Forums going downhill

[cahaz]

i'm not here to point anyone.

I decided to make this thread, because i think we need to talk about it. I know some members (that i won't name) that started to lurk because they were tired of what was going on. i know people who thought of quitting for the same reasons.

i know i won't get new friends with that thread, but i think this was needed, and some members or ex-memebers even pushed me (pollitly) to do it.

I looked over the last hot threads of the week, about what arrived and all, and i heard many people talking about it, even members that aren'tposting anymore, because of the problem. Forums seems to go downhill. i mean, everytime you try to post your point of view, your opinion, you get messages that are bashing it. i know you can have other opinions, that you can argue about yours and all, but opinions doesn't seem to be respected anymore. some members doesn't post anymore because they are scared to say their opinions on this forum, litterally.

You cannot defend or criticize a compagny without being labeled fan boy either anymore, while some members get really fanboyish, bashing everything a compagny does and protect everything their loved one do. some bash consoles for absolutly no reasons, they're telling how bad something is, but most of time never really got into it.

You cannot criticize anyting without being criticized yourself, you cannot tell something is disapointing or anything, criticizing is something wrong, it seems.

Where's that proffesionalism? where's the respect of everything? that friendly environement that was trolling and spaming free? you certainly know what i'm talking about, and i hope my message will open the eyes of some members. i wish everything could return as it was before.

some people forgot that opinions aren't facts, and forgot that opinions are what they are, personal thoughts. Neutralism is also questionnable, some tend to bash anything labeled by a specific compagny (or even member), and some are even knowing it, and tell it to everyone who would like to hear it.

someone even told me the forums is going on the gamefaq way, slowly but certainly.

what's going on, mates?

Peace.

cahaz _

[WolverineDK]

cahaz: You said it man, those words are quite true. And i try hard to be polite with all, and i still hope when i PMed koolkid13 he does not think i am a stupid cunt, when i asked about something. Since it was not an insult on him, at all. And i hope he has not put me on ignore here on the forum.

And i have been many times been in a kinda way, being either teased very hard, or for that matter ridiculed , because of my knowledge. And i don´t think that is very cool.

And yes at some few post i have been in a way fanboyish, and i have apologised at the same time, since my fanboyism, is not a noobish fanboyism, just a love of many things.

Peace

WolverineDK

aka Martin Kirchoff Rasmussen.

[Fabrizo]

While as I havn't been posting here for that long of time (comparably to certain members like cahaz), I have been watching these boards for years, and I do agree about this 'fanboy' and 'lets bash all products made by company Z' has become far more promenent as of late. I actualy to some degree expected this to happen, as I remember all to well how bad it got durring the beggining years of the current generation.

I personaly feel that all three console makers have their short commings, but they all of their good points to. At one point I was a Sega 'fanboy', and despised Sony, but once I overcame it and started to realise how arrogant it was of me to do such a thing I began to enjoy games much more as I wasn't constantly trying to compare products.

In the end I realised that games are just meant to be entertainment, and if you find a product to lack such a quality then why bother thinking about it? I don't like D&D or Magic cards, but I don't spend all day saying how much I hate them or that everyone who does is my enemy. And I think more people should do the same and just enjoy what they enjoy, and leave those that have different tastes or opinions to their own endevors. At the very lest this helps keep everyone happy and the mood light.

[Topic Archive]

My views are similar to what Fabrizo just said and what I'm sure cahaz was explaining...

Game consoles and the like allow me to play games, games as in entertainment, nothing more nothing less, just like watching the T.V or listening to music, I can take it or leave it.

...I don't give a toss about who's best as I've never found a system that allows me to play EVERY game that I've always wanted to play. In a few cases I've ended up buying a system purely to play one game! ...But hey that's entertainment!

...No system is the 'best' just enjoy what you have.

...I only use this forum for 'fun' if the 'fun' stops I would stop using it, it's by far the best of it's kind on the net so I hope the 'fun' continues!

[Johnny]

Great topic cahaz. Hope this is a way to stop people criticizing everything, and remember what we all like: Games.

[Taemos]

I agree, cahaz. It's a bit much when you can't speak your mind (politely) without being harassed. I hope this thread does something about it. The fanboy-ish attitudes I've seen are getting pretty tired, too.

[Mark30001]

I agree to everybody. I will always be here, heck, this forum is great for a lot of things!

Not just peace, but world peace...

[XerdoPwerko]

I'm a fanboy of all videogames, actually. I do complain about the PS2 ocasionally, but I used to own one and have bought several good games for it.
I generally try to be as civil as possible - but if I've said or done anything to offend anybody, I apologise. I do, however, like to freely express my opinion and beliefs, so if any time I do so too vehemently, let me know, please.
I have felt some tension in the forums lately, to tell the truth; but then again, I've been feeling tension everywhere lately. I hope things can get better - and I guess I'll do all I can to help.

