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Post by HermioneSims on Sept 1, 2024 8:13:04 GMT
Hello everyone. I thought to open this thread after scrolling the official EA forum, and noticing yet another unofficial forum being opened out of frustration for the new platform ( link). So that the situation is getting a bit chaotic in this regard, I think it would be useful to have a place where to list together the alternative forums (& co) to the official board being opened and discuss about them. In case you don't agree with the thread SnuffyBucket MonaSolstraale , feel free to modify what I wrote, move or delete the thread or whatever you prefer to. Passing to the list, up to now the new forums I'm aware of are: Older and still (more or less) active forums: Do you know about any others? Any thoughts on the topic?
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Post by MonaSolstraale on Sept 1, 2024 9:10:52 GMT
HermioneSims I welcome the idea of a thread where we can each share links to homepages and forums we can recommend. It doesn't have to be limited to other forums. (Right now I'm missing other examples) I'm definitely a fan of Blue Moon, although I'm not particularly dark or occult. I would definitely recommend. I saw @chicklet453681 has created a forum a few days ago. I have a general concern that right now we are being split into even more units. It's probably something about my personality that I'll have to work on, because I can't prevent it 🤔 I can see why you describe Sim Creative as a creative forum when you look at the name and its origins. It has arisen because we were a small group from EA's creative thread who wrote together about our frustrations. However, the idea is not that it should only deal with creative topics. I have tried to post clues to Sim Creative in several places on EA's site. I will say it often makes me feel like an annoying little garden gnome spreading seeds to people who haven't asked for them 😅
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Post by pacer1965 on Sept 1, 2024 9:58:12 GMT
I did noticed chicklet has made a forum and it's looks really well made. Blue Moon looks well made as well. I did not join it as I don't play occults much. And the reason I joined this forum is because I love reading the stories. I don't write them. I was just going to lurk and not say much. You'll have to put me on silent if I talk to much...LOL
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Post by MonaSolstraale on Sept 1, 2024 10:25:17 GMT
Hi pacer1965 I don't think you talk too much. It's great to have some input and comments. It gives life to the forum 😊
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Post by GlacierSnow on Sept 1, 2024 12:40:29 GMT
pacer1965 Please talk all you want! I know how you feel. I tend to be a lurker too. But for this forum to feel inviting to newcomers, we need activity and conversations happening here. I love seeing all the new posts and pictures from everyone who has been jumping in. I kind of feel bad at the moment because I have been so busy and haven't posted or interacted much here lately. But I really like this forum and I'm excited to see so many old familiar faces showing up. HermioneSims I think it's a great idea to have a thread where we can link to all the other sims forums that are popping up. I didn't even know about the one by chicklet453681, though I've taken a look at cyncie's Once in a Blue Moon site. I think different simmers will likely gravitate toward different sites, because different things appeal to different people, and it will be good to have a way to keep track of the possibilities. MonaSolstraale I also feel sad that we are fragmenting into different groups. It was one of my concerns when the forum change was announced in the first place. But, having options is nice too. I think people will eventually find their way to whichever forum suits them best. And there's no reason to not be active on multiple forums. Having a thread like this one should help us know about the other places simmers we know might be hanging out.
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Post by kelloggjkellogg on Sept 1, 2024 13:35:29 GMT
I notice more and more people are finding and joining this forum, which is great. I think there's a core of dedicated players and writers here who will make this particular forum succeed. Once In A Blue Moon forum seems niche, catering for one aspect of SimLit and creative Simming, which is fine. There are also Sim Discord groups catering for specific styles of Sim play such as Sims Of History or Sims Media, which is about making videos using the Sims. This is a new site and it's doing well so far so I have no doubt this will become the main forum for creative Sims. More and more writers are joining but perhaps now we need more representation from the CC and Lookbook side of things.
