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After a 5 year vacation from lego I am trying to catch up. I've already
skimmed the LDraw site, BayLug, Brickshelf, BrickLink, Shipyard, and Moonbase.
I looked at the .space roll call, but it has not been updated since 2003. The
.space timeline was last updated in 2004. I also see Lego is bringing back
classic space in some form or another. So then, what is going in in .space?
Are Moonbase and Shipyard still going? (Some recent activity indicates they are
alive.) Are there any other .space projects underway or in the works? Can
someone hit the high points for me?
Thanks,
-Doug (aka, Damraska)
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In lugnet.space, Doug Dropeskey wrote:
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After a 5 year vacation from lego I am trying to catch up. I’ve already
skimmed the LDraw site, BayLug, Brickshelf, BrickLink, Shipyard, and Moonbase.
I looked at the .space roll call, but it has not been updated since 2003. The
.space timeline was last updated in 2004. I also see Lego is bringing back
classic space in some form or another. So then, what is going in in .space?
Are Moonbase and Shipyard still going? (Some recent activity indicates they
are alive.) Are there any other .space projects underway or in the works?
Can someone hit the high points for me?
Thanks,
-Doug (aka, Damraska)
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Always good to see an “old schooler” reappear on the board! Welcome back, Doug!
A couple of things have changed since you left. The first is the implimentation
of FTX. It’s fun; You should try
try it.
Hey, sorry about that last hyperlink there, but that leads me to the second
change. .SPACE is, for all intents and purposes,
dead.
MIA. Many
have migrated to Classic Space.
Traitors, really, but what are ya gonna do?
You do what I do-- become a trainhead, or rip Spaceheads in their own vacated
NG! <laughs loudly like Vizzini>
Again, welcome back:-)
JOHN
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In lugnet.space, John Neal wrote:
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Hey, sorry about that last hyperlink there, but that leads me to the second
change. .SPACE is, for all intents and purposes,
dead.
MIA.
Many have migrated to Classic Space.
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Just out of curiosity, is there a particular reason for this? Nothing puerile, I
hope.
Jim
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In lugnet.space, Jim DeVona wrote:
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In lugnet.space, John Neal wrote:
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Hey, sorry about that last hyperlink there, but that leads me to the second
change. .SPACE is, for all intents and purposes,
dead.
MIA.
Many have migrated to Classic Space.
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Just out of curiosity, is there a particular reason for this? Nothing
puerile, I hope.
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Au contraire! It is purely puerile! (and all in good fun:-)
TRAINSTRAINSTRAINS!
JOHN
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&tIn lugnet.space, John Neal wrote:
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In lugnet.space, Jim DeVona wrote:
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In lugnet.space, John Neal wrote:
Just out of curiosity, is there a particular reason for this? Nothing
puerile, I hope.
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Au contraire! It is purely puerile! (and all in good fun:-)
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My question was about the reasons for the alluded exodus from .space, of course,
not about the content of your post.
Jim
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In lugnet.space, Jim DeVona wrote:
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&tIn lugnet.space, John Neal wrote:
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In lugnet.space, Jim DeVona wrote:
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In lugnet.space, John Neal wrote:
Just out of curiosity, is there a particular reason for this? Nothing
puerile, I hope.
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Au contraire! It is purely puerile! (and all in good fun:-)
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My question was about the reasons for the alluded exodus from .space, of
course, not about the content of your post.
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Ahh, well that’s a good question to which I haven’t the answer. My guess would
be that a few of the ringleaders wanted more control over the direction and tone
of the NG and the rest just followed the leaders like the mindless lemmings that
they are. I just mock them for leaving IMO this perfectly fine place.
It seems to be a really nice site, though. But please don’t tell them I said
so.
JOHN
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In lugnet.space, John Neal wrote:
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Always good to see an “old schooler” reappear on the board! Welcome back,
Doug!
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Hi, John. A name I remember. Thanks for the welcome. I trust your train
collection continues to thrive and grow?
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Hey, sorry about that last hyperlink there, but that leads me to the second
change. .SPACE is, for all intents and purposes,
dead.
MIA.
Many have migrated to Classic Space.
Traitors, really, but what are ya gonna do?
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I suspected as much after looking through the archives, checking the traffic
report, and visiting classic-space.com. I suppose I am as much to blame as
anyone, since I left very early on. For that matter, I already created an
account at classic-space.
