Is Lemmesoft Dying

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aliciarune
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Is Lemmesoft Dying

#1 Post by aliciarune »

I just ask because it seems not many people are on here compared to a few years ago. Also, have most of the moderators left? I know some retired from ren'py like the original creator, I just wasn't sure. And I know I've seen people post a thread introducing themselves, but many don't post again or rarely. Why I am asking is NaNo is coming up and I haven't really seen much about it here or on twitter from the people I follow. Is it because I'm too early? I really hope lemmesoft isn't dying. I miss when people engage each other with small talk or topics about visual novels. I mean, whether someone posts a new vn in the works in progress section or the completed games it seems no one or barely anyone takes interest. I know it's weird, but I like seeing people's games and what others think and how they help or encourage them.

Sorry if this is negative. I just ask because not many topics seem to around anymore....
Last edited by aliciarune on Thu Feb 07, 2019 7:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#2 Post by Equil »

Most forums iv'e been visiting lately still have a few people posting sometimes but compared to earlier years it seems a lot less active, not sure why maybe theres a new one people have migrated to or people creating visual novels are just using the forums less.

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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#3 Post by aliciarune »

Equil wrote: Thu Feb 07, 2019 7:19 pm Most forums iv'e been visiting lately still have a few people posting sometimes but compared to earlier years it seems a lot less active, not sure why maybe theres a new one people have migrated to or people creating visual novels are just using the forums less.
That's sad, but you are right...Even fuwanovel has had less people over the years. I guess I'm just down about it because it was easy to get a lot of feedback on your game and seeing a lot of Jam projects was also fun because you could play them.

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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#4 Post by Equil »

yeah I guess its something that unfortunately happens over time, however at least there is still a little activity going on so it might not be as frequent or as much but there's still some feedback you can get and the odd couple of projects you see.

I love seeing the art concepts and stories people are coming up with, there have been some really cool looking projects I've seen in the forums and love seeing the different art styles and methods people using for their creations.

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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#5 Post by aliciarune »

Equil wrote: Thu Feb 07, 2019 7:27 pm yeah I guess its something that unfortunately happens over time, however at least there is still a little activity going on so it might not be as frequent or as much but there's still some feedback you can get and the odd couple of projects you see.

I love seeing the art concepts and stories people are coming up with, there have been some really cool looking projects I've seen in the forums and love seeing the different art styles and methods people using for their creations.

That's like me. I like looking at the things people come up with both story and art wise. Actually, the recruitment section seems to be the most active, so I'm guessing that's good. And yeah, there's still activity and we're getting new people, so that's good. I don't know if there are many other forums for other visual novels though. Could it be because people aren't making them as much anymore? I'm wondering.

But sad thing is, I have notice social sites are also all gone. Like, I haven't been able to find any anime social networking sites besides one dating one. It's really depressing :(

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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#6 Post by Equil »

since the recruitment one is the most active at least we know that there are still some being made so that's a bit of good news, I am not sure on that either I tried to look for some point didn't have much luck might try again later. I do hope that's not the case

yeah, I think the only kind of social one that is quite active still is my anime list. There may be others but I haven't found them yet at least, its still early in the year though so maybe there will be a huge revival soon. Just go to hope for the best, although it is curious as why they've gone more quiet recently

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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#7 Post by aliciarune »

Equil wrote: Thu Feb 07, 2019 7:38 pm since the recruitment one is the most active at least we know that there are still some being made so that's a bit of good news, I am not sure on that either I tried to look for some point didn't have much luck might try again later. I do hope that's not the case

yeah, I think the only kind of social one that is quite active still is my anime list. There may be others but I haven't found them yet at least, its still early in the year though so maybe there will be a huge revival soon. Just go to hope for the best, although it is curious as why they've gone more quiet recently


Yeah, that is good news. I also see new artists looking to be hired so someone is telling them about lemmesoft.

