I've been watching lately this weird thing. Lot of oldies, log-in, very recently, but haven't posted either from this August or November or from a very long time. Also lots of guys I came in with or have been with me while I've been around are like gone or totally gone.
Oldies that don't post anymore but have recent log dates:
Meowster (she just broke that habit, but long time before she did)
Scumbuddy
DGMacPhee
lemmy101
Oldies that haven't posted since summer..
Dan Clarke
Rui Pires
Kinoko
Candle
Fovmester
I'm not like advocating people to post like Calin or me, and I don't expect people to do that. But ..it's just itches me. Aren't forums anymore what they used to be anymore, for me?
I do seem to post a fair amount dont I...
I think i have the highest post rate except for CJ.
It's even odder when new folk arrive, get hazed, leave, and then post frequently somewhere else. It's weird.
We are very accommodating of newbies providing they are courteous and sensible.
Quote from: Calin Leafshade on Sun 31/01/2010 23:54:08
We are very accommodating of newbies providing they are courteous and sensible.
... says the n00b ;)
I have more than 600 posts damnit.
When do I get my damn name badge.
I may have stated this repeatedly in the past, but I have yet to experience another forum as courteous as AGS.
Problems usually arise when new members exhibit the kind of behavior that's generally considered par-for-the-course on the majority of internet forums. It's not their fault. They've just become accustomed to the copious amount of assholeishness they've accrued, due to longtime internet facelessness.
They either overcome this debilitation, or choose to ply their obnoxiousness elsewhere.
As for old members who log but don't post...it's less a case of "Why log when you're not going to post?" and more a case of "Why post if you have nothing to say?".
Quote from: LimpingFish on Mon 01/02/2010 01:56:07
I may have stated this repeatedly in the past, but I have yet to experience another forum as courteous as AGS.
Agreed, I'm a member of alot of forums and the AGS one is easily the best, and the only one i post on regularly, for 2 reasons.
1) Moderators are not tyrannical - Sometimes Mod power goes to peoples head and they police the place like the bloody gestapo. The second anyone says anything slightly subversive (religion, politics etc) it gets locked and all discussion gets destroyed and then everyone walks around on egg shells. People here are free to speak their mind, which leads me to my second point
2) People here don't take everything as a personal attack - With the odd exception most people here behave maturely and react positively to criticism. Often people go fucking mental the second someone says something negative about them/their work but here that doesnt seem to be the case.
My 2 cents.
Quote from: LimpingFish on Mon 01/02/2010 01:56:07
I may have stated this repeatedly in the past, but I have yet to experience another forum as courteous as AGS.
Problems usually arise when new members exhibit the kind of behavior that's generally considered par-for-the-course on the majority of internet forums. It's not their fault. They've just become accustomed to the copious amount of assholeishness they've accrued, due to longtime internet facelessness.
They either overcome this debilitation, or choose to ply their obnoxiousness elsewhere.
As for old members who log but don't post...it's less a case of "Why log when you're not going to post?" and more a case of "Why post if you have nothing to say?".
Ahhh... I'm reminded of my early days as an AGSer. :-\
Quote
My 2 cents.
Being an upscale and mature forum we generally expect a nickels worth (5 cents) around here. :=
The sad thing is I saw Dual's list and for most of the people on it I thought "They're not an old-timer" ;D
Still, I'm an old man halfway to his three-score-and-ten, so everyone's a n00b to me, despite me myself being 3 years late to the AGS party.
Ha, I'm a total newb here (more or less), and don't know much my way around. As for the forums...well...they suck. You too suck also. SSH probably sucks the most. Dualnames sucks in a greek fashion. Hm...yes, you all suck. If it weren't for me around here, I'd never visit the forums at all. 'cause I'm so tottaly kewl and rad and phat and cute! And I have a teddy bear!
I like teddy bears.
What can I say, you can all keep sucking untill....nah, you can't ever not suck.
*Jim Reed spins
=P
I also rarely post here anymore, but bigbluecup is my homepage, so the minute I turn on firefox, there it goes! I love AGS and I love many members here, but most things discussed do not exactly interest me anymore... :-\
Fuck, have I really been reading AGS Forums everyday for 9 years? Jesus Christ.
