What is this forum to you?

[brokenhalo]

I never really posted a ton here, but I keep coming back because this seems to be the last refuge for "hardcore" gamers-plus, you guys are generally good people I'd have a drink with any day, the majority of the dickhead posters got banned or left, a lot of people here really know their stuff, and any thread that looks like it will be interesting usually has tons of cool info in it.

I do miss the forum that was, when I joined. But even back then people were talking about "remember the old forum, sigh" with a bit of nostalgia. That's just the nature of forums. It was great when cave was still in full swing and people were going nuts trying to get every bit of info and dissecting scoring systems. Seeing GP post pics of literal stacks of kits when new games came out. The matsuris. And seeing the cost of used kits and thinking "wow, people are crazy spending $600 for a Mushihimesama full kit, that's a ton of money". If i knew then what I know now....

[Sumez]

I completely share that sentiment, but it's really no use dwelling on the past. The community is still here, and unlike basically every other internet forum out there, there is still tons of interesting discussions to be found. I hope people are planning to stick around for another 10-20 years at least.

[Randorama]

Sumez, we could retire in some warm part of Europe, become neighbours and spend our days dissecting games and publishing the results on the forum.
GP as a neighbour would also be good, so that we can have a guide for drinks.
I believe that the Douro province/region in Portugal is already home to thousands of retirees from Germany and Scandinavian countries, and their governance already integrates their presence in the system marvelously.
The important bit is to live away from BIL, or we will have to endure Motorhead at offensive volumes at 3am, though!

...jokes aside, it remains a project in the back of my mind to focus on the preservation and analysis of "the silly games" when I will have more time, which at this rate means at least in my '50s (and I am soon to be 38, so...).
There are thousands of videogames to be discussed, so I believe that we will not get bored, anyway. I know that it may sound absurd, but long-term projects on immaterial matters require a bit of faith, don't they?

[Xyga]

@Sumez: as the market died and most games and topics had been discussed enough, some burnt-out, a non-negligible number quit or went to private discords etc though, so for me it's definitely not 'still there', only a portion of it.

Optional rant:

Spoiler

Describing what - from my perspective - happened kinda chronologically; when I joined here, leaving French communities that were already going near-silent compared to this at the time still-alive English-international forum, the colors of the genre's twilight were already well visible on the horizon, it was something obvious for anyone who had experienced the world of games since its early times.
A number of people who joined the hobby late around that time in history - as I've mentioned in another post - were a different breed, introducing many people who had no experience of many facets that made the 20th century decades and who discovered all the stuff through retrogaming and emulation, or even at the worst time for some; when the retrogaming boom was pretty much over around 2008~2010, morphing into collectocalypse hell, which was apparent from the news/production/and nearly all internet communities. Clearly: when the party was over, and only some old drunk sad dudes were going to stay there forever around drinks chatting about old times.

Yet despite the circumstances among those newcomers, with many not nearly-enough conscious of the context, we've got a number of nu-collectors the type who wouldn't mind paying old games the price of black market organs, pissing us off, though they were around only for a few years since the stocks depleted and prices became prohibitive save for the rich, then as they left they've made more room for...
...the nu-players, much more obsessesd with score performance, competition, and stuff like game(rs) theory/purity than anyone I've seen before, and clearly willing to become the opinion fürhers, attempting to shape the entire community on any topic even beyond just shmups games, in their own fashion in-line with the new mentalities, never listening, hammering of pretense, bullying, and contempt.

There was also of course a spike of Cave craving and some tuned into genuine fanboys, yes, though that was far from being a generalized phenomenon, as while acknowledging the might of Cave's overall output and enjoying the games, nothing stopped people from criticizing those and play many other games too. Apparently many of the newcomers failed to understand a certain phenomenon; that of most Cave games also being new to many of the older players if just by a just a few years earlier compared to the when the 'nu' joined. The time between the turn of the year 2000 when MAME rose in popularity, that early retail and online stores with cheap used pcbs and cabs/superguns appeared and the first console ports hit. So that happened while we had been playing shmups more or less most of our lives already, then of course bullet-hells (of course not just Cave) were something fresh and compelling.
I've seen later criticism like 'you older players dont play the non-Cave games gne gne gne, but we fucking did, sometimes when several of you were still in your father's balls, yet we were playing games like we always did and enjoying beating them, sometimes beating scores, but unlike you not all frantically trying to beat world records and write a thesis on each fucking game.
I don't know where that difference in mentalities takes its roots, even though of course not all nu players are dicks, the demographics distribution within top/competitive players is clear; the nu/younger have way more of them.
I think the worst have been the influx of touhoutards, which were by far the younger and most clueless and stupid pretense-charged group that quickly turned many of us against them ('twas exactly the same on the french forums btw), even if we liked the games anwyay, just a clear example of different mentalities/cultures within what should have been a same hobby, clashing.

