I think every ship needs a captain. From what I understand this is jaydog's forum. So I say it's up to him to decide what he want this forum to be. Some points to consider. This forum was formed as a place for beast art fans. A place or artists, art fans and writers to congregate and share material after BF closed down. Of course I'd love to see other elements similar to BF be incorporated into this forum. As it would likely attract more members. But then again, I don't have to run this forum on a daily basis, Jaydog does.
All good points.
The aim of the site was to provide a safe, welcoming and enjoyable place for artists, writers and lurkers. Obviously it is self-defeating to have great artwork and original stories without anyone to look at or read them, to that end the site is of course welcoming to those who are not artists, writers, or even lurkers.
However, there already exist excellent sites aimed at artists, others for writers, what none of them provide is both, and all with a focus on zoo themes.
So, whilst adding certain additional content almost guarantees an increase in traffic, what is the nett effect? Are those larger numbers logging in for what is already here? Are they looking for artwork and stories with a zoo focus?
Because if the influx is only here for those extra features, what have we achieved, beyond watering down our focus and effectively pushing artists and writers to the side in a bid to simply increase traffic..??
Don't forget, this is a free site, no membership charges to get better or exclusive content, no banners, nothing. Isn't that something worth supporting? Does any true zoo really want to be swamped by members intent only on the features available elsewhere?
Opening the doors to non-zoo pictures is in effect starting a porn site, there are plenty, we are not going to compete, except in as much as we are a free site without banners, so they are getting content for free.
My 2c
