People don't read anymore...?

[Valkybix]

Back in the EQ1 days, I had my main character on Morell-Thule.
The Morell-Thule forum, a single server board, had more posts each day than eq2flames combined.
I've been wondering why that was the case.

Is it that people used to read more? (cliche, I know)
Is it that people used to be more interested in their server forum?
Or is it simply that so few people even get the idea to visit EQ2 forums?

Just curious...

[Niber]

Personally I haven't visited the official server forums in over a year. After a few of my threads were deleted I no longer felt like it was a haven for anything except off-topic spam.

That said, it's hard to compare EQ1 (in its prime) to EQ2 now, the subscription numbers aren't close. The official WoW forums are slammed with meaningless posts but it's not because they read, it's a direct reflection of the population.

[LFG]

The private flame boards in EQ were half the game for many people, including myself. They were immensely popular. That's what I've attempted to recreate here, but with my own flavoring.

I think the issue is that less and less people enjoy reading and have learned to type anymore. I noticed this alot when I was deaf, before I got my hearing restored. In EQ, before Ventrilo, everyone just communicated by typing. With TS and Vent, a great number of people I was guilded with never, ever typed anything in guild chat or a public channel.

I think that people who don't know how to type by touch just don't use message boards or channels, it is too much work for them. Also, many of these same people probably never learned to enjoy reading in the way you form pictures in your mind as you read, which is what happens when you learn to read when you're young, but not so much when you're older.

I type 120 WPM, as fast as I can think, and I even prefer this form of communication to talking.

[Johnathon]

Bah, i must suck then, i'm stuck at 40-60 WPM and type about a quarter as fast as i think.

Oh well, at least i type like I speak. Yes, incoherently, and babble a lot.

LOL

[Laodaron]

Originally Posted by Valkybix

Back in the EQ1 days, I had my main character on Morell-Thule.
The Morell-Thule forum, a single server board, had more posts each day than eq2flames combined.
I've been wondering why that was the case.

Is it that people used to read more? (cliche, I know)
Is it that people used to be more interested in their server forum?
Or is it simply that so few people even get the idea to visit EQ2 forums?

Just curious...

Char name? I was Doby/Marll on MT since around launch. What guild? PM me rather than carry on this thread.

[Kahna]

Ah the lost art of reading!

I'm glad that children these days at least have some decent novels that they WANT to read and visualize, most popular among them the Harry Potter series.

Hell, I'm a book vacuum. My friends and co-workers think I'm crazy when I tell them, "Yeah I read that 800 page book in a few days, no sweat" and people often mistake me on forums, blogs or other means of online discussion as being older than I actually am because of the way I type. It's really fun sometimes to mess with lazy retards, but every time I do I pity the human race. We're fucked!

I'm about 120WPM too and type as fast as I can think, make errors like everyone else, go back and do a quick proof-read and post. Damn backup keyboard is really compact, it's slowing me down like mad, can't wait till I get my old one replaced. Gotta say though, that FireFox is making me lazy with auto spell check. /shake fist

Used to be in a HaloPC clan where the clan leader and veteran members were HIGHLY strict about spelling / grammar etc. Was absolutely funny to see people get turned down due to their crappy applications or nagged on our boards (private forums) until they fixed their posts. Curbed A LOT of leet speakers and we actually had this one sixteen year old kid who had a note mailed to his parents about marked improvement in English class. Funny world eh?

Lao SUCKS!

[Laodaron]

Originally Posted by Kahna

Ah the lost art of reading!

I'm glad that children these days at least have some decent novels that they WANT to read and visualize, most popular among them the Harry Potter series.

Hell, I'm a book vacuum. My friends and co-workers think I'm crazy when I tell them, "Yeah I read that 800 page book in a few days, no sweat"

Lao SUCKS!

I read all of Harry Potter in 6 days. From page 1 of Sorceror's Stone till last page of Deathly Hallows. Its a literary work of art, and I'm ashamed I was 26 in order to find that out. I bug all of my friends, because generally (without homework or work or my son being awake) would rather read than anything else. Women don't get it, and they generally attempt to mock me in broken English. I don't mind.

And damn Kahna, that's rough. /sadface

[Hexus]

Yeah, I understand the sentiment here. It's so easy to see people who can't spell simple words or put together a sentence. Sometimes I'm known to run on or over use commas but most of the time my posts are well thought out and easily read. I harken back to the days of Text Based MUDS, I played on Realms of the Dragon and even coded some of the old MUD stuff and placed items and etc. I've had a love of reading since the Mouse and the Motorcycle in 3rd grade. I type about 90-110 CWPM and type much faster than I usually think or even speak, sometimes I'll catch myself typing thoughts on my knee or something without even having a keyboard. Any time I'm checking out a keyboard at Best Buy or Circuit City, I type about 5-10 sentences on the keyboard to really get a feel for it to see if it's something I'm going to like. I believe the current majority are younger people who learned to type just enough to get by, or you have the young text message crowd who over-uses acronym's and even create their own on a whim whenever the situation or their need permits. I average about 5 books a month because I work so much and game the rest of the time, but I always take time to read, and my wife is a voracious reader as well even though I don't care much for the romance crap that is the mainstay of here literary fare. It's too easy to call out a lot of people on their spelling and their horrible grammar in their posts, and most even consider it a cop-out at this point. Sad really when you think about it....

Just my thoughts..

-Hexus-

[Prof]

I type slow (about 45wpm), and only use 2-3 fingers on each hand as I go, but on to the point. It's been my experience that when a game is good you spend the majority of your time playing it, while when a game is bad you spend the majority of your time complaining about it on forums. SWG is a perfect example. Those boards flew by, especially as the NGE came and went, as the game blew chunks by then. Then look at EQ2 which much more fun at this point and the boards stagnate when people are not at work.
The OP mentioned server forums specifically, and on top of the draw to te forums from lack of game play, they see more traffic based on player made events and the like. If people are setting up and running events constantly, your server forums are gonna be busy. If you're on a boring server, they'll hardly crawl.

So that's how I see it. Not as a matter of poor typing skills, or lack of interest in reading, but as a function of in-game entertainment value. (and frankly, with all the questing I have left to do in order to hit 80... I may just start posting more over the next week)

[Illuminator]

Originally Posted by LFG

I type 120 WPM, as fast as I can think, and I even prefer this form of communication to talking.

On QWERTY keyboard layout?