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Inspired by the glorious song I ask this question to Gamesbids:

What's going on? It seems as though the board is dying, and I know these things happen, I just lowkey don't want it to die/confused as to why it's dying. Any theories?

My theory is below:

20 years ago Atlanta hosted the Centennial Olympic Games; in the following 20 years only three games have been celebrated outside of the west. And until 2024, the next three games will all be celebrated in Asia. While this is certainly positive for the games mission to be a truly global event, it is detrimental for our board. I believe our board thrived in the mid-aughts to early-teens because the majority of the games from 2002-2012 were all held in countries/regions that the majority of us were familiar with and that foster the kind of online engagement of this forum. With the decline of western hosts I believe that so too has interest in this forum; because no one in the nations drawn to this forum is going to be near or close a place hosting the games till at least 2024. 

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Pretty much nailed it...00, 02, 04, 10 and 12 all in easy to understand countries that relate to what is a heavily leaning Anglo/Euro site.

Also the Olympic movement stinks at the moment...and the largest sports bodies are also going through similar scandals.

Above all...We have got older. And less enthusiastic. 

Kind of makes you want LA to win 2024 huh?

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Take your pick, there's any number of reasons. Probably all contribute.

* Yeah, we haven't had many bids of late that have engaged our usual core membership of Nth America-Western Europe-Australasia. And in a year where for the GBMods top ten stories list I'd be struggling to find anything more eventful than an already rank-outsider Rome falling by the wayside, it's hardly been a vintage year for bid news or anticipation. That said, LA versus Paris SHOULD be a big traffic generator (it would've been even juicer, as many have lamented, if Toronto had joined the race as well). But even then, while the battle of those two is generating some colourful exchanges, it's still nothing like the battles of past bid campaigns. Which brings me to...

* Ennui. Just a lot of the old stalwarts aren't as engaged. I guess many of us are getting on with other aspects of our lives. Or we've all sort of become disengaged from the same old arguments. Speaking for myself, it's certainly a little bit of both - so many discussions are the same I've had before over and over in the past 10 years - I really don't want to cut and paste opinions I've expressed many times before. And, yeah, life gets in the way. That's where new blood should be coming in. But...

40 minutes ago, intoronto said:

Also you cannot have a discussion here because a fight will break out immediately -_-

* I don't think it's very welcoming here any more of newbies. Most tend to get blasted straight away for any blue-sky wonderings or straying from the accepted bidding orthodoxies. Time was, when I first came, people would always be starting threads imagining whether places like Dublin or wherever. The days, if anyone tried it, they'd get blasted for daring to suggest the unthinkable. And I've probably been as guilty of that (Tulsa, Minneapolis?) as anyone.There used to be a lot more friendly banter, and acceptance of unrealistic daydreaming and such. And then of course...

44 minutes ago, intoronto said:

Then you have idi*ts keeping the board hostage by posting crap (everyone knows the troll I am referring too). Who wants to come and read that ??

* The whole Tony saga was a big warning. I still think at the time it was a symptom of the board cabin-rage than a cause, and it's funny now that he'd probably be thought of more fondly than he once was, but it gave rise to the ludicrous antics of the likes of Blake. Yeah, we've had trolls before on the board - but they were a phenomena unto themselves usually and could give it as well as take it. These days, you get Blake, who specialises in annoying everyone by posting the moronic, but staying as innocuous as possible so as not to step over terms of service lines. The place probably does need a bit better moderating (I know I'm a mod, but my power only extends to commercial spam - I've only transgressed that myself at my own risk). But then again, I'd be wary of too officious moderating as well.

One last thing - I don't think the most recent board update helped at all. Some features are a bit too clunky now. And we've lost some good old features, but not had them replace by features that add very much. My big beef is the status updates - we have them, but they're not displayed, so they're useless. Makes it that much harder for me to try and get word out this year about the logo comps, for example. So now I have to resort to spamming Blake's spam to publicise it.

Speaking of which - yeah, I am trying to get some spark going again with another logo comp. And a simple poll and knockout format comp of past logo winners. It'd be a pity of the comps just withered away in a whimper. This may well be the last logo comp/s I do. It doesn't take much effort just to vote in a poll or comment on someone's submission. You can't complain about the board fading away when you're too unengaged to even click an option in an online poll! If the comps are having their last hurrah this year, let's try and ring them out with a bang!

GamesBids Olympic Logo Winners Cup - Pools A & B

GamesBids Olympic Logo Winners Cup - Pools C & D

10th Annual GamesBids Olympic Logo Design Comp

diet_set_tib.jpg

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The 2012 race was when I joined (ignore my join date, this is my second account) and from 2003-12 it was quite busy. The build ups to Vancouver and London were the biggest reasons for this, with a lot of English speaking Canadians and other Brits constantly updating threads. Beijing was such a huge deal even without many local updates.