So, attempting to continue living the hobby and sharing with the community the same way we did before was becoming difficult, not that we didn't have our own ways of being dicks of course, but this new type of agressivity and almost religious persistence was something new and fierce, all attempts to talk to those 'third-wavers' about 'before' and make them realize and accept our differences, utterly failed.
The 'nu' are not always that much younger in years but feel worlds apart in terms of social relationships, absolutely inflexible, self-sufficient, contemptuous, unwilling to share the space with the older gamers, we 'dads' now as they say, only say nonsensitical irrelevant bullshit, right? Because whatever we've lived through before and they very visibly ignore is irrelevant in any argument, right? it didn't happen. Nobody bought and played games before them, nobody went through passionate fascinating times nor saw things happen and change before their very eyes, like the world and those games didn't exist before somewhere like 2010. everything we old guys say is hipster shit, right?
Yeah alright, you know you're old when someone even just maybe around 10 years if not less than you sounds like an ignorant annoying brat.
Of course again as I've already said that's definitely not all of them since as many very cool young'uns also came along, but the shitty ones are often the more vocal.

[side note] since I was asked:
'third wave shmuppers' or 'third wave retrogamers' = borrowed from 'third wave feminism' yes obviously, but mostly in reference to periods/eras, and somewhat to the autism as well I must admit;
1st: the 20th century decades
2nd: roughly the 2000's decade, retrogaming boom and very final years of ye olde game genres production and culture whether in regards to shmups or other genres of origins in general
3rd: post-2007~2010 around the end of the retrogaming era, rise of HD/online/mobile, and beginning of the messy/noisy/cringy 'end-of-times' crash in slow motion we're still living today)
[/side note]

Also at the same time that harsh cohabitation debuted, real-life shit boosted the influence of nasty real life politics and ideology heavy threads that monopolized attention and sucked away a good chunk of the remaining volume of good atmosphere, attracting several toxic proselytes with obviously no interest for the community's topics, yet for whom the red carpet was practically rolled out regardless of the consequences.
Today as the community's quite dispersed and not much of all that history is left, mostly only the forums contents as legacy, in that context the rabid 4chan-contaminated lobotomized little shits, partly related to/spawning from the toxic polititards bunch, are preying on the weakened animal that is this community with the clear intention of biting its neck until it snaps, this is the "nu-freedom" lovers: with no connections to anything of the old world, gang-like mentality, imbecile, mental, lying, bloodthirsty, and never stopping until the cleansing/autodafé is done.

The balkanization though is a widespread phenomenon reflecting the times, people today just can't easily get along and stay together in the same place because of too many reasons, whether by naivete/negligence, no guts, or because they let themselves be toyed with by arseholes and arsedeas, whatever, as everything ends up on the internet the multiplication and intensification of the clashes was (is, because it fucking goes on) inevitable. A lot of it happens by mistake, but also a lot because some people want it to be like that. A strengthening of the rules and increased moderation would have been the solution but people would (hypocritically for many) complain it's abuse so it didn't happen, never will. Many communities have turned into battlefields these past years giving in to flame wars, toxic topics threads, troll tactics etc. Can't blame all the people who left though as there can be several reasons why they did, some disappointed/tired/sad, but also some not standing being around others and not just for on-topic reasons, isolating themselves along with a handful of more specific like-minded, like-interests individuals somewhere private. Which can be interpreted as either douchey, lacking courage, or frankly contemtuous in which case good riddance because when you don't have enough left in common with the others and look down on them there's no reason to stay around and ruin the atmosphere.

Back then I too was seeing this place as some sort of island, when seeing what I was enjoying since ancient times (lol) was fading-away. Yet in recent years it's been obvious that it's this place's turn to slowly - and sadly not peacefully - enter silent times.
It's just disgusting to see that some - and it's not just one or two of idiots - instead of wishing it wouldn't, are watching it happen with a grin on their face, when they're not actively pushing for it to happen asap.

[GaijinPunch]

Seeing GP post pics of literal stacks of kits when new games came out. The matsuris. And seeing the cost of used kits and thinking "wow, people are crazy spending $600 for a Mushihimesama full kit, that's a ton of money". If i knew then what I know now....

Oh, the good old days. A friend that's not really into Cave games, or knows too much about them, sent me a link to a bare Ibara board which is currently above 50,000 yen. I told him, "you could buy stacks of these new for 20,000 yen at one time..." and he about shit his pants. Really need to finish my time machine.

