Archive: 13 posts

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Game forums have been an iconic presence in the videogame industry for many, many years, harkening back to the 1990s and the boom of the internet. It seems a loyal community will sit down and build a fan site for any highly-anticipated game. LittleBigPlanet has been no exception to this rule! But the technology has changed. From the 1990s through the early 2000s, the average person did not have easy mobile access to the internet. Most online interaction occurred through computers (remember those old, huge monitors? Still make me shudder). Fast forward to today, and a significant amount of online interaction occurs from mobile devices... specifically phones. There are many reasons why mobile devices make forum interaction more difficult. For one, most forums require you to log in, and some phones don't do a good job of keeping your password around. Signing in multiple times to the same site is very annoying. Another reason why mobile devices are more difficult to use on forums? Most of us are aware of "text speak", the ugly, broken English we use when we type on our mobile devices. Text speak is just easier to use on the small typing pads of our mobile devices, and this language is significantly different from the conversations that typically occur on a forum. Plus, with apps like Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, and Facebook being easier and easier to access and set to automatically upload videogame activity, shared photos, blog posts, and so forth, the mobile market for online interactions is only set to expand. So this begs the question: With the rise in use of mobile devices to access and communicate over the internet, are forums becoming outdated? Is it possible to make a forum for the current generation of internet users? Will forums survive through the mobile age of internet? Can videogame makers capitalize on the mobile market and use it in ways videogame forums could never have been used? Note: Discussions and conversations from this may be quoted in next week's edition of This Week in LittleBigPlanet (http://rocketcheetah.com/news/this-week-in-littlebigplanet/)!

2014-09-26 08:14:00 Author: mr_krispy_kreme Posts: 18

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I don't like this site's mobile platform and I always request the desktop version. The mobile site is just too simplified and has no charm. My Samsung S3 is big enough that I can use the desktop version on my phone fairly happily. I think these forums are fine as they are, mind you I can't think of how to improve them

2014-09-26 08:28:00 Author: aratiatia Posts: 374

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Moved to General Chat

2014-09-26 14:57:00 Author: Lady_Luck__777 Posts: 3458

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Hey all, I know this is a relatively old thread but I'd like to add my thoughts to it- Gaming forums are never going to die. You will never find a Facebook page with people that as as dedicated to game(s) as you will on forums. I think that we've seen a decline in large gaming forums in the past few years that Reddit has exploded, but I still favour certain forums over Reddit as there is more in depth discussion and better organisation of topics on forums.

2014-10-30 15:01:00 Author: GreatWhite000 Posts: 673

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Forums won't die; maybe change to better facilitate if need be, but never will they die, seeing as how a 'forum' comes in many different forms. Also, forums are a form of social media as well. The only differences between this forum and Facebook is that this site has a focused point, and that this site's tools are a little different. We still have a feed, we have friend requests, we have a PM system, and we have profiles. But we are all still interacting, we are all still communicating, and we all enjoy it. I know the question isn't about forums in general, but video game forums aren't going anywhere. What forums DO need however, is a better way to present their forums to the mobile market. Which luckily the bigger screens and more powerful phones have made that easier; Aratiatia being a great example of this. If anything, the mobile market may bring more people to forums as you can easily access a forum without the need of a big computer. Granted, it's not as fun as using a keyboard. As for text-talk, that's just people doing what they want. Shoot, I'm one of those people that writes normally, in proper grammar, when simply texting. Which honestly, I just see text-talk as a different 'language'. Anyways, that's my input on this old thread.

2014-10-30 23:25:00 Author: Devious_Oatmeal Posts: 1799

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I just wish forum threads would automatically update, but besides that... forums fill a niche. Much like IRC, or imageboards. Individuals post on forums because there are some things that only a forum can provide - archival of topics, for one; but perhaps far more important is that sense of community. You can find it on imageboards as well, but forums are definitely their own microsms. Communities that evolve into their own subcultures, far more easily than any other form of social media! I freely admit that I don't post on forums nearly as much as I used to, but that's mostly because of life getting in the way - and admittedly, my waning interest in LBP. Forums aren't as popular as they used to be, for sure, but they CERTAINLY aren't dead yet. Message boards in general have plenty of life in them yet!

