Somebody’s bound to label this as trolling, but it’s not. It just seems to me that this board is a shadow of what it once was. I can remember when the responses to threads hardly ever stopped. You could get a response as easily (or nearly so) at 3AM as you could at 7PM. We always seemed to have tons of new members to infuse us with new opinions and perspectives. Nowadays it seems that it’s always the usual suspects, entrenched in their own opinions, just sort of continually pounding out the same old threads/debates/recreational outrages that we’ve all seen a million times before.
I dunno. From my perspective, this place is not a quarter as interesting as it was a few years ago. Not really enough going on here anymore.
Opinions?
(If you’re hitting the reply button to post a variant of any of the following: “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” “If you don’t like it, don’t read it,” or “If you’re trying to tell us you’re leaving, just leave and spare us,” save it. Don’t circle the wagons. Discuss.)
Hi Ogre, I don’t think it has jumped the Shark. Of course I have been here a lot less time than you. I suspect your complaint is legit for yourself, as you are just feeling board with the “Board”.
I am sure the board was better in the past, almost everything was better in the past.
I’m not entirely sure, I guess. It seemed that it used to move at a much faster pace. Of course, that was when the board was free, and people came and went as they pleased, without concern for a 30-day limit, etc. It always seemed as if there were a bunch of new names every day. Sure, some of them were trolls, but y’know, some of them were memorable, interesting trolls. Today, what do we have? VCO3 phoning it in? Yay.
It also seems that threads just kind of sit there. It’s not a chaotic, fascinating free-for-all like it once was. Of course, by free-for all, I mean that there were lots and lots of people participating all the time, not that it was a lawless wasteland. This board has always been pretty tightly moderated.
I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem as lively or as fun anymore. Nobody really debates with the intention of learning. Most debate threads just seemed to be thinly veiled absolutist statements, and neither side ever gives an inch, because the Liberals around here (or at least the ones who tend to debate) are By-God Liberals, and the Conservatives are By-God Conservatives. We all know exactly who’s who, and pretty much exactly what they’re going to say. It’s all so polarized, and therefore turgid and boring.
I have been here slightly longer than you Ogre and I don’t think so. Some good people have come and gone but they have been replaced by others. Believe it or not to all of the newbies out there with less than 5 years experience, board performance has drastically improved although it still isn’t perfect. Back in the day, you would literally have to choose a link carefully, click on it, and then go to lunch hoping the content that you imagined was there when you got back. We still had people with over 10,000 posts under those conditions which required almost 24/7 board surfing and the content matched what you would expect with that. The smartest people that have ever belonged to this board are here now and I certainly don’t base my assessment on the rate of rapid responses. There was a point where GQ threads would only stay on the front page for a couple of hours and that was not healthy or productive.
Ogre you’ve been around here long enough to realize that the Board has its peaks and valleys. Always has and always will.
I used to hate summers and the Christmas-New Year time because all the high school kids were on break and would spend entire days flooding the boards with FRODO ROOOOOLZ! threads.
When someone starts a dull thread it gets a dull response. When someone starts an interesting thread it gets an interesting response. At least that never changes.
Sure. That’s a good example. We’ve lost so many good members here. I used to really like Jack Batty, Demo, Eve, Satan, mouthbreather, Coldfire, Fenris, and a hundred more that are gone now, and the place is less for their absence.
Ah well. Maybe it’s me. I’m cynical and jaded, and I don’t spend hours on here anymore, fascinated with the replies and the threads. I just feel like I’ve seen it all before again and again and again.
I don’t find it a tenth as interesting as it once was but stick around because it’s cheap and I do enjoy interacting with a few specific individuals, old and new.
Long time ago. I barely post or read here anymore. The reason is the same that I have heard from several other people, things have gotten to damned political.
I spend most of my time at the Something Awful boards.
I"ve been here since 1999, and I agree somewhat with ogre, in that any organization/board/group tends to mature.
I first got interested in being a fixture over at www.snopes.com. It was a blast. People were free-wheeling, intelligent, funny, but of course, it was new to me. Then times changed. It got just a little more familiar(stale?) as the months/years progressed.
I found the SDMB, and things were new and shiny again. But, maturation is part of life, whether watching the burning passion of young love blossom into a more mature relationship or posting/reading a message board.
I am sure a lot of conservatives feel this way now. Not as much fun lobbing grenades at librulz when you are getting your butt handed to you in American politics.
Hell I’m coming up on five years and I still think of myself as a NoOb sometimes. I’m far from done with the place, although Ogre’s right in some ways there’s no chance that the board is as raucous or vibrant as it was back in the free to post days. Fark and SA seem fun, but not, you know, Dopish enough. We are who we are, but I’ll always be around. I was on a slight hiatus of lurking for a while there, but I can’t stay away.
Maybe we should have a free month or two, kind of like an internet open house? I know that some folks will gripe like no tomorrow about it, but maybe we could use the fresh air that throwing the doors open for a minute would afford.
I agree with Ogre to the extent that we are definitely going through a rough patch for the board right now. Right now all the threads that are started seem to be something that has been rehashed 100 times already. Most of the threads lately have been rather boring. But I think the board is cyclical in nature and that this time will pass and we will go through a better and more interesting time, so on and so forth.