[__SKYe]

I'm a fairly new member as well, so I can't really speak about the changes in forum, though I also think this is a terrific place to belong in. You just have to ignore the people and threads you don't care about (like everywhere else in the internet and life).

I enjoy the guides and tutorials the forum offers, but for me, the real meat of it is in the more informal threads about gaming itself, which mostly centers around the off-topic section.
I'd honestly stick around for The Side-Scrolling Action Society™ alone -- I love the always ongoing diverse discussion about games, be it gameplay, the presentation, the devs, etc. It helps that the people there are great too.

The important bit is to live away from BIL, or we will have to endure Motorhead at offensive volumes at 3am, though!

Be careful -- if you try too hard to avoid him, you might just make him try hard to find you.

...jokes aside, it remains a project in the back of my mind to focus on the preservation and analysis of "the silly games" when I will have more time, which at this rate means at least in my '50s (and I am soon to be 38, so...).
There are thousands of videogames to be discussed, so I believe that we will not get bored, anyway. I know that it may sound absurd, but long-term projects on immaterial matters require a bit of faith, don't they?

Not absurd at all, I'd love to read and discuss such off-shot games as well. Now you'll just have to do it.

Also, it's been a month and I still haven't gotten an answer as to how to apply .diff patches to MAME.

I'm guessing that the majority of people here use MAME to play the games and aren't interested in much else about it, so perhaps you should have posted that question in an actual MAME forum? Deriding the entire forum just because your one question wasn't answered is hardly fair, no?

[MJR]

I used to visit the old shmups.com, as it was the best place to find information about Dodonpachi, which I had just found in Mame during early 00's. We used to have score competitions and I was even able to reach a decent position on the old scoreboards.

When shmups forum was set up, I naturally migrated here, to find talk and information about games I cared about, and compete with high scores. From time to time, this forum was blighted with trolls who usually got banned, but new ones kept popping up, so I did not partake discussions often. But my favourite poster of all time is PC-Engine Fan X ^_~, I am completely smitten with his honest unyelding love and dedication for shmups and PC-Engine, and his never ending positive attitude. I just love that guy and often visit just to read posts from him, it's like breath of fresh air among all the toxicity.

Then there is of course awesome strategy database of all the shmups I know, and god knows how many hours I've put into Raiden DX, chasing all those elusive secrets and competing with Icarus on highscores.

I also am honored and delighted to keep hiscore boards for all of my most loved games, such as R-Type, Salamander, Hellfire and Saint Dragon. I will keep updating these boards as long as there are people left playing these games. Keep submitting new scores - Love you!

So yes, I got still reasons to come back here from time to time, for the highscore boards, and occassional PC-Engine Fan X stalking if nothing else ^_~

[soprano1]

Douro province/region in Portugal

Never would I imagine for someone to post that here. Kudos to you, if you are a foreigner to my land.
And it's a region.

[Bratwurst]

But my favourite poster of all time is PC-Engine Fan X ^_~, I am completely smitten with his honest unyelding love and dedication for shmups and PC-Engine, and his never ending positive attitude. I just love that guy and often visit just to read posts from him, it's like breath of fresh air among all the toxicity.

Must echo this sentiment that PC-Engine Fan X is a radical dude.

[MintyTheCat]

PC-Engine Fan X ^_~, I am completely smitten with his honest unyelding love and dedication for shmups and PC-Engine, and his never ending positive attitude. I just love that guy and often visit just to read posts from him, it's like breath of fresh air among all the toxicity.

I'm quite taken with PCE Fan and Fudoh too. But there are many decent Shmuppers on here that meander in and out of focus from time to time. I reckon most of us would have a laugh if we all met up.

[chum]

this forum is in an awkward place, it always feels like i'm shoehorning content in here when i actually talk about shmups cause like nobody here cares, everyone that cares can be found somewhere else, so pretty dead honestly.

[Bananamatic]

Spoiler

Describing what - from my perspective - happened kinda chronologically; when I joined here, leaving French communities that were already going near-silent compared to this at the time still-alive English-international forum, the colors of the genre's twilight were already well visible on the horizon, it was something obvious for anyone who had experienced the world of games since its early times.
A number of people who joined the hobby late around that time in history - as I've mentioned in another post - were a different breed, introducing many people who had no experience of many facets that made the 20th century decades and who discovered all the stuff through retrogaming and emulation, or even at the worst time for some; when the retrogaming boom was pretty much over around 2008~2010, morphing into collectocalypse hell, which was apparent from the news/production/and nearly all internet communities. Clearly: when the party was over, and only some old drunk sad dudes were going to stay there forever around drinks chatting about old times.

