RCC's slow demise?

[MrBlank]

Hey, I've been a member for a year (as of later this month) after picking up my first scale crawler as a gift for myself last Christmas.

I spent at least 6 months prior to that looking around the site and absorbing as much as I could as I looked for deals (online and at LHS's) and tried to make a decision as to what I would buy.

Now I'm sure the forum has had highs and lows over the years, and there must be certain times of the year that tend to be busier than others. I do however feel that participation is down, especially coming from newer members, in popular boards such as the newbie section and other "general" areas.

The issues that I feel contributed are/were:

Photobucket (likely left a lot of people feeling like most of their search results were nothing but missing images)

Lack of forum owner participation

Facebook, etc. taking members and some vendors away

I can't be the only one who feels this way! I know I haven't been in the game that long, but with the considerably mainstream TRX4 and all of the other new rigs currently available, scale crawler popularity appears to be at an all time high - and RCC should be busier.

I went to join SoCrawl.com (an Ontario, Canada RC crawler message board) earlier this year, but quickly realized that there appeared to be less than 10 posts from 2017 board wide - as in the site is essentially dead.

Hoping RCC won't suffer the same fate.

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[youngblood]

Facebook is a big part of the reason but most of it lands squarely on the two owner's backs. This place really was awesome up until about two or three years ago. The owners want you to think its all FBs fault but there are plenty of RC forums that still flourish.

Sell this place already. You clearly don't give a F about it.

[MrBlank]

I honestly don't know that much about the profitability of forums such as this one. I had always assumed that owners kept them going mostly because they cared about the subject matter, not because they made money or paid a living wage.

If they are no longer involved on a personal level, why not sell? Especially considering the declining active user base, won't any profitability be inevitably lost as paid users fail to join / renew, and vendors and banner advertisers eventually pull out?

[TooOldForThis]

If you listen to Cubby over at BigSquidRC, the hobby is generally in a decline. He blogs about it all the time. I'm not saying it's related to the participation on this particular site, but it still makes me wonder how to get more people interested in the hobby. Is it even possible? I could be completely off-base, but I wonder if R/C just can't compete with cell phones when it comes to getting kids' attention and drawing them into the hobby.

[59sled]

Been on here for 10 years.

To me the biggest issue is that everything is store bought now. Why post or even look at threads of scale rigs, when all scale rigs pretty much look the same with everyone just putting on the same store bought scale stuff.

7 to 10 years ago you had to scratch make everything. So it was a little more involved looking at threads for the next scale secret or how someone made something for that particular rig.

Long gone are the days going through hardware stores or craft stores looking for something that might work for making something scale i.e. ice chest, bumpers, seats.
Heck, for rims and bumpers we were taking them off other RC kits and modifying them to work. My only 2 trucks left are still on Stampede transmissions, TLT axles, Slash driveshafts, traxxas steering links for a 4 link set up. Tamiya F350 and Clod body. See what i mean. Everything had to be do by scratch.
Now I can go buy a RC4WD kit and be done.

Yes there are a few guys still scratch building stuff. But not many, when its easier to just go buy it.

Hence why do i want to post or view anything with any or no originality.

[Ditchrat]

As of today. All kinds of goodies can be found with just a little work. Clearly the statistics show that it has value. It also show that it has not fully taken advantage of all the possible monitization. Some people run forums as a business others because they had a strong interest in the subject matter, the the interest wanes and they are left on their own.

At that point some implode, some get sold and some trug along until they die a slow death. At that point it really depends on the membership and any moderators left around. It is really easy for a forum to turn into a free for all, you end up with pissed off people leaving, moderators banning people and little posting because of flame wars.

rccrawler.com receives about 5,912 unique visitors and 17,736 (3.00 per visitor) page views per day which should earn about $79.63/day from advertising revenue. Estimated site value is $38,761.78. According to Alexa Traffic Rank rccrawler.com is ranked number 103,047 in the world and 0% of global Internet users visit it. Site is hosted in Hayward, CA, 94545, United States and links to network IP address 206.180.232.134. This server doesn't support HTTPS and doesn't support HTTP/2.

[Jim85IROC]

I'm inclined to think that Facebook is the primary reason that this site doesn't have the volume of technical posts that it once did. I'll use one vehicle as an example: The Redcat Gen7. This is a new vehicle, so people are in the discovery process of figuring out what it needs, and how to accomplish it. That truck came out in early October, and upgrade information is just now starting to trickle into the forum. By all accounts, you'd think that this vehicle is not popular and that people just aren't buying and upgrading it. Facebook paints a different story. The day this thing came out the facebook pages exploded with reviews, and within a week 90% of the issues with the truck had been identified & upgrades engineered. I watched it unfold in real time, and was involved in some of the early ideas for fixing the steering. On this forum, there's basically 2 of us feeding this information, and neither of us has gotten much movement at all on our threads.

