Charas, what has happened...?

[Linkforce]

Well, it sure has been a while since I made a topic that wasn't in the requests page or in my game thread.  I've been checking on Charas less and less recently, and I have a hard time accepting that very soon I may not be showing up at all.  "Why is that?" I ask myself.  Well, the answer is pretty clear.

Charas ain't what it used to be.

I joined here years ago when I was just starting out as a game developer.  Through those years I've come to know a lot of people here and I've made some good friends.  But recently, the Charas effect is wearing off.  Whereas this place used to be a hub for game developers to come and share their games, ideas, and creations to each other, I see that it's become more of a place for idol chit-chat and discussions on topics irrelevant to gaming.  Talking about other subjects is all fine and well, but what it does for Charas is dispel any sense of a gaming community.
I've found other websites that are very focused on games and their creation and all aspects that go into it.  Yes, these sights offer threads for conversations on other topics non-game related, but they don't consume the site.  The main focus of these other sites are 90% games, 10% other.  The focus of Charas seems to be 25% games, 75% other. 
It sucks, because I used to visit Charas daily to see what new things it had to offer.  Now I find myself glancing though the ghostly "Games" section for any new updates and passing by the other sections to glance the overwhelming amount of posts on other topics.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is...what has happened Charas?  What has happened to you?  Is it the new generation of people that care less and less about making games and more about random topics?  Has the majority of dedicated game makers already fled?  Have I outwelcomed my stay?  Is this a natural process and soon things will be back to normal? 
I miss the old Charas.  I miss the root of what this place used to be for me.  If anybody understand what I mean, please share your thoughts.  And if you're completely clueless, then maybe you can offer insight to why you visit Charas and what it means to you, and whether you even care whether Charas focuses on game making or not.

[Zerlina]

The new charas is the same community as the old charas. We've outgrown our old hobbies, but we still like each other. Doesn't that mean we're a better community than we were before?

[Archem]

It's not that we don't want it to be what it once was, it's just that everyone else up and left, and we just can't keep it up by ourselves forever. We've been plotting and planning all sorts of awesome to try and entice new users to join and share their works, but it hasn't been put into place yet.

[HackersTotalMassLaser]

No.Body.Cares.

I am just waiting indefinitely for charas implosion really. Hoping to say " i was there". Everything else: Don't give a flying ****.

[Natako]

A lot of us are still working on games, though. But since we all know how hard it is to make a game and how low the chances of it getting finished are, some of us just decide not to start a thread until there is enough to show, or don't update their threads often.

This. As I posted in my introductory thread to the forums, I am working on a game. It's still in the very early stages now and I don't like to post until I've completed enough that it actually starts to resemble a game. I was warned when I first joined that most of the community has moved on from RPG Maker, which seems to have been this site's original focus. However, after digging around in all of all a bit, I started posting, and...well...found out I'm pretty similar to the rest of the people here. I still haven't decided whether or not that's actually a good thing, but I'm having fun. The game's still being developed in the background, but for now, I'd rather keep it under wraps.

There are still a few interesting projects lurking in the games forum that seem to be taking shape little by little. Many of them are heading in interesting directions, and I'm eager to see how far their creators go with them. It may take them a while to finish these games, but I'm sure they'll be great once they're finished. I wasn't around on this forum when RPG Maker was in its prime, but I've played some really bad/generic games that people have made and released to the public. I'd rather have people taking their time with their games and trying to make them original and fun to play. There may not be as many of those people around as there once were, but it seems like those that remain are putting an astonishing amount of effort into making their games excellent.

Also, I've noticed a trend with the ages on this forum. With some exceptions, we all seem to be within a few years of each other. This is coming from someone who just joined, so I might be wrong...but people tend to be busier when they're older. When I was in my teens, I could spend hours on end working on my game. Now, I'm lucky if I can squeeze in an hour or so after I get out of work, and let's face it...when you've got a full-time job, you sometimes don't feel like doing that.

Anyway, I hope you'll stick around. There may be a lot of socializing going on now, but I wouldn't say that's a bad thing. We have fun. And from what I've seen, people still offer suggestions on what to improve and comment on one another's games, music, art, etc.

...I guess maybe that's one of the reasons I like this place. It was originally intended as a forum for game-making and people still discuss it here, but it's not like working a job where the game-making seems like a chore and socializing is discouraged.

[drenrin2120]

Charas never adapted to the new software available to independent game developers. It was rm2k, then rm2k3, and that was it. Support for XP and VX was never very popular around here. No one learned ruby so there were no tutorials on scripting. I don't even know anything about VX and I feel neither do most people on charas.