Edit: Maybe 8 years? Holy hell, how old was I when I registered on ezboards?
I've visited them everyday since joining, too. I paid a grand total of €2 to use the only computer with an internet connection for miles and miles when I went camping, just to see the sky blue and turquoise bands of the forums... :'(
Quote from: Nikolas on Mon 01/02/2010 07:18:01
I also rarely post here anymore, but bigbluecup is my homepage, so the minute I turn on firefox, there it goes! I love AGS and I love many members here, but most things discussed do not exactly interest me anymore... :-\
Same with my firefox. Every time it starts up AGS pops up haha.
I have been around since 2004, but don't post that often. I am more the quiet, dangerous type :)
It all depends on the person. Some people go through phases of interest.
-Bill
The sad truth is...
Quote from: Nikolas on Mon 01/02/2010 07:18:01
most things discussed do not exactly interest me anymore... :-\
Though I'm not listed, so who cares.
SSH, they are old-timers...I don't know, I'm not like saying that posting "woohoo this is greatness I'll download !!! " should be the post. But I think I've noticed a great downfall of AGS oldies or oldER AGS members posts and log-ins, whilst a new breed of AGSers has come..well....that....I'm probably appearing totally stupid.
RickJ never used to post back then, but he was around and he has been around. Same goes for Nikolas, apart that I miss his every week "Kinoko pwns!!!" type of posts.
I know I've been a terrible newbie and all, but at least I respected Larry Vales!! I knew who he was!! But this doesn't have to do with the newbies, I think I really like those guys! But where are the oldies?
Eh well.
The games have become artsy and weird anyways -- just look at first few pages in Completed Game Announcements forum! For every "normal" game, there's 20 with strange art, content and point. Like not a game but something you see in modern/digital art museum.
Interesting observation really -- have adventure games became a form or art or something? Not that it's bad or anything...
...but still, I want a Ben Jordan sequel! >:( >:( >:( This stuff doesn't inspire me.
And yet, at some point everyone grew up and gave up making games themselves :D
It's funny how this thread keeps appearing, as if anything is different now compared to some time in the past.
People always move on, we'll always lose members and gain new.
I wouldn't even consider most of the members in that initial post oldies (as in EZ-board members), but everything's relative I guess.
Some people move on I guess.
I used to be heavily involved with the Click community, then when I started using Blitz, that community, even going to one of the events, and then Tigsource which I still visit, and now here, because I've got the inkling to make some adventures... it's the cycle of life! Embrace change! Appreciate the past but do not dwell on it too much! There is not enough time!
etc... ;D
I'm 50% newbie in comparison to ezboard members! ;D Never been to mittens, Brittens and the rest and I actually am not sure if I would be a nice addition anymore. AGS is always a part of me (considering I work in a couple of games), but either way it appears that the 'times of the forums' seems to be coming to a closure now. Many of the VERY popular forums seem to be doing quite bad (music related), and this just seems to be the todays' sign.
We will need to accept it and move on.
It just makes me wonder: If forums covered a communcation need (as it happened with me and I suspect for most), then what is now on? Twitter and Blogs do not seem to be equally communicative (or rather interactive, or democratic if you will). I'm still finding great value to the communication of the Internet, but... :-\
MSN (or equivalent), Twitter and Facebook are reducing the need for forums, it seems.
Quote from: auriond on Mon 01/02/2010 23:26:06
MSN (or equivalent), Twitter and Facebook are reducing the need for forums, it seems.
I just signed up for Facebook last week and have found it very addicting in my opinion. I fear I have lost some of my love for these forums...but FB (for me) will wear out soon, and then I will return to posting again.
I still love these Forums, but not as much.
Domino
In the 90s I used to post to a couple of different Usenet newsgroups. In some ways they were actually superior to internet forums (particularly the hierarchical threading), though the text-only format was a bit of a bummer. Usenet as a communication forum seemed to completely collapse around 2000-2004 (at least the groups I used to belong to did), though it remained popular for file sharing for a while after that. I believe the main reason was that they weren't accessed through the web browser, which made the barrier of entry too high for most new Internet users.
