Some very small suggestions to make these forums a bit better:
1. Sigs or Avatars - Dont care if we do not have this, but I do think it makes the forums a bit more lively and people are allowed to express themselves.
1a. You can add rules such as:
Avatars -
Must be 100 x 100 pixels or smaller
Must have a file size no larger than 85kb
Must be suitable for all users [No obscene, eye-stressing, or offensive content]
Signatures -
Images as a group must be no larger than 500 x 150 pixels
Images as a group must have a file size no larger than 160kb
Must be suitable for all users [No obscene, eye-stressing, or offensive content]
Must be 500 characters or less
2. Personal Message System - Yes we do have the pm system in-game, but a pm system between active forum users could be useful.
3. Forum Rating - Topic Ratings and Forum poster ratings - Why?
Topic Ratings - Can be shown by stars (0 to 5) shows how active the topic is - you dont really need it just an extra for those who wish not to view the # of views
Forum Poster Rating - For those trolls etc. this is great since it should help people think before they post, and if these forums do gain active moderators this helps them keep an eye on the members easier (since most systems will send the negative rating with a link to the post, so the admin/mod can just click the link read the negative post, and take action if needed) You may say, well how about if people start giving others negative ratings for good posts, well then the admin/mod could refer the member to the rules and make them re-read them.
4. Off-Topic Section (Does not need to make post count high) *I know we do not have post count, but I am under the assumption its hidden in the admin controls* - Off-topic area were forum users can talk about anything appropriate such as sports, music, tv-shows etc.
5. Guild - Sub-category - Looking for a guild - players can put themselves on the market to find a new guild.
Thats all for now =)
The forums will probably get a change-up soon.
But in the meantime, I will comment on a few things.
User and topic ratings, are bad. Every implementation of such a feature has and will always be, bad.
If you've ever been to the League of Legends forums before, they have post ratings, which are equally stupid.
Reading something you don't like isn't mandatory and all they need is a report post button for mods to take care of it, if it is offensive.
Signatures are stupid, I hate seeing them everywhere.
If they include them, they should also include the option for me to completely hide them from entering my peripheral vision.
Also, those rules there sound like they were made for a game you can play on a dial-up connection.
If they do end up including them, you can be sure they will be quite a bit more generous with their size allowances.
And I would prefer to just see the Guild Recruitment forum stay the way it is. Guild pages where players discern for themselves what guild to join.
Looking for Guild forums are just spamfests, utilised by viral guilds in order to gain some kind of advantage out of large userbases/new players.
The PM feature would be nice though.