I do not really think the fact that you guys like to complain about it helps make the situation better. If anything it encourges less conversation.

Lol i'm not complaining im stating facts.

Hey I'm not bashing all the newer guys there's been some good new additions like M.U.G.E.N. and stuff its just honestly since 08 the numbers of really good users joining the site has gone down.

And its a fact that threads don't go on for as many posts as they once did and that conversation just isn't at the level it once was.  Don't get me wrong Vgchartz is still my favorite gameing forums and in fact its the only one I currently post in cause I left Gametrailers and all that but its just not quite the same as the good ol days.  But the website itself has improved dramatically.  Its just I miss the days when we were all laughing at Crazzyman's insane predictions, talking loads of Halo 3 goodness with Mendicate Bias, trying to ignore but still laughing with ( and at ) Leo-J's constant Sony defense force and ban's.  Seeing BHR-3 make some epic predictions and such. 

Like I said the website is still great and some of those guys still post a little but its not the same as it once was.

I think it is because people were more excited at begining of the generation as everything was new the winners were unknown and people were very excited about gaming. Now we know the winners and a lot of people might be more bored with gaming. I know I am. I would suspect the kind of people you want will show up again when the consoles (not the portables) bring in the next generation of games.

Not quite.

Its really due to the success of VGC. In the beginning, you had to be a major fan of data and analysis to find this site - either via NeoGAF (and the preceding ban of Brett), or constant searches of Google for 'Video Game Sales Data'. The initial group of people had only interest in discussing sales data, and arguing about the success or failure of titles, and kept the fanboyism at a minimum. Now that VGC is an Alexa top 10k site, you have a lot of riff-raff that have come in and sullied up the reasonable sales debates. Look at the manufacturer forums vs. the sales charts forum and OT. There are vastly more discussions in the needless manufacturer forums than the sales data - yet the sad part is, VGC needed said forums to funnel away the trolls from the sales discussions, yet they are still there many times.

You can't have a reasonable debate about anything without being jumped on by someone for holding a view. Data rarely holds a prominent place in the debates, despite the data being right there.

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." - Einstein.

your 100% right.  I lurked here in 06 and 07 then joined in 08 and I feel that was the last year and early 09 where true data and sales discussion was still the prominant factor in forum discussion.  Now days its all zealoutry for a certain console manufacturer and numbers are rarely brought up for anything more than to back up your argument to defend something.

But at the end of the day this is really the only website where there is still some true data and sales discussions and why its still a fantastic site, better in almost every single way other than sales debates which were at one point legendary here.

The quality threads are fewer and far between than when I first joined (Nov. 07).

But, the site as a whole is still a lot better than most other gaming sites.

Right. There are still a few legendary threads, but I try to stay away from the sales debates because they turn a lot worse a lot quicker than they used to.

It's the economy. I really don't know. I remember when I first joined in 2010 vgchartz was pretty awesome. I felt at home and my first threads about me-my life-challenges- were all received with great and helpful comments. Few months later *CRASH AND BURN*