MapleStory

Hi all! Hope you've had a great summer so far? Thought I'd share an update on the alpha launch of the new Forum functionality!

BZL's forums are split into 4 topics, which are identical to our site topics; Games, Art, TV, Music.

Up to this point, BZL has been *solely* about stories, which are basically like blogs - little snippets of news, screenshots or videos. Forums are a way to ask questions or bring up discussions in a more casual way. It's also a format that's more conducive to chat as the thread gets bumped when there are replies.

Each forum has a list of sub-forums. Many of us are current / former Maplers so there is a MapleStory forum. But there are also forums for other games as well as consoles (DS, Switch, PS4, etc).

You'll note that these forums exist in tandem with BZL's communities, which bears some resemblance to reddit's /r subreddits. However, our forums and communities are structured so as to foster growth, rather than just corral people and topics in an endless stream of threads. I feel that sharing things and asking questions are two distinct features that are best served by two separate functions.

As many of you are artists, it is only fitting that we add forums for your favorite tools (ie, FireAlpaca, PaintTool Sai, etc). Over time we may find that there's a niche demand for Splatoon Drawers and such.

It's my hope that introducing forums has the effect of spurring on new talk and further building communities.

Let me know what you think so far. Also let me know if you have ideas on what forums you think would be nice to use and also ones that might provide a home for folks who might find our format useful.

PS - to add a thread, click the new talk bubble icon with 3 dots inside (next to your avatar). Or, look for the 'post here' button when on a tag / community page.