Lance wrote...
I was just now thinking about a system to get people to stop lurking. Like how Animepaper.net does it, you need to participate in the forum to view/download content.
No, that's one of the worst possible systems. It just encourages garbage posts by newbies to up their post counts, is hostile to newbies in the first place, gives mods so much more work (filtering garbage and banning spammers), and locks away content that is obtainable elsewhere. Furthermore, it fosters the kind of hostility from users that is exceeded only by hostility towards pay membership sites ("Why restrict access to content that is essentially stolen in the first place?!").
Let's face it, FAKKU frankly has very little content that isn't obtainable elsewhere by those who are even reasonably savvy. Its main draw is a friendly community and easy access to direct downloads (and off/on image hosting).
The best way to ensure participation is to force registration for direct archive downloading (JUST registration, not a specific post count), then guarantee PRIVILEGES to highly active members, like rep boosts for uploaders of new content or folks who help translate, exclusive content or video/game download rights (if any) for persons with a certain post count, and effective moderation on the forums.
To look at it from an outsider's perspective, FAKKU forums are full of noobs and naruto requests, I'm sad to say. No one wants to have to wade through that, so eventually a guideline for posting must be implemented. We have a lot of lurkers right now just looking for posts worth responding to, and I hate to say it, but there aren't a whole lot of those right now.
Effective access increases traffic, which eventually will pay back in terms of community involvement. Just look at the Bloodfer forums. That's from a site with GT membership and forced gallery downloads. It just takes time.