Where did everyone go...

[LordJarhead 1721]

Hello folks,

 

some of you maybe know me, and maybe that's because I'm a old timer when it comes to arma... I was here when ArmA1 was still a thing... today I feel like I wasted thousands of hours with that game but nope... ArmA3 is number one, over 1600hours I believe *shame*

 

Well, I just want to say, things here have changed. I guess the good old day are the golden times of ArmA2 and when OA was released. I guess that was when everything was so great. That was when I didn't need any other mods but sounds and ACE.

 

And seen from the forums point of view, damn there were things going on here! You wouldn't believe it. When ever we made a thread or a post it took seconds to get posts and responces and people having conversations for hours. This forum was alive... and now? I kinda unsure where people went... what are they doing now? So many good old people left these forums and went on with other things. Now I have the feeling its almost dead silent... or is it just me?

 

What do you guys think, where did they go, what other games or simulations could satisfy us so equaly? Or what could even be better than ArmA??? I mean I dont think there is anything but well...

 

Did people maybe went to Squad? I've played that game like onces and thougt it was cool but not as amazingly sandbox-like like arma ... just let's have a talk maybe :)

 

LJ

[breech99 47]

There's a lot going on over on their discord channel here  https://discord.gg/7FHJWR  and they have sub channels so you can select a specific topic to talk with others about and get some great feedback. 

[LordJarhead 1721]

Oh ok I didn't know. Guess since I'm more of a old lurker most of the time I kinda like this forum type of conversation way more then quick text exchange IM's ...

 

I gonna check it out tho, thanks for the hint :)

 

LJ

[Tonci87 163]

I´m still here :D

[EO 11275]

A nice heartfelt post there LJ....

 

Your right, the boards are quieter these days, It's a sign of the times, discord is the new shiny toy and most projects have there own channel, which is why these boards are not the centre point anymore. :-( 

 

 

[LordJarhead 1721]

5 minutes ago, Tonci87 said:

I´m still here :D

 And I damn hope you always will :) 

1 minute ago, Evil Organ said:

A nice heartfelt post there LJ....

 

Your right, the boards are quieter these days, It's a sign of the times, discord is the new shiny toy and most projects have there own channel, which is why these boards are not the centre point anymore. :-( 

 

 

Exactly. And as this forum is for me my center... I have this feeling things are dying out nowadays. That there are only some kids left hating each other but the rest of the old timers went away. Hmm OK that's not fair what I said with the kids, we have great talents here making amazing job. But when we were in arma 2 there was more going on, people reacted to things. 

 

Today I have the feeling people take a mod for granted and if they are having a really great day they press that stupid 'like' button but no one is giving some time and input and writes a little and all, that's kinda missing. 

 

Back than people talked... Or at least wrote each other heh. Now it's like there's a tumble weed going through here 

[gossamersolid 155]

I think it's a combination of burn out (there's only so much everybody can spend developing on the same game or playing the same game) as well as forums as a whole becoming less and less popular (this was a long time coming, though).

[ProfTournesol 956]

Arma 1 ? Pffff, young kiddy...

[LordJarhead 1721]

Just now, gossamersolid said:

I think it's a combination of burn out (there's only so much everybody can spend developing on the same game or playing the same game) as well as forums as a whole becoming less and less popular (this was a long time coming, though).

Or it's because we have generation Xbox going and people don't invest as much time into this as back then... 

[LordJarhead 1721]

Just now, ProfTournesol said:

Arma 1 ? Pffff, young kiddy...

Haha I played the Operation Flashpoint demo when it came out, but only after some years and arma 1 I decided to join a forum and spread my work :P

[gossamersolid 155]

Just now, LordJarhead said:

Or it's because we have generation Xbox going and people don't invest as much time into this as back then... 

 

Games as a whole don't embrace communities anymore.

Look at the most popular games out there. You queue up with a small group of friends and face new people that you have almost zero communication with that you'll probably never see again.

[LordJarhead 1721]

Just now, gossamersolid said:

 

Games as a whole don't embrace communities anymore.

Look at the most popular games out there. You queue up with a small group of friends and face new people that you have almost zero communication with that you'll probably never see again.

If I look at the most popular games, and that's PUBG, all I can think of that it's only about hating and killing each other, there is no real talk anymore lol

[spooky lynx 73]

1 hour ago, LordJarhead said:

ArmA3 is number one, over 1600hours I believe *shame*

I don't even have it installed on my PC. Still playing OFP, even more than A2OA.

1 hour ago, LordJarhead said:

Now I have the feeling its almost dead silent... or is it just me?

Modding of BIS games becomes more complicated from title to title. Users become older and have to spend less time on games. All this shortens forums activities. 

[LordJarhead 1721]

Yeah I think this whole time spending thing is dying out... I mean (at least in germany or europe) we have to work more and more and more while everything else is speeding up and moving faster to only god knows where, I guess there is no time left for this. Spending hours for game is too much for most. So they'll play simple games, in and out within 30 minutes, done for the rest of the day...