Suggestions?

[Alien Workshop]

I think it started with the shift from phpBB to vbulletin. The forum started getting more traffic, and we started getting more members. I remember when the "Most users ever online" thing was only listed in the twenties (on the phpBB forum), and now its 574! That's insane. When I first joined ASSEMbler, there were only four forums: General Discussion, Off Topic, For Sale, and Feedback. I miss those days :[ Also, I'm not going to name any names, but some of our newer members seem to be spamming a lot, making useless posts, and making double or triple posts. I agree with cahaz, and I was going to make a similar thread myself.

The forums are going downhill :[

[Taemos]

Also, I'm not going to name any names, but some of our newer members seem to be spamming a lot, making useless posts, and making double or triple posts. I agree with cahaz, and I was going to make a similar thread myself. [

I think I've seen this, too, but it's not as bad as it could be.

[Divine Evolution]

Yeah, I find myself only visiting maybe once a week.
I first came to these forums on their former ezBoard counterparts and loved it because it was full of people discovering and discussing the video game past.
Honestly the current generation of gaming doesn't hold my interest and this new generation that's unfolding certainly doesn't interest me - consequently the Company X vs. Company Y arguments certainly don't interest me either.
I'll probably continue to visit no matter how bad these boards get but I doubt I'll be saying much.
That is not to say that's how I want this to end. Quite the contrary, I'd love to dwell on video game history and unlock new secrets of these awesome machines past but I guess there's only so much left to discover.
~Krelian

P.S.: And you know what else I'd like to see? I'd like to see all the former pages about old rare stuff from the RoarVGM Assembler site revived. I think that would help attract the right kind of people again.

[Mark30001]

I have to agree with Divine Evolution (member.php?u=105)!!

[XerdoPwerko]

P.S.: And you know what else I'd like to see? I'd like to see all the former pages about old rare stuff from the RoarVGM Assembler site revived. I think that would help attract the right kind of people again.


Those are what brought me here in the first place - the info on the BSX, some transparent Galaxy Fraulein figurines Assembler had, the PC Engine GT that Assembler... well, disassembled - and then about a year or so later, I finally decided to get into the forums.

I don't know if there are right kinds or wrong kinds of people, though - I guess it's not really about being new here - but about a sense of civility that we can all have, being responsible adults.

[Mark30001]

being responsible adults.

...and late teens! :-D

[The VGM]

I know part of this is my fault with the CS Source thread, and I agree that got out of hand. Sorry all for that, and Mr Casual I got no problems with you dude, I hope MGS3:S does come out for Xbox so you can enjoy online too.

I also know some of my posts have been anti-xbox 360. Sorry for those aswell.

[Mark30001]

I must confess as well. I think I was also to blame when I made my 100 posts thread.

I'm sorry you guys...

[Mr. Casual]

I know part of this is my fault with the CS Source thread, and I agree that got out of hand. Sorry all for that, and Mr Casual I got no problems with you dude, I hope MGS3:S does come out for Xbox so you can enjoy online too.

I also know some of my posts have been anti-xbox 360. Sorry for those aswell.
No problem. I'm sorry for all the crap I have been posting lately. Lets hope this is a new beginning for the boards.

Great topic, Cahaz!

[Taemos]

I must confess as well. I think I was also to blame when I made my 100 posts thread.

I'm sorry you guys...

Everyone makes those, except it's usually for 1,000 :).

I do miss the old pages. That's what got me coming here - development/unreleased hardware. Basically all I see now is Xbox 360 vs. Playstation 3 garbage. I'll admit to not liking certain companies, but it's nothing to get into a fight over. Like others have said, it's all about the games.

[Evangelion-01]

I was also thinking about this and i think i even told gsl about it, and i am sure that you WolverineDK (member.php?u=73) think i was ridiculing you , but i just want to let you know that i was just kidding :).

[WolverineDK]

Evangelion-01: You have for the first time almost said an apology, and i accept it. But others has done it too. And it has pissed me off many a times. Since if you have experienced things like me in the childhood, being bullied by almost every one for five years. And experienced lynching from 500 +pupils/students that was only saved by the school bell , where my sister and i stood back to back.

And i was hated by all except avery few people (they needed a person to bullie) on that school. Then you would know why i hate being ridiculed and harrassed, and i ever see a person being bullied/ etc. ever again, i would protect the fellow and smack the living shit out of the persons. Even if they have a fuckload of cousins. Since i am tired being a person who is afraid.

And i try hard to be a good person, and i am NOT violent. but everyone has a limit.

