This site has fallen so far behind on news stories and keeping up database updates. There are easily over 7 recent news stories that haven't been put up yet here -- so many database entries that are not updated or added -- and as a result of inactivity and lack of fresh content, I've seen member activity here decline rapidly.

I know everyone here has lives outside of Thrillnetwork, but boy since my absence everything here, I have noticed that the morale and the focus to improve and maintain a great site and community has deteriorated. Is the staff just "over it"?

It's kind of disheartening to see. This site used to be so on top of things, what's happened? I'm not being disrespectful, I'm just wondering if it's only me that's noticed these changes for the worse.

Dunno, but I've noticed it too. Seems like General Console talk and NFL are the most active threads.

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A lot of people don't love coasters as much as they used to on here. Check out this thread: http://www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/...ad.php?t=42750

I personally still love riding coasters when I get the chance.

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Chris: You'd have to talk to Steven , but I think we may have room for another editor. If you have somewhat early access to news stories, maybe you could help fix the issues you mention.

Please don't take that as a snippy retort, because it is not. I'm seriously asking if you'd like to help solve the problem.

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ThrillNetwork Lead Moderator
My neighbor got a big new house, and all I got was his lousy payments

^ I didn't take that as a snippy retort at all.

I have vaguely discussed this with Steven, but he feels it's just not the right time for me to be reinstated as a staff member. When he feels the time is appropriate, I assume he'll let me know.

Most of that blame could actually fall on your former fellow staffers that are no longer with us. Many were brought on, did little or nothing, and we cut them because they didn't even respond to requests in a timely fashion.

We need active people on this site helping out, and when people can't do it, they shouldn't be part of staff. Right now, we're simply out of people to pick out.

So, if you are someone who can write, can adhere to the standards we have set forth, and is at least 18, the by all means, drop your name. Of course Chris, you'll still have to wait a bit before I can even re-consider you re-joining.

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ThrillNetwork Webmaster/Systems Administrator -- My Official Fansite -- Get Firefox!
Everytime I ride a coaster, it valleys. I've never been on a stalled coaster or had one roll back (except Wicked Twister and what was Superman: Ultimate Escape, which does that by design).

Now I feel silly for forgetting that Chris has already been on staff. Is 39 too young for alzheimers to be setting in?

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ThrillNetwork Lead Moderator
My neighbor got a big new house, and all I got was his lousy payments

^ I have spats of it at 35.

Like Steve said, most of the editors were booted because they didn't do a darn thing.

Basically it's just myself and Bryan Wood posting stories these days and frankly, the stories out on the net are pretty few and far between as well.

For some reason, they just aren't as previlent as they used to be. Also consider, it's off season now. That has a lot to do with it too.

Also, I try to post news worthy things, not just "Two Face got stuck again" type things. Stuff like that is not really news to me and I try to only post stuff that would actually be interesting to read.

TN also comes and goes (the boards) in waves. Sometimes it's really busy, sometimes its slow. That doesn't mean things have "fallen off".

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Intimidator Coming in 2010 to Carowinds!

I too have recently noticed a decline in activity. I think there are a few factors that play into this. As mentioned above, it is now the off season for much of the country. By nature, this will lead to slower boards and less activity. There is also usually a decline in activity when the summer ends. People get back in the swing of things at college or highschool, and have much less time to post online.

I still see Thrillnetwork as the best coaster forum on the internet. While the news updates may be sparse, it is still an incredible website. TN has so much to offer. Memeber participation here will flow from high to low continually. That's just the way it is.

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I have sort of been noticing this too, and it somewhat sad, but I do think the main reason is because of people going back to school or fulltime jobs. I know I am in my 1st year at highschool and I have had less time to post on the boards, but I still try to get in as much time as I can. I'd would love to be a staff member but I lack the requirement of being 18 year old.

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As far as "offseason" goes, if most of the active members lived this far south, there would be no offseason blues.
Just thought I'd point that out.

I think the Speedzone department might use a few more aboard.

