MuppetFans.com: A New Era in Muppet Fandom

beakerboy12

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Boo... yah! This is just going to be the best year for Muppet fandom!
 

Slackbot

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Um...

Nice-looking site, but what does it add to the community? To me it looks like familiar articles, links, and artwork in different packaging.

Some years ago I got together with the owners of three other ReBoot websites--all four of the "big dawgs" of the fandom--and created "The ReBoot Fansite," designed to replace all four. On the live date we set all of our websites to redirect to that domain. The live date was April 1.
 

Mr Snrub

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This. Is. EPIC! (Kermit smiley x3)
This. Is. SPARTA!:eek::eek::eek:
No, but seriously, here's to an awesome site that combines the awesomeness of two awesome separate sites into one awesome-tastic, Muppet-tacular, hub of Muppet geekdom.
 

dwmckim

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Well, Dave's Muppet portraits of the five of you is fun to look at, but other than that...well - i'm speechless.

Not that i'm at a loss for words but rather i don't know just what it is i'm supposed to say. I'm just not "getting" the idea or seeing the point or purpose.

When one creates a website, there are three basic essential questions they should ask to ensure it's worthwhile:

1) What is the (specific) purpose?
2) Does it fill a niche that's not otherwise being met?
3) Who is it for? (and "Muppet fans" isn't a specific enough answer as i'll elaborate on)

It sure doesn't seem to be filling a niche. I don't see what it would be doing that the other websites that are presenting it doesn't. To that end, is it designed to be a portal? A one-stop shop that you can get all the content of Tough Pigs, Muppet Mindset, and Muppetcast in one click rather than visiting the seperate sites? Looking at #3, who's going to do that? Of those who check the sponsor sites regularly, are they going to actually just check the one site now as opposed to visiting the others or would the very people who might be expected to check out the site now regularly look at FOUR different sites each day rather than three expecting there to be stuff on the original sites not on the new one? Maybe that might be better for the more casual fan that doesn't check Muppet sites on a regular basis but the people who tend to frequent such sites usually are devoted regular customers.

Muppet Mindset definately filled a spot that wasn't fully being met when it debuted. This new site however, just seems ill-defined, unnecessary, and to be quite honest it comes across as the five people behind it giving themselves a public pat on the back and nothing else. (I'm not saying that's the intent but that's how it comes across). It almost seems that by highlighting those sites it almost sets up a little bit of a webmaster clique saying THESE are the Muppet Fans and anything else that might be out there (i.e. muppetcentral) is not.

It just comes across as an ego project. I hope that's not really the case as i respect and generally trust the judgement of the five people involved. Please know i'm offering this criticism as a friend so you can know how it's coming across on the viewers' end and if there's some more clear goal or niche you have in mind, maybe it should be better stated with the unveil. Any site that has a good answer to the above three questions has my full support but right now, i have no idea at all what i'd be supporting.

I wish you the best of luck in whatever you're trying to do. I just don't quite understand what it is you *are* trying to do and i'm not even all that sure if the people putting it together actually fully thought that out themselves.
 

dwayne1115

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I think that if it had a Forum then maybe it would be a little more interesting. I like the site, but I know where to find all these things except for some of the art work.
 

dwmckim

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I think that if it had a Forum then maybe it would be a little more interesting. I like the site, but I know where to find all these things except for some of the art work.
And if it had a forum, then that screws the pooch all the more. MC and TP already have active forums. So if the new site added a forum, then that would end up being an unneeded overkill with fans now feeling they have to access and keep up with THREE of 'em instead of two! (And depeding on what kind of set-up they use, people like me who can't access Delphi forums or other webtv unfriendly formats end up left out and excluded yet again.)

I've already lived through all the divisiveness that occured between the TP and MC forums (with wounds that still remain not fully heeled a decade later). I'd really just throw up my hands in despair to see something else come along and drudge that whole kind of thing up again after all this time in such an important year when new fans will be discovering the community. I can very easily see this becoming an unintended thing that further divides fans instead of uniting them.
 

dwayne1115

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Well i think that the main reason why sites like this and the mindset where made was for people to be able to add content for the fans. Because for whatever reason you can't do that on this site. I think that has been a huge complaint of a lot of members here for some time, and thats why people like Ryan (Mindset) branch out.

I have said this before MC has a lot of potintal of being the best Muppet fan site out there, it once use to be. I think this site is good, and I have supported both Ryan and Steve who have both talked to me about it, but now that it is up I think it's going to make things a little confusing to new fans.

I have been saying for about a month now that I feel that soon before the movie comes out this site is going to have a huge growth. And I just want us on here the veterans of MC to be ready for that. Thses new fans need a place where they can find like minded Muppet fans. That will be here with open arms ready to help them grow there fandom to places they have never dreamed.
 
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