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View Poll Results: Should the Arena be closed?

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  • Yes, put it out of its misery.

    12 35.29%
  • No, it'll crank back up again soon.

    7 20.59%
  • I'll battle any comers... BRING IT ON!

    10 29.41%
  • No comment.

    5 14.71%
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Thread: Commentary: Arena is dead.

  1. #1
    supervillain gerbick's Avatar
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    Commentary: Arena is dead.

    Let's face it...

    From May 17th to June 14th, absolutely nothing was posted in the Arena.

    The Arena is dead. And I'm very close to shuttering close this area. Voice your opinions with your votes.

    As the person that fought for this area in the first place - back when FK battled against Were-Here, DQS, Ultrashock, Twelve Stone, Design Phorum, and countless others, as well as very active internal battles where people actually learned from each other and not offered snarky, one-sided commentary out to belittle or make harmful remarks about one another - this place has become a very pale shadow of what it once was.

    Glory years be behind us, or in front of us. But the shift from seeking entertainment and information to better oneself to just simply seeking praise or something else self-serving; whatever it is... something is just plain missing.

    So do we bury this part of the site, or do we reinvigorate it?

    [ Hello ] | [ gerbick ] | [ Ω ]

  2. #2
    file not found Captain_404's Avatar
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    This place is probably dead. Yeah.

    I will say though, in the small amount of time I spent here watching the (few) images you guys produced and occasionally popping in one of my own I've learned a lot about making these kinds of things.

    So hey, whether or not this place dies, I just want to say thanks to you all for providing me with an interesting challenge.

  3. #3
    He has risen! lefteyewilly's Avatar
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    where's the option of "yeah, its dead, but why shut it down?"

    honestly, there's no incentive to post in the arena anymore. no one really gives a s*** to give a real critique. Battles consist of IMAGE -> "nice image" -> IMAGE -> "cool image" -> IMAGE -> "nice". However, I'm as guilty of not giving critiques as the next guy.

    And without naming names, there's been some really s***ty images being put up here in the past year. If those who post images can't even take the time to come with quality, then what's the f'ing point. It's one thing if your'e learning, but to see some real talented people disgrace themselves with haphazard crap images is very shameful to see.

    And for the record, i left the arena as a moderator because of the pussies and sh**head a-holes that had to **** up march madness with their own egos, cheating, and forcing agendas when rules were clearly spelled out. GTH.

    So f*** it. Dump this s***.

  4. #4
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    I'll battle any comers... BRING IT ON!

  5. #5
    Senior Member Dricciotti's Avatar
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    Thumbs down

    I haven't been able to come here and spend any time on the forums for the past 2 years. I feel guilty that my name is listed as a moderator because I really have not done that job in a long time (I even forgot the secret location of the Big Red Button). My life has become very busy and I know that there will never be time for the Arena again. I have loved this forum and the creativity that has come out of it. Some of you guys are incredibly remarkable artists and I was constantly humbled by the images that you produce.

    I'll vote yes for closing it. I am finished with it. But I would ask that we keep the old posts available for a while because there are a few battles that stand out in my mind as incredible.

  6. #6
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    Bring it Juju.

  7. #7
    Senior Member littleMatt's Avatar
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    I spent lots of time lurking through the Arena before I ever posted or even had a battle. I gotta say watching some of the work done in here inspired me massively – and actually rolling my sleeves up and having my first battle (cheers pea) was exactly what I needed to dust off some cob webs and feel better about the fact my job at the time was pants. I’d even go as far as to say some of the battles I’ve had in here put me in the right mind-set for getting my career back on track!

    It would be a damn shame to see to see this place close, even with its lack of activity at the moment.

    I’ve been craving a battle myself lately but after leaving wannabe hanging for so long on our last I need to wait until I know I have the free time before I can expect someone else to commit.

  8. #8
    Chaos silverx2's Avatar
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    iv discussed with Gerbick and Lefteye weeks ago about my thoughts here, but in a nutshell i think the arena as it currently is has run its course.

