A Question For The Og Ng Regs

[GreenLanturn]

It's been a while since I actually made a topic. Wow.

Anyway, I noticed Evark's topic from way back basically talking about the decline of the forum, threads, posts etc and had a thought?

Is it really that things have degraded or are we just more mature, wiser, or just plain bored in some cases. Don't get me wrong I do believe there are a lot of dumb shits and immature little fucks that just have complete nonsense going on here.

But think about it. How long have some of us been here? And in that time how much have we seen? Originality isn't completely dead, but I dare say we saw some of the best pranks, debates, flames, controversial moments, etc. If anything users now may have a watered down version of our been there, done that, got the t-shirt age. Not like it's been eons or centuries, but maybe all the good stuff came and left.

I know the question has been posed many times, "Why do you keep coming back...or even stay?" Hell, I can't even answer that for myself. Maybe it's the hope of it being once like was? Of course I like to see how things change and that things do change and progress. I also like see old faces...or names and posts as the case may be. Not even necessarily that I knew or really talked to the person, but a feeling of "Hey! I remember that guy...what a dumbass, or he was and now man has he changed...or they're a mod now...what!?" etc.

It could be that in our "time" other users that had bee around said the same thing about us. Could just be a cycle with ups and downs. I've started typing and I'm getting lost as to where I'm trying to even go with this. Got a head full of ideas and questions all at the same time.

But I guess just as in life I find myself wondering why are we here...on the forum? Why do we keep coming back? What made it so great before? What is it I even want out of it now? Was it really even as great before as I make it out to be in my mind? Have all the really good ideas and topics or at least the greatest ones happened and will I just have to settle for less?

Is it the forum...or is it just...us?

I just wonder if others out there share the same sentiments.

[Rabid-Echidna]

A year ago I was coming here out of habit alone, now it's at the level where I occasionally check the forums every few days to see if there's anything worth reading. This periodic checkup is usually without positive result, so I imagine that this remnant of an old habit will soon enough die out for good. Just about everyone I knew on NG is gone and not coming back save for about three people, so instead I read and post on SomethingAwful because they actually have content and intelligent discussion on their forums.

[HeartbreakHoldout]

Why do I stick around? Recognition I guess. I've never been popular on here, so it would feel like a waste of time if I just faded into obscurity without even trying.

That and the fact I can't leave. I'm pretty much addicted to this place, regardless of what becomes of it. As long as there are still some names I recognise, and some of the same basic people in charge, I'll feel at home on here.

I do find, alot more now, that when I make a thread, there are alot more really new users that I don't recognise at all, but that could just be xenophobia due to being here for so long, and losing touch with the youngsters.

It does give me a nice feeling to see people I do recognise though. Like you. I never knew you, but I remember you winning the most underrated thing a while back.

[speakerlight]

Usually when some has a period of degrading,it goes through a rebirth of knowledge and it will go through a golden age of good topics,nice conversations,and everything else you want.

[NeverHundred]

At 5/14/09 05:43 PM, GreenLanturn wrote: Originality isn't completely dead.

As an artist I beg to differ. The secret to being an artist isn't coming up with something new... it's hiding the fact you're repackaging something that is old and unoriginal.

[HippityGopher]

You can always count on NG to be entertaining. Even after all these years.

[Tancrisism]

At 5/14/09 06:00 PM, NeverHundred wrote:

At 5/14/09 05:43 PM, GreenLanturn wrote: Originality isn't completely dead.

As an artist I beg to differ. The secret to being an artist isn't coming up with something new... it's hiding the fact you're repackaging something that is old and unoriginal.

You should not be an artist.

[Luxury-Yacht]

I've been here longer than I can remember, trapped inside this computer.

I don't know if the machine will ever let me leave this place

[HippityGopher]

At 5/14/09 06:05 PM, Luxury-Yacht wrote: I've been here longer than I can remember, trapped inside this computer.

I don't know if the machine will ever let me leave this place

Agreed. I always wander the web, and somehow always come back.

[TheLameSauce]

it stills has it's moments, newgrounds, but there is a lot of banal tedium about. but, that's how i remember it always being. there was a year or two when i went mostly inactive. i don't know what really spurred my return. relapse, perhaps?

[NeverHundred]

At 5/14/09 06:02 PM, Tancrisism wrote:

At 5/14/09 06:00 PM, NeverHundred wrote:

At 5/14/09 05:43 PM, GreenLanturn wrote: Originality isn't completely dead.

As an artist I beg to differ. The secret to being an artist isn't coming up with something new... it's hiding the fact you're repackaging something that is old and unoriginal.

You should not be an artist.