2014-10-31 05:03:00 Author: theswweet Posts: 2468

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Currently, I view social media as the fabric which ties multiple forums together. Forums have an important place and provide a specific experience for a specific community. However, social media is a way for multiple friends and forums to speak to each other. I think the problem you (OP) are hinting at is that forums often fail to conform to the rising popularity of "mobile-first" design. Twitter and Facebook lead the charge when it comes to that stuff, so it's no surprise that those forms of communication remain so popular. It's simple, quick, and easy to use popular social media. Why? Because it's in your pocket wherever you go and they've made it work seamlessly with your device. I don't think forums will go away though. There is something to be said about the experience of sitting at a computer and taking time to contribute to a community. However, I think we will also begin to see forums re-organizing into mobile-friendly/mobile-first formats that will make using forums less time-consuming and convenient. There is a place for the full desktop experience and a place for the convenient mobile experience. Neither will go away, but you may start to see them blend together more. (Didn't realize how old of a topic this was until I looked at the date on the OP. However, since it got revived a week ago, I'll leave my post.)

2014-11-06 21:58:00 Author: ShamgarBlade Posts: 1010

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I like how the more in-depth opinions didn't pop up until it was revived.

2014-11-06 22:44:00 Author: Devious_Oatmeal Posts: 1799

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Currently, I view social media as the fabric which ties multiple forums together. Forums have an important place and provide a specific experience for a specific community. However, social media is a way for multiple friends and forums to speak to each other. I think the problem you (OP) are hinting at is that forums often fail to conform to the rising popularity of "mobile-first" design. Twitter and Facebook lead the charge when it comes to that stuff, so it's no surprise that those forms of communication remain so popular. It's simple, quick, and easy to use popular social media. Why? Because it's in your pocket wherever you go and they've made it work seamlessly with your device. I don't think forums will go away though. There is something to be said about the experience of sitting at a computer and taking time to contribute to a community. However, I think we will also begin to see forums re-organizing into mobile-friendly/mobile-first formats that will make using forums less time-consuming and convenient. There is a place for the full desktop experience and a place for the convenient mobile experience. Neither will go away, but you may start to see them blend together more. (Didn't realize how old of a topic this was until I looked at the date on the OP. However, since it got revived a week ago, I'll leave my post.) Living in the information age it's only going to happen that one online service will take from the presence of another. Just look at the impact that it's had on the real world. I would go into this but I've only been researching it for a short while so I don't know all I need to know yet. Anywho. Social media is killing everything. People are so addicted to relay chats and other forms of virtual communication that it not only affects them psychologically but everything physically and virtually around them. I go out with a friend and they will be constantly on their mobile device. Don't get me wrong, I use my smartphone for music and the odd occasion Twitter but I don't tweet, I don't have Facebook or use Reddit, Instagram, Imgur and all of the other nonsense. I'm aware of the effect that the information age has had on society and its overall negative impact its had on the everyday function of people, the workplace, education and much more... Just imagine every electronic device turned off (don't use logic here). People wouldn't know what to do. I would just pick up a book and go on like it's another day because people are so reliant on technology that they cannot function without it. I think there are enough users on this forum but we could do with more people. There aren't any other games I have an online forum presence or any other forms of interaction online. Only LBPCentral. I guess that means I like this website.

