Community Check...

[ThomPhoenix]

* ThomPhoenix latches onto Karyuu and doesn't let go.

(This must look weird by now)

[zanzibar]

The next version of PlaneShift will apparently be MB again.  (Moog's Back.)

You've been gone for a while.  Like you said when you quit the game, the place is always changing with new faces coming in and out.  But thanks for showing some things don't change.   Cya sometime.

[Pizik]

The people change in an evoloutionary cycle, quite interesting if you step back from it. A replication of how the world changes in a watered down sense. I suspect Karyuu could start playing as her Karyuu character with the majority of players not bowing down and revering her like they should ;op

Wonderful how the world works, and PS is a nice microcosm.

[Tuxide]

Moogie:  Please check in more often.

[zanzibar]

The people change in an evoloutionary cycle, quite interesting if you step back from it. A replication of how the world changes in a watered down sense. I suspect Karyuu could start playing as her Karyuu character with the majority of players not bowing down and revering her like they should ;op

Wonderful how the world works, and PS is a nice microcosm.

That's a very positive spin, don't you think?  I can't entirely agree.

[Karyuu]

Yeah... tempting to come back and not be hailed as incredibly awesome, except I'm afraid I'll always be recognized for what I am - better than most people :)

Communities remain basically the same - the only change is in their fluctuating size, and therefore the volume of their obnoxious little voices. There are the same disgruntled oldbies, though they may now have different names, the same clueless newbies with their same questions and requests, the same emotionally unattached and same hot-blooded developers, the militant moderators, the melodramatic voices of dissent, the weird let's-all-be-friends hippies, all of them. And here's the kick: it's not special to any one community. What happens when you step back from it, Pizik, is that you realize how very unspecial this cycle really is, and how dreadfully boring it is to witness it on a miniature scale over and over again. The people in the cycle think it's awfully exciting, of course, and that they're witnessing something wonderful that must be noted and remembered. Except they're not, and it's not.

This pessimistic spin brought to you by The Association Of People Who Tire Of Other People. :D

[zanzibar]

That may be true, but I also think that changes to the game itself can lead to changes in the community and the community culture.  When changes were made to PvP to make it less of an arcade game, we saw an exodus of players.  It might have been a small exodus, but it was definitely in response to changes to the game.  I think the developers have a lot more power over the face of the player community than they think.

Economics students will love this post.

[Karyuu]

Well, the developers know how much power they have over the community - some more than others. (When I was involved there was a wide gap between the team members who cared not at all about this, and cared too much. I suspect that this gap still exists to some degree.) What would make PlaneShift an interesting object of observation long-term, is the fact that no one knows exactly where it's going. The developers who worked on PS 8 years ago could not have expected it to change the way it already has: features previously crossed out in bold red being implemented, certain mentalities and ^attitudes in community leaders being supported, etc. While Luca oversees everything and definitely has a master plan for a general direction, a lot of little things are malleable. Little things that add up.

So if there's an interest in following a real change rather than a cycle, from an outside perspective, that's what I would look at. The rhythmic rise and fall of the community isn't as intriguing.

[ThomPhoenix]

Things definitely change around here, and there's some pretty big changes going on too. It just takes time, and most people don't have the patience. I have stopped caring about people leaving a long time ago, I usually don't even read "I'm leaving" threads anymore, because they're always the same. If you don't like stuff, go away and do something you do like. Come back later and check things out. PS'll still be there.

[Waylander]

* Waylander beats Thom off of Karyuu

Mine

It's actually really interesting to watch people go through the stages of PS.  As time goes on the characters become people and friends.  There was a time when Ayshe was nothing more than a name to me, a character who knew a character that my character knew.  Now I talk to him quite often and never think of him as an enkidukai.  I'm actually in Karyuu's house now and there was a time when she was just a friend of my character (Albeit a very short time, she's a special case).

So yes, the game is fun at times and terrible at others.  The community is very much the same... except for maybe the fun part   But it's the people that make it all worthwhile.

I still have plan to egg Venge's house one day... Only now I plan on bringing Sep, Karyuu, Jose and Link along with me

* Waylander goes back to barely lurking

[zanzibar]

Does Sep = Seperot?

[hitancrias]

Does Sep = Seperot?

Since Waylander is "barely lurking" I hope he doesn't mind I'll answer that question: yes.

[Elvicat]

* Elvicat is still around too

i may not be as OLD as you guys  but i'm getting there

[Eathon]

Nope! They'll just keep aging, Elvi.

[Parallo]

Those beloved by the gods grow young. Like me.