Yet despite the circumstances among those newcomers, with many not nearly-enough conscious of the context, we've got a number of nu-collectors the type who wouldn't mind paying old games the price of black market organs, pissing us off, though they were around only for a few years since the stocks depleted and prices became prohibitive save for the rich, then as they left they've made more room for...
...the nu-players, much more obsessesd with score performance, competition, and stuff like game(rs) theory/purity than anyone I've seen before, and clearly willing to become the opinion fürhers, attempting to shape the entire community on any topic even beyond just shmups games, in their own fashion in-line with the new mentalities, never listening, hammering of pretense, bullying, and contempt.

There was also of course a spike of Cave craving and some tuned into genuine fanboys, yes, though that was far from being a generalized phenomenon, as while acknowledging the might of Cave's overall output and enjoying the games, nothing stopped people from criticizing those and play many other games too. Apparently many of the newcomers failed to understand a certain phenomenon; that of most Cave games also being new to many of the older players if just by a just a few years earlier compared to the when the 'nu' joined. The time between the turn of the year 2000 when MAME rose in popularity, that early retail and online stores with cheap used pcbs and cabs/superguns appeared and the first console ports hit. So that happened while we had been playing shmups more or less most of our lives already, then of course bullet-hells (of course not just Cave) were something fresh and compelling.
I've seen later criticism like 'you older players dont play the non-Cave games gne gne gne, but we fucking did, sometimes when several of you were still in your father's balls, yet we were playing games like we always did and enjoying beating them, sometimes beating scores, but unlike you not all frantically trying to beat world records and write a thesis on each fucking game.
I don't know where that difference in mentalities takes its roots, even though of course not all nu players are dicks, the demographics distribution within top/competitive players is clear; the nu/younger have way more of them.
I think the worst have been the influx of touhoutards, which were by far the younger and most clueless and stupid pretense-charged group that quickly turned many of us against them ('twas exactly the same on the french forums btw), even if we liked the games anwyay, just a clear example of different mentalities/cultures within what should have been a same hobby, clashing.

So, attempting to continue living the hobby and sharing with the community the same way we did before was becoming difficult, not that we didn't have our own ways of being dicks of course, but this new type of agressivity and almost religious persistence was something new and fierce, all attempts to talk to those 'third-wavers' about 'before' and make them realize and accept our differences, utterly failed.
The 'nu' are not always that much younger in years but feel worlds apart in terms of social relationships, absolutely inflexible, self-sufficient, contemptuous, unwilling to share the space with the older gamers, we 'dads' now as they say, only say nonsensitical irrelevant bullshit, right? Because whatever we've lived through before and they very visibly ignore is irrelevant in any argument, right? it didn't happen. Nobody bought and played games before them, nobody went through passionate fascinating times nor saw things happen and change before their very eyes, like the world and those games didn't exist before somewhere like 2010. everything we old guys say is hipster shit, right?
Yeah alright, you know you're old when someone even just maybe around 10 years if not less than you sounds like an ignorant annoying brat.
Of course again as I've already said that's definitely not all of them since as many very cool young'uns also came along, but the shitty ones are often the more vocal.

[side note] since I was asked:
'third wave shmuppers' or 'third wave retrogamers' = borrowed from 'third wave feminism' yes obviously, but mostly in reference to periods/eras, and somewhat to the autism as well I must admit;
1st: the 20th century decades
2nd: roughly the 2000's decade, retrogaming boom and very final years of ye olde game genres production and culture whether in regards to shmups or other genres of origins in general
3rd: post-2007~2010 around the end of the retrogaming era, rise of HD/online/mobile, and beginning of the messy/noisy/cringy 'end-of-times' crash in slow motion we're still living today)
[/side note]

Also at the same time that harsh cohabitation debuted, real-life shit boosted the influence of nasty real life politics and ideology heavy threads that monopolized attention and sucked away a good chunk of the remaining volume of good atmosphere, attracting several toxic proselytes with obviously no interest for the community's topics, yet for whom the red carpet was practically rolled out regardless of the consequences.
Today as the community's quite dispersed and not much of all that history is left, mostly only the forums contents as legacy, in that context the rabid 4chan-contaminated lobotomized little shits, partly related to/spawning from the toxic polititards bunch, are preying on the weakened animal that is this community with the clear intention of biting its neck until it snaps, this is the "nu-freedom" lovers: with no connections to anything of the old world, gang-like mentality, imbecile, mental, lying, bloodthirsty, and never stopping until the cleansing/autodafé is done.