 

LJ

[swtx 42]

I've been here since before the OFP Demo.  I joined the forums under my old name when the OFP was announced and the forums went public.  I consider myself to be a lifer when comes to the OFP ARMA series.  What I've learned over the years is that each release in the series is like a new toy on Xmas morning.  First, there's excitement then furvor, it's like you have the most popular toy on the market.  Everyone else rushes to buy it and suddenly there's a whole community of people who have it and are playing it.  Over the course of months the new starts wearing off and they start setting it aside a little more often until they are not playing nearly as much as they used to.  Then through attrition, slowly they no longer play it because there is a brand new shinier toy on the market or they meet someone and fall in love then get married and the new old lady won't let them play anymore because she wants them to spend time with her.  Another reason is players grow out of the video game stage of life and get a life of their own including a job and a family and a mortgage and have little time left for ARMA.  I've actually seen that with my own eyes over the years.  Just sayin' Life Happens!

 

My two cents worth!

[Beagle 684]

Forums are simply not the pimary way of yelling at each other nowadays...that's simply it.

Also the good old "bug report" and "game mechanic discussion" is not taking place her anymore in the weight it did before.

[swtx 42]

I will admit Discord has the market cornered when it comes real-time communications among gamers.

[LordJarhead 1721]

35 minutes ago, swtx said:

I've been here since before the OFP Demo.  I joined the forums under my old name when the OFP was announced and the forums went public.  I consider myself to be a lifer when comes to the OFP ARMA series.  What I've learned over the years is that each release in the series is like a new toy on Xmas morning.  First, there's excitement then furvor, it's like you have the most popular toy on the market.  Everyone else rushes to buy it and suddenly there's a whole community of people who have it and are playing it.  Over the course of months the new starts wearing off and they start setting it aside a little more often until they are not playing nearly as much as they used to.  Then through attrition, slowly they no longer play it because there is a brand new shinier toy on the market or they meet someone and fall in love then get married and the new old lady won't let them play anymore because she wants them to spend time with her.  Another reason is players grow out of the video game stage of life and get a life of their own including a job and a family and a mortgage and have little time left for ARMA.  I've actually seen that with my own eyes over the years.  Just sayin' Life Happens!

 

My two cents worth!

Yeah but I think it was always like that, even back then. People go people come. But at some point things have changed and no new activ people seem to come anymore... 

1 minute ago, Beagle said:

Forums are simply not the pimary way of yellingn at each other nowadays...that's simply it.

... Weird but I kinda miss that hehe

[Macser 776]

I've found it easier to impart information via forum posts, than any kind of instant messaging or even calls. Because the person on the other end is constantly being distracted. Likely having a conversation with you and a few others while watching some videos on Youtube. But it's handy for quick comms. Like getting a game session together.

 

It's blindingly obvious the learning curve has gotten very steep since A2. That combined with a lack of documentation makes it hard to stick with for all but the most stubborn, or focussed. So if people are more into the gaming aspect than modding, then real-time comms would be favourable. I think that may be the case here. At least in part.

[LordJarhead 1721]

On 9.12.2017 at 1:44 AM, Macser said:

But it's handy for quick comms. Like getting a game session together.

 

Yeah that might be. But some time ago when the forum was alive we had conversations about how to deal with problems and how to make things better for everyone. Seriously, who reports problems these days in a constructive manner to support the authors? Today it's just about "this doesn't work, fix it!" 

 

I got a message on steam from a guy telling me that I shouldn't update my mod on Friday or weekend as he has to download the update and cannot play for the short period of time... Like...  what? You thought about that I have a normal life under the weeks and can only work on things on weekends as well? Like they all think we do this modding stuff for a living. 

 

Back then it was about a family-like community that looked out for each other. Today I'm feeling like the new kid in school with a bunch of things around me going on that I don't understand anymore. I mean back then it was about taking but also giving. Yes some people took your work for granted even then, but at least they added their feedback to the topic to help out and maybe making things better. Today I only read things like "It is in no way acceptable that you want to update your own work, which is produced by nothing and no one but yourself, on a day I want to play! How dare you!?" 

 

I mean the guy had a point their, but today it is just about single individuals that chase after their own personal satisfaction. There is no "we" anymore or at least not as much as it once was. 

 

Back in the days I was so happy to have a few sentences written by certain people you know about the years. It's as said, family members, like a cool cousin or uncle you like that's always supportive and helping and you just hang out with and having a good time and get things done and fixed. 

 

If I fix things today, they go like "Well, that is his job, why would I need to say thanks? Pffff" 

 

Maybe I'm a bit too much Louis CK'ish about it but we'll... 

 

[Macser 776]

Maybe CK isn't the best example right now..   But I get yer drift.

