Is SYM dying?

CM · Post by CM » Wed Nov 12, 2003 5:37 am

Everybody is pretty much a lurker now. I have been swayed by BS and his promise of alot of bunnies for target practice.

C Elegans · Post by **C Elegans** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 7:21 am

@Fas: I am not a lurker, I post something almost every time I look at SYM...I am just not able to keep up as well as previously due to my work. But at least I don't have to travel to any more conferences until next year now....

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 7:24 am

I lurk, mostly (Alas, I was once the Spam King). But the truth is, I don't have the time to post as often as I once did, but I still try and find time to show up.

Vicsun · Post by **Vicsun** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 10:14 am

Originally posted by CM
Everybody is pretty much a lurker now. I have been swayed by BS and his promise of alot of bunnies for target practice.

Kittens no longer good enough for you, eh?

(it was about time someone cracked that joke)

The Z · Post by **The Z** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 9:25 pm

Originally posted by CM
Everybody is pretty much a lurker now. I have been swayed by BS and his promise of alot of bunnies for target practice.

You're HEATHEN!

fable · Post by **fable** » Wed Nov 12, 2003 11:10 pm

Originally posted by The Z
You're HEATHEN!

Someone ask for me?

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Thu Nov 13, 2003 12:25 am

<----- posting lurker

CM · Post by CM » Thu Nov 13, 2003 3:34 am

Yeah well this internship is really tough that is why i am not here that often. Oh yeah other than trolling on this pakistani forum. Now that is fun!

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Fri Nov 14, 2003 2:18 am

Kinda strikes me as fun - that a thread about SYM dying has reached 10 pages ...

C Elegans · Post by **C Elegans** » Fri Nov 14, 2003 2:43 am

Originally posted by Xandax
Kinda strikes me as fun - that a thread about SYM dying has reached 10 pages ...

Yes, it's like a Wagner opera - the dying is very prolonged

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Fri Nov 14, 2003 3:14 am

Originally posted by C Elegans
Yes, it's like a Wagner opera - the dying is very prolonged

LOL

CM · Post by CM » Fri Nov 14, 2003 3:32 am

Like some seasons from Matrix Reloaded

VoodooDali · Post by **VoodooDali** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:03 am

I just sort of stumbled onto this thread while doing a search for "PMs", since my PM box always seems to be full, when I've saved like only 2 messages (and yes, I've looked at them from "the beginning")...

Anyway, it grabbed my attention. I couldn't read all 20 pages, but like T'Lainya, I have also gone through cycles of posting many times a day to not at all... I can't really explain the reason for it. Sometimes my own personal life has become too complicated, or I have too much work to concentrate on... One thing about SYM is that I've always tried very hard, as I believe most SYMers have, to make good posts. It didn't matter whether it was a serious or spam post, but just to try to one-up other people and make them laugh or think. But, that's very time-consuming after a while. I actually found myself thinking about how to respond to some things all day!!!

Some people have blamed the "serious" threads, but I don't see that as the problem. When I first came to SYM wayyy back in 2001, there were as many serious threads as Spam threads, and I liked being able to bounce back and forth between the two. Some SYMers mainly posted in serious threads, some only in the taverns and spam threads, and a few posted regularly in both. SYMers who weren't interested in debates or whatever just joined or started interesting spam threads instead. I don't think that any of the oldtimers looked at the serious threads on the board and thought, wait a minute I don't belong here. When it comes to the serious threads, I appreciate the way the mods closely monitor them and prevent a lot of the nastiness I've noticed on other boards. That being said, sometimes I think that when those threads are too closely monitored, it prevents some of the natural humor arising that would normally arise in a conversational debate (does that make any sense?)

While emotions did run high during the beginning of the Iraq war, I don't believe that that is to blame, either...At the same time that all those debates were going on, there was a lot of great fun stuff too.

As far as the spam threads go, since I've returned (again!), I've noticed a real decline in spam threads. I think that the art of creating a good spam thread and keeping it going takes a lot of humor and creativity and time. I guess right now that not many SYMers have the time to devote to that. I'll try to get something going again, but my plate is pretty damn full these days.

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 10:25 am

It is kinda specially strange for me, I'm new at GBanshee and SYM, so I havent seen SYM golden age.

Well, really, sometimes it seems people dont want to discuss things, they seem to be in a need for fight. That´s not good.

