The Gun Counter

The way I see it is this whole thing started way back with Kim who generated content that drew in new users, and IIRC he was pretty active on the forum. Once that went away there was never going to be the same influx of new members so it was all about the existing memebership staying engaged. That took some huge hits when various major contributors drifted, bailed or got tossed.

I think it's important to note that traffic was already on the downward trend when somebody tipped off Aesop to the location of our new digs. Yeah, he posted a lot, but he drove some people away too. I'd rather he never showed his face here and maybe we'd still have some of the others who drifted away during that time period.

Given conversations I had with a former administrator back when we were still on Kim's server and how close the guy was to being banned from that site even back then, I suspect strongly he was specifically not informed when The Gun Counter was started, as opposed to just not getting the memo as was the case with many others. I know for a fact that the former admin in question reached out to several who had gotten a raw deal at the du Toit's site to invite them here, so I might be wrong but I doubt it.

But I don't think you can pin the slow down on any one factor. Yeah, there were some people who stuck around in large part to watch the Aesop Show, but the bottom line is we just don't have anything to really draw new users here. The quality of discussion has always been relatively high, but we don't have any sort of special interest draw to bring people here (Kim's blog used to provide that), and we never really reached the sort of critical mass (like that of a THR or Arfcom) needed to be self sustaining in the longer term as a general interest gun forum. So as people inevitably drift away or go inactive for any number of normal, predictable reasons, there have never been enough new members to replace them.

But it's mostly been fun as long as it's lasted.

It's not necessarily just this board. I've noticed that traffic on other boards that I frequent has dropped considerably. At least on gun and prepping related ones.

I never held being on the cusp of being banned against him. I spent a fair amount of time there, myself. Especially when it came to my refusal to bend to the arbitrary whims of Connie's mood swings. Though to be fair, none of us realized at the time how truly sick she was or would soon become.

I'm not sure how much of it is just time on the boards where a lot has been said already 100 times. Not very many new gun things out there. I used to do a lot of content but have flailed a bit there. I should make an effort to put some more wacky stuff up for everyone's edification.

You people need to comment on things other than my cat posts.

I 've been a Moderator on another "gunboard" for 18 years; one of the threads started there years ago has almost 600 pages of posts of "Post Funny Pictures Here" with many added daily. just an example, and there are dozens of discussion boards with a panoply of subjects on firearm types etc. We don't need to be a copy of all that here but just a bit more effort on all our parts would maybe build more interest. Not criticising; just pondering....

My cat deserved his own thread, though.

It's because I suck and and everyone hates me. (H&K especially)

I also am super busy and moved to Florida and am headed to Brazil tomorrow (see super busy). But I miss you all and try and visit you guys when I am on the road.

Why the move to Florida? What part of the state? I've been thinking long and hard about a move to either one of the less crazy parts of Florida or possibly the gulf coast of Alabama or Mississippi.