Forums

In the past, I talked about how I was first introduced to the pixel art universe on a forum. I was introduced to that forum because of another forum. I love forums- first of all, it's a place to meet people with similar interests as you (it's like a bar, except without all the attractive females). Furthermore, if you make a post or a new thread, it's likely to be seen by a lot of eyes (unlike a blog, where if you post a comment, it's second fiddle the post itself). Also, like a Wiki, it's an archive of information; don't know how to do something in Photoshop? Before you make a post, do a little search, and it's possible that you won't even need to wait for a response.

Something you definitely didn't know- Abscure itself started off as a forum. And yes, that was really stupid. But here's the thing- I didn't know how to make a website! It was just the best option available to me. I used the forum to build up "hype" for a crappy FPS I was making with FPS Creator. I advertised the crap out of the forum, and in like half of a year I got less members than I have gotten Twitter followers in like a month. Point is, it didn't work out. So forums aren't perfect for everything. On the other hand...

With Stencyl, the forum was an absolute necessity for me to learn. Yes, I know it's supposed to be easy, and maybe I'm just stupid, but I did need all of the help I could possibly get for the simplest of tasks. But the community there is awesome. Have a question? There's a place to ask. Have a suggestion? It's likely that your suggestion will be seen and maybe even taken into consideration. Have a work in progress? Post it away and get feedback. Have a finished game? Hell yeah! Post it.

In the end, I spend a huge chunk of my time on forums, in terms of my Internet usage. I've never been a fan of chat rooms (eww) and I'm definitely not a Skype guy. I like Facebook and I like Twitter, but for different reasons than for forums. I like blogs, and I like blogging, but there's a different kind of community when it comes to forums. We need all of the different types of social networks we can get, and some of my favorite communities are forums.