Home Forums Chat with FREAK Talk to Freak What does it take ??

I am asking for feedback to find out what it takes to have the forum active. I am curious as to if I am missing something here. Is it lack of content? <p>Help me, help your experience here better, and help you become a active participant in the forum topics.<p>Thanks for the feedback in advance.....

freak,<p>i love this forum. i know people love contests, who doesn't? i have probably only been at my computer 15 minutes a day lately. i have been working 6-7 days(50+) hours per week and have just not had the time to be on the net. i think anytime other than football season is a slow time for most forums. expecially now that ncaa hoops is winding down. maybe with the start of baseball things will pick up a little.<p>i also know in my case, i have lost alot of money in college hoops this year, very unusual for me, but i don't have the money to be gambling very much right now and that sort of takes away some interest in sports when you can't bet as much as you would like to. <p>i don't think it is the forum itself as much as what is going on in peoples personal lives and situations. hopefully i will have more time to get involved in the near future, but work is killing me right now. <p>good luck to you and i hope things pick up.<p>mark

Freak, this is a great forum, I've only been a member for a few months but I really enjoy what you have going on here. How long has this site been going?<p>I'd like to see a ton more conversation going, but I guess that will come with time. How many people come to the site each day/week? Just curious. <p>The one thing I enjoy the most out of this site is that we are without all the bs of other forums. It does hurt though that there isn't more talk back in forth about picks, wagering in general, etc. I've been trying to be more active in my posts as of late. I love the POD area, that is the main reason I kept coming back to the site at first. It would be cool to have a POD section for each sport. I'd really love to see an area dedicated to World Sports such as soccer and tennis.<p>Anyway, keep up the great work Freak, I'm sure you put a lot of time into this. I'll see if I can get a few quality sports gamblers to come join me over here and give their input on different sports.<p>SeaVike [img]images/icons/cool.gif" border="0[/img]

Contests would bring people in, dont know how long you been around, but on other sites id say 95% of the people are looking for contests involving cash accounts from sportsbooks, the ones that come to play in those you might be able to get a few who like to share there picks on games in other part of your forum. But with so may of these sports forums around people seem to go where the contests are at. Might not be right on there part but people seem to go where the free money is.

Freak, have you ever thought about adding a chat room feature to this site...would be cool to hook up with others on here and chat about different topics, chat about games in progress, etc.<p>Just a thought.<p>SeaVike [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif" border="0[/img]

Yes, indeed I have.<p>What has stopped me is the lack of posting. Chat rooms are not cheap, and you know I wouldn't get some lame chat room either.<p>Thing is everynight look who is on line, at time 15-25 people with guests and all. Just think of the posts that could take place, if they posted in a couple areas.<p>Just imagaine......

Freak.. Jillmark made lots of good points, especially remarking many of us are limited in the time we have online.<p> My main priority everyday is picking more winners than users. I play a lot of games. So, I'm really not a talker online... although at times I do get long-winded.<p> I try to bypass useless posts.
I'm not looking for sexy pictures.

I have mentioned that I sometimes feel this Forum has too many categories; one per sport would be my choice. <p> You do a wonderful job here, so don't feel it's you. The lurkers out there just don't have a lot to say. I tend to feel that is why so many Forums express your same concerns (quiet lookers who don't offer opinions before something happens..)<p>
And when it's not Football season, betting just slows down.<p> [img]images/icons/tongue.gif" border="0[/img]

Agree with Utopia that there are probably too many categories. Keep the POD, Dog, etc., but then just one category for each major sport. And World Sport too! [img]images/icons/tongue.gif" border="0[/img] Its a bit intimidating, especially for new posters when you have two or three categories for each sport like baseball, football. You have a perfect setup...people can select the folders within each category.<p>But its your forum man, just need more people in here who post consistantly. <p>SeaVike <p> [img]images/icons/smile.gif" border="0[/img]

I personally don't feel that there is too many categories. There is something for everybody. <p>I allow people to talk about their teams and the sport, separate from the picks part of the sport.<p>I truly think the element that is missing, is people talking about sports and their teams. <p>The picks/betting part is certainly here. Believe me if I knew where to go find people to post about sports, they would be here. <p>If I turn the board into just a betting forum, then that takes away the appeal of the actual event we are wagering on. <p>As for World sports shoot the breeze allows you to to do just that !!! I would love to see the board more active, and yes it is "off season" so to speak, but there is lots going on.<p>I try my best to put the best kind of product out there, and remember I am not some ex sportsbook owner, some sports celebrity or some claim to be know it all bettor. I am just like everyone else, I love sports and gambling !!!!<p>Thanks for the input.....

Well, like I said, its your forum man, we all should be thankful for all the work and time you put into it. Its a great place to grab some info, get others' plays and more.<p>SeaVike<p> [img]images/icons/cool.gif" border="0[/img]

It's funny. I've been trying to figure out why this forum isn't more active either. After all, NORE options are always better, in my opinion. The thing I like about this site is that Freak lets people speak their minds. I can mention another site over here and Freak isn't going to kick me out, I can't do that everywhere!<p>Also, when I want to read an opinion from a sports story, I know I'm most likely going to find it here.<p>Freak, I think you should get yourself hooked up to some search engines, make sure you are in there. Also, I'd look into getting your own version of SportsMonitor because that's really what keeps me coming back to your competitor. Do you have a handicappers database? I DO like the database even though there are other sites I can get that from it just makes it easier.

Dwayne....<p>I am listed in all the major and not so major search engines. Of course the only way to stay up top is for people to click on that url listing there.<p>As for the sports database, I had one for the longest time, paid for it, but noone ever used it. I couldn't see paying for it, if noone was using it, and there was no return on it.<p>As for competitors I don't see myself competing against them, because I don't proclaim to be a watchdog site, a sportsbook monitor or some big shot with a big mouth.<p>I own a sports and gambling forum, and yes if I get info someone isn't paying, your damn right I will tell it as it is. I don't care who or what the book is. <p>The books up top are solid, they pay, and they have a history of taking care of their players. That's why I solicit them for contests, and solicit the people here to post up to them.<p>I sincerely appreciate all the compliments and thoughts. The way to get the forum going is to tell people about it. If every active person here told a few people and they told a few, then we could rock n roll easily.<p>I will make one observation, when other people besides me post topics and take part in the topics and keep the board fresh, this place rocks. When I am the one to have to post all the topics and reply to myself, this place is a graveyard.<p>I won't make up names to make the place look busy, that's other forums ghost policy, never mine. So I say, post people and keep the board alive.<p> [img]images/icons/smile.gif" border="0[/img]