Forum Population

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ActiveRadarIsCasul
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Forum Population

#1 Post by ActiveRadarIsCasul »

I've noticed that this forum is relatively inactive compared to some other forums, and it got me wondering as to whether its always like this or if its just in a relatively uneventful spot?
I'd really appreciate it if all you dagger and short-sword users could just not turn the battlefield into a pokefest whenever someone shows up with an ultra-greatsword i.e. me

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Tetrahedron
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Re: Forum Population

#2 Post by Tetrahedron »

OK, I am not writing very much myself in the forum, so shame on me...
But, I also noticed that the forum is not as active as some time ago...

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Akira110
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Re: Forum Population

#3 Post by Akira110 »

Most of the old fans of the comic have moved onto other things. Honestly, the only reason I stick around is that I don't want to go through the pain in the [censored] process of finding a new place to host the first draft of my literary works.
Been around this forum for over 8 years now. Everyone I've known has left, now it's my time to do the same.

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Neptune
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Re: Forum Population

#4 Post by Neptune »

Akira110 wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 1:05 pm Most of the old fans of the comic have moved onto other things. Honestly, the only reason I stick around is that I don't want to go through the pain in the [censored] process of finding a new place to host the first draft of my literary works.
Wattpad, Microsoft Word and Google Docs should be better options than this. Optimally Google Docs because your edits will immediately be saved.

Also, I don't want to sound like a [censored] or anything, but I'm not sure if anybody really reads the stories in the Writing Board, like Mechanical Earth, your story, et cetera. The only exception would really be Of Men and Wolves.
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Re: Forum Population

#5 Post by SirSlaughter »

Almost everyone that made this place as active as it used to be (I mean this place was super fun) have gone on to do other things in life. They've gotten jobs/careers, some people have actually passed away, I myself have moved onto a career path that doesn't really let me have time to sit down and chat like I used to when I first moved to America in 2010.

A lot of other people just don't have the time to post the long winded responses like they use to. I remember when people would post paragraph upon paragraph about whatever the subject was at hand and the conversations would just continue for days if not weeks with people posting non-stop.
So yes, the population of the forum has certainly dwindled in the years. It's a shame really because I miss a lot of the old people that used to be here. This place helped me get through a tough time a while back.
It would be nice if those people would show up again.

The only real reason I'm still here is because I always had this place as my first tab when I open my web browser and I don't really want to just disappear.

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ActiveRadarIsCasul
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Re: Forum Population

#6 Post by ActiveRadarIsCasul »

well now im a sad boi
I'd really appreciate it if all you dagger and short-sword users could just not turn the battlefield into a pokefest whenever someone shows up with an ultra-greatsword i.e. me

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Re: Forum Population

#7 Post by Neutral Smith »

Are we talking about the whole forum, or just the writing board? (because some of the posts here are about writing and lack of reading stories)

But yes, this forum is pretty dead.

I'm honest, I should be more active as well. I came here for the writing board, moved to the Panel Shuffle (still have some ideas, but not the time. Pages I want to use are still on my desktop), I could be more active in the comic discussion, but I have nothing to add, so I keep my mouth shut and you don't see my posts there. Maybe I should visit other topics as well, and post when I feel like I have something useful to add. (not likely as well)

Now my visits of this forum are just a part of my quick morning ritual on the internet, quick browse over a limited amount of sites, few comics, few news sites, keeping 'last man posting' alive, and move on. In my evening and weekends you can find me mostly idling on Twokinds IRC (but nothing more 2K related), when I am online there it's also quite dead (but that's because it's morning in America, when I'm awake at my 4am it's much more active (but me being awake and online at that time is rare)

And yes, there is a story of mine in the writing board, and yes, I am still writing. (next chapter is at 2/3, but I might do a chapter split because I want the chapters to be between 8 and 14 pages in 10pt Arial, and now I'm at page 9 with a difficult discussion about differences between cultures coming, so that might take a few months because I only write when bored. I know what will happen, but not yet how. And so many mistakes I want to fix... timing problems (there are no 'months' like we know them, only 'moons'), currency mistakes (big coin vs. small coin), stupid spelling and grammar errors (English is not my native language), problems with names... but that's for when I'm completely done. Just ignore them :P )
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Akira110
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Re: Forum Population

#8 Post by Akira110 »

Neptune wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 11:36 pm
Akira110 wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 1:05 pm Most of the old fans of the comic have moved onto other things. Honestly, the only reason I stick around is that I don't want to go through the pain in the [censored] process of finding a new place to host the first draft of my literary works.
Wattpad, Microsoft Word and Google Docs should be better options than this. Optimally Google Docs because your edits will immediately be saved.

Also, I don't want to sound like a [censored] or anything, but I'm not sure if anybody really reads the stories in the Writing Board, like Mechanical Earth, your story, et cetera. The only exception would really be Of Men and Wolves.
Eh, the number under times viewed keeps going up and that's good enough for me.
Been around this forum for over 8 years now. Everyone I've known has left, now it's my time to do the same.