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ThrillNetwork Lead Moderator (Originally known as Hurricane)

It's time to play some DEFENSE!

I agree with Wes that some stories I see on other sites are just ridiculous like: Two Face stuck again. This one takes the cake: Two guys banned from BGE for taping a staged stuck in the restraint incident. Guy really had a screwdriver to mess with Griffon's restraint. This trashy story was on a site that sounds like a bee. I'm glad we don't link stuff like that.

I think morale is just down with the changes in the industry being implemented. The parks are changing due to guest patterns, park financial health. I'm worried. There is also not news at times. I'm not an ACEr. I don't have special connections but I read now and then off other sites and bring back here like our California Great America/new 2009 woodie story.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

I've noticed there is not as many good threads to post compared to what it was like 2 years ago.

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GO MAGIC

If there was a way to track board activity, it would be interestig to see a graph charting the nmber of posts per month over the last few years. I think we just need to wait it out though. Things will pick up again. Honestly, I'm happy that this isn't an overly active board. Some sites get so many posts every day, that it is annoying to follow different threads.

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I think a big problem is after a while now, a lot of longtime members seemed to either have lost interest in posting about the same stuff over and over again or coasters in general. For the most part, people only seem to be interested in talking about Cedar Point, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Six Flags Great Adventure, Carowinds, Holiday World and a couple other parksnow and then. I see threads about fairly big parks with interesting topics that go nowhere because a lack of interest.

So now, it's mostly topics regarding other issues such as mentioned above like video games and football that are popular. There just isn't much to talk about coasters after older members have said and seen it all.

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YOUR HATRED AMUSES ME

I'm over coasters to be honest, but not posting and discussing various things on here.

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Thornton to Heatley all day, every day.

I dunno... maybe they got caught up in censorship?

Maybe it's just that your comments weren't adding to the discussion, Joseph. The last one that was deleted was very pointless and almost considered spam. So, yeah, we're going to censor that.

And if you feel it's unjust, you can quit coming. You do have the power to do that. Anyone who doesn't like a site, yet continues to come to it and complain really has no life.

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ThrillNetwork Webmaster/Systems Administrator -- My Official Fansite -- Get Firefox!
Everytime I ride a coaster, it valleys. I've never been on a stalled coaster or had one roll back (except Wicked Twister and what was Superman: Ultimate Escape, which does that by design).

To be honest with all of you... I've been noticing this going on for well over a year or two now.

The problem lies largely with the fact that we just don't have the man power to keep things as up to date anymore. There are a variety of reasons why we are down in numbers now. Many staffers have lives outside the site, or lost interest in coasters, or (in my case) no longer find the work fulfilling. This isn't to say that staffers past and present don't still care about ThrillNetwork. This just indicates that staffers aren't able to give as much as they used to.

In addition, I think part of it is largely that the community base that ThrillNetwork was built on grew up, they moved on... and no one ever took their place. If you notice a large majority of the 'big posters' all signed up within the first year or so that the site started. I think part of this has to do with the simple fact that it was difficult for new members to join and prosper on the site because of the attitudes and click-ish nature of some of the 'big posters'. Ive always felt as if it was hard for 'newbies' to break into the site and because of that... they leave and never become that next generation of regulars that ThrillNetwork needed. In all honestly I think the seeds for the current slump were planted a few years ago. Because of that it is going to be hard to re-energize an old member base as well as stimulate and cultivate a new one. A large reason this is going to be hard to do however is that our content has also stagnated.

ThrillNetwork is your (the members) site just as much as it is the staffs site. If you want to see Thrillnetwork grow once again you have to help us. We don't know what direction you want us to take the site to. It would also be a huge help if members submitted content such as news, database entries/changes, photos, videos, game files (NL, RCT, etc).