Rio wasn't too bad for locals updating us, but Sochi, PC and Tokyo (phandrosis aside) haven't given us the tides of new members we're used to seeing with winning hosts.

Actually, the LA24 thread is still pretty busy and so is the Paris 2024 thread. Any city in an English speaking country or any big European city still generates interest. But both are boringly offering Olympics with everything already built so we don't have loads of shiny new renders to argue over.

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8 hours ago, Rob. said:

The 2012 race was when I joined (ignore my join date, this is my second account) and from 2003-12 it was quite busy. The build ups to Vancouver and London were the biggest reasons for this, with a lot of English speaking Canadians and other Brits constantly updating threads. Beijing was such a huge deal even without many local updates.

Rio wasn't too bad for locals updating us, but Sochi, PC and Tokyo (phandrosis aside) haven't given us the tides of new members we're used to seeing with winning hosts.

Actually, the LA24 thread is still pretty busy and so is the Paris 2024 thread. Any city in an English speaking country or any big European city still generates interest. But both are boringly offering Olympics with everything already built so we don't have loads of shiny new renders to argue over.

There have been some other new members whose activity is related to Tokyo and PC, but most of them (a very notable exception being Palette86) just post ocasional information, rather than joining in the general hurly-burly.

Incidentally, I see the Tokyo stadium thread on SSC, started in January 2012, is only 21 pages so far, although that may change dramatically as proper construction photos emerge.

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1 hour ago, JMarkSnow2012 said:

There have been some other new members whose activity is related to Tokyo and PC, but most of them (a very notable exception being Palette86) just post ocasional information, rather than joining in the general hurly-burly.

Incidentally, I see the Tokyo stadium thread on SSC, started in January 2012, is only 21 pages so far, although that may change dramatically as proper construction photos emerge.

We'll always have the info pic posters, bless 'em. Not really my main attraction - I'm here for the hurly-burly and some fun rather than checking if a girder on a construction site has moved in the past 24 hours, whether the fireworks look different from a new angle or long lost footage of the closing ceremony of a 1974 regional youth games - but it's still a great site for gathering troves of information and media of Olympic projects old and new.

Here's a thought, though - how much of the decline can be sheeted to the IOC's travails? When I first came here, there'd always be a new crop of members all excitedly hoping, promoting, following the chances of their corner of the world buying into the Olympic action. People still genuinely were wishing and praying for the chance of a Games in their part of the world then. Now, with the IOC hard-pressed to draft more than a handful of bidders in any one cycle (and lucky if they actually get two that last the distance) is it the case that there's just less people actively dreaming and wishing for the games in their cities? The games just aren't the gleam in people's imaginations any more. I'm sure even many of us have lost a bit of our innocent love for the carnival, so maybe it's no wonder we're getting less newbies when cynicism rather than enthusiasm seems to be the Olympic credo these days?

By the way - anyone notice how the colours of the Buddhist prayer flags (which are everywhere in Nepal) match the colours of the Olympic rings? ;)

diet_set_tib.jpg

10th Annual GamesBids Logo Design Comp

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That pretty much sums it up for me. Being an Olympic fan isn't as enjoyable as it once was. I feel so frustrated that the people entrusted with the stewardship of the movement are a bunch of ethically questionable buffoons (Thomas Bach, here's looking at you). The athletes do not seem as heroic and larger than life as they did at one time. The doping issue, though present for many decades, has reached epidemic proportions and has me questioning if anything I have witnessed over the past 36 years was legitimate. If it wasn't, then I have just wasted a big chunk of my life following something that was just an illusion.

 

 

 

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I joined right around the end of London 2012 and in a low-key way Gamesbids has been a big part of my High-School experience. I was attracted to Gamesbids because I dreamed of my city hosting the Olympics; London really made me at least dream. I found this community and I have loved it ever since; the logo comps, the good 2020 bid fighting, it was all friendly and exciting banter. The Olympics were a world a didn't really know before I came in, but having been here for now almost four-five years I know more about the movement than I ever thought I would. 

I will say; the creativity of the forum has been lost. The idealism, the shine, the glow, it's gone. Then again I think of the world we live in today, is there really much room left for dreaming?

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i don't think the young kids are into internet forums the way they once were, back when they were the main game for internet discussion. enthusiastic 19 year old idiots like faster don't stick around and evolve into 29 year old idiots like faster on message boards the way they once did, and that's a shame. 

oh and tony did single-handedly speed up the death of this board, of that i am 100 percent certain. 

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I concur with your hypothetical reasoning (shocker!!!).

If we all look back through the dark mists of time Jim Jones also caused a partial exodus - Tony E did similar.

