Shutting Down? (Opinions needed)

[Asha'man Shar'aman]

So as I’m sure you’ve all noticed, the BT has like no activity and hasn’t had any for a while. The show is unlikely to bring new members here for another 1-2 seasons I think, since the BT will probably be introduced then. I don’t have the time or energy atm to lead the BT, so I’m asking for the votes of the somewhat recently active members. Do you think the BT should be shut down? If not, what can be done to increase activity? 
 

@Arie@Dar'Jen Ab Owain@SableSage

[Arie]

So. I have a few thoughts on this. 

 

A) I have far more respect for individuals who recognize a dead horse when they see one, vs trying to beat it to keep it alive in hopes that one day it "may" run. Maybe. If it's dead, let it be dead. 

 

B) If we had unique members from other groups, I would consider this a step above dead, but we aren't. 😕

 

C) HOWEVER, I am a 'big' fan of the idea of having three groups. Light, Dark & Dragon. We are the Dragon. Letting it go means having to wait for it to be revived, if it even is.

 

So, if people want to keep the BT, I have the time and ideas. (I am chaos, I'll always have ideas). But I'm also supportive of letting things go when there isn't the member support to keep it. (And member support should be more than 2-5 people.... 🤷‍♀️

[Asha'man Shar'aman]

14 hours ago, Arie said:

So, if people want to keep the BT, I have the time and ideas. (I am chaos, I'll always have ideas). But I'm also supportive of letting things go when there isn't the member support to keep it. (And member support should be more than 2-5 people.... 🤷‍♀️

That’s a bit how I feel too. I don’t have the energy or ideas, but I’d be sad to let the BT go. If other people don’t respond, I’d say shut it down, unless you want to take over as Dragon, but I know you have a ton of responsibilities already on DM so I’m not sure if you’d be interested in that

[Arie]

I am sure anyone can step up into MoN over at the WT. Honestly, I’ve set it up to be a relatively simple role. Here.. now that would be a curious challenge given the current interest. 

I just don’t want to be the only one here.

Edited November 11, 2023 by Arie

[Arie]

Though, if we did stick around, we'd have to have a good hard look at what we do that is different than other orgs, and what value we bring to the community outside the title of 'asha'man'.

[EirikDaude]

On 10/31/2023 at 4:10 AM, Arie said:

I just don’t want to be the only one here.

Well, to give you the perspective of a newcomer, the reason I haven't made any posts on the Black Tower sub-forum is that it looks pretty dead, so it's a bit of a vicious circle I guess.

 

That said there doesn't seem to be a ton of activity elsewhere either, so I guess it might just be a case of the forum population not being big enough to support the number of sub-groups which are currently active? I could be mistaken of course, I've only been a part of this forum for a very short time, but I feel the OP is probably right in it going to be quite a challenge bringing in new members given my overall impression of activity on the boards.

 

Please feel free to remove this post if this is supposed to be a discussion mainly among the current members of the Black Tower.

[Arie]

Input from -everyone- is always appreciated! The lack of activity is multiple fold problems, and can be misunderstood rather easily. Maybe we’re not around that much? Or maybe our focus has been in other places. I know I have a lot of focus in the White Tower because I have a titled role with responsibilities there, … etc. 

 

As some one new, and one who is still in their journey through the books and TV (on a gentle assumption on my part), I have to ask. 😄

 

When you think Black Tower, and a group with activity and culture, what would be some thing you’d like to see and find here? What, to you, has the Black Tower stood out for you differently in the books from other places? 😄

 

Why would the Black Tower interest you? 

[Dar'Jen Ab Owain]

If we keep the BT, I will try to be more active. I do not feel I am able to lead the group at this time, but I can attempt to participate more. It will be sad to see it go, but folks have made valid points, and I will remember the good times here if it does close, and visit more often if it stays.

[EirikDaude]

3 hours ago, Arie said:

Input from -everyone- is always appreciated! The lack of activity is multiple fold problems, and can be misunderstood rather easily. Maybe we’re not around that much? Or maybe our focus has been in other places. I know I have a lot of focus in the White Tower because I have a titled role with responsibilities there, … etc. 

 

As some one new, and one who is still in their journey through the books and TV (on a gentle assumption on my part), I have to ask. 😄

 

When you think Black Tower, and a group with activity and culture, what would be some thing you’d like to see and find here? What, to you, has the Black Tower stood out for you differently in the books from other places? 😄

 

Why would the Black Tower interest you? 

