Do people still use this site regularly?

[Bongosun]

Because I just joined earlier today, and I have to say, its a great idea, and I'm loving it. Always thought Skyrim needed a leaderboard system, and even with the threat of people exploiting, the legitimacy system works great to keep it in order. I'd hate to see the site dwindle though, as I notice its quite old...

[Tom]

Hey Bongosun,

Welcome to The Elder Stats.

The site has never been particularly active unfortunately, but we do seem to get a few new characters created each day, and anywhere from five to ten character profiles are updated each day. These are small numbers for sure, especially compared to what I had originally thought this site would achieve when I first launched it back in 2009, but at least it's not completely dead. The forums, however, are basically dead. We used to have other subforums open for discussing The Elder Scrolls games, as well as a Lounge subforum for any and all kinds of general chat, but the forums were getting so stagnant that I had decided to hide all subforums not relating to the discussion of the website (to keep the forums from looking even more dead than they already do). So, for now, the forums are just for discussing and leaving feedback about The Elder Stats site, as well as a place where we can post announcements every so often about changes and updates on the site.

I have always tried to increase the activity here, but I've never really been quite successful. This site did not allow submission of Skyrim characters until August of last year, and after the addition of support for Skyrim characters, I redesigned and recoded the site completely from the ground up — which is the site that you see today. Before last August, it looked much older, and hadn't really seen too many updates since its launch in February 2009. So, while the site may seem old in terms of user activity levels, I hope that it appears more modern in its design and functionality.

I love this site, and it's still my favorite of all the sites I've developed so far, but it just seems that trying to make it truly as active as I think it deserves to be is a battle that simply cannot be won. I think it would definitely help the overall activity of the site if the forums had a decent amount of active users who posted often, which would keep people visiting the site and maybe get a sense of community going on around here. But with the forum being as dead as it is, that's not likely anytime soon.

Anyway, I shouldn't rant on about it. It's just really disappointing to put so much effort into something and have it kind of fall flat on its stomach. But, for the few people who do use it, at least they're able to enjoy my work.

Thanks for coming by the forums, and I hope The Elder Stats continues to serve you well!

[Bongosun]

Ah, okay, I'll be sure to tell my friends about this. They'll love it.

P.S. So I assume you'll keep it running then?

[Alarra]

I do, and I certainly enjoy updating my characters. I've shared this site with quite a few people, though unfortunately not many of them seem to use it, aside from maybe adding their character once and not updating it again.

Are you going to add the ability to add Online characters when it comes out, Tom? I know that's a lot of work, but perhaps part of the reason it's not getting much activity now is because Oblivion and Skyrim have been out for quite a while and people aren't playing them as much (and not having Skyrim characters for almost a year after its release might have contributed too).

Either way, I've been enjoying using this site and hope it sticks around.

[Tom]

Are you going to add the ability to add Online characters when it comes out, Tom? I know that's a lot of work, but perhaps part of the reason it's not getting much activity now is because Oblivion and Skyrim have been out for quite a while and people aren't playing them as much (and not having Skyrim characters for almost a year after its release might have contributed too).

I think you have a good point there. Waiting all that time to release the Skyrim character update to the site definitely had its consequences. Had I gotten to it right after the game had been released, I think this site would have gathered in a lot more people who were high on the excitement of the new release. I wish I had been able to spare the time at that time to get the site updated then.

As for Elder Scrolls Online, I am under the assumption that Bethesda will have its own Elder Stats-style site for characters in the game. Seeing as "online" is the operative word here, they'll have all of the data for every character ever created in the game readily available on their servers, something which they have never had for any of the previous single player-only Elder Scrolls installments. This leads me to believe that, since they'll have all of the data for every character at their fingertips, they will decide to build some sort of system similar to The Elder stats — although possibly not quite as awesome — to showcase every player's characters and stats without the players needing to update anything manually, as this site requires them to do.

[baratron]

I update my character/s quite regularly - either in terms of Skills/Stats or Photos or Journal. I just forget that the Forum exists until I want something .

[C0RteZ48]

I think this site is still great. I'm sorry for reading now how you think about this site Tom. As I may quote: 'Anyway, I shouldn't rant on about it. It's just really disappointing to put so much effort into something and have it kind of fall flat on its stomach. But, for the few people who do use it, at least they're able to enjoy my work.'
Think about all the experience you've got over the years! Popularity has nothing to do with being great!

However, if you ask my opion about the site not being 'famous' enough, I think it has to do primarily with advertising/sponsoring.
I stumbled upon this site two years ago, via googleing I believe. I remember being really happy it at the time. Still, one has to be particulary precise to stumble upon the site.. in MY opinion. Think about advertising via UESP Tom, maybe another great Elder Scrolls-wiki!
It's never too late, doing so. I hope it will be a battle you might still win.
Anyway, if you don't succeed.. who cares anyway Tom! As long as you had fun, did some XP and do what you like!

[C0RteZ48]

Also, another one last piece of advise.. about the site not being 'renowned' enough; I recommand not putting too much effort getting individuals to this site. Like I said, try to sponsor it or something. Try some links, advertising maybe. It could be Skyrim is not that popular anymore. Let people come and visit this site, not the other way.

Sorry for my bad English... I'm not American/British. I always like some feedback for my English grammar though.

[Zero_PS3]

Get this sites link added to the nexus...make a youtube video explaining what this site is about...go on the official forums and spread the word...etc...

I enjoy this website and I would hate to see it shut down...I would love for an update to legendary...could be a reason few people use this site regularly...it is incomplete in terms of being able to keep track of everything.

[Tom]

Get this sites link added to the nexus...make a youtube video explaining what this site is about...go on the official forums and spread the word...etc...

I enjoy this website and I would hate to see it shut down...I would love for an update to legendary...could be a reason few people use this site regularly...it is incomplete in terms of being able to keep track of everything.

I've tried posting on the Nexus Forums before, but the problem is — even if you get approval from a moderator to post a link to your site so that it's not considered "spam" — people can easily ignore it, and it soon gets buried by newer threads in the forum. I would love to post on the Official Forums, but I fear that it would most certainly be met as spam over there. Getting publicity is a tough challenge, especially if you go the forum-posting route (although that's the easiest route to take). Having a YouTube video is definitely a nice idea, but I wonder how we would get it out there so that people actually see it. I feel as though the people who would see it would be more inclined to try out The Elder Stats after watching a video, as opposed to reading a description of the site on some forum, but again, I don't quite know how we would publicize the video itself.

You're definitely right that the site has fallen behind in terms of supporting recent — and not-so-recent — updates to Skyrim. I'd like to change that, but my schedule always seems to be the unfortunate roadblock here. It's no excuse, but I hope that soon that will change a bit. In the meantime, I fear that the site will continue to be what it has been, and hopefully people will still decide to use it regardless. But I firmly believe that marketing and publicity are the site's biggest roadblocks to success right now, and that's a tougher problem to solve without a budget.

As always, thanks for the suggestions. I'm glad you enjoy the site, and I hope you continue to do so.