Are things slower around here?

[Kriven]

Who the heck (on the staff) said anything about that?

Who the heck said anything about the staff?

We could start throwing in a buttload of new sections about programming and modelling and comics and stuff right now but it wouldn't change the fact that the forum is dying. It'd be the same old stuff, just with a bunch of empty new sections.

I didn't suggest sections other than an interview section for events with people who actually make games. I took the suggestions that already existed and pointed out a problem.

how about you instead think of a way for us to fix the site we've currently got (a spriting site)

I have (see above).
And again, it's not a spriting site anymore. It doesn't really matter what "the staff" insist on--the rebranding has already happened.

Also in regards to "the staff": nobody ever specifically mentioned or attacked you. Except for that one time earlier, when "the staff" crept into play as a center point again somehow.

I mean, if you want other sections

I actually don't because that's not the issue with the site. Other people had other section ideas, and I was pointing out the issue with them and why they would not invigorate activity.

The issue with the site is its userbase and the underlying attitudes it holds. A cultural shift has to occurr if more activity is desired. Projects don't matter, sections don't matter, even events don't matter. People matter, what people say matters, how people say it matters. What people think matters.

There is something about the community as a culture that breeds... silence, in some respects. But don't worry, it's not just tSR that is like this, I've seen it happening to all kinds of older forums, and new ones just never get off the ground. The Internet forum is leaving, and the attitudes fostered by those who still inhabit them drive away any new members.

If you look at the conversations here (not just this one, I won't even use this thread as an example) you have two major kinds: you have threads where each person makes a single post of about one line which amounts to "this is cool" or "this isn't cool" or you have arguments that erupt from conflicting opinions. It doesn't really matter what the original topic is... all someone has to do is say: "I like this game", and someone who dislikes that game pretty much just insults the other user. And it carries on from there.

I've seen only a few threads where this doesn't happen, most of which are in the real life section. There's really a mixed-bag of conversations in the art sections. The community as a whole has this tendancy of ganging up on people they disagree with or who aren't very good at something, and that ties back to the "be frank" teaching philosophy held by a lot of the elite spriters.

That attitude is really good at fostering a god-tier artistic gallery. It isn't so great for a lively community.

tl;dr: the problem with the site isn't what it offers, it's the people who use it.

Oh, I don't have any friends here so I'm not part of it, but I wonder how much conversation fodder is being directed into instant messaging instead of board discussion.