I think Internet forums are pretty far from being in that same position. Twitter and Facebook don't really support the same communication type, and MSN isn't even in the ballpark. I think for the foreseeable future there will be a need for a way to have a public discussion board closely associated with a website, with indefinite persistent storage of messages and conversations organized by topic. Some of the more community-oriented chatter may move to other mediums, but I don't think that means the community will die out.
Unless you think you've turned into a thoroughly unpleasant individual over the last few years, Nikolas, I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be a nice addition to Mittens.
To be clear, I don't think the internet forum is going the way of Usenet. However, much of what used to keep internet forums going was this kind of idle chatter that's now gone to the other communication channels. People now find it troublesome to sign in to forums, or at least that's the feedback I got on mine.
I remember sitting on the forums all day and having loads to read, the critics lounge was a lot more interesting a few years back.
I say we all post a lot more.
I can start posting a bunch of half-assed art and you can all rip it to pieces. I'll get my revenge by not implementing any of your suggestions.
I've been reading the forums for the past 5 or 6 years (Joined in 2004 (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?action=profile;u=3345)) and, yeah back then I found a lot more to read. But I think that is all due to AGS being all brand new to me back then. Now, years later, I've grown up with AGS and I'm still excited with everything that goes on in the forums, just my "standards" have risen in what I read and participate in thread-wise.*
I believe this is the case with older members hardly posting, but are still visiting the forums and why newer members seem to be more active.
*I don't mean this in any particular snooty way, just maybe the occurrence of threads about topics that were previously discussed etc
Of course, many of the people here in this discussion aren't actually releasing any games. Including me (1 in 2009 if you count the awards ceremony, 1 in 2008). I'm not even writing modules any more.
I need a creative urge to compel me to do something. Or maybe just more free time.
How many Princess Marians do you think you've got in you, anyway?
Quote from: ProgZmax on Tue 02/02/2010 04:32:27
How many Princess Marians do you think you've got in you, anyway?
I'm going to guess none anymore. ;)
Ha, I'm definitely one of the newer ones here. 31 posts (T.T) and this makes the count 32.
Well, like life and everything that involves people, there are different generations in these processes.
People age and they move on to do things they believe are greater in life. That might explain why oldies go missing after awhile. I was writing to Greg from Herculean Effort Productions (THE APPRENTICE 1 and 2, OH HOW I LOVE IT! ;D) and he was talking about having a proper career. A career rarely stems from making indie games. This also explains why Greg and his partner might never move on to make The Apprentice 3; they do not want time wasted on making the game while they could devote the time to earning money and feeding their family. They move out of indie gaming and consequently move out of the forums.
Well, for me, AGS is a whole new world of discovery. I have got many other things I want to learn from this forum and so I'm not losing interest in it yet. Well, what the future holds, I obviously don't know. Maybe people do lose interest over here over time. In my opinion, it's all about a generation shift. They move on and a new generation of indie gamers move into the forums. Cycles, I think.
I like to think of ags as a suppository of knowledge.
Quote from: Haddas on Tue 02/02/2010 13:40:13
I like to think of ags as a suppository of knowledge.
Hahaha, suppository.
-Bill
AGSers... always with the nostalgia. In four to six years these will be the good old days!
I agree, and my own life experience is evidence, that as members progress to the next life-stage (career + family) they have less time for their hobbies. I applaud the likes of SSH and Vince Twelve (etc.) for still actively participating in the adventure game scene on top of their real world obligations, even if it's not as frequent or as free as in the past.
I doubt that the old-timers have forgotten about adventure gaming, however. For me, I find, it's in the blood. Once an AGSer, always and AGSer. Just look at all the lost souls who periodically turn up in "Remember Me?" threads. Other obligations or passions might detain them from posting, but I bet every so often those old-timers still get a game idea. They'll be back.