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Post by AncientMuse on Sept 1, 2024 13:54:11 GMT
This thread is a great idea. There's going to be a lot of simmer refugees from the old forum looking for a more suitable place to have ongoing discussions and stories that the new EA Forum just can't provide. I was unaware that chicklet made a forum too. And I only discovered this forum and cyncie's Blue Moon forum by accident just because I clicked on 'show more' on one of the EA forum feedback threads and found your posts nested/hidden where you made posts linking these two forums. Otherwise I never would have known about them either. As for other currently active Sims forums that I'm aware of: There's an active forum over at the Mod The Sims website (I've been a member on that site for 15+ years), but I wouldn't advise anyone to jump onto that forum unless you enjoy batting off the people who will instantly pounce on you should you dare to say anything nice about the Sims 4 game. That forum is full of EA & Sims 4 haters.... it's more geared towards people who still enjoy playing the Sims 2 and 3 games (plenty of great discussions on those topics). There's also Carl's Sims forums, Carl and Pam's The Sims Community forum. It's currently active and has been around for years, so you'll find plenty of discussions about troubleshooting, mods, game updates, etc. Lots of reading to enjoy if you prefer to just quietly lurk and read lots of stuff in the background. Hopefully, someday in the near future, the majority of us will settle into one or two forums that we can call home once again. It's a real shame that EA chose to clump all of its games under a one-size-fits-all 'Q&A Tech Board' format, instead of recognizing the unique simming community for what it is. From EA's perspective it makes sense (easier moderating and keeping track of bugs/issues), but from a Sims gamers' perspective, not so much. We're not like most other gaming communities because the game we play is not like most other games out there. Our game is a sandbox story-telling type of game with self-created characters and families we play for months/years and hold dear to our hearts.... And you can't discuss those things in some quick little 'post and ghost' Reddit-style board format. I'm grateful for the folks creating these new forums and trying to give us all a new home to gather at. You guys all get a big fat "thank you" from me!
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Post by luciusstorm on Sept 1, 2024 13:56:56 GMT
Cool, thanks for this. Still, while I can divide my attention between here and the EA forum (for now), I'm not sure I can divide my attention further. I like it here.
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Post by queenofmyownfantasy on Sept 1, 2024 14:03:41 GMT
I have also thought about posting more on MTS ( I... am... a TS4 hater) but it is quite dead? Nothing gets posted for weeks on end in the story section- dead, and idk if I need to be the one to bring it back to life. I would adore places with lots of TS3 content though, but oh well... Its old after all ( and i still have barely touched half of it. Too much to do )
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Post by HermioneSims on Sept 1, 2024 14:17:42 GMT
Thanks you all for commenting. My main concern about the situation is the risk for fragmentation as well, as mentioned above a few times. Probably I'm of this opinion because I come from a very small Sims community (the one in Italian language), where back in the golden days of forums a ton of flourishing options were available, and now just a handful of sims forum with a number of active users in the order of 5 are struggling to remain open. Forums aren't very popular anymore, and I think that even in the international community (i.e. in the English speaking one) the fraction of simmers who prefers forums isn't large enough to be able to afford to fragment too much over multiple sites. On the other hand,now that users-made forums like this one are basically needed (given the disaster the new official ones are), I think that the idea of forums focusing on a small topic (like in this forum, which mostly focuses on the creative corner) is a great idea. It's definitively easier to handle for admins and mods (who, in free forums are basically volunteering for the sake of the community. By the way, thanks again for that!), and also makes it easier for users to evaluate if it's the place for them or not. Hanging over different and complementary forums is also quite easy, in particular as long as all the new forums run on the same platform as it seems to be happening now (which means we don't have to learn how to post a reply again each time!) Above all, now that the general sims forums community is already fragmented among those who try to stick to the official forums, those who left, and those who will move (at least part of) their activity on other custom forums, I think it would be smart to avoid duplicates. Two or more forums aiming to the same audience would mean double work for admins & mods, and possibly a worst users experience (because the activity and users would be split among all the forums). In short, I don't think that would be ideal. This post was mostly some brain storming on my side, reading it again I'm not sure it's particularly understandable. Anyway, I think I'll keep and post it anyway. I also think I had enough serious thoughts for today, it's time for some funnier stuff. Bye!
