' Wrote:The world is competitive place. There's no doubting that everyone is out to make it on their own, and everyone has an objective in life (or nearly everyone). In life, that is something that should be cherished and noted in an individual, it is dynamism, and bloody useful. Now we come to where we all are today, right at this point in time. At a computer. On the internet. The issue with the internet is that there are limitless areas that can be filled by ill-equipped idiots who all think alike, but believe they are individuals. How many websites do you know that have been failed startups, with people all believing they offer the world something great, new, dynamic. There have been half a dozen spin-offs from FS alone, all of which have never fully prospered, and are now shovelling money in the direction of hosting companies and software providers so that they can sit there and reap a few hundred hits a day. Out of somewhere along the lines of a possible 2billion internet users. Get real.

So what causes this? This severe disintegration of community values? I'd factor in two things. First is self importance. Self importance amongst people who feel they have something better to offer the world, and it is so fantastic it must be shared to everyone on the web. That's great, but this person hasn't got the first clue on how to advertise themselves. Nor is their idea unique. They're setting up a clan. They're setting up a forums to discuss the fantastic traits of Intel processors. Guess what. There's tens of thousands of other clans. Dozens of other, better established forums discussing Intel processors. So why is yours better? Are you going to put a shoutbox on your forum? Or any number of other useless pieces of extensibility softwre that only detracts from the main function of your site, and allow it to devolve into crappy spam instead of a proper discussion. Look at nearly every social network that there is and ever has been. They don't work anymore because in trying to extend a user's experience, you alienate the user base you were trying to attract. Look at Bebo. I was once a member. Then they added all sorts of ****e, and I left and moved on to Facebook. I imagine as Facebook become more and more full of absolute trash, I shall move onto something as equally basic, because that is what I know. It is what most people know. So in offering something 'better' you only attract a few people. Your site goes nowhere. Your individual dream folds. You waste money and time and effort.

Secondly, you have the issue of self-worth. It is often greatly over-exaggerated, and as a result, leads to the spirit of cooperation being thrown out of a seventy storey building with nothing but a post-it note attached to it's chest, which states 'I can do better on my own'. Well, a wake up call for you matey. Most of the greatest achievements of all time have come about through cooperation. In an era where everyone is fighting it out for a slice of a pie, people tend to forget that there are ten other sites out there that are bigger, larger, better, brighter, etc. If you are going to provide a service, and on the internet, you could probably cut out approximately 99.99% of all websites, and you'd still be able to do everything you do every day. You read the news? Go to the BBC. You like modding info? Go to ModDB. You want to order your shopping? Go to Amazon or Tesco Online/Walmart. So where the hell does that leave the little men, those who are trying to do this for a bit of fun, but also to make something of themselves? Absolutely ****ing nowhere. Because there will always be people who want to go it on their own, and the thought of being part of an unbiased system where you don't have control is too little. With the internet, you can have yourself in your own place in 30minutes flat, if that. But you will then fall into the trap of going bigger and better, and thus alienation. Or you can copy the way a website runs, and then realise that because you're the same, people will stick with what they know and not bother with a new registration. Registrations are an issue that people still don't fully understand, and while it is very easy to register for something, some people don't have the will to ever do so. Look at The Times website, which thirty days ago, would not let you view the site without registering. It's traffic fell by 40% in that last month. If you're the same as something else, you will not take everyone with you, nor even a decent proportion, it's just too much hassle.

The issue that I am trying to put across here is the spirit of community cooperation. There isn't any, because people are too ignorant, arrogant, and unwilling to yield power, and because they feel too important. Consider what would happen should ten modding communities merge to create one community. It would grow massively overnight, and would likely prosper by pooling resource. But it won't happen because of the human condition: individuality. By providing for it too much in manners in which are affordable and have very little risk attached, the community service providers are killing communities rather than supporting those that stand.

Of all the time I have spent on the internet, I remain convinced that Fallout Studios remains one of the most unbiased places that can be found online, aside from the BBC. We don't cater for adverts, we don't prioritise mods, projects, or anything else. We live for our community, and our mods. We do what we do because we can, and because we care. It is with remorse, and pain that I see new websites start up daily, all of which have no chance of survival because they want to go it alone. One day people will realise there exist services for people like themselves, and they are places like Fallout. I could, without a doubt, happily point at a dozen communities that are failing, and say in no uncertain terms that I would be happy to take them onboard, and breath what little fresh life into them that we can do here. But it requires a leap, from one community or more, to start a process to reinvigorate communities, members, and projects. Individually we are weak, together we are strong.

Thus, I extend an invitation. Help make the internet stronger, and less divided. Forgo your petty indifferences, your aspirations of personal success. There are places for those, but the internet is not one of them. Instead, through camaraderie and success as a single combined entity, find what you are looking for. I see these clans, these forums, desperate to make something of themselves, and instead folding. There are places that can help, there are people that can help, accept, and embrace you. Look to them, and you may yet find that you are stronger and more successful for it. So, if you have a forum, a clan, a project, an idea, tell me about it. What can you do today?

And yes I do sound a little sanctimonious but it is for good reason