Maybe... or maybe I'm one of the few people who actually knows what real art is. It's not about making something new, it's about making something true. And truth never changes, therefor nothing is original. Art is about portraying humanities feelings, and it's not like we have new feelings. Art isn't dead, it's just not what everyone seems to think it is.

[Seriana]

I only bother coming here every few days now just to check a few threads or inform people of something new

[simon]

At 5/14/09 06:20 PM, NeverHundred wrote: Art is about portraying humanities feelings, and it's not like we have new feelings. Art isn't dead, it's just not what everyone seems to think it is.

You sound like a fucking dick.

[GreenLanturn]

At 5/14/09 05:48 PM, Rabid-Echidna wrote: A year ago I was coming here out of habit alone, now it's at the level where I occasionally check the forums every few days to see if there's anything worth reading. This periodic checkup is usually without positive result, so I imagine that this remnant of an old habit will soon enough die out for good. Just about everyone I knew on NG is gone and not coming back save for about three people, so instead I read and post on SomethingAwful because they actually have content and intelligent discussion on their forums.

Yeah I disappear for an extended amount of time and then find myself checking in again. I'm actually almost afraid I'll feel the same and just...leave. I don't want to though. I don't even know why. Habit? maybe as well, but I guess somewhere inside me hopes it's a little more to it than that.

And seeing you brings up another point. Not like we were enemies or anything at all, but I believe I remember debating with you in I don't know how many threads. Actual intellectual debate and not stupid comebacks or name calling or smart ass remarks. I don't know if we even agreed on a lot, but the point I can recognize you years later and feel good about seeing you says a lot about then.

Users now...not that we didn't have them then...want to kill each other cause someone likes Straight Edge music etc and are pretty verbal about it. I doubt these same users will see those people in years and have the same feelings. They don't talk. Everything is a competition with their opinions that they feel they have to "win." It's not about explaining their view so the other person understands and sharing opinions. Most often it's trying to convince the other person they're wrong.

...and good to see ya man. :-)

At 5/14/09 05:53 PM, HeartbreakHoldout wrote: Why do I stick around? Recognition I guess. I've never been popular on here, so it would feel like a waste of time if I just faded into obscurity without even trying.

That I can completely understand and you're more than entitled to that. For newer users I feel that is the main reason they come. Which then I hold a double standard. Someone having been here and staying for that reason I'm cool with, but I like hold a grudge against those newer ones that come for that reason.

I know it makes me a hypocrite and I actually try to deal, but I don't like it and can't put my finger on why I can't just let it go. It's like they could be going through a lot in their own lives and this is their relief. Even if they come act childish or ignorant, it may be their one thing that may literally let them get through another day.

Still I just have some selfish feelings finding myself wanting to...i don't know...keep they "sanctity" of this place.

That and the fact I can't leave. I'm pretty much addicted to this place, regardless of what becomes of it. As long as there are still some names I recognise, and some of the same basic people in charge, I'll feel at home on here.

I feel you there. Another reason I keep coming back.

I do find, alot more now, that when I make a thread, there are alot more really new users that I don't recognise at all, but that could just be xenophobia due to being here for so long, and losing touch with the youngsters.

Yeah I feel like I have the old man syndrome a lot here.

It does give me a nice feeling to see people I do recognise though. Like you. I never knew you, but I remember you winning the most underrated thing a while back.

Well, thanks I appreciate that.

At 5/14/09 05:59 PM, HotActionYiffFur wrote: I like talking to people, even if the majority of you are fucking retarded.

Wow you're still here?

At 5/14/09 06:05 PM, Luxury-Yacht wrote: I've been here longer than I can remember, trapped inside this computer.

I don't know if the machine will ever let me leave this place

Remember you too.

[NeverHundred]

At 5/14/09 06:25 PM, simon wrote:

At 5/14/09 06:20 PM, NeverHundred wrote: Art is about portraying humanities feelings, and it's not like we have new feelings. Art isn't dead, it's just not what everyone seems to think it is.

You sound like a fucking dick.

Now I may be a dick, but I'm not a fucking dick!

[HeartbreakHoldout]

At 5/14/09 06:25 PM, simon wrote:

At 5/14/09 06:20 PM, NeverHundred wrote: Art is about portraying humanities feelings, and it's not like we have new feelings. Art isn't dead, it's just not what everyone seems to think it is.

You sound like a fucking dick.

Definitely sounds like an artist though. Nobody fucking understands artists, not even artists.

[DroopyA]

I only still come here, because it's one of the few active forums I can visit at work. Once I leave the office, I don't even think of this place.

I think the decline comes from the mods and their attitudes as well as the new 'family friendly' mode that was brought in once Tom started making console games.

