Together Retro 2016 Calendar - FINAL

[CFFJR]

And clearly the discussion remains open.

It has gone on for several pages in this very thread.

Its why Ack went to the trouble to post up polls that will be open for a week.

Its why a couple of those polls have potential results that could only open up further discussion, as well as possibly striking some games entirely.

Seems to me like the process is running just fine. And I say that as someone who contributed one relevant "I like this" post in this thread.

Nothing has been set in stone here.

[TSTR]

where have all the cowboys gone
...
to other forums apparently

[MrPopo]

where have all the cowboys gone
...
to other forums apparently

We've still got our rhinestone cowboys.

[mjmjr25]

As far as I'm concerned, nominations have remained open the entire time.

I apologize if it was taken as a finished calendar.

Fair enough. I'm not sure how anyone was supposed to have known that because there has been exactly ONE game nominated since that calendar was released and that nomination was met with, "I think the list is set?"

Not one post was made to the contrary.

There have been dozens of posts to the effect, "Not my favourite calendar", "list looks good", "here's the games i'll be playing", "here's the version of that game I have", etc.

Clearly though, the list is not set and the nomination period is active.

Let me propose:
Baku Baku Animal - it is a top 5 puzzle game all-time. Yes, played in TR 7 years ago, but...that was 7 years ago.

Waialai Country Club Golf - an expertly done golf game on the N64 which can be played competively or loosely. Still the best golf game i've ever played (sorry Neo Turf Masters).

Street Fighter 3rd Strike - along with Garou one of the 2 best fighters ever. The crispest controls; available on multiple plats including ps3 for online against each other.

I have a few more i'll list up tonight or tomorrow.

[fastbilly1]

Ok so there has been alot said very quickly. Since I have been offline for the better part of the last two days, I have been pretty removed from this whole situation. So let me just say this.

The Public Bloodbath decision method does not work and going forward ALL Together Retros will be chosen by voting from a list of games selected by the people who write the articles. There will be a suggestion thread, but the choices may be padded out so to bring up titles not normally played.

Yes TR does bring people to the forum, Noise is the first one I can think of, but it is not the reason for the lull in traffic. And yes, people do seem to talk more when we play arcade styled games. But the original purpose of the Together Retro (thanks to SB for bringing up the original posts) was to be a hands on history lesson AND an attempt to get people to try things that they would not normally. Sure sometimes these do not work out, Populous, but sometimes they are surprising. Again I am going to pick on him, but in May 2010 we played X-COM: UFO Defense, which I have never been a big fan of, but Noise, who was against it initially, tried the title after playing through Rebelstar, and now has logged a couple hundred hours into the game on steam. Or in Jan 2012 we played a game I didnt think would work out, Golden Axe Warrior. I imagined the community would call it for what I have called it for years, a bad zelda clone. But then after 30 something pages of discussion, I sat down and played it for a solid four hours to see if it could change my mind. Well $100 later I had a copy in the mail and it is my most played SMS game. What I am trying to say here is that TR can be something awesome if you have an open mind. I know this may sound silly, since I rarely post in the topics, but I do play most of the none horror games.

We probably do need to approach Together Retro as a whole and adjust it for the current gamer lifestyle. But right now we have three open polls, and twelve slots for games. There is a functional calendar floating around:

Jan: Knights of the Old Republic
Feb: Metal Slug
Mar: Star Control 2
Apr: Oddworld
May: Daytona USA
Jun: COD/MOHAA
Jul: Pitfall
Aug: Solomon's Key
Sep: Harvest Moon
Oct: Alone in the Dark
Nov: R-Type
Dec: Pokémon

But the polls will take the two RPG months, and make them one. Possibly swap out Alone in the Dark and Harvest Moon. So at minimum, by this calendar, we would have one open month to work with. Like said, this is not set in stone, just using it as framework. Personally, my only issues with this calendar are that it was decided in a couple hours and that it does not have a wild card entry.

The couple hours thing is self explanatory and has been discussed for a while already. But I like having the, for lack of a better term, WTF choice for a month, like Qwak, Zoop, or Zork. I had more people email me when we played Zork asking if it was a serious choice than any other game we have played (yes even over the hate mail for Snatcher). It is such a well known title, that modern gamers just do not think about. To pick on Ack, he actually played through the game while I was on chat with him. He was bitching to me the whole time since he forgot an item early in the game and had to backtrack for like two hours. But in the end, he was thankful he played the game, even if the stupid mistake took so much time.

[Ack]

People come to our website because of the articles. I know of one person who has ever joined this community due to Together Retro, and that is noise. Nearly everyone else who has come to the site that either come because of the information in the articles found on our main page or because they want to sell something in our forums.

We're losing people and not gaining new ones for several reasons:

1. We aren't putting out content like we used to. When Racket, Fastbilly, and I slowed or stopped writing articles for the main page, attention dropped off dramatically because our output diminished dramatically.

2. The information we present is now available from a variety of sources, some of which specialize in certain aspects and completely blow us out of the water.

3. Some of our information was time sensitive and is drastically out of date.

4. Forums are no longer the primary method by which people communicate on the Internet. Nowadays people watch video reviews, listen to podcasts, communicate via social media, and visit aggregator websites like Reddit.

5. Much of the information we presented has now become public knowledge. The hidden gems of yesteryear are no more. We have been incredibly successful in getting the word out, to the point that the word is no longer needed.

