Question re: Guest "Lurkers"

[Raphael van Lierop]

This is probably a weird question to ask, and may not get much response for obvious reasons, but I'm curious. The vast majority of the folks who visit these forums opt to just scan using a Guest account, vs. creating an account (like currently there are 90+ people in the forums but about 80 of them are guests). I assume it's because they are looking for info on the game (maybe they are stuck or want to know how a specific thing works), but I always wonder what prevents them from taking the leap and creating an account, then participating more actively.

It's totally fine if people just want to look for info, etc., but obviously what we hope is that people will join this community and become active participants. For any of you who made that "leap" from maybe being habitual lurkers to active forum members -- what changed for you? What made you decide to jump in?

[Smellyfries]

For me, the leap to making an account on the Forum was simply asking how rabbit snares worked. I didn't have much time during a week, but I was planning on trying to get the Rabbit Snaring Feat the upcoming weekend. I created my account just to initially ask that question, but I asked my question in one of the Milton Mailbags, which didn't get seen much by the community. Thankfully, a kind member of the forum suggested asking the question directly to the community under "How to Play," which after posting my question, really showed to me how dedicated and kind the community was on this forum, and got me to interact more with it. The community has helped me so much with the game since then, and even when its not about the game, it's always a blast to just hop onto the Forums, and just read everyone's experiences/thoughts.

[Sebastian1992]

Honestly I was afraid for my bad english, but now I gathered my courage and finally I'm here😅. Maybe the guests have the same issue, the language barrier? I mean we come from so much countries, europe, asian etc....

Edited April 27 by Sebastian1992
spelling mistake

[xanna]

Screenshot Saturday was a big draw. I used to lurk a bit just to look at the sceenshot posts. I joined the forum because I had gotten very obsessed with TLD and had some thoughts and feelings I wanted to share. I stayed because it's a really great forum.

[nautofon]

I wouldn't really call myself "active". I suppose I'm basically a lurker with an account. 🙂

I've been on the TLD Steam forum since like 2018, answering the occasional question and stuff, but mostly lurking. Guess I'm the quiet type in general? Anyway, as the years passed, the environment over there got progressively worse—Steam's enshittification, and also more trolls/haters than there used to be. So I finally took the plunge a few months ago and now mostly lurk here instead.

What I like here: You all are really nice! 💛

What I don't like: Still struggling with the forum software here. I find it a bit difficult to follow along with new posts in topics that interest me. (Not looking for advice about that; just mentioning it.) Maybe it's just because I'm used to the way other forums I frequent work? Hmm. Maybe, eventually, I'll get used to how this software works...

[odizzido]

I follow a few games more closely. This one, project zomboid, and xenonauts 2. I have an account on all three. Games a don't follow closely I don't have a forum account with.

I think back when I made the account in like 2018 I had high hopes for this game so it was something to try to get involved with. I no longer think anything said here matters at all so I am not sure why I keep coming back. Habit maybe. That's something for me to consider.

[Cattleman]

I lurked for many months before joining... I like to feel out a community very thoroughly before I jump in. I'm pretty old school, I dont have ANY social media... I believe, most of the time, that it causes more harm than good. So this forum is about the only source I've found for fresh up to date info on TLD.

All that said, I would really appreciate a more active presence from developers... Even if it was only a couple of short posts every few weeks. I have nothing but admiration for Hinterland and TLD... By far my favorite game of all time.

[markwars1972]

I've been here since April 2016...but almost never post. I get the info I need (or don't) and move on. As a sandbox player since 2015 I guess I like solitude. I assume most people playing TLD do...right?

[ThePancakeLady]

Honestly, my time as a Lurker was more due to "I am already logged in on Steam and the forums are right here, so...". Lack of free time, and a bit of laziness. Though the toxicity levels on Steam in general and social media (any platform) in general have driven me away from online communications a great bit lately. I have honestly gotten tired of it, and burned out by it. I came back here hoping it would be better, and it is. But there is still a bit of toxicity here at times, though it seems to be expressed in a much more passive-aggressive manner than the outright attacks and ad hominem attacks on Steam or on social media. Tribalism is alive and well on Steam. No Steam Awards here, thankfully, to inspire some of the hottest and edgiest takes to farm for Jester awards and free Steam Points. But I do wonder if there isn't a segment of the playerbase that would only come here if they had the chance to get free stuff, even basically worthless emotes that they can show off to their Tribe (please please please don't do that!).

