Katawa Shoujo Forums

Although I know I missed the main hype of the game, I feel sort of dissapointed that I look at the amount of current people on the forums and then I see that the most at one point was over 500.
What happened? Why did people leave the forums?

I think the answer is really boring. Precisely because of the hype most people who are interested in that kind of thing have seen it already. Even of those who liked it most have moved on at some point. Of course interest is also highly circular. There were far more new reviews and discussions throughout the net when it was new.

There are new people discovering it and there are loyal fans who won't give it up anytime soon, but for a one-off work it isn't surprising that their numbers are only a fraction of the all time high.

Keep in mind the population inflated during the release, as the fanbase existed pre-launch, then ballooned, then decreased to now. I don't thing that everyone will one day leave, I come here just fro the people really, I do still love KS tho.

I was one of the people who signed up for the forums during the peak of its popularity, made a few posts, then slunk away as my obsession with the work faded.

And now I'm back because I started reading the fanfics. And also because I started seriously working on writing my own. I'd written the start of something on four sheets of legal pad a while back, and now that I've decided to make it an actual thing, I'm finding myself doing a truckload of research and planning. Especially the research. I had no idea there was so much to learn about paraplegia and diabetes (among many others) until now.

Anyway, back to the topic, this is a thing that occurs naturally in a lot of places. Collective interest rises with the release of a new thing, peaks for a while, and then drops as most people go on to the next new thing, leaving only a handful of diehard fans and a smattering of late arrivals.

Just wished I was here when everyone else was
I would have seen KS sooner AND been on the forums when it was active

Bailey wrote:Just wished I was here when everyone else was
I would have seen KS sooner AND been on the forums when it was active

Well, just be glad it's still active when you did show up. I've stumbled onto things after they were new to find nobody cared anymore.

Bailey wrote:Just wished I was here when everyone else was
I would have seen KS sooner AND been on the forums when it was active

Well, it was only more active for maybe one or two months after the release. Posting has been relatively stable since then.
It's still way above pre-release levels.
(Please note that I don't have any numbers to back this - just my personal impressions and the amount of reading I do from day to day here.

I am one of these new people who have only recently discovered KS. Just a shame by the time I have arrived the amount of people here has started to decline.
Could be worse I guess, I could have stumbled across something years old like I normally do, lol!

Offtopic: Is there actually a thread to introduce yourself on here? If so I couldn't find it.

Aphex wrote:I am one of these new people who have only recently discovered KS. Just a shame by the time I have arrived the amount of people here has started to decline.
Could be worse I guess, I could have stumbled across something years old like I normally do, lol!

Offtopic: Is there actually a thread to introduce yourself on here? If so I couldn't find it.

It doesn't seem like there is, the community seems kind of distant and maybe that's why :/

Bailey wrote:

Aphex wrote:I am one of these new people who have only recently discovered KS. Just a shame by the time I have arrived the amount of people here has started to decline.
Could be worse I guess, I could have stumbled across something years old like I normally do, lol!

Offtopic: Is there actually a thread to introduce yourself on here? If so I couldn't find it.

It doesn't seem like there is, the community seems kind of distant and maybe that's why :/

It's part of the forum rules, actually:

"Please don't create self-introduction threads. We'll be happier to welcome you if you post meaningful content, and you can introduce yourself at the same time."

That said, I've found people to be generally welcoming here. I had a rough first few days getting my feet under me, but my persistence has been rewarded .

dewelar wrote: It's part of the forum rules, actually:

"Please don't create self-introduction threads. We'll be happier to welcome you if you post meaningful content, and you can introduce yourself at the same time."

That said, I've found people to be generally welcoming here. I had a rough first few days getting my feet under me, but my persistence has been rewarded .

Ye, I've just been posting a lot and people seem to be welcoming enough I do think that indroduction threads give a good way to tell others about yourself though, which is why I'm dissapointed

Bailey wrote:It doesn't seem like there is, the community seems kind of distant and maybe that's why :/

I think in part it is just because many people have been here for a long time and they talk about a comparatively narrow subject. That means that much of the time people know each other and they have had broadly similar discussions before. Occasionally you feel a bit late to the party even if nobody intends that.

In addition to that personally I think there are reasons related to the rules and moderation on this board. However those are very much a matter of personal preference and the way things are seems to be fine with most people, including those who make the rules. Because of that I am not sure how welcome opening that can of worms would be.

Ritter Delorges wrote:

Bailey wrote:It doesn't seem like there is, the community seems kind of distant and maybe that's why :/

I think in part it is just because many people have been here for a long time and they talk about a comparatively narrow subject. That means that much of the time people know each other and they have had broadly similar discussions before. Occasionally you feel a bit late to the party even if nobody intends that.

In addition to that personally I think there are reasons related to the rules and moderation on this board. However those are very much a matter of personal preference and the way things are seems to be fine with most people, including those who make the rules. Because of that I am not sure how welcome opening that can of worms would be.

I think an "Off-Topic" section of the forum would help to be honest, but I'm not sure if it could be/would be added.

Bailey wrote:

dewelar wrote: It's part of the forum rules, actually:

"Please don't create self-introduction threads. We'll be happier to welcome you if you post meaningful content, and you can introduce yourself at the same time."

That said, I've found people to be generally welcoming here. I had a rough first few days getting my feet under me, but my persistence has been rewarded .

Ye, I've just been posting a lot and people seem to be welcoming enough I do think that indroduction threads give a good way to tell others about yourself though, which is why I'm dissapointed

I think the forums are so welcoming to new-comer because there's so little activity. Still, I just wish more people actually knew about KS... it's one of those things that I feel everyone should experience. Sadly, it's hard to get place "Dating-Sim" or "Visual Novel" when I tell people about it.

I got the VN pretty soon after it came out (after I finished I checked the release date and I was pretty darn surprised; it was something like a month out) but didn't really actively take part in the community. I posted a bit in a few of the /b/ threads and the General when I found /vg/, but both of those were after I 100%ed the thing; about three or four months out. I only really joined the Renai after browsing the /vg/ thread for a bit and seeing some hype for some fanfic updates (specifically thanatos02's Akira route, if I recall correctly). Though, by that time most of the initial KS hype had worn off so I ended up lurking mostly and making a fool/ass of myself.