Thirith on 9/5/2012 at 10:51
Look, Muzman, I agree with you that there's some post hoc rationalisation going on - but that argument goes both ways: it's probably less that TTLG has changed than some people claim, but it may just as well be that the place has changed more than you and others admit. Does it matter in the end? Not really. There's less activity, there are fewer people on the boards. That's a fact. Some left because life happened. Some left because it's been a zillion years since the last Looking Glass game. Some left because Deadly Shadows pissed in their cornflakes. Some people left because they felt the tone and general mood here has become less and less welcoming, and at some point your favourite pub (to continue my tired metaphor) has become a very different place. Many people you liked have stopped going there. Did they stop going there because the place has become run down, or vice versa? Doesn't matter - in the end that's as pointless as blaming the new, shiny gastropub down the road that quite a few of your old mates now frequent.
I want TTLG to continue forever, I want it to come back to life after Thief 4 has come out to great acclaim. I want it to be a place for greybeards and newbies alike. But in the end this place in its current state doesn't appeal to me as much as it used to, and whatever the deeper reasons are the main one is that I no longer feel as much at home here as I used to. Other places - not just that shiny gastropub but also the Red Lion around the block, which has been around practically as long as Ye Olde TTLG - offer better conversations and better cider, so I spend more time there. Doesn't mean that I don't want to stay in touch with some of my old mates from TTLG - but for me it's definitely the people more than the actual URL, board structure etc. that make TTLG. And if fresh surroundings (of whatever kind) have a chance of reinvigorating the crowd, then I think there's potential in that.
Harvester on 9/5/2012 at 12:09
Yeah I just put in a request to join. Just so you know it's me (the guy with the Dutch name).
Queue on 9/5/2012 at 12:45
Quote Posted by demagogue
TTLG will never go under as long as Duck & Sulphur & Queue et al. never run out of dick jokes.
So this one dick rushes into a bar and exclaims to the dick running the place, "Help! My cock is hurt!" So the dick behind the bar says, "What happened?" The dick replies, "He tried to cross the road and was hit by a bus."
... much like this joke.
And while I'm here, I'm officially throwing my hat in the ring to become your new Lord and Master. I promise
to crush you all under my boots of tyranny, to ban Kolya for twenty-eight seconds, a new laptop for jtr7 with a turbo-charger and juicer function so can he play the fucking game, and to legalize the posting of boobs in Commchat (not that enough boobs don't post here already).
BrokenArts on 9/5/2012 at 12:50
Is there another reason Koyla for the rant? I mean, what difference does it make what is posted here or on FB. People are doing both, I am doing both. It shouldn't matter. In the end, it does not matter. You can try and break it down, analyze the shit out of it, it does not matter. It won't change anything, and TTLG will still be here, people will come and go, that's the way its always been.
PigLick on 9/5/2012 at 13:44
there are no greybeards or eldars really
ttlg was an organic thing that happened in a unique piece of space/time real estate, we cant expect that shit to go on forever
twas a fine thing though, fine indeed
demagogue on 9/5/2012 at 15:00
Quote Posted by BrokenArts
Is there another reason Koyla for the rant?
This isn't a new thing with Kolya out of the blue, and Facebook isn't the real issue. This is something he's gone on about for at least the last year and a half in every other post.
When he self-immolated his account almost exactly a year ago, I coincidentally friended him on the same day, sort of funny in its absurdity, anyway he sent me this kind of explanation in my profile, with the pertinent part:
Quote:
I thought this place was intellectually dead about a year ago, now it's really dead in terms of posts, visitors, anything. ... Not that there [is] a lack of smarties here, but the lack of heart, or should we say 'spiritual guidance'? only worked for so long. You know what I mean. That's one thing I realised. That even a place as heartless as a gaming forum needs a heart, even if it's black. Then it's black. But without it, it's nothing. Never thought ...
He got drunk on the spirit of TTLG-past and he's bitter about all that inspiration and energy just be let drift to sea and sinking and nobody doing anything to rescue it, or something like that. But I mean every institution has ebbs and flows.
I'll get philosophical. I've been thinking about Tocqueville a lot lately, like on the French Revolution. He's the one that made that argument about political issues & emotions getting most volatile after the war for them was already over and people hadn't gotten (or accepted) the memo yet (that I just posted in the North Carolina thread), which also fits Kolya's posts a bit.
But he, Tocqueville, also noticed the spirit of a community is caught up in and thrives on the revolutionary spirit that gave birth to it... In this case, it's like the heart of TTLG was this revolutionary moment when these game worlds were collectively taking us to a special place where we all lived part of our secret lives, even though we're all from different countries, we all lived a little while in the back districts of the City and in the decks of the Von Braun, and we could come here talk about our shared world, and even keep living in our world through FMs or through new games (of our kind) in GenGaming, or the loopy place CommChat was at the time.
Now it's been a long time since many of us have visited those worlds, and new video game worlds can be fun, but no way they have that same revolutionary spirit. TTLG is suffering because the revolutionary spirit that gave birth to it is sputtering and isn't inspiring new blood, and it goes way beyond just matters of administration and leadership, but because that's what revolutionary spirits do; they fade. And it's up to the faithful to re-launch their own revolutions and inspire a whole new generation. The fact that it's hard to keep the flame burning on the vapours of a old revolution doesn't mean you can't set new fires and try to burn the town down all over again.
Edit: Dispatch from the Nuthaus:
Quote:
Alistair Brown: thief? Is that some sort of game?
Suzy Madden: No, its a way of life.
BrokenArts on 9/5/2012 at 18:02
In a nut shell, deal with the change, roll with it, or get out, and go someplace else. You cannot bring back the past. It also doesn't mean that good discussions are totally dead either. Maybe not as frequent anymore. They are still there, belly aching about it won't make it better. For me, its also the people, not just the discussions, we've followed one another elsewhere. Yay, go us. Good discussions will follow. Eb and flow.....eb and flow.
MsLedd on 9/5/2012 at 18:45
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
holy SHIT facebook just exploded
PAZ AND ZANTIE GOT MARRIED
WHAT THE
FUCKFor those who don't know... TTLG has had several marriages:
♥ GBM & Starrfall
♥ Vigil & Morrgan
♥ Dalai & Hanse
♥ Paz & Zantie
Ummm... I'm forgetting somebody here(?) Well, there's also ♥ Grey Mouser & Jazzmid from (predominately) Eidos, but they both visited TTLG as well.
In semi-related news: At my upcoming wedding (June 10), the man giving me away will be none other than our very own... Zaphod! :cheeky:
Al_B on 9/5/2012 at 18:51
Congratulations! :D
(Hope you'll have a proper thread nearer / at the time)
theBlackman on 9/5/2012 at 18:52
If you didn't really laugh out loud, you're just an idiot
I guess I qualify!
