**IMPORTANT SITE CHANGES** Please Read

[xela]

So a few months ago I promised we would have some big updates to the forums, and here they are! I'm really excited to reveal them, as everything has been in the works for a while now. (This is being posted in PCF for now, and will be moved later).

A Name Change!
When I created this forum, it was supposed to just be an add-on to my business. It immediately exploded into being a hub for playing card chat, so I ran with it. Since then, I decided to pursue other career goals that don't involve being a deck producer. However, cards, as well as this community, remain very near and dear to me.

Still, the biggest issue I had with this place was that the name made ZERO sense! Aether Cards doesn't work in the context of a forum. "The Discourse" does nothing to reveal the content of the site. AetherCards.com/Discourse works well when it's a company forum, but as as standalone site it's just silly.

Over the next month or two, we will be moving to PlayingCardForum.com

A generic, yet simple name that gets the job done.

AetherCards.com will CONTINUE to work just as it always does, but the primary domain will be playingcardforum.com. If you want to update your bookmarks now, feel free to do so, as the redirect is already up and running.

What does this mean for the site?
An increase in traffic because we will be indexed by search engines with far more ease. Also, people typing "playing card forum" into Google will no longer need to click on sites about poker and casinos.

It also means some visual changes, most notably to the logo.

This change will not affect our content in any way.

Lastly, we will finally have an abbreviation to use for the site. "AC" is weird, "The Discourse" takes too long to type, but "PCF" is short and rolls off the tongue.



Content changes unrelated to this are:

- The release of the Deck Battles board headed by John.
- More promotions assuming activity continues to pick up at this rate
- The release of a "premium" board, hidden to everyone that doesn't unlock it. Here we can have discussions related to anything, without any worries about who will see what. Wanted to proclaim your undying love to another forum member? Wanted to trash someone who scammed you? Wanted to reveal juicy information about upcoming releases that you were told not to share? This board will be the place for that!

These are listed in chronological order.

That's it folks, thanks for tuning in.

Let me know what you guys think about this, of course, as well as any other site suggestions you have.

[KPopFever605]

My feelings about the domain change is okay. I'm not overly excited about it nor do I shun it. What I liked about having a forum named "The Discourse" was the fact that it was unique. With a new name, such as "Playing Card Forums", it sounds too generic and just plain. With that being said, I do see the motivation behind the change. However, may I recommend that you change the name to something with a little bit more "shine"? I liked name behind "The United Cardists" because it was unique, but still pertained to the topic. Do you think you could think of something like that?

P.S. - I'm loving the idea behind premium boards!

[xela]

My feelings about the domain change is okay. I'm not overly excited about it nor do I shun it. What I liked about having a forum named "The Discourse" was the fact that it was unique. With a new name, such as "Playing Card Forums", it sounds too generic and just plain. With that being said, I do see the motivation behind the change. However, may I recommend that you change the name to something with a little bit more "shine"? I liked name behind "The United Cardists" because it was unique, but still pertained to the topic. Do you think you could think of something like that?

P.S. - I'm loving the idea behind premium boards!

Well, the Discourse would remain in the logo, because it's an awesome name for a forum. It just has nothing to do with anything.

The issue with unique names is that they aren't very good at picking up traffic. If you recall, old UC died pretty quickly once card news moved to Facebook and the Decknique users moved on with their lives. Sure, the staff there ditching it was the nail in the coffin, but it's not what did it in. I've left this site to its own devices for weeks/months at a time and it remained the same. Even now I only do minor content updates, some moderation, and some off topic posting.

As for new UC, the activity was almost fully oriented around the old site. If I close this place down and one of you guys open Discourse 2.0, that place will be hoppin' for a few months as well.

I really hope this name change will add to the longevity of the site. Forums tend to die off after the first year. We're halfway into our second year and still packing a huge punch. I want to keep this momentum going.

Just keep in mind, you can still use the same URLs you do, the content won't chance, and even the logo will be only a minor modification.

[Paul Carpenter]

I think you've made an excellent decision that makes sense in many ways. Google will
Probably latch onto the new domain name with far more ease and it will make sense to the people new to the hobby.

Thanks for the great forum Alex.

[Don Boyer]

My feelings about the domain change is okay. I'm not overly excited about it nor do I shun it. What I liked about having a forum named "The Discourse" was the fact that it was unique. With a new name, such as "Playing Card Forums", it sounds too generic and just plain. With that being said, I do see the motivation behind the change. However, may I recommend that you change the name to something with a little bit more "shine"? I liked name behind "The United Cardists" because it was unique, but still pertained to the topic. Do you think you could think of something like that?

The "name" can be anything - but keeping a simple URL makes absolute perfect sense, for all the reasons Paul mentioned.

