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Anyone still around from the old days?


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Hello Arnies.

I have logged in to see if this site was still going. And while I am relieved to see that it has a pulse, I am saddened by what a ghost town it has become. 

I'm guessing this is mostly death by Facebook, and a changing landscape of the internet in general, but I still think forums are so much better as a resource. Structured threads and a community spirit rather than throwaway likes and 15 minutes of fame. 

Not sure who is still around from the old days (Or if anyone even recalls my handle?). While I first visited this board in 2006, I have been a registered user since 2007. I'm also pleased to see many of the moderators still kicking about, and fighting the good fight. 

This forum was everything for me in my teens, F5ing all day, and there'd always be new pictures and chat, and things I would drool over and never afford. 

I think I must have dropped out of the 'game' in 2011ish. Probably played my last game at Xsite in High Wycombe maybe in 2010? Are they still going? Anyone play there now?

I reconnected a bit with this hobby last year (as a collecting thing, and getting involved in ASPC here in HK very casually). Have been thinking whether to get involved in the skirmishing side again.

Not sure what the post of this post is really, guess I was just feeling extremely nostalgic. I have enjoyed looking at and cringing at my teenage writing style. And also laughing at how hard I wanted to be one of the cool 'geardos' with my Pantac, and China made garbage 😂

Anyone feel the same? Anyone come back to this hobby from a long hiatus?

Cheers,

Michael

Edited by Delta_Knight
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If anyone's interested in nostalgia, I've just rehosted JustPistols. You can find it at http://justpistols.epizy.com Apologies for typos/broken links/etc/etc/etc... Cheers.

So for anyone interested, I played again! And yes, I had a great time! Not sure I'll play regularly, but nice to dip my toes back into the gaming side of it all. Thought playing with only GBBRs w

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Arnies used to be great!!! I still come for the odd bit of news but the days of really cool collectors showing off their expensive toys is sadly gone. We are left with a somewhat smaller younger group who are not really into the really expensive pieces, but more into small chat about random topics on off topic forums. The OGs like wolf George, squad 701 and many more use Instagram and facebook now, I think Nonex is the only OG around these day but his post are few compared to older days. Arnies hasn't been the same for years

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I'm still around, as are a decent number of the old regulars.

Facebook I reckon is the main culprit for killing off text based discussion, retailers and manufacturers, including myself have more or less exclusivly moved to Facebook and Instagram which in my view makes a lot of sense, far easier to have a single social media account than trying to manage sub forums on numerous different forums, even if forums regained popularity.

Reviews seem to be heavily Youtube based now, I mean, who wants to do a well written review anymore with reasonable to excellent photos? Apart from those of us who hate cameras.

Model specific owners groups on Facebook have been a big thing for some time now, they serve their purpose pretty well and from what I've seen the quality of the information has got a lot better than the early days when imo the ones I looked at were pretty dire. The problem with those is the insecurity of being at the mercy of Facebook is starting to bite and I've heard of lots of airsoft Facebook groups getting killed off lately, aside from saving people from registering for a separate forum I don't think those groups do anything more or anything better than having a model specific subforum on a traditional forum like here would do, in many respects I think they're worse and leave the airsoft community at the mercy of others.

I probably sound a bit old now but forums served the airsoft community well for a long time, given the nature of airsoft and the anti-gun ideology of new social media I think it could serve it well again in the future.

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Thanks for the reply folks, glad to hear that not all love is lost for traditional text based boards.

Makes me wonder how much is tied to Airsoft as a hobby in general too. I can't comment too much on the scene globally as I've been away for so long, but based purely on retail here in HK, Kwong Wah Street is depressing. 

In my teens, my old man and I used to spend a day in and out of the shops, comparing prices, bargaining with the shop keepers, but now, I struggle to kill half an hour there. The golden years, where nearly every shop was Airsoft, compared to now, where it is more dessert shops and watch boutiques. A new shop did just open, so maybe there is life in the old girl yet.

My main link to the hobby is the DevT6 boards, as my interest has always been more nylon than tappet plates and motors, but they're struggling too. I think the niche level is what is keeping it afloat. 

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OG 2004 - facebook has killed forums. Every community has a finite lifespan unfortunately. 2006-2008 arnies was amazing, chinese AEGs had made the game much more accessible, lots of american users joined and 'geardo'-ism was at its peak. Good times! I have recently joined another UK airsoft forum but its got a bit of a sour vibe to be honest... i'm sticking around here.

 

Edit - have to disagree with Rob on youtube reviews. Most of them are like 20 mins long - you could read a review in a fraction of the time and thats without the 'hhhheeeyyy there guuuys' youtube *suitcase* either haha. But also some of the review threads on here are priceless - hours and hours of shared experience of whatever platform going back years in quite a few cases.

