Will the Forum Becoming a Deserted Land Soon?

[Unlucky Monkey]

Greetings everybody!

There are so many Topics here at the "Discussion" Forum, so I don't know if this was a Topic some time before.

What I want to say is, I'm a little worried concerning the Zelda Forums. So my Topic is misleading I think. It is more "Will the Zelda Forums becoming a deserted Land soon?".

I'm registered at Zelda Dungeon for almost 3 years know. I love the Forum. It may be true, after the Release of Hyrule Historia, the Theory Forum became less important and less visited. But the other Forums more and more become less visited too. Before and after the Release of Skyward Sword, the crowd around the Forum was pretty impressive.

With the release of Wind Waker HD, and a new major release, A Link Between Worlds, I thought there would be more discussions. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm missing something here. Am I alone with these thoughts? Maybe I see this too dramatically

 

[Mases]

We were having some server troubles before Wind Waker HD, so I don't think we had as big of a resurgence as I thought we'd have.

However, more importantly, there are so many ways to communicate with fellow Zelda fans nowadays. This happens every day on the Zelda Dungeon front page within the comments section. Additionally, YouTube videos are also huge for fan interaction, as well as our near quarter million followers on the Zelda Dungeon Facebook page. Lastly, other websites such as the /Zelda sub-reddit on the website Reddit are huge.

Point being, 2 years ago... even more so 5 years... forums were much more needed to for niche discussion. 10-12 years ago it was the ONLY way to talk to fellow Zelda fans. Now though, there are so many alternatives.

I do think now that our server issues are more or less stable, we'll start to see some growth with A Link Between Worlds just releasing. As we lead into 2014 where we will likely be seeing Zelda Wii U, I think we'll have a lot of discussion.

So basically... I do think Hyrulia Historia lessened the theory discussion among Zelda fans, but overall discussion was lessened by there now being other methods of communication.

 

[DeletedUser9]

That's all true, Mases, as far as a broader span of time is concerned, but the popularity of other methods of communication doesn't apply to the divide in activity between, say, Skyward Sword and the latest releases. Of course that likely is heavily influenced by the server problems, as you said, so that'll likely improve.

Facebook and YouTube are nice and all, but they're very bite-sized methods of communication in a lot of ways. While you can make long and lengthy replies, and of course they're easier to network, it's all filtered through a specific kind of culture -- neither website is known for having a good community culture -- and also through odd little systems like comments and likes and sharing, which makes it less likely to be used for interesting discussion. In-depth discussion is still basically forum territory.

With regards to the inactivity, Unlucky Monkey, as was already established, the server issues probably put a dent in this, so it'll be improving from here on out automatically I think. I also suspect some upheavals in the community over the past year or so -- just interactions, some people leaving or joining, and in some cases some drama -- have left some a little exasperated about the forums as of late. That's just conjecture on my part but I feel like it's relevant. Really that's just par the course for forums, though. Either those folks will become active again or new members will join and fill in the activity. Forum climates tend to change a lot, aside from a few core members, and if that core ever changes then it usually changes the forum climate a lot for at least a short while.

 

[JuicieJ]

I'd argue that the announcement of A Link Between Worlds picked back up after continuous talk of Skyward Sword and theory died down, and with it officially being out now, I think we'll see activity build up more. The forums were really active when SS was released, much more so than before it was, so I can only imagine the same happening here, even if on a smaller scale.

 

[Justac00lguy]

I'm sure I heard that the current state of the forums is the busiest it's ever been, if I recall anyway.

Do I think the forum is dying anytime soon? Well no, the forum went under a lack of activity during the server issues over the past 3 or so months; however, all seems to be picking up now and activity is picking up somewhat. This will also be complemented by A Link Between Worlds, the cycle of people visiting ZD for walkthroughs and then joining the forum will continue - as I'm sure a lot, if if not most, joined on a similar reasoning.

