NEW Message Board- by ZOCCOZ

Discussion of other water gun websites.
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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:18 pm

I'm not too crazy about the R-rated thing myself, but I figure he can do what he wants. This might be a popular niche for all we know (though I have my doubts). Personally, I believe a Super Soaker nostalgia niche is something to be filled with definite popularity, and I think that's something ZOCCOZ could do very well. I don't know how many emails I've received that had the word "nostalgia" in them. I'd love to see a water gun website setup like X-Entertainment but with an old-style Super Soaker look. Take all of ZOCCOZ's content and put it on a website like that... that would be really neat.

Actually, of all the sub-niches of the water gun niche, not too many are covered. There's barely any websites out right now, and that's a shame. I really loved a lot of the more personal water gun websites, most of which are offline now. Seems people have more interest in starting forums and being big shots or something. The sad part is that it's extremely hard to support a forum without a website in this niche.

Years ago, I remember people told me that no one actually cared about DIY water gun projects. What did they know?

I also feel I should say this to those who insist on advertising only on forums:

Last year we had to switch domain names due to Freakymist not buying a third year. That's a complete restart in the search engines, where 90% of our visitors come from. Just a few weeks ago we crept up to #10 in Google for super soaker, the hardest keyword to place in. That's a lot of visitors, many more than you'll get by advertising only on forums. SEO and a few other things such as videos are what I believe really bring in the visitors.

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NiborDude
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Post by NiborDude » Tue Jul 04, 2006 4:53 pm

Haha, computer animated nudes. Just what our comminity needs. I would have thought better soakers, but I guess I was wrong. :rolleyes:
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<span style='color:EEF2F7'>Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes! -Leonardo Da Vinci

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joannaardway
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Post by joannaardway » Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:04 pm

I'll put together a website if needs be, but all in all, I find that many sites are/have failed.

I'd probably just end up repeating other sites.

What hole in soakerdom could another site fill? Surely spreading the knowledge over everywhere won't help.

The best thing that the community could have would be a homemade store - to supply the users that want more than hasbro gives.

Mind you, I'm still tempted to get a Flash flood - if only for the ease of holding it single handed.

EDIT: As an aside, I have corrected the spelling of the topic title.
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

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ZOCCOZ
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Post by ZOCCOZ » Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:57 pm

If you're caught in the past and have little care for the future generation of soaker users, your value in the present is extremely limited.
Thing is, my mindset is the one of a certain typ of collector. I focus on a certain point of a toy franchise that I personaly like and stick with that. If in the future 1000s of teens in camo outfits and soakertags squirt each other with nerf-typ design soakers, is not my concearn anymore. People might aswell ask me about what my personal support is about paintball or lasertag. If hardcore Tranformers G1 supporters don't support post G1 or G2 TF lines, why should I dedicate myself to Post-Larami/post 2003 Super Soakers?

Does that make me uncaring? Probably. Self absorbed? Most likely. Does it make me limited in usefullness to the Soaker Community? Sure, why not.
But keep in mind, the most recent Water gun Review websites were mostly all done by me, which I think were about 5 websites. And there are 2 others coming up. For a guy who is semi-useless to soakerdom and only realy cares about his own thing, ZOCCOZ sure overarchieved himself. :D

Even in the light of all this artistic discussion, I can't see how this helps us in any way. As Duxburian said, R-rated content on a soaker site does not directly address the problem at hand, and might even distract the younger audiences who are the ones who get sucked in by Hasbro's gimmicks.

Not everything revolves around the soaker comunity. The R-rated content is parody typ material and my personal way to flip off Hasbro's SS department. Its my personal use of entertainment. People can either sit back and enjoy the ride, or click on something else. That forum has 37 Sub-Forums, 35 of which are 450+ posts about soakers just like any other forum. I am sure that people who are not interested in the R-material still get alot to read and post if they realy want to. But hey, they don't. Some of my threads don't have more than 5 clicks. Some of them happen to be very informative and interesting. The most traffic threads happen to be the R-rated threads now. So what would be the use for the community if any? Well, entertainment. People don't want to post or talk, or even click alot on the normal legitimate threads on ZWZ. So its more now a personal playground of irony called WRR. There still will be normal threads and topics, but if people don't show much interest, there is not much i can do. Its their choice. But they can't say they don't like R-Threads since it has no use for them, while ignoring other threads that would have use to them. If they ignore the normal threads, why do they criticise the R-threads then? Just becasue it doesn't revolve around them, doesn't mean I can't post it. If it would revolve around them, they simply would not click on them. So either way, it should not make a difference for the the ones who don't like it. Don't like the R-stuff, then just treat it like a non-R thread and ignore it. ;)

Haha, computer animated nudes. Just what our comminity needs. I would have thought better soakers, but I guess I was wrong. :rolleyes:

Those women are not CG. You should register to take a look at it.