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Re: Forum Population

#9 Post by judah4 »

I use to be way more active but over the years I've stuck to mostly lurking on posts. I've always had the forum open on a tab so I've never actually gone away but not knowing the new people makes it hard to talk with them.

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Re: Forum Population

#10 Post by Zakkerus »

Neptune wrote: Sun May 06, 2018 9:31 pm
Zakkerus wrote: Sun May 06, 2018 8:50 pm Because if you have an opinion, and one of the moderators or admins, or whatever they call them, don't like it, you automatically get in trouble, even if you were more respectful than some of the others. Then an admin will do some very insulting, scummy, power abusive things, just because they don't like you. Then when you try to get justice for their actions, they drop off the radar, because they're afraid of retribution for their heinous acts.

I have proof too
Go on /2kg/, most of the people there don't use the Forums because it's a cesspool, the mods are jerks and the Forumites don't agree with their opinions (e.g. "Kat x Zen is best ship lul" "Natani is definitely the man" "Keith had sexual relations with Alaric" etc.) It's comfy there, just don't get them all riled up.

I know one of you /trash/posters is reading this, I know what I'm doing.
So, you're saying that it's better there? Well, one of the admins here definitely edited my profile with rude things. Take a look if you'd like.

I know exactly which one did it too, if you're curious.

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Re: Forum Population

#11 Post by Technic[Bot] »

Well according to the forum own statistics this place has never been that large.
At the bottom of the main page of the forum you can see that there are 10354 registered users as today, but the record for concurrent users is only 134 way back in 2013.
Also there is the problem that this type of forum is basically a living fossil. PhpBB was very popular in the early 2000's but with the rise of social media and platforms like facebook and twitter. Their popularity has gone down the drain since the turn of the decade.
So newer fans will flock to more modern platforms like reddit, or the aforementioned social platforms, even Tom Patreon or deviantart. Leaving this place a rather barren...
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Re: Forum Population

#12 Post by TinyVoices »

Zakkerus wrote: Sun May 06, 2018 8:50 pm Then an admin will do some very insulting, scummy, power abusive things, just because they don't like you.
What am I coming back to, here?
SirSlaughter wrote: Sun May 06, 2018 4:05 am A lot of other people just don't have the time to post the long winded responses like they use to. I remember when people would post paragraph upon paragraph about whatever the subject was at hand and the conversations would just continue for days if not weeks with people posting non-stop.
Jeez it's been years since I posted my last wall of text. S:P

And I dropped off the forum because holding communications in instant message apps seems better conversationally than sending PMs and waiting for them to read and reply. I gave up quality posts for quantity.

I kinda miss the forum, but for one reason or another I've become both detached yet still remain. Popping on once or twice every few months to see what's up. It's fun seeing a lot of old or even recent forumites elsewhere in the furry fandom and I can say I knew them once.

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Hayate
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Re: Forum Population

#13 Post by Hayate »

The forum is a place where I met just about all of my online friends. It used to be a bit more active when I first joined, but not by too much. The most activity is around when a new page is posted, its fun to read everyone's opinions and insights into the story. Lots of people still check the forums regularly, I check it literally everyday multiple times. We just don't post as often because we stay in touch through other things like Telegram, Skype, etc.

There are always new people joining and new topics made so I doubt this place will ever truly be dead.
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Neptune
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Re: Forum Population

#14 Post by Neptune »

Hayate wrote: Mon May 07, 2018 4:02 pm The forum is a place where I met just about all of my online friends. It used to be a bit more active when I first joined, but not by too much. The most activity is around when a new page is posted, its fun to read everyone's opinions and insights into the story. Lots of people still check the forums regularly, I check it literally everyday multiple times. We just don't post as often because we stay in touch through other things like Telegram, Skype, etc.

There are always new people joining and new topics made so I doubt this place will ever truly be dead.
I usually check it every day, though usually only once or so.

The forum is probably not going to die, yes, but it's pretty slow nowadays and I'm pretty sure more people are either migrating to other platforms or leaving the fandom entirely, either because of complaints about toxicity, dissatisfaction with the comic and so on.
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Re: Forum Population

#15 Post by Ryusen »

The forum isn't dead because of something it necessarily did wrong. It's dead because, well, it's a forum.

By design, they move relatively slowly and require fair amounts of upkeep. Their content is similarly slow, updating on an hourly or daily basis. Compare that to modern social media like Reddit or Facebook, and you see how much faster and more addictive it can be to have so much more content so much faster.

Even at the height of this forum's productivity, I'd hardly call it a "busy" group. We had a few threads going, but updates (well, good updates) were usually measured in hours or days between posts. Who has time for that when you can browse so many more threads in so many more topics on Reddit?

I come back every so often out of a bizarre case of Stockholm Syndrome, but my posting is practically non-existent. It's not a problem with the admins, or toxicity, comic quality, or really anything else; forums had their place, and that has run it's course.
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