I even try to be a fair and square person.

So to every one on this forum, even the moderators, if i am 100 % right in my views and knowledge. Don´t fuck with me then.

But i am always openminded and fight against any kinds of injustice. To all.

And when i get corrected in a thing , i am telling about. And my information is wrong, then i will accept it.

And i was right, in the thing about the Black Death. But i was ridiculed, since i knew what i was talking about, although i am not a doctor or for that matter a scientist. But get the drift.

try to search for the Jante Law.

that is the most common used law amongst people.

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/nordic-faq.../section-5.html (http://www.faqs.org/faqs/nordic-faq/part2_NORDEN/section-5.html)
this is in norwegian translated to english.

1.Du skal ikke tro at du *er* noe.
Thou shalt not presume that thou art anyone [important].
2. Du skal ikke tro at du er like saa meget som *oss*.
Thou shalt not presume that thou art as good as us.
3. Du skal ikke tro at du er klokere en *oss*.
Thou shalt not presume that thou art any wiser than us.
4. Du skal ikke innbille deg du er bedre enn *oss*.
Thou shalt never indulge in the conceit of imagining that thou art
better than us.
5. Du skal ikke tro du vet mere enn *oss*.
Thou shalt not presume that thou art more knowledgeable than us.
6. Du skal ikke tro du er mere enn *oss*.
Thou shalt not presume that thou art more than us [in any way].
7. Du skal ikke tro at *du* duger til noe.
Thou shalt not presume that that thou art going to amount to
anything.
8. Du skal ikke le av *oss*.
Thou art not entitled to laugh at us.
9. Du skal ikke tro at noen bryr seg om *deg*.
Thou shalt never imagine that anyone cares about thee.
10. Du skal ikke tro at du kan lære *oss* noe.
Thou shalt not suppose that thou can teach us anything.

this is the danish version and xerdopwerko , if you got a digital danish/english dictionary you can see tro = think/believe etc. presume.





Du skal ikke tro, at du er lige så meget som os.
Du skal ikke tro, at du er klogere end os.
Du skal ikke bilde dig ind, at du er bedre end os.
Du skal ikke tro, at du ved mere end os.
Du skal ikke tro, at du er mere end os.
Du skal ikke tro, at du duer til noget.
Du skal ikke le ad os.
Du skal ikke tro, at nogen bryder sig om dig.
Du skal ikke tro, at du kan lære os noget
i just want to say i use the anti version of that law.
Axel Sandemose was just the person who put a name on the law, and he was a danish writer who made a book called "A Fugitive Crosses His Path" (en flygtning krydser sit spor)

http://www.sandemose.dk/

or just search for the name .

[madhatter256]

I don't feel that this place is going to the crapper. I have been with these boards since the roarvgm days, all the way back to 2001. Back then I was just a lurker asking simple questions about the PSX debug that still pop up today. We were all "noobs" at one point in our lives and we got wise, but you have to remember is that there will always be someone new here asking simple questions about such and such dev hardware. Just be helpful, thats what sets us apart from the other forums.

There will always be the occasional asshole poster that shoots down every opinion you have and ignites a flamewar. Just don't let that person get to you, its the Internet!! Its thread like these that actually get me worried sometimes. What I don't want to see is this place to get uptight with the rules and then end up dying because the members will be afraid to get modded for showing any opinion in what they posted and the mods are afraid that it will get out of hand. This type of thing almost happened and I'm seeing the signs of it happening again. Grant it we did have immense flamewars over politics and now ppl don't post about it, which is ok but I don't care what you're political affiliation is, but that doesn't mean I don't mind reading what you have to say even if they are opposite of my views.

I've been starting to see a new wave of regular posters which is good so of course, it will keep this place alive. I will still be around, posting from time to time if I'm interested in what you guys are talking about. I just don't want to see this place die, it almost did, then Acclaim had their bankruptcy auction and I'm glad I played a major role in that.


Just relax, be cool, be respectful, and use common sense.

[RyanGamerGoneGrazy]

maybe...and bare with me...maybe we need to enforce some things around here.....ive seen them remove posts bout screaming matches at other posters, but do these posters actually get justice for it, maybe you 'kno suspend them or something or do like a 3 shots and your gone kinda deal for insulting someone, or doing something,...i dunno....i cant very well convey what im thinking, sorry for wasting your time with this post

Ryan Adams

[SuperGrafx]

I know I'm biased against Sony, but whatever. Just as car enthusiasts have their favorite makers and models, I feel so too should video games. That's the way it was back in the NES and Genesis days, and to me video gaming has and always will have some element of fanboyism.

With that said, I don't go into threads with the only intent to demean people over their choice of system. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, just as those who have system biases are.