Bottom line is this - a boring bid cycle begats a boring GB forum.

The Rio run up added a little bit of excitement - however the ensuing Games were pretty much fine (and the Paralympics turned out to be quite extraordinary).

The Pyeongchang Olympics look like they will be perfectly functional - again nothing exciting.  Tokyo's logo and stadium woes have been surprising - however the issues were rectified with pretty decent options.  No one gives a sh*t about Beijing again.

The best we can hope for is maybe Paris winning 2024 and LA vs Toronto for 2028 or LA winning 2024 and Paris/Rome/Madrid/Istanbul (?) battling for 2028.

2026 looks like it will be Switzerland's if they bid so no real excitement there (unless the Norwegians/Swedish come to play and stay the duration).

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On 05/12/2016 at 9:52 PM, BTHarner said:

That pretty much sums it up for me. Being an Olympic fan isn't as enjoyable as it once was. I feel so frustrated that the people entrusted with the stewardship of the movement are a bunch of ethically questionable buffoons (Thomas Bach, here's looking at you). The athletes do not seem as heroic and larger than life as they did at one time. The doping issue, though present for many decades, has reached epidemic proportions and has me questioning if anything I have witnessed over the past 36 years was legitimate. If it wasn't, then I have just wasted a big chunk of my life following something that was just an illusion.

 

The people entrusted with the stewardship of the movement have included Brundage, Killanin and Samaranch, all of whom would be considered extremely ethically challenged by modern standards. However, the more we actually apply modern standards, the more the real power goes to those who don't care about modern standards.

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My thoughts, and I do agree that something is amiss around here lately..

Seems like 1 of the most boring times for these boards is during the actual Olympics.  I know the topic is about Olympic bidding, but you'd think it would generate more interest in the games themselves.  Instead, aside from a couple of more interactive threads about the ceremonies, there's not much juice around here.  Seems that there's more excitement in the anticipation of the Olympics and less in the Olympics themselves.  And this year more than ever, maybe it's just me, but it feels like these Olympics faded into history very quickly.  Maybe it's the elections (obviously not everyone here is American), but almost as soon as the Olympics ended, that was it.  Everything people were talking about with Brazil just stopped and was forgotten.  Not that we didn't see that coming.

So for here, things just haven't picked back up like they normally might.  The 2022 bids were a trainwreck.  2020 and 2018 weren't much more exciting.  2024 has some interest, but these boards have sunk further down the rabbit hole for reasons mentioned and there's nothing to revive them.  Hopefully that changes as we get closer to the 2024 vote, but not exactly counting on it.

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3 hours ago, Quaker2001 said:

Seems like 1 of the most boring times for these boards is during the actual Olympics.  I know the topic is about Olympic bidding, but you'd think it would generate more interest in the games themselves.  Instead, aside from a couple of more interactive threads about the ceremonies, there's not much juice around here.  Seems that there's more excitement in the anticipation of the Olympics and less in the Olympics themselves.  And this year more than ever, maybe it's just me, but it feels like these Olympics faded into history very quickly.  Maybe it's the elections (obviously not everyone here is American), but almost as soon as the Olympics ended, that was it.  Everything people were talking about with Brazil just stopped and was forgotten.  Not that we didn't see that coming.

 

I gotta strongly disagree with you on this. I truly think one of the times the board really comes alive is during the actual Games. They're always high traffic times. And, it's not just the ceremonies live chats - though they are always crowd pullers. But, c'mon, this year the Rio thread was very active with no end of threads, heated and juicy arguments and discussions about: how they were operating; were they up to standards past?; the to-and-fro between the "these games are a train wreck" and the "these games are just fine" camps; the look; the security; the traditional "Hot Bods"; arguments about Lochte; was Bolt juiced or not?; were Brazilians bad spectators?; various national threads about respective countries' performances and medal tallies; the live blogs from members on the ground in Rio; comments on TV coverage (I seem to remember you getting into a few scraps in defence of NBC) and more. And at the end, all the verdicts, report cards and threads about how sad and deflated everyone was now that they were over. Did you really miss all that? Have you really missed all that from past games? Like I said, i think games time is one of the two busiest and best times of the board (along with host vote weeks). And it's the fodder that (usually) fuels lots of discussions and arguments for the next few years (who now has the best ceremonies? logos? stadiums? crowds? look? etc). In the end, Rio generated multiple pages of new threads and discussions which I don't think ANYTHING else has since the last FIFA World Cup.

