we are the BEST sonic union!

Well I think we have such a wide variety of users here that when our different opinions come together even if we tend to disagree we do find some common ground and we can learn to see each other's sides.

So it's natural this place is the most active Sonic union: it's because enough people like the setup and atmosphere of this union.

Heck yeah this is the best Sonic union. A lot of the other ones I've seen have to many darn fanboys that praise certain stuff while here we try to stay neutral.

Well we try to focus our discussions on the games and don't waste space with stupid conversations of what character do we fantasize about or constantly ranting about the bias. I also think having the more old school feel to our union helps it. Sure when you're a tweener, you think that Shadow the Hedgehog is the greatest thing ever, however as you grow up, you find some things don't hold up as well as you think. Once you play a real shooter like Gears of War you realize "omg this a great. Shadow's game was crap compared to this." Once you get older and don't obsess over the characters and realize that stories weren't as deep as you once thought, all that remains is Sonic's gameplay and suddenly what you thought was awesome doesn't hold up so well. Then reality sets in.

There's plenty of unions that gush over modern games and constantly talk about all the bias from critics but they don't seem to last, this is because those young fans grow up and lose interest. You're hard pressed to find someone over the age of say 18 who likes 3D Sonic games over 2D ones even if they used to like 3D games.

That's some true words spoken right there.

Yeah heck its one of the more active unions I'm in as well.

TBH, we might as well be the only Sonic union out there, and it's been that way for quite some time. At least, ever since we hit the multi-thousand user mark.sonicphc

True. Unlike say, Nintendo-based unions that are fighting for "dominance" (mine of which being one of them, and I really didn't see that coming at the start of its formation TBH) SonicSpot is basically unrivalled.

This is certainly the most active, and it has been for a long time. I've been here for about 3 years, and this was my first union.Hyper_Hedgehog

This union has been/is awesome since inception, Riders or not. So far it's not just because we're Sonic/Sega people. We're all part of this union. And I say that's what makes it great. (awww...) Now we all we need is Gamespot to fix our Union% meter, or to update unions for HD.dandymarsh

yeah that meter is a lil to low for a union as epic as ours lol.

We can always try to raise it.

Now we all we need is Gamespot to fix our Union% meter, or to update unions for HD.dandymarsh

Agreed.

I thought they got rid of the union level feature.Hyper_Hedgehog

They did but the meters are still there.

This union has been/is awesome since inception, Riders or not. So far it's not just because we're Sonic/Sega people. We're all part of this union. And I say that's what makes it great. (awww...) Now we all we need is Gamespot to fix our Union% meter, or to update unions for HD.dandymarsh

Sadly that feature has been eliminated, they haven't even removed the damn stuff that they put out of order years back. :?

im trying to rrevive other sonic unions. ive been promoted to officer in two others and am really trying to bring in more people. sonichedgehog45

[QUOTE="sonichedgehog45"]im trying to rrevive other sonic unions. ive been promoted to officer in two others and am really trying to bring in more people. sonicphc

hmm you could be right. and this is by far my favorite union on all of gamespot. even though im just a recruit on here. do you guys think i should just let the other sonic unions die?

Yeah they are mostly dead.

If there's any in the future that become active it's not like it's a big deal to go hang at another place, I only say don't just make a union because you like how another union is and its topic. A lot of the people that do that usually take from the union they love so much or they don't care for the union they make, and neither is a happy thing to see.

In any case, I think this union's too sturdy to just die off. Too many members, very clean and official-looking layout that attracts people, it all just fits.

Yeah.  It's quite nice to see an active Union on Gamespot.  Most of them have died.

Just joined and I love it already. :P 

Honestly, when I got invited to this union, I thought to myself, "Oh great, another near dead sonic union scrambling for members". I know how that feels, so I decided to join. I was suprised to see you guys are active, your union is superbly decorated, and there are alot of interesting topics where people are actually on topic. Your union is top notch, and I may start posting regularly here, even though I am not a huge sonic fan.VXLbeast

Well the thing is we are geared towards the more old school crowd. We don't waste a lot of forum space with stupid stuff like "which character is the coolest" or posting all our fanfics of Sonic and Shadow doing each other. We try to discuss the games themselves and their content and trying to discuss somewhat serious issues. Plus with our reviews, we don't simply go around slapping 10s on every game because it's "cool" nor do we hold them to some impossible standard of the Genesis era but rather judge them for what they are and don't waste time whining about "critiz r biazzed!!11111!!!"