When I post something on Facebook, my post gets more views overnight than the same post will get in a month here.

I've watched exactly the same transformation on most of the other forums I follow. Guitar forums, gun forums, car forums, you name it. They're all dying because of Facebook, and that's a shame, because for the most part, on Facebook it's the same 5 topics re-hashed 99% of the time, because there's no good search feature to find the 10,000 previous posts that already answered the same questions. The archival of threads on forums is one of the most valuable assets that the Internet has to offer, and it's going extinct. :(

[skinnyj]

Originally Posted by 59sled

Been on here for 10 years.

To me the biggest issue is that everything is store bought now. Why post or even look at threads of scale rigs, when all scale rigs pretty much look the same with everyone just putting on the same store bought scale stuff.

7 to 10 years ago you had to scratch make everything. So it was a little more involved looking at threads for the next scale secret or how someone made something for that particular rig.

Long gone are the days going through hardware stores or craft stores looking for something that might work for making something scale i.e. ice chest, bumpers, seats.
Heck, for rims and bumpers we were taking them off other RC kits and modifying them to work. My only 2 trucks left are still on Stampede transmissions, TLT axles, Slash driveshafts, traxxas steering links for a 4 link set up. Tamiya F350 and Clod body. See what i mean. Everything had to be do by scratch.
Now I can go buy a RC4WD kit and be done.

Yes there are a few guys still scratch building stuff. But not many, when its easier to just go buy it.

Hence why do i want to post or view anything with any or no originality.

This is what awed me about the hobby when i was a kid in the 80s. Building a kit was half the fun. Then, seeing pictures in RCCA of people turning RC-10s into sprint cars or dirt mods. Or, seeing crazy homebrew Blackfoots and Clods. I think RtRs have a place, but I think they have taken something away from the hobby too.

[justinart24]

I use forums and Facebook, I don't think Facebook will always be there and don't want to fully invest into it.... it's a matter of time until some new social media platform comes in, it might be years from now but something new will come. I like the forums still, mostly because I think they will be here longer.

But I agree with most posts in this thread. It's a lot easier to post pictures to Facebook than messing with the URL code on a forum, that and the cleaner interface of an APP like Facebook is why it's used more.

I honestly like the forums a bit more because that's were the real builders are, sharing the full stories and not just random weekly pictures. In saying that, I still really like build threads, sucks Photobucket when bad for some folks.

In my Facebook example I link to my build threads.
https://www.facebook.com/justinart24...3755682712063/

[MrBlank]

Originally Posted by TooOldForThis

If you listen to Cubby over at BigSquidRC, the hobby is generally in a decline. He blogs about it all the time. I'm not saying it's related to the participation on this particular site, but it still makes me wonder how to get more people interested in the hobby. Is it even possible? I could be completely off-base, but I wonder if R/C just can't compete with cell phones when it comes to getting kids' attention and drawing them into the hobby.

I never felt as though hobby grade rc was a kid's hobby, more so something that you might be into (toy grade) as a kid, and if you still had interest - hobby grade as an adult. I am 31 now, I built my first kit (a Rustler with Attack 2er stick radio and 1200 Nicd) when I was 11 years old - thanks to working during the summer with my father at the cabinetry company for $6.00 per hour minus my contribution to my own savings, and his gas and taxes (my pay went on his cheque). This meant it was quite a while before I had purchased and built the kit, had the radio, battery, charger etc. Then the 7 minute run times combined with having to wait for the battery to cool before it would charge meant I hardly used it.

These days Traxxas's RTR's widespread availability, including accessible parts support and long lasting batteries (not to mention online ordering) mean that ground based rc is more accessible to kids (And adults) then ever before - but I agree, the RC hobby is losing out to other interests, most of which involve social media and gaming.

All of this being said, scale RC crawlers seem to be the fastest growing ground based rc segment currently, therefore the general decline of rc should not have such a profound affect on RCC and it's ability to stay relevant.

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[MrBlank]

Originally Posted by 59sled

Been on here for 10 years.

To me the biggest issue is that everything is store bought now. Why post or even look at threads of scale rigs, when all scale rigs pretty much look the same with everyone just putting on the same store bought scale stuff.

7 to 10 years ago you had to scratch make everything. So it was a little more involved looking at threads for the next scale secret or how someone made something for that particular rig.

Long gone are the days going through hardware stores or craft stores looking for something that might work for making something scale i.e. ice chest, bumpers, seats.
Heck, for rims and bumpers we were taking them off other RC kits and modifying them to work. My only 2 trucks left are still on Stampede transmissions, TLT axles, Slash driveshafts, traxxas steering links for a 4 link set up. Tamiya F350 and Clod body. See what i mean. Everything had to be do by scratch.
Now I can go buy a RC4WD kit and be done.