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Post by AncientMuse on Sept 1, 2024 14:20:59 GMT
I have also thought about posting more on MTS ( I... am... a TS4 hater) but it is quite dead? Nothing gets posted for weeks on end in the story section- dead, and idk if I need to be the one to bring it back to life. I would adore places with lots of TS3 content though, but oh well... Its old after all ( and i still have barely touched half of it. Too much to do ) Yes, it looks like the MTS forum has died off these past few years... but maybe it will pick back up again now that people are giving up on the new EA forum and flocking elsewhere?
Nothing wrong with being a Sims 4 hater (I'm not a big lover of it myself these days due to the nightmare of neverending bugs/glitches)... it's just that the haters over at MTS, specifically, have turned their hatred into a favourite hobby on the forums, which makes it not-so-welcoming for anyone who wants to just simply enjoy having random discussions about their Sims 4 game.
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Post by HermioneSims on Sept 1, 2024 14:22:35 GMT
As for other currently active Sims forums that I'm aware of: There's an active forum over at the Mod The Sims website (I've been a member on that site for 15+ years), but I wouldn't advise anyone to jump onto that forum unless you enjoy batting off the people who will instantly pounce on you should you dare to say anything nice about the Sims 4 game. That forum is full of EA & Sims 4 haters.... it's more geared towards people who still enjoy playing the Sims 2 and 3 games (plenty of great discussions on those topics). There's also Carl's Sims forums, Carl and Pam's The Sims Community forum. It's currently active and has been around for years, so you'll find plenty of discussions about troubleshooting, mods, game updates, etc. Lots of reading to enjoy if you prefer to just quietly lurk and read lots of stuff in the background.
Thanks, I added these link to the first post!
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Post by ellupelluellu on Sept 1, 2024 14:30:11 GMT
Hate is so strong word, I try to avoid it, but each on their own , of course There is enough hate in this world, MTS's sims4 section is best example (coming from there, from ts2 community originally myself) But gladly there is some love left still. As long as everyone keep their hate to themselves and do not judge others , all is cool. As many opinions as people. About forums, variety is good , something for everyone... I suppose. Still sad we all are now broken to many places. Time will tell. I personally do not plan to be at many places, enough of remembering all now Or I'm just stubborn. Might be
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Post by queenofmyownfantasy on Sept 1, 2024 14:35:39 GMT
I have also thought about posting more on MTS ( I... am... a TS4 hater) but it is quite dead? Nothing gets posted for weeks on end in the story section- dead, and idk if I need to be the one to bring it back to life. I would adore places with lots of TS3 content though, but oh well... Its old after all ( and i still have barely touched half of it. Too much to do ) Yes, it looks like the MTS forum has died off these past few years... but maybe it will pick back up again now that people are giving up on the new EA forum and flocking elsewhere?
Nothing wrong with being a Sims 4 hater (I'm not a big lover of it myself these days due to the nightmare of neverending bugs/glitches)... it's just that the haters over at MTS, specifically, have turned their hatred into a favourite hobby on the forums, which makes it not-so-welcoming for anyone who wants to just simply enjoy having random discussions about their Sims 4 game.
(Hater was indeed a strong word, but let's just say I will never bother to play it)
I've started posting in the "casual" topics over on MTS, like the low-effort "share random gameplay pics!" topics - it does have a pretty good lay out so It would be lovely if it can be a bit livelier again. I love the structure of forums and am really hoping any of them can succeed - I am also on discord, tumblr & reddit, but it's just different. Doesn't lean itself towards in-depth discussion & storytelling.
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Post by luciusstorm on Sept 1, 2024 14:40:33 GMT
queenofmyownfantasy, re. liking or disliking different Sims games, to each their own, I say. There is room enough in the big crazy world for everyone, as long as we're nice to each other. Yet another important lesson I learned from hanging out with... odd people - 'don't yuck on someone else's yum' ellupelluellu, I agree, variety is good. It is sad to see the big community of the old forums end... but every ending is a beginning. We'll see what comes out of this one.
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