4 Yrs♥$✓#
churros
4 Yrs♥$✓#
I have a lot of nostalgia for forums that doesn't exist anymore. Many of the Brazilian RuneScape forums from more than a decade ago comes to mind (Zybez is closed too!?). Another community that I miss is the legendary people from gotfrag.com forums. They dissected gaming mice like no other (mouse acceleration, prediction, optical vs laser, overclocking the usb clock rate, ...). Anyway...
HLTB is the only forum that I'm active. All the ones that I miss are already dead. Same for the interesting ones that I eventually stumble upon, dead.
(small rant: I think reddit stole a lot of people from traditional forums and it's not a replacement for those at all)
What about you? Are you active on any message board other than HLTB?
HLTB is the only forum that I'm active. All the ones that I miss are already dead. Same for the interesting ones that I eventually stumble upon, dead.
(small rant: I think reddit stole a lot of people from traditional forums and it's not a replacement for those at all)
What about you? Are you active on any message board other than HLTB?
6 Yrs✓#
Civilwarfare101
6 Yrs✓#
Nope, I'm purely on HLTB, I use social media but recent developments has caused me to tone down on my use of it. I only use HLTB because it's the only place on the internet that I know of that works like Holy Ground from Highlander where pointless and petty fighting has a 98% chance of not happening. Every place on social media or any other website that allow communication while being anyonmous usually have someone throwing insults, being overly insecure or defensive or people treating criticism for their favorite media like a personal attack. It's either those or people acting like wannabe pro wrestlers and trying to cut a promo proving how clever they are for making jabs at popular media. I'm pretty much just blogger now, I got no reason to "prove" anything to people online or act like I'm right since well there probably are people who agree with me, they just need a place where people won't act like that Family Guy Godfather scene.
The HLTB forums only updating once every few weeks only add to my use of it. As far as I know of, this is the only message board outside of Reddit I ever used, the latter I stopped using after 6 months and I only log into that for a certain subreddit and that's it.
The HLTB forums only updating once every few weeks only add to my use of it. As far as I know of, this is the only message board outside of Reddit I ever used, the latter I stopped using after 6 months and I only log into that for a certain subreddit and that's it.
4 Yrs♥$✓#
Cock
4 Yrs♥$✓#
As far as classic message boards go, HLTB is the only one I'm somewhat active in these days. But even with this community, I much prefer the more dynamic Discord server for actual conversation.
Message boards like this have, from my experience, lost their appeal and functionality over a decade ago. I remember growing up frequenting multiple message boards daily and being obsessed with the concept of creating little spaces to discuss whatever I want with strangers through forum threads. A German gaming forum and a German literature forum are two of the most prominent places through which I explored web 2.0 as a kid. But as social media developed, I noticed those becoming less and less appealing, and less active. Mostly in the 2010s.
And it doesn't surprise me one bit because looking back, it just wasn't a super convenient or interactive way to talk to other people. I feel like a ton of forum posts are people talking at each other but not with each other. Like a pre-cursor of the "shouting into the void" that modern social media provides, but even slower and with less options to interact directly.
I don't remember the last time I actually had a fulfilling conversation with anyone on a message board.
Because of all of that, it actually surprised me when I found out, months after signing up to HLTB, that there was this forum attached and that it was actually fairly active. Really seems like a rarity these days.
But I personally do believe the message board structure works better for event organization and blogs than actual conversations. Again, that's where the Discord is at, in my opinion. Because you can have an actual real time conversation there while the forum has more the effect of exchanging letters or leaving guest book entries. It's more detached.
In theory, the slower pace should leave room for more thought-out messages but I think in reality the rigid and slow structure of a thread doesn't encourage properly engaging with the thoughts of others.
It all feels very one-sided, in my opinion. Sure you could quote someone directly but who is to say that person actually ever notices that? Giving it more the vibe of commenting on someone's message than actually conversing with them.
For years I thought message boards would still have a prominent place in the digital world. In theory, it's still a sound concept. But honestly the more time passes, the less I see it.
- Matt
Message boards like this have, from my experience, lost their appeal and functionality over a decade ago. I remember growing up frequenting multiple message boards daily and being obsessed with the concept of creating little spaces to discuss whatever I want with strangers through forum threads. A German gaming forum and a German literature forum are two of the most prominent places through which I explored web 2.0 as a kid. But as social media developed, I noticed those becoming less and less appealing, and less active. Mostly in the 2010s.
