Alright, it's kinda depressing that the forums of the best-selling game ON THE WORLD are dead. Just makes me feel... lonely? I think it's a bit sad to see such a big community but such an empty place, specially knowing how big and glorious this used to be (just look at the logs or use the wayback machine). And knowing that the golden age was 2012-2013 just makes it even sadder for me, since, despite me joining this year, that's the time I miss the most (You know, my friends, my worlds and my server).
So, what do you think about the forum's current situation? Do you think it'll ever go back to the splendor it had back then?
(Nostalgia kicking in rn? Wanna go to the far... err, I mean, wish you could time travel to the past?)
If you have any opinions about this, plz share them with the world. That way this place will be a little less abandoned.Thx for reading.
P.S. You pretty much noticed that I didn't say "xd" here. This isn't funny.
Just made a joke regarding a nostalgic topic (the farlands) because it makes me feel a bit better. I honestly think it's somewhat like 60% chance it won't go back but 40% that it'll do.
I'm just an optimistic guy.
Hope you guys also want to bring at least a fraction of the people that moved away back here.
(It's lonely as heck here lately the only posts other than mine are just spam, bots, scams, necroposts, people telling me some stuff about programming and more pople misunderstanding my typos and I only made account here because I wanted to make friends because if not I would've stuck with irc and my remaining friends plz I don't wanna be the only user left!)
I believe that one of the reasons for the lack of engagement may be the shift in communication service preferences. While I personally prefer the asynchronous communication provided by forums, it seems that modern internet users favor real-time conversations (e.g., through Discord) or discussions that revolve around topics that are popular in that very moment (e.g., on Reddit).
Another thing to take into account is that Minecraft is a very old game. As time passes, interests change, and other matters take priority. My own experiences might serve as an illustration: I became a member of the forum back in 2017 because I lacked the time and energy to play any new or more demanding videogames, or to engage with others on platforms like Discord or Reddit. I sought the comfort of a game I was already familiar with and the relaxed pace that forums offer, but even then, I don't always find the opportunity to be actively involved here. It wouldn't surprise me if others chose to forgo all interaction altogether.
So, what do you think about the forum's current situation?
I wish there were more active participants on the forum. However, that would require more contributions from the existing users. As I previously mentioned, I have limited time and energy to initiate discussions for others to engage with.
Do you think it'll ever go back to the splendor it had back then?
Not to what it was back in 2012. Nevertheless, I remain hopeful that we may witness an increase in activity someday.
Wish you could time travel to the past?
You could try revisiting some of the conversation-starters from the past. I have stumbled upon some great threads while casually browsing around.
I've recently been getting quite a few people asking me questions via private messages and I've started asking them this (no answers from them):
Also, why does nobody want to use public forums anymore? All I get is private messages and I'd rather have this be posted in a suitable publicly accessible thread (like the one above, it is not considered to be necroposting if a useful question or information is provided) - after all, many others are bound to ask the same question and you cannot view private messages (or Discord, which I absolutely abhor and will never use, it completely destroyed the community and access to information) unless you are part of the private conversation.
Even worse, i see people saying to join a Discord just to download a mod or such - how are people even supposed to find them, or any information about them when they aren't publicly available? Like seriously, does anybody make any mods at all anymore? It sure seems like it based on the "mapping and modding" section and any information I've seen elsewhere (at least there is still GitHub, I often search for mods that make bugfixes/improvements for older versions, and in particular, have tried finding a mod that patches a major bug with 1.0.0-1.7.10 on recent Intel drivers, to no avail - I even ask about it on a regular basis on Reddit but nobody seems interested at all, or a fix is locked away on Discord somewhere).
I'm also not the only one who feels that the internet has become too private and secluded - no more open discussions and freely sharing information, just private PMs among widely scattered groups, and impossible to find any actual information unless you know where to ask (and even then they say that Discord is very hard to search):
This can also explain why so many former active forum users have all but disappeared off the face of the earth; sure, maybe not everybody uses the same name everywhere but surely at least some do, and even communities like Reddit are far less active than the forums used to be (the entire model that Reddit is based based on also means you have to be extremely lucky to be noticed, I've never been able to succeed, maybe except for this post, long ago; for comparison, this is more typical of most of them, even when it was openly inviting discussion, as indicated by the question in the title. The subject of my posts is also not the issue, look at what happened when somebody filled a single double chest with resources in a week of playtime (I regularly do this in about a day, without Fortune) nor have I made that many posts and i doubt the same people have even seen more than one).
