves a brand, a club with identity, namely the non-elemental clubs.


Yeah, Anna. i'm completely on your words. I'm glad your post really highlighted the probs. Please note I'm not castigating anyone or any club in particular, the clubs have turned into a place where people simply answer the topic and poof. I've even told the kids, I want them to get engage and quote each other. But failed to no avail.

#Rantsofclubowner lol

 

[esperance]

i'll just throw in a bit of wopc promotion by saying that at this point there are a few regions that have reached that type of "culture" that anna is describing, where people genuinely enjoy hanging out with each other and participating in the various events and games we manage to come up with.

i think this is part of the problem that pokémon clubs face when it comes to activity: despite the central topic, there isn't usually enough new material to keep the discussion flowing for an extended time, and the focus of a topic tends to limit how much the club can actually do before it ends up repetitive and/or generic. as a result, the friendly culture of a group such as a region doesn't have the breadth of creativity available to it, and a culture cannot develop without new, creative events and constant activity.

 

[Aquacorde]

Lost has exposed our WoPC culture bias >:o

but yeah, she's totally right. new material is absolutely necessary for a club to thrive. That's why clubs centred around activities- Breeding, Shiny Hunting, (previously) Battling- are the ones that live.

honestly if every round of type-etc-centric clubs fail, why bother with them? what is the point of having them at all if they're just going to be [topic] [reply]? put them in PGen or wherever; they'd get more depth of discussion there. save PoC for clubs with purpose. and to do that, to phase out the type clubs- make purposeful clubs! bring new ideas into it! or tbh if it goes down the drain and only a few clubs are working out, merge PoC and Other Clubs. why not?

 

[Melody]

I certainly agree that the limitations of 'topics' in each club thread stifles discussions. Shouldn't each club just be general chatty with club subject focused activities and discussion?

 

[Aquacorde]

I'm gonna be a bit of a pessimist here and say I don't feel like that can be easily achieved in clubs. There are already tons of different places with their own culture and I feel like it'd be very hard for a club to achieve that. Maybe not impossible as such, but you can't force these things or it'll just be unnatural.

that's legit. forcing a culture is just not how to do. really the only way to do is to have clubs that are activity-focused and people will develop it as it goes on. that's honestly how most of WoPC works, and that's why it works. user enthusiasm, man. it's much easier to be enthusiastic about things that are happening rather than just have a backlog of media.

 

[Sun]

Lost has exposed our WoPC culture bias >:o

but yeah, she's totally right. new material is absolutely necessary for a club to thrive. That's why clubs centred around activities- Breeding, Shiny Hunting, (previously) Battling- are the ones that live.

honestly if every round of type-etc-centric clubs fail, why bother with them? what is the point of having them at all if they're just going to be [topic] [reply]? put them in PGen or wherever; they'd get more depth of discussion there. save PoC for clubs with purpose. and to do that, to phase out the type clubs- make purposeful clubs! bring new ideas into it! or tbh if it goes down the drain and only a few clubs are working out, merge PoC and Other Clubs. why not?

Aww.... We can't just give up Anna. :D I shall restore it back to its former glory!

Spoiler:

Well... Thing is it's more quiet on the other side, than PoC. :(

I'm gonna be a bit of a pessimist here and say I don't feel like that can be easily achieved in clubs. There are already tons of different places with their own culture and I feel like it'd be very hard for a club to achieve that. Maybe not impossible as such, but you can't force these things or it'll just be unnatural.

It's possible Ben, don't give up yet. I know I can turn the tables. :D

I certainly agree that the limitations of 'topics' in each club thread stifles discussions. Shouldn't each club just be general chatty with club subject focused activities and discussion?

You my child, you've just exposed the problem we're facing. :D

I don't mean to be harsh on clubs so I apologise if that's how this has come across! Just lendin' my thoughts.

On the contrary, it's actually the correct attitude to be constructive. I prefer it a lot than sugarcoating, as it won't help us to see the problem of the root; constructive words do. I'm sure Alex will be more than grateful for the honest feedback. So don't apologize, there's nothing wrong with being honest.

 

[Kotone]

yeah i post in one club, but lately i haven't because nobody is posting. also, the owner of the club doesn't post so much so i feel like the club is kind of lost.

 

[Sun]

yeah i post in one club, but lately i haven't because nobody is posting. also, the owner of the club doesn't post so much so i feel like the club is kind of lost.

I feel you Kayla, if a club owner isn't that active it feels like a dragon's missing its head. A club with lack of activity, regardless the owner is active or not, is also something that can turn people off.