The balkanization though is a widespread phenomenon reflecting the times, people today just can't easily get along and stay together in the same place because of too many reasons, whether by naivete/negligence, no guts, or because they let themselves be toyed with by arseholes and arsedeas, whatever, as everything ends up on the internet the multiplication and intensification of the clashes was (is, because it fucking goes on) inevitable. A lot of it happens by mistake, but also a lot because some people want it to be like that. A strengthening of the rules and increased moderation would have been the solution but people would (hypocritically for many) complain it's abuse so it didn't happen, never will. Many communities have turned into battlefields these past years giving in to flame wars, toxic topics threads, troll tactics etc. Can't blame all the people who left though as there can be several reasons why they did, some disappointed/tired/sad, but also some not standing being around others and not just for on-topic reasons, isolating themselves along with a handful of more specific like-minded, like-interests individuals somewhere private. Which can be interpreted as either douchey, lacking courage, or frankly contemtuous in which case good riddance because when you don't have enough left in common with the others and look down on them there's no reason to stay around and ruin the atmosphere.

Back then I too was seeing this place as some sort of island, when seeing what I was enjoying since ancient times (lol) was fading-away. Yet in recent years it's been obvious that it's this place's turn to slowly - and sadly not peacefully - enter silent times.
It's just disgusting to see that some - and it's not just one or two of idiots - instead of wishing it wouldn't, are watching it happen with a grin on their face, when they're not actively pushing for it to happen asap.

how long did that take you to write and how angry were you while writing it

[Xyga]

Spoiler

Describing what - from my perspective - happened kinda chronologically; when I joined here, leaving French communities that were already going near-silent compared to this at the time still-alive English-international forum, the colors of the genre's twilight were already well visible on the horizon, it was something obvious for anyone who had experienced the world of games since its early times.
A number of people who joined the hobby late around that time in history - as I've mentioned in another post - were a different breed, introducing many people who had no experience of many facets that made the 20th century decades and who discovered all the stuff through retrogaming and emulation, or even at the worst time for some; when the retrogaming boom was pretty much over around 2008~2010, morphing into collectocalypse hell, which was apparent from the news/production/and nearly all internet communities. Clearly: when the party was over, and only some old drunk sad dudes were going to stay there forever around drinks chatting about old times.

Yet despite the circumstances among those newcomers, with many not nearly-enough conscious of the context, we've got a number of nu-collectors the type who wouldn't mind paying old games the price of black market organs, pissing us off, though they were around only for a few years since the stocks depleted and prices became prohibitive save for the rich, then as they left they've made more room for...
...the nu-players, much more obsessesd with score performance, competition, and stuff like game(rs) theory/purity than anyone I've seen before, and clearly willing to become the opinion fürhers, attempting to shape the entire community on any topic even beyond just shmups games, in their own fashion in-line with the new mentalities, never listening, hammering of pretense, bullying, and contempt.

There was also of course a spike of Cave craving and some tuned into genuine fanboys, yes, though that was far from being a generalized phenomenon, as while acknowledging the might of Cave's overall output and enjoying the games, nothing stopped people from criticizing those and play many other games too. Apparently many of the newcomers failed to understand a certain phenomenon; that of most Cave games also being new to many of the older players if just by a just a few years earlier compared to the when the 'nu' joined. The time between the turn of the year 2000 when MAME rose in popularity, that early retail and online stores with cheap used pcbs and cabs/superguns appeared and the first console ports hit. So that happened while we had been playing shmups more or less most of our lives already, then of course bullet-hells (of course not just Cave) were something fresh and compelling.
I've seen later criticism like 'you older players dont play the non-Cave games gne gne gne, but we fucking did, sometimes when several of you were still in your father's balls, yet we were playing games like we always did and enjoying beating them, sometimes beating scores, but unlike you not all frantically trying to beat world records and write a thesis on each fucking game.
I don't know where that difference in mentalities takes its roots, even though of course not all nu players are dicks, the demographics distribution within top/competitive players is clear; the nu/younger have way more of them.
I think the worst have been the influx of touhoutards, which were by far the younger and most clueless and stupid pretense-charged group that quickly turned many of us against them ('twas exactly the same on the french forums btw), even if we liked the games anwyay, just a clear example of different mentalities/cultures within what should have been a same hobby, clashing.