From what I’ve read in .announce and .general, it appears lugnet in general has
gone through some turmoil. I was shocked to see, in the traffic report, that
all of lugnet had 300 posts in the last week. I was under the impression it
used to do 10 times that, if not more. Lego seems as strong as ever, so where
did everyone go? I guess I need to have that discussion in another newsgroup.
I’m really curious to know what has befallen the mighty lugnet. And, of course,
to know where .space fits into it all.
And for the record, I still have 3 or 5 trains (for space configurations, of
course), but no place to put them.
-Doug
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In lugnet.space, Doug Dropeskey wrote:
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In lugnet.space, John Neal wrote:
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Always good to see an “old schooler” reappear on the board! Welcome back,
Doug!
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Hi, John. A name I remember. Thanks for the welcome. I trust your train
collection continues to thrive and grow?
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Oh, baby, does it ever!:-) I use my
LUGNET NG as our web site. No jumping ship, here!
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Hey, sorry about that last hyperlink there, but that leads me to the second
change. .SPACE is, for all intents and purposes,
dead.
MIA.
Many have migrated to Classic Space.
Traitors, really, but what are ya gonna do?
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I suspected as much after looking through the archives, checking the traffic
report, and visiting classic-space.com. I suppose I am as much to blame as
anyone, since I left very early on. For that matter, I already created an
account at classic-space.
From what I’ve read in .announce and .general, it appears lugnet in general
has gone through some turmoil. I was shocked to see, in the traffic report,
that all of lugnet had 300 posts in the last week. I was under the
impression it used to do 10 times that, if not more. Lego seems as strong as
ever, so where did everyone go? I guess I need to have that discussion in
another newsgroup. I’m really curious to know what has befallen the mighty
lugnet. And, of course, to know where .space fits into it all.
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One might say that LUGNET is a victim of its own success. It brought us all
together, and all of the little sects got together and formed boards of their
own (1000Steine.de, Classic-Castle, Classic-Space, FBTB, BZpower, JLUG <RIP>,
MechaHub) to name just a few.
Actually, we trainheads, although forming IIRC the first sectarian web site
(iltco.org) never did open any boards beyond LUGNET (so far).
So, if you added up all of the posts from all of those sites each day, you’d
find support today for LEGO is stronger than ever.
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And for the record, I still have 3 or 5 trains (for space configurations, of
course), but no place to put them.
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Good. Bad. Bad. :-)
JOHN
FU set to .general
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In lugnet.space, John Neal wrote:
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Oh, baby, does it ever!:-) I use
my LUGNET NG as our web site. No jumping ship, here!
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Impressive as ever. Which reminds me, can lego trains be weatherized (run
outdoors)? I have to take that up in .trains
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One might say that LUGNET is a victim of its own success. It brought us all
together, and all of the little sects got together and formed boards of their
own (1000Steine.de, Classic-Castle, Classic-Space, FBTB, BZpower, JLUG
<RIP>, MechaHub) to name just a few.
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From my reading it appears that lugnet went through some management
turmoil--unprocessed memberships, infrequent updates to theme areas, access
issues for admins, and so forth. Did the exodus cause the storm, or did the
storm cause the exodus, or did something else happen? Has that storm passed?
Rene immediately restored my membership and delt with my initial posting
problems.
I was reading about the ambassador program, and it appears lego still uses
lugnet to interact with end users. Is lego now going to the other boards, too?
I wonder if the other groups felt lugnet was just not flexible enough. Have any
of the groups ever explained why they jumped?
I remember when one could read about every subgenera all at once in rtl. Lugnet
imposed a lot of structure, but one could still dip into all the streams. With
everyone blown to the winds, how does one keep up? Is lugnet still the central
clearing house of lego knowledge?
-Doug
I think I used to sign my posts with ^V^^V^ or something like that. Kids.
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In lugnet.general, Doug Dropeskey wrote:
Snip
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From my reading it appears that lugnet went through some management
turmoil--unprocessed memberships, infrequent updates to theme areas, access
issues for admins, and so forth. Did the exodus cause the storm, or did the
storm cause the exodus, or did something else happen? Has that storm passed?
Rene immediately restored my membership and delt with my initial posting
problems.
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I think it was a bit of both. The community wanted websites with more
specialized content. Needs were not being met (articles, chat, easy to join) so
other sites were started.
