I think good points have been raised on both sides of the fence.
On the one hand, yes on the average the community is getting younger (side effect of anime becoming more popular) and there is a certain amount of immaturity abound. I personally believe that the 'immature' element has always existed, it's just that as more people come into the forums it simply becomes more apparent.
On the other hand, I believe that the majority of people that are actually involved in the anime scene aren't steeped in the 'immature' level. (Also note that I'm not saying younger=immature) But at the same time, there are a lot of those people who do like to have fun here (and in the chat), and I believe it's construed by other members as immaturity.
Personally, I don't even see the forums as 'the AMV community', because honestly it's not. Yes, creators and others who like AMVs exchange thoughts and ideas and such here, but because it's open to the public (regardless of whether you're part of the main site or not) it really becomes a place where AMV makers, AMV lovers, anime lovers, and people who don't make AMVs, don't watch AMVs, and sometimes don't even watch or like anime, hang out.
This forum, for that reason, is
not the 'AMV scene' and shouldn't by any means be used as a measuring stick for where the community stands.
I'm not trying to be elitist or anything or say 'there's people here who don't like anime OMG so this place doesn't count ', I'm just telling it the way it is. Now, there is the small matter of this place being the AnimeMusicVideos.org forum, but that's not the issue here right now...
I've been around the site and the forums for about a year and a half (seems like a long time for some reason) and was around during the old forum and the days when the chatroom wasn't popular
at all. Yes, the way things had been were, on the whole, good. But that was only once you 'got in' to what was going on.
The one thing that you don't hear in the reminiscing about the old site is how rudely newcomers were treated in the forums (ok, admittedly half of the time they were asking questions that had been asked a million times before, but I have also seen newcomers put down for even having an opinion on something) and how part of the reason the site stayed so close is because a lot of the new blood decided not to return at all because of their initial encounters. I, for one lurked for around a month before I decided to post anything here. I think I got a bit lucky and didn't tee anyone off ^_^
As for the state of the 'union', so to speak...
I, having never gone to a con in my life (hoping to change that at AWA this year) still feel like I'm ever becoming more a part of the AMV community because of my interactions with everyone else who does take part in this hobby. It's reviewing people's videos, watching their betas, giving advice, taking advice, sharing ideas, sharing musical tastes, anime likes and dislikes, techniques, technical info, working on projects together, etc. that are to me what really define how the community is. And so far I've come away with nothing but good feelings about it. Yes, sometimes disputes arise, but that will happen anywhere where there is more than one person and those people's opinions differ. It's the reconciliation of those opinions and ideas that shape the way the community grows.
In short, you really have to consider what exactly the community is and where it exists before you pass judgement on how the AMV scene has deteriorated. If you use the forums, which as I've said before don't respresent the community because they're aren't
soley compromised of the members of the community, then yes you will have a certain view of things going downhill in this hobby. But if you take a look at the interactions of those that are truly involved in the hobby of AMVs then I believe you get a different, and IMO better view of how things are.
My convoluted two cents. x_x;;
P.S.-I agree that there are a number of members on this forum who are generally disruptive and very noticeable and vocal in terms of their disturbances. But they can only annoy you as much as you allow yourself to be annoyed. Either laugh, or ignore them and move on, it's your choice. But to get uptight about what they do and rant and rave about them only gives some of them exactly what they want: to get a reaction. So, yea...laugh, or ignore and move on, or both.
P.P.S.-As for the AMV chat, yes it is a bit wild these days, but then again it's also become far more popular than the days when there were only a few of us who visited it regularly. (10 people was a lot in those days) (ack, I'm being nostalgic
) It is hard to keep a logical flow of discussion going when there's 20+ people in a chat, and aside from that most people go into the chat to cut loose a bit. And once again the issue of the room being completely open to the public comes into play. Good conversations still happen, but you have to catch the room at the right time, or ignore the undercurrent of randomness there.
Ok, really, I'm done this time
