Have some of the usual members left Racketboy forums ?

[aaron]

i'm still here. i read more than i post these days. most of my time is pretty much spent between my main job, my kids, my girlfriend, playing in a couple bands and opening the barcade. starting a second business here soon, too, because i am a masochist.

my gaming lately has been very Steam and PSN based, aside from some arcade pcb collecting here and there. i don't do much console stuff anymore.

but i do miss you guys and gals and hope all is well in your worlds. i'll try and stay a bit more connected here in the future. i miss the humor and camaraderie here.

[BogusMeatFactory]

As a forum member, you can click the profile icon on the previous post of a member and see if they're just lurking (last active/visit), then click the email or PM icon and ask if everything's alright.

This, this, a million times this. Look, I understand people's concern about the level of activity the forums have had as of late, but you can contact those people. Tell them that you miss them and would to see them come back.

I mentioned in the together retro post about doing stuff for the site. People keep saying they want more articles and even offer to write them. Racket has said that they should submit some articles and he will put them up and only until recently some new stuff has come up.

More articles are coming and people need to take charge in keeping things going.

Dsh says that the lack of some key members are a reason why he doesn't stay around much. I dont lIke ghat mindset. It is easy to get in a routine where you only notice and care about the posts your friends make, but that comes at the cost of ignoring those people who want to take part, but won't because they feel like they will step on toes or... be ignored.

When you see a new person post, be encouraging and kind. Go out of your way to make them feel welcome. If you want old people to come back, encourage them by contacting them and going out of your way to make them feel wanted.

A community is about feeling like you belong and if you want a community to flourish you have to make people feel like they belong.

[Xeogred]

Your enthusiasm is contagious Bogus. Makes me think of HappyConsoleGamer. It's been clearly evident to me for the last two years or so that you'd be a great leader of sorts.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Your enthusiasm is contagious Bogus. Makes me think of HappyConsoleGamer. It's been clearly evident to me for the last two years or so that you'd be a great leader of sorts.

Thank you so much xeogred! It is tough sometimes to keep such a positive attitude, especially since this is the internet after all. By the way, this is a better place then ever to say, "hey I haven't seen you around in a while and I miss ya!"

What have you been up to? I know you have been lurking around, but what kind of topics do you want to see?

[wip3outguy7]

I agree with a lot of what Luke has said.

I think the shift away from retro games discussions is expected. A lot of people have been priced out. Most hidden gems have been found. The retro gaming community as a whole is slowly shrinking as a result (along with other factors).

Outside of a few key discussions and the occasional event, I don't see a lot going on here. I visit RB daily. The first two things I click are "View your posts" and "View new posts". I like to check on old topics I've been involved in to see if there are any new questions I can help out with (light guns, Leynos, etc). I check for any new discussions that I might be interested in. I see the same 10 topics refreshed by the same group of people. I think this is why you see so many older members lurking. There either isn't anything to add, or little reason to engage.

[Xeogred]

Your enthusiasm is contagious Bogus. Makes me think of HappyConsoleGamer. It's been clearly evident to me for the last two years or so that you'd be a great leader of sorts.

Thank you so much xeogred! It is tough sometimes to keep such a positive attitude, especially since this is the internet after all. By the way, this is a better place then ever to say, "hey I haven't seen you around in a while and I miss ya!"

What have you been up to? I know you have been lurking around, but what kind of topics do you want to see?

Thanks dude! Things are looking up! Not my favorite year but certainly not the worst.

Well in my absence I got more hooked on youtube, for better or worse lol. Game Sack is great though and it just makes me realize how much I've neglected Sega consoles over the years. I've always had a few of their consoles and love some franchises, but man some of their consoles are a goldmine. I love that HappyConsoleGamer is doing a lot of coverage on the PCE as well. Whenever I have more space and money for retrogaming, I'd really love to work on building up the Genesis, Sega CD, and maybe PCE libraries. I'm really bummed the PCE didn't take off here. Since I grew up on the NES, Genesis, and SNES, the PCE looks like a really cool midpoint between the 8 and 16bit eras... I easily would have been obsessed with that console if it had done better and was more available here. I also think the 90's CD based games have some of the best music ever (Rondo of Blood). So yeah, been thinking about SEGA and the PCE lately.

[BogusMeatFactory]

That isnawesome! Yeah I enjoy gamesack a bunch foe just showcasing some games I forget about! And it is good that you are getting into the genesis. I grew up with it and the Sega cd so if you need any suggestions for games, just let me know, that system is just so good. The Sega cd is even better if you love cheeseball fmv games! I adore the fmv genre so that is where it is at, plus those games tend to go for less than 5 bucks complete so you can cash in.

[Ziggy]

Me, personally, I've just had a few things going on in my personal life the past few months. Nothing too terrible, just a lot of things going on all at once. I've been more or less checking the forums in short bursts when I have a spare 5-10 minutes. I check the forums pretty much every day still, and usually multiple times each day. I've just been a little too busy to post much. At the end of the day, I've been spending what little free time I have trying to play video games. I'm usually too exhausted mentally to make any meaningful posts. Which sucks because there's a few topics I really wanted to post about, things I think people would engage in, including real retro talk, I just haven't had the time. That WILL eventually change, but that's where I'm at right now.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Me, personally, I've just had a few things going on in my personal life the past few months. Nothing too terrible, just a lot of things going on all at once. I've been more or less checking the forums in short bursts when I have a spare 5-10 minutes. I check the forums pretty much every day still, and usually multiple times each day. I've just been a little too busy to post much. At the end of the day, I've been spending what little free time I have trying to play video games. I'm usually too exhausted mentally to make any meaningful posts. Which sucks because there's a few topics I really wanted to post about, things I think people would engage in, including real retro talk, I just haven't had the time. That WILL eventually change, but that's where I'm at right now.

Well I will be here waiting to take part and enjoying the conversation! Can't wait for your free time to expand and allow you write some stuff man! The Mario Maker thread is just so quiet without you haha!

[Ziggy]

I still have like 4+ levels in the works. I just got some sort of writers block (building block?) and felt like I couldn't make fun levels all of a sudden. Maybe it's just my mental exhaustion when I have a little video game time. After learning about the upcoming update though, I decided to wait for it before trying to jump back in. I definitely want to utilize the additions, so it's best to wait for them so I don't have to go back to tweak things and re-upload levels (which is very annoying).

Maybe it's good that I put Mario Maker on pause, I don't wanna burn it out. I really wanted to replay a couple retro games (which I haven't had the chance to post about in the games beaten thread) and I've been waiting for Yoshi's Woolly World for a while. But definitely expect to see me back in the Mario Maker thread soon.