Gaming Forums – Connecting and Finding Answers
Gaming forums are online discussion groups usually focused around specific topics. In these forums users are able ask questions, share experiences, and discuss topics of common interest.
Forums evolved from the older Message and Bulletin Boards. Back in the dial-up internet days, these Message and Bulletin Boards were used to ask questions and get advice online. Modern forums now have a range of added features that make them even more powerful. These include keyword and category-based searching, topic subscription, automated moderation, spam filtering and much more.
Forums are usually organized around ‘threads’ related to discussion topics. These are further organized by sub-forum and linked to specific categories and tags. This structure assists with the overall searchability and sorting of forum posts.
Forum members visit these threads, adding their comments, replies and up-voting their favorite posts. Users can also subscribe and follow topics that they are interested in and get updates as they are posted. This structure and features make forums a very effective way to interact with groups of people over a specific topic.
These days, people use forums to discuss just about everything online.
As you know video game questions and answers forums and communities have always been a large part of the video game industry. As such, people have come up with some great questions for the use of these very forums. In this blog, we’ll take a look at a number of websites where you can ask gaming-related questions.
Broad Forums and Niche Forum Sites
If you’ve been looking for online video gaming forums, it’s likely you’ve come across 2 distinct types – Broad and Niche.
Broad forums such as Reddit and Quora, are examples of large broad communities. These have vast numbers of subjects (including video games and gaming), and are deliberately subdivided and categorized to make them easy to navigate and search.
Niche forums focus on a limited number of specific subjects, covering a range of topics within these subjects. An example of a niche forum is the League of Legends forum at mobafire.com.
Forums vs Social Media vs Chat Rooms
Gaming Forums facilitate discussion on video game related topics, letting the conversation progress over extended periods of time – sometimes over a number of years. Social Media sites are more focused on trending topics that are shared between connections. While Chat Rooms rely more on immediate, interactive conversation with messages going back forth.
Types of Video Gaming Forums
There are 5 basic types of forums. So, it’s important to consider both the forum’s main purpose as well as the audience’s need when selecting the most appropriate forum.
- Discussion Forums – these are the most common and traditional types of forums. After a discussion thread is started, forum members can add comments and replies to keep the conversation going. Members wanting to stay updated on the conversation can also subscribe to topic feeds.
- Feedback Forums – these are focused around gathering opinions. Feedback Forums are great to engage a community to gather feedback on new and existing products or services. These forums are even more effective when members are able to participate in polls, upvote posts, “like” comments and “push” popular responses to the top of a thread.
- Article Forums – these forums aim to provide a store (or knowledgebase) of information. They normally include powerful sorting and search capabilities that help with finding information. Examples include the posting of how-to articles, videos and images, announcements, white papers and more.
- Question (Q&A) Forums – these forums open a new topic thread with a user posting a question. Users are then able to add replies and comments to both game questions and answers. Responses can be upvoted pushing them to the top of the feed. The original question author can also mark a reply as an accepted ‘verified answer’ indicating to others that it satisfied the question. This type of forum aims to make it as easy as possible to find the best answer to a question.
- Combination Forums – these forums are a combination of the above types. An example is a combination of the Q&A and traditional Discussion Forums – like Reddit or Quora.
Top 4 Reasons to Visit Gaming Forums and Communities
There are many good reasons to use Game and Gaming Forums – here are our top 4.
1. Interact, make connections and friends – Gaming forums provide a great way to connect with your fellow gamers on specific subjects and topics. They have traditionally been a good place to meet new, like-minded people and then continue to develop these relationships.
2. Get help on specific issues – one of the main reasons gamers visit gaming forums is to get answers to their most pressing questions. Players can post specific questions (with supporting media and attachments) and get help from forum members.
3. Share experiences, gameplay tactics and improve skills – gaming forums can also act as knowledgebases for other gamers to share experiences, improve their skills and overall gameplay. For example, open-world games like Just Cause, GTA, or Red Dead Redemption 2 have easter eggs and hidden missions. Sharing these discovery experiences can help new gamers improve their gaming experience.
4. Build community, profile and trust – forums are a great way to build a sense of community, cultivating interest in particular subjects and topics. Active community members have the opportunity to share and help fellow gamers, and in so doing build trust and raise their profile in the community.
Final Words
We hope you enjoyed our article about Video Game Questions and Answers Forums and Communities. This can be a great way to learn new strategies and tips and tricks while playing your favorite games, as well as learning what others think of your favorite games, too. Gaming forums provide an awesome and effective channel for gamers to interact, connect and make new friends. Through these conversations, players can get answers to their burning questions, share experiences and improve their overall gameplay skills. There’s no doubt that gaming forums continue to play an important role in both supporting and building the game community. With new hybrid forum approaches emerging, this trend is only set to continue for the foreseeable future.