[serious] Off Topic Moderation Input - Part 2

[BeBMan]

Thanks for fixing it!

[EPW]

I assume we were hacked and they got away with all of our smiles.

[Broken_Erika]

Test

Smiles are broken.

[The Mad Monk]

[N35t0r]

But which boat?

[Edit:] or wait, was this a trick to identify who understands German?

[The Mad Monk]

I've noticed a disturbing increase in the number of German and Welsh speakers on the forum lately, can we give them Das Boot?

[N35t0r]

I found the original Tinfoil smiley

:tass:

[BeBMan]

"Rummenigge chased the Pumpernickel-eating Karnickel through the Teutoburger Wald".

I don't think that's too much Welsh

[EPW]

I've noticed a disturbing increase in the number of German and Welsh speakers on the forum lately, can we give them the boot?

[BeBMan]

Oh yeah, can we reinstate this one? Liked it too

[Broken_Erika]

I found the original Tinfoil smiley

[Solver]

I don't think the forum format as such bears much of the blame; I know of at a forum (an offshoot of SSC) that's been started in the last five years or so, appears to have an average poster age under forty, and is generally about as active as Poly used to be. Also, Reddit's format offers no particular advantage I can think of over forums when it comes to the things forums are good at. It wasn't that people felt repelled by forums, but that forums got replaced by sites which happened to have a different format. But that's speculation on my part.

I mostly hung out on the OT in the old days, and I'm convinced that its decline was mostly due to tolerating the usual troll suspects for so long (and to this day). The forum format is good for extended thoughtful discussion, where you can take as long as you like to compose your thoughts and come up with a good answer. But there's no point to that when the conversation becomes dominated by people smacking down the same dumb arguments from the same dumb cranks, forever. I left, and so did most everybody else whose idea of a good time didn't consist of dunking on crazies.

It's a fact that forums are much more niche now. There's a bunch of forums still thriving but it's not at all like in the heyday of forums when every imaginable subject had an active forum. Some discussions moved to Facebook groups and the like, others to Reddit or Discord. I think it's a shame because they're completely different formats, Reddit is by design terrible at long-lasting discussion, Discord is slightly better but it's not searchable or available unless you're a member of the server.

The death of this particular forum is of course part of the general weakening of forums, but the main reasons were different. I have my own opinions on the contributing factors but ultimately that's irrelevant - Apolyton had a glorious decade, it left a lasting impression on Civ games, then it had a period of decline, and for a long time now it's been a forum-shaped online group for a couple dozen people who have spent as many years talking and arguing with one another.

[Ben Kenobi]

I don't think the forum format as such bears much of the blame; I know of at a forum (an offshoot of SSC) that's been started in the last five years or so, appears to have an average poster age under forty, and is generally about as active as Poly used to be. Also, Reddit's format offers no particular advantage I can think of over forums when it comes to the things forums are good at. It wasn't that people felt repelled by forums, but that forums got replaced by sites which happened to have a different format. But that's speculation on my part.

I mostly hung out on the OT in the old days, and I'm convinced that its decline was mostly due to tolerating the usual troll suspects for so long (and to this day). The forum format is good for extended thoughtful discussion, where you can take as long as you like to compose your thoughts and come up with a good answer. But there's no point to that when the conversation becomes dominated by people smacking down the same dumb arguments from the same dumb cranks, forever. I left, and so did most everybody else whose idea of a good time didn't consist of dunking on crazies.

Forum traffic for a game coincides with game release dates. It's not rocket science.

I haven't really posted on here in 7 years. Apparently there's going to be a turnaround any day now.

[Elok]

But mostly it's just that nobody uses forums anymore. CFC at least has some activity, yeah, and way more than us, but I think most community activity is on reddit, discord, and youtube.

I don't think the forum format as such bears much of the blame; I know of at a forum (an offshoot of SSC) that's been started in the last five years or so, appears to have an average poster age under forty, and is generally about as active as Poly used to be. Also, Reddit's format offers no particular advantage I can think of over forums when it comes to the things forums are good at. It wasn't that people felt repelled by forums, but that forums got replaced by sites which happened to have a different format. But that's speculation on my part.

I mostly hung out on the OT in the old days, and I'm convinced that its decline was mostly due to tolerating the usual troll suspects for so long (and to this day). The forum format is good for extended thoughtful discussion, where you can take as long as you like to compose your thoughts and come up with a good answer. But there's no point to that when the conversation becomes dominated by people smacking down the same dumb arguments from the same dumb cranks, forever. I left, and so did most everybody else whose idea of a good time didn't consist of dunking on crazies.

[Broken_Erika]

And soon Discord will require users to upload their personal information in order to see any content or posts they think is inappropriate for children.