Another issue is the near-total lack of interaction, or at least the feeling; even if I don't get a direct reply here I'll still get notifications when somebody posts to a thread I posted in, but not on Reddit, where I never see most threads ever again after I post in them, and I rarely get any direct replies, people just seem to think that clicking on an upvote/downvote button is enough (I rarely use them) and typing/reading more than 5-10 words is too much effort ("tldr"; "MasterCaver text wall incoming"; and no, it it not just me, most of the posts in this thread would be too long for them. As more evidence, note how the reply here is "you using a modpack?" even though you can read the single-sentence descriptions below the images, the second of which clearly states that it is modded, never mind the images themselves).
This is one reason why I stopped using r/Minecraft and instead frequent r/GoldenAgeMinecraft; the only problem with it is that I can't discuss anything I do since they don't allow versions past 1.2.5, except in specific threads (e.g. "what version do you play on and why"), and a subreddit for more recent versions (r/SilverAgeMinecraft) is basically dead, and even if not Reddit isn't conducive to long-running threads, or the data display that the forums provide (i.e. posts with images and stuff embedded in them, only the main post allows this and I certainly would not want to make a separate thread for every update on a survival world).
I just think this is something that should be more visited.
I join the forum to make friends, and I only see "latest post more than 1 year ago" on most threads. Even my irc chatroom (which is currently a bit empty since I got banned from multiplayer) is more alive than this!
I'm not sure how to contribute to this thread, but I do agree with all of you. There is so much useful information in these forums. and the forum being inactive risks all of it being deleted, which would be a tragedy.
You see, the thing with chats, is, you can't really elucidate and chew on your thoughts because the expectation is of a constant answer. That alludes a lack of control over the conversation, or a competition to see who is faster. That's not how a proper discussion works, even if you write with brevity like me most of the time.
On forums, I can start any conversation any time I want and get a reply - maybe not immediately but there's many topics, and joining topics feels less of a butting-into-an-existing-conversation deal. Necroposts on a forum are for something over a month old - for a chat, it's necro after 5 minutes on a fast place or a few hours on a slower one. Like, what? I can't be online 24/7 to read all that. People have things to do, and my life is very simple but still.
So yeah, that facet of always being able to talk and comment, not depending on others and not being at their mercy either, plus there being less personal stuff/drama/venting on forums - makes them a superior choice to me. *
* Ironically this post is a bit of a vent too. I suppose that my frustrations with the majority of people in chatrooms lacking serious passion for analysis and theorizing on fiction (or real events), has made me very biased against fast conversations. The curse of trying to be smart, maybe.
I've just decided to log in again after being inactive since 2019, having spent much of the intervening time hooked on various subreddits and Discord servers. I've also been reflecting on the topic of online communication modes lately (and spending a lot of time on r/NoSurf).
I've seen a number of people on Minecraft Discords and subreddits claim about how these platforms are better than specifically this forum, whether complaining about the "childishness", strict moderation, inactivity, clunkiness, or outdated form of communication in general. (The deletion of a large number of threads in 2019/2020 due to GDPR probably didn't help with public opinion.) Say what you will about these platforms enabling more real-time communication and having a less "childish" userbase, but I've found them to be significantly more cliquey, hiveminded and often outright toxic than what I remember on these forums. Not to say that forums can't be cliquey and hiveminded as well, but I think the nature of Reddit and Discord tends to enable it to a larger degree.
I also rarely find in-depth discussion threads on Reddit, which disappear after a day, get hidden after several consecutive replies and are hijacked by joke chains half of the time. And on Discord good discussions sometimes pop up, but you have to stay on top of the channel to be able to contribute in a timely manner, and constantly absorb the half-baked discussions and occasional toxicity in the process.
I don't think these forums will be revived without a larger shift in people deciding to move away from these fast-paced platforms. But it's good to see that there are people with like-minded opinions and that there are still a number of active users and old faces around here.
I've just decided to log in again after being inactive since 2019, having spent much of the intervening time hooked on various subreddits and Discord servers. I've also been reflecting on the topic of online communication modes lately (and spending a lot of time on r/NoSurf).
