Slowing down - Why we don't post like we used to...

Dragonbums

Indulge in it's whiffy sensation
May 9, 2013
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JohnnyDelRay said:
Because GamerGate. Yes, I'm pulling that card. Now, I know there's a lot of eye-rolling going on because of the first 2 words of my post. But ever since that huge rift caused the traffic and number of members to dwindle, there's less people on the forum. Less people means less sharing, joking, arguing, and simply less people reading your posts. Which means you aren't as inclined to put as much effort into them, or even write. Plus all that other shit about getting older. Heck, I'm getting close to 35, I post about as much as I ever have, probably not as much as I would if I was in my teens and had more time, but I been pretty consisted ever since I properly joined and didn't just lurk around.

So whatever it was, I'd say that's why this website and even all the subforums except for Gaming and Off-Topic are all but dead. Hell, the Tech forum seems to be just Gorfias and me trading feedback on builds every few days.
Gamergate caused rifts sure, but the sheer amount of BANS dealt out to many of an account because they just couldn't seem to grasp the Code of Conduct when it came to that cursed thread and it's subsequent spawn was staggering. A lot of regular posters either left to user groups or off the site entirely because of the toxicity, behind the scenes sabatoge and rumor mills, bans, etc.

Afterwards those who were new to the site and didn't quite get how serious Escapist is about forum civility then went on to cry about how 'authoritarian' we were on other sites because they couldn't run discussions and throw insults at others like the average comments cancer pit discussions under a Kotaku article.

It didn't help that the Escapist was for a long time woefully behind when it came to gaming news.
 

happyninja42

Elite Member
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May 13, 2010
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FalloutJack said:
Happyninja42 said:
FalloutJack said:
Happyninja42 said:
FalloutJack said:
Whacha' talking about, stranger? I've always been here.
So you are Kosh?

No, I'm not really going to explain.

*Heads off to be cryptic and mysterious elsewhere*
You know I really hate it when you do that!! *calling to Kosh's retreating back*

Could not resist, but still...we have our laughs here still, I say.
I was hoping you would post that response, as it was appropriate to the quote of mine. xD Well done sir/madam/gender non-specific entity! And yes, our laughs are here, they have always been here. xD
 

The Funslinger

Corporate Splooge
Sep 12, 2010
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University, stress, the rift that cut through the site. Mostly things that other people have already said.

This is actually my first post in... hell, like a year? Insomnia has been screwing with me for over a week, so I've started running out of distractions. It's been nice seeing posts from people I remember.
 

Death Carr

Less Than 3D
Mar 30, 2011
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Right around gamergate I noticed some rather heavy-handed moderation even in topics not about that topic, which made me reconsider posting at all for fear of unfair moderation resulting in a mark on my account
also I was never really certain what "low content" meant in the old rules, with it being vaguely defined and moderated
nowadays I guess I just don't care to post like I used to, even with the new rules making me less terrified of mod wrath
 

Flames66

New member
Aug 22, 2009
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I mostly stopped when top threads stopped appearing on the front page, making it marginally more inconvenient to find interesting discussions.

Also, looking through this thread I see another reason. About half way down the first page it seems to have devolved into an argument about racism. I do not have the mental energy to dig through arguments and name calling to find interesting posts to respond to.
 

Scarim Coral

Jumped the ship
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Oct 29, 2010
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Oh I still here as in I would post as much as I would have but as you can see, there hardly any interesting or funny anymore!

People would rather comment in the gaming industry or the religon and politics section which are not my forte.

Before you mention the Wildwest, I forgot it's there at times.
 
Nov 28, 2007
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I mostly came on here to write reviews and such. But with that board being pretty much dying, and not getting any feedback, that pretty much went out the window. The rest of the boards just seemed to be filled with people telling me how I'm supposed to feel and what I should think.
 

Sassafrass

This is a placeholder
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Aug 24, 2009
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I stopped mostly as Skype, Steam and Twitter have all of the people I interact with nowadays.

It's a combination of that, just moving on, not liking the vocal majority of people here now (Which became more obvious when the thing that shall not be mentioned blew into town) and just having more stuff to do.
Redlin5 said:
Or maybe you're new and full of that forum energy. Or you're [user]Sassafrass[/user].

[small]Sassafrass.....[/small]​
Oh, they're not me.
No one can ever be me...
 
Dec 16, 2009
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The site seemed to die around the GG days: immediately pre GG, every other forum topic seemed to be about debating the definition of rape (FYI, apparently I am a rapist but I'd strongly dispute it). during GG, these forums were filled with hate. post GG, content has been constantly cut.

add to that the front page losing its forum feed, and it's all too off putting. i come to the Escapist once a week at most now, yet at one point I lurked daily.
 

Sleepy Sol

New member
Feb 15, 2011
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I just don't give a shit anymore. To add on to that I've never really thought this community was especially friendly to anyone not in certain "in" groups. It's not even a big deal at all; you tend to get treated decently most of the time, so long as you stay respectful. But sometimes just a little bit of a statement will set somebody off on you. Additionally, less content means less activity which also tends to result in less things to talk about which means less reasons to show up around here in general.

Hurr hurr Gamergate done ruined everything. I think it helped to do that, but to me, the site was already on something of a downward spiral for a little while prior to all of that bullshit. Nowadays most of what I do is post in Religion and Politics. Which probably does not bode well for my mental health considering how much worse that forum (I guess you could say this of every subforum to a degree) has become compared to what I remember of it years ago.

