Is F:AT dead or dying?

I'm surprised no one's asked the question? The updates have been very rare, and pretty much consisted of a few three paragraph movie reviews. Unfortunately I'm getting about ready to take the site off my regular visits list, which would be a shame.

I don't visit the front page very often and just come to the forums since comment threads for the articles are here anyway, but I just looked at the landing page and I see a few board game reviews/articles dated in September.

It feels pretty active to me, just probably not necessarily in the way that some may browse the site. As Barnes put it, it has a tendency to spiral into clubhouse territory every once in awhile, then someone comes along with a "revival" and posts a bunch of content, then the frequency slowly fizzles again. I guess we're in another ebb.

I submitted a review in early July and it didn't get put on the front page until late August. The folks tending this site are all volunteers, so I don't mind.

Yeah, I think a better question is: Is the front page dying?


I also like UniversalHead's eye for design, but those tiny fonts kill me.

Lady Klis submitted an article a month ago I think. I'm guessing the editors are just behind which gives the illusion the content is stagnant

At least the forums are alive and kicking

The problem with the front page is, to be blunt, Matt and I both have paid gigs and commitments offsite. We were the main source of the game content up there apart from the occasional, typically excellent submission from Erik or Black Barney's totally OT material.

There is a threshold that volunteer sites like this hit. You either go big or maintain altitude as a social group for existing users. We hit that threshold a couple of years ago, when we still had Loter around, Shellie was more active, and regularly scheduled contributions to the front page. But we didn't break to that next level because the energy and will to do so wasn't there- nor was the incentive, really. This was around the time we changed the logo, format and all that.

But this site is ten years in, we've outlasted many others. And I hold that there is a generation of reviewers and commentators, a style of games writing, that exists BECAUSE of what we did here and what our founders did elsewhere as well. As it stands now, this is a social club for long term members- I mean shit, I've had relationships- friendships even- with people on here for longer than my children have been alive. It's very personal, and I like that. We know each other probably better than you'd ever expect to get to know someone strictly with doofy internet posts.

In sum, F:AT died years ago. But it lives!

I absolutely never visited the front page, even when I first began visiting the site.

All the good content seems to be buried in the threads anyways. But I visit as an alternative to TOS, as I respect the views of the users here more and don't have to deal with the signal to noise ratio elsewhere. There is value to be had with comments by even users I disagree with.

There could never be another front page article written, and it wouldn't change my views on F:AT.

The fora are where I spend the vast VASSSSSST majority of my energy on this site, and I visit this place every day, multiple times a day. The clubhouse thing is real, and I regret that. But I love this place. I hope there are a lot of folks that love this place and would miss it when it finally fades away. It's been a constant for me when other stuff hasn't, and I appreciate it a lot for that.

Michael Barnes wrote: But this site is ten years in, we've outlasted many others. And I hold that there is a generation of reviewers and commentators, a style of games writing, that exists BECAUSE of what we did here and what our founders did elsewhere as well. As it stands now, this is a social club for long term members- I mean shit, I've had relationships- friendships even- with people on here for longer than my children have been alive. It's very personal, and I like that. We know each other probably better than you'd ever expect to get to know someone strictly with doofy internet posts.

In sum, F:AT died years ago. But it lives!

I actually don't have more than two friends in real life, and I know more about some of you than I do about them.

Dysjunct wrote a haiku about me, and mentioned that I cook on George Foreman grill. At work. I searched and have no record of having said this at any point. I'm freaking out a little.

When I saw a youtube video with actual footage of SuperCircusMcFlynt, it was like seeing a celebrity on the street.

What is happening here.

I love this place. I also check in just about every day, and there's no where else on the web I actually like discussing games.

We haven't grown in a long time, but the culture and identity here is strong enough that we still have a number of steady members and the fora are awfully active considering.

I've tried to back off a couple times, but I think I'm a lifer now.

UniversalHead wrote: I'm surprised no one's asked the question? The updates have been very rare, and pretty much consisted of a few three paragraph movie reviews. Unfortunately I'm getting about ready to take the site off my regular visits list, which would be a shame.

Not yet. And to be honest I'm a bit surprised you asked this question after I posted game reviews two weeks in a row, now three.

I've had a stupidly busy summer with - as Barnes pointed out - external paid commitments. That stopped me posting reviews for about 3 months. However, I'm back on the treadmill now and I'm aiming to burn through the queue that built up with a review every week or fortnight until I've got the pile back down. That should keep things ticking up to Christmas at least.

In truth, as I've observed on the site before, I am getting a jaded with the constant influx of newness required to sustain a reviews site. I just want to go back and play some of my favourite old games some more. So I can't keep on being the only person posting game content on the front page. But as others have said the forums are still good, still game-focused and still full of lively debate.

Maybe we should pull "message of the week" content and slap it on the front page.

Having a "frequently visited list" indicates a level of organization that is anathema to this site. So, it doesn't surprise me.

Site's a social site for old and new friends to bullshit, UNDER THE GUISE of being a boardgame news site. Maybe it wasn't 10 years ago, but the reality is that things change.

I view the mossy front page as effective camouflage for the vibrant subterranean forum activity.

I joined because of the comment section, but I did first start visiting here years ago because of the solid front page material.