Goldmoon Dawn on 28/5/2011 at 11:16
Quote Posted by dethtoll
So we emerge from our darkened basement rooms into groups of family and friends that barely recognize us anymore, shave off our Saddam spider hole beards, and go out and
do stuff.
:cheeky: Guilty as charged. Also, its comments like this that keep me coming back to this lovely establishment.
Gingerbread Man on 28/5/2011 at 15:09
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
Because the new ones are used to rapid-fire status updates and micro-discussions that fade quickly from the memory and don't lead to anything but simply wither and die after a half dozen responses have been tossed out.
People have their turn to speak, then walk on by.
THAT is the truth of it.
Dia on 28/5/2011 at 15:37
Quote Posted by Harvester
Kolya leaving, and now Queue and Scots Taffer too? Damn, that sucks... :(
Seriously seconded. :( :( TTLG won't
EVAR be the same. But then again, it's been in flux for the past few years from what I can see. I've been disappointed as of late by the sparse posting of some of the TTLG 'old-guard', whose posts I've most always found amusing, informative, or just plain outrageous enough to be interesting. My late husband & I stumbled upon TTLG in 2000 (the '1000 clues you've been playing Thief way too much' thread) and now eleven years later I'm depressed by the thought that the very people who made places like ComChat so damned interesting are leaving. I went through the stages of 'having a life', raising kids, concentrating on careers, discovering hobbies, interests, and pastimes, experiencing the joys and tragedies of RL, but I always came back here. I remember a time when I'd have about six or seven windows open on my monitor, each featuring a different TTLG thread. Tempus fugit.
I wonder though if TTLG's seeming decline is due to members maturing and finding different interests, etc. or if it's more the 'already been done' issue wherein we've mostly already been there and done that? With the exception of current events, it seems that it's all been said and done here before. If it's true that 'members are just maturing' is the main factor in TTLG's (especially ComChat's) decline, then I don't wanna grow up.
Scots has a valid point as well; to me it's just another indicator that we've become a 'disposable' society with the collective attention span of a gnat. It's rather sad that lately some visitors here don't stay long enough to become interesting (imho, of course).
But what's
really sad is that I never even got to have internet sex with Kolya.
Sometimes life sucks.
Surreal Imposter on 28/5/2011 at 17:39
Quote Posted by Dia
I wonder though if TTLG's seeming decline is due to members maturing and finding different interests, etc. or if it's more the 'already been done' issue wherein we've mostly already been there and done that? With the exception of current events, it seems that it's all been said and done here before. If it's true that 'members are just maturing' is the main factor in TTLG's (especially ComChat's) decline, then I don't wanna grow up.
I believe it's the 'already been done' aspect. I see this in other forums when there isn't an influx of new material to discuss. For that matter, you will find the same thing in RL. Which, may be the very reason some forum people move on... trying to add something new to their lives.
As was stated though, the new games will add the new factor for this forum. At least for a while.
doctorfrog on 29/5/2011 at 05:53
God dammit, why did I read this thread? It just reconfirms all my fears about my favorite (and decreasingly active) forum.
I blame myself, for not being interesting or trollish enough to post more :(
Koki on 29/5/2011 at 17:32
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
Because the new ones are used to rapid-fire status updates and micro-discussions that fade quickly from the memory and don't lead to anything but simply wither and die after a half dozen responses have been tossed out.
People have their turn to speak, then walk on by.
I always had impression of the opposite - the older the community, the shorter the posts. As the community gets old people just know each other well and talked about pretty much everything there is to talk about, so why bother do it all again?
Kuuso on 29/5/2011 at 20:42
The demise of TTLG forums is - before anything else - the fact that TTLG is history. It's quite a feat it has remained this active (and visible!) for this long - It also says something about the impact TTLG had as a game studio (by creating such a tight-knit community) . Frequenting other active forums, I can say that the problem TTLG is having is the older members losing interest without newer ones taking their place. This is because of the aforementioned, not because the youth of today are using different tools.
I've frequented Muse's, the Britisth band's, forum for years. I've seen a few "generations" go, mostly created by album releases. Comparing those forums to these (forgetting the differences in the userbase), one can find similarities to such degree that they're practically the same thing with different words. The only thing is that there's constantly stuff to talk about concerning the actual subject.
This is all very interesting from media research in mind I must add, especially the fact that forums are such an "organic" part of people's lives.
CCCToad on 30/5/2011 at 01:58
Quote:
Because the new ones are used to rapid-fire status updates and micro-discussions that fade quickly from the memory and don't lead to anything but simply wither and die after a half dozen responses have been tossed out.
The obvious one is that they are following newer franchises, and thus never discover the older games. There's also something to be said that the nature of gaming is changing. No longer do you have games like the LG classics, that maintain a loyal fan-base for years complete with modders. Nowadays, games tend to be more like action flicks. You have a big blockbuster that everyone gets all frothy at the mouth for, then a few weeks later a newly hyped title comes along and everyone forgets about the last big thing almost instantly.
A less obvious reason is that TTLG hates its newbies. There's been more than one thread where a newbie pos ts his "hi" thread and before long gets viciously flamed by vets calling him retarded, a stupid asshole, and other invenctives that I won't repeat. From his perspective, TTLG just seems like a pit of vipers. There's no reason for him to stay.
doctorfrog on 30/5/2011 at 02:50
Hells bells, if TTLG ever truly dies, I'd want a good archive of the very finest of threads in e-book form so I can occasionally relive moments of greatness on my Kindle.
That, and I still want a screensaver that slowly types out random lines from #massivebereavement.
Scots Taffer on 30/5/2011 at 03:06
My comment was more directed at those who have found their way here regardless of the aging franchises that are this place's reason for being (that component of TTLG's stagnation is so obvious I felt it unnecessary to mention), and while there may be an incoming influx with DE and Thief sequels in the pipeline, my problem remains legitimate (I think) for current newish members and also those to arrive in the future. It took a long time to crystallise from my "I HATE MEGATHREADS" position to where I am today, but it's quite obvious to me now.
I think dethtoll's post was very good and reflects a lot of what I see around the traps these days. It's also reflected in the structure of most sites these days; articles with comments are the go as opposed to forums dedicated to discussion. People prefer immediacy of discussion and then refresh the news page and move on.
More generally, I've been a part of the social media world for a while now and use it to keep in touch with a lot of solid TTLG peeps (always welcome new faces, so hit me up with an invite on FB if you want). I can't see that going away, though you can never envisage the future of web technology and how quickly it proliferates.