[ASSEMbler]

What can I say... as a site grows, there are more and more novices. I myself have noticed the posts, quite ridiculous posts about basic items you should already know about if you are here.

No one seems to like strict moderation. To give criteria for posting, well... it is perhaps too close minded.

And now we will have several thousand new people drop by when a magazine article in the working drops.

So what to do.

The board is not meant to be for the novice. However, I wont kick people because they dont know as much as veterans do.

It's very much a hard spot.

The only thing I can do is make another forum that is locked to all but existing members. That way when the newbies come, there is a safe haven.

I can close membership ranks. We have a good community, to dilute it further may be harmful. Therefore I put to you the idea of closing the forum to new users.

I neeed ideas here, because I too have noticed that there is a large amount of crap posts.

I personally would remove the off topic area, I think it distracts us too much.

[GaijinPunch]

I've been reading/posting less not b/c of bashing, but it just seems there's a lot of lame posts in general... there are plenty of veterans that are guilty as well, IMHO. It's not my place to point fingers or anything, so I just do what I do... post and read less. No sense in whining about it. On that note, I don't think locking the forums is the answer... although it would cut out some of it I'm sure.

[cahaz]

everyones needs distraction, i say
and i makes the community stronger (well, most of time)

[Alien Workshop]

What can I say... as a site grows, there are more and more novices. I myself have noticed the posts, quite ridiculous posts about basic items you should already know about if you are here.

No one seems to like strict moderation. To give criteria for posting, well... it is perhaps too close minded.

And now we will have several thousand new people drop by when a magazine article in the working drops.

So what to do.

The board is not meant to be for the novice. However, I wont kick people because they dont know as much as veterans do.

It's very much a hard spot.

The only thing I can do is make another forum that is locked to all but existing members. That way when the newbies come, there is a safe haven.

I can close membership ranks. We have a good community, to dilute it further may be harmful. Therefore I put to you the idea of closing the forum to new users.

I neeed ideas here, because I too have noticed that there is a large amount of crap posts.

I personally would remove the off topic area, I think it distracts us too much.


What Magazine is this article going to be in? I'll have to pick up a copy when it ships.

I don't really like the idea of removing the off topic section.

It seems to me that a lot of the new members think this is just another video games forum, when the main focus is Rare, Obsucre, Dev, and Prototype. I'm not too much of a Dev. person, but I do know a thing or two about Rare, Obscure, and Prototype systems, and that's what I originally came here for.

[XerdoPwerko]

I think the current forum structure is not bad at all. Yes, we're here to discuss videogames, but we're also here (IMHO) to form a brotherhood and become friends with one another (which is why the Off Topic area exists). We have a common interest, but to know more of those people you share an interest with, you can also see their other interests and learn about their lives.

And there could be complete newbies that may come and teach even the most knowledgeable experts a thing or two. Who knows, maybe one of the zero-posters is Hideo Kojima or Yuji Naka or Jack Tramiel - so maybe locking down forums to newbies is also, I think, not a very good idea.

[Blur2040]

And there could be complete newbies that may come and teach even the most knowledgeable experts a thing or two. Who knows, maybe one of the zero-posters is Hideo Kojima or Yuji Naka or Jack Tramiel - so maybe locking down forums to newbies is also, I think, not a very good idea.

Agreed.

I don't think anyone would suggest that it's a good idea to discourage new members...but it is frustrating to see the same old questions repeated over and over again.

I think that in a perfect world, there should be some sort of ASSEMbler primer that new members could read. For me...that was the old ASSEMbler website. I read through that all about a hundred times before I ever posted a thing. I know that you can't force new users to read anything (ooh, maybe you should have a primer with a quiz you have to pass for membership, haha), but it's a nice thought.

[Hawanja]

I wouldn't close the forum, new members is what keeps forums fresh. Even though there may be 1000+ members I notice only a handful of us actually post more than once in a while. (Take a look at the people who posted in this thread.) Besides, it's kind of cool to educate new people to the sordid histories of videogames. What's the use of knowing all this stuff if you can't tell people about it?

The restriced forum idea is a good one, maybe they have to meet a cetain criteria before they're allowed in (say 500 posts or something.) I'd personally go with that. Then when someone meets the criteria to be allowed in the big boy's forum the losers and spammers will be filtered out.

I don't think the forums here are any worse than before. Compared to Ne- errr.... other video game forums this one has a suprisingly low amount of dumbasses on it.

[Mr. Casual]

How about
1. 100 posts to start a thread
2. Banned if at least post is less than ~50~ and posting less than 1 post a week
3. 250 posts to post view and post in Off-topic
4. Mods go in and correct spelling and grammar if post is uncomprehensible. :D
5. Locking threads that already are similar with other ones

Thats all I can think of...