I've seen a number of people on Minecraft Discords and subreddits claim about how these platforms are better than specifically this forum, whether complaining about the "childishness", strict moderation, inactivity, clunkiness, or outdated form of communication in general. (The deletion of a large number of threads in 2019/2020 due to GDPR probably didn't help with public opinion.) Say what you will about these platforms enabling more real-time communication and having a less "childish" userbase, but I've found them to be significantly more cliquey, hiveminded and often outright toxic than what I remember on these forums. Not to say that forums can't be cliquey and hiveminded as well, but I think the nature of Reddit and Discord tends to enable it to a larger degree.
I also rarely find in-depth discussion threads on Reddit, which disappear after a day, get hidden after several consecutive replies and are hijacked by joke chains half of the time. And on Discord good discussions sometimes pop up, but you have to stay on top of the channel to be able to contribute in a timely manner, and constantly absorb the half-baked discussions and occasional toxicity in the process.
I don't think these forums will be revived without a larger shift in people deciding to move away from these fast-paced platforms. But it's good to see that there are people with like-minded opinions and that there are still a number of active users and old faces around here.
Basically summarized my feelings. I don't want stuffposting, inside jokes, and culture wars, I want smart talks.
Yes but it remains the fact that we need organic growth to get a non toxic and useful community up and active here.
I find your necroposting habits annoying Stacks, as I expect new topics and it's just old stuff that's no longer relevant to discuss, which makes me want to *avoid* checking the off topic forums, opposite of your intention.
I think you would do better by just making a new topic most times. Also, if you want someone to chat with in real time, you have IRC and there are other apps (I use Element for example).
I like Discord but it gets cluttered. I miss the days of being able to log onto a forum (namely this one) and having all the discussions of the day separated for you to choose to engage with at your leisure.
No one really used forums anymore I've noticed. I'm here, as well as a handful of others. But these days I find it much easier to join a Discord server or a Facebook group to get any information I need.
Alright, it's kinda depressing that the forums of the best-selling game ON THE WORLD are dead. Just makes me feel... lonely? I think it's a bit sad to see such a big community but such an empty place, specially knowing how big and glorious this used to be (just look at the logs or use the wayback machine). And knowing that the golden age was 2012-2013 just makes it even sadder for me, since, despite me joining this year, that's the time I miss the most (You know, my friends, my worlds and my server).
So, what do you think about the forum's current situation? Do you think it'll ever go back to the splendor it had back then?
(Nostalgia kicking in rn? Wanna go to the far... err, I mean, wish you could time travel to the past?)
If you have any opinions about this, plz share them with the world. That way this place will be a little less abandoned.Thx for reading.
P.S. You pretty much noticed that I didn't say "xd" here. This isn't funny.
Just made a joke regarding a nostalgic topic (the farlands) because it makes me feel a bit better. I honestly think it's somewhat like 60% chance it won't go back but 40% that it'll do.
I'm just an optimistic guy.
Hope you guys also want to bring at least a fraction of the people that moved away back here.
(It's lonely as heck here lately the only posts other than mine are just spam, bots, scams, necroposts, people telling me some stuff about programming and more pople misunderstanding my typos and I only made account here because I wanted to make friends because if not I would've stuck with irc and my remaining friends plz I don't wanna be the only user left!)
Not even my hello world works :'C
(But powerpoint does xd)
Btw what does api stand for?
It's noble that you're trying to revive the off topic section Stacks but also you're trying too hard.
I believe that one of the reasons for the lack of engagement may be the shift in communication service preferences. While I personally prefer the asynchronous communication provided by forums, it seems that modern internet users favor real-time conversations (e.g., through Discord) or discussions that revolve around topics that are popular in that very moment (e.g., on Reddit).
Another thing to take into account is that Minecraft is a very old game. As time passes, interests change, and other matters take priority. My own experiences might serve as an illustration: I became a member of the forum back in 2017 because I lacked the time and energy to play any new or more demanding videogames, or to engage with others on platforms like Discord or Reddit. I sought the comfort of a game I was already familiar with and the relaxed pace that forums offer, but even then, I don't always find the opportunity to be actively involved here. It wouldn't surprise me if others chose to forgo all interaction altogether.
So, what do you think about the forum's current situation?