Yes there are a few guys still scratch building stuff. But not many, when its easier to just go buy it.

Hence why do i want to post or view anything with any or no originality.

I still see a lot of scratch building on here. Yes, quite a bit of it comes from the same people, but there are enough of those people that it matters. Plus I see a lot of body modifications and scratch building in the body and paint section from people of all skill levels - not to mention all of the people involved in metal work, whether they are seasoned pros or still learning the basics.

The fact that there are more parts to mix, match and modify - available now then ever before is a positive aspect of the hobby, not something that takes away from it!

Plus store bought part availability should bring people into the hobby. The absolute need to custom build or modify every part keeps those who just don't have the skill away from the hobby, and therefore away from RCC.

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[MrBlank]

Originally Posted by Ditchrat

As of today. All kinds of goodies can be found with just a little work. Clearly the statistics show that it has value. It also show that it has not fully taken advantage of all the possible monitization. Some people run forums as a business others because they had a strong interest in the subject matter, the the interest wanes and they are left on their own.

At that point some implode, some get sold and some trug along until they die a slow death. At that point it really depends on the membership and any moderators left around. It is really easy for a forum to turn into a free for all, you end up with pissed off people leaving, moderators banning people and little posting because of flame wars.

Interesting information.
Perhaps, even with little to no involvement - without a buyer, the website may stay profitable until... it isn't - netting more of a profit than selling it would.

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[MrBlank]

Originally Posted by Jim85IROC

I'm inclined to think that Facebook is the primary reason that this site doesn't have the volume of technical posts that it once did. I'll use one vehicle as an example: The Redcat Gen7. This is a new vehicle, so people are in the discovery process of figuring out what it needs, and how to accomplish it. That truck came out in early October, and upgrade information is just now starting to trickle into the forum. By all accounts, you'd think that this vehicle is not popular and that people just aren't buying and upgrading it. Facebook paints a different story. The day this thing came out the facebook pages exploded with reviews, and within a week 90% of the issues with the truck had been identified & upgrades engineered. I watched it unfold in real time, and was involved in some of the early ideas for fixing the steering. On this forum, there's basically 2 of us feeding this information, and neither of us has gotten much movement at all on our threads.

When I post something on Facebook, my post gets more views overnight than the same post will get in a month here.

I've watched exactly the same transformation on most of the other forums I follow. Guitar forums, gun forums, car forums, you name it. They're all dying because of Facebook, and that's a shame, because for the most part, on Facebook it's the same 5 topics re-hashed 99% of the time, because there's no good search feature to find the 10,000 previous posts that already answered the same questions. The archival of threads on forums is one of the most valuable assets that the Internet has to offer, and it's going extinct. :(

I thought facebook and other social media sites / apps were a big part of the decline. I recently made a new facebook acct. just so I could join some of the local pages and hopefully interact with people in my own area, join get togethers and find out about comps before they happen.

I do however agree that an organized forum will always trump social media pages. I still can't bring myself to really get involves through facebook. My primary interest is research, and I prefer RCC for that.

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[DukeMinnix]

Originally Posted by 59sled

Been on here for 10 years.

To me the biggest issue is that everything is store bought now. Why post or even look at threads of scale rigs, when all scale rigs pretty much look the same with everyone just putting on the same store bought scale stuff.

7 to 10 years ago you had to scratch make everything. So it was a little more involved looking at threads for the next scale secret or how someone made something for that particular rig.

Long gone are the days going through hardware stores or craft stores looking for something that might work for making something scale i.e. ice chest, bumpers, seats.
Heck, for rims and bumpers we were taking them off other RC kits and modifying them to work. My only 2 trucks left are still on Stampede transmissions, TLT axles, Slash driveshafts, traxxas steering links for a 4 link set up. Tamiya F350 and Clod body. See what i mean. Everything had to be do by scratch.
Now I can go buy a RC4WD kit and be done.

Yes there are a few guys still scratch building stuff. But not many, when its easier to just go buy it.

Hence why do i want to post or view anything with any or no originality.

I can see this... to an extent... as someone who is fresh into the hobby, I do see the uber home done builds and the skill put into them. I check over on scale builders guild and think, maybe I myself can one day do something so cool, but in the mean time, a person has to start somewhere, and just because the "kit" or "rtr" trucks have come so far and essentially exceed those home built trucks of yester year, doesn't mean they should be shunned. I think maybe some of the guys with those skills hold some respondsibility for passing said skills on. A lot of people search threads for ideas still, me being one.

I think more emphasis needs to be put on actually "USING" these crawlers. You see some immaculate threads and right near the end, they just end. Done. No use pictures or videos. Maybe the photobucket debacle is somewhat respondsible for that, but the google chrome add solves a lot of that.