As for the forums not being as interesting as they used to be.... it's because all the really exciting dirt gets dished on the somewhat secret and incredibly exclusive old-timer-only boards. Tell me I'm wrong!
Heed the wise, new things are interesting while they're new. So the old times were more interesting, because they had more things for you to discover.
I'd say most of the people that played all the old adventure games, and had an interest in creating their own, have eventually ended up here, It has even got to the point where it is probably kids of people who played the old adventure games have become members and wanted to make a game.
It will die out eventually, and probably have waves of new popularity before then.
As far as forums go, as others have said, they are less popular cause of Facebook etc
I'm not sure if these things are a passing thing, or the developing process of the way of the future. I guess they are all experimental, and it just depends on the trend of the time.
Myspace was the popular thing before facebook, then sometime in 2007 everyone jumped on the FB bandwagon.
FB keeps changing to try and stay popular, and everyone bitches when it changes, but people get used to it, then it changes again, and people want it back to the way they didn't want it before, I find it quite funny. But it is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family that you normal wouldn't keep in touch with.
I got google wave, but that just seems pointless as far as i can se, it has a lot of work to do if it wants to be ahead of FB.
I find Myspace is still the best music site out there, any band no matter how small, has got a page, and some tunes up. Often if I'm going to see a band, I can even look up the support bands and hear a few songs. So it still has a place out there.
I've been on these forums as long and longer than some of those people mentioned, and I hadn't posted for ages until recently either. I fly under the radar in most places, but that is just who i am, and have succeeded here too.
Been here since 2003, and I haven't released one full game in all that time := Quite sad actually. And even if I have a moment of inspiration, I'm usually more interested in using AGS in ways it wasn't meant for. (Currently busy on a Golden Axe clone (http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/49178.htm) for whenever the mood strikes me for example)
Also: I haven't seen Helm in a very long time.
I don't really know Helm, but I've got into several discussions with him in the comments sections of a few Rock, Paper & Shotgun articles from 2009. Overall, he talked a lot about growing disenchanted with both the adventure games genre and the AGS community, so unless he was in a slump then, he might not be coming back at all.
No shit. All I ever heard of him was the comic compo and some swearwords.
I've been a member since 03, I was 14 then and my quality of post shows it. I don't post that much anymore, and I still see myself as a newbie as a lot of the members that were senior members then are still here now.
I still have this website as my homepage on firefox have this website as my homepage on firefox even though I average about 2-3 posts a month, and check it daily. It's just that I often don't have much to say.
A lot of threads are on here, I don't have an opinion on everything :P
Haha everytime I get the idea to check out how the good ol' Ags-forum is doing there's always a thread like this...
Quote from: deFineLicht on Thu 04/02/2010 14:26:32
Haha everytime I get the idea to check out how the good ol' Ags-forum is doing there's always a thread like this...
To be honest, I've always hated those type of threads. I don't think there's anything to solve or prove anyway, but well, I ended up making one one way or another. I'm sorry for all this commotion for mostly nothing. Some valid points were heard. And indeed they are true. People can't always be the same person they were when they joined. Hell if you look at my posts back then, my god, am I still the same! But I'm an exception. Now, let's just move on!
The only reason I dislike threads like this is because it makes me feel like a douche bag since I've posted virtually non-stop for the last 7 years :P
Quote from: RickJ on Mon 01/02/2010 02:18:13
Quote
My 2 cents.
Being an upscale and mature forum we generally expect a nickels worth (5 cents) around here. :=
Haha!!
Quote from: InCreator on Mon 01/02/2010 21:24:17
Eh well.
The games have become artsy and weird anyways -- just look at first few pages in Completed Game Announcements forum! For every "normal" game, there's 20 with strange art, content and point. Like not a game but something you see in modern/digital art museum.
Interesting observation really -- have adventure games became a form or art or something? Not that it's bad or anything...
...but still, I want a Ben Jordan sequel! >:( >:( >:( This stuff doesn't inspire me.