And yeah, they seem to be gone. I don't know why. I know Ambino is a popular phone app, but honestly I'm not a fan of using my phone all the time. I miss the days when these social communities were around. You make a background and things like that and list your favorite animes as well

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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#8 Post by Johan »

well, almost all my time is dedicated to do the visual novel. so im full work doing that. Since NaNoReNo is coming up, i assume people are trying to get done things, so they can fully work on nanoreno later. honestly, i do see the forum active? though since i'm a creating a visual novel, most of the time i am on the recruitment forum so that may be xD. Or checking any new posts :3 idk how it was back then (though i've kinda lurked this forum from time to time :p) but i assume that now there are new way to communicate?

for example, no more skype or msn chat, but now there's Discord, I'm on a discord now, only for people who talk spanish AND who make visual novels or use renpy, and i do enjoy talking with them :D! (it's on my signature)

There is the renpy official discord, btw.
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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#9 Post by aliciarune »

Johan wrote: Thu Feb 07, 2019 11:35 pm well, almost all my time is dedicated to do the visual novel. so im full work doing that. Since NaNoReNo is coming up, i assume people are trying to get done things, so they can fully work on nanoreno later. honestly, i do see the forum active? though since i'm a creating a visual novel, most of the time i am on the recruitment forum so that may be xD. Or checking any new posts :3 idk how it was back then (though i've kinda lurked this forum from time to time :p) but i assume that now there are new way to communicate?

for example, no more skype or msn chat, but now there's Discord, I'm on a discord now, only for people who talk spanish AND who make visual novels or use renpy, and i do enjoy talking with them :D! (it's on my signature)

There is the renpy official discord, btw.
Thanks so much for your insight Johan =D. Actually, you may just have answered two question for me about why Lemmesoft may not be super active and why anime online social communities are gone. I think it's because of discord. Which is fine, as long as there is some form form of group. Also, thanks for the link, I think I'll join when I can =D.

And yeah, it makes sense people are more focused on vn creation. I guess I just miss also people talking about them a lot, but if what you said is true, it appears people have gone to discord.

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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#10 Post by sake-bento »

Hello! I'm still around and I show up daily to do moderator duties, but it's rare for me to post as much because I sink most of my time into dev these days. I see a lot of chatter on twitter and Discord, mostly. And I spend a lot of time looking at everyone's portfolios in the for hire section. So it's not super social, but I do spend a lot of time here.

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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#11 Post by PyTom »

I'm still around quite a bit, and read the vast majorities of posts. Looking at the statistics, we're down about 15% when it comes to the visitors since time last year.

I kind of think that the massive commercial success of VNs over the past couple of years has lead to a bit of a decline in the community feel of the forum. Outside of NaNoRenO in Match, don't see the sort of collaborations forming here that I used to, and there do seem to be a substantial number of people that come to LSF to find work. So I kind of suspect that's part of the problem.

There's also the issue that we're now 16 years old. Over that time, people change quite a bit - leave school, get a job, date, marry, and have kids - so the people that are around change too.

I suspect forum spam is at least part of this. It's so prevalent now, that I'm kind of forced into a bad tradeoff - do I make the forum question hard, and hence stop people from registering? Or do I make it too easy, and we get mobbed by spam.
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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#12 Post by felix »

Conventional wisdom says that forums are dying out as a general rule, not least due to increased competition from other forms of social media. And it's definitely true for some forums. But I see this kind of complaint even in places that are quite busy, like right here. Am lurking every day, you know. There are always multiple ongoing discussions.

And hey, look at me. I just reactivated my account after many, many years, due to a spurious private message notification (cue conspiracy theories). Not regretting it for a moment, either, even as my one unfinished attempt at a VN remains the only one so far. Other people sure seem productive enough. If anything, my interest in the genre isn't what it should be. Maybe this year, if some new ideas work out.

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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#13 Post by Equil »

well seems there is a bit of activity still which is good glad to see that there are still some ongoing discussions.

Hope to see your finished vn at some point felix, I have that problem too I started creating one and got probably 1% done and never got much more done on it though I still have the interest and want to do it when I have the time

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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#14 Post by Blank »

I think Lemmasoft does still get traffic but it's primarily from devs, or as mentioned before, people looking for work.
There are still lots of people that browse the forums for stuff to play, probably. But they don't actually interact with the community much, because if you wanted to talk about visual novels you'd usually just go to reddit or twitter.
Last edited by Blank on Mon Feb 11, 2019 11:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Is Lemmesoft Dying

#15 Post by aliciarune »

@sake-bento Sorry Sake-bento DX. I just noticed that you guys are busy, so I was wondering if maybe you had retired. But it's good to see your still around. Also, I just realized, you guys get rid of those annoying spam threads. So of course you'd be on.

@PyTom I understand. Thank you for the info. It's sad but things change. I hope people still come her from time to time and talk about vn's Though I'm hop visual novels are growing, I also don't want to see the community aspect of it die.

@felix That's a positive insight and true. Thanks =).


@Blank This is very true. I think many either play but don't post or are looking to work, hire, or find other to help them with their visual novel.

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