As for the link on isoaker.com, sure, I can remove it. I already did on SM, so one more won't make a difference.
I should also mention that the R-rated stuff will not just be nudity but also brutal comic book violence. I just will take longer to CG render it.
Last edited by ZOCCOZ on Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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isoaker_com
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Post by isoaker_com » Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:50 pm

But keep in mind, the most recent Water gun Review websites were mostly all done by me, which I think were about 5 websites. And there are 2 others coming up. For a guy who is semi-useless to soakerdom and only realy cares about his own thing, ZOCCOZ sure overarchieved himself.

Your creation of multiple websites is actually supportive of your desire to do your own things your preferred way. All your sites could have easily been merged as one, but as you seem to prefer having a cluster, that is your choice. I'll most definitely agree you've definitely added a lot of good information and thoughts to Soakerdom with interesting insights, reviews, etc. However, your current dialogue and forum direction are rather counter-productive, IMO, towards promoting means towards improving things in terms of blaster quality or aspects of water warfare. Instead, it has gone tangential... "if the quality of soakers is diminishing, might as well start posting up R-rated stuff to get other types of people interested?"

Oh well, as I alluded to before, 'tis your choice how/what you build and what aspects you wish to promote. With reviews, homemade/mods, tips and tactics being predominantly discussed, I suppose it was only a matter of time 'til someone decided to go the 'adult-male-oriented' route.

:cool:
:: Leave NO one dry! :: iSoaker.com / iSoaker.net ::

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NiborDude
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Post by NiborDude » Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:08 pm

ZOCCOZ wrote:Those women are not CG. You should register to take a look at it.
I'm 17, therefore I think my presence at your forum is illegal. I'll register in 3 months.
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<span style='color:EEF2F7'>Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes! -Leonardo Da Vinci

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ZOCCOZ
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Post by ZOCCOZ » Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:58 pm

isoaker_com wrote:Your creation of multiple websites is actually supportive of your desire to do your own things your preferred way. All your sites could have easily been merged as one, but as you seem to prefer having a cluster, that is your choice. I'll most definitely agree you've definitely added a lot of good information and thoughts to Soakerdom with interesting insights, reviews, etc. However, your current dialogue and forum direction are rather counter-productive, IMO, towards promoting means towards improving things in terms of blaster quality or aspects of water warfare. Instead, it has gone tangential... "if the quality of soakers is diminishing, might as well start posting up R-rated stuff to get other types of people interested?"

Oh well, as I alluded to before, 'tis your choice how/what you build and what aspects you wish to promote. With reviews, homemade/mods, tips and tactics being predominantly discussed, I suppose it was only a matter of time 'til someone decided to go the 'adult-male-oriented' route.

:cool:

There always is first time for everything.
I don't think that the R-Site will attract "new people" , but mainly just entertain some regular people in "new ways". Like I said, for people who are not that much into that, there are 35 other sub-forums on the R-site that deal with rugular topics. If they don't realy pay much attention to the regular threads, I don't get why they are bothered by the 2 Sub-Forums.

You won't get an argument from me that all of my review sites are first and foremost for my personal entertainment and taste. ;)
Now having said that, just becasue I design those sites mainly for me and not anyone else, doesn't mean that people can't sit back and take part on the entertainment.
My main interest in soakers lies in the past models. Now and then I show interst to unique contemporary models and Homemades, but thats more intelectual than personal. So modding FlashFloods or Blazers, or getting WaterFights military like organized are not my concearn. Best wishes to those who want that, but if its not my interest, its not my interst. And if my statements go against a "unified active suport" to post 2003 water fights, then it is justified since my priorities don't focus on these things. We can't all be on the same page, and it would be extremly boring otherwhise.

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isoaker_com
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Post by isoaker_com » Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:04 am

If they don't realy pay much attention to the regular threads, I don't get why they are bothered by the 2 Sub-Forums.


Based on the MPAA system,
Rated R—RestrictedUnder 17 requires accompanying parent or legal guardian.

Hmm.. looks like Nibordude can technically join, but I digress. One of the main points of the disagreement with some forms of R-rated content is the purpose. Different people have different sets of standards or morals when it comes to what to promote towards different audiences. As the majority of Soakerdom members are younger (probably 12-16), promoting an R-rated content containing website is questionable. Sure, the current forums aren't here to coddle and protect kids from questionable material they may stumble across online. However, there is a distinct difference between them linking through several links and accidentally finding mature-content as opposed to having a member advertising he/she is running an adult-oriented site and tempting others of unverified age to the explore the content contained within. If Soakerdom were primarily made up of 18 and older, the whole R-rated thing would probably be amusing to many and the concerns/complaints about advertising these forums very low.

(Edit in: not wanting to add in another reply, but I have no problems with you opting to run an R-Rated forum. I just question your decision to advertise/promote it in the current set of online forums that are primarily made up of minors.)

Two sub-forums in a bunch may seem small to you, but those two sub-forums are the first two sub-forums ever to be advertised in other Soakerdom communities that contain definite male-oriented R-rated subject matter.

Then again, perhaps all this 'discussion' is only serving to add to the curiousity of others. As such, I'm opting to end my participation in this thread here.

