Those of us who've been around the block a few times know that forums have a life span, and that the life of a message board/forum always seems to follow a similar trajectory.

The penultimate stage is massive numbers of the users who provide relevant content of the forum fleeing, with fewer new users joining. There are a few friends who continue to use the board as a chat space. Occasional clueless new users wander in searching for the same old shit that everyone's asked about a million times before - and are sent packing with a quick boot to the ass.

The final stage is a strange state; they do not die, but are overwhelmed by spam and conspiracy theorists, with few to no real users left. Nearly all the last few people posting to each other jump en-masse to a new forum. This terminal stage can continue a sort of pseudo-life more or less in perpetuity, or until the web changes state enough that the forum software no longer functions.

It is my opinion that the spammers/conspiracy theorists are somehow drawn to these fora in their late stages, much like circling vultures to the man crawling in the desert, or certain infectious diseases\bugs to the weakened and dying person. If so, rc.com may be only a few years (or less?) from the last stages.

GO

Those of us who've been around the block a few times know that forums have a life span, and that the life of a message board/forum always seems to follow a similar trajectory.

The penultimate stage is massive numbers of the users who provide relevant content of the forum fleeing, with fewer new users joining. There are a few friends who continue to use the board as a chat space. Occasional clueless new users wander in searching for the same old shit that everyone's asked about a million times before - and are sent packing with a quick boot to the ass.

The final stage is a strange state; they do not die, but are overwhelmed by spam and conspiracy theorists, with few to no real users left. Nearly all the last few people posting to each other jump en-masse to a new forum. This terminal stage can continue a sort of pseudo-life more or less in perpetuity, or until the web changes state enough that the forum software no longer functions.

It is my opinion that the spammers/conspiracy theorists are somehow drawn to these fora in their late stages, much like circling vultures to the man crawling in the desert, or certain infectious diseases\bugs to the weakened and dying person. If so, rc.com may be only a few years (or less?) from the last stages.

GO

Good lord. You two nOObs sure are sensitive. Did you even read his post??

He is not blaming ya'll for the decline of the site. If anything, he is saying that nOObs are the principle victims of the current state of affairs here on RC.com.

I feel like one of the reasons this place flourished early on is because it was a blank slate. Members had an opportunity to create content where none existed before. The archive has been built though and RC.com missed the shift away from simple shit talking in the forums and towards media driven content. News, video and interactive features (ascent logs, route databases, etc...)

Now it's just a relic. A reminder of what "online forum" used to mean.

Missed the boat is certainly one way of putting it. In many cases, it seemed like the boat started to set sail, and then blew up and sank. Latest examples being the gear reviews and the tech forum.

GO

i miss the old days



sigh

Me too. I check in once a month or so, but there just isn't anything new or interesting anymore. This is the first time I can remember actually signing in to the site in months. I don't even have any spam PM's to entertain myself with. All the fun people have left. We haven't even celebrated Festivus in years.

If posters with relevant content flee it is because they have grown tired of the ridiculous spray the elitists give the so-called "noobs."
A forum is a meeting place for people to discuss like interests and answer questions with helpful insight. When someone asks a "noob" question, it is YOU that defines the person as a noob, thus creating the endless webs of arguments that tangle below an innocent question. THAT is what gets old. In no way are you required to reply to a noob question. If you post with a "boot" than you are the reason the forum gets empty of relevance and filled with ignorance, spammers and theorists, because you don't provide the knowledge you have gained as a noob on the forum that you received by your elitists. So, continue to bash the noobs with the boot, driving them away. Continue to fill the threads with endless pages of "you noob," driving the helpful content away and then come back with another thread about how all all you have left to talk to is online robots and its the end of RC days.


... IMO

You really shouldn't post drunk Rob. If i am the one with no life why did you respond to ancient thread? Only to stir up some drama. To create a social reaction that you otherwise are lacking. Enjpy that raw right hand, you'll be using it until you grow up.

"Bring out your dead. Bring out your dead."

Curt

How did I end up here and where are my pants?

How did I end up here and where are my pants?

Willy and Shiva give this thread two thumbs up ...
[image]http://www.desy.de/~olivier/misc/brasil2002/gays.jpg[/image]

And, I wouldn't call a month and a half old thread ancient. Just wait a couple weeks. I'll show you ancient. Gonna have to reprise my role as the Resident Thread Necromancer. (Oh, how I miss the old titles)

lol, I was remembering you being the thread resurrector, or whatever it was, and thought I would pull up some old threads in your honor on another forum I'm a part of. The mods promptly smacked those threads into oblivion. Some people just have no sense of humor!

i miss the old days.


sigh

Me, too, although Mountain Project still sees some action and Supertopo can be funny when the conspiracy theorists shut up for a moment or two. I did get a laugh out of the "Noah's Ark on Mars" thing. You can't make that stuff up...oh, wait.

One additional thing that is going on is Facebook. With the comments you can create threads just like here that a lot of friends of friends can see and contribute to. Marge, it might make you smile that Dr. Kodos is still riling people up over there, albeit with a different persona.