We had a long, enjoyable run, and I would like to thank all Orlando Magic fans who contributed to our little community on the web over the years. This message board started out as a college project back in 2004, and back then I never could have imagined that it would last as long as it did.
However, all good things come to an end. I have moved on to other projects in life, and most of our members here have followed suit. I will leave this message board online as a visual archive into the thoughts and ideas of a group of Magic fanatics that lived through a 21-win season, the drafting of Dwight Howard, and an eventual NBA Finals appearance.
Special thanks to our Staff Members: Black and Blue, MAGICMANEVAN, and NYCMagicFan
MagicMadness
Forum Administrator
| State of the Board Address; Longtime Members, Please Read. | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Sep 15 2010, 02:59 PM (2,328 Views) | |
| MagicMadness | Sep 15 2010, 02:59 PM Post #1 |
 
|
I was originally planning this topic to be discussed amongst our moderating team, but I came to the realization that the small group of you all who have spent years contributing to the forum, keeping this place alive, deserve to hear my thoughts too and partake in the discussion. First off, it never ceases to amaze me how dedicated all of you have been over the past couple of years. Here we have a clunky, old message board, utilizing free software, with outdated features, barely any presence on the web, barely any new members in years (!), yet every single season there is a group of 10-15 of you who stick around and talk about the Magic. And join the fantasy leagues. And are just as enthusiastic as you were the season before. I have seen message boards 5 times bigger and better than this one fail, but for whatever reason, this one has stayed alive. Heck, recently I visited the InvisionFree Support Forums for the first time in years, and noticed that our board was near the top of their 'sports forums' search engine, mainly due to longevity more than anything else. It truly is remarkable that we have survived as long as we have, just continuing to plug on through the years with the same core group of fans keeping the board going strong. However, the past year or so, I've noticed that my interest in running the site has been diminishing. Once, I was 100% on top of things. Now, I find myself less inclined to get the word out, or update the design, or introduce new features. I let things go that I once would have spent a day fixing. (I mean, look at the "Report", "Edit", "Quote" type buttons on this page even; I would never have left them all messed up like that in the past! lol.) So basically what I am wondering is: how do YOU feel about the site? Shall we continue on? Maybe some of you are interested in ways to boost the site? I'm open to possibly giving Administrator access to someone if they have new ideas. Upgrade to Zetaboards (newer features), and start over with a freshly-coded design? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZetaBoards Maybe even take over and move the board to a hosted server? I'd consider a backseat role. I'm really doing this for the MM community, not for myself. I'd like to hear what the group of you think about the time you've spent here, the current state of the board, and where you could see us in the future. Basically, we could use a shot in the arm, and I want to hear some ideas! Since the only thing I spend money on for this site is the address URL, I'd hate to just close down something free like this, especially considering that it's got a great, truly dedicated group of 10-15 diehard Magic fans. Not to mention the fact that NYCMagicFan just recently started up yet another season of Fantasy Football and Basketball. We've got something special here; a strong little community that could use a boost to continue on into the next decade of Magic basketball. Again, thank you all for the years of loyalty to MagicMadness.net. I've always felt uncomfortable sharing the same username as the site, because I've always considered it OUR message board, not mine. - MagicMadness |
 |
 
|
| MAGICMANEVAN | Sep 16 2010, 09:05 AM Post #2 |
#1 Magic Fan
|
I'm definitely in favor of keeping it going. This is my 'homepage' site everytime I go online. I love this site. Increasing the traffic/ways to boost sound good to have more people coming on here on a daily basis. But, it has been slow recently of course due to no basketball right now though. If you want to do a new design, hey why not but I don't think its absolutely necessary. It looks sharp, got the magic blue colors, great pic at the top.. you've done well MM. We do really appreciate all the work you've put in because it shows. Seeing the board go would be a sad day. Maybe its just me but it seems the core guys here have all gotten closer, as the years go on, and we've never even met lol. You cant beat the Fantasy Sports 'wars' we have on here! My main thing is that this board was huge and could get back to that. We got a great group of core guys and some great staff too. I'm all for doing whatever it takes to keep us running smoothly. We got a great foundation of a board here and the future looks bright as our team gets better, adds more fans to the fanbase, new arena, etc. |
|
|
|
| NYCMagicFan | Sep 16 2010, 07:32 PM Post #3 |
Old School
|
I agree with pretty much everything Evan said. Definitely would want the board to stay up and running. No need to make any changes if you dont have the time to. Its fine the way it is now. If you have to switch it over to a different server to make things easier for yourself then by all means do that. Anything to keep the site up and running. Its great having an ACTIVE Orlando Magic forum to be a part of because good individual team forums are few and far between. |
|
|
|
| jscarrozzo | Sep 16 2010, 09:41 PM Post #4 |
|
Starter
|
I am all for keeping the site, but due to the lack of people coming in maybe another way of running it would be a solution. Not sure if I am a core guy because I dont have an avatar or anything, but I am on here a lot. Does everyone here use facebook? Could have a group or something on there. Just a thought. |
|
|
|
| Black and Blue | Sep 17 2010, 06:11 PM Post #5 |
Have You Hugged Your Van Gundy Today?