In the glory days, we could post tits and make spam topics until our heads blew up. Unfunny spam topics where just that... unfunny. They got few replies and left the front page in a hurry... but every now and then you got some good ones that gave us all hours of entertainment.

But it's all changed now... if you make a funny random remark, it's considered spam and you're booted from the forum. Making unfunny topics results in the same thing and this hurts creatvity on a whole because every post you make is clouded in a fear of being baned. Even when people work up the never to make random topics, there's not enough ballsy people to reply for fear of getting banned simply for posting in a 'spam' topic.

The end result is a bunch of scared people having the same handful of safe conversations over and over and over again.

Bigbadron started it, Ozcar drove it into the ground, and Zeroks "i'm a perfect little goody two-shoes" attitude enforces it. We need mods that know how to have fun... not mods that think that they have to run this place with an iron fist or it'll implode. It's just the internet, no harm comes from a topic about peeing in somebodies butt... regardless of how stupid and immaure it may be.

[lolomfgisuck]

At 5/14/09 06:30 PM, DroopyA wrote: stuff

I agree with this guy... he's a genius.

[MemoryCard]

Actually no, its not just getting used to it. Your Theory about forgetting and coming back to a better NG isnt true because it's Newgrounds that got worse.

It used to be full of funny quirky stuff but now its just an attempt at gaining back former glory or lame self help questions.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

[MattTheHeadBanger]

I can back to post in this thread. Now you will never here from me again.

[NeverHundred]

At 5/14/09 06:27 PM, HeartbreakHoldout wrote:

At 5/14/09 06:25 PM, simon wrote:

At 5/14/09 06:20 PM, NeverHundred wrote: Art is about portraying humanities feelings, and it's not like we have new feelings. Art isn't dead, it's just not what everyone seems to think it is.

You sound like a fucking dick.

Definitely sounds like an artist though. Nobody fucking understands artists, not even artists.

Yeah, I'm so misunderstood even I don't understand. Is this just proving rigs point that new users are idiots. I suppose it is...

[Johnny-Coolguy]

I've actually been frequenting this site for a couple of years.
I never really bothered making an account until I noticed that "Forums" button.
I don't remember how long I've been coming here, though.

[Sawdust]

At 5/14/09 05:43 PM, GreenLanturn wrote: Is it the forum...or is it just...us?

It's us most definitely.

I mean, a game isn't getting any worse if you're getting bored with it.

[yurgenburgen]

When I'm online I have the NG BBS in one tab, and I surf the internet with the other tabs. I refresh the NG tab every so often to see if there's anything worth responding to. I don't sit on the BBS just waiting and waiting for something to come along. It's like when you're chatting with someone on MSN and neither of you have said anything for ages but you keep the conversation window open.

[Rabid-Echidna]

At 5/14/09 06:25 PM, GreenLanturn wrote:

Yeah I disappear for an extended amount of time and then find myself checking in again. I'm actually almost afraid I'll feel the same and just...leave. I don't want to though. I don't even know why. Habit? maybe as well, but I guess somewhere inside me hopes it's a little more to it than that.

And seeing you brings up another point. Not like we were enemies or anything at all, but I believe I remember debating with you in I don't know how many threads. Actual intellectual debate and not stupid comebacks or name calling or smart ass remarks. I don't know if we even agreed on a lot, but the point I can recognize you years later and feel good about seeing you says a lot about then.

I recall thinking you were a cool guy, so I'll assume we either agreed on things or you managed to debate the other side of the argument rationally instead of pulling a cellardoor6. Half of the time I feel like some sort of old-fashioned comedian and the only time I ever even make topics anymore is so that people can wonder who the hell this random level 42 guy with over 13,000 posts is that they've never seen before and why he's spewing out a bunch of ridiculous bullshit.

Users now...not that we didn't have them then...want to kill each other cause someone likes Straight Edge music etc and are pretty verbal about it. I doubt these same users will see those people in years and have the same feelings. They don't talk. Everything is a competition with their opinions that they feel they have to "win." It's not about explaining their view so the other person understands and sharing opinions. Most often it's trying to convince the other person they're wrong.

I generally don't respect people who resort to the Bill O'Reilly form of debate. I'd rather talk with someone than talk at them, and two people yelling their opinions over one another is best reserved for the lead up to a bar fight. The whole e-persona thing is ridiculous to begin with, it's not like you're going to impress anyone by being an internet badass besides yourself and the dumbass who responds to your post with "I agree." This is supposed to be a place for, you know, DISCUSSION. I can't claim to have had more than one or two decent ones over the past few years. Partly due to inactivity, mostly to lack of substance in the framework.

...and good to see ya man. :-)

We should hang out and reminisce some time. Remember Mast3rmind? Oh man, those were the days...