Your site; your choices. I'm removing links from mine.

:cool:
:: Leave NO one dry! :: iSoaker.com / iSoaker.net ::

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ZOCCOZ
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Post by ZOCCOZ » Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:55 am

As the majority of Soakerdom members are younger (probably 12-16), promoting an R-rated content containing website is questionable. Sure, the current forums aren't here to coddle and protect kids from questionable material they may stumble across online. However, there is a distinct difference between them linking through several links and accidentally finding mature-content as opposed to having a member advertising he/she is running an adult-oriented site and tempting others of unverified age to the explore the content contained within.

Then perhaps its time to re-evaluate the relevance of younger viewers. So lets say some pre-teen finds the forum and registers knowing that he/she shouldn't. Tough luck. That kid's opinion doesn't matter. What is questionable is fairly subjective. I understand if forums want to take down my link. I have no problem with that. However, not trying the R-rated angle since some kids might register in a site that is not meant for them in the first place is not reason enough. Its like an R-rated action movie or an M-rated game. Its made for older people, by older people. Kids don't call the shots and have nothing to say in that matter. The R-Forum is not Chucky Cheese by any means, and is fairly experimental. But its definatly not questionable to me. Will it be successfull? I don't know. But since it hasn't been done before, one might aswell can give it a try.

As for this discussion giving the R-Forum alot of promotion, well contraversy is usualy a good selling point. :D

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:16 am

No offense to you or anything, but if I have one problem with the board we're discussing, it's that you were arguing that it is retaliation against bad soakers. In fact, Duxburian already defined the most direct method of retaliating. So in other words, while that forum is none of my business and while I have no problems with it as such, your attitude that it will change the soaker industry is somewhat annoying. Yes, I know you didn't make that great a point of it, but that's what it sounds like you're saying.

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ZOCCOZ
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Post by ZOCCOZ » Wed Jul 05, 2006 2:21 am

SilentGuy wrote:your attitude that it will change the soaker industry is somewhat annoying. Yes, I know you didn't make that great a point of it, but that's what it sounds like you're saying.


I didn't have change in mind with the R theme. Nor did I mention that the R-Forum will change anything. Then why do it? Becasue its fun. Or at least to me. If someone cuts you off in traffic you flip them off, but don't try to change their personality since its not worth the effort. And thats what this situation is. As I mentioned, the soakers of the 90s are over. So soakerdom's future to me is case closed. Like I said, I still pay attention to what is currently sold and the advances in modded soakers and APHs, but I have no psycological connection to those like I did with the 90s soakers or other early waterguns.

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Lucius Octavion
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Post by Lucius Octavion » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:12 pm

That point is precisely correct. I don't think there will ever be another good series of soakers. Now they're practically all gimmicks. What would be good is if they made a return of the CPS series and the XP series.
Guns in possession:

Speed Loader Double Cross 3000, 2 Speed Loader One Thousands, SS XP 110, Splashzooka, used to have more but they were unfixable.

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joannaardway
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Post by joannaardway » Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:40 pm

The CPS series isn't going to return - unless I got and beat some sense into the marketing department of Hasbro.

Half dressed females won't rebel - looking at the images, most of the "soaker babes" aren't even using Hasbro soakers.

Sorry, but there are better ways to rebel.
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

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ZOCCOZ
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Post by ZOCCOZ » Thu Jul 06, 2006 12:05 am

To simply put it, its a Parody. And as previously stated, there is no actual goal in that action other than pocking fun of Hasbro.

Plus I have to admit, I am not quite sure what the "change goal" is for post 2003 Soakerdom. If it is converting oneself or other individuals to K-Modded and APHs only, then that goal is already archieved. Congratulations by the way. ;)

If the goal however is to change the mass market, its not going to happen. Not with the methods used at the moment. To simply put it, we live in a Convinience Society, which is the first thing they will teach you at most Buisness and economy classes. Its the basis of consumerism. The mass soaker users are not "Do it yourselfers". Thats true for any field. Poeple like to pay for service and fast results. They rather pay $20 for a mediocre soaker in retail than paying $30-$40+ with 5-10 hours labor building or modding their own. There is a huge difference between Dedication and Interst. The Builder is dedicated to soakers, while the main mass is just intersted in soakers.

One way that there might be a chance to make APHs and K-Modded soakers mainstream would be having dozens of APH/Modd online stores on the internet. And then promote and comercialize the crap out of it. This might happen sooner or later, or this might not. But at this moment, retail alternatives are just restricted to being a minority.

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NiborDude
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Post by NiborDude » Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:06 am

ZOCCOZ wrote:To simply put it, its a Parody. And as previously stated, there is no actual goal in that action other than pocking fun of Hasbro.
Haha, naked girls pokes fun at Hasbro in so many ways... wait, no it doesn't. :rolleyes:

I think I'm the first when I say the only reason you've gone "R Rated" :eek: is to promote your forum, for like the 3rd or 4th time.
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<span style='color:EEF2F7'>Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes! -Leonardo Da Vinci

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