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#4364069 - 06/15/17 12:16 PM There once was a time...  
Joined: Sep 2002
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531 Ghost Offline
USMC
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Where SimHQ would be the place to be for E3 News and current events related. But alas, it seems those are days gone by.


Originally Posted by Abraham Lincoln
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.


#4364084 - 06/15/17 01:40 PM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
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Magnum Offline
Lifer
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Naples, Florida
I'm with you brother... even if you can't go... have a small team of people to post news and info, or sharing it from other sites would suffice... I'm afraid SimHQ as we knew and loved it is gone... oh well all good things must come to a end. I was actually going to post some stuff, but their 1 MB pic limit made it too much work. So I shared at Mudspikes. wink


Last edited by Magnum; 06/15/17 01:40 PM.
#4369708 - 07/18/17 01:48 AM Re: There once was a time... [Re: Magnum]  
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bisher Offline
I'll be your Huckleberry
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I'll be your Huckleberry
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Manitoba, Canada
Originally Posted by Magnum
.. I'm afraid SimHQ as we knew and loved it is gone...



I agree, too many quality members have left

#4369755 - 07/18/17 11:07 AM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
Miami, FL USA
All websites have some of their long time members leave after a while but what worries me is the lack of new people.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4369764 - 07/18/17 12:43 PM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
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Chucky Offline
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Chucky  Offline
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Indeed Panzer,you are correct. Although I don't frequent all of SimHQ I do tend to try to work through all the new posts and it's very rare I come across a new 'introduction' post. I think the most we get is in the DCS section which as we all know can get quite lively down there smile

Is it just a decline in people that are interested in flight sims or something else? Did we lose members when the racing section departed? I never go there,how active is it?

More importantly,is there anything that could be done to improve the situation?


EV's are the Devils matchbox.
#4369766 - 07/18/17 01:05 PM Re: There once was a time... [Re: Chucky]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
Miami, FL USA
Originally Posted by Chucky


Is it just a decline in people that are interested in flight sims or something else? Did we lose members when the racing section departed? I never go there,how active is it?




That's a good question. Several long time members did indeed leave after the website changed ownership but I think overall the number of people who post stuff on message boards is declining while the number of people who post stuff on social media is increasing exponentially. Essentially, people are abandoning the traditional message boards/forums and going to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4369804 - 07/18/17 04:32 PM Re: There once was a time... [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 26,556
wheelsup_cavu Offline
Lifer
wheelsup_cavu  Offline
Lifer

Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 26,556
Corona, California
Originally Posted by PanzerMeyer
Originally Posted by Chucky
Is it just a decline in people that are interested in flight sims or something else? Did we lose members when the racing section departed? I never go there,how active is it?

That's a good question. Several long time members did indeed leave after the website changed ownership but I think overall the number of people who post stuff on message boards is declining while the number of people who post stuff on social media is increasing exponentially. Essentially, people are abandoning the traditional message boards/forums and going to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Yep, it's just us dinosaurs left.
Imo PhotoBucket's change in their ToS is another casualty of this migration from forums to other social media platforms.


Alexa Rankings for both SimHQ sites.
SimHQ: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/simhq.com
SimHQ Motorsports http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/simhqmotorsports.com

SimHQ is trending downward for the most part and SimHQ Motorsports does not have enough traffic to be trended.


Wheels


Cheers wave
Wheelsup_cavu

Mission4Today (Campaigns, Missions, and Skins for IL-2)
Planes of Fame Air Museum | March Field Air Museum | Palm Springs Air Museum
#4369840 - 07/18/17 06:04 PM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
Miami, FL USA
Thanks for posting those Alexa links. There's some fascinating stuff in there.

I've also noticed that traffic at IMDB took a hit after the message boards were discontinued.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4369965 - 07/19/17 11:28 AM Re: There once was a time... [Re: dcredence]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
Miami, FL USA
Originally Posted by dcredence
There are two main reasons for the decline of SimHQ:

(1) PWEC. It's the most popular area of SimHQ currently and because of that you lose a good set of people who would otherwise join/stay/contribute. You can't mix politics and flight sims - it doesn't work, never worked and was a mistake by guod to allow it. Internet politics where seniors are alt-right radicalized using warmed-over infowars/dailycaller headlines is fine by itself (it's a free country etc), but it's just too polarizing to think you'd attract new flight sim fans where that's the most popular new content.




This makes no sense. No one is forced to go to PWEC and post there and it's not like posts made in PWEC are transferred over to Community Hall or any other forum. So in other words, if someone hates politics and doesn't want to discuss it on SimHQ, they can very easily avoid it by simply not going to PWEC. I also find it amusing how you try to conceal your obvious political bias.


Oh, and if you go purely by post count, Community Hall is significantly busier than PWEC so you may want to do your research first before posting a claim like that.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4370154 - 07/20/17 10:29 AM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 5,555
VF9_Longbow Offline
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Tokyo, Japan
I agree with dcredence's assessment.

It's not an easy pill to swallow but the statistics show it to be true. PWEC was a bad idea to reopen here, however interesting it may be. SimHQ has turned into a veritable old boys club for people who like the Republican Party. I think that has turned off a lot of members who are left wing or center or just apolitical.

More after action reports etc. would probably start getting more traffic here. It is very effective. I recently bought DayZ after years on the fence, simply because someone posted up their "Jenny Wing" AAR.

#4370159 - 07/20/17 10:53 AM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
Miami, FL USA
Again, no political discussion is allowed on any forums outside of PWEC so it is easily avoidable for members who don't want politics.


