Where did all the older Escapist users go?

[mb16]

2007 FTW!

What are you implying? That I tracked down anyone older than me and secretly packed them into shipping crates? That's just silly! How could I afford a shipping crate?

I rarely see anyone older than me, but they are there. I sort of want them to have a 4 and 5 year badge since I already got the 3 year one.

ah black bird man (i identify people by their avatar) its been a while since i have seen you. what is this 3 year badge you speak of?


OT: i came for ZP, i first started lurking on the 5th/09/2007 and then signed up in 2008

however i dont consider my self an "old boy" as i havent posted enough

 

[Woodsey]

Why, they died 10 years ago.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

IMO forums are like a plant they go in a sort of cycle. In the beginning there are a few users who could be considered the seed. Then as the 'word' gets around the user base increases steadily, this could be considered the stalk of the plant. Next when some sort of critical mass of users is achieved the 'forum plant' then enters it's flowering phase where the user base grows rapidly and threads are varied, interesting, and bountiful. This can't last forever though and eventually the user base declines or the older users move on and are replaced with 'noob' forum members. This changes the nature of the forums and could be considered the end of the flowering phase. The plant lives on but it just is not the same as it was before.

/brain fart

 

[New Troll]

I followed Yahtzee here from YouTube. Enjoyed the new content that kept appearing on this site so eventually made my account and started posting. These days though I tend to stick more to the User Groups than the forums because they are a LOT less repetitive. There's only so many times I can answer why I started visiting this site before I go mad...

Use to enjoy just 'hanging out' on this site but the older my son gets, the less time I have for such things.

 

[justnotcricket]

I don't know - I'm still here =P

Mind you what I think you really mean is 'where did all those old outspoken/controversial/high posting ones go? In which case, they probably got banned because eventually all their outspokenness caught up with them and they found out that having a high post count and being 'popular' doesn't give you the right to repeatedly break the rules. Anyone remember MaxTheReaper?

Otherwise, maybe they just moved on. Also, in forums, there is a seriously warped idea of what a 'long time' really is. As you can see, I joined the forum a while ago - I came for the ZP, and stayed for pretty much everything else, particularly anything by the LRR crew and the video reviews.
However, I've only been here about 3-4 years. That's peanuts when I think that I've spent about 20 years in school so far (with the prospect of many more, grad school being what it is).

 

[Hiroshi Mishima]

Some, like me, just tend to lurk and only comment rarely. It took me a while just to make an actual account here, to be perfectly honest.

Main reason is that I'm not big on community, but I like a good number of the shows/articles and such. I only really post if I see something worthwhile or catches my interest in the side bar while I'm watching a video.

 

[Vault101]

.

you sure are big on this "intulectual" thing arnt you? what the heck would you define as an "intulectual" anyway?

I find it kind of silly that some bitched and moaned about the jimquisition because they found it "insulting" and "abrasive" (poor fragile little souls they were) jim may have gotten off to a rocky start but as time went on he showed the he had some damn interesting opinions which we contray to the generl veiws seen here...and persoanlly I think a nice change to the cyasm of yahtzee

and of coarse anyone who thinks jim is actally being serious (as in the persona) is obviously to effing stupid to be here anyway...kind of like some who will LOVE yahtzee untill they insult a game they like..OR base all their opinions on yahtzee

honestly this "we were intelectuals" is coming off as rather pretentious

 

[Vault101]

We got eaten. Sorry.

After being here for three years, that Tiger in Mariena's profile has eaten most of us 3rd years. I, however, am still alive.

For now.

EDIT: You know you're old school when:



- You had to earn 5,000 post (Neo) badge when there was no way to lower your infractions and had to actually post, user groups did not even exist then. So anyone who had the Neo badge was considered an Escapist Among Men.



- The Daily Drop being that new, awesome show. Look, something's in slow-mo! Ohhhh... baby! (This was very entertaining at first, regardless if it broke or not. And the first time we saw the Crowbar... Epicness was born)

- Everyone. Wanted. Badges.

I got my 5000 posts only using forums..havnt touched user groups or RP

hey..I never noticed..what ever did happen to daily drop?

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I tend to post much less frequently on the forums these days.