I know that I have TONS of things that i think could be improved or changed on ThrillNetwork to make the site great again. However, I don't work on such things because... well... I have other things to do, and I don't feel as if my work would be appreciated if I even did it. I mean, I don't think people realize the amount of work it is to develop the code that runs a large dynamic site like ThrillNetwork. I don't expect people to care about how the systems that TN run work... however, I don't feel that if I were to release something new for TN that people would even notice or care. That is largely why I personally have stopped working on ThrillNetwork. We were supposed to release a new version of the site nearly two years ago... however, as usual... it never materialized. There are soooooooo many things that need to be done but... no one to do them.

If anyone is interested in helping, then, I would be more then willing to discuss what could be done for new development of TN. But until then... nothing will probably get done.

Anyway, thats really just my little rant... It probably makes no sense (since I didn't proofread it).

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Alright, I'm throwing this out as a challenge to everyone (staff, newbie, been here too long) that thinks TN can and/or should be better.

Give us your ideas.

I'm not asking you to do serious work (but if you want, that might be arranged also) just your IDEAS. What would you do different if YOU were in charge?

Any ideas- technical, database, news, moderation, whatever- tell us how you would do it different. There's no promise that your ideas will be put into practice, only a promise that they will be read.

To take what Graham said a step further, this is much more the site of the members than of the staff.

So, if you have an idea you think would help, post it. Now if you're going to post something like the suggestion of copyright infringement, then whine about censorship when the post gets deleted, maybe you should consider whether you're part of the solution or part of the problem.

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ThrillNetwork Lead Moderator
My neighbor got a big new house, and all I got was his lousy payments

Not sure if there are the resources to do this, but I think TN has good potential to expand into areas where other coaster sites aren't doing.

Our database right now is pretty extensive and large and easily one of the highlighting points of this site. It features all kinds of rides, not just limited to roller coasters, which is something no other community offers. Part of what made TN so fun is that it is member customizable with profiles, "friends lists," personal ride count, etc...

With YouTube and other video upload sites doing so well, I figured TN could probably get in on video uploads as well -- somehow implemented with the database. Not sure how much intricate programming it may take on Graham's behalf or if there is enough bandwith space that allows for such a thing but for example:

Each ride in the database has its own specifications box, user comment section, photo gallery --- why not add a member-upload video gallery for rides? It would be something unique to the site and allow for more member contribution and participation in helping the site grow. The more content and the more variety of content could only help. I have visited so many enthusiast community sites and even major video sharing sites where you can find hundreds of ride and park footage shot by amateurs. TN could be a place to share these kinds of files.

I also think expanding on member profiles -- to almost be like a "personal homepage user profile" on TN would increase member activity and interest (kind of like a TN version of MySpace or Facebook.)

And if it's possible, try to bring back staff incentives. The more a staff member contributes and helps with site maintenance and updates, they could earn rewards based on an accumulated point scale. I'm sure part of the reason why the staff gets so "half-assed" with tasks is because they don't get anything in return. Nobody will take a "job" seriously if they aren't compensated in some way (I'm not saying they should be paid, just some sort of compensation) --- I mean, even recognition for a task well done isn't really given here.

Same said about members. The more a member contributes to the site (whether it be via upload to the media database, news/features submissions) they could be given a type of higher member ranking in the community. And also we could do like a bi-monthly member awards -- in which an icon can be displayed in a section of an award winner's profile section.

As for the new version of TN...I think it's come close to that time to going through with it! Many other sites have at least changed up the appearance with at least new banners or colors, but TN has really gotten stale. Though a layout overhaul would be nice, it wouldn't be a total necessity. A few minor aesthetic tweaks and mods could give the site a fresher appearance.

I'm just a bit relieved this issue hasn't been just kept behind doors. Otherwise nobody would have taken charge to at least explore some ideas as to how to keep TN somewhat afloat. Another year with the site as it is, it'll just become another Thrillride.com

Those are just a few ideas. My $0.02.

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I too am glad that this discussion is out in the open. Chris' suggestions were great. I love the video idea. The incentives are anote good idea to keep people interested.