[Johnny]

The board is not meant to be for the novice. However, I wont kick people because they dont know as much as veterans do.


This is so true. The other day someone posted that discovered a famicom game + converter inside a NES cart, and from what i remember everybody's replys were polite and giving info about it.

[A. Snow]

The only thing I can do is make another forum that is locked to all but existing members. That way when the newbies come, there is a safe haven.

I can close membership ranks. We have a good community, to dilute it further may be harmful. Therefore I put to you the idea of closing the forum to new users.

I personally would remove the off topic area, I think it distracts us too much.

1. The problem I see with this is that since the older members tend to be the most experienced members all the good post would go in this forum and further dilute the existing gaming forum.

2. This might be the best option for now. There comes a point were something becomes so big the it becomes quantity over quality. The downside is that we might miss the opportunity to gain some real knowledge and good members as well. As elitist as it sounds maybe going to something like invitation only would be a good move. How to do something like that would have to be worked out though.

3. If you close the off topic forum it will inevitably spill over to the other forums so be prepared to do some heavy modding to enforce it.


How about
1. 100 posts to start a thread
2. Banned if at least post is less than ~50~ and posting less than 1 post a week
3. 250 posts to post view and post in Off-topic
4. Mods go in and correct spelling and grammar if post is uncomprehensible. :D
5. Locking threads that already are similar with other ones

Thats all I can think of...

Doing that will just cause people to post crap to gain privileges.


This is so true. The other day someone posted that discovered a famicom game + converter inside a NES cart, and from what i remember everybody's replys were polite and giving info about it.

I thought that post was funny. If there was an import gaming 101 that would be one of the first questions.

[sayin999]

ill be honest my posts have been a bit long and at times i seem to drag on with my opinion at times, i mean even then i myself have been with the forum since the the 6 last months or so of the old roar forum and i must say things seem a little quite. In reality i dont think its at its worst, ive seen it more dead at times. And yes ive been here when the politcal disccussion got heated( i wont get into cause we came to an agreemnt and i prefer to be nutreal on the subject). But what has happened is there are newer member(some of which have brough some life back in) and there are as well those who do not know as much as we do and some posts seem redundant. Even then i noticed there were 3 ps3 posts that seem to have a similar topic, but then those post turned into sorta a reduncance of what was mentioned in previous ones. Then the whole hot coffee thing, well that almost got ugly, then a similar one was opened up, then i guess it didnt help i mentioned the sims 2 accusation as well. But in time it will be find again. I noticed that alot of the older members havent been posting as much as in the past. But then again as far as next gen talk goes, theres not too much exciting suff. And yes i did enjoy that nes converter post, all those roach stories were just classic. Now then we had the taito arcade post and of course there was debate on why the us arcade industry is down, and that almost turned ugly. I think what it is these days is alot of the older members arent as active (i should talk, ive been here alot longer than cahaz has and even then he has WAY more posts then i do). Still i think even then its just a down period at the moment, all forums have this, plus mind you look how many members are real busy with their personal lives if you think of it, in fact one that i forgot his name, but was a very active member in the old forum gave a shout out as to his absence. But the only improvment im really looking for is acurate post count (yeah i know its not a biggie that much, but its kind a cool to keep track of how many posts you have), as well as make a ground set on what belongs in off topic and what belongs in general, since i noticed some that belong in general or on off topic. Anyway thats my long ass posts, cheese maybe this is part of the reason its down at the moment, i have no clue why ive been writing such long as posts, apoligiezes.

[PhreQuencYViii]

Something I noticed (not so much related to this forum, but to the internet as a whole):

Back in 1995-96, my family had just got a computer with AOL (which was kind of cool back then) and that's when I was first on the internet. I remember looking up so much information on it, usually always about games. I loved Gamefaqs, Gamesages, and just searching for stuff about Sonic Xtreme, old systems, Playstation and Saturn, and even looking at some message boards. The net was fun, people were nice, stuff was simple and not pumped full of ads. Well, then for a pretty damn long time I wasn't on the internet basically at all. I got a computer and DSL when I moved out a few years ago, hooked it online, and then said to myself: what happened. Everythings ruined. All those great sites are ruined, mostly with ads, all the interesting boards are either gone or full of people fighting about PS2 vs. Xbox, etc...I'm sure everyone knows what I mean.

I've been looking at this website for a long time (on school comps and stuff, probably not as long as others, but oh well) and this is still one of my favorite ever websites. I love how the website is like deja-vu to all those cool sites I use to look at way back when. The people in the board are totally cool too. I never joined any forums mostly because every one I looked at was just flamewars. This one was totally cool though, there was never people doing stuff like that, just lots of information on cool game stuff, which I loved to read. So I said, hey, might as well join, and I did. I liked how noone treated me like I was "new" or anything. It's as if the other new members have been here all along.

