Which luckily, this blog has little do to with.
warning, if you're not interested in nostalgic rants, and grandiose thinking, this may not be the blog for you. My thoughtsSo, I've been a frequenter of 64Digits since early 2006, a whole 6 years have passed since then, and a lot has changed. V2 came around, and after god knows how long, so did V3. I remember the days where marbs, desertfox, sleepingjohnnyfish, jakex, that joshdreamy guy, twisterghost and people of the such were here, developing games and other cool things. When blogs weren't only about how much we hated each other, and how sad we were. What I'm trying to get at is, 64D is the place I came when I was young, and was just starting to develop games. There were people I looked up to, people I aspired to be. Now, I don't want to burst any of your bubbles, but it's no longer the same. Maybe it's for the better, or maybe not, but personally, I don't like it.When I hear people say "64Digits is dead," it get's me thinking. 64D was the place for GM users to come and chat, without being bombarded by morons (ex, the GMC). The amount of GM users has only increased, and GM is getting more and more advanced, albeit rather slowly, but still advancing nonetheless. With GM:Studio here, it's opened GM up to more professional users, and more possibilities. GM is evolving, but we here at 64D have been stagnant since 2009. Personally, I really think 64D is capable of being something much larger and greater. It's well known, well respected, and it's got a great community (there's a lot of us 'old beans' still around). So, I think 64Digits should expand. It should expand its focus, its userbase, and most importantly, its goals. However, I don't think this is possible with the way the site is set up currently. Honestly, I can't tell if 64D is a game development community, or a blogging community with some game developers. Heck, maybe everyone is fine with that, and if that's the case, disregard this.So I want to hear your guys opinions. Are you happy with what 64D is now? Would it be worth reevaluating things?
Sadness, despair, and other melancholic words.
Posted by Gordy on Dec. 10, 2012, 12:36 a.m.
Comments
I still think we should have project pages.
That way it's clearer what's being worked on.They should have progress bars that project owners can set.And microblogs for updates on the project's page.And you should be able to drop a project, and have it go to the "Great Project Graveyard" that will inevitably be bigger than the game database.I'm going to bring this up every time there's a conversation about the site itself.To reiterate, the site isn't really the problem. You're all talking about "the good old days" with your rose-tinted spectacles: back then the site was even worse. It didn't have a Recent Activity bar and it looked pretty bad.
There are plenty of forums that are more popular than us. Forums that look like shit and only have post topic/reply functionality. Clearly this site is better designed (although I wish the questions database and shop are either fixed or hidden until they are fixed, ffs). It's actually a pretty innovative concept when you think about it. A community where the focus isn't topics or wall posts, but blogs? That's genius.If you want to know how the website could be improved, and you have skills to do so, ask Stevenup. He already came up with an awesome concept to improve on the key elements of 64d.You say the website needs upgraded AND the community was better years ago, and I say bullshit.I used to have a mockup, but then I accidentally deleted it (go me!). Basically it was a complete redesign with a focus on games, music, art, "misc" and of course, blogs. Also, instead of a userpage being a blog with games in the sidebar, it would actually be a showcase and a blog in one. The problem I'm having with it is that it requires a database overhaul. Preferably I'd just create a brand new website.
The biggest problem is that I don't have the time for it…I've not been as active as I used to be, but the thing I always loved about 64D was how informal we are and how this site is a small community. The only internet communities I've ever been able to deal with have been small ones, where you can reasonably get to know pretty much all the regulars to some degree.
The old days were great, but I'm not really around enough to say much about these days. Maybe we could do with more games and more discussion about games, but we have competitions, and game submission looks more active than it was.Seems there's drama too, but you'll always have that where there are people.I try to write blogs of interest, which is perhaps why I blog so rarely these days. Been pondering dusting off GM and making another game or two as well. Be the change you want to see, I say.noteworthy: jw's last ever blog
+ironical commentryWe used to have a project page where you could put your own percentage completion.
My quest to kill 64D's final boss was on there and I succeeded after gathering the Ludabadge, Foxbadge, BadgeX, and Arcalyth Seal of Awesomeness.It took 8 months and I doubt anyone noticed since I made updates to the project page without announcing it.Also, site was awesome back then and I miss it, but site is awesomer now than it ever was back then.Oh man, I'd forgotten about the projects page…
I think some people aren't dealing with the fact that we grew up. We started back in, what, 2005? I was 14 years old, now I'm 21. Things change.
I, for one, like 64Digits the way it is now. I've been here mostly for the game-related blogs (be it game development, or o-shit-look-at-this-game-called-Minecraft-it's-awesome) and the 'life' blogs, I find them interesting. I personally only have played two or three submitted games.If you want to reinvent 64Digits, I'd go for dropping the game development focus and instead expand it into a more general 'art' community, with emphasis on blogs.I'll say the one time I didn't like 64D, and actually went on a really long hiatus, was when it was just a broken down mess.
I'd come and be like 'gonna check some 64D'*Meatspin on the front page**Message saying the site is down**Message from- oh… no wait, the whole site is gone off the face of the earth*