I don't know what the problem is... I'm fresh into the hobby. I loved RC vehicles as a youngster, didn't mess with them through teen and 20s because of athletics, cars and lets face it, women drugs and booze... I don't know if any RC truck can compete with big booty hoes

[high plains drifter]

Well... just so long as SOME of us are still to this day anti-fakebook and socially awkward, there will always be a place on forums lol! The community-feel of a forum is much more inviting to me personally. There is substance, accountability, candid discussion, and a sort of comradery here that that seems to forever elude the typical facebook atmosphere.

I don't expect forums to flourish any more than they ever have ( ebb/ flow) but the people here on this particular forum are real. This community like so many others isn't comprised of idiots, and tough guys, and misinformation, and bragging rights. The members and subsequent interactions established here on RCC feel much more natural than other forms of social-media. Sure we want to impress others and share cool new tricks, purchases, upgrades, and off-topic banter but it's on a much more humble and compassionate level here than other virtual paths because the community itself is genuine... no matter the size.

I may be new here but I'm not new to forums and for many different reasons, forum-popularity overall, has dwindled in recent years. And although I may not know jack about tech and the like, I sure would rather engage and learn from people like you guys than from some callous, sterile, attention-seeking mush-head who cares more about his/ her social status than simply and sincerely sharing with other like-minded fellow enthusiasts.

[Ditchrat]

If you ever want to see what a really solid forum looks like check out this one. This one has continued to grow. 7,300 posts in the last 24hrs, let that sink in.

No good reason RCC has to decline, but it does need to adapt.

Picture 100% chit chat https://offtopic.com/

Warning don't let your kids or wife see you looking, content is completely random and is the best on worst of the internet.

Discussions:

310,464

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[jlwatchman]

Originally Posted by Jim85IROC

I'm inclined to think that Facebook is the primary reason that this site doesn't have the volume of technical posts that it once did. I'll use one vehicle as an example: The Redcat Gen7. This is a new vehicle, so people are in the discovery process of figuring out what it needs, and how to accomplish it. That truck came out in early October, and upgrade information is just now starting to trickle into the forum. By all accounts, you'd think that this vehicle is not popular and that people just aren't buying and upgrading it. Facebook paints a different story. The day this thing came out the facebook pages exploded with reviews, and within a week 90% of the issues with the truck had been identified & upgrades engineered. I watched it unfold in real time, and was involved in some of the early ideas for fixing the steering. On this forum, there's basically 2 of us feeding this information, and neither of us has gotten much movement at all on our threads.

When I post something on Facebook, my post gets more views overnight than the same post will get in a month here.

I've watched exactly the same transformation on most of the other forums I follow. Guitar forums, gun forums, car forums, you name it. They're all dying because of Facebook, and that's a shame, because for the most part, on Facebook it's the same 5 topics re-hashed 99% of the time, because there's no good search feature to find the 10,000 previous posts that already answered the same questions. The archival of threads on forums is one of the most valuable assets that the Internet has to offer, and it's going extinct. :(

Are you talking about the "Redcat Everest Gen 7 Scale Crawler" group?

[jeeptec]

I did notice around 2007 to 2010 the R/c were very hot. All around me guys were buying rigs and going crawling. All were ax10 and a few other chassis. All were running 2.2 tires. When I got out due to financial reasons. Dealership I was working at went out of business. I sold all my toys.,the scale crawling was just starting then. A couple of years ago I bought an scx10 by then my local Hobby store had stopped doing competitions. There selection of aftermarket upgrades were down. Then axial came out with the scx10-2. The Hobby store couldn’t get enough. But still no where near the interest it had been. I went back to Alabama in the spring this year. Went to the local Hobby store. We don’t crawl here. Just run on open areas and dirt tracks. It is declining.


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[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by jeeptec

It is declining.

You may be correct, but I am running into all types of people crawling in my area. Just connected with some guys across the river in NJ this weekend.

Facebook is certainly easier to connect with people.

[number9]

Well I’ve only been here and into RC since around this Aug I think. I spend more time on this forum than I do any others I visit. Mostly reading and soaking up info, I don’t tend to post-whore random babbling. I never had an intrest in RC anything. I’ve been riding dirt bikes since I was 4 and my boys started at 3 (they are now 10 & 12). Our main hobbies are riding dirtbikes, racing karts on our backyard track and shooting guns.They ran across RC videos on YouTube while watching dirtbike videos. Long story short, we all 3 have RC trucks now (Everest 10’s morphed into SCX10’s), and my 6yo daughter too (Everest 10). We’re hooked, and usually crawl a couple times a week and spend lots of time tinkering / tweaking our trucks. They both asked for 2nd trucks for Christmas and I’ve been kicking around an SCX10.2 or Ascender myself.

I am 100% anti Facebook, never had an account and never will, so I hope this forum doesn’t decline as I plan to be around for a good while yet.