Well, getting back to what the threads about, I've noticed the forum getting kind of wonky too, mostly in the last few weeks. I've saw in a lot of PS3 and X360 threads there's always someone totally attacking a system that's not even out yet;and although it's never as bad as in other forums where people will jam out an unreadable cuss filled response to the other person, it's still not good. I think Hawanja's site has an awesome quote on it, "You do not live or die depending on what system you own or how many points you can score on Galaga. You come home, crack a beer, eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, maybe do a couple of bong rips, and play a stupid game."

Another thing I've noticed happening a lot is on the "Post when buy something" thread, a lot of the time when someone say's they bought something they include the price or where they got it from. I like that, it gives other people an idea of how much something is. But a lot of the time, someone posts something about how the above person is paid too much. This wouldn't be so bad if someone is trying to educate someone about paying too much for games, but more often then not it's pretty much someone trying to make themselves sound more superior because they payed less or have a "source" of where to buy it cheap. I say: it doesn't matter. If someone want's something, they'll pay for it. I don't like telling people I got someone cool and then suddenly someone tells me there mightier than thou because they say I payed too much or something like that. Well, I got the game to play it, it's not gunna sit on a shelf, it's going to be played. I'm getting my moneys worth. If you know of a better price or something, TELL PEOPLE SO THEY MAY GET IT FOR THE AMAZING PRICE, don't be a douche and pretend your ability to spend less money makes you the king of the jungle. It's just that thats one of my favorite threads because I like looking at the imported games, I don't want it to become stupid.

I, being a new member, have probably made some totally retarded posts, and I apologize for that. I have a really stupid, immature sense of humor, and I'm sure not everyone gets it, but the intend isn't to spam, it's to lighten stuff up. I'm mostly here because I love looking at pictures of the rare stuff and reading about it, so I hope people don't think me or a lot of the new members just think this is another video game forum, because we really do love this stuff, even if we don't have a lot to contribute to the dev stuff and such.

I also think something that contributes to the crappiness of the internet and forums is the fact that games are really mainstream now, and just about everyone who boguht Halo 2 and things think they are a "hardcore gamer". (of course, no offense to anyone who does mostly just play newer games or anything, I'm talking about people who consider old games totally obselete and stuff.) It's the same thing with every category of entertainment; music, movies, etc. You just can't really talk about something without someone blowing in and repeating something they heard from Game Informer or IGN or something. I think (newer) games are ruining it for us, every month theres more hoarders, more stupid kids on Xbox Live, etc. I miss the days where there wasn't too many people except the real nerdy kids to talk about games with....

Well, this was a long post, but I just felt like it was a good place to blab. :)

[mairsil]

I have tried to avoid posting in this thread since I have not been a participant in this forum for very long. I also cannot say that I have seen the animosity that others have seen, although I have seen some of the "fanboy" comments every one in awhile.

I tend to lurk in most forums; this forum is the one that I am most active in. From what I have seen, post count limits do not seem to accomplish anything other than "neffing" in order to up post counts. The only exception that I have seen is with buy/sell/trade forums where a minimum post count seems to help eliminate "drive-by" sales ads by people who only sign up in order to sell something.

I try to respect everyone's opinion and I hope to learn from the knowledge of others. I do hope that if anyone feels any of my comments have been rude, mean or otherwise out of line, that they let me know publically or privately.

[Hawanja]

I don't know guys, remember a few weeks ago that guy who posted pics of his M2 he found at a flea market? If no new members are allowed then stuff like that will stop happening.

[The Dreaming Eye]

I don't think that removing forums or limiting members is the solution, for reasons already pointed out in this thread. I think that a clear, concise forum FAQ that spelled out the rules would be appropriate, as well as enforcement of those rules. When someone would break a rule, they would receive a warning. After a certain amount of warnings, change their title to reflect that they are on their last one. Should they break the rules again, ban them for a certain amount of time or permanently, depending on the infraction. If they behave, then perhaps after a month or whatever remove the changed title.

And last, I think we should all remember that this is all just about games. Really. It's not a place that worships one system/company, or criticize people's opinions. There's plenty of other boards for that. If you have a problem with another member, please carry it out through PMs, and spare the rest of us.

Just my random thoughts on the subject.

[Paulo]

Yep i dont think theres much need to become an exclusive community. We will have a bunch of people going around on other forums saying "ha-ha im a member on ASSEMbler and your not!"!