Case 8 or a second movie? Cos it looks likely you'll be getting both this year ;D
PS. When I die I still expect to make computer games in the afterlife, so no point abandoning it in this one :P
Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Thu 04/02/2010 18:31:39
The only reason I dislike threads like this is because it makes me feel like a douche bag since I've posted virtually non-stop for the last 7 years :P
I dislike those threads because some people just brag about being active... ::)
I've had a few down periods over the last 6 years for various reasons but it seems that I am only 0.006 posts per day behind Darth. What could that possibly mean? ::)
Edit: Actually with this post it went down to 0.005. :=
I don't think I post a lot ... mostly just lock threads :) Either way I certainly wasn't bragging!
I just meant that I have not had any long abscenses since I joined here many winter moons ago. Typically the reasons people use as to why other people have vanished is because they "got a life" or something along those lines. So I feel a tad douche-ish because I, apparently, have never gotten a life! Which is, of course, not true. I have had several. I just always lose them.
I've been around since the start of the ezboard forums, but had forgotten my old user/pass. I was the elusive MotiveOne.. haha.. I stay for a while, leave for a bit, come back.. etc, etc. Depends on my creative outbursts really.
Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Thu 04/02/2010 18:31:39
The only reason I dislike threads like this is because it makes me feel like a douche bag since I've posted virtually non-stop for the last 7 years :P
Well, look at my post count... and the forum's post statistics.
And I think I'm never too active and don't post a lot...
Quote from: Gilbet V7000a on Fri 05/02/2010 02:07:39Well, look at my post count... and the forum's post statistics.
And spammer of the year award goes to......CJ!! :D
Huh, I actually used to post somewhat regularly here. Then I hung around at different forums. Aaaand, now I'm coming back because I can't resist the draw? *shrug*
This forum is the same as any other - people come and people go as priorities and interests change. Developing AGS-games in particuar is a very time-consuming hobby. It's only natural that some members drop into the background after they've got families and careers.
As a newby myself I love the community (group-hug! ;) ) and found this forum a very welcoming place. I plan to stay, but you never know what the future brings.
I was a happy young lad when I joined back in 1904. Now I'm nothing but an angry, bitter old man.
But I still like this place.
Hi guys (http://dennisq.fileave.com/smiley-wave2_a.gif)
Hey DgMacphee!! WB even for a short while. :D
I see that tentative welcome back, and raise you a cautious 'hello again'!
I think I disappeared for like a year or two... Silly "life stuff." =P
DGMACPEE OMG
WHASSUP ANDAIL M'MAN LOL
DG was an oldie back when I was considering thinking about the possibility of joining up.
...and to think now YOU'RE an oldie when DUALNAMES was about to sign up!
And I'm a negro! A never ending guy ranting online, that is ;)
LOL DGMacAndyPenis :)
Someboy might even call me an oldie!! Ooohhh the shivers! :o
QuoteRe: Something has been itching me..lately..a lot..
PERHAPS YOU SHOULD SEE A DOCTOR ABOUT THAT
BAAAMM VINTAGE DG
DON'T YOU TOUCH TEH AWESOME DUELNAMES!!!
I PWN YOU! YOUR BOXXOR SUXXOR . I HAXXOR. 1337!!!
Quote from: Dualnames on Sat 27/03/2010 11:59:29
Someboy might even call me an oldie!! Ooohhh the shivers! :o
Dualnames is an oldie!!!
*...shouts little Ascovel, then runs and hides behind a tree*
Quote from: Dualnames on Sat 27/03/2010 16:19:38
DON'T YOU TOUCH TEH AWESOME DUELNAMES!!!
I PWN YOU! YOUR BOXXOR SUXXOR . I HAXXOR. 1337!!!
you left your caps lock on
Yeah Dual, with that kind of behaviour you'll never be considered an oldie
Brrr. Shiver me timbers.
Quote from: Andail on Sun 28/03/2010 10:01:11
Yeah Dual, with that kind of behaviour you'll never be considered an oldie
Sorry. Perhaps a more intellectual post, should interest you?
Why do I feel, we just type random stuff in this topic? And who the hell dug this over?
Sorry Dual, I'm just fooling around!
True, enough random nonsense, I'd better lock this one...