Is this forum slowly fading away? Especially the FS/TRADE forum?

[norseamd]

I'd like to know as well. One more place to avoid.

Would love that WYD.

 

[BUTCH1]

Xbone came out along with PS4, and everyone scoffed at the hardware that was maybe equivalent to a pretty-good PC in 2008.







Now everyone has Xbone or PS4. Thats why nobody buys PCs.

The usage of the PC for gaming has probably slowed but people didn't just all of a sudden stop using computers. as far as FS/FT it slowed down for the simple reason that as long as your not playing high-end games even a 6-7yr old rig is fine for everyday use, I'm still running an E8400@3.6 myself and I don't see the need to upgrade anytime soon.

 

[norseamd]

Actually I thought the use of PCs for video games has increased quite a lot in the last few years or so?

 

[Humpy]

So many old bastards reminiscing about the glorious forum of yore in this thread. Everyone thought MySpace was great back then too.

 

[mmntech]

PC modding still seems pretty popular though I agree it's not to the same degree as its heyday in the mid-2000s. Computers are now lasting longer until they need to be upgraded.

I have noticed less activity on this forum over the past year. You can practically hear a pin drop in Console Gaming. Even ATOT seems less active.

 

[JMapleton]

PC games are dying. People play consoles now. The PC build market was dominated by gamers wanting higher fps. Now people play candy crush on their phone and CoD on their PS4. PC Games are dead.

 

[norseamd]

Jesus fuck.

Do any of you guys actually read up on the video games industry?

The Open Gaming Alliance (OGA) has forecasted in a preview of its upcoming annual research report (via MCV) that PC gaming will continue to grow. PC gaming software is an expanding market worldwide, expected to increase from $26 billion in 2014 to $35 billion by 2018.

The report on the games industry, complied for the OGA by market research firm DFC Intelligence, will be released at the end of March and covers trends and forecasts for the PC gaming industry worldwide from 2014 through to 2018. The preview states that whilst the PC gaming software market will continue to expand, console and handheld markets will suffer a projected decline in value.

http://hexus.net/gaming/news/pc/81292-pc-games-software-market-exceed-35bn-2018-says-oga/

 

[JMapleton]

norse, that's funny. I literally do not know one single person who plays serious PC games. But literally everyone I know around my age (31) has multiple consoles.

Globally maybe they're expanding, but the PC game market is changing. Ever tried to buy a PC game at Target or some B/M store? The selection is terrible and they're largely ignored.

Yet entire isles are dedicated towards consoles.

I used to be big on Counter Strike in the early 2000s. Sometimes I even played for nearly 24 hours non stop. Now I only play CoD and BF on PS4.

 

[norseamd]

Globally maybe they're expanding, but the PC game market is changing. Ever tried to buy a PC game at Target or some B/M store? The selection is terrible and they're largely ignored.

Because most sales on the PC are digital now.

Analyst says digital sales made up 92 percent of PC game market in 2013 - PC Gamer

The Rise of PC Gaming: How Valve Conquered a Digital World

 

[OverVolt]

Thats a classic "Take current trend line and extrapolate" analysis. For now, PC gaming has seen alot of growth because of how desperate PS4 and XBONE gamers are for a game good enough to reunite the community. By 2019 I'm sure there will be one. The graphics at this point are "good enough" and it comes down to would you rather use a controller and sit on your sofa and everyone has a mic, or do you want to sit down at a desk. And sitting at a desk sucks.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Most forums seem to be less busy, mostly due to social media and other methods of communication. Computer/tech forums in general especially since most people are even getting rid of their machines altogether now and replacing it with a tablet or phone.

I run like 4 different forums, 2 are actually defunct due to being so out of date I had to take them offline, and the other 2 are specific purpose. I've been working on combining all 4 into one forum for simplicity, but I keep thinking how I'm probably wasting my time as I'll never end up with decent traffic no matter how hard I try. At one point one of my forums got like 100 posts per day, it was pretty awesome.

Will be interesting though once they're all combined with the old posts and stuff. Might get some old timers that show up again.

 

[MetalMat]

It's slowed down quite a bit imo but I think this has been going on with many forums over the past 5 years. Personally I don't come here as much anymore because I just don't have anymore interest in computer hardware & I go to reddit for more specific topics. I remember hot deals was bustling with activity 10 or so years ago. I still think these forums will be around for a while though. I still for the life of me can't get into twitter though, I have tried multiple times and it just seems like too much of a hassle.

 

[cubby1223]

I remember the days when you couldn't keep a for sale thread on the first page. Now, it just sits and sits. Is the forum falling apart or is the used PC market drying up? I hope neither as I get my upgrades from here and would hate to have to pay retail.

The used PC market has been dying for many years. I've been buying and selling parts since the early 90's on the RIME BBS. The need for used hardware is so miniscule, and prices for retail are so much cheaper.

Unless you have the latest & greatest gaming hardware, there is no value in selling used hardware on such a small scale on a forum. It's like, I have this cpu... retail is $40... there are 100 listings on ebay not being purchased at $20... Most used hardware I take in from local repair work, if I cannot use it to piece together a complete system capable of running Win7 smoothly, it all gets handed off to an electronic recycler. How much am I going to get for 100 sticks of 256mb ddr400 ram? Nothing. Who wants it? Nobody.

