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
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 .
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"
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.
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...
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?
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
Why thank you. 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!
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. i apologize if i ever said something that could offense someone here. cahaz _
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...
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.
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.
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. ^_^_^
Really? I joined a few years ago, and as I recall, the only people treated badly were those asking for roms.
