Update

[Creole Ned]

Please note:

This forum remains fully functional.

:madhop:

[Tai]

woot, and here I thought you had put the City of Heroes info in the wrong forum :)

[Creole Ned]

Please feel free to speculate on why forum activity has dramatically dwindled over the past year.

[Paladin]

I blame Jackrabbit, and the decline in people playing WoW.

[armerius]

it really is odd. where has everyone gone?

[Tai]

I am here every day.

[Paladin]

As am I. I just haven't had anything interesting to say.

Iron Man 2 was good, but didn't live up to the original for me.

[Tai]

I am supposed to get my car back today at last. :)

update: Boo, the parts didn't get in on time. No car for me yet :(

[Creole Ned]

In thinking it over, it seems to me there have been several factors contributing in various degrees to the decline in posts here:

(not in order of importance):

- the absence of jackrabbit. Like myself, jackrabbit started a lot of the conversations here. He has moved on to keeping in contact with a few individuals through gmail chat and the like. But without him starting up threads, a lot of conversations simply never happen.
- Facebook. While some of us are on Facebook reluctantly, not at all or rarely post anything to it, it has reached a certain critical mass in the past year or so and is no doubt taking away from the forum here.
- personal blogs. I am guilty here. I have posted things to my blog that previously would have gone up here on the forum. Why? I can't say, exactly. Maybe I feel more free to ramble about inane, trivial topics on my blog.
- that WoW thing. With the various guild shenanigans that erupted after WotLK came out, all of the NOVA guys departed, going off to their own forums and others left to join more raid-oriented guilds.
- babies. More of us have young kids and they consume time that might go into posting, especially if you can't login from your workplace.
- general ennui. Without a single game to bind the group together, there is no communal glue, so to speak. And no, despite some of you playing TF2, it doesn't count, not like WoW or the original Tribes or even UT did.
- no more Smackdowns. My attempts to revive the Sunday night games have been infrequent and unsuccessful. It doesn't inspire me to keep trying. This also ties in with the point above.
- insert wistful 60s folk song here.

[Tick]

I check the forums at least every other day, but I've never been one of the conversation starters. My complete lack of non-wow gaming the last year certainly hasn't helped.

[Creole Ned]

Here's an actual update!

The most basic emoticons have been removed, meaning they are now only available as ASCII text. Namely:

:)
:(
;)
:P

All of the silly ones have been retained, so feel free to :jump: or :tart: as you see fit.

[Tick]

Woo! I hate emoticons that are actual images. I have no idea why. But any time I am given the option to turn them off, I do so.

[Tai]

:beer:

[Tai]

wtf?

[Budly]

Angst.

wait, did I spel that rite?

[LogRoller]

I'm definitely in the babies and ennui camp.

after a couple of weeks I'll be around for some late night gaming more regularly

[Creole Ned]

I think I'll close down the forums once I hit 10,000 posts.

Muahaha. :yay:

[Creole Ned]

Damn, still nothing.

Four more to go!

[armerius]

No ned, No!!!

don't do it... what else will i spend 1 minute of my days reading because nobody posts here anymore!!!?

[Creole Ned]

Yes, that is a good point, arm. I shall consider it the next time Kermit posts to Facebook and gets even fewer replies than he does here!

Also, 1 post to go! I'm expecting a parade.

[Kermit]

Wow. A totally uncalled for shot against Kermit. Or is that against Facebook? Either way, I'm sure nobody will care.

Just for the record, I am comfortable with my Deal of the Century thread which to date has garnered a top 5 "245" replies. (Only 230 of which are mine)

[Creole Ned]

Haha, I knew that would provoke a response. :)

I don't care where you post, Kermit. I shall find your words worthy and interesting wherever they may show up!

Also, 10,000. Doom!

[armerius]

Wow.. 10,000 and i can still log in... amazing!

i thought i'd feel the sonic boom here in newjersey when you clicked the "post quick reply" button.

and kermit, i get excited when i see something is new in the deal of a century thread.. honestly.

[Tick]

Congrats Ned. I'm happy to see the place is still functioning even if my contributions have shrunk from a high of "not very much" to a current nadir of "wait, do we know you?"

[Creole Ned]

Yeah, you don't even have a custom title. What's up with that? Think of something!

[Paladin]

"Blue Man Group"?

[Budly]

:thumbup: I approve!

[Creole Ned]

As before, the forum remains fully functional.

I am thinking of ditching the somewhat hobbled theme we are currently using, though.

[armerius]

It makes me sad as our activity level drops so hard. Life takes over.

on a side note... replacing a Catalytic Converter is WAAAAY too expensive!

[FoeKilla]

boo and stuff