    The strive to get better is the thing missing most here. There is no point in battling because the arena's once barbed walls and bottomless pits have been covered over by nerf and filled with shipping peanuts. We have had some amazing artists come through here but as with all things Art is a very Judgemental thing to rate, Without a clearcut way of judging images people either became offended that they were not given more respect, or Were given to much respect based on mostly inconsitent imagery and false praise. This leads to snide remarks and return images that to be completely honest would fit fine in the coffee lounge but not here in the arena.

    Without having other forums to battle this place died down. March madness died a horrible death where great images took a backseat to Reality show like drama. RollCanvases take to long for some of the more antsy pantsy member to be able to handle, And in general we are all growing up and becoming more busy.

    Are there things that could turn this around? Absolutely. Are there enough people currently willing and able to try and make it work? i dont think so.
    GhooooostGIrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl
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    use the link above if you download league of legends.

  9. #9
    Senior Member realMakc's Avatar
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    The shift is in user heads, imho. For many years, I tried to post "for kicks" coding challenges here and there, and - guess what - it always ended up with near-0 result, with most people preferring to spend their time coding for cash. Arguably - which is teh last thing I would like to do here, but - drawing is easier than coding, and that's why photoshop tennis survived for a while, but in the end same "why waste my time when I can go make some cash" attitude finds its way in artist heads, too.
    I haven't been able to come here and spend any time on the forums for the past 2 years.
    Yes, exactly.
    who is this? a word of friendly advice: FFS stop using AS2

  10. #10
    supervillain gerbick's Avatar
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    It never was about cash.

    Most, if not all, of the stuff in the Arena was a style or look or something you couldn't get away with in your daily operations if you wanted to. The limitations of professional designer due to client needs/wants/limited scope meant that some skills were rarely used. Thus the Arena was filled with artists that did stuff here that they couldn't do at the office.

    [ Hello ] | [ gerbick ] | [ Ω ]

  11. #11
    Senior Member realMakc's Avatar
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    you sort of missing the point but whatever. I remember you love to argue for the sake of it, so I'll be better shutting up.
    who is this? a word of friendly advice: FFS stop using AS2

  12. #12
    abirduphigh Zacaboo288's Avatar
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    I think it might be time for a new saga. If The Arena was generally an output for styles and ideas that weren't appropriate for the office or other ventures, a sort of open forum for personal exploration, then perhaps a new section of the forum should succeed this one that is more geared around this behavior, without any prerequisites for competition or glory.

    I never cared much for battling here. I have been more interested in sharing my reach towards full potential and receiving support from fellow members to make that reach even further. I love contributing that support as well. IMO, "The Arena" somewhat eludes to this prospect of community effort but, far too often, results in just the opposite: egoism, banter and often disrespect. I say we close this chapter and be done with it.

  13. #13
    He has risen! lefteyewilly's Avatar
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    well, i feel like i have to come back and defend the Kit after my little tirade.

    Rollcanvas
    March Madness
    Pixel Town
    Interforum Battles
    Ondreadon vs Fearless

    ...just to name a few.

    These were some AMAZING community oriented events. Not only were these heavily participated in, but comments regarding images were just outstanding in quality and number. I had a friggin blast watching all those events and seeing progress. Most of you people shaped my career today.

    And RealMac...you have no clue what the arena is about. Coding battles? seriously? who wants to do that? "oooh, nice array you coded there, really makes the code clean"...get over it. This has always been a graphics area. never coding.

    And zac, there are other non-competitive forums right here in this section that is for graphics/arts. Some AMAZING classical artists (no photo manips) post in hte graphics forums....and they rarely venture into the arena...which is slightly sad, but, meh, i can understand.

    Let's all be honest here...the arena has lapsed in the last two years...less normal battles, less participation in events, and it all culminated with last year's March Madness. All of us who were the ones who kept this going got pissed at eachother, and the arena imploded on itself. We've been in postwar recovery for more than a year, yet there's no-one to help the process...

    let it die.

  14. #14
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    i think ppl have too high expectations of what arena should be for them. There arent really newcomers to the arena and regulars are bitter about their past experiences further downgrade the arena even more.

    ppl shouldnt be too serious about it and should post pictures for the love of it.