Even other programs like stencyl were never popularized. Part of it is people gave up on game-making, part of it is no one really used rm2k3 anymore. Why visit a forum dedicated to outdated abandonware?

The less and less focus on gaming and fewer topics on games only compounds the problem, but its not THE problem. Charas is exactly the way it was years ago and that's why it loses its legitimacy as anything more than a resource bin and spam forum.

Sorry, I love this place, but the truth hurts.

[SaiKar]

The people that don't care about game making drowned out the people that did, and now the people that did largely shut up and don't talk about it here anymore. It's why I've never pushed for more support for other makers and stuff. Why bother when nobody here cares?

There's nothing anyone can do about it. Just enjoy the freefall.

[zuhane]

I kind of agree with the OP. I check charas a few times daily, but I rarely actually write anything
because I'm not sure what valuable contribution I can make. I always get really excited when I see a
game thread and check everything. It also feels discouraging though. I wrote a 10-page summary
with updates on my game and posted it in my thread but not a single person replied.

I know people check, but it's sometimes hard to know if people give a damn about your project in the
first place! People here need some inspiration of sorts. I've seen a few game ideas suggested that I'd
really love to see come to light that just got abandoned. A few never seen again projects I can remember
were the Goblin Camp game, Super Mario RPG and the game about nightmares that someone made when ill
(forgot the title), but yeah and stuff...

[A Forgotten Legend]

A lot of the people who are active anymore are college age and are just bogged down with other stuff.  It sucks, but no one has the time anymore.  I know I barely can post on charas like I used to.

[Alex]

Freefall...
You know, Charas was built by a community since the very beginning, it never was anything like a "one man site".
So, the ability and the duty of being up to date is 90% of the community itself.
No matter how hard few users, moderators and admins works: if the community will not give its support, the path will slowly be to a deadline.

Reading Zuhane's comment, would you still call a strong gamemaking community a place with a new game thread with...no replies?
Some years ago, every single new announced game was really an event: that was the main goal, at the end!
Now i do know there are really many users, and i surely can't expect everyone to be strongly active in gamemaking. But as the percentage seems to be falling, i can understand why users who cares about it feel there are better places out there.

New ideas are to be from the community: Charas itself started as a single experimental thread in an Italian RPGMaker forum, and developed to what we can see now.

Again, no matter how hard few users, moderators and admins works: why should they do anything hard if there will be nothing back?
Charas is no more an experiment, it's an established and known community: expectations should be high.
If for any reason the "new charas" isn't able to be at the level it should meant to be, we cannot surely blame anyone who will prefer to leave for better places.

Still, there is life in here. Perhaps many users are no more heavily involved in gamemaking, but still enjoy a place in which they can talk with friends. Writing about themselves, find some relaxing time. It's possible our original gamemaking mission is fading in time? Surely. no reasons to lie about this.

But I naturally still hope the community will be able to rise once more. New younger and motivated users are needed, users able to bring back life and the passion of creating and showing something created with their own hard job.
Let's just see the direction they will decide to follow.

[Linkforce]

Holy, I got Alex to reply to my topic!

But staying on topic, I know the older members have gotten older and strayed away from game making, but there are those of us who haven't, myself included. Maybe that's just my stubborness but I believe it to actually be that I just love to make games...well game. Alex is right however, a few people who do enjoy game making here can't change Charas to the way it used to be.
But maybe this is just a transitional period where old members are fading away and new ones just...don't get it yet. Maybe, like Alex suggested, a new generation will come along and pick this place up.
Regardless, this is where I began my game making journey so at least for me, I CAN'T ever leave.

[SaiKar]

Even if it's all truth, Alex's reply makes me sad. I don't want to move on, darn it

[Zerlina]

I don't want to be the old generation! wtf!?

[HobomasterXXX]

This is what happens to most communities, really, assuming they have a solid userbase who like each other. I'm part of a Garry's Mod RP community that hasn't actually had any real RP going on in two years, and another game making forum with little to no game making going on. If a community is solid, the members will stay long after the initial focus of the community has been forgotten. It's just a natural progression.

[Ben]

Um.... people are still making games here you guys.
I dont know if you noticed...contestes...
Its an rpgmaker2003 focused resource community. Its 2011 now.
Its going to slow down.
But then again, there are some of us that actually make an effort to bolster the communities activity.
Likewise, as has been previously pointed out...a lot of the 'old'community grew up, and liked other stuff. Or eventually got bored and decided to get themselves banned, and then start new accounts with lame names and feign aloof whilst taking themselves way too seriously, if not just move on alltogether.

Change is inevetable dude.
And Ive seen more cool stuff around here in the last two years then ever before.
Were still awesome. Suck it.