Topic: Should we reach out to Duckfat?

[Pugnate]

So you know, things ended poorly with D.F.

I think there was fault on both sides, even if I think he was at fault. He also said some nasty things to me when I pushed to have my content removed. But he also did give us a home and paid for it.

I don't know.. should we reach out to him and make peace?                                   

[idolminds]

I don't know, tough call. It's kinda water under the bridge by now.

[Cobra951]

May I ask what motivates these excursions into the past?

[Quemaqua]

I wouldn't even know where to find him after all this time. Seems like water under the bridge to me too, can't say it's crossed my mind at all in years.

[Xessive]

I had very limited interactions with him back on, uh was it called All Out Gaming? Geez, I even forgot that.

Anyway, I wasn't active on the boards until TheMindsEye but I always pictured Duckfat as Duckman

[Pugnate]

haha I don't know. I think I miss all the activity we used to have here.

We used to be more connected I feel.

[Cobra951]

You're right, and it pains me that we're not anymore.  We've become more disjointed.  I suppose some of that is inevitable, as we grow apart in some ways.  Plus I suppose people get busy, and have less time to spend here.  Most of us (not me) were practically kids when it all started.  I've tried to think of ways to renew some of that old feeling, but I've come up short.  At least you're trying.

[K-man]

IRC is active every day.  We talk about the stuff we'd probably otherwise post about in there.  And we have daily visitors who don't interact with the site any more.

That may not be your preferred solution, but if you're looking for activity with the OW community you'll find most of it there.

[Cobra951]

Yeah, I'm aware of IRC.  It's a different experience.  I'm old and set in my ways. 

[scottws]

You're right, and it pains me that we're not anymore.  We've become more disjointed.  I suppose some of that is inevitable, as we grow apart in some ways.  Plus I suppose people get busy, and have less time to spend here.  Most of us (not me) were practically kids when it all started.  I've tried to think of ways to renew some of that old feeling, but I've come up short.  At least you're trying.

I think it's a lot of things. The rise of social media has given us the ability to very easily connect us to people with similar interests, reducing dependency on message boards such as these.  The IRC channel reduced board chatter and not everyone uses the channel, and that's somewhat fragmented this community.  Also, we've grown up and have grown up things to do, which typically leaves less time for fun and less important things. At least some of us have lost our interest in gaming and that's what initially bound all of us in the first place.  Lastly, registration here was closed a long time ago, making new blood impossible (not that there was much influx prior to that event) and we've lost some members over time.

Regarding the IRC channel, I've never visited it so I don't want to judge, but from the limited snippets I've seen posted from it onto the boards, it looks like it is a much less structured and less formal conversation.  A lot of goofing off and joking around, if you will.  That sort of conversation doesn't really interest me.  Please don't interpret that as disdain or disapproval, though.  To each their own.

As far as reaching out to Duckfat, I got over that whole AOG incident a long, long time ago.  That said, I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish by reaching out.  I'm not saying no good will come of it, but I just don't personally see any reason for it.

[Pugnate]

Just being nostalgic I guess.

I don't think I've ever used IRC. How about slack?

[idolminds]

Sadly it looks like I cant run Slack. But IRC is pretty easy to use.

We do joke around in IRC but thats not the majority of it. The IRC thread is usually just the dumb funny stuff we find amusing enough to share, but we talk about all kinds of things from games to politics to our daily lives. They just don't make for good one-off posts to share.

[K-man]

Yeah the IRC thread is certainly NOT representative of the day-to-day activity.

The channel's become a fairly integral part of daily life for me.  I always have it on in the background at work, and cycle in and out when my work load permits.   

[Quemaqua]

I've always hung out on IRC SOMEwhere since I started playing Quake regularly. Only makes sense to have a channel for me, I guess. We certainly have plenty of serious and interesting discussions there that aren't just goofing off, and it's definitely a big part of my daily life. And even though the boards aren't as active as they used to be, it doesn't really bother me that much. I don't feel super disconnected or like there's no conversation, and I always check in a couple times a day. I just figure most folks are busy and get to it here and there when they can. I've been on plenty of dead boards, and OWnet certainly isn't one of them. We still have a regular group that comes around even if there aren't 15 new threads a day or whatever.

I guess for me I don't have much to post about my life anymore, so I post more games stuff (since I'm still writing games stuff). I try to update when something important happens, but those events have been pretty few and far between lately. I was going to have some news this month, actually, until the whole bloody thing fell apart. Seems to happen a lot.

Either way, this place is always home for me.

[Pugnate]

OK I'll join. Instructions please?