Now, if you are saying some members left the site because it upsets them that the majority of members of SimHQ are right leaning then that's their problem. Tough.

Last edited by PanzerMeyer; 07/20/17 10:53 AM.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4370168 - 07/20/17 11:52 AM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
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VF9_Longbow Offline
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It may be tough but it has also resulted in the shrinking of this forum. Nobody still using this forum benefits from an "Us vs Them" mentality as there are plenty, PLENTY of other choices to choose from.

#4370170 - 07/20/17 12:16 PM Re: There once was a time... [Re: VF9_Longbow]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
Miami, FL USA
Originally Posted by VF9_Longbow
It may be tough but it has also resulted in the shrinking of this forum. Nobody still using this forum benefits from an "Us vs Them" mentality as there are plenty, PLENTY of other choices to choose from.



I'm sure those people will find PLENTY of European based simulation sites where the majority of the members are left-leaning so they'll feel right at home.

IMHO, if someone quits visiting a message board simply because the majority of people there don't mesh with their own personal politics then that is a sign of immaturity.

Last edited by PanzerMeyer; 07/20/17 12:18 PM.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4370210 - 07/20/17 04:39 PM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
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Tokyo, Japan
I think the issue is that the moderation and writing staff has gravitated towards the right wing which has alienated a lot of members, not only from Europe. I can imagine they feel smothered.

I think SimHQ could do with a big facelift and should be looking for new writers who can put out a lot of high quality content using the sims people are playing a lot these days.

The recent release of Cold Waters was a huge opportunity to grab the Naval sim crowd but the Naval forum is nearly empty, and even in there, it's full of politics and personal battles.

#4370218 - 07/20/17 05:11 PM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 11,273
531 Ghost Offline
USMC
531 Ghost  Offline
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Elizabeth City NC
Back when I was a Moderator here, it was a requirement to write no less than one article per quarter. If we did not write an article, stay on top of our fourms assigned, participate in forum discussions... we were no longer kept on as Moderators. As for my situation, I quit being a Moderator. Not because I couldn't handle being a Moderator, but, at the time (after SimHQ changed hands) there was far less content worthy of the SimHQ quality formally seen being produced. Things had changed in article format and the "approval" of said article. I was doing what I could to keep abreast of all things sim related as well controllers... Not all that easy to say the least. I don't play in the PWEC (typically), as PM implies, if you're not into that crap, stay outa the swamp. Me, I voted for the current SECDEF. wink


Originally Posted by Abraham Lincoln
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.


#4371065 - 07/26/17 04:25 PM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 693
Pugio Offline
Member
Pugio  Offline
Member

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Posts: 693
Deep in the Leng Plateau
A few comments:

I've been visiting SimHQ since the late 1990's--not posting too much though.

Back then, the forums were filled with crazy but fun to read people. Now not so much.

The forums were also a go to place for PC hardware news, flight sim news and discussion, and even the site front page was pretty good for getting some info.

Now I only give a quick visit to Community Hall and the flight-controller sub-forum--the latter of which is mostly dead. Community Hall rarely has threads that interest me to even read. No offence, but its an old man's forum in there now.

Since the early 2000's there have just been a constant increase in websites that are just more lively, and frankly, better at providing information than what I used to come to SimHQ for. There has also been a dwindling in the variety of sims and sim related product (flight sims at least which I think made the core of the site in the past). Nothing really new to discuss. Plus the developers host sites that are far better for people to visit who are actually interested in a particular sim (i.e. IL-2 BOS, BOM series, ATAG, DCS home forums). What ends up here is just rehashed news from those sites with no discussion--it occurs at the site of origin.

I am not sure I buy the politics induced theory of SimHQ decline. It is easy enough to ignore. I simply point to other sites out-competing this one in terms of content that attracts membership.

#4371070 - 07/26/17 04:56 PM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
Miami, FL USA
Good post Pugio.


Yes, the fundamental core problem is that the site is simply not attracting new blood. Like you mentioned, it is mostly due to a combination of the reduced overall interest in flight sims and the fact that the developer specific websites usually offer better discussion and information.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4372212 - 08/02/17 01:49 AM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
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Pooch Offline
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"Back then, the forums were filled with crazy but fun to read people. Now not so much."

Remember Ming? One of my favorites.
I can't speculate as to why traffic has slowed down, here. I only know that, for myself, I stopped coming because I stopped simming. And yeah...it has gotten a little less fun.


"From our orbital vantage point, we observe an earth without borders, full of peace, beauty and magnificence, and we pray that humanity as a whole can imagine a borderless world as we see it, and strive to live as one in peace."
Astronaut William C. McCool RIP, January 29, 2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia

#4372246 - 08/02/17 11:42 AM Re: There once was a time... [Re: Pooch]  
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
PanzerMeyer Online centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer  Online Centaurian
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster

Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,383
Miami, FL USA
Originally Posted by Pooch
I only know that, for myself, I stopped coming because I stopped simming. .



What's interesting is that quite a few people who still post frequently on SimHQ have also largely stopped playing flight sims. I still fly them but I hardly ever visit flight sim specific forums simply because I have no questions to ask.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4372319 - 08/02/17 05:32 PM Re: There once was a time... [Re: 531 Ghost]  
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Pooch Offline
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Yeah, I've started coming back again but I find myself up in the general conversation area most of the time.


"From our orbital vantage point, we observe an earth without borders, full of peace, beauty and magnificence, and we pray that humanity as a whole can imagine a borderless world as we see it, and strive to live as one in peace."
Astronaut William C. McCool RIP, January 29, 2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia

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