So, attempting to continue living the hobby and sharing with the community the same way we did before was becoming difficult, not that we didn't have our own ways of being dicks of course, but this new type of agressivity and almost religious persistence was something new and fierce, all attempts to talk to those 'third-wavers' about 'before' and make them realize and accept our differences, utterly failed.
The 'nu' are not always that much younger in years but feel worlds apart in terms of social relationships, absolutely inflexible, self-sufficient, contemptuous, unwilling to share the space with the older gamers, we 'dads' now as they say, only say nonsensitical irrelevant bullshit, right? Because whatever we've lived through before and they very visibly ignore is irrelevant in any argument, right? it didn't happen. Nobody bought and played games before them, nobody went through passionate fascinating times nor saw things happen and change before their very eyes, like the world and those games didn't exist before somewhere like 2010. everything we old guys say is hipster shit, right?
Yeah alright, you know you're old when someone even just maybe around 10 years if not less than you sounds like an ignorant annoying brat.
Of course again as I've already said that's definitely not all of them since as many very cool young'uns also came along, but the shitty ones are often the more vocal.

[side note] since I was asked:
'third wave shmuppers' or 'third wave retrogamers' = borrowed from 'third wave feminism' yes obviously, but mostly in reference to periods/eras, and somewhat to the autism as well I must admit;
1st: the 20th century decades
2nd: roughly the 2000's decade, retrogaming boom and very final years of ye olde game genres production and culture whether in regards to shmups or other genres of origins in general
3rd: post-2007~2010 around the end of the retrogaming era, rise of HD/online/mobile, and beginning of the messy/noisy/cringy 'end-of-times' crash in slow motion we're still living today)
[/side note]

Also at the same time that harsh cohabitation debuted, real-life shit boosted the influence of nasty real life politics and ideology heavy threads that monopolized attention and sucked away a good chunk of the remaining volume of good atmosphere, attracting several toxic proselytes with obviously no interest for the community's topics, yet for whom the red carpet was practically rolled out regardless of the consequences.
Today as the community's quite dispersed and not much of all that history is left, mostly only the forums contents as legacy, in that context the rabid 4chan-contaminated lobotomized little shits, partly related to/spawning from the toxic polititards bunch, are preying on the weakened animal that is this community with the clear intention of biting its neck until it snaps, this is the "nu-freedom" lovers: with no connections to anything of the old world, gang-like mentality, imbecile, mental, lying, bloodthirsty, and never stopping until the cleansing/autodafé is done.

The balkanization though is a widespread phenomenon reflecting the times, people today just can't easily get along and stay together in the same place because of too many reasons, whether by naivete/negligence, no guts, or because they let themselves be toyed with by arseholes and arsedeas, whatever, as everything ends up on the internet the multiplication and intensification of the clashes was (is, because it fucking goes on) inevitable. A lot of it happens by mistake, but also a lot because some people want it to be like that. A strengthening of the rules and increased moderation would have been the solution but people would (hypocritically for many) complain it's abuse so it didn't happen, never will. Many communities have turned into battlefields these past years giving in to flame wars, toxic topics threads, troll tactics etc. Can't blame all the people who left though as there can be several reasons why they did, some disappointed/tired/sad, but also some not standing being around others and not just for on-topic reasons, isolating themselves along with a handful of more specific like-minded, like-interests individuals somewhere private. Which can be interpreted as either douchey, lacking courage, or frankly contemtuous in which case good riddance because when you don't have enough left in common with the others and look down on them there's no reason to stay around and ruin the atmosphere.

Back then I too was seeing this place as some sort of island, when seeing what I was enjoying since ancient times (lol) was fading-away. Yet in recent years it's been obvious that it's this place's turn to slowly - and sadly not peacefully - enter silent times.
It's just disgusting to see that some - and it's not just one or two of idiots - instead of wishing it wouldn't, are watching it happen with a grin on their face, when they're not actively pushing for it to happen asap.

how long did that take you to write and how angry were you while writing it

Minutes which is nothing compared to the time you spend shitposting, trashing, trolling and ruining this forum.
How angry must you be to do that almost every day for what, years now? as much as your 4chan buddies who create multiple accounts to do the same?
This place is not for you, obviously, you hate it, we hate you back because you bother us every day, I'm not angry saying this just stating a fact, I just wonder what's some people's problem. Can't they leave people be? are you as insane as Cee, will you rage and stalk forever?
What, could it be that you feel lonely? dont tell me people hate you on discords too!? but you were saying those were better places to talk about shmups!
Yup, but anywhere else will be the same anyway because you're a total ass, that's all. You weren't like that before just what the fuck happened to you.
Only that bunch of sick fucks on shmupg 'support' you (support from people who enjoy ripping each others throads, nice!) because you're constantly sending them signs through your trolling here which is a copypasta of the shit they spam every day, you're their thing now. Hey are you wearing a leash? Guess you've found your place.