|
I agree with MME, NYC and Jscarrozzo that the site does have a loyal following and I love it as one of my top sites. That being said I do see MM's point about the shrinking readership and have tried to wrap my head around it a bit. Maybe it's the analyst in me, but when I see something having trouble I try to tinker around and figure it out. Anyhoo, first and foremost I think exposure has become an issue. When you google the three words almost everyone thinks of when they think of Magicmadness.net (those being "Orlando Magic Forum", it is at the bottom of the SECOND page, which is like number 20 overall. Blogs like the insipid "The Puns Are Starting To Bore Me" pop up more often, even though it is not a forum. If memory serves me, Magicmadness used to be like number three overall. That may have been a while ago, but it was how I found this place originally. Thus, new Magic fans are not finding the site, or at least not opting to join a forum that is that tough to find. Next, the relatively tough to find forum on Orlando Magic.com realized how idiotically hard it was for people to find and split to become truebluenation.com. Silly as it may sound, its numbers soared as a result. For the people who were annoyed at realgm's lack of a single team-oriented site and came here instead, they see the numbers on trueblue and opt to join that. Another factor is the overall popularity of the NBA and the Magic. Yes, the NBA is popular to a certain extent, but goes nowhere near the numbers football, soccer, and even baseball does. You slap "Dallas Cowboys" on something and you're never going to have a problem with readership. The Nuggets on the other hand, a pretty popular NBA team, draw DISMAL forum numbers online in many of their fan forums. Seeing the numbers on the site, it may sound strange but I have been waiting for an announcement akin to this for some time from MM. I really have to applaud you MM for having the consideration to consult with us on the site, and to come to us for our thoughts. As for my feelings overall, even though it is free I know that operating a site is tough work and can at times become tough to keep an eye on. If Magicmadness.net closes down, I would be sad, but not heartbroken. I WOULD be heartbroken if the key members of this site stop working with each other, so if the site were to close up shop I would have to insist on working together in another capacity. You guys are too fun and too talented to have us just part ways. Barring that, I'm game for brainstorming anything with the site you guys want. |
|
|
|
| dxwwf3 | Sep 20 2010, 10:32 PM Post #6 |
Legend
|
This and Real GM are the only message boards I read about the Magic and I would never post at Real GM because it is just WAY too big. |
|
|
|
| MagicMadness | Sep 21 2010, 02:07 AM Post #7 |
|
Thanks all for taking the time to share your thoughts. Its obvious this board is important to most of you, as it is to me, and I want to do what is best not only for it now, but for the future of it as well. While the software used to run this forum has served us well for over six years now, I am considering upgrading from InvisionFree to Zetaboards. From what I have gathered so far, the newer functions, features, and overall quality of the software should serve us well, and possibly help us compete better with the bigger boards like True Blue Nation and RealGM. I am also going to look into better strategies to get this forum up higher in the search engines, as Black and Blue mentioned. The goal for us should be to maintain what we have now - a great, albeit small, community of diehard Magic fans, while making things more enticing for new members. 
|
|
|
|
| Black and Blue | Sep 21 2010, 12:32 PM Post #8 |
|
Have You Hugged Your Van Gundy Today?
|
Sounds great man and good to hear!!!  |
|
|
|
| « Previous Topic · Board Announcements · Next Topic » |
1:14 AM May 22