Yet another fee-based forum/news site starting up

Confused by the name switch. Basically, this is the 247sports Nebraska board.

I'm interested in knowing everyone's thoughts about them, in relation to us. Rivals is definitely running scared. 247 dealt them a blow by stealing some of the staff at Rivals, as well as making off with the HuskersIllustrated brand. The site looks very sharp.

 
zoogies said:
Confused by the name switch. Basically, this is the 247sports Nebraska board.

I'm interested in knowing everyone's thoughts about them, in relation to us. Rivals is definitely running scared. 247 dealt them a blow by stealing some of the staff at Rivals, as well as making off with the HuskersIllustrated brand. The site looks very sharp.
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I love there is more competition for the fee-based message board market. Let them piss and fight over members and as knapplc said people will rush straight to our board and post the information.

In the end, it means more cool Husker info coming out that pour members can discuss.

I'm curious where this leaves sean Callahan? Good guy ...loves the Huskers and caught in this. Not that I care but whatever.

 
I'm curious what the members think, we have had so many sites come and go in the past that i don't think people look twice.

I replied to a message in the football forum. I'm looking forward to comments.

Now there are three paid sites i think. Scout, Rivals, 247

 
Perhaps I'm wrong (there's a first time for everything) but for all intents and purposes all you really get with that $107/year is recruting news and some additional columnists/news articles that are exclusive to that site, no? And wouldn't most of that information - in one form or another - eventually come through other sources? I don't see HuskerBoard as an attempt to be a definitive, up-to-the-moment news source; we're designed to discuss the news. While that site also offers that option, a thriving board is based on community and content. Will they be tolerant of divergent views? Will they enforce policies that promote debate rather than flames? I don't know the answer, but without that it can get tedious as to the board side of things.

I can see us easily co-existing with the pay sites - I have always thought of them as places to go if you just have to have up-to-the-minute info, while we're the place folks feel comfortable talking about that info. We're kind of the "Cheers" site, as opposed to the news site.

 
AR Husker Fan said:
Perhaps I'm wrong (there's a first time for everything) but for all intents and purposes all you really get with that $107/year is recruting news and some additional columnists/news articles that are exclusive to that site, no? And wouldn't most of that information - in one form or another - eventually come through other sources? I don't see HuskerBoard as an attempt to be a definitive, up-to-the-moment news source; we're designed to discuss the news. While that site also offers that option, a thriving board is based on community and content. Will they be tolerant of divergent views? Will they enforce policies that promote debate rather than flames? I don't know the answer, but without that it can get tedious as to the board side of things.

I can see us easily co-existing with the pay sites - I have always thought of them as places to go if you just have to have up-to-the-minute info, while we're the place folks feel comfortable talking about that info. We're kind of the "Cheers" site, as opposed to the news site.
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They go to those boards for happy hour and then ours for the main course and dessert.

 
AR Husker Fan said:
Perhaps I'm wrong (there's a first time for everything) but for all intents and purposes all you really get with that $107/year is recruting news and some additional columnists/news articles that are exclusive to that site, no? And wouldn't most of that information - in one form or another - eventually come through other sources? I don't see HuskerBoard as an attempt to be a definitive, up-to-the-moment news source; we're designed to discuss the news. While that site also offers that option, a thriving board is based on community and content. Will they be tolerant of divergent views? Will they enforce policies that promote debate rather than flames? I don't know the answer, but without that it can get tedious as to the board side of things.

I can see us easily co-existing with the pay sites - I have always thought of them as places to go if you just have to have up-to-the-minute info, while we're the place folks feel comfortable talking about that info. We're kind of the "Cheers" site, as opposed to the news site.
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This is a good point. We're not in direct competition with them as a news source, but on the other hand, we are competing with them as a message board community.

One of the advantages we have enjoyed in the past - in my opinion - is that Rivals and Scout have sh**ty boards software. Not going to mince words, it is really bad, and really archaic. Scout - you need to be logged in just to read any posts, even on the free board. Rivals doesn't have BBcode. I don't think either has PMs, etc.

Additionally, Rivals has a very odd community that will turn a lot of people off. Some posters there provide great information on the free board. But the same guys will also rip people apart with the most colorful insults, the kind of stuff you would never see tolerated here. Of the established posters, half love them, and half are always getting berated by them for arguing. Add this messed up, unnecessarily volatile community dynamic to piss-poor aesthetics and heavy-handed moderation...I can see why some of their posters have migrated to 247.

The new HI has none of those, and they are really building a good community there, in my opinion. The catch is that some of the posts and threads in the forum (no free/pay- boards separation) are marked VIP and only accessible if you pay. But the staff writers are visible in a big way on the board even outside of VIP posts, and putting a lot of effort into maintaining a friendly and professional image...to the point where people almost wouldn't mind paying them.

It's the same reason people paid for the old HI, I guess. Not for information, which you could get on the free board as well, but for the writers like Callahan and the Babcocks, and the articles they write. In the old HI, the writers were somewhat of a mystery and did not post much on the free board, which is dominated by a couple of colorful insider personalities. You'd have posts every now and then from some members propping up the quality of the writers, but at 247, they're right there responding to everyone's posts. I think 247 is tackling this thing aggressively on all fronts and is going to be wildly successful.

A thread like this is an example of what I'm talking about.

 
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