What would get you discussing cricket?

[MattW]

We're certainly always on the lookout for anyone to write topical pieces for the front page, @aussie1st manages most of that, so drop him a PM with an article sample if you'd like to write for us - but there's the same issue there, not many people read them because most people primarily are here to discuss cricket games.

Obviously that's the unique part of this site - we'll always be a cricket games site as our primary focus - but for a site of people presumably large enough fans of cricket to want to discuss video games, the fact that our real world cricket discussion has always lagged really far behind - occasionally with the Football discussion section more active - is something we've never been able to work out. Especially when a lot of users can show their huge interest in discussing a wide range of cricket topics when they are in the other sections.

 

[barmyarmy]

I'm about to post a quality article (albeit with a rather laboured metaphor)

Edit: http://www.planetcricket.org/forums...it-release-englanda-s-ashes-series-87445.html

 

[kasabian21]

As stereotypical as it sounds, people using a computer to 'converse' are going to be way more interested in games rather than real cricket. They'll either talk real cricket with mates or won't discuss it at all.

As for me, I've had a look at the cricket discussion and 'your cricket' forums, but lack of posts made me not bother posting. Do that many people on here actually play cricket?!

 

[puddleduck]

Playing cricket and working is why I basically didn't post for the majority of the summer If work ever quietens down again I'll start writing a few bits and pieces and amusing myself with some light trolling.

What an awesome summer of cricket it was. Playing for a Saturday team, Sunday pub team and my work midweek 20-20 team during the driest summer for years, meant I played an absolute ton of cricket.

 

[Frostyvegi]

I was viewing the Ashes thread during the series.. but to be honest, felt out of place as 99% of the discussion was people trying to rebuild the England team.. and as I have no idea who outside of the current team are playing.. and don't really give a toss who the hell plays for their team.. couldn't be bothered adding to the convo.

 

[grkrama]

i also second biggs opinion of having scrolling hot topics,also the forum button in nav bar could have dropdown to atleast the main forum topics,i dont expect radical improvement but can be a bit encouraging to navigate.

Also matt is it possible to have a facebook wall like user wall in our profile page , so that if some of our friends are posting we get notified and join the discussion. did see a few plugins for VB that does it.

another thing is to make tag words compulsory for new thread creation ,
also make user aware of hashtag subscription and make it compulsory to choose atleast 5 tags or reward them with a bit of vcash for subscribing.

also a tag cloud of popular hash tags in the homepage or main forum page would be cool.

 

[grkrama]

also i would suggest adding women's cricket and differently abled cricket sub forums,guess there's not much of forums for them on the net ,this would be niche for PC to shine on

 

[Biggs]

I'm a writer by trade, amongst other things... I'd have a crack at writing some articles on random cricket related things, if there's a demand for opinion pieces around here...

 

[MattW]

I'd love to hear more about New Zealand being the best side in the world.

 

[Biggs]

...well, it's called creative writing for a reason.

 

[IceAgeComing]

The problem that I have talking cricket here because the threads for it move too damn slow because people aren't reading them. I like the cricket thread on Something Awful because it moves quickly and has really funny guys posting in it; so it actually feels like a discussion while watching the game. Its pretty much a must while I'm streaming the game because it adds to my enjoyment of it - I don't get that here.

Traffic's probably the major thing, but its one of these double-edged things that you're not going to get traffic without making the threads more interesting, but they aren't going to get more interesting without more traffic...

 

[grkrama]

^ Ya we need some crowd pullers, unban fonz matt

 

[blockerdave]

i think splitting articles from threads doesn't help... the articles that appear on the front page rarely have comments on them and that doesn't encourage posting because of the "herd" mentality - you go where the life is.

look at Barmy's last (excellent) article. in the thread it was posted in there were a few comments and some discussion, but now i am not even sure where i would find that thread. the article on the front page - which is easier to find - has no comments on it. it makes it look as if the articles get ignored, which doesn;t encourage people to read them, comment on them, or even volunteer to write more.

an easier to find, front-paged linked "op-ed" style area but with comments as for threads would be much better.

 

[asprin]

On a lighter note, include keywords such as "DBC", "release", and "keyboard" in all articles irrespective of the relevance and observe the upward trend in number of views

 

[Frostyvegi]

include keywords such as "DBC", "release", and "keyboard" in all articles irrespective of the relevance and observe the upward trend in number of views

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