Has traffic/posts and replies slowed down on here?

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

Maybe it’s just me, but does it seem like it’s been slowing down on here? It doesn’t seem like there is as much activity the past few months. Im noticing a lit of the same names responding to most threads, which isn’t a bad thing but I feel like I use to see more names that I never saw before or were more uncommon people to pop up. Are there a ton of people lurking and not posting? or has the mass truly moved on/ to social media formats instead?

Also related, some people that were on here seem to have also disappeared. I can’t seem to find the “where is X thread” but what happen to @Lincolnand @BouncekDeLemos? Have not seen them pop up in a long time. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,526]

Not sure on overall metrics, but people come and go.

@zeppelin03 and @arch_8ngel recede into the night, and @Lynda Monicaand@Ankos pop up.

[Gloves | 11,777]

This is new registrations since the beginning of time:

 

One thing that did impact us a fair bit is the unfortunate shenanigans from Google at the end of last year. You can see that over time it's trending upwards again (if slightly).

In general, I've seen that the fall/winter months are typically slower:

 

Registrations of course are not the be-all end-all of our community and as you've alluded to, we have a legacy community here with lots of people from NintendoAge being the core. I don't have analytics on who exactly is sticking around as I turned off Google Analytics a while ago to respect peoples' privacy by default (and to not help feed the machine, as it were).

I've seen around a 10-15% drop in daily users over the last almost year now, though again I'd point the finger here at Google. It's really unfortunate (and dare I say a bit unfair, whiny as it may sound) that Google took our domain hostage for half a year. It's something I'd never heard or seen happening, but after it happened and starting to search on the topic it's not particularly uncommon either, their customer service is basically non-existent, and what IS there is next to impossible to reach, and when you do reach them, they're no help at all.

 

That all said - at least for me, I kinda like a consistent core community. I'd personally prefer a slow growth with quality members joining up and making a name for themselves here than a bunch of random flashes in the pan. Stuff like Reddit is so transient and being a well-known participant is so random and rare and temporary. Here you can make friends and I think that's awesome. 

[a3quit4s | 4,097]

Makes me sad that buy and sell is pretty much dead. I’d much rather make deals here than buying on eBay. 

Edited November 10, 2022 by a3quit4s

[Gloves | 11,777]

2 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

Makes me sad that buy and sell is pretty much dead. I’d much rather make deals here than buying on eBay. 

I think a part of that is a lot of the members here are getting pretty close to "done" in terms of must-haves. People are looking for very specific items, often in very specific conditions. I have a list of things I'm looking for but much of it is things people would typically only have in their collections; I might get lucky and find someone who's liquidating, but I doubt I'll see many people who have an extra MUSHA or Space Megaforce CIB sitting in a box in excellent condition waiting for a buyer to come along.

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

Yeah, definitely seems to be slowing down a bit on here, especially after the domain change - I don't drop by nearly as often as a result, so maybe a little bit of a snowball effect.

I'm likely bias as I don't collect as much any more (The WTB/Selling forum was my go to on NA but don't think I've even clicked on it here), but I also feel like the collecting scene is pretty stale in general. We still get blips of excitement and drama but far from how active things were 5-10+ years ago in general. Less finds, discoveries, debates, people wrapping up collections etc. etc. Even NA seemed to be falling apart near the end with way more shenanigans and a few members stirring the pot daily, but less about actual collecting and such. The Switch thread/newer gen stuff still seems to generate a lot of discussion and the Everything Else still has consistent participation but things have slowed noticeably from my perspective.

I still plan on making a listing on here eventually to try and move some of my better stuff as I gradually gut my collection.

 

 

[a3quit4s | 4,097]

10 minutes ago, Gloves said:

I think a part of that is a lot of the members here are getting pretty close to "done" in terms of must-haves. People are looking for very specific items, often in very specific conditions. I have a list of things I'm looking for but much of it is things people would typically only have in their collections; I might get lucky and find someone who's liquidating, but I doubt I'll see many people who have an extra MUSHA or Space Megaforce CIB sitting in a box in excellent condition waiting for a buyer to come along.

