The State of Racketboy?

[racketboy]

I think some of the regulars are busier than they used to so they don't post as much. I'm a pretty good example, I think

True here. But the social media thing is a reason as well. At least we're not as down as some forums I used to frequent. There's some ghost towns out there...

[prfsnl_gmr]

My wife posts "regularly" on Arts and Crafts antiques forums. They are a great resource, but they will go for days and weeks without new posts. By comparison, this place does fantastic.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

The level of discussion in forums is usually higher than it is in 'social' media or blog formats. That means more effort on the part of each poster. It's only natural that those who weren't serious and those who have nothing to say moved to facebook or whatever. For something simple like matchmaking, more members is better.

It's not like we talk about theory, dive deep into a specific game, or do anything in-depth, but we're mostly calm and reasonable adults who can talk about games in a bit more detail than neoGAF does (even if someone says something interesting, there are so many members that their comment is buried in one-line posts). Twenty regulars is a better number if you ask me. We have nothing to worry about, even if the site is slowing down a little.

[TSTR]

Screw the pity party; I've loved this place for years despite only being here officially for 6 months. I'm not going anywhere.

I plan on posting haikus and text dingalings, offering assistance, buying and selling and giving away, having discussions, making e-friends, and shooting the shit here until the internet explodes.

RACKETBOY 4 LIFE BISHES

EDIT:

It's not just racketboy that loses people, all forums feel this right now. Social media has taken away a lot of forum necessity in general. In the Fighting Game community, posting on forums used to be the best/primary way to contact and communicate with other players. But you had to register at and log into so many different forums for so many different games/types of games, a lot of people deemed it a hassle etc.
So now that FB has the same abilities and allows you to post something one time and allow multiple circles of friends see/not see it, being able to log in from any device and post something any time and integration of your profile into so many different services.... forums in general just lose out on that front. Meaning you will see the disappearance of many types of posters aside from the most devout or hardcore. I've witnessed the destruction of several FG communities because of the laziness and centralization that FB and other social media breed.

Just the way of the beast.

Anyways, i think RB has a healthier community than most forums nowadays. I still see tons of quality posters here and almost every forum section has new posts daily. Which is why I joined here

I have mention this because I agree with it so much. Just go look at the NC thread over on SRK. Ghost town. Everything has all moved to Facebook groups/cliques, apparently, which disgusts me. I don't want to interact with people I don't/barely know on FB just to find people that may or may not want to play FGs with me. I've got pictures of my kitty cats on there, for god's sake!

[dsheinem]

pretty sure the answer to this thread is still Michigan

[IrishNinja]

It's not like we talk about theory, dive deep into a specific game, or do anything in-depth, but we're mostly calm and reasonable adults who can talk about games in a bit more detail than neoGAF does (even if someone says something interesting, there are so many members that their comment is buried in one-line posts). Twenty regulars is a better number if you ask me. We have nothing to worry about, even if the site is slowing down a little.

just as an aside here, after spending the last few years as a GAF regular: it's getting kinda cesspool-y. thought out posts & analysis can get ignored/basically TL;DR and there's some fantastic mods, but some higher up that make it more about their ego at times. meanwhile, console warrior stuff infects/drowns out otherwise interesting threads the way it does nearly every other spot, so one of my favorite things about migrating there from Kotaku in about '08/09 is slowly eroding as well. there's good people there & interesting leaks but it's not nearly the sense of community i find in spots like this, personally.

[Retrogamer0001]

Hmm, interesting FB theory cha - I guess it makes sense from a convenience perspective, though I personally despise the site and rarely use it anymore. I do frequent two other online forums (MLB and DakkaDakka) which both have very healthy user bases, so I was getting a bit perplexed about the number of posters on Racket (which is by far my favorite).

Does anyone have the stats/knowledge of things usually picking up in the summer months, what with schools and colleges/universities being closed?

[Fragems]

Haven't really been around to many other forums recently but this place seems pretty healthy to me. Every time I get on there is a solid page or two of new posts available to browse through and we have a good number of interesting threads going on at any given time.

[Flake]

I'm pretty happy with how the site is going. I've been a no show mostly for the last half a year and coming back has felt pretty natural. In terms of our active membership, we've never really had a huge population. I think we're good.

[BogusMeatFactory]

If you check the site daily, it gives you the sense that there is little activity. The reality is that, there is a ton of activity going on in the forums and in the racketboy community as a whole. Members are playing with other members, hanging out in the racketboy chat room shooting the breeze and numerous little cliques exist, open to new people every day.

I am searching for work currently and tend to check the site more than I would like to admit, so I can see those moments where I am like, "WHERE IS EVERYONE AND WHY AREN'T THEY POSTING?" and then realize how stupid I may actually be after seeing I checked the forums about 5 minutes ago on a weekday afternoon.

Yeah, social media and things like Steam make it easier for people to meet others and enthuse and encourages them to not look for a broader audience to talk about games, but I really do not see the site diminishing in activity.

People are still here and people are still talking and the conversations are still vibrant and full of life.

pretty sure the answer to this thread is still Michigan

Whaaaaaa?