[ED-057]

In the beginning it was all about the shmups for me. 2004 was already the era of 3D games, and online gaming was starting to take off (and I was already disillusioned with the mainstream back then). But here I was still finding out about shmups that I'd never heard of before. I never got into PCBs but did expand my console library a bit. Downloaded the free doujins. Played on MAME for the tournaments. Checked out the score boards and strategy guides. Even checked the dev and hardware forums on occasion.

These days OT is my main destination. It has everything: the memes, the politics, the drama, random stuff, and info about more games. Old games, 2D games, Japanese games, indy games.

[Sumez]

everyone that cares can be found somewhere else

Where though?

[MintyTheCat]

<stuff>

how long did that take you to write and how angry were you while writing it

In my book both of you are angry people that trash threads up with your bickering.

[Specineff]

A cesspit of hatred and lies.


Nah, just kidding; it's actually just a little of that. Though I don't post much outside of the OT section, it's always a nice place to come shoot the breeze, learn trivia, new things, comment here and there, and all things considered, much, much better than other places such as Gamefaqs. (Or Insomnia. Uh, oh... I think I mentioned The Name That Must Not Be Spoken...)

[Xyga]

In my book both of you are angry people that trash threads up with your bickering.

Right, but it's so easy for you to just put us in the same bag and say 'you re the same'.
Difference is I post, sometimes normally, sometimes arguing in either calm or heated fashion, yes, but about actual topics discussions. And other times I indeed genuinely get angry with asses like him whose activity in comparison is like 90% open trolling/provocation, hijacking of those same discussions, deliberately disrupting, trashing this place with 4chan bullshit about us he repeats like a broken record, and yes I tell people like him to fuck off if they hate this place so much.
If for you we're the same, well *shrug*

PS: also please be fair you used to fight a lot with people too, including me, but I distinguish between members arguing and actual trolls with ill intent like banana. I'm sure you can too, if not, well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[qmish]

Strategy section seems more dead now

Or maybe I m such a terrible player so nobody bothers to reply me unless I spam pms instead of discussing in topics lol



And sometimes discussions don't go anywhere. Like I started a thread about you fav machinery and weaponry in stgs and someone told me to start blog instead

Wah

[Randorama]

Soprano1:

I friend of my father moved there with his wife who is from Estoril, and they simply did not know that now it is home to thousands of EU retirees.
I am avoiding to embarrass myself by using Portuguese in this post, but I am relatively fluent in Spanish and studied some Portuguese as well (I am Italian, just in case).
Personally I would be delighted to move to Portugal after my current contract, as it is a very good place for my field (linguistics).
I am acquainted with your minister of education, who happens to be a linguist

__SKYe: thanks, I guess that I will need to create some time for these "social" activities. In due time, I guess, I will add some more actual content

Xiga: I am not so sure if you simply did not notice so far, but you are basically complaining that there is the third-wave you mention seems mostly made of of NEET and shut-ins, if your analysis is correct. You are not expecting much out of this kind of people, right?

Balkanization of society is not something new, though. I come from a country and a city (L'Aquila) which was ultra-balkanized since its inception. What we see on the internet is a reflection of a well-established pattern, but in digital form. I would really appreciate that you wouldn't use the word "autism" as an insult, though - it is a precise cognitive disorder with not very clear causes, which causes misery for its sufferers. Showing a bit of respect to suffer from it would be a step towards decreasing the toxicity of the debate. I would also appreciate if you would simply acknowledge the point, and move forward rather than debating whether you have done something wrong or not: that is not the issue. Thanks in advance.

I do think that there has been a long-term problem with discussions on the games from the genre, though. I find the Strategy section to be in a dismal state, and I honestly lost interest on general chat when the average discussion on Cave games was "do you already feel the the [title X] meh here". I will not belabor the point further because it is a waste of time, I'd add.

I think that at some point it would also be nice to clean up and re-organize the actual shmups sections, too, but I guess that we really need a lot of time on our hands. Still, nice professional wikis or even down loadable guides on how not to suck at DDP would be nice. When I strike it rich I will hire a ghost writer only for this, promised

[MaXXX]

Only that bunch of sick fucks on shmupg 'support' you (support from people who enjoy ripping each others throads, nice!) because you're constantly sending them signs through your trolling here which is a copypasta of the shit they spam every day, you're their thing now. Hey are you wearing a leash? Guess you've found your place.

The farm dads know

Shut it down

[BIL]

<stuff>

how long did that take you to write and how angry were you while writing it

In my book both of you are angry people that trash threads up with your bickering.

I like Xyga and Banana. And you!

Then again I'm a motherfucker who'll KILL YOU WITH CRINGE™

...I still think we should properly edit and package the Ninja Gaiden thread and sell it as great content for the ages, though

Unfortunately, that one is a package deal with the worst thread in the universe. ;3

[Zen]

Oh dear! So much whining and shoulda, coulda, woulda!