[Jasonkhowell]

Well, to tell the truth, the assembler forums are already tucked away quite well. Compared to other places (Such as the Gamefaqs/Gamespot or the IGN forums), we have a good ammount of knowledgeable members. For every semi-big forum, there will always be people who won't know as much as others do. At this point, I don't see it as a very big problem. However, if activity like this continues to rise, then I recomend we think of something.

[Yakumo]

Hmm, I've been reading this thread since it was started so there's not much I can add really that hasn't already been mentioned. Probably my own posts of late may have not been up to the quality of past posts which I put down to my recent stressful life :( Sorry guys.

As for making some sort of "Elite" members only access or banning new visitors from starting threads, I think it's a bad move. As I think Johnny above pointed out, we recently had that very nice M2 thread that was found at a flea market. True that posts like this don't come too often from new members but it's still worth allowing new members to start threads such as this. And lets not forget that there are a few game dev guys that read these forums but never post or very rarely post. These guys may be able to amaze us someday but with low post / new member ban on starting a thread in place will render this impossible.

Yakumo

PS: I hope this makes sense. I'm too sleepy these days :(:(:(

[Taemos]

I think a little deviation from development/prototype (I think "rare" is too loose of a word - people have been misusing it) topics is okay, but it probably needs to be confined to the Off-Topic board.

Someone posted that many people think this is just a video gaming forum, and I think that's part of the problem. How to remedy that, I don't know.

And if I just sounded like a jerk there, sorry. I'm sleepy :).

[RyanGamerGoneGrazy]

What Magazine is this article going to be in? I'll have to pick up a copy when it ships.

I don't really like the idea of removing the off topic section.

It seems to me that a lot of the new members think this is just another video games forum, when the main focus is Rare, Obsucre, Dev, and Prototype. I'm not too much of a Dev. person, but I do know a thing or two about Rare, Obscure, and Prototype systems, and that's what I originally came here for.

i too came for the obscure, and i think, once the museum gets back up, the forums will once again become filled with hot topics about "system x" and "unreleased game y"

[XerdoPwerko]

Maybe move "regular" gaming to Off-Topic and stick to "obscure gaming" in a principal section? But then... what's obscure to me may be common to someone else and viceversa.

I say Rules, FAQ, Civility - and that's pretty much what can make us hope the forum will regulate itself. We cannot make things depend on number of posts, because, really, I can't say that guarantees the authority in terms of knowledge to start a thread or not.

Off-Topic shouldn't go either. It's a place to filter content that would still appear from the main course of the assembler menu, that is the gaming aspect. Part of a balanced meal. There, too, can members ask non-gaming related questions to people who may have other knowledge; and the community truly becomes a community when we know each other as people and not only as obscure gamers.

I say a "read first" primer to become a member (sort of like a contract) could help a lot. Strict moderation, I think, has been enforced properly - the Moderators have mostly been doing a very good job. Limiting of new members might not be a good idea, but maybe a more controlled membership would. Making the entrance process a bit more controlled would make only those really interested entered. But then again... how can one do that?

I don't know, really. I didn't come in here an expert, but I've learned from here to say at least now I'm on the road. Maybe that wouldn't happen to others if they were restricted to enter.

[madhatter256]

I think the current forum structure is fine. I think its ok to have a forum just for us vets but, to be honest, that place will be stagnant because anything we'll want to talk about will most likely fit in on the game discussion board or the dev hardware board. Having a forum like that is what gamefaqs has.... I thought we didn't want this place to end up like them...

[ASSEMbler]

Strong actions taken, I think it will work well.

[XerdoPwerko]

Looks like a good idea, sir.
So... Unreleased, Clones and Pirates, Imports, Retro, and unknown titles go on the Obscure forum, and Next-Gen, this Gen, and generally well known games and franchises, or general topics about games go in General discussion. Right?
Looks like a good order of things.

Any other recommendations or regulations to be taken?

[Mark30001]

I think the Dev hardware discussion (forumdisplay.php?f=9) should be changed to Dev hardware/software discussion. :D

[RyanGamerGoneGrazy]

a great move in a direction that will lead to the greatest site once more......now just for the museum...



i would like to thank every single on of you, that i have had the pleasure of posting with, from the moderators to the average "joe" everyone here has been supurbly polite and informative
i know im a noob, and i know that i've said some pretty stupid stuff, but im learning, thanks to assembler, this is how i got my love for videogames, thanks to all of you......i've amassed a simingly small (compared to some of the elites) knowlege of dev stuff....my knowlege of unreleased stuff has grown huge, but the things i've learned here, i wouldnt have known they existed.....i would hate to lose that.


Thanks

[Mark30001]

This is so true. The other day someone posted that discovered a famicom game + converter inside a NES cart, and from what i remember everybody's replys were polite and giving info about it.