Edited by Skarclaw
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2006 to 2008, this place was KICKING. Jeez, this place really was a huge deal for me back then.

I could honestly mash refresh on the boards in an afternoon, instead of revising for whatever exams I was taking at the time, and there would be something new to see.

I always thought Arnies UK focus but international flavour of the membership made it the best around.

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I only joined in 2012 I think so not one of the OG posters, but it was definitely a lot more active at that time, although I'm sure it was a lot more active before then!

Ultimately I share your frustrations with Facebook. It very nearly killed forums across the board for all hobbies despite being objectively inferior for consistent, organised discussion. It got a lot worse in the last year or so however when FB started ramping up the work their content algorithms do to match content they think you want to see - and I think that's off a lot of people, especially considering the anti-gun/RIF vibe. 

I hope forums aren't a dying breed, although nu-social media is making that hard to hope for ultimately. 

 

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Joined in 05 to get schooled on true geardo-ism

doc newstead, havoc, crunchy bunny, sledge, it was chaos. I remember when the off topic section discovered the lazy town pirate song, good lord.

candyman's wa2000 build was a saga for sure

Sad to see it slow down, hopefully with social media tightening its grip we'll see a renaissance.

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First game was August '07, I want to say I joined not long after, but I have a feeling it was January' 08.

 

I was the same, refreshing all the time. This place was crazy busy. I remember spending an afternoon catching up on the party pad, and wondering if lord sex was a drug dealer to fund his SEALS fetish. 

Heady days indeed! 

 

Also, good to see you back and posting 😊

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1 hour ago, Skarclaw said:

Edit - have to disagree with Rob on youtube reviews. Most of them are like 20 mins long - you could read a review in a fraction of the time and thats without the 'hhhheeeyyy there guuuys' youtube *suitcase* either haha. But also some of the review threads on here are priceless - hours and hours of shared experience of whatever platform going back years in quite a few cases.

I'm not saying reviews on Youtube, or video reviews in general are a bad thing, just that they are now the prefered thing for many people compared to the good old written review, I don't think I'd be wrong in saying it's a simple fact the number of written reviews has declined and the number of video reviews has increased drastically, also well written is very different to well filmed and produced in my mind.

Also as you say the review threads here in some cases have a vast amount of follow up information and updates, I'm sure Youtube comments have some too, but reading comments on Youtube is a risky affair, watching a train crash comes to mind sometimes. I think an ideal situation would be either review format as the OP then the traditional follow up questions and information on a forum, the only real downside to some of the bigger threads is they become a bit too big and that I think is where a specific subforum would come in for a common model or group of models and why Facebook owners groups have done so well.

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Joined in 2006 and been playing somewhat regularly since then. It is too bad what Facebook has done to many of the great airsofting communities of old including Arnie's but also places like Airsoft Canada and my own local forum. Arnie's was truly a great community back in "the day" with all sorts of characters - TheCrunchBunny, Sledge, Stealthbomber, Magz, MasakariJoe, Titleist, DarkLite, CKinnerly - some of whom are still around. The days of the "Clone Wars" where a new replica was released every month and the forums were filled with people posting the latest build trends (Art of Tactical Carbine!) have sadly passed us by.

There's a lot to be said for the convenience of Facebook and while the 101 airsoft groups on it are great for some niches (Gothic Serpent kit, early GWOT kit, Polarstar Owners Group, etc) there's a big hole when it comes to having one cohesive community.

 

edit: Is it actually possible anymore to see a full members list for Arnie's?

Edited by Gigueand
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Sheesh, had to check my profile... Been a member here since May 2005... At least.

Might have been couple absences due to disintegrating computers (and not logging from work computer to 'questionable' sites). But that's a long time to spend on a hobby... Started playing in 2000, though... No idea how I got onto Arie's.

I liked the more whimsical gear threads, like SciFi loadouts and 'What if Rhodesia'., sadly those are now pretty much dead.

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my first game ever was in the last century (2000), bought my first gun in 2002-ish but not really into the game until 2005-ish
tried some competitive (un)practical shooting around 2010 and got addicted ever since, gradually decreasing activity on force-on-force games and more against paper but still play few times a year

#feelsold

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18 hours ago, Gigueand said:

TheCrunchBunny, Sledge, Stealthbomber, Magz, MasakariJoe, Titleist, DarkLite, CKinnerly 

Blimey, those names ring a bell!

 

10 hours ago, Katotaka said:

gradually decreasing activity on force-on-force games and more against paper but still play few times a year

Where do you shoot Katotaka? I'm at Doubletap on and off throughout the year, but I'm an absolute rookie still. 

Edited by Delta_Knight
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I've seen people have 200 comment discussions on Facebook about what to do about the groups getting banned or deleted. When you suggest going back to the forums they react like you've suggested human sacrifice.

I hope forums have a resurgence though. They're literally designed for purpose.

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