There's several people I'd like to keep contact with from here, maybe. If they don't mind and even remember me, lol. But I don't think I would really miss the site as a whole once it bites the dust, which is looking more likely every passing day.
 

Frission

Until I get thrown out.
May 16, 2011
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I agreed with most of the posts here about growing older, caring less, not as interested in some of the topics here, wanting to avoid arguments and finally that GG certainly was a killer. Strangely enough, the only times I post is when there's to commiserate how everything has slowed down.

Maybe it's also that people say exactly what I'm thinking?
 

Zombie_Fish

Opiner of Mottos
Mar 20, 2009
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I stopped visiting the site while at Uni, which greatly reduced my time here.

Nowadays by the time uni's over, I've gone to whatever (if any) social is on that evening, cooked dinner, prepared my bag for tomorrow, gone through my personal emails, read my webcomics and watched my regular channels on YouTube, I just don't have much time left for these forums.
 

Veldel

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Apr 28, 2010
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Lost in my mind
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I stopped posting mostly due to them removing that little side post bar on main page i used it for all my posting sense it told me whats active and often led to fun topics I don't like hunting stuff down.
 
Oct 2, 2012
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I just usually have nothing to say. I don't really care about arguments or debates anymore, I usually don't give a fuck about the current forum meltdowns over whatever hot button topic of the month/year is, I have other and quicker ways of contacting the friends I made here if I want to, and I generally don't find many topics very interesting.

Oh and on the topics I do find interesting I prefer to read the responses of more educated and eloquent people than foolishly trying my hand at conversation.

The overflow of hostility and passive-aggressiveness in recent years also helped just drive me away from posting.
I never really got "into" it with anybody, but just seeing all the bullshit and knee-jerk bitterness and crying drove me away.

I still check the forums daily (mostly R&P) for an interesting thread to read, but I don't log in or contribute all that much.
 

Barbas

ExQQxv1D1ns
Oct 28, 2013
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Beffudled Sheep said:
I just usually have nothing to say. I don't really care about arguments or debates anymore, I usually don't give a fuck about the current forum meltdowns over whatever hot button topic of the month/year is, I have other and quicker ways of contacting the friends I made here if I want to, and I generally don't find many topics very interesting.

Oh and on the topics I do find interesting I prefer to read the responses of more educated and eloquent people than foolishly trying my hand at conversation.

The overflow of hostility and passive-aggressiveness in recent years also helped just drive me away from posting.
I never really got "into" it with anybody, but just seeing all the bullshit and knee-jerk bitterness and crying drove me away.

I still check the forums daily (mostly R&P) for an interesting thread to read, but I don't log in or contribute all that much.
Basically, everything is even more terrible than before, just like it always was. There ya go, all caught up!

Are you still using Skype? Because it blows ass and you should use Discord instead.
 

Neonbob

The Noble Nuker
Dec 22, 2008
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I stopped enjoying the shows here as much as I had in the past, I got a bunch of new responsibilities as I grew older, and my free time is in much shorter supply than the days of college when I could just faff about all I liked on the internet.
While I haven't stopped bumbling through here every now and then, kind of browsing the topics every day or so, it is a rare thing when I feel like I should take the time to put my thoughts through the computer.
Hell, most of the time I do that it's because you've or one of the other old timers has posted something.
 
Oct 2, 2012
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Barbas said:
Beffudled Sheep said:
I just usually have nothing to say. I don't really care about arguments or debates anymore, I usually don't give a fuck about the current forum meltdowns over whatever hot button topic of the month/year is, I have other and quicker ways of contacting the friends I made here if I want to, and I generally don't find many topics very interesting.

Oh and on the topics I do find interesting I prefer to read the responses of more educated and eloquent people than foolishly trying my hand at conversation.

The overflow of hostility and passive-aggressiveness in recent years also helped just drive me away from posting.
I never really got "into" it with anybody, but just seeing all the bullshit and knee-jerk bitterness and crying drove me away.

I still check the forums daily (mostly R&P) for an interesting thread to read, but I don't log in or contribute all that much.
Basically, everything is even more terrible than before, just like it always was. There ya go, all caught up!

Are you still using Skype? Because it blows ass and you should use Discord instead.
Yep, I use the Skype mobile app. My laptop is total ass and my connection in my new pad is crap so Discord doesn't work well for me.
Do they have a well functioning and efficient mobile app I could grab for my phone?
 

Barbas

ExQQxv1D1ns
Oct 28, 2013
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Beffudled Sheep said:
Yep, I use the Skype mobile app. My laptop is total ass and my connection in my new pad is crap so Discord doesn't work well for me.
Do they have a well functioning and efficient mobile app I could grab for my phone?
If not then they probably will soon. Your laptop and connection are slow and you use Skype? That's like trying to pile more pandas onto an overburdened raft instead of just using the pandamaran.

Chinese proverb.
 
Oct 2, 2012
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Barbas said:
Beffudled Sheep said:
Yep, I use the Skype mobile app. My laptop is total ass and my connection in my new pad is crap so Discord doesn't work well for me.
Do they have a well functioning and efficient mobile app I could grab for my phone?
If not then they probably will soon. Your laptop and connection are slow and you use Skype? That's like trying to pile more pandas onto an overburdened raft instead of just using the pandamaran.

Chinese proverb.
Mobile app bruh. On my smart phone. It's quick and smooth and I've run into few issues with it. The mobile app is much much better than the shitty pc version.