Is Discovery dying?

[tothebonezone]

I'm not very eloquent, and my rhetoric is terrible, so don't expect much.

There's a lot of talk about Discovery dying. There has been since 4.85, and maybe further back. A lot of people, from Admin to the new people wonder why that's being said. There's no obvious reason as to why people say it. For a game that's over a decade old now, Discovery is doing quite the fine job of staying alive.

People who've played the game before see this big active mod, follow a few links, and they're thrown back into something extremely nostalgic. Of course it has a few changes here and there, but it's still Freelancer. You still have rhinos escorted by starfliers, you still have nosy-as-hell bounty hunter NPCs demanding half of the commodities from you. The Eagle and the Titan are no longer the end of the online experience though, there's a end-tier ship in every House, for every faction. Codenames are luxuries now, instead of must-haves. Class 9's exist for all of the factions. Everything is essentially equal now, save for a few minor perks for the different groups.

Discovery is (one of?) the only Freelancer communities that take part in roleplay. And that draws a lot of people from all walks of life in. We don't all have money to throw away for fancy computers, and some of us haven't upgraded since Freelancer came out. But roleplay allows those of us who aren't capable of PvP to come together and do something we like. Make a story. It's the oldest thing in human culture, storytelling. And for those of us who take our roleplay seriously, we understand why. It lets you escape the real world, and enter another that you otherwise would never see. Some people might not become immersed in their roleplay here, but others may as well be living it. And it's what the majority of us are all here for.

Is Discovery dying? I won't tell you what I think yet. We go on and on about it, but the discussion is pointless. By the time you can tell a community is fading away, it's generally too late to mention something about it. Those who aren't hard fans or long-time veterans have moved on, and only a tiny population remains. Why bring up what others have long realized? It's sort of funny, though. Discussing the death of the community. Threads are made about it now and again, and dozens of people come in to pretty much say 'Nope, we're all still here'. So why keep saying it? In truth, it's when people who've become accustomed to a certain thing in Discovery suddenly finds that it's changed. Be it a group of people they hung out with leaving, or aspects of the mod itself changing. The Discovery they were used to changed or died, but the community itself is still going.

So what's really going on then? Is it dying? No. Discovery's still alive, and will be living on for a while yet. The game is dated, and most people either forgot about its existance, or aren't even aware of Freelancer. Roleplay is a bit of a niche concept as well. With the onset of consoles and computers, things like Dungeons & Dragons, and other board games, aren't quite as massively popular. Certainly they're still played, but not to the extent as current generation videogames.

In the end, all that's happening is, people are moving on. Veterans, lived-in players, or even relatively new people get burnt out, and move on to other things. Some are pushed out by the community, often times by the people who are here specifically to cause damage. You can't single out many of these people, as they take care to hide the fact they just want to cause trouble in the community, but karma eventually catches up with them. Right now, Discovery is just sort of sick with the flu, so to speak.. It's slowed a bit, and has a few functional problems, and has some invasive creatures causing damage to its body (community), but it'll recover.

Newer people are coming in, and the roleplay that's been settled in for a while is changing. These players may be entirely new to the concept of Roleplay. It's up to the people who actually care for community to give them a little push in the right direction. Instead of disliking someone for not being a good Roleplayer, or not RPing in a way that suits you, talk to them. See if you can help them get used to the idea of roleplay. Storytelling is one of the oldest things in human culture for a reason. In roleplay, we're all different people. Don't judge someone by their character, and then dislike them OOCly because you think that's how they are. There's a good chance they're just playing the role they always had in mind for that character.

And remember. While you may think your character is the hero of your story, you're a side-character at best to most everyone else. Remind yourself of that next time things don't go your way.

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[Sundance]

Very well said, and quite inspiring to see as a five year Veteran, myself. I agree with most everything said here, although at times I do wonder what direction Discovery is headed in due to the more recent lack of roleplay, seeing things like this brighten up my mood and help me get by.

[Echo 7-7]

I came in here expecting that usual kind of thread, but ended up being pleasantly surprised by the OP.

When "roleplay" around you seems to be diminishing... all you can do is be a new beacon of roleplay to light up everyone else's interactions.

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There was a sig here, once.

[Jihadjoe]

There's a lot of talk about Discovery dying. There has been since 4.85, and maybe further back.

One of the first threads I posted in back in 2007, was a thread about the impending death of disco.

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[massdriver]

oh this thread again

imho people just wait for 487 to come out and then ... crashes lags ganks raids siaяs capspams etc

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[tothebonezone]

oh this thread again

imho people just wait for 487 to come out and then ... crashes lags ganks raids siaяs capspams etc

This is you. The newspaper is the thread.

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[jammi]

I get the feeling massdriver didn't actually read the first post.

I'm pretty much going to agree with Echo as well. I came into the thread with a certain set of expectations and was happy to be proven wrong.

Still, that won't last. The thread's title is simply too tempting for our local heralds of the apocalypse to refrain from commenting.

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[Full Metal Oboist]

I agree with Saronsen....

I don't want Disco to fade away, but im not going to spend what time it has left moaning about it, Get in game and start enjoying whats left!

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[Gypsie]

Not this thread again...


Read the first post. -jammi

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Malaclypse Freeport

[dexben]

Just keep calm and keep your roleplay face on. Disco ain't going nowhere but i agree the new members do need .. Education.

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I have many enemies in the dark. So i stand in the light so i can see them..

Anna's ongoing 95%(ish) true ingame story.