The reason is that snarky, cynical condescension seems to be the most popular form of communication here at the moment and I'm not a fan of that, it doesn't make for good discussion.

 

[SextusMaximus]

I don't know when I joined, but I know the classics like Hubilub and Furburt are gone (or have they just changed their usernames?) - I see most oldies in forum games / RP section, though.

 

[Manji187]

They moved on.
Got banned.
Still hang around but don't post much.

Yeah, especially numero uno methinks. Obligations of all sorts kick in, some find a more appealing way (for them) to pass the time and satisfy their intellectual and/ or creative needs.

 

[MercenaryCanary]

I joined up early 2008, so I guess I could be considered a slightly older forum member.

 

[JoJo]

They've grown bored. There's only so much you can say on forums. You can't really have any serious political discussion, because it devolves into a shouting match, where people aren't really listening to each other, or are willing to concede defeat. As for video-game discussion, there's only so much of that you can talk about - and usually you'd go to websites that specialize in discussing that particular game.

I'm also starting to see a LOT of repeated topics, and after you see the 50th thread about "Israel and Palestine" or "My girlfriend did X, what should I do" or "Am I the only one who doesn't like X?" an overwhelming sense of apathy overtakes you.

Most threads aren't interesting any more. And the internet is the last place you'd want to have a meaningful discussion, because unlike in real life, you can say the silliest thing and since you don't have to look someone in the eye when saying it, you aren't constrained by things like logic or reasonable behaviour. Having debates and discussions in real life is slightly more purposeful, since you run the risk of personally looking like an idiot if you spout nonsense and BS. That's not the case with the internet: You can shout and scream the most meaningless nonsense about how "Fluoride is giving us cancer" or "Vaccines cause Autism", and your personal reputation is unaffected - and better still, you can just IGNORE posts that contain messages you don't like! Which is what happens on internet forums: You get two groups of people yelling at each other, but neither side will ever really thoughtfully read or consider what the other side has to say. They just glance over counter-arguments, skim over comments which take an opposing view and continue to repeat the same 4 or 5 arguments over and over again.

I'm beginning to question the purpose of having discussions on the internet. When you don't have to listen or read what your opponent says or writes, debate is meaningless.

This, after close to four thousand posts on this site, mainly earlier this year, I have already withdrawn a great deal from the main forums and only stick around for the role-playing... once I eventually move on from there I'll probably leave this site forever. After a while you've argued all the points you can and you realise for every user you teach your point of view five more will replace them. Also in regards to this particular site I'd point out that in the "old" days there weren't actually that many users compared to now so the remaining ones have been swamped numbers-wise by numerous new users such as myself.

 

[Sucal]

I tend to post much less frequently on the forums these days.

The reason is that snarky, cynical condescension seems to be the most popular form of communication here at the moment and I'm not a fan of that, it doesn't make for good discussion.

You can't say that, you'd completely destroy all the Escapists work in getting content producers who specialise in that sort of humour, and whose fanbases don't realise that most of it is an act. Sorry, I couldn't avoid the urge/desire for a self demonstrating Article.

OT: Who/What would you exactly consider to be old in this case. The pre-Yahtzee fanbase, the 'pre-you' fan base, or just those who joined before 2010-11

 

[MercurySteam]

I still hang around here, though the forums have changed a lot over the last three years. Some of us older users would call it 'stagnation' but at least the PubClub forums are relatively clean. As long as Yahtzee sticks around, so will I.

 

[Engarde]

Yeah, that happens over time. I didn't join for any particular reason and I only stay for a handful of people (who I don't think know who they are). Should they leave, so would I, and no one would notice a thing. It's a... nice... feeling.

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

I joined for Doomsday Arcade when that was still running. Didn't really start posting in the forums until a while after the series ended though.

Now i quite enjoy both the news posts and all the other content hosted on the site. I know some people who don't feel like supporting the Escapist after the Extra Credits thing, but i'm not going to leave even for that. I enjoy the site too much.

(When i first saw the title i was thinking: "They all went to watch Desert Bus", but then i realized this wasn't just something that recent)

 

[Cazza]

Well I lurked for over a year or more before joining the forums. I guess over the last year many others have done the same. Combined with bans of older users or just plain not posting as much.