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What Does It Cost To Start A Web Forum?

Gameface

Gameface

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I have an idea for a discussion forum related to a specific game. But might try to create new forums for new games as they pop up. Wondering what initial costs are and what one does to generate revenue on a forum? Obviously there are annoying banner ads, but do you just register with a specific site that generates them for you, or are there other options?

I'm looking at vBulletin, they have a subscription service and a one time software purchase option. If I buy the software could I create multiple forums under multiple domains with the same software licence?

How hard is it to set up the forum? Would I need to either pay someone to do it or take a web design class or get a full on degree related to that sort of thing?

Is it possible to make significant money off a web forum?

Any thoughts at all would be appreciated.
 
Oh, so the only costs I'm really considering so far are the domain costs (a domain name I like is available for $7.99/yr) and the forum software. I'm probably missing some serious stuff here.
 
A message board for a video game? Don't most companies make their own message boards for their own games?
 
Gameface said:
I have an idea for a discussion forum related to a specific game. But might try to create new forums for new games as they pop up. Wondering what initial costs are and what one does to generate revenue on a forum? Obviously there are annoying banner ads, but do you just register with a specific site that generates them for you, or are there other options?

I'm looking at vBulletin, they have a subscription service and a one time software purchase option. If I buy the software could I create multiple forums under multiple domains with the same software licence?

How hard is it to set up the forum? Would I need to either pay someone to do it or take a web design class or get a full on degree related to that sort of thing?

Is it possible to make significant money off a web forum?

Any thoughts at all would be appreciated.
Click to expand...


wheere can i apply to be resident troll on your forum. i play games
 
vBulletin is one of the easier platforms to build from but not the cheapest for sure.
You could create a vBulletin games forum and then have sub-forums for different games, I would think.
I would plan on it costing a couple thousand to start, at least, unless you are savvy to the ways of programming your own.

Having said that, I don't know **** on this subject. Lol at wasting your time for a sec.
 
King Cy said:
A message board for a video game? Don't most companies make their own message boards for their own games?
Click to expand...

It would serve a specific function based on the game in question. The game is Super Mario Maker, a game where players create their own mario levels. Nintendo has a way for people to play other people's levels, but it's based on poor criteria, imho, and I thought it might benefit players/creators of that game to have a forum to share the levels they create and for people to collaborate and discuss stuff they are working on.

Maybe it's a dumb idea, but if it's cheap enough to start up I'd be interested in trying.

So new games would also have to be games that involve a certain amount of player creativity that could benefit from a forum where they could discuss what they are doing and share with other people into that game.

It wouldn't be like a COD forum for instance. It would serve a specific purpose for letting people share what they've created.
 
Gameface said:
It would serve a specific function based on the game in question. The game is Super Mario Maker, a game where players create their own mario levels. Nintendo has a way for people to play other people's levels, but it's based on poor criteria, imho, and I thought it might benefit players/creators of that game to have a forum to share the levels they create and for people to collaborate and discuss stuff they are working on.

Maybe it's a dumb idea, but if it's cheap enough to start up I'd be interested in trying.

So new games would also have to be games that involve a certain amount of player creativity that could benefit from a forum where they could discuss what they are doing and share with other people into that game.

It wouldn't be like a COD forum for instance. It would serve a specific purpose for letting people share what they've created.
Click to expand...

Is there not a sub-reddit for that?
 
King Cy said:
Is there not a sub-reddit for that?
Click to expand...

So yeah, there are several forums already in place. I suppose I could attempt to be better than they are (looking at them they all seem to suck) or just keep my eyes out for the next opportunity.

In making web forums in general, I'm just wondering what it takes to set one up and keep one going, as far as costs and effort are concerned.
 
I would assume cost are pretty low. Might be higher if you want to spend money on advertising and getting your website to come up on the top of search engines.

Effort is probably mostly in the beginning when you are building your community.
 
King Cy said:
I would assume cost are pretty low. Might be higher if you want to spend money on advertising and getting your website to come up on the top of search engines.

Effort is probably mostly in the beginning when you are building your community.
Click to expand...

Visibility seems like it would be make or break. How does one get their site to come up at the top of search engines?
 
Maybe a PM to Jason would get a better answer than what might be posted here.

Of course then you'd miss out on Dutch's great offer, but that might be a sacrifice you're willing to consider.
 
moevillini said:
Maybe a PM to Jason would get a better answer than what might be posted here.

Of course then you'd miss out on Dutch's great offer, but that might be a sacrifice you're willing to consider.
Click to expand...

Maybe he'll chime in.
 
King Cy said:
I assume you pay the search engines.

Or maybe a human sacrifice to Google?
Click to expand...

Google's page ranking is based on how many pages link to your page, and not how much money you pay them. Of course you can buy an add with Google, so that your result appears in the sponsored results at the top of the page, but you'd have to pay per click, and that can get super expensive for an individual running a game forum.

You get traffic by marketing your website on Reddit, official forums, and such.
 
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