[Cobra951]

Go to this thread:
http://www.overwritten.net/forum/index.php?topic=2830.0

Scroll down to Reply #14 - #18

[idolminds]

You can also use this link to join automatically on Quakenets web client. If you decide to stick to it you can set up mirc or other standalone clients to join in. I have mirc open all day every day.

[K-man]

I use pidgin at work to connect (i use gtalk for work and i'm still one of the holdouts using AIM, so I can combine everything).

I use hexchat at home.  it works well.

[Quemaqua]

I use LimeChat because it's a native Japanese client. Used to use Quassel, which I really liked, until an update broke it for me. As with idol, I've got my client open all day, every day.

[Pugnate]

OMG it sounds so complex... why not whatsapp or something.

I'll come in soon. Thanks guys.

[Quemaqua]

Haha, IRC is simple as shit and it's been around for a million years. There are just lots of clients out there to suit one's preference.

[K-man]

I would love to see more of you guys pop in.  Seriously. 

[ren]

I don't even remember what happened it was so long ago

[ren]

I think it's a lot of things. The rise of social media has given us the ability to very easily connect us to people with similar interests, reducing dependency on message boards such as these.  The IRC channel reduced board chatter and not everyone uses the channel, and that's somewhat fragmented this community.  Also, we've grown up and have grown up things to do, which typically leaves less time for fun and less important things. At least some of us have lost our interest in gaming and that's what initially bound all of us in the first place.  Lastly, registration here was closed a long time ago, making new blood impossible (not that there was much influx prior to that event) and we've lost some members over time.

Regarding the IRC channel, I've never visited it so I don't want to judge, but from the limited snippets I've seen posted from it onto the boards, it looks like it is a much less structured and less formal conversation.  A lot of goofing off and joking around, if you will.  That sort of conversation doesn't really interest me.  Please don't interpret that as disdain or disapproval, though.  To each their own.

As far as reaching out to Duckfat, I got over that whole AOG incident a long, long time ago.  That said, I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish by reaching out.  I'm not saying no good will come of it, but I just don't personally see any reason for it.

I just find the activity of this place slowed down to the point where it fell off my regular cycle and I just forgot about it. For the reasons you've outlined, I don't think that'll ever change. Personally I'd be a lot more chatty with all of you if we were a subreddit.

[Cobra951]

Hey, ren.  Long time.  You know, I tried to join reddit once, and I couldn't get through.  I think my email (hotmail or gmail) wasn't acceptable, and I think I even tried my master email acct from Roadrunner (something I never do to join sites) and still couldn't get anywhere.  Don't know what was up with that.

[ren]

Weird. I've had a few accounts over the years and have always signed up using my gmail.

I like it because of the sheer number of users and communities it has, all of which embrace anonymous posting instead of the real name trend that's been pushed through Facebook.

I post regularly in my city subreddit and then subscribe and unsubscribe to others based on my interests. ie if I'm watching a tv series, playing a video game or trying to learn about a certain hobby I'll follow that particular sub.

The only downside is because of the number of users, you don't end up getting the community feel we had, even back in the IGN days. It's a lot more about the subject than the user behind the post.

[Cobra951]

I visit reddit all the time when I want to see some feedback on something, or a problem with something.  It's often a great way to get my bearings on whatever is bugging me at the time.  The problem here (with OW) is that there just isn't enough participation anymore, for whatever reasons (which, from what I've read, vary quite a bit among us).  The IRC channel can get a good head of steam still, though.  My problem with the format is that it's so immediate.  I feel almost like I'm visiting someone, and I shouldn't be rude by ignoring them.  It also requires sharp focus and quick fingers to participate.  A forum is a lot more relaxed and persists across visits.  But if no one else is talking, it gets kinda lonely.

[TheOtherBelmont]

My problem with the format is that it's so immediate.  I feel almost like I'm visiting someone, and I shouldn't be rude by ignoring them.  It also requires sharp focus and quick fingers to participate.  A forum is a lot more relaxed and persists across visits.  But if no one else is talking, it gets kinda lonely.

No one is going to begrudge you if you don't respond to them immediately.  All of us that use the channel regularly are aware that people come and go out of it and if someone asks a direct question to someone else that they may not get an immediate response.  There is also going to be spots where no one else is talking for a bit, but if you end up saying something during that time it will eventually get responded to.  I'm not trying to pressure you into doing something you don't want to do, but I think you're stressing out about using the channel for the wrong reasons.  You really can use it at the pace of a forum if you wanted to.

[idolminds]

Fun fact: I created r/overwritten but have no idea what to do with it.

[Quemaqua]

I kind of hate reddit. I have no useful contributions.