These Forums Are Huge!

chalupamonk · February 2004

<div class="IPBDescription">The NS Forums are the Fat Kid at School</div> We've reached critical mass ten times by now, and not once have we been stopped. I say "we" even though I've been gone for the better part of a year and a half, mainly due to the disgustipating expansion the forums have experienced. Is it even possible anymore to keep tabs on everything during peak hours? During slow hours? With the power to stop time and your very whim? Not to mention catching up on missed posts -- and I can't even imagine what all I'd be facing if I decided to do that. So, I came up with a startlingly innovative way to see if I was in serious trouble. Every couple of months, when an alarm bell would ring in my head, I'd head over to the forums and do a quick search for my name. Each time, with a sense of very distant relief, I would see that I was not put on the "no-show jerk" list, nor was I being burned in effigy for my abscondence. A couple of times I felt like getting back into the forums, but for lack of better expression they're so frigging intimidating! It's like rolling around blindfolded inside an endlessly expanding Dyson sphere -- each new post gradually enveloping other planets, satellites, stars -- until you can't comprehend anything being outside of the forum's influence.

Hell, I don't know. I just suddenly felt the desire to rant about the tremendous girth of these boards, having just reinstalled HL after half-year hiatus. I think I'll be playing NS again, but only time will tell if I have the courage to stick to these boards like I used to.

Jerry1 · February 2004

These forums are huge and popular... It's pretty intimidating sometimes. I don't post here very often, so I guess I'm a new comer. I just posted my fan fic in the fan fiction forum, so check it out.

By the way, I like your example:

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>t's like rolling around blindfolded inside an endlessly expanding Dyson sphere -- each new post gradually enveloping other planets, satellites, stars -- until you can't comprehend anything being outside of the forum's influence. </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>

gotta love dyson spheres.

Gliss · February 2004

Chal, your avatar... I liked the exploding head better.

[edit] Members are joining slower around 25000... [/edit]

Comprox · February 2004

Yah Chal, it's basically you pick a few forums to check up a little each time you visit now. That's about all you can do. I mean, we are slowly inching towards 1 million posts also.

And hey, good to see you around again <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

chalupamonk · February 2004

Naturally, comprox, your special brand of sunshine is a welcome element of NS life. Shine on me, baby. And with PJ's point, I have to wonder aloud what a large fraction of the HL community this many people is. It'd be nice to have an "active" feature to see how many of those people have actually used the forums in the past month or so, just for kicks. Though to be honest, if you do that sort of thing for kicks, I wouldn't know what to tell you.

remi · February 2004

It is really big, it seems to be much larger then 2.0... Now all I can do is judge a thread by it's title, read some, and post in some, and then just hceck the ones i posted in (if i can remember where they are) the next day.

CEldin · February 2004

To be entirely honest, all it really takes is a quick look in every so often, until you get the 'groove' of things. The current Forum Admins do a good job for the comparable "girth" you speak of. Also, it would be quite nice for another person whom speaks with intelligence and cleverneshes to join the forums, they seem to recently attract those without a grasp of punctuacion and common decency.

Welcome back then neh?

Nemesis_Zero · February 2004

Welcome back, Chal. As Comp suggsted, it's maybe best to pick the forums one is especially interested in and not to mind the rest.

On that note, <span style='color:white'>***moved.***</span>

Dubers · February 2004

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Jerry_111 @ Feb 22 2004, 07:48 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> These forums are huge and popular... It's pretty intimidating sometimes. I don't post here very often, so I guess I'm a new comer. I just posted my fan fic in the fan fiction forum, so check it out.

By the way, I like your example:

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>t's like rolling around blindfolded inside an endlessly expanding Dyson sphere -- each new post gradually enveloping other planets, satellites, stars -- until you can't comprehend anything being outside of the forum's influence. </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>

gotta love dyson spheres.  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
Hey Jerry nice to see ya <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' />

twoflow · February 2004

If you think these forums are fast, try Penny Arcade's or <a href='http://www.rllmukforum.com/' target='_blank'>Rllmuk.</a>

NumbersNotFound · February 2004

Don't worry chal, just crawl back into your hole in the ground and read us another story on NSRadio <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' />

Insane · February 2004

Hooray for chal!

Cold_NiTe · February 2004

If this growth could be channeled the right way, and controlled, then it wouldn't be as much of a problem as it is now. The truth is, it's come to a point where trying to keep in touch with everyone on every forum is impossible. The best way to redistibute the new growth, I think, is by expanding the forums with new subforums and such, but that takes memory and time.

DiscoZombie · February 2004

ahh but this is the beauty of forums -- you don't have to worry about missing things, you just scan the topics for the ones that sound interesting, and read them... and the good topics tend to stay bumped awhile, etc etc...

I feel about IRC how you do about the forums. I feel like if you're not logged onto IRC 24/7, you've gotta constantly wonder, what if someone said something hilarious or brilliant or history-making and I missed it?! that's why I don't bother with IRC and I just stay here. :-P

Gliss · February 2004

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (DiscoZombie @ Feb 22 2004, 11:22 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> I feel about IRC how you do about the forums. I feel like if you're not logged onto IRC 24/7, you've gotta constantly wonder, what if someone said something hilarious or brilliant or history-making and I missed it?! that's why I don't bother with IRC and I just stay here. :-P  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
rofl

Ness · February 2004

I just stick to Off-Topic, where most of the people i've hung out with on IRC since NS came out still post. I used to chill in customization, but everyone I know is gone there, and every other forum has too many new faces. Ah Disco, it's worse when your addicted to IRC and on a 56k, it's not like you can idle and play catch up later.

Quaunaut · February 2004

OMG He's back SCREW OFF JERK!

j/k welcome back. I wasn't a reg when you WERE here, but I'm a reg now, and am lovin it. Hope you'll stay <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

These Forums Are Huge!

Comments