are we minority?or the one true vioce.

[Art]

Yeah, we're onl;y really a vocal minority. As are the letter writers, the newsgroup regulars and those who only vote on polls but don't post messages. I'd say there probably isn't such a thing as a one true voice.

[The Monarch]

- the Trout carries more weight round here than anyone

are you sure about that?!?

[Devons Daddy]

im with si.
this i hope will not stop any of us demanding tharg listen to us.though.
 
also agree with karne on the web site thing.the same was true of me. watched for ages before finally trying out a little.now of course.here every damn day.far to much. and love every minute of it.

[Bolt-01]

With regard to the new users of the website (Sorry Wake, more work): How about a welcome pack Email? Containing info on getting an icon, how the board works, a questionnaire (like on the profile page) and maybe a pieceof printable art you can't get elsewhere (the proverbial carrot)

Just an idea.

I have to agree on the Sin/dex thing, it is generally the first strip my lad reads, when Slaine aint around. It may be that S/D could be the "loss leader" for the prog as a whole. Is there any info on drop off if the strip doesn't run, or is that to much detail t expect?

rotts

[Buddy]

Tharg deffinately needs to promote the site more.

A more obvious mention in the publications along with site only content - interviews, strips, competitions etc.. only available on the site. These sort of things would attract more people to the website.

[Demon Chicken]

Do I not count as an "average" fan?  I mean I only actually read toth and the meg, no other comix, have only been reading for a year and a half, miss the vast majority of Dr. Who references as most were before my time.  I am one of the fewer "younger" users of the site, and as everyone has seen over the last few days some of my postings have no relevance at all to tooth.  I also quite enjoy sin/dex and thought Bison was ok, but I choose not to be so outspoken in my views as most other boarders.
That's my 2 cents anyways.

Demonic poltry boy.

[ukdane]

The original cover of prog 1233 hit apon a possible copyright infringement, so they changed it at the last minute!http://www.2000ad.nu/callingtheshots/2000ad/marmite.jpg">

[Bolt-01]

DD, that is brilliantly done.

My hat is off to you.

rotts

[paulvonscott]

Well, we are a minority, but not exactly a coherant homogenous minority, and I don't think it's really representative of any one type.  Though obviously largely people who give a bit more than a fig.  But as Art said, that's true of letter writers, e-mailers or survey filler-inners.

I would be wary about quantifying the people we don't see based on the people we do.  Or claiming such invisible people hold any opinions for or against anything.  Because we just don't know.

I can only think of one or maybe two people here who seem to share my general views on 2000AD, pretty much every one else I'm happy to disagree on at least one or two major topics.  I certainly don't feel like I'm part of any specific 'group'.

No, don't say miserable sods.

[Devons Daddy]

who digest it and regard it with a sort of religious fervour. We're the football hooligans of the 2000AD readership, if you want to look at it that way. ;)

WELL SAID.
true and i am happy to admit it.
sums me and my personal views up completely.
i just hope we dont scare other would be boarders away.

[Oddboy]

and some hardcore fans (dxb, uk, oddboy).

Thing is... I wouldn't have referred to myself as a hardcore fan until after I found this site!
(I didn't have any wussy watch don't post approach when I first turned up though - just dive in & get started so I say)
But within a week of posting here I'd arranged to buy over a thousand back-issue progs via the classified secion and have been working on them since, so I think my 'hardcore' status is due to posting on the site, rather then I post because I'm 'hardcore'.

On the minority/majority front: we've such a widespread set of opinions between us it probably isn't too wacky to extrapolate from our opinions - see the thread that's discussing the same thing over TV figures.
As long as Tharg takes the opinions of those here with some reasonable salt pinching & doesn't just listen to whoever shouts loudest I don't think it'd be too far off the truth (which is: everyone has different opinions and ALL stories will have fans somewhere).

Taking readers as customers, we (along with the letter writers - and how often do we all recognise names from the Input page?) are the customers who take the time to give feedback.  A company that ignores feedback from its customers isn't likely to do that well.

Re Si's Football theory: if we're the people who look at 2K more closely, consider it more etc then if Tharg improves the prog along these lines, surely the more casual reader (who doesn't care so much about the prog) won't be offended at the rise in quality?

O well, whatever.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I like it here cos it stops me working. There's a fine balance of inane chat vs. really inane chat.
Problem is people come into my office whenever I'm on the site and I have to pretend I'm doing research. Bah!

As for TMO listening to the board, well - if enough people ask for Tweak back then sooner or later he's gonna return... and he's gonna be PISSED!

(Hell, if the Gronk can turn into a butt kickin', gun totin' mo-fo then Tweak could be a real psycho)

[Tiplodocus]

Vocal Minority.  

I'd always been of the opinion that the last person you should listen to was the one who actually takes time to write in and comment on your publication as they are normally obsessives with too much time on their hands.  Then I started doing it as well...

I'm not sure I enjoy being compared to a "football hooligan" but the only other analogy I could think of was "regular church/synogoue/mosque/whatever go-er" and it's definitely better than that.

But then again, Si could have a point if you consider that football holligans often have no love of football and they go to matches for self-serving reasons and to start trouble.  Is that true of anyone on this site? (Other than me...)

[W. R. Logan]

The vocal minority, that we surely are, I mean who here thinks that Sin/Dex are great, when any true 2000AD reader knows that they are complete crap.

This board suffers in the same way as the 2000AD newsgroup, not enough people know about it and if they do then take a look at the group of people that use it and its enough to put anyone off subscribing.

Tharg could put a full page feature in the weekly Prog or once TPO has finished in the meg maybe something could be slotted in there, even with that exposure any new browser to the site has get through the banter to see the threads or posts that relate directly to 2000.

Internet literate or big 2000 fans may be interested in joining in, but those deluded people who don?t pray to the altar of Tharg may be put off simply because there is a clickyness to the board in the same way as the newsgroup. Read back through the posts and see how many are about king trout, other comics besides 2000, Arthur Wyatt?s gun and ammo weekly and the odd fallout between boarders. I like the off topic chat, the quirkiness and irreverent nature of the board but if you were looking at it for the very first time would you think about joining in, and how many people took a look when the board was first set up and was put off by the cat lover who?s name I wont mentioned. Also how many people are put off because they have to sign up and may think that they are going to be inundated with spam, how many younger readers are put off because chat rooms and message boards are the home of paedophiles?

This board and website could do so much more if given the backing of the mighty one but when something as simple as this weeks Prog cover has to be scanned by wake and isn?t sent to him straight from the nerve centre before the Prog hits the stands, what hope is there for Tharg to give more time and effort into promoting the site.

How many people have signed up for the 2000 site? Do they get e-mails giving them the line up for forthcoming Prog?s, what new features have been added or what?s for sale in the future shop.

Enjoy being the vocal minority because if the board becomes more popular how many more posts can you get through in a single day, especially if you read the board at home and not at work.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan.

[Art]

...it's also the only online community I frequent that isn't over-run by Americans*, which gives it a completely different feel.

*Not that I have anything against Americans. Love 'em. Great people. It's just nice to be without them every once in a while.http://www.arthurwyatt.co.uk/images/photos/s_newyork11.jpg">