I love this game. Always have and always will. My backlog has suffered because of it, lol. So maybe some of my absence or lurking is due to playing other games I have sitting untouched for years, so my attention and posting time is currently more captured by those games and their forums (Steam or online).

[thekillergreece]

I think it's difficult to get players to register on this forum when there are many other social media they can hang around such as Reddit and Discord, those two have a constant growth of new players. I think the future is in Discord as forums are becoming a bit obsolete-ish since you can talk in real-time on Discord whereas on forums you can't, at least not in the same way.
An average lurker MIGHT drop by here, see new stuff, copy link of it, paste it in Discord and discuss right away.

Many gaming communities have moved to Discord servers by either creating one themselves or joining an existing fan-made Discord and get special roles (ie. Prison Architect).

I don't talk much here except commenting on new features/devblogs, (constructive) criticism, responding to someone's comment and modding.

Edited April 27 by thekillergreece

[BugReportEnthusiast]

Disclaimer: I was never a lurker here. 

The reason i made an account is because i couldn't find an answer to a question anywhere else.

I'm very active on discord, and a while back i was on reddit too, (terminally online nerd, who'd have thought) so i asked my question on reddit first, nobody knew, then on the discord, nobody knew, then i came over here to make an account, because this place was my last hope

I'm willing to bet that the reason most people don't create accounts to post here is that there are easier alternatives.
Not cuz there's something wrong with the account making process on this forum, creating an account is just always a chore no matter what.

On the unofficial TLD discord new people come by all the time, since it's just 1 click away, and it's an interactive platform where you're likely to get answers faster.

Edited April 27 by BugReportEnthusiast
forgot to write words

[Karl Grylls]

I think that a forum (technically speaking) is an invention from the early 2000s and sadly, is outdated at this point. Nowadays it's easier to consume videos from content creators, who have the infos, maps, tips and tricks in a YouTube short/Twitch clip. No need to search it via a forum and filtering out the wrong results.

//edit: well, i missed the question a bit, so: I always hesitate to make accounts on websites, because i know i will visit them only a few times and it's not worth the effort for that to create an account. Also not worth the spam i get from them.

I registered here because TLD catched me within a split second and i knew this game is good. No, it's special. And i wanted to follow it more closely (what i usually never do) and wanted to bring myself actively in the development. As actively as you can as a forum member.

Edited April 27 by Karl Grylls

[Laika Ivanova]

The main reason for me to be on here is direct communication from devs. If Hinterland would be equally present elsewhere I'd probably wouldn't have considered to register on here.

[Raphael van Lierop]

On 4/27/2024 at 12:45 AM, ajb1978 said:

So my business analyst/project manager background is coming out to play.

What do you intend to do with this information? Curiosity is always a good thing and I've always encouraged it, but it needs some direction. Is there a way to quantify/qualify what you're looking for in a measurable way?

And even then, "how much do you like this on a scale from 1 to 5" carries with it the caveat "what are you going to do with that information?"

Wow, you must be fun at parties! 😅

Edited April 28 by Raphael van Lierop
Added an emoji to emphasize this was meant as a light-hearted joke and not an attack.

[Raphael van Lierop]

Re: Discord vs. Forums -- I get the differences and I understand the attraction to something like Discord. It definitely works well for certain kinds of communication, but it's also more bursty and generally less thoughtful, which is one of the reasons we avoided it in the early days. There's something about expecting people to write complete sentences that lends itself to deeper dialogue, in general.

But I'm not really looking for comparisons between tools -- more just trying to understand if there was something specific that encouraged folks to transition from being a watcher to a participant. 

[Pyroxene]

I got a login for this so I could share my ideas for the game. I'm not a lurker.

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

Not a lurker, but I imagine they don't want to bother with making a dedicated forum account when they can use the TLD subreddit for the same purpose.

[ajb1978]

Well I tell ya one thing, based on how I was treated just now, I'm not gonna be around much anymore. I don't care if it was a joke, I can't stick around a platform where the literal founder insults me to my face. 

[twyn1]

I joined and then started posting after lurking for a little while. Needed to get the "feel" of the forum first, to be sure the "jerk level" was low and that the threads were informative and yet allowed for side conversations and joking around. Turned out to be a good fit for me overall. I'm sure it's not everyone's cup of tea.