So rule 1 of unions: Affiliate with unions that have little or nothing to do with your union.
Rule 2: Don't flood the union database with too many of the same union, especially if it's easy to predict most unions will just die off immediately (somehow the one I run didn't).
Rule 3: If you enjoy a union very much, don't make a union that has to do with that union's topic, you're only hurting your union and your interest in the original union.Cloud_765

The good way to build a union:

1.Come up with a decent idea, find people who won't d*** around and screw everything up. Allow it to grow by spreading propaganda.....er....promotional topics in the recruitment thread.

2.Search for unions of the same thing. If they are dead, absorb them like some parasite, aka Prototype, but without the dying or shape-shifting. The more unions that you find with the same topic, the more food for the union.

3.By now your union should be kinda big. Keep it big by allowing your officers to create something that people will look at for more than 5 seconds. The biggest union killer is lack of interest.

4.Don't boss people around. That's a surefire way to make them high tail it outta there. Act as if you had no power at all, become a member of the community, not some big headed moron who gets his kicks by ordering people around so he can feel like a big man.

Just follow these 4 steps, and anyone can create a union that lasts.

What I've learned when it comes to setting up a union:

1. Don't make a union to a subject that already had 100 other more active ones in existence. I mean how many more Nintendo unions can there be?

2. Don't devote a union to one game. Originally this was a Sonic Riders Union. Oh sure it's fun at first posting new screens and vids, but usually two weeks after the game debutes and everyone finishes it, activity dies down. Besides there's already open forums devoted to one game on GS.

3. Find ways to keep it active. Some hate forum games, but it helps when things are slow. If anything the forum games keep people coming back and they might check out posts.

4. Invite the right members. Don't just highlight everyone on your GS friend list. This is the equivalent of throwing a bunch of flyers around the neighborhood. Read blogs and forum posts and find who would be a more worthwhile edition.

i love how mature people are here. we never just rant about how "cool" a character is or how sonic is so wrongly critisized. instead we state our opinions and explain why or why not a game will be a success.sonichedgehog45

That's how I feel too. When you look at our review archive, we don't go slapping perfect 10s on a game because it's "cool" nor do we try to hold every game to some unachievable standard. We're not going to overlook things like broken controls or poorly implemented gameplay elements because "ooooh you can play as Shadow!" or "the music is awesome."

[QUOTE="sonichedgehog45"]i love how mature people are here. we never just rant about how "cool" a character is or how sonic is so wrongly critisized. instead we state our opinions and explain why or why not a game will be a success.kbaily

That's how I feel too. When you look at our review archive, we don't go slapping perfect 10s on a game because it's "cool" nor do we try to hold every game to some unachievable standard. We're not going to overlook things like broken controls or poorly implemented gameplay elements because "ooooh you can play as Shadow!" or "the music is awesome."

lol yeah. i feel the only sonic game that desserved a perfect 10 was sonic 2:D

lol yeah. i feel the only sonic game that desserved a perfect 10 was sonic 2:Dsonichedgehog45

[QUOTE="sonichedgehog45"]lol yeah. i feel the only sonic game that desserved a perfect 10 was sonic 2:Dkjhg53

no 10 does not mean perfect. it just means superb fun!

[QUOTE="kjhg53"][QUOTE="sonichedgehog45"]lol yeah. i feel the only sonic game that desserved a perfect 10 was sonic 2:Dsonichedgehog45

no 10 does not mean perfect. it just means superb fun!

Well that in general is open to interpetation. As of lately a lot of games have been getting perfect 10s slapped on them that many feel weren't as good as the hype made them out to be. I have yet to find anyone who thought GTAIV was really a perfect 10 since the only major advancements of the franchise was to paint the city gray and have your annoying cousin call you up every 10 minutes for "social missions." As for Modern Warfare 2 go onto any PC forum and ask them if the installment that removed their dedicated servers is a perfect 10.

So many games that have recently got such high scores wind up in bargain bins within a year.

[QUOTE="sonichedgehog45"]

[QUOTE="kjhg53"][QUOTE="sonichedgehog45"]lol yeah. i feel the only sonic game that desserved a perfect 10 was sonic 2:Dkbaily

no 10 does not mean perfect. it just means superb fun!

Well that in general is open to interpetation. As of lately a lot of games have been getting perfect 10s slapped on them that many feel weren't as good as the hype made them out to be. I have yet to find anyone who thought GTAIV was really a perfect 10 since the only major advancements of the franchise was to paint the city gray and have your annoying cousin call you up every 10 minutes for "social missions." As for Modern Warfare 2 go onto any PC forum and ask them if the installment that removed their dedicated servers is a perfect 10.

So many games that have recently got such high scores wind up in bargain bins within a year.

yeah, reviewers sure seem to be givin ALOT of games perfect scores! to many games!