Still lessons to be learned...

By the definition you put forward WC seems to fit the criteria exactly - communication by people with a common interest (skinning), communicating about that interest. Using a strict interpretation of this definition DA could possibly be considered less of a community since the interests and artwork there are more varied and diverse. I can't find how many members DA has, but I'm assuming it's more than WC - I don't feel size is any indication of a better community. I'd be interested to see stats on posts and replies based on relative numbers of members. And, I'm not sure I see the relevance of the socializing comment - there seems to be plenty of that (witness the number of members who post on a regular/daily basis, and the sometimes, may we say peculiar/bizarre topics - not always about skinning - that end up being discussed!).

The timing of this post makes me wonder if it is making it's own comment about the recent other posts concerning members who have left the community. What has transpired in those posts only seems to prove the "community" aspect of WC - people with common interests freely discussing what is important and relevant to them and other members. A community is not always, nor does it need to be, "warm and fuzzy".

I'm not saying you are wrong in your opinion (and you are a member posting this to initiate a discussion within this "community") - I just feel WC fits your definition, and I am enjoying being part of this community.

I'm enjoying this site as well. I have been for a long long time, since it's my 6th year around here. You are right that size does not correspond to better quality, but people's attitude does. It's just that i have this constant complaint that members don't really interact much. If you need particular stats i can say to you that in 6 years here i commented 1135 times (most of them being Thanks for a Wow or Great), whilst in less than a year over at DA i already gave 5700 meaningful comments. See that gives you the size of difference. Oh and timing is not related to other posts, it's just that i have some time now and came back for a while to see what goes on. The results are rather depressing.

What do you mean "the results are rather depressing"? Does that mean your opinion of what is taking place day-to-day? (not being critical, just wondering)

I'm not too sure about the not interacting though - I stay on the fringes around here (cuz of lack of knowledge and experience), but it seems like there are a lot of people who interact with each other very often, and not necessarily only on this site. I drop by other related sites - skinartistry, DA, etc. - and see the same names everywhere, interacting with each other. I think that is a big part of what I see, and makes me comfortable, here.

I have only "hung around" for a year or two (so I don't know what it used to be like), but I get the impression that members who have been around for many years (and it is noted you are a "master apprentice") often feel it was better early on - but, I think that it is not uncommon to find that people like a smaller more intimate group/community better. I have found it easier to feel comfortable here, than on other sites dedicated to the same topics. I have not joined many other forums on other sites, but in checking around the net it seems most forums I check out end up with way too many harsh comments and criticisms, of the posters and replies, more often. I attribute that to the anonymous nature the internet offers - and to me it seems worse at larger sites. (Just my opinion)

Your 5700 comments does show me that you find DA more comfortable, but I would still like to see total numbers of members and comments, considering the greater diversity of work at DA (last I remember seeing there were something like 23,000,000 deviations, is that accurate ??). And also, most the posts here do concern themselves with skinning - which seems to define the idea of this being a community with a common interest.

Your statistics are highly misleading, given the difference in size between the sites. Lets look at it another way:-

WC has a post for every 1.7 submissions

DA has a post for every 26.1 submissions

Statistics can say whatever you want them to   

  

Benjamin Disraeli said:
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Well to explain the depressing state:
a. The site got a new interface that is not quite stable, as was the previous one to say. I often get tons of errors messages and forums don't always work.
b. Alot of good people i hear them leaving (already 5 skinners gone, maybe more to follow). But that's maybe cause i caught the site at a bad time.
c. There is still no PM system implemented to the site. A site this large should have already develop a code for this.
d. The rating system is still the same and i wouldn't like to analyze this further.
e. The community is still too introverted. There is a core of 500, maybe 1000 people who comment and chat and all the others are just downloaders. (Bear in mind that the site has 4 million unique visitors per day). Your above comment reinforces that.

You are right though that this in a stricter sense is a more compact or specialized skinning community, cause DA goes way beyond that. Is not just art or skinning, it's all that a member may be concerned with. Also in DA there are 33 million devs now.

Now you may understand the above statements. I'm not old enough to pass judgement, but i have the right to see what was going on and what is currently happening.

and more are silly devs! sorry but that's the true look at mine LOL!

Well said.

What do you mean??? A forum post has to do with skin submissions how?

The point was to see the evolution of Forums on the two largest communities in the world.

Silly or not it's still the expression of human beings.

If you need more you can look at this: WWW Link

You'll find more than enough to satisfy your needs.

You were trying to draw a comparison between sites, stating there are very few forum posts here. I was merely pointing out the difference in the size of the two sites and how more active this site is than DA, given the number of submissions which show the respective sizes of the sites   

Don't know who you are, but you've convinced me.

I want to do my part, so I'll stop submitting skins and just post comments. Any way that I can help this community.

If I post screenshots of comments, would that be a skin or a comment?

Actually i was trying to stress the need for more forums in WC and a much better communication system for the members in order to become a viable future community. I'm not here to be a DA advocate or promoter. I do love this site. I just don't like seeing it gradually losing its power.

And since you insist on comparisons...



Traffic Rank for deviantart.com: 106 Alexa Source: WWW Link

Traffic Rank for wincustomize.com: 3,551 Alexa Source: link="http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?url=wincustomize.com"]WWW Link[/link]

You know very well what is meant by 'active'   

Yaa..Ok!   

I hope you meant that for real. A Master would be a good start to set an example.

If it's meant to be funny through sarcasm then i need not say anything. I'd just be a bit sad.

Forum hiccup...

Your sure as hell not here to promote WC.   

No i don't. Please elaborate.

I'm just expressing dolefulness. Nothing more, nothing less.

I'd never urge people to abandon site. If that is what you imply.

I guess I'm sad.
The whole thing was meant to be "very" sarcastic.
Do you really think I would stop submitting skins? Right.....

Just because I'm a Master, doesn't mean I have to agree with everything.
This is a community. We're a big family. I'm the sarcastic one.

For your other concerns...

There is a forum bug thread here somewhere, if you have noticed any problems please post there as the developers are always wanting more info.

Just a bad time... For every person leaving because they can't get their way there are a dozen who never stayed more than one visit due to seeing that person trying to bully others and being elitist. People should have a right to express an opinion without being abused or feeling demeaned. The site needs to be more welcoming to new people.

PM system is in development. I see a PM when I click on someone's nick, and a couple of us have exchanged messages, but I don't know if it's still experimental or where it is going.

You will never have a rating system which satisfies everyone. The rating system is here to stay and you just have to accept some people are never going to be happy about it.

More active means ratio of people posting v uploading, not site traffic, which of course would be vastly different due to the different sizes of the two sites.

I never said that.



I didn't say that either.

Why do you think sarcasm works? You could try mildness at first.

Oh...



I may not be who you are, but that doesn't mean you can treat me or anyone else like that.

Okay...i'll see to it later.



One of the worst from what i see...sad..but inevitable.



Glad to hear this. I hope it gets implemented soon and is not a Subs only feature.



I know that. Sad, but necessary i guess.



Didn't understand this 100%, but i'll take your word for it...although i thought site activity is counted by traffic.