A thing can only be what it is and should be appreciated in that context. Seen from that perspective, the Farm is perfect!

I would put it to those concerned, that the negativity that you find here may well be the negativity that you bring.

I'd like to broach the concern being voiced about the "lack" of shmup discussion.
As many here have pointed out before; much of what can be said, has been said.

That being said, a point that I feel is relevant and worth making, concerns how individuals who achieve exalted standards in any given field, socialise amongst one another.
Sure, they talk shop when engaged in dedicated on-point discussion or when something interesting occurs but in the main, as many of you know, when socialising among "high-achieving" peers,
"shop" is the least interesting subject to discuss.

To elaborate; the prevalent feeling among those who take things to extremes, is respect.
When socialising with each other, this respect leads to a relaxed, comfortable environment.
It is this environment, that then facilitates some fascinating discussion and perspectives.
It doesn't matter what the discussion is about. The point is, amongst these madman, any discussion is guaranteed to be fascinating.


Miscellaneous;

Bulletmagnet; Put back on the armour of God, Torquemada! You give good sport, brother!

neorichieb1971's thread has reminded me, that I have not hit the Donate button this year.

Last but certainly not least; A big shout out to the handsome lads of the GG thread! 'S up lovely boys?!

[Steamflogger Boss]

Xyga, that was a really sound break down of gaming eras. I actually agree with it quite a bit. PS3 and 360 were definitely when games started to change more, imo. So 2007 is pretty spot on.

[Mischief Maker]

Huh.

For years my main forum was Caltrops.com, but that forum went on a complete nosedive and at this point I'm kinda embarassed that the frontpage is covered in my game reviews but the forum is turning into a Jordan Peterson fan club. Most of the smart people have jumped ship and I'm staying mostly because the site is hosted by a really nice guy.

I've been gradually posting more and more to this forum, especially because the opinions on gaming concepts are so well-informed. I guess I don't notice any decline happening on this board because the decline of Caltrops was so much faster and further.

I don't think there's a single forum on the net that didn't turn ugly in 2016. A lot of people revealed a side of themselves that I never expected and a lot of friendships were subsequently nuked in that election.

As for what this forum "is" to me, William Gibson's "Pattern Recognition" said it best. A good internet forum is like a coffeeshop full of friendly regulars who know you on a first-name basis and share at least one of your interests.

[drauch]

I come here because it's all I know.

[soprano1]

Soprano1:

I friend of my father moved there with his wife who is from Estoril, and they simply did not know that now it is home to thousands of EU retirees.
I am avoiding to embarrass myself by using Portuguese in this post, but I am relatively fluent in Spanish and studied some Portuguese as well (I am Italian, just in case).
Personally I would be delighted to move to Portugal after my current contract, as it is a very good place for my field (linguistics).
I am acquainted with your minister of education, who happens to be a linguist

Just don't go into teaching here unless it's in a university, mandatory education here (up to 12th grade) is too politicized, and parents don't respect teachers, and vice-versa. If by acquainted you mean you knows him personally, then you probably know what i'm talking about.
But I digress. To stay on topic, I'll say that despite being a young member, nothing beats reading BIL's beautiful rants on various subjects, as well as the other good contributors.

[guigui]

Q : What is this forum to you?

A : An excellent place to wash my glasses before reading stuff

[Obiwanshinobi]

A source of valuable information. There are things ever mentioned at all exclusively on here, it would seem.

[dan76]

The forum has changed a lot for me over the years. I initially joined because Deathsmiles was coming out on the 360 and the Casino arcade had it installed, which also had a pretty active thread in the shmupmeets section. So it was a way of testing the water before actually going down there and PLAYING IN FRONT OF OTHER PEOPLE. That's the cool thing about an arcade, but that's for another topic.

Once the arcade closed the thread died, but it's always good to see the odd post by the old Casino crew. It's also where I met JDE and we made our own game (we are currently finishing up our second). It was good to meet a number of different members in person as everyone was always very friendly. So the forum started out as an extension of a social thing. Wish it was still going.

These days I hardly ever post in shmups chat and this forum has a pretty bad rep with regards to threads getting derailed into petty arguments. I think the moderators should take a harder line, because any shmup release will invariably have a thread. This is the main resource for shmups after all and you want at some kind of intelligent discussion rather than squabbling for pages on end. I'm glad EOJ has restarted CAVESTG because that shit don't fly there. Yeah, I'm a fan of Cave and I don't like Garegga. Edgy.

I mostly post in off topic these days where there are a few regulars who it's good to discuss music, movies and tv with.