2014-11-06 22:49:00 Author: SEWO97 Posts: 637

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Living in the information age it's only going to happen that one online service will take from the presence of another. Just look at the impact that it's had on the real world. I would go into this but I've only been researching it for a short while so I don't know all I need to know yet. Anywho. Social media is killing everything. People are so addicted to relay chats and other forms of virtual communication that it not only affects them psychologically but everything physically and virtually around them. I go out with a friend and they will be constantly on their mobile device. Don't get me wrong, I use my smartphone for music and the odd occasion Twitter but I don't tweet, I don't have Facebook or use Reddit, Instagram, Imgur and all of the other nonsense. I'm aware of the effect that the information age has had on society and its overall negative impact its had on the everyday function of people, the workplace, education and much more... Just imagine every electronic device turned off (don't use logic here). People wouldn't know what to do. I would just pick up a book and go on like it's another day because people are so reliant on technology that they cannot function without it. I think there are enough users on this forum but we could do with more people. There aren't any other games I have an online forum presence or any other forms of interaction online. Only LBPCentral. I guess that means I like this website. Ha, I know what you mean. If I hear one more person use the word "hashtag" in real life, I might lose it. The topic is beginning to move away from the original post here, but I find what you said to be interesting and worth noting. There is no doubt that the information age has brought along negative side effects. Smartphones have definitely had negative impact on face-to-face communication. Although one can list off the many cons associated with mobile social media, I don't think the pros should be ignored. The biggest benefit for me is the ability to keep in contact with people from my past. If it weren't for Facebook, I would have lost touch with many friends. Parents over here will always tell you that as soon as your graduate high school, you will lose contact with many of your friends as you go on different paths. That didn't happen to me because of the existence of social media. Social media has a strange effect. It has the ability to hinder your face-to-face communication, but it improves your ability to keep that communication. Now trying to tie this back to the original post... Forums used to be an activity one would engage in during their own, personal time. As people keep pushing everything towards mobile functionality, I think we will start to see forums invade the same space that mobile social media currently occupies. Is that a good or bad thing? Don't know. But it's convenience can't be ignored.

2014-11-07 18:31:00 Author: ShamgarBlade Posts: 1010

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Ha, I know what you mean. If I hear one more person use the word "hashtag" in real life, I might lose it. The topic is beginning to move away from the original post here, but I find what you said to be interesting and worth noting. There is no doubt that the information age has brought along negative side effects. Smartphones have definitely had negative impact on face-to-face communication. Although one can list off the many cons associated with mobile social media, I don't think the pros should be ignored. The biggest benefit for me is the ability to keep in contact with people from my past. If it weren't for Facebook, I would have lost touch with many friends. Parents over here will always tell you that as soon as your graduate high school, you will lose contact with many of your friends as you go on different paths. That didn't happen to me because of the existence of social media. Social media has a strange effect. It has the ability to hinder your face-to-face communication, but it improves your ability to keep that communication. Now trying to tie this back to the original post... Forums used to be an activity one would engage in during their own, personal time. As people keep pushing everything towards mobile functionality, I think we will start to see forums invade the same space that mobile social media currently occupies. Is that a good or bad thing? Don't know. But it's convenience can't be ignored. I lost all of mine after I left school. People have become so addicted to electronics and because I'm aware of the problem I choose not to social media. My friend actually says: 'lol' in reality. I tell him not to of course, it's annoying and unrealistic, could add illogical. Back on topic, I like forums personally as I mentioned above and I think they will be around for a long time, at least a couple of years as long as we, the community remain and support the websites and keep activity alive. Developer support for the forums is going to boost user activity, something Media Molecule did in a form of pins and such. Not to forget, developers use the LittleBigPlanet fan forums, I would consider this a rare thing amongst game nowadays. Since developers seem to try and hide all of the information related to games now. To add to that, in-game competitions that reward in-game rewards like the famously known 'Crown'. I think LittleBigPlanet has too much potential for discussion and will survive through the create mode. If the mobile site version was better I would like to use my smartphone for the website but since the mobile version is plain and bulky I don't like using it. There are a lot of mobile users that could increase traffic and user traffic on the website.

2014-11-07 21:42:00 Author: SEWO97 Posts: 637

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I'm posting from a PC with a 23" monitor *GASP!*

2014-12-01 03:54:00 Author: Rovelius Posts: 74

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I'm posting from a PC with a 23" monitor *GASP!* Irrelevant revival. But I get the point.

2014-12-01 09:25:00 Author: SEWO97 Posts: 637

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