It's sad that the theory section is as lifeless as it is, I originally joined here to discuss such matters and for a period of time I used to make one or two detailed theories in that section per week, but I've kind stopped doing that as of late. I honestly think it's quite naive that people think that because HH was released it means no more theorising - that's very much the wrong idea. HH only killed Timeline speculation - there is still a vast array of topics to discuss and figure out. Hyrule Historia now just gives us a canon guideline in which to follow and make more logical theories.

 

[Heroine of Winds]

With the release of ALBW, I don't see this site becoming less active. It might be in a few days because most people are playing the new Zelda game right now, but that doesn't mean ZD will become inactive all the time.

 

[Snow Queen]

This forum is as doomed as humanity. Interperate that as you please.

 

[Dio]

Well, WWHD is not exactly a new game, there is little storywise to discuss. There are some improvements but there is not really enough to have massive discussions on it.
SS was a new 3D Zelda game, there was a lot of speculation on story, characters and placement in the timeline. And when the game was released, there was so much to talk about.
When Hyrule Historia came out, allot of the theories had either been proved or disproved, meaning there was little left to theorize on.
ALBW, is a handheld game and is therefore generating less discussion than a 3D release, also it is very simplistic storywise, it creates no new mysteries, everything is wrapped up at the end with nothing really unexplained.
The Zelda forums will pick up when more Zelda U info is released.

 

[Beauts]

It's sad that the theory section is as lifeless as it is, I originally joined here to discuss such matters and for a period of time I used to make one or two detailed theories in that section per week, but I've kind stopped doing that as of late. I honestly think it's quite naive that people think that because HH was released it means no more theorising - that's very much the wrong idea. HH only killed Timeline speculation - there is still a vast array of topics to discuss and figure out. Hyrule Historia now just gives us a canon guideline in which to follow and make more logical theories.

This exact same reason was why I joined. ZU is all well and good but I always found it too bogged down with over-regulation and of course the same ideas being restated over and over. I do believe that the HH had a big impact on people in the realm of theorising- just look at when me and JC here were the only theorists nominated in the GKAs. I'm pretty sure even back when I joined over a year ago that more people would have been nominated. Also, a lot of the theorising used to be on the timeline so even if you do reason as I do too that there are plenty more things to speculate about in the world of Zelda, I guess a lot of people felt differently. I for one was never actually much one for timeline theories anyway. I found them tiresome and so never bothered thinking it through much myself.

That being said I have to agree with pretty much everyone else: the server problems were the main cause in the recent drop in activity. I wouldn't say that the Wind Waker HD release was overlooked though, even in the WoZ forum; the Wind Waker has been around for years, most of it has been covered. With A Link To The Past though, I think I have seen a bit of an increase in activity again, and quite a few new members. Various people who used to post a lot have quit or are less active, including myself, and there are a myriad of reasons for that. But I think things look promising again. It's just gonna take an effort for everyone- including myself- we have to get posting and building the place back up again if we really want to see the forums come back into prominence. That'll attract new people too. It's the only way really. In regards to the other forms of connecting with Zelda fans, I really disagree. Social networks don't leave much space for creativity in this kind of thing/fandom, and Youtube is far from the kind of flourishing community needed to get into real discussions over elements of Zelda. You only have to look at the comments on the average Lets Play for Zelda to see that.

 

[Ventus]

We have like fifty people discussing the same old stuff each and every time. I think the forums are as close to dead as they possibly can be without actually *being* dead. Meanwhile, at ZI and ZU...

 

[Salem]

We have like fifty people discussing the same old stuff each and every time. I think the forums are as close to dead as they possibly can be without actually *being* dead. Meanwhile, at ZI and ZU...

Which one seems deader?

 

[Vanessa28]

I don't think the forums are doomed. Yes of course there are people who interact rather through the SB than on the forums themselves but I don't think the forums are dying. There are still topics which always have answers everyday and now with ALBW there is a lot of activity about the new game

 

[Dan]

Know the forum isn't a piece of land it's stored on a hard drive, so that's impossible.

 

[Princess Niki]

I miss the chat box. I had stopped using it for a while because of school and when I finally come back it's gone.

 

[Snow Queen]

I miss the chat box. I had stopped using it for a while because of school and when I finally come back it's gone.

Agreed. It's so lonely and quiet here.