What happened???

[Montcalm]

And here I am, joining after years of silently reading this forum.
Hopefully others will follow!

[jshoer]

Besides personal stuff that just has me less active with mapping recently, I think the answer is social media in general. There are a good number of Guild folks active on Twitter, and in fact Twitter became the main way I interacted with the Guild forums...when ChickPea was posting regular tweets about every new finished map and challenge! I took to using her tweets to track activity here, and only went to the forums to go look at a new map in detail and post on those threads. Needless to say, that was a mistake...first CP disappeared, now all of Twitter might implode. But I don't think I'm alone in changing my internet browsing habits to be more aligned to the social media ecosystem...and now it's coming back to bite me. So I'm trying to get back into checking the forums more regularly.

The whole thing reminds me of Matthew Inman's comic: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/reaching_people

There are still a bunch of us posting maps and interacting on Twitter, but who knows how long that'll last.

One proactive thing we might do: is there another app besides Tapatalk that we could use to view the forums on a phone? Tapatalk doesn't support some Guild functions (like challenge polls), it's a little hard to navigate, it shows a lot of ads (including the dreaded autoplay video....and I'm sure the revenue goes to Tapatalk, not the Guild), and worst of all for a art site, it down samples images substantially. I know maps are best viewed on larger monitors, but we could better meet people where they are. I view maps on a phone often myself.

[Chashio]

One proactive thing we might do: is there another app besides Tapatalk that we could use to view the forums on a phone? Tapatalk doesn't support some Guild functions (like challenge polls), it's a little hard to navigate, it shows a lot of ads (including the dreaded autoplay video....and I'm sure the revenue goes to Tapatalk, not the Guild), and worst of all for a art site, it down samples images substantially. I know maps are best viewed on larger monitors, but we could better meet people where they are. I view maps on a phone often myself.

I never use Tapatalk on phone... Always view the full website.

[Chashio]

As to the main thread conversation, the only thing I can add for myself beyond what others have said already... sometimes my creativity is aimed at maps, sometimes it isn't. Unless I'm in a map-creative headspace for a solid chunk of time (and the rest of my life is going well enough), I don't feel like I have enough map-directed energy to get involved around here.

[Corilliant]

I haven't really been around this last year, so noticing the absence of the Atlas Awards was my first inkling that things were getting quieter here.

For me, one of the sadder aspects of the internet's evolution over the last decade is how much worse search engine algorithms are getting at suggesting sites like ours. I can't recall the last time a search result returned a quirky or interesting website to me (which was how I came across the Guild). At risk of sounding like some irritating internet marketer, I don't think this trend has helped our online "presence" or "retention". I think we were on the right track with treating social media platforms only as tools to support and promote the forum rather than as the future of the community, though.

Ours is not a dying art by any means, so I'm sure that some people will naturally return once their circumstances allow it. I sense people agree "improvements" to the site could assist in drawing people back, but there's limited time and labour we can invest in website upgrades, so it'd need to be strategic. Unfortunately, it's a bit difficult to gauge what members value more when so many are currently not about and can't tell us what they think!

A wee idea — perhaps our leaders could cook up a one-off email survey to the wider community with questions that they think might assist with the longer-term planning for the site.

It's been a rubbish few years for everyone in general. To all the folks who posted about their experiences — I wish you the best and hope your fortunes turn for the better this year!

[Turambar]

I haven't really been around this last year, so noticing the absence of the Atlas Awards was my first inkling that things were getting quieter here.

I really hope the Atlas awards are back this year. Mods, anything on this? In addition to being a lot of fun and great for the artists who win, it is also an avenue for marketing the forum. I found the Guild through the Atlas Awards.

[Josiah VE]

I remember a few years back it was very active, with lots of new maps, feedback, challenges and big collaborative projects. As others have mentioned, it is sad to see less activity now with a changing internet. This was one of my favorite spaces on the internet and I recognize the names of all of the regular posters. I also felt like it was a place to interact with and learn from the giants of modern artistic cartography.

Personally I haven't made a map for a number of months, not because of any specific situation, more of just a break or a lapse, but I've been itching to get back into it. I still stalk the site frequently and I imagine many of our experienced members still do.
I hope this site rebounds to its former self as I can't really think of a comparable platform on the internet for this sort of community. I don't think new social media platforms come close to the potential for community interaction, critique and learning as this place does.

Good luck to all! Nice to hear from some familiar names.

[Diamond]

A wee idea — perhaps our leaders could cook up a one-off email survey to the wider community with questions that they think might assist with the longer-term planning for the site.

This right here is a brilliant (a Corilliant?) idea. I'll float it to the CLs.

As for the Atlas Awards... yeah. It is a huge amount of work. One of the CLs has expressed interest in reviving it though, so stay tuned.

[Naima]

What I do not understand is why many people are moving to Discord servers rather than stay on classic forums, I personally find the Discord servers extremely dispersive and hard to follow, and Threads get lost in the kilometric chats . While Forums are more clean , unmessy and organized, really , what's driving people to Discord ?

[- JO -]

The exchange that we have there, in this thread, is the very symbol of the values and the advantages that there are with this guild site: constructive exchanges, sharing of experience and life situations, all that in an atmosphere of trust and kindness (with also the ease of following a conversation started more than 15 days ago).

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the guild site is one of the rare (the only?) place on the internet where I find all these values that are dear to me... This is why the finding of the decline in activity and audience (is it true?) is quite sad.

I share the experience that several members of the guild have testified to on this thread: a complicated situation at work, the shock of the pandemic, a growing feeling of isolation, division, distance and the loss of dear friendships . The motivation to create maps and imaginary worlds is still there with me, but the availability of spirit has decreased, as has the time available (I think I had to move on to other leisure activities more "engaging for the mind", which allow me less to think about my situation... Before, when I drew the trees of a big forest, my mind escaped. Today, it constantly comes back to reality and diverts me from drawing

All these observations are hardly encouraging... but I hope (sometimes I am even sure of it) that my availability of spirit will return and that I will find time and energy to resume drawing maps. I know that the interest is still there, hidden deep inside me, and that I continue, from time to time, to work for a few minutes on one or other of the projects that are on hold and that I take pleasure in.

I know that I continue (less than before, it's true) to come here, to the guild, to admire the latest maps published, to greet one or another member, vote for one or another map in a challenge. Each month (less now, due to the new challenge schedule), I hope that the theme of a challenge will captivate me and blow on the ashes of my motivation and awaken the cartographer in me who has fallen asleep a little.

My dearest wish is that the guild continues to exist, if possible in the form of this forum (which corresponds better to my habits of an old man). I dream that "the ancients ones who have disappear" will come back one day and, with their wonderful maps, their advice so wise, their encouragement so rich in motivation, give hope and courage to all those who have lost it (including me).