 

[meloz]

All PC hardware forums that I visit have far less activity these days than, say, a decade ago. Or even five years ago. Which might seem odd when you consider every year millions of people are discovering internet for the first time in their lives. I suppose most of the 'new traffic' goes to facebook, reddit and other websites like that.

Most PC/desktop forums I frequent are almost dead, just the same old group of people (er, like me) who keep visiting the forums because of habit.

There is no great interest in the younger generation about assembling PCs, discussing various components etc. Cannot blame them, it is difficult to get excited about 3% CPU performance gain every eighteen months. Overclocking is dead unless you are comfortable with >90 celcius temps and/or have an obscene budget for cooling.

These days the youngters are more likely to be interested in drones, making youtube videos (vlogging) and such. For the younger generation the PC and its consituent components are nothing to get excited about, it is a tool that they use to discover and fulfill other hobbies. This is a by-product of PC becoming a mature platform.

I would not be surprised if I were to learn that business like Newegg earn most of their revenue and profit from selling non-PC hardware these days. Good thing they diversified otherwise they might not exist right now.

Mobile gadgets are much more popular, but there are other dedicated forums and 'social media' to discuss that.

The market has split. On one hand there is the dumbed down, lowest common denominator crowd. They get their views (and sometimes even news) from opinion framing websites like Reddit. Then there are far more specialized forums/blogs/websites that focus solely on one hobby/gadget (eg, drones, or Android phones) and thus attract a more devoted, serious crowd.

Forums like Anandtech have become the muddlesome middle of the tech world. Bit of everything, and a whole lot of nothing.

 

[poofyhairguy]

OP we still have some epic arguments on the Mobile Devices forum. Android vs IOS is this decade's Intel vs AMD.

 

[pcslookout]

I never sell my old hardware I either keep it or throw it away.

Like cubby1223 said no one wants a 100 sticks of 256 mb of ddr400 ram.

 

[slugg]

I think part of it is the moderation. I'll probably get an infraction just for saying that, which supports my point.

 

[Paratus]

Yes this place has been almost dead since I got here in 04.

It's not foolin anyone.



(I feel happy! I feel happy)

 

[jlee]

PC games are dying. People play consoles now. The PC build market was dominated by gamers wanting higher fps. Now people play candy crush on their phone and CoD on their PS4. PC Games are dead.

lol no.

 

[Tim]

Man... you people are so off. You're entitled to your own opinion, but your not own set of facts. The PC game industry is not dying, dead, or in last place. It has been on an uptick, continues to rise, and is in fact doing better than consoles right now.

 

[Krazy4Real]

Banning too many of the good members killed this place a lot.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Man... you people are so off. You're entitled to your own opinion, but your not own set of facts. The PC game industry is not dying, dead, or in last place. It has been on an uptick, continues to rise, and is in fact doing better than consoles right now.

I haven't met anyone in RL that games on PC in a long time. Consoles are just easier for a quick gaming session.

 

[xeemzor]

Banning too many of the good members killed this place a lot.

Do you think that a ban list reset would bring back a lot of traffic to this forum?

 

[AznAnarchy99]

All PC hardware forums that I visit have far less activity these days than, say, a decade ago. Or even five years ago. Which might seem odd when you consider every year millions of people are discovering internet for the first time in their lives. I suppose most of the 'new traffic' goes to facebook, reddit and other websites like that.

Most PC/desktop forums I frequent are almost dead, just the same old group of people (er, like me) who keep visiting the forums because of habit.

There is no great interest in the younger generation about assembling PCs, discussing various components etc. Cannot blame them, it is difficult to get excited about 3% CPU performance gain every eighteen months. Overclocking is dead unless you are comfortable with >90 celcius temps and/or have an obscene budget for cooling.

These days the youngters are more likely to be interested in drones, making youtube videos (vlogging) and such. For the younger generation the PC and its consituent components are nothing to get excited about, it is a tool that they use to discover and fulfill other hobbies. This is a by-product of PC becoming a mature platform.

I would not be surprised if I were to learn that business like Newegg earn most of their revenue and profit from selling non-PC hardware these days. Good thing they diversified otherwise they might not exist right now.

Mobile gadgets are much more popular, but there are other dedicated forums and 'social media' to discuss that.

The market has split. On one hand there is the dumbed down, lowest common denominator crowd. They get their views (and sometimes even news) from opinion framing websites like Reddit. Then there are far more specialized forums/blogs/websites that focus solely on one hobby/gadget (eg, drones, or Android phones) and thus attract a more devoted, serious crowd.

Forums like Anandtech have become the muddlesome middle of the tech world. Bit of everything, and a whole lot of nothing.

I haven't had the need to upgrade my entire system since 2009. A few side upgrades here and there with an SSD and some memory but that's pretty much it.

 

[Krazy4Real]

Do you think that a ban list reset would bring back a lot of traffic to this forum?

I honestly think it would.