Sunday, December 2, 2007

We need your HELP, If anyone's still reading that is.

(This post was originally an email I sent to the staff today, but per recommendation, I'm letting any fans we still have see it as well. Post your thoughts in the Comments and let us know what YOU think of the situation.)

Let's just get started with it. The site, in its current state, is a bust.

Although there's no way for me (or anyone, outside of CK) to check, there are other ways to tell. Tell what, you ask? - that no one's visiting the site. Heck, the staff aren't really on too often. And I know what our problem is.


We've found a "niche", just like Wu said in our interview with him. But, there's a problem. Our "niche", is too "nichey". A small segment of the Halo crowd is interested in story. An even smaller segment actively visits the Halo Story Page on HBO. And an even smaller segment visits anything outside of that. We've gotten good responses from HBO forum members in regards to our articles.. but again, that's an extremely small segment.

We have nobody on the forum (staff or otherwise), we have no emails from "fans", and we sure as hell ain't one of the Halo sites people visit daily like HBO is.

We hit it pretty big last year after the FF Contest, but with that fame we had a problem. We couldn't figure out how to keep the momentum going. We got a large amount of new members on the forum, had daily emails from people, and generally were relatively popular. But we had no way to "feed" them. Part of the problem was CK still being considered the "Administrator"; nobody wanted to act without his "consul", but when he never responded, we just let our ideas die. So, we went in to a state of non-activity, saying we were "recovering from the contest".

And that's where we got hurt the most. We had nothing from the end of October to the end of December - when our big ""Holiday, Send-2006-Out-With-A-Bang-And-Not-A-Whimper" article bonanza finally hit. Too bad hardly anyone had stuck around to see it after near two months of inactivity.

We had a HUGE opportunity to get some people back this year, which was in our then-secret Frankie interview. HBO would've covered it, Planet Halo would've covered it, etc. But Frank didn't delivered the goods. So we did what we always do - sit, and wait for him to reply. By that time, anyone who was still visiting.. stopped visiting. To them, we clearly didn't have our game up anymore; only a handful of articles, couple interviews, but massive problems with the site with our page rearranging, combined with our lack of fulfilling promises.

That Frankie interview could've put us back on the map for some, while also bringing in a lot of newcomers to the site as a whole. But he forgot. Or something. And now here we are, truly dead in the eyes of anyone who went to that one site called UNSC-something. So, what to do?

I think it's clear we that we have only a few options we could go forward with:


1) Totally ditch the current site format, and go with something a little more "popular" to the "Halo crowd" (which would be the grammatically inaccurate XBL Halo crowd, no doubt).
2) Heavily promote the site.
3) Mix in some newer content with the old.
4) Leave. Everyone either quits or goes to another site.
5) Get something "Big" to happen again. Contest? Major Interview? We'd need something big.


This has been bugging me, and that's why there's no WU and no comic on Friday. So.. any response to the situation would be appreciated. We need something, because right now I feel I'm just posting news and updates for Google Bots.

Post a Comment if you still visit the site! Anonymous comments are ALLOWED!

~MS

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I personally love the site; there are no others that have the info in that professional, military way. It makes it so much more believable, one of the keys to any good Sci-Fi.

Unfortunately, not many Halo fans are the type that really care about it as a Sci-Fi (makes you wonder if they can call them fans...). So you pretty much have to accomodate in order to survive. Just, for the love of your divine entity (or lack there of), keep the stuff that's here (and keep adding more)!

Anonymous said...

I grew u on David Niven and Robert Heinlein and and Frank Herbert and of course, the mighty Asimov. When I first saw a commercial for Halo Combat Evolved, I knew I had to get an XBOX. It was like I died and went to heaven. I typically run a Dogpile.com search for "Halo" about once a week and just found this site. I may be 54 years old but frigging rocks!. I'm an old soldier and a sci fi addict and proud of it. I will be back for as long as I'm welcome.
THANKS!

Anonymous said...

I just found your site and was reading the comic rendition of Halo 3. I think it's fantastic and hope you guys continue to turn the entire game into comic format. I haven't had a chance to check out too much else yet, but it seems pretty interesting so far.

Anonymous said...

It's really hard to prolong a community talking about one story that gets updated only every once in a while.

If you like multiplayer, starting and managing a clan can be rewarding. You can set your own pace. You can even draw a community that appreciates grammar. I know, I know... there are no clans in Halo 3. That is only true if you believe it. Gamers needs homes where they can be on a team. If you accomplish this, then you write your own story.

Major Silva said...

Well, there's some good news for all who commented. Not only were some of your comments used in the discussion of this, but some of them helped change the tide.

We'll continue with our articles, for the most part, but will be undergoing a LOT of changes. Not only will we be updating past articles, but every single article henceforth (and we'll go back and update the older articles, in due time, don't worry) will have images in it, to break up the monotony.

On top of that, We'll be releasing new articles on (hopefully) a weekly, predictable schedule. So no more waiting; you'll KNOW that one's coming. This is just a small effect of the coordination we're trying to achieve with our writers this time around.

And finally, fans of the "multiplayer" side of things will not be dissapointed. We're working on an to the Features that will bring a smile to anyone who's booted up Halo 3 XBL.

Notice that's an "addition", not a "change". We've realized now that yes, we've found our niche - we're unique. But that doesn't necessarily mean that we're the kind of site you go discuss in forums. We're more of a "passive" site - one that people come, read, and enjoy. As long as people are enjoying the content and enjoying the site, why change it to conform to the "masses" that are Halo 3 multiplayer junkies?

So in conclusion, I would like to thank all of you who commented. You have had a positive influence in the new way we will be going about the site. So, thank you!

All best,
~MS

Anonymous said...

yes i still vist this ste!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Am i not a marine?

Anonymous said...

I agree totally with that last guy.

Major Silva said...

Haha. Thanks guys.

And yes, you are indeed a Marine :).

Indiana Pwns said...

I would have to say that another contest would get people back into the site pretty fast. Maybe an autograph of Halo Contact Harvest from Joseph Staten? Or something along those lines. Contests get people to notice a site pretty fast and if they have one periodically people tend to stick around.

Mike said...

Hey! I love the site! Really! I know what you are talking about though, it's a niche and it's hard to fill but what's holding you back?!

Stick with it as long as possible! Let me know if I can help in any way possible!