When I first started making incursions into the TD in 2011 as Archon Musa, there were a number of initial impressions it left on me. The description of this place alone, a somewhat rustic 'no spam, porn or warez', already lowered one's expectations of what was inside, and it didn't take long for those expectations to be confirmed.
Variously described by its own inhabitants as the forum's latrine, bin or insane asylum, it was not the kind of area anyone 'important' in the site really deigned to associate themselves with. My memories of those days have admittedly become somewhat dim, with the original, venerable Chat Threat coming to an abrupt end almost exactly 5 years ago when its age-long odyssey was consigned to deletion, discarded as burdensome spam along with dozens of other Underhive threads, the posts that would otherwise have become prized artifacts and memories of a bygone age thrown howling into the void.
Yet, despite the dimness of those memories, I certainly never recall seeing signs of the presence of moderation staff, content staff or citizenry during those days – basically anything other than regular members, and I never saw anybody waltzing around with a dozen medals underneath their avatar either. I don't remember any really engaging discussions or much self-awareness as a community. The place was basically something between a toxic wasteland and a ty oik-infested bar at the end of a street. And yet, compared to now, when it has become much more 'clean', integrated with other 'Community' (non-modding) areas of the site and filled with people who have generally had a more diverse, industrious and 'vertically mobile' disposition, it was also infinitely more lively, active and spirited.
The Chat Thread II, coming right after the annihilation of the original in 2012, completed its 10 000 post limit in a mere three months, while the current iteration, Chat Thread VII, will soon be approaching its third year, yet it is still short of the same result. The Chat's spamminess is something I have for a while felt to be as a gauge of the pulse of this area of the site at large, and in its present state I believe we can safely claim that that pulse is somewhat ebbing. The front page of the TD, with zombie threads that haven't been posted in for two months shambling around its nether regions, does little to assuage my concerns. Of course, a constant feature of life here has been the ever-recurring talk of decline - that is one thing I do remember from the days of yore – and yet the sharp drop in activity over the past years is unquestionable: Chats II-V were all done within around six months; Chat VI – ten months; and now we have the dusty incumbent at 2.5 years and counting.
One could argue that the quantity of 'qualitative posts' (aka. spam) has dropped in favour of actual quality, or that this 'crisis' is only the local symptom of a wider depopulation stretching across the whole forum. In fact, though part of me wishes to spin the juicy narrative of a soul-erasing gentrification occurring in TD specifically, and although I do truly feel that such a thing has occurred, I would scarcely be able to disagree with assertions of a greater site-wide decay. Other Total War-oriented forums shared the same fate, and whereas not long ago we felt safe enough to look down upon those sites as cautionary tales, one could simply assume that now it's our turn to be scorned by the general fandom in favour of other internet locales and platforms. Lack of new blood means that, as members get older and gradually fade from the site as they often do, depopulation and a slowing of activity are boringly inevitable. I see nothing in other areas of TWC that contradict this notion, though if anyone disagrees they are welcome to share their experiences of ongoing TWC growth right here. So, how are you feeling about the past couple years of e-life here?