Together Retro is not the deciding factor in whether people stay or go on this forum. Sometimes it is events going on in our personal lives or sudden self-discovery. It may be a perception of bias overall or an offensive post from a single member. It may be that we are just bored. But it isn't because TR was rushed or too slow or dominated by a particular member or holds too many games of some genre, and if it is, then that person should probably consider why that issue is such a huge issue. For example, "not enough arcade games" should instead become "why do I refuse to play anything else?"

Every year since TR started, it has been a thankless nightmare. The people on this website are at times incredibly biased in what they are willing to play, and every year this decision process is prone to fights, be it in public or private. Fans of certain genres or champions of certain games clash all across our forum. Even after a game gets nominated, we spit vitriol at each other for them. I should know, I helped nominate and played Populous and M.U.L.E., among many others. We may have rushed things a bit this year in the hopes that certain members who have in the past taken their sweet time in shitting on our parade would refrain from doing so, but in the process, somebody else came along to shit on our parade. I love playing and discussing games with people, but after a while, you get tired of this behavior.

As strange as it may sound, we are still one of the most popular fan sites dedicated to retro games, even though many of our members are happy to bitch and moan over what kinds of games we talk about and refuse to even consider wide swathes of older video games. If I have to look at another SHMUPs vs. RPGs post, I will likely puke and ban everyone involved. If I had my way, TR would be decided by a cabal of a handful of members with the goal of making members aware certain games and genres exist and helping to push them out of their comfort zone just so they can say, "I did it." "I played M.U.L.E." "I played Populous." "I had a high score in Defender," "I tried out Snatcher," "I beat The Typing of the Dead."

I have always felt that the purpose of Together Retro, this forum, and this website is to be educational, to expand our horizons and help us discover new virtual experiences we may never have considered before or never before had been willing to try. I always felt we were the gateway to retro gaming, the first stop in a long road of entertainment on the main page with our articles while the more in-depth experience happened on the forums. TR was to me a deeper look into specific games that may never have gotten the attention they deserved from our members. It was for those of us who were already beyond the pale, who had many games under our belts but wanted to see what else was out there. The specialty genre clubs have helped to continue this too, allowing even greater looks into certain genres so titles can be explored and compared that might not necessarily fly in the base Together Retro. Yes, this means we occasionally get the stinkers of historical importance, but I don't mind them. It's fun to occasionally see where we have come from.

As far as I'm concerned, nominations have remained open the entire time.

I apologize if it was taken as a finished calendar.

Fair enough. I'm not sure how anyone was supposed to have known that because there has been exactly ONE game nominated since that calendar was released and that nomination was met with, "I think the list is set?"

Not one post was made to the contrary.

It is also worth noting that the vast majority of your posts so far in this thread have been solely to complain or to drop sarcastic quips at our expense. As a result, I've read every one of your posts here as aggressive and insulting, regardless of what you intended.

[nullPointer]

But I like having the, for lack of a better term, WTF choice for a month, like Qwak, Zoop, or Zork. I had more people email me when we played Zork asking if it was a serious choice than any other game we have played (yes even over the hate mail for Snatcher).

Likewise I feel like we're missing at least one title that comes straight out of left field (M.U.L.E.). I think part of the TR magic is that it's a mix of "oh, well of course" titles, and others where you think, "I've heard of it and I've always been curious, so WTH let's have a go" sorts of affairs. I wouldn't even venture a guess at what to suggest to that end, but yeah I would agree that we need at least one curve ball in there. Syndicate maybe?

Also anyone who would send hate mail over Snatcher is not someone I want to play games with (although I could certainly understand some slight upset over lack of ports and reasonable pricing)

[Jmustang1968]

What other forums do they speak of?

[MrPopo]

But I like having the, for lack of a better term, WTF choice for a month, like Qwak, Zoop, or Zork. I had more people email me when we played Zork asking if it was a serious choice than any other game we have played (yes even over the hate mail for Snatcher).

Likewise I feel like we're missing at least one title that comes straight out of left field (M.U.L.E.). I think part of the TR magic is that it's a mix of "oh, well of course" titles, and others where you think, "I've heard of it and I've always been curious, so WTH let's have a go" sorts of affairs. I wouldn't even venture a guess at what to suggest to that end, but yeah I would agree that we need at least one curve ball in there. Syndicate maybe?

Also anyone who would send hate mail over Snatcher is not someone I want to play games with (although I could certainly understand some slight upset over lack of ports and reasonable pricing)

I'd argue that Star Control 2 is pretty out of left field for those not familiar with it. It's just that the devotees have been extremely vocal in this thread.

[Ack]

Let me propose:
Baku Baku Animal - it is a top 5 puzzle game all-time. Yes, played in TR 7 years ago, but...that was 7 years ago.

Waialai Country Club Golf - an expertly done golf game on the N64 which can be played competively or loosely. Still the best golf game i've ever played (sorry Neo Turf Masters).

Street Fighter 3rd Strike - along with Garou one of the 2 best fighters ever. The crispest controls; available on multiple plats including ps3 for online against each other.

Baku Baku I oppose only because we did play it once, even if that was a while ago. I proposed in another thread that we make changes to allow us to revisit series. But since we don't even currently do that, I'd prefer we not go back to replay older titles that we have done in the past, even for classics like Defender or Baku Baku.

I'm down for Waialae Country Club and 3rd Strike though.