  15. #15
    supervillain gerbick's Avatar
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    I'm putting aside my supermoderator title for a moment and talking as the person that fought as a member for the Arena back in the day before it existed.

    Egos and bull**** aside, most people posting in this thread were not here before the days of the Arena. It was about friendly competition and sharing how you did something - technique and tutorials were oft talked about. We had professionals teaching others techniques that were later used in their career paths down the line.

    Then a new breed came in... all about "praise me" "worship me" "pay attention to me"... bunch of egocentric ****tards that really don't add a damn thing to anything but their own self-glory. I've yet to see a tutorial or in-depth answer from most people on the other side of 2007.

    Does that contribute to the "death" of the Arena? Yes/no. The no part was that there were always people that didn't share styles, information, wanted nothing but glory and added zero.

    There were people that saw things only in their own way and never really contributed.

    There were always people that were willing to share new styles, things, information... and were quietly the heroes of the Arena.

    I learned from as many people as I hoped learned from me. I did it because it was fun. The Arena in the initial battles; the moderators fought hard to never declare a "winner". What's the use for a friendly battle to just find out who the winner was. In most cases, the people watching were the winners.

    Right now, the way people are taking things so damn serious - I don't know most of you even if I walked past you, so nothing I could say would be personal unless you were to allow yourself to take it that way - is just sick. The Arena was fun.

    Now? To refuse stroking one's ego in the Arena is sacrilege and if I get another PM about "I got disrespected" from somebody in the Arena - I had a folder of about 200+ complaints at one time before I just deleted it out of disgust - it just should die.

    It was a resource. Plain and simple. And the resource never got new information in the latter years.

    I'm personally happy at the little bit of influence I had in some members that I had assisted outside of the Arena... but it started from within the Arena. A place were artists came, had fun, talked **** to each other, patted each other on the back, learned from each other.

    Now? Not at all like that.

    Go ahead, twist my words as you wish. That seems to be the way of the Arena now anyway

    [ Hello ] | [ gerbick ] | [ Ω ]

  16. #16
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    haha.. i sneaked around to ultrashock and their battle forum is suffering the same fate. im beginning to think maybe it's just the economy...

  17. #17
    Senior Member realMakc's Avatar
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    Coding battles? seriously? who wants to do that? "oooh, nice array you coded there, really makes the code clean"...get over it. This has always been a graphics area. never coding.
    that's sort of part of my point, it is way easier to open up photoshop, but now people cant be bothered to do even that. some sites I visit time to time still have living photoshop area, but I'm affraid the link would be against the rules, because of nsfw and non-kids-friendly nature of those then, ther is always 4chan or b3ta. as to "who wants to do that", go see wonderfl, you'd be surprized.
    Last edited by realMakc; 06-16-2009 at 03:51 AM.
    who is this? a word of friendly advice: FFS stop using AS2

  18. #18
    supervillain gerbick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by realMakc View Post
    that's sort of part of my point, it is way easier to open up photoshop, but now people cant be bothered to do even that. some sites I visit time to time still have living photoshop area, but I'm affraid the link would be against the rules, because of nsfw and non-kids-friendly nature of those then, ther is always 4chan or b3ta. as to "who wants to do that", go see wonderfl, you'd be surprized.
    Your code battles, I wanted to get involved. But won't lie, I've not done anything artistic or generative in code in over 5 years.

    Well that and my code has gotten... utilitarian. Art is art; code or otherwise. But before you, there were other attempts and code battles are usually harder to get off the ground.

    [ Hello ] | [ gerbick ] | [ Ω ]

  19. #19
    Senior Member realMakc's Avatar
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    btw here's something on subject on code battles. after 25lines, there was twittercoding, but as far as I can tell it is dying too.
    who is this? a word of friendly advice: FFS stop using AS2

  20. #20
    supervillain gerbick's Avatar
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    So with that said... it seems like battling as a whole is just... dying off.

    I've noticed other sites where it's "died" off too, just not here.

    [ Hello ] | [ gerbick ] | [ Ω ]

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