There are no solutions though: It is a cycle. Perhaps some of us shall try to bring our friends here. Sym is a very cool place (even though my posts are not famous or most people ignores them or dont like my opinion at all) and it has a very great potential for a maniac like me, for an intelectual, for a grunt, for everybody, as long as respect is kept.

Maybe this is one of the keys. Respect. Respect and comprehension, cause sometimes people just want to laugh, to talk bout nothing (longest thread about nothing: Help us save the Syms!!!) but Im not sure.

Enchantress · Post by **Enchantress** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 4:06 pm

Originally posted by fable
She pops in occasionally, and I understand from third parties she's a lurker. (And that's true of many of us.) She last posted in September, up in the BG2 forum.

I just saw this. Oh Fable, as usual, you are so mistaken...

I rarely ever come to Gamebanshee as I'm not currently playing any games. I don't know what "third parties" you're referrring to because I'm not in contact with anyone here.

Not making things up again, are you?!

But hello Galuf and everyone else and thanks for your remembrance.

I am now going again, frightened off by the Suicide Bombers thread.

Witch King · Post by **Witch King** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:01 pm

Originally posted by Luis Antonio
It is kinda specially strange for me, I'm new at GBanshee and SYM, so I havent seen SYM golden age.

for that, count yourself grateful. there were things with gruntboy, DP, waverly and weasel that NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

i didn't go through all the pages here, but i thought i'd put my two cents in, as someone who was here YEARS ago, and stopped coming after a while, and now very occasionally checks in. this is very much the Golden Age of Rome effect- it's easy to glamorize the past, and indeed inevitably human to do so ("remember the good old days, when so and so was ubiking a puffin?"). a posting board is about its members, that's it. when you get a certain group together, a dynamic is created that they enjoy (when things go well) because they are the ones creating it. so, with natural attrition (some people move away, get new jobs, families, whatever), the group loses key members and the dynamic shifts. so, the remaining members now don't have the same dynamic and the board "dies" a little bit for them. i think the key to having a successful board isn't about "keeping is lighthearted" or anything else like that- it's about the members actively working to keep it energized. and it takes work. in the Golden Days of SYM, the lifeblood of the board was based on certain people who took time and effort to create contests and challenges, and maintained them over time. in other words, if you create something like a one word story thread- it is your responsibility to keep it up- its pointless if you don't go back and cut and paste all of those words, and reprint the whole thing together so people can see how crazy it is. and also key, is making those contests or whatever thought-provoking, and innately funny. last rant- the OTHER thing that causes things to die is people taking ANYTHING serious that is said here, i mean, come on, it's a web board. back in the days, we were brutal to each other- and it was ****ing hilarious.

so it wasn't the war that divided you (though those evil, right wing vultures of death are easy to blame), it was yourselves.

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:36 pm

You bring some good points to the fold. Definatly some messed up bit of conversation took place, back in the early days of SYM. I'm sort've proud to say I've been hre since day one, and have watched it gradually evolve and turn into what it is now. It definatly was more light hearted back in the early days, with not so much controversy and heat, so to speak. I mean, look at some of the things we were allowed to get away with. Waverly is still refered to as Wankerly, at times. Not only that, but we had the whole gender crisis with Mrs. Sleep, and Ubika.

Just a special mention, Vehemence was definatly one of the best members this board had seen, with the amount of oddball stuff he started off. That, and the spamming raids him, Georgi and myself would take part in.

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:56 pm

Originally posted by Aegis
Just a special mention, Vehemence was definatly one of the best members this board had seen, with the amount of oddball stuff he started off. That, and the spamming raids him, Georgi and myself would take part in.

LOL, Veh's spam was very good quality...

Though I can't speak for mine.

I do miss insulting Aegis though... No, wait, I still do that. All's well that ends well, eh?

I just think if people don't like what SYM is like - change it! You have the power. Like He-Man. Kind of.

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 10:01 pm

Originally posted by Georgi
LOL, Veh's spam was very good quality... Though I can't speak for mine. I do miss insulting Aegis though... No, wait, I still do that. All's well that ends well, eh?

I just think if people don't like what SYM is like - change it! You have the power. Like He-Man. Kind of.

It's only insulting if I take it like a *****

Georgi · Post by **Georgi** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 10:05 pm

Originally posted by Aegis
It's only insulting if I take it like a *****

When did you ever take it any other way?

Fish slapper