I think that Speedzone is wonderful section of TN. Unfortunately, there seems to be nearly no interest in it. I feel that if the site could spike interest in this section, the whole site would benefit. I know it was done in the past, but I think SZ shoul try to bring back some official contests. An official NL contest or challenge would be great for the site. It would need to be advertised elsewhere on the site though, in order to catch people attention. Just something to bring people into Speedzone would be good.

TN could also look into pairing up with another coaster site. If another site were to link to TN, and if TN were to do the same, that would be good. Get the name out there. Themeparkreview is one of the most active sites around. If you could get them to promote TN, and inturn have TN promote TPR, site interest may rise. I'm sure I will have more ideas in the future, but that's all for now. Thanks for allowing us to speak our minds.

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Just a quick comment about the blog option.

We actually did try that about a year ago and noone seemed to use it.

Not saying it would fail a second time, but I just wonder if it would be worth messing with again.

Frankly I don't read many blogs myself personally, I don't know if others are different.

On staff rewards...

We did just get a great update for the editors, but I agree that there should be something for the other staffers as well.

Maybe instead of points, there would be like...for each month of active service on the site, you get $X. Which means if you slack off, you get nada.

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Intimidator Coming in 2010 to Carowinds!

I am glad this stuff is getting out and I agree with every idea you guys have had and I would love to see this stuff happen. On idea that was brought up in another thread and I think would help thi problem out a lot is have some kind of site get together or trip. It could help to have people really get to know each other. As much as I love this site now, I would love it if some changes went into place to make it even better. One way to incorparate the reward system is go along the lines of Xbox 360. fot hose of you that have one, I'm sure you know that you get Achievments for accomplishing tasks in games and each acheivment contibutes to an overall Gamerscore. What if we had our own acheivments that instead of Giving Gamerscore, Give our own version such as Riderscore, or TN points. I have an endless list of stuff that can be awarded for going through my head at this moment.

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These threads always come up every off-season when a old member returns to find TN in the same state as they left it.

What's happened to ThrillNetwork? It's pretty much the same as you left it. I don't get why TN is supposed to change overnight and incorporate tons of new features, there is a explosion of new members, and everyone is supposed to love coasters.

As I've mentioned before in a thread, my love for coasters has faded; I just don't find the need to urge to go out and ride them all the time. I still find them fascinating pieces of technology, but I've moved on.

Either way, not sure what the future will bring for TN, but we always move on.

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Thornton to Heatley all day, every day.

That's a shame that you can't see it. It's not the same "as I left it." When you are apart of a community since 2001, leave for six months, you can really get a feel for how things are different -- and in the case of TN as of now, it's for the worse. You personally can't say the same, having been using TN on a regular basis (I presume) so you wouldn't really be able to see it from my point of view.

It's like when your distant relatives come visit and they see you for the first time in over six months to a year. They grab and pinch at you and say you've changed so much and in your head you think you're the same person and haven't changed a bit. But in reality, you have changed but don't realize it because you're so used to being around yourself or in this case, TN. A weird analogy, but you get the idea.

That's fine, but Thrillnetwork was built and operates mainly around the amusement park industry and roller coasters. I'm not saying that this site doesn't also cover a lot of other ground and interests, but fact is, it is primarily a roller coaster/theme park enthusiast community and website with content targeted mainly to this interest point.

I don't think TN should alter its focal point and founding basis just because a few members decided they got bored with roller coasters.

I joined in 2001 too buddy. Technically I've been here longer than you have...

I might seem sour cause I'm tired of people that have gotten banned from TN to talk bad about it nonstop on AIM, oh wait, thats just one person...I'll let you guys guess who it is.

Hint: It's not you.

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Thornton to Heatley all day, every day.

^ I wasn't aware they changed it so that the month of June came before May.

So technically, you haven't been here as long as I have.

And how is my bringing to attention the decline of TN content and activity to push for future site improvement anything like some other member that got banned and talked trash? How is that similar in any kind of way? Maybe you misinterpreted the intention of this thread.

I would help but I have no way of knowing what is going on without sites like this and others. I have no connections with the amusement industry.

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