[weirdoo]

No, reading the beginning of your post made me realise something. The forum isn't degenarting at all, it's just we Regulars who keep growing up into adults, the more grown-ups we become the less childish we become. We WERE like the younglings, we just don't see it.

It's we regulars who grow older and older, it's a harsh reality

[joabos]

Ahh...It's really sad to look back and see that the glory days are over. Not of the community as a whole, of course as we are always the same; But of MY glory days.

Sorry if I sound egocentric.

When I went into the forums, and a bunch of other people greeted me, made in-jokes and had fun in popular-at-the-moment threads such as "Get the Cake" or "Ng i drew you a picture". And these things still happen. With other people, the new ones, still rooting that will also have their time. We never change. The forums never change. We do.

Also, i'm just spouting out random shit because i'm still a newbie.

[tupertank]

I dunno, but..

I'm sorta new to newgrounds and all, I joined last summer.

I never really thought that the NG BBS could be so interesting, i'm only now starting to realise how much information and different topics there are.

At the rate it's going for me i'm not leaving the BBS anytime soon.

[GreenLanturn]

At 5/14/09 06:30 PM, DroopyA wrote: But it's all changed now... if you make a funny random remark, it's considered spam and you're booted from the forum. Making unfunny topics results in the same thing and this hurts creatvity on a whole because every post you make is clouded in a fear of being baned. Even when people work up the never to make random topics, there's not enough ballsy people to reply for fear of getting banned simply for posting in a 'spam' topic.

The end result is a bunch of scared people having the same handful of safe conversations over and over and over again.

Bigbadron started it, Ozcar drove it into the ground, and Zeroks "i'm a perfect little goody two-shoes" attitude enforces it. We need mods that know how to have fun... not mods that think that they have to run this place with an iron fist or it'll implode. It's just the internet, no harm comes from a topic about peeing in somebodies butt... regardless of how stupid and immaure it may be.

I could say that's the fault of the users as well. They need to man up and get some fucking balls then. I'm not telling people to act stupid or disrespectful, but I'll put it this way.

Back in the day, rules still applied and people found that border they teetered on and still found a way. Sometimes it was a hit and sometimes they got banned. That's the game. They choose to play they follow the rules. Everyone loves a laugh and as such if it was overly disrespectful to anyone here, or racist, demeaning, or violating something over the top...etc, it always seemed it just kinda was let slide. And if it was just stupid, you couldn't post some days and we'd make fun of you when you came back.

Like being suspended from school for like fighting. You decided to AND you lost so double shame for the person. They stayed home and then we're like"So how was that ass beating?" when they come back.

These new users act like a ban is death. Yeah, they shouldn't want to be banned or try by any means to, but that just shows their dependency on what? These topics. Nazi armbands in the fucking closest, Teacher pwn, and penis torture?

Excuse the hell out of me...no offense to anyone, but what is a ban to me? I get banned and I probably wouldn't even know except for this topic cause I'm replying to you all. I do more reading...not that there's much to look at...then posting anyway. If someone gets banned they should take the lesson from it, move on, and find something productive or counterproductive to do. That's what we did. Not that it happened a lot, but I was banned for posting in stupid topics, flame wars, etc and didn't lose stride. You go" yeah that was dumb on my. they called me on that one. Touche." or "well that's bullshit" and do something else. Not anxiously pass time waiting for it to be lifted.

But before even all this they have to stop being retarded and understand comedy. The audience they're going for and the audience actually recieving the joke. Something they may think is funny isn't necessarily funny to everyone or even the majority. I believe that is what people had going for them then. They picked and chose their battles instead of "This makes ME laugh so i'm gonna share it with everyone else."

[Toiletpaper]

At 5/14/09 05:48 PM, Rabid-Echidna wrote: A year ago I was coming here out of habit alone, now it's at the level where I occasionally check the forums every few days to see if there's anything worth reading. This periodic checkup is usually without positive result, so I imagine that this remnant of an old habit will soon enough die out for good. Just about everyone I knew on NG is gone and not coming back save for about three people, so instead I read and post on SomethingAwful because they actually have content and intelligent discussion on their forums.

Agreed, the material on the forums is slowly declining. Newgrounds needs something to restore, or rather, create some indulging activities, and more than just the mere movie or flash. I doubt though, that the flame of Newgrounds will ever burn out. It has become more of a hobby, to me and to you, than just checking. It has become a routine. There will always be a time in your life, no matter how old, when you will just want to log on a computer and visit this website.
I have strayed from this path for a while, and at most two weeks at a time. But I always find some kind of reason and discover myself on this website again. No, Newgrounds, no matter how shitty it will become in the future, will always have its irradiated glow from the epic past. Unless it is bought out by the liberals, it will never die.