This is true but it’s also true that I still have a lot of loose commons left for SNES that I’d like to buy and feel like this was easier 1-2 years ago. Like you said though prices have been crazy and people may have already slimmed down and only have what they need. Hopefully we aren’t on the path of say stamp collecting where we aren’t getting much new blood in and become extremely niche to the point of obscurity 

Edited November 10, 2022 by a3quit4s

[The Count | 527]

I have quite a bit left that I would love to purchase from our B/S/T thread. The issue is that it's stuff other collector's also need, so their less likely to be posted unless someone is cashing out their collection. For example, Game Gear CIBs and some tough Genesis CIBs. They aren't common even on EBay. On the other hand, I don't really have too much extra stuff lying around to list currently.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

32 minutes ago, Gloves said:

That all said - at least for me, I kinda like a consistent core community. I'd personally prefer a slow growth with quality members joining up and making a name for themselves here than a bunch of random flashes in the pan. Stuff like Reddit is so transient and being a well-known participant is so random and rare and temporary. Here you can make friends and I think that's awesome. 

I agree with this. I prefer feeling like I kinda know most of the regulars as well as being able to make actual friends compared to the place being full of random people.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Not sure on overall metrics, but people come and go.

@zeppelin03 and @arch_8ngel recede into the night, and @Lynda Monicaand@Ankos pop up.

Do you know what happened to @arch_8ngel? I think he was the all time leading poster at the old place when it shut down, but it looks like he hasn't even logged on here since the middle of April. I always worry that something happened when regulars just disappear like that. @gutsman004 hasn't logged on in almost a year and he was one of the regulars in the weekly contests for years.

Edited November 10, 2022 by Bearcat-Doug

[MegaMan52 | 2,445]

@croagunk is also missing. Not sure if he recovered from his head injury or not. Maybe he's just taking a break from collecting games? Who knows.

Edited November 10, 2022 by MegaMan52

[jonebone | 1,307]

Forum traffic was dying significantly on NA before it perished and it just will continue to happen in general.  Social media is the scapegoat but even Facebook traffic is way down as kids find the next thing (Tik Tok?)

If you're under 25 I doubt you use forums at all.  And conversely as people age a lot find other things to do with their time besides post.  It's a catch-22.

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

I still read the forums, but time is a precious commodity in the Phleo household and I barely have any free time at all.

COVID lockdowns were great and all, but now I have to work extra hard to keep up with inflation.

Political crap aside, real life is just tough right now and making well thought out forum posts for my hobby are just not high on the list of the most important things.

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

I'll be honest I am RARELY on here unless it is during my working hours. Sometimes I will visit on the weekend, but it's almost always gonna be during the day, during the week. 

[PII | 1,885]

1 hour ago, The Count said:

Game Gear CIBs and some tough Genesis CIBs. They aren't common even on EBay

I think collecting is down in general, what with the world not being in the greatest of shape lately to put it mildly, [and to not get too far into that here] coupled with the absurd inflation of game prices and everything else in the last couple of years.  A couple of years ago I noticed "entire libraries" of games available online disappear in the blink of an eye.  For example, Game Gear CIBs:  As a game gear fan, I used to enjoy scrolling through hundreds of inexpensive CIBs on Ebay and elsewhere, and it all went poof over night.  I wonder from time to time who or what sorts exactly, bought all that up so fast, as fans of game gear, at least in North America are far and few.  The stuff used to just get completely ignored when it showed up in an actual game store.  I mentioned this at the time to a guy who runs an impressive local store and he looked at me like I was crazy (as if to say: "wow you're actually interested in game gear?  So you're the one.")  At another not so local store I visited just prior to the last two years there were a couple of gggg (game gear good grabs) on the rare side of things that I'd left on the shelf.  Cursing the decision a week or so later I gave the store a call to see if they were still there and the guy who ran that store just laughed and said: "We NEVER sell game gear games.  The next time I went in there a selection of several dozen carts had reduced to something like fifteen carts.  Pretty much the same thing happened with Colecovision carts.  What I see in stores now is limited to the same commons and the online supply went from decent to drip, drip, drip.  Even NES game hunting is not as fun as it was before.  I used to be able to walk into a store, look through a large selection and be like: "Oooohhhh, that one at that price!  Yoink!!"  And now the selection is greatly reduced most of the time and a lot more limited to common stuff I've already got or at prices I don't want to pay.