Nah, I read the books for the first time in the 90's and have reread most of them several times, especially the earlier ones! I did give the TV show a try, but it didn't really resonate with me and I quit watching after the 4th or 5th episode...

 

As for your other questions, it's a bit more tricky. Well, the last one is not that tricky - the Black Tower is all about awesome wizards, ofc it is interesting!

 

Hmm, what stood out for me as different about the Black Tower in the books... I guess it was somewhere which was quite brutal - they needed to train those Asha'man in time for the last battle, and damn the consequences. It also explored some interesting sides of how the cooperation between men and women should happen, even though I seem to recall there were some icky sides to that as well as part of the bonds created were more or less compulsion? Tbh, some of the details elude me, as it's been several years since I last read those books, and I am not quite up to that part in my current audiobook journey.

 

I don't really know what it could do to distinguish itself from the other social groups. As it is I don't really see *that* big of a difference between the other ones either, except that Shayol Gul is all about stabbings, the Kin seems to be have one chit-chat thread which has a lot of food-talk this season, and the White Tower has a ton of sub-groups which all seems to be pretty into RP lite? What I did notice when I clicked into the Black Tower forum was that the latest non-stickied post was from ~6 months ago, which makes me think there is probably not much point in trying to engage with this group. So pretty much any activity will help. Maybe just a simple forum game like the hangman like thing which was set up in Shayol Gul last week, which creates an easy way for new members to interact with the community.

 

I'm sorry I don't have any more concrete ideas, I'll try to think on it a bit more, but I don't think there are any really easy solutions...

 

Oh, and to make a quick reply to the first point in your post - I don't feel like anyone should feel bad for not participating enough, or doing their part. I assume the whole point of creating the different social groups is to create a fun community, and part of that is not making participation stressful or a chore which needs to be done. Just my 2 coppers.

[LedZepMan]

Aye, let it die. No point in keeping the husk alive when the soul has fled. Good times will always be remembered fondly.

[Elgee]

On 11/1/2023 at 9:51 PM, EirikDaude said:

I don't really know what it could do to distinguish itself from the other social groups. As it is I don't really see *that* big of a difference between the other ones either,

 

It's sad that the SGs have morphed so that they're almost indistinguishable. I suppose it's because so many people are now members of so many groups.

Back when I was Chosen here at the BT, they were definitely very different.

The BT was much more "hard-core" in their attitude, whereas the WT was (and still is) more laid-back in one way but also more "polite". It's not so much WHAT they do, but HOW they do it. They could both be talking about the weather, but you could immediately tell which person was the BT and which the WT.

Anyhoo, just my 2 cents, as an old-timer.

I love this place. Would be hard to see it go into mothballs, but I would very much look forward to it being revived once the Show gets to this part of the story.

[Wayward_fool]

I would provide feedback but this whole board seems dead. Question is... would there be much to do since there isn't anyone to do it with anyway? I would love to help out but I don't know what my parameters are and whether I can get help or not.

 

I was the BT asst div leader on the RP side so I've led the BT for a bit, but don't expect a M'hael out of me. I'm not very serious, but I love the BT so much because it was where I started out and it has SO many memories for me. 

 

Sighs. This really is a sad. But maybe a small spark can light up the night.

[Arie]

I think... the BTas would have better luck in the RP than in the ORGs, primarily because so many of us are already -everywhere- there's not much to stand out aside from its general theme. 😕

 

In truth, I'm inclined to feel that there is more value in letting go of the old and putting effort into something new, or something active. 

[Wayward_fool]

I think the problem here is that there's no actual purpose to the ORG BT. There's no reason that separates us from the other Divs... that's why we all come from other Divs to be here, because we think being in the BT just is as per the books. But we don't promote anything unique. No real difference from other grps.

 

Let's say we change what BT is about. For example, could be the place people come to do something different like debate about stupid things. Or learn about controversies or weird facts about the planet? Or could it be the spiritual centre where we explore topics on increasing our vibrations to the next level and meditation and all that madness.

 

Just wondering if we have explored this sorta thing.

[Arie]

I think it might boil down more to not the 'idea' but the 'doing'. 🙂 I'm cool so long as I don't have to be in charge of it as a whole? XD