I wish there were more active participants on the forum. However, that would require more contributions from the existing users. As I previously mentioned, I have limited time and energy to initiate discussions for others to engage with.
Do you think it'll ever go back to the splendor it had back then?
Not to what it was back in 2012. Nevertheless, I remain hopeful that we may witness an increase in activity someday.
Wish you could time travel to the past?
You could try revisiting some of the conversation-starters from the past. I have stumbled upon some great threads while casually browsing around.
Thx for reading.
Thank you for posting.
I've recently been getting quite a few people asking me questions via private messages and I've started asking them this (no answers from them):
Even worse, i see people saying to join a Discord just to download a mod or such - how are people even supposed to find them, or any information about them when they aren't publicly available? Like seriously, does anybody make any mods at all anymore? It sure seems like it based on the "mapping and modding" section and any information I've seen elsewhere (at least there is still GitHub, I often search for mods that make bugfixes/improvements for older versions, and in particular, have tried finding a mod that patches a major bug with 1.0.0-1.7.10 on recent Intel drivers, to no avail - I even ask about it on a regular basis on Reddit but nobody seems interested at all, or a fix is locked away on Discord somewhere).
I'm also not the only one who feels that the internet has become too private and secluded - no more open discussions and freely sharing information, just private PMs among widely scattered groups, and impossible to find any actual information unless you know where to ask (and even then they say that Discord is very hard to search):
https://www.reddit.com/r/feedthebeast/comments/xvdtww/the_trend_of_using_discord_as_the_main/
This can also explain why so many former active forum users have all but disappeared off the face of the earth; sure, maybe not everybody uses the same name everywhere but surely at least some do, and even communities like Reddit are far less active than the forums used to be (the entire model that Reddit is based based on also means you have to be extremely lucky to be noticed, I've never been able to succeed, maybe except for this post, long ago; for comparison, this is more typical of most of them, even when it was openly inviting discussion, as indicated by the question in the title. The subject of my posts is also not the issue, look at what happened when somebody filled a single double chest with resources in a week of playtime (I regularly do this in about a day, without Fortune) nor have I made that many posts and i doubt the same people have even seen more than one).
Another issue is the near-total lack of interaction, or at least the feeling; even if I don't get a direct reply here I'll still get notifications when somebody posts to a thread I posted in, but not on Reddit, where I never see most threads ever again after I post in them, and I rarely get any direct replies, people just seem to think that clicking on an upvote/downvote button is enough (I rarely use them) and typing/reading more than 5-10 words is too much effort ("tldr"; "MasterCaver text wall incoming"; and no, it it not just me, most of the posts in this thread would be too long for them. As more evidence, note how the reply here is "you using a modpack?" even though you can read the single-sentence descriptions below the images, the second of which clearly states that it is modded, never mind the images themselves).
This is one reason why I stopped using r/Minecraft and instead frequent r/GoldenAgeMinecraft; the only problem with it is that I can't discuss anything I do since they don't allow versions past 1.2.5, except in specific threads (e.g. "what version do you play on and why"), and a subreddit for more recent versions (r/SilverAgeMinecraft) is basically dead, and even if not Reddit isn't conducive to long-running threads, or the data display that the forums provide (i.e. posts with images and stuff embedded in them, only the main post allows this and I certainly would not want to make a separate thread for every update on a survival world).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
See you guys also want this to be more active.
I just think this is something that should be more visited.
I join the forum to make friends, and I only see "latest post more than 1 year ago" on most threads. Even my irc chatroom (which is currently a bit empty since I got banned from multiplayer) is more alive than this!
Not even my hello world works :'C
(But powerpoint does xd)
Btw what does api stand for?
I'm not sure how to contribute to this thread, but I do agree with all of you. There is so much useful information in these forums. and the forum being inactive risks all of it being deleted, which would be a tragedy.
Deleted, I don't want forum staff stalking me off-site. DM me if you want my contacts.
You see, the thing with chats, is, you can't really elucidate and chew on your thoughts because the expectation is of a constant answer. That alludes a lack of control over the conversation, or a competition to see who is faster. That's not how a proper discussion works, even if you write with brevity like me most of the time.
On forums, I can start any conversation any time I want and get a reply - maybe not immediately but there's many topics, and joining topics feels less of a butting-into-an-existing-conversation deal. Necroposts on a forum are for something over a month old - for a chat, it's necro after 5 minutes on a fast place or a few hours on a slower one. Like, what? I can't be online 24/7 to read all that. People have things to do, and my life is very simple but still.