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I was reading about the ambassador program, and it appears lego still uses
lugnet to interact with end users. Is lego now going to the other boards,
too?
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Yes. Major announcements are still made on Lugnet. Ambassadors often post news
on all of the theme/lug sites they are involved in. Theme sites also get
product previews (Star Wars at fbtb.net, Castle at Classic-Castle.com, etc).
Steve Witt of the LEGO Community Team answers fan questions on fbtb.net:
http://www.fbtbforums.net/viewforum.php?f=4
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I wonder if the other groups felt lugnet was just not flexible enough. Have
any of the groups ever explained why they jumped?
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Lugnet is great as a site to see mocs from many themes and have general
discussions. Expecting Lugnet (or any site run by one or two people) to be
adequate for all of the specialized groups of LEGO fans is not realistic.
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I remember when one could read about every subgenera all at once in rtl.
Lugnet imposed a lot of structure, but one could still dip into all the
streams. With everyone blown to the winds, how does one keep up? Is lugnet
still the central clearing house of lego knowledge?
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Many people still read Lugnet. The problem is that few post. I regularly
browse Lugnet, Classic-Castle, Classic-Space, fbtb.net, bricklink, eurobricks.
I post more at Classic-Castle since I help run that site and am a castle head.
Castle!
Ben Ellermann
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In lugnet.space, Jim DeVona wrote:
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My question was about the reasons for the alluded exodus from .space, of
course, not about the content of your post.
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Hi Jim
I can’t answer for anybody but myself, but the reason I joined CSF (besides the
fact that my lugnet account was screwed up at the moment) is that it’s so much
easier to join and use: you don’t have to find the well hidden free memebership
page to join, you don’t have to fight yourself through a mulitple-step posting
battle (preview, post, and confirm email if you’re a freebie) and that there’s a
lot of nice modern things like POST EDITING, avatars, linear posting you can
15-10 post on one page (instead of a tree you have to click back and forth in,
missing stuff in other branches etc).
In short it’s a much lighter atmosphere, that invites short and quick replies
(instead of long-winded well thought and confirmed post here), and both less
experienced builders and builders of small stuff get attention even if some of
the top-shots post at the same time - I’ve tried to post stuff here several
times that simply got drowned because one of the topshots presented something
large - the replies to Keith Goldman could flush out everything on both the
latest 4 posts on the main page and “next 20+”.
I haven’t any excact numbers, but it appeared to me that only around 50 people
were active on Lugnet.space (judging by the number of posts to the top
builders), while CSF has been able to draw in many new and younger members,
totalling in around 1000 (more or less active) users.
In the 2½ years it has
existed 52.000 posts has been written, compared to 41.000 posts in lugnet.space
over the last 8.
So basically there’s just room for more people, more activity, more inspiration,
and it work so much smoother. I just wish more people from the old .space crowd
would look past old disagreements and join, because it’s really a great place.
Anyways, cya on CSF!
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In lugnet.space, Niels Bugge wrote:
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In the 2½ years it has
existed 52.000 posts has been written, compared to 41.000 posts in
lugnet.space over the last 8.
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I must confess that about 13000 of those are my posts.
What can I say, I’m a blabbermouth.
Aaron
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In lugnet.space, Doug Dropeskey wrote:
> I was shocked to see, in the traffic report, that all of lugnet had 300 posts
> in the last week. I was under the impression it used to do 10 times that, if
> not more.
Yep! I believe this graph is in posts per week:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/davee123/Info/lug_traffic.jpg
I have some data on FBTB, classic-castle, and classic-space as well, but it's
quasi-out-of-date as well (Jul 4 2006 - Mar 1 2007). The ballpark estimates
(posts per week) from that period are:
FBTB: ~2500
Classic-Castle: ~500 until Dec 2006, then a jump to ~900
Lugnet: ~500
Classic-Space: ~400
So, all told, just on those sites (which were most of the major public
discussion groups for English-speaking Lego AFOLs, apart from perhaps JLUG?),
you've got about 4000+ posts per week, which is more than LUGNET typically got
in its heyday. If you count other AFOL sites floating around (BrickLink's
forums, LUG forums, RTL & ATL, and a few other places*), there's probably about
5000+ posts per week about Lego in the AFOL community. More active than ever!