*Note* - I've been active on "forums" since AOL days -- was a moderator & then Admin for Geocities (anyone still remember that site?) and then helped to establish & serve as a lead Admin. on a very large fan-forum for a "pop" star.

I truly dislike the new trends in discussion, like Reddit or Discord ... too fast & scattered, too much nastiness, rabid attention seekers, lazy posters & creepers and WAY too much trash to wade thru'...

 

 

[mfuegemann]

I wonder, if the 10 minutes or so, it took to start this thread and answer, would have not been better invested in a short update on how things go with the development.

And I can understand the reaction of ajb. Sarcasm (and I really do hope it was that) does not work online.

[bysinda]

I didn't know about this forum until I was pretty deep in TLD. The whole forum thing kinda blew past me and is very new to me. I didn't have anyone in my circle who would be on one (maybe they just didn't share) or even play the same games I do. Also, the fact that I'm from Ukraine and didn't speak English for the majority of my life did factor in I suppose. 

Anyway, one time I came across some  bug in TLD and no matter how I googled it I couldn't find an answer so I tried Discord server aaand this happened 

25 minutes ago, twyn1 said:

Discord ... too fast & scattered, too much nastiness, rabid attention seekers, lazy posters & creepers and WAY too much trash to wade thru'...

Got me so disappointed, the suspicion I had that you need to be a raging incell to survive on there seemed to be confirmed. I wished I had someone to share my obsession with but was doomed to solitude T_T

But then I found this place and OMG did that feel different from Discord. Everyone seemed so polite, friendly, and not patronizing😁 Finally, a room full of geeks just like me! So, of course, I leaped 

[bysinda]

1 hour ago, ajb1978 said:

Well I tell ya one thing, based on how I was treated just now, I'm not gonna be around much anymore. I don't care if it was a joke, I can't stick around a platform where the literal founder insults me to my face. 

Cmon, dude! Don't leave! You are one of the elders! (not age-wise, obv) 

Let's just all take a deep breath. Some are frustrated, some are stressed. It might have stinged, I'm sure. But from what I have seen lately the studio is under a lot of stress, and for the founder to be around here and actually talk to players is rather unusual. It's cool on one hand, but on the other hand, all of this is Raphael's baby. He's bound to be extra "touchy". I, personally, would never talk to fans "face-to-face'. I wouldn't be able to handle the sh*tstorm.

...but how would I know, I was never on forums 🤔

Edited April 27 by bysinda
P.S.

[Raphael van Lierop]

On 4/27/2024 at 10:26 AM, ajb1978 said:

Well I tell ya one thing, based on how I was treated just now, I'm not gonna be around much anymore. I don't care if it was a joke, I can't stick around a platform where the literal founder insults me to my face. 

Oh come on! The original post is an innocent question, conversational, in response to many folks saying "hey we want to see/hear more of you in the forums". I was just jokingly responding to your comment which seemed a bit OTT. Why not just participate in the thread and don't turn it into some huge dramatic thing?

 

Quote

I wonder, if the 10 minutes or so, it took to start this thread and answer, would have not been better invested in a short update on how things go with the development.

Just trying to get some discussion going in the forums. I think people telling devs how they should and should not spend their time here is part of why we don't spend more time here. The barrier to "accepted" involvement is just too high.

Now, do we want to keep this discussion about the transition from lurker to forum member going, or should we just lock the thread?

 

[Karl Grylls]

I prefer closing the thread. The topic isn't that relevant from my point of view

[ManicManiac]

For me, I was a bit late coming to the forums (considering I'd been an active player since the later part of 2014 but joined the forums about 4 years later).
However, I didn't really spend much time lurking, per se.  I honestly hadn't come across the forums until sometime later, and at the time I wasn't a participant on any forums at all.

With the Hinterland Forums (as the first community I ever choose to participate in), what drew me to join was the overall enthusiasm of the community as well as the Milton Mailbag.  For the community side, I loved theorizing about lore and gameplay possibilities.

I've also really enjoyed sharing some of my various adventures and misadventures across Great Bear Island.  I liked the idea that by chronicling some of my runs it gave me away to talk strategy and share the successes and failures born out of the gameplay style and personal challenges I'd work on developing for myself.  Also, if those chronicles entertained others or that perhaps others found them helpful... then all the better.