Well I wanted to give some feedback about the site. Hopefully my post doesn't come across as too critical. I'm just going to state my opinion and take it for what it is.
1. There are too many subforums, and/or the subforums don't mingle enough. This creates little silos on the site where in a particular subforum only a couple posters are active along with an occasional random. There isn't enough activity in all the various sub forums to keep a discussion going.
The "feed" is a step in the right direction but IMO what is needed is a forum-wide "newest posts" section. That way active users can view active threads that might not be in sections they frequent. I occasionally click on a subforum I do not usually go to, and will see a well-thought-out thread from a new user, and it has 0 replies. This drives new users away from the site when they don't get engagement, and I think it is mainly just lack of visibility of posts when people post in sub forums that aren't active.
2. I gave the new format a fair shot but it is basically a step in the wrong direction IMO. Maybe it has some value for the owners with built-in analytics but the user experience is subpar for some of the following reasons:
3. Private messaging/direct messaging is seemingly unavailable on the new site? This seems like pretty basic functionality that people expect going into 2025.
4. Being able to scroll through responses while typing a reply is not available in the new format? On a poker forum where you're often replying about poker hands, it's necessary to be able to look back at stack sizes, suits on the board, etc. while you're responding on your phone.
5. New and old twoplustwo don't integrate seamlessly. Like I will see a post that shows up in one and not the other.
6 (probably should be #1). The vibe just needs to be friendlier and more open and accepting of other opinions.
I saw a discussion from rickroll in the NVG moderation forum about how active users with dissenting (often political) opinions are banned, even when they are not being hateful, spamming or doing anything else that should result in a ban. Over time that has affected growth/maintenance of the forums.
There's this weird process that occurs on this site where certain people post, and it's like "the authority has spoken, end of discussion." I've probably been guilty of this too in some of the strategy threads, where I post a solver screen shot trying to be helpful but maybe it makes people hesitate to post their opinions.
I know I've avoided posting in the politics, philosophy and similar forums out of fear of pissing off a mod, or just because I see someone threatened with a ban for posting something that doesn't seem too outrageous, even if I don't agree with it.
Anyway this post has gotten long enough, but good luck with the future of the site. It would be nice to see twoplustwo resurrected as it has a history of being the home for some very high level poker discussion.
Edit: Oh yeah, one other thing. I forgot to mention that the notifications on the new site don't link back to the threads. So you will get a notification that someone responded to your post, but you can't just click the notification to read what they wrote.
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Thank you for your detailed response. It helps a lot.
The "feed" is a step in the right direction, but in my opinion, what is needed is a forum-wide "newest posts" section.
This feature is present, but it needs improvement.
Private messaging/direct messaging is seemingly unavailable on the new site. This seems like pretty basic functionality that people expect going into 2025.
Some of the features are absent but are actively being developed. Private messaging was added a day ago. Currently, there is no sync between private messages on the old and new forum. If you send a private message on the new forum, a user on the old forum will not see it.
Is being able to scroll through responses while typing a reply not available in the new format?
It will be fixed tomorrow. It has already been fixed on the mobile version. If you try it from your phone, it's possible to scroll while typing a reply.
New and old TwoPlusTwo don't integrate seamlessly. For example, I will see a post that shows up in one and not the other.
It is by design that threads that are created on the new forum aren't available on the old forum. Only links that lead to the new forum are available. Other than that, it should work. Maybe there are some bugs, but they will be fixed soon.
Also, I've only imported a subset of posts into the new forum. Posts prior to 1 year ago aren't available on the new forum.
6. These issues will be tackled. I have ideas.