> Lego seems as strong as ever, so where did everyone go?
As the internet has gotten bigger, the ability to host forums without much
technical prowess has spread. In the late 90's, most people who ran forums or
things with dynamic content were uber-geeks. Lugnet in particular had an
uber-geek (Todd) at the helm with a design professional (Suz) to help make a
smooth interface, custom tailored to the Lego community.
But as their interest in the project trailed off, the community was doing the
opposite. People needed *more* from Lugnet, not less. But at the same time, the
technical hurdle to setting up dynamic Lego webpages was getting smaller. So
pretty much anyone with some cash and a little bit of technical dabbling skill
could set up a Lego forum. PhpBB forums and the like abound, although most other
sites cater to a specific subset of the community.
DaveE
* I hesitate to add BZPower to the list cuz it's primarily kids, but then again,
so is FBTB, so I don't know what to think, I guess.
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In lugnet.space, David Eaton wrote:
> In lugnet.space, Doug Dropeskey wrote:
> > I was shocked to see, in the traffic report, that all of lugnet had 300 posts
> > in the last week. I was under the impression it used to do 10 times that, if
> > not more. • - snip -
> So, all told, just on those sites (which were most of the major public
> discussion groups for English-speaking Lego AFOLs, apart from perhaps JLUG?),
> you've got about 4000+ posts per week, which is more than LUGNET typically got
> in its heyday. If you count other AFOL sites floating around (BrickLink's
> forums, LUG forums, RTL & ATL, and a few other places*), there's probably about
> 5000+ posts per week about Lego in the AFOL community. More active than ever! • - snip -
> * I hesitate to add BZPower to the list cuz it's primarily kids, but then again,
> so is FBTB, so I don't know what to think, I guess.
Yeah, I wouldn't add BZPower, it's really not an AFOL site. But I would consider
FBTB an AFOL site, there's a larger percentage of adults there than at BZP, I
think. (BTW, BZPower currently gets about 12,000 posts a week.)
- Kelly
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In lugnet.general, Kelly McKiernan wrote:
> (BTW, BZPower currently gets about 12,000 posts a week.)
Wow, that's some nice traffic! I remember hunting for some stats and starting to
write a slurper, but quickly realized that slurping that much data could be a
pretty large hit considering the post volume. I also seem to recall that there
was no history beyond a month or so? Are there any daily post counts floating
around? I'm all curious again to chart forum traffics together to see how they
compare...
DaveE
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Hey Doug,
Welcome back! As others have noted, there has been a proliferation of groups
out there. With each new group there has been a renewed discussion of whether
or not this is a good thing. As an admin and major poster at Classic-Castle,
I’m obviously in the “good thing” camp. It’s been a long time since I’ve looked
at the numbers, but Anthony Sava had a good post a couple of years ago showing
that there has been a net increase in castle posting since the start of CC. Of
course the problem of forum proliferation has been the lack of ability to take
in the whole hobby at one. Until now, that need has been filled by Brickshelf,
but with the growing popularity of Flickr, and some of the other things
springing up in the wake of the great Brickshelf crisis of last week, I’m
concerned that that may go by the wayside as well. Another recent growth is the
popularity of blogs. If you check out one of my two
MicroBricks and scroll down on the right-hand
side you’ll see a listing of 70+ active LEGO blogs (plus more inactive blogs).
I’ve also got a pretty good listing of different community forums (though there
are many more small ones I didn’t list).
I’m not a spacer, so others can better address recent trends in space, but just
from perusing Brickshelf and pics from the various fests, a few I see are:
Moonbase Steampunk (not space per se, but popular with spacers)
Floating rocks
More microscale stuff (for instance, check out the
Microspacetopia group on Flickr)
Bruce
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In lugnet.general, David Eaton wrote:
> In lugnet.general, Kelly McKiernan wrote:
> > (BTW, BZPower currently gets about 12,000 posts a week.)
>
> Wow, that's some nice traffic! I remember hunting for some stats and starting to
> write a slurper, but quickly realized that slurping that much data could be a
> pretty large hit considering the post volume. I also seem to recall that there
> was no history beyond a month or so? Are there any daily post counts floating
> around? I'm all curious again to chart forum traffics together to see how they
> compare...
Sure, I sent it off in email a few minutes ago. There are stats back to 2002.
- Kelly
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