 

I think there's always been a slight divide between people who play and people who mod. And that's to be expected. If you enjoy playing more, then you'll likely have less appreciation for modding other than what it offers to your gaming experience. You've got little invested in the end result. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, as such. We can't make people care about the same things we do.

 

So I think there's two "communities" in a sense. Most people have a foot in both. Some, more so in one or the other. And even within that there's probably sub-groups. I don't think it's any different within these digital ecosystems than it is outside them. Humans don't feel as connected to a group when it becomes too big. So we all inevitably form little "tribes" along lines of interest. It's easier to process. Unfortunately some of us stop using our higher brain functions and take the "tribal" aspect a bit too far. Which is where the conflict comes in. 

 

As cool as A3 is, I don't have much interest in getting too involved in it. I'm happier messing around with the origin of the series (OFP). The community is tiny by comparison. So there's a bit more appreciation and common decency.  Of course there's less discussion in general, especially here, as there's simply fewer of us. But I've met many new people over the past 2 years as a result of modding the game. And the discussions can last for hours and carry on for weeks.

 

The best we can do is seek out the people who share our interest, while being appreciative of the fact there's some folks who like what we do, and take it as it is. But don't necessarily have a desire to understand the ins and outs of how it's created.  Conversation and discussion should be something that happens naturally I think. Like what we're doing now. 

 

If there's less of it, I can only assume that there's no desire for it. Whether that points to a shift more towards consumerism I don't know. I've tried to avoid making statements. Especially ones I can't back up with evidence. So any of the above should be considered a personal view.

[spooky lynx 73]

6 minutes ago, Macser said:

The community is tiny by comparison.

In Soviet Russia OFP community nowdays is larger than A2 or A3 one.

[LordJarhead 1721]

11 hours ago, Macser said:

Like what we're doing now. 

 

I'm not even sure it's about sympathy for the mod's or showing respect for the work, partly even hard work to archive great elements like RHS, SMA, NiArms or even my JSRS. It's not about telling the modding community that they are grateful or thankful for their work, I'm sure many or maybe most are thankful. But not everyone is going to write something or say something or show their appreciation on any other way, which doesn't mean they are not appropriating the work, I'm sure the majority of people are thankful but hidden and staying out of conversations and forums as for them it's their privacy, playing a game and enjoying it. 

 

I know I did stay back for years when I played OFP and enjoyed the realism and everything. And it took me a while to get my work posted and presented because it's like a visual community you see having a conversation. All of these people are foreign to you and how do you join a random group starting something... It was me too lurking around for years taking mod's for granted and never really saying a word to the authors, I even do it today to be honest. I never said a word towards the RHS team but using their content for as long as it's been there. Yes... 

 

But that's rather not the point, it's more about what you just said: having a conversation as we do, going into details, having a thought about things, telling our opinions and sharing a relationship for short period of time while we've seen a topic that we feel needs to be discussed with our opinions or points of interest or what so ever... 

 

But this, at least in my eyes have not been happening so very often anymore. It's been smaller and shorter conversations, cutted and way less passionate about the individual topics. Services. Exchange of services and advice. Serve the customer if you so will. At from my end somehow. 

 

Or maybe I didn't got myself involved as much anymore. Could also be. I left multiple roads to stay on one and the same for the last couple of years. But that's because to, there was a real hard cut. I'm not sure if anyone else felt that way but for, the release (or maybe even the announcement of ArmA3) splitted the community in half. I felt like there were the hardcore simulation people like I count myself to, and the other bunch of people loving DayZ. I felt when DayZ came out, some flood of people swapped into this community that were never interested in our simulation sort of game type. And now we opened the doors for them and of course the whole thing has changed. Suddenly ArmA3 was in the future, not touchable for me or able to create  those feelings that this simulation could happen in real life, that this is a 'adults topic', suddenly there where Steam and E3, suddenly we could move way quicker in game, throwing grenades by pressing a button, having more popular fps shooter elements. The game was easier (besides ninja AI giving you a headshot from 5km away with a 9mm) and the game went further into fun and entertaining areas. 

 

And that made a cut. The hardcore simulation community decreased. The people who had time and were willing to spent the time as in conversations like ours here, left. That's my feeling at least... 

 

LJ 

[kavoven 4]

I think its a very common phenomenon that people don't use forums that often nowadays... When you consider the activity in this forum in the early days of OFP, you might get a little depressed :D But I guess most of the people that really participated in the community have just gotten too old by now to do anything beyond passive reading (or, at least me :D ). I think 15 years ago the "content creation" community was much more active and these people will also participate more in forum discussions. The typical gamer has just changed...

 

By the way @ BI: I actually just noticed that my account is older than 15 years by now... Isn't there some kind of medal for us oldies? :D

[Beagle 684]

18 minutes ago, kavoven said:

By the way @ BI: I actually just noticed that my account is older than 15 years by now... Isn't there some kind of medal for us oldies? :D

No. Go away and retire somewhere  ;)