Say, Alex - you mentioned that we'd pop up in searches near sites devoted to poker/casinos/etc.  We should make a concentrated effort to get some of those people interested in coming here, and not just the playing card fanatics we have already.  I'd suggest actively recruiting someone who knows their way around a poker table and putting them in charge of a new forum devoted to Poker, including professional casino games/tournaments, neighborhood beer-n-pretzels nights, and perhaps even underground games...  I'm knowledgeable about the beer-n-pretzel night games, but the rest would be beyond my purview.  (The one time I played in a casino I got devoured and lost nearly $100 in maybe five hands...)

[xela]

Expanding into Poker would be awesome and even leaves room to make revenue to support the costs of running this place. Issue is that I don't have any online connections to Poker enthusiasts who are looking for a fresh forum. If anyone knows anyone, let me know!

[Paul.Middleton]

Google actually doesn't value the name of a website URL as much as it used to be to be honest. Mainly to prevent spammy sites from ranking immediately.

As much as I can see the benefits and motivation behind the change I don't think it's needed, the quality of the forum and content are much important that the domain name these days - besides you're already ranked number 2 for 'playing card forum' (see below). I checked this on a fresh and unused browser so there was no personal browsing history which tailored it. The Meta title you have in place "The Discourse - A Forum For Playing Cards" is actually perfect and the only thing you would need to do is maybe change it to "The Discourse Forum - Playing Cards Discussion" and you'd achieve the same job.

Anyway - I appreciate you've already got this in motion, but I just thought i'd give my two pence!


photo storage

[Pacis]

Great changes, Alex! Congrats!

I can confirm what JP said. I just searched in a mobile phone, and it shows our forum right there.

[Magic_Orthodoxy]

Sounds Great! Can't wait!

[RandyButterfield]

Expanding into Poker would be awesome and even leaves room to make revenue to support the costs of running this place. Issue is that I don't have any online connections to Poker enthusiasts who are looking for a fresh forum. If anyone knows anyone, let me know!

Before the original ORNATES launched I lurked around a popular Poker Forum for a while (http://www.chiptalk.net/). I realized pretty quickly that most of the members didn't care at all about USPCC Decks, or any paper Decks for that matter! They seem to be very close-minded about only using Plastic Decks.

I think getting hardcore Poker players over here could be a hard sell. It would be cool though, since a lot of Decks are coming out with matching custom Poker Chips lately! Maybe a separate thread for Poker Chips would slowly bring some over?

thanks, Randy

[xela]

Expanding into Poker would be awesome and even leaves room to make revenue to support the costs of running this place. Issue is that I don't have any online connections to Poker enthusiasts who are looking for a fresh forum. If anyone knows anyone, let me know!

Before the original ORNATES launched I lurked around a popular Poker Forum for a while (http://www.chiptalk.net/). I realized pretty quickly that most of the members didn't care at all about USPCC Decks, or any paper Decks for that matter! They seem to be very close-minded about only using Plastic Decks.

I think getting hardcore Poker players over here could be a hard sell. It would be cool though, since a lot of Decks are coming out with matching custom Poker Chips lately! Maybe a separate thread for Poker Chips would slowly bring some over?

thanks, Randy

I don't know enough about Poker chips to start said thread myself, want to give it a go? I think bringing in Poker players could do a lot to not only increase traffic and broaden our userbase, it's an untapped market for custom decks.

As for the Google ranking, #2 isn't good enough either. The change in URL is more to make more sense when someone looks at it in a search engine or a link from another site. As of now, nobody in buttfuckville has a clue what "AetherCards" is and outside the context of running a business, they're right, it's a really weird name.

Content of course trumps all, but in a forum environment that's decided by you guys.

[Don Boyer]

Expanding into Poker would be awesome and even leaves room to make revenue to support the costs of running this place. Issue is that I don't have any online connections to Poker enthusiasts who are looking for a fresh forum. If anyone knows anyone, let me know!

Before the original ORNATES launched I lurked around a popular Poker Forum for a while (http://www.chiptalk.net/). I realized pretty quickly that most of the members didn't care at all about USPCC Decks, or any paper Decks for that matter! They seem to be very close-minded about only using Plastic Decks.

I think getting hardcore Poker players over here could be a hard sell. It would be cool though, since a lot of Decks are coming out with matching custom Poker Chips lately! Maybe a separate thread for Poker Chips would slowly bring some over?

thanks, Randy

I know - hardcore poker players, particularly those involved in playing Texas Hold Em, are diehard fan of plastic, bridge-sized decks.  Even if you don't attract many hardcore players, neighborhood players would be interested in custom decks - it's what got me into this hobby in the first place!  I was looking for unique decks for poker after seeing a PokerStars ad with a black deck, and one Google search later I stumbled upon Ellusionist...