Edited November 10, 2022 by PII

[jonebone | 1,307]

26 minutes ago, PII said:

 A couple of years ago I noticed "entire libraries" of games available online disappear in the blink of an eye.  For example, Game Gear CIBs:  As a game gear fan, I used to enjoy scrolling through hundreds of inexpensive CIBs on Ebay and elsewhere, and it all went poof over night.  

Shameless self plug, but I actually have a couple of CIB Game Gear and Sealed Game Gear games ending Sunday!  Haha...

https://www.ebay.com/sch/jonebone7/m.html?_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true&_blrs=recall_filtering&_oac=1&rt=nc&LH_Auction=1

[Hammerfestus | 3,844]

I still visit pretty regularly but I lurk a lot more than I used to.  I‘m actually not actively collecting right now.  If an interesting/unique topic pops up I’ll poke my head in but I’m pretty out on rehashing the same few topics.  I’ve got a bunch of stuff I should actively sell at some point and I would prefer to do that here unfortunately there’s not really a big audience here for loose nes commons.  

[TDIRunner | 2,737]

The slower traffic hasn't been that noticeable for me, but that might be because I almost prefer a slightly slower forum.  When I fist joined NA, it was so busy, it was pretty easy to miss stuff if you only had a chance to check in once per day.  I almost prefer being able to log in a check my unread activity, and be able to see everything on a single page.  I feel like that allows me to keep up with everything even with the little time I have to devote to a place like this.  But with that said, there are times when it seems pretty quite around here.  

[Brickman | 3,984]

37 minutes ago, Hammerfestus said:

I still visit pretty regularly but I lurk a lot more than I used to.  I‘m actually not actively collecting right now.  If an interesting/unique topic pops up I’ll poke my head in but I’m pretty out on rehashing the same few topics.  I’ve got a bunch of stuff I should actively sell at some point and I would prefer to do that here unfortunately there’s not really a big audience here for loose nes commons.  

We're just all hanging around for the next WW game 

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

I know I'm like everyone. I come and go as I have extra time to spare. When that time dries up, I post less. When it dries up more, I lurk less as well. It's been an especially busy time for me so I only get a chance to post maybe a couple times a week.

[Strange | 1,700]

I think my overall activity has slowed down a bit but that’s not because of the forum itself, I just work a lot and am mentally exhausted most days. I try to pop in either every day or every other day and read some posts briefly.

[360collector | 289]

The whole forum thing is a relic of the past. But its still the best place for lists and actual discussions. The prices have gone insane and that not just because I remember 2010 prices. Its like everyone has gone crazy. Gaming and collecting seems a lot bigger these days so its not recruitment to the hobby that is dying off. BUT is does seem like the masses will rather watch a hype top 10 r@re games video without any rare games shown than go discuss the actual rare games

[Makar | 1,946]

I’ve also noticed the drop in participation here and people posting. I’ll check a couple sections each day and most days there aren’t many or any new threads or new posts so there’s not much I want to engage on. 

[AstralSoul | 502]

Definitely been slower for sure. I know I visit less and less but my reason is I don't really collect anymore. I don't have the money to buy the games I want, nor the time to play them. 

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

I pretty much avoid the collection side of the forum because it almost never relates to me since I'm more of a modern collector.  For me this community is just a good collection of individuals who I can relate with.  If VGS was only about talking about collecting retro games I probably would of never stuck around.  I'm definitely here to play games with people and shoot the breeze.  The one section of the forum I do really want to help grow is the new Work Shop threads.  I personally want to learn more about fixing/restoring stuff and sharing my own triumphs and struggles.  

I'd also like to see the homebrew side of VGS grow some more.  Not that I'm really a homebrew kinda guy but I think it's super cool and unique.  I can really appreciate the passion and creativity that goes into making a homebrew.  The community it requires to exist is a good enough reason to encourage it as part of VGS.