Anyone interested in a non DDR-centric event?

[hascoolnickname]

I didn't mean to be pessimistic, the forum actually did die 3 years ago. Then Brian used his Jesus powers to resurrect indyddr, yay!

[Soma]

Well heard Brian, Scott, OS... its unimaginable how difficult it is keeping track of hardcore obligations (work, school, etc) while still holding onto the things you really enjoy. Hell, I know I'm far past my prime as both a player and poster but sometimes one can't help but yearn for yesteryear. Even locally, where things are still holding strong, it's hard to keep in good touch and make it out every week; by the end of the day I'm usually exhausted. Currently my eyes are trying to bleed because of a realistically 2 hour (at least) essay test trying to jam itself into 90 minutes. I can see how the community changing into a (largely) online gathering has made things very different and (imo) a little more impersonal.

[Riot]

Yeah I agree. I mean do hold with you on the fact that maybe 3 or 4 years ago things were different, perhaps better and more friendly, maybe even more active. It just seems like now a lot of us who have been around for awhile have maybe had our flames for DDR or whatever die out a little bit, and people want to stick around but don't really have anything to contribute about DDR or games and just talk in Conversation Cornucopia a lot. I just feel like a lot of people don't play anymore or don't play as much as they used to, and in their attempt to stay with the community, resort to posting a lot but without much meaning a lot of the time (*cough* me). I can't really maintain a brag thread anymore because it seems like if I'm not AAA'ing everything these days I'm just subpar.

I like posting, I just think we all resort to more "casual" conversation now that we don't all play quite as much, and that has shifted the overall feeling of the forum into a casual, conversation, online-only type forum instead of one where we were all constantly playing and keeping up with the game a lot, and thus were closer and had more to talk about. But hey, I think what's important is that IndyDDR is still the first site a lot of us check when we get home to see if anybody posted any new messages, right?

[Ho]

It's quite true that the majority of topics around here have moved away from DDR. However, I would not consider that a decline in the community in and of itself.

I think that our long-term interest in DDR or related games is largely irrelevant. The game is what brings us together in the first place. IndyDDR brings people together with that common interest. However, if all goes well, those people become friends and find ways and reasons to stay in contact that extend beyond the game.

I know that for me, DDR has always been and continues to be primarily a social experience. The game has served to connect me to people whom I likely would never have met otherwise. But it's the relationships I've formed with people and not the game itself that has kept me with it for all these years.

As such, even though I actually own a machine, I log countless more hours on public machines in the company of fellow players than I ever do at home. In fact, it's has become a relatively rare occurrence for me to even bother powering on my machine unless someone comes over to share the experience.

[Riot]

Well, that's kinda what I meant. I don't think the community is going down hill or anything, I just think because of people distancing themselves from DDR itself they either leave the forum or think that they don't have any place talking about the game anymore and either stop posting, or stop hanging out with other members. And I just think that because over the years some of the "old-timers'" interest has waned a bit, people don't hang out and get together quite as much, and that makes people think that the community isn't the same. But like I said, it's all what people make of it, and people need to stop assuming that the only reason to get together with everyone else is just to play DDR, and maybe just go hang out and do something one day or something.

Like you said, the game is a social game that has brought together a lot of people, but I think a lot of the people who think the forum has gone down hill are the ones that maybe don't play as much anymore and therefore don't hang out with quite as many people, and therefore think that friendships are dissipating and the community is fading. We should have more events ^_^

[Soma]

Realistically then maybe we should organize some events that aren't so specific to DDR? While I myself still enjoy the game, it's mainly as a reaction to my fiance(Laura)'s new interest in the game, so she is still able to goad me into an hour or so of playing each week. I'm not so great on specifics at the moment (taking a break from yet another paper, wow I love life ;p) but it seems like maybe we should look more at enhancing the social side of interacting through this forum than holding straight to the gaming options. I genuinely like and enjoy the company of the vast majority of people that are in (and have been part) of this community, so I think it'd be nice if we had more things to look forward to as group activities.

[Ho]

In case the implication wasn't clear, I hereby formally invite you to use either the Gettin' Together or Events forums to plan meetups that have nothing at all to do with DDR.

DDR brought us together. Where we go from there is up to us.

[Soma]

I understood, I just wanted to use the discussion forum to toss around ideas first if that's all good; it seems like in the past if a random shoutout was issued on the get together thread without a concrete plan of action that things would quickly fall through... I wanted to gather ideas first if at all possible and then plan accordingly. DDRathon planning announcements drew much more attention because that is our (semi)annual event; I think that anything else, especially events that break from the norm deserve some more talking over. If this breaks from how you'd like the forums to act, I fully appreciate that; if however that isn't the case then I'd appreciate if we could discuss matters here further until a formal announcement is called for.

[BeatmaniacIIDX]

DDR Swingers Party?

I kid.

Well, maybe. If I video tape, it would sell like skeet ball.

[Soma]

DDR Swingers Party?

I kid.

Well, maybe. If I video tape, it would sell like skeet ball.

Hey, you had the chance but I saw no camera... or was that the plan ya bastard?

[Ho]

There was talk of having a non-DDR event quite some time ago. The big problem was, as you mentioned, no one really took ownership of it and saw it through. It's not at all difficult to understand why plans fall through when there's no coherent plan to follow in the first place.

Propose something. Get people on board. Set a date. Enjoy!

(of course it's not quite that simple...but doing something works better than doing nothing every time)

[Soma]

hehe, I've got the upside that both you and Jim are the masters of event planning, so I can learn a thing or two from you as far as that is concerned. I wish I could rename this forum so that it'd make a little more sense considering where this conversation is going... is that possible on this forum?

[Ho]

Do you mean rename the subject of this topic? Yeah, you can do that. Just tag the Edit button on your first post, change the subject line, and submit. People do it all the time on their brag threads.

[Fluffyumpkins]

Well I'm still down for having Bloomington people over on Thursday nights. Long live Jap-night.

[Soma]

I'll be over w/ Laura in tow almost definitely... I'm behind on homework because of a funeral today, but whatever.