And it doesn't surprise me one bit because looking back, it just wasn't a super convenient or interactive way to talk to other people. I feel like a ton of forum posts are people talking at each other but not with each other. Like a pre-cursor of the "shouting into the void" that modern social media provides, but even slower and with less options to interact directly.
I don't remember the last time I actually had a fulfilling conversation with anyone on a message board.
Because of all of that, it actually surprised me when I found out, months after signing up to HLTB, that there was this forum attached and that it was actually fairly active. Really seems like a rarity these days.
But I personally do believe the message board structure works better for event organization and blogs than actual conversations. Again, that's where the Discord is at, in my opinion. Because you can have an actual real time conversation there while the forum has more the effect of exchanging letters or leaving guest book entries. It's more detached.
In theory, the slower pace should leave room for more thought-out messages but I think in reality the rigid and slow structure of a thread doesn't encourage properly engaging with the thoughts of others.
It all feels very one-sided, in my opinion. Sure you could quote someone directly but who is to say that person actually ever notices that? Giving it more the vibe of commenting on someone's message than actually conversing with them.
For years I thought message boards would still have a prominent place in the digital world. In theory, it's still a sound concept. But honestly the more time passes, the less I see it.
- Matt
4 Yrs✓#
EMOesque
4 Yrs✓#
I'm not, but I do miss them.
I think we'll see a rise in them, or something similar, as a lot of people start to grow out of the social media age and try to form intentional communities again. Those are something that really disappeared with web3.0, with the closest thing being something like a niche subreddit.
I think we'll see a rise in them, or something similar, as a lot of people start to grow out of the social media age and try to form intentional communities again. Those are something that really disappeared with web3.0, with the closest thing being something like a niche subreddit.
1 Yr✓#
Dorobo
1 Yr✓#
I'm not and haven't been, this is the only forum I've been active in. I honestly never had an interest in them, but one day I stumbled upon this forum on this site I used to track my Metroid playthroughs, and I loved how chill this community seems. It's fun keeping up with other's blogs and seeing/participating in discussions here. I do think Reddit has taken a lot of users from forums, but honestly it's a great way to keep up with specific communities, although it's a lot more boring to post and communicate on. I personally prefer Discord as well for communication, though I find myself being active a lot more on these forums than even on the HLTB Discord, or any other Discord community other than a few small friend servers.
I used to use a lot of social medias like Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, etc. But now I only use those first 2 to keep up with family, and Reddit to keep up with a few random communities. HLTB replaced a lot of that for me, it's just a nicer place to hang out and have discussions about video games.
I used to use a lot of social medias like Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, etc. But now I only use those first 2 to keep up with family, and Reddit to keep up with a few random communities. HLTB replaced a lot of that for me, it's just a nicer place to hang out and have discussions about video games.
13 Yrs♥F✓#
I use another gaming forum but not as much as I used to.
I actually like the format and have found it unfortunate that Social Media & Discord now dominate the market.
Discord is a great product and I enjoy using it but I prefer the more long-form, nuanced discussion that happens on forums. Discord communities are hard to keep up with, especially when you are a member of multiple. I'm not on social media at all so its nice to have Discord and Forums as a way to talk about topics you love with a known community, something you don't get on something like Reddit.
I'm also almost 40, so some of it is nostalgia.
I actually like the format and have found it unfortunate that Social Media & Discord now dominate the market.
Discord is a great product and I enjoy using it but I prefer the more long-form, nuanced discussion that happens on forums. Discord communities are hard to keep up with, especially when you are a member of multiple. I'm not on social media at all so its nice to have Discord and Forums as a way to talk about topics you love with a known community, something you don't get on something like Reddit.
I'm also almost 40, so some of it is nostalgia.
7 Yrs♥$✓#
FuzzyLapin
7 Yrs♥$✓#
I'm about a decade younger, but I agree with pretty much everything you said here.
Another big part of it for me is that I don't love the spontaneity of chatroom-style platforms like Discord. I enjoy having the time the walk away from a thread, genuinely reflect on what someone has said and come back to them with something (hopefully!) interesting and constructive. I'm also very introverted, which for me means I'd much rather focus on a small number of long messages (after which, I can shift my brain onto something else) than lots of little moment-to-moment texts that I don't have the same ability to switch off from.