Loading times have a big impact on one's overall experience.  I remember when we went from carts to CDs....I thought we had taken a huge leap backwards, because the loading times sucked.  Skip ahead 25 years and loading times still suck just as much.  The difference is that were used to them.  But, I'm looking forward to getting rid of some of that.  I've been waiting for it for a long, long time. 

Hi everyone. New to the website, happy to be here. I've been a very long time fan, but this topic made me join. One thing I'd like to say, my 2 cents, for what it's worth, about the situation..... from an outsider looking in, the responses, and many threads, seam toxic.

Please, dont vilify me for what I'm saying. But, for the longest time, I think, just from what I've seen, that the Sony crowd are the most aggressive. If a xbox thread is made, or a Nintendo thread is made, there is ALWAYS several Sony fans that come in and trash them, no matter what it's about, its 100% of the time.

I'm not saying the others are without guilt, but honestly, they're nowhere near as bad. I dont want to stir anything here, so please, dont get upset with me. Im honestly just trying to give my opinion from what I've seen. I have been coming here everyday for years. I want to see this site flourish.

for me it was when they stopped doing software sales.

I was super regular here from 2006 (I lurked for a while) until 2010, then I used it casually to check software and such, and would get on pretty heavy from October thru the holidays.

The software data was the sites "killer app". I mean the database is awesome, but without new software data... it well... is also becoming worthless.

The fervor of brand loyalty and the console wars (eg. backing your preferred company) definitely peaked in the SNES and Genesis era.  In those days, it was basically heresy for a Sega kid to own an SNES.  I have no doubt that gaming has far more mainstream reach today but consoles are becoming like a commodity where they are almost clones of each other with the same games, basically timed exclusives being the big difference.  

VGChartz core concept lies in the idea of brand loyalty: it's what makes the debates on these threads so much fun.  It just amazes me that hardware sales is conceptually similar enough to what we had in the 90's to still have a site based around this idea.

You heard him mods, banning all sony fans will save the site.

I do wonder a little bit about the fact that this website says "Not Secure." I've never encountered another website that says the same. Does anyone think that is a deterrent from people feeling comfortable to post here? And how does VGC go about making the site "secure?"

Could you pm me some examples? Not because I don't believe that you feel that way but because it's pretty far from my experience. Granted, too many Xbox threads are dominated by negative comments (mostly because of how few Xbox fans we have on VGC).

Though in regards to PS and Nintendo related threads, I see time and time again that Nintendo threads are able to stay on topic with no one entering just to derail or downplay while I hardly ever see PS threads without Nintendo fans derailing/downplaing. Granted, it's only a few specific Nintendo fans. Listing them would get me banned but I can pm you with their names so you can observe what I mean.

"This place is getting deserted..."

Yeah I kind of noticed, place was way more bustling with activity and threads and stuff a couple years ago and I thought I wouldn't bring this point forth cause it's a bit embarrassing for the forum if you know what I mean. But since somebody else did, I guess it's kind of okay to talk about it.

So what can we do for this community and its protracted demise?

Hmm... Oh oh oh, I have an idea. It's not much though but please think of this as my small and humble contribution to the slow agony of this forum. How about some mod BANS the fuck out of my account? I mean PERMA-BAN of course? I'm not kidding, please perma-ban this account forthwith!

Having no propensity for necrophilia, I have no need to witness this forum's slow descent into morbid emptiness so I'll show myself to the door.

Just don't forget to perma-lock behind me okay guys? So I don't randomly make the mistake of checking back here a few months or a year down the line when all the dust has settled. You wouldn't want that anymore than I do.

Cheers

Reeeelaaax. I know it can be frustrating to be modded. Most times it's happened to me, I've been fine with it. The one time I wasn't, I explained my post to CGI, and he and the team overturned it. I DO get why I was modded, and how the mod missed my sarcasm and satire in a sea of vulgarity. I was probably lucky to have it overturned. :) If you feel like your last one was undeserved, send a PM to a mod. Just be a good boy, build up your credibility, and eventually you'll be close to bulletproof. Like me!

I'm pretty sure he was joking, but eitherway, I think people shouldn't care so much about being modded. If you're banned, so what? Just go to a different site or do something else altogether in the meantime... oh, that's probably what many people have done, and never came back lol. I suppose it's not just the banning itself but knowing you can be banned and how it affects you as you're writing your post. As someone who speaks plainly and tells it like it is, it can be annoying having to double check my post making sure it's not offensive, or atleast not blatantly so hehe. Even so I won't let fear of moderation keep me from speaking truthfully and honestly. I remember being banned a while back for calling someone a troll (outright, didn't bother dancing around it), and shortly after they were perma banned for trolling. If I'ma be banned for being me, so be it, better than to stay on the site but as a fake.