What I will give you though is that Rio on GamesBids seemed a little bit less frantic than in previous games. Busy, but not in overdrive as in the past. Yes, there was less discussion and following of individual sports events. I think the Brazilians members here themselves were rather quiet compared to past host members (I expected more fireworks from Brazilians defending national honour and the standard of their games - and only got endless pics of fireworks and anti-coup protests). But still, in the end it was about the only time the board this year felt like old times. It's about the only thing this year that rekindled my interest and brought me back to being a bit more active on the board. Just a pity next year is an "off" year - apart from the host vote, there aren't any major sporting events like the Games, a WC or whatever to bring people in. I worry a bit about that and its implications for the board next year.

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On December 7, 2016 at 1:45 PM, Quaker2001 said:

 2020 and 2018 weren't much more exciting.  

I thought 2020 had enough, if not more, interest on these boards than 2024 does. Especially when you consider those crazy Spaniards that were on here making Truff look like a kindergarten prankster. And 2018 I'd venture to say was like the 2012 feud but for the Winter Games. Many passionate posters for their respective 2018 bid cities, with the usual flame wars that are par for the course here on Gamesbids. I mean who can forget "Tulsa" & that wacko "nature"! What characters those two were!! :lol:

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19 hours ago, FYI said:

I thought 2020 had enough, if not more, interest on these boards than 2024 does. Especially when you consider those crazy Spaniards that were on here making Truff look like a kindergarten prankster. And 2018 I'd venture to say was like the 2012 feud but for the Winter Games. Many passionate posters for their respective 2018 bid cities, with the usual flame wars that are par for the course here on Gamesbids. I mean who can forget "Tulsa" & that wacko "nature"! What characters those two were!! :lol:

And don't forget, Istanbul had quite a few sentimental supporters - or at least some people thinking "nice place - shame about the government".

And, yeah, Tulsa and Nature sure lifted the 2018 race. Or at least made it memorable and entertaining in its own way.

2022 was the one where the drop off of bidders also seemed to be mirrored by the drop off of activity and long time members here.

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8 hours ago, Sir Rols said:

2022 was the one where the drop off of bidders also seemed to be mirrored by the drop off of activity and long time members here.

Yes, & the same can be said of 2024, too, with the withdrawals of Hamburg & Rome, especially the former. Cuz we had some very passionate posters on the German front here when Hamburg was still in the race.

And like I've mentioned before, the Toronto supporters were already coming out of the woodwork when it was even hinted that they could bid for 2024, but virtually all disappeared as soon as it was confirmed that they wouldn't bid.

So can you just imagine for a moment if Hamburg's referendum did indeed passed & Toronto had placed a bid afterall?! These boards right now would be the total opposite of "the forums are losing their luster/appeal", etc. It woulda been 2012 all over again around here, to say the least!

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3 hours ago, FYI said:

Yes, & the same can be said of 2024, too, with the withdrawals of Hamburg & Rome, especially the former. Cuz we had some very passionate posters on the German front here when Hamburg was still in the race.

And like I've mentioned before, the Toronto supporters were already coming out of the woodwork when it was even hinted that they could bid for 2024, but virtually all disappeared as soon as it was confirmed that they wouldn't bid.

So can you just imagine for a moment if Hamburg's referendum did indeed passed & Toronto had placed a bid afterall?! These boards right now would be the total opposite of "the forums are losing their luster/appeal", etc. It woulda been 2012 all over again around here, to say the least!

But the corollary of all that is that if more and more bids are going to be stymied by local public opinion etc., rapid shrinking of GB bid discussions, well before shortlisting, is going to be the norm.

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1 hour ago, JMarkSnow2012 said:

But the corollary of all that is that if more and more bids are going to be stymied by local public opinion etc., rapid shrinking of GB bid discussions, well before shortlisting, is going to be the norm.

And as I said in he "too many losers" thread up the top - award two gams together like 2024-28, and you could virtually write the board's obituary if there's no summer races to follow here for eight years.

4 hours ago, FYI said:

So can you just imagine for a moment if Hamburg's referendum did indeed passed & Toronto had placed a bid afterall?! These boards right now would be the total opposite of "the forums are losing their luster/appeal", etc. It woulda been 2012 all over again around here, to say the least!

Well, yeah, you'd certainly hope so. No doubt they'd be a lot more active, and hopefully some of that spark would spread to other areas and forums within the board.

But... I dunno. Take Rio this year. Games time was definitely the highlight of the board this year. It did bring some old timers back. It was the closest we've had this year to old times. But it still lacked something. It was just that bit more subdued compared to other games times here in the past. Nowhere near up up to London, or even Sochi for that matter. 

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One thing I did enjoy here were the "hypothetical bids" discussions involving cities that could host at a stretch of the imagination. Minneapolis, Vegas, Brisbane, Auckland, Bangkok and Cape Town et al...

(So far the only city that has come out of this area is Rio.)

Some good discussions but eventually theories would be worn down and ended.

Still, the concept of the web "big boards" don't seem to appeal to Gen Z and Millennials who are now starting to come on line.

 

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