Why thank you. :D

The museum is what got me inspired on checking out the forums! I've been checking around forums for a long while now, & this is the best where there's not as much "spam" & very interesting topics & threads!

[cahaz]

i don't think closing the doors at new members would be a good idea, since it would make the forum stagnant, you know? New member bring fresh air, a new vibe sometimes. It's okay to teach things, we were all newbies one day. But new members doesn't necersary say newbie either. I think we sometimes think we're knowledgable about everything that touch the video game universe, but it's sure that new members can teach us things. Imagine if someone who worked on Sonic X-treme register or something.

And to tell the truth, i started this thread without even thinking about the people who signed in the past weeks and all, i was mostly thinking about the older members, or the members that post alot.

I'm here to have fun, and i think you're all here for the same reason. We have a passion in common, and it's fun to talk about it, but it wouldn't be the same if we closed the off-topic section. Everyone would still be very nice and all, but i couldn't get the point of posting if the fun factor was removed. Talking about video games is fun, but video games isn't the only synonym of fun, you know?

Dividing the forum into sub-forums isn't what i would do, personally. it will just confuse everyone. ''Is this rare enough to be in this topic or not?'' Dividing the forum is correct, like i wouldn't like to see a ''post pictures of your dog!'' next to a ''xbox dev picture'' or ''pictures of that new tittle!'' thread, since it have no connection between them at all. but rare video games and video games are close enough to be talked in the same place, i think. It would avoid confusion and all. and i think too many divisions would just divide the community, and make it weaker at the same time. If a division isn't needed, i think we should avoid it.

i don't think we need to tighten the rules or something either, it think we just need to open our eyes. I really think that just the fact of pausing a second to talk and exchange about the problem solved a big part of it, and made the community feel closer. Well, that,s what i think anyway. :D

i apologize if i ever said something that could offense someone here.

cahaz _

[Zilog Jones]

I don't the forums have got that bad or anything - sure there's the odd zealot wars, but I don't think there's any way of totally avoiding them.

As others have said, I don't think making a special forum for veteran posters will be a good idea - sounds like sectarianism to me - and that NEVER helps anyone.

And I don't think getting rid of the off-topic forums would be a good decision either. One of the other forums I regularly visit is the one on Doom9.org (mainly video stuff/DVD ripping) - it's a great forum, but it gets as boring as hell at times because there's no place for off-topic discussion in it at all. They're also pretty damn strict there, and have this list of numbered rules and quote them a lot - one of the main rules broken by n00bs is asking for the "best" of something, and they always get a slating about it from one of the mod's. Rules are good and all, but they tend to go a bit too far...

[Cotu]

well said cahaz and everyone,
although i don't post very often (mainly because i've been very busy at work lately so i haven't had anything relevant to add, or seen any posts in which i could help others), i do see a lot of what goes on, and i view this topic as a warning of what could happend - i mean, sure we all get defensive at times about our favorite game developers/manufactures/games etc (especially around the e3 time of year, not just here but any video game related forum), and to a degree it's understandable as we're all here for our passion about such things, but sometimes it's good to be reminded about the problems that can occur as to not let things spiral out of control (a la gamefaqs).
there have been a lot of great ideas posted already on what could be done to help, but i believe even just this thread alone is enough, to serve as a reminder to us.
there's consistently been a high level of professionalism here over the years (i have more respect for these forums than any of the other (many) forums i visit), sometimes it good to be reminded/aware of that so we can help keep it that way.

[kstyle25]

can't blame me.....I just got back

just kidding guys...glad I'm back and I'm sure we just have new members who haven't been adjusted to the extensive knowledge of our veterans yet....give 'em time it'll be the interesting saturn/dreamcast/64dd/m2/pippin talk again.

[madhatter256]

Welcome back Kstyle.

[kstyle25]

how could I forget the Madhat??? glad to see you again man...you holding down the place for FL?

[sayin999]

wow welcome back, it has been awhile.

[AnalogWinter]

I have been lurking for a long time and finally decided to start posting, and trying to add to the ever growing great discussions that take place on the boards.

When I first joined many years ago, I got the extreme cold shoulder. I know someone new needs to go through the ropes, but it really sucked. The people now are very cool, and I have a pleasure talking with everyone on these forums.

I hope these boards stay around a long time. I have received many great idea's and learned many new thing and hope to contribute as much as I can.


^_^_^

[Taemos]

When I first joined many years ago, I got the extreme cold shoulder. I know someone new needs to go through the ropes, but it really sucked. The people now are very cool, and I have a pleasure talking with everyone on these forums.


Really? I joined a few years ago, and as I recall, the only people treated badly were those asking for roms.

[Divine Evolution]

Yeah there actually hasn't been much begging has there? That's good. :smt023