So yeah, that facet of always being able to talk and comment, not depending on others and not being at their mercy either, plus there being less personal stuff/drama/venting on forums - makes them a superior choice to me. *
* Ironically this post is a bit of a vent too. I suppose that my frustrations with the majority of people in chatrooms lacking serious passion for analysis and theorizing on fiction (or real events), has made me very biased against fast conversations. The curse of trying to be smart, maybe.
Yeah I can relate to that last part
Btw just noticed this thread may be the most active in all of offropic rn
Not even my hello world works :'C
(But powerpoint does xd)
Btw what does api stand for?
Probably because it's relevant.
Well I've replied somewhere in every off-topic thread here and nobody has responded so.
And yeah I'm not too interested in most random topics.
I've just decided to log in again after being inactive since 2019, having spent much of the intervening time hooked on various subreddits and Discord servers. I've also been reflecting on the topic of online communication modes lately (and spending a lot of time on r/NoSurf).
I've seen a number of people on Minecraft Discords and subreddits claim about how these platforms are better than specifically this forum, whether complaining about the "childishness", strict moderation, inactivity, clunkiness, or outdated form of communication in general. (The deletion of a large number of threads in 2019/2020 due to GDPR probably didn't help with public opinion.) Say what you will about these platforms enabling more real-time communication and having a less "childish" userbase, but I've found them to be significantly more cliquey, hiveminded and often outright toxic than what I remember on these forums. Not to say that forums can't be cliquey and hiveminded as well, but I think the nature of Reddit and Discord tends to enable it to a larger degree.
I also rarely find in-depth discussion threads on Reddit, which disappear after a day, get hidden after several consecutive replies and are hijacked by joke chains half of the time. And on Discord good discussions sometimes pop up, but you have to stay on top of the channel to be able to contribute in a timely manner, and constantly absorb the half-baked discussions and occasional toxicity in the process.
I don't think these forums will be revived without a larger shift in people deciding to move away from these fast-paced platforms. But it's good to see that there are people with like-minded opinions and that there are still a number of active users and old faces around here.
Basically summarized my feelings. I don't want stuffposting, inside jokes, and culture wars, I want smart talks.
Yet another reason why I miss 2012 and 2013: the lack of toxicity we had back then.
Not even my hello world works :'C
(But powerpoint does xd)
Btw what does api stand for?
Yes but it remains the fact that we need organic growth to get a non toxic and useful community up and active here.
I find your necroposting habits annoying Stacks, as I expect new topics and it's just old stuff that's no longer relevant to discuss, which makes me want to *avoid* checking the off topic forums, opposite of your intention.
Oops...
Well I just find a thread that I have something to post in and feel too lazy to make a new one for that post, so I post it there.
Not necroposting if the last post is from before 2018 though.
Maximum is from 2019.
Also because tiny screen on my phone that I can't see carp if it's a small font.
Better small screen than not fitting anywhere though.
Not even my hello world works :'C
(But powerpoint does xd)
Btw what does api stand for?
I think you would do better by just making a new topic most times. Also, if you want someone to chat with in real time, you have IRC and there are other apps (I use Element for example).
Irc client not working anymore
Not even my hello world works :'C
(But powerpoint does xd)
Btw what does api stand for?
Discord happened.
I like Discord but it gets cluttered. I miss the days of being able to log onto a forum (namely this one) and having all the discussions of the day separated for you to choose to engage with at your leisure.
No one really used forums anymore I've noticed. I'm here, as well as a handful of others. But these days I find it much easier to join a Discord server or a Facebook group to get any information I need.
rip kuro 27/6/2013 - ???
Kuro's Profile - Member List - Minecraft Forum (archive.org)
Well, I didn't sign in with twitch, so guess they're not doing it anymore.
And, what I don't like, why being related to a celebrity I don't even know is enough to bring attention over a website?
Like, what do I care about "CrIsTiAnO rOnAlDo GoT fEaTuReD hErE!!11!11!!!!!", if I don't like football?
(Cristiano Ronaldo is just an example, idk if he actually got featured on here or not, nor do I care)
Not even my hello world works :'C
(But powerpoint does xd)
Btw what does api stand for?