You could change the podcast contribution threads to just be X game discussion thread so everyone can just generally talk about the game rather than feeling like they need to write like a small essay specifically for it to be read out in the episode.

Granted this would then make it more work for Leon to sift through.

I'm just gonna put my heart on my sleeve because I tend not to know how else to express myself.

I've been part of other forums in the past, some big, some small. I've always had a hard time feeling like I'm part of the community in those, even if I've been in them for years! And maybe that's also because I've been hesitant to post in the past. But, here, I've very much felt comfortable and apart of something. I've posted here more in the past few years than I have almost around the whole of the internet. In fact, as someone who found the podcast first and the forum second, I was excited to join and I'm still glad to be part of this community, in whatever capacity that is.

A few years ago, after my wife and I moved, I was finding myself very lonely in my video gaming. My wife would go to bed before me and I would stay up and game but feel empty about it. I had no one to talk to about the games I was playing or beating, or any of that. I'd get on Steam to see if anyone in my friends list was on, but it would often be late and I'd just sort of sink into a lonely spot.

But, then, I started streaming on Twitch and joining in on this forum and I haven't felt like that since. And, it's expanded to more than just games. I love posting in the Off-Topics section and talking comics, board games, movies and all of that. And, this place really is unique. I often just mention in throw away conversations with friends that I was talking in a forum with some people and their response is always "You're still on forums?" But, I've tried connecting with people via Twitter and Facebook groups and all of that and it has never clicked like it does here.

Obviously, it doesn't seem to work for some people, which is too bad, but I never understand people complaining about this place going downhill. To me, it's still one of my favorite places to go on the internet and visit daily. I hope I don't come across sounding like a sycophant because I mean this genuinely. If this place was to go, I'd be very sad (I know there's no plans for that). I enjoy the C&R podcast immensely but this place is where I can feel the real connection with people. I try not to get into arguments here because I can't be bothered, but I'm also getting incredibly bored with seeing people complain about the community because it no longer fits their notion of what the forum should be. If someone taking the train instead of driving is enough to ruin your day and make you think the community is falling apart, then maybe you need a mirror, not a forum.

I'm starting to ramble, so I'll just summarize and say I don't believe in any of the complaints about the forum losing it's sense of community. And, every now and then when there is the "what's happened to this place" post, I'll just keep rolling my eyes and post about how good Burnout 3 is.

You hit the nail on the head for myself, and I'd wager a lot of people on this forum. I have nobody to talk about games with in real life. Like, actually nobody. The closest is my eldest, and he only plays Fortnite. At my old job there was one guy who played games, but now it's literally no one.

If this forum didn't exist I'd be telling random strangers in the street, which would be as awkward for them as it would be for me. Don't make me talk to strangers. It's in direct contradiction to everything we were taught as kids.

Just as an aside, but I can wholeheartedly recommend dusk's twitch channel! He's always really friendly to everyone, takes the time to interact with the chat properly and has a great sense of humor. Cute pets, too.

It's a bit difficult for me to check in regularly because of the different time zones, but he has always made me feel welcome whenever I've stopped by.

Alex79uk wrote: ↑March 2nd, 2020, 9:28 pm The closest is my eldest, and he only plays Fortnite.

Think of how much money you've saved on not having to buy more games!
(just kidding, i don't know anything about kids. do they still need food at that age?)

Thanks for the lovely posts, it certainly is worth just reminding us from time to time that you are getting something out of all that we do.

duskvstweak wrote: ↑March 2nd, 2020, 9:36 pm

Alex79uk wrote: ↑March 2nd, 2020, 9:28 pm The closest is my eldest, and he only plays Fortnite.

Think of how much money you've saved on not having to buy more games!
(just kidding, i don't know anything about kids. do they still need food at that age?)

I buy him games, he just doesn't bloody play them! He loved playing Trials on my old 360 and my PS4. Got it him on Switch for Christmas and can clearly see on his online profile he's played 1 hour of it! Mario Kart the year before, about 5 hours all year! Swine.

It's.......blue!

For the time being.

There was a major update and it appears that our previous theme wasn't compatible anymore. I'm looking into alternative themes at the moment but for now, it's gonna be back to the default blue I'm afraid.

It looks very swish but I liked how clearly the old design indicated new posts

Yes, me too - we’ll look for something that does a similarly effective job in that regard.

Ah I thought it was a permanent change. It looks OK to me, but to be honest the grey was a bit nicer

It's...brown!

I quite like it.

I have my iPhone in dark mode, Twitter in dark mode, WhatsApp in Dark Mode and reddit in Dark Mode.

I'd selfishly prefer the forum to be in Dark Mode also .

It's cool though, I know how forum/database upgrades can go. Many many moons ago, we lost 6 months of posts during an update.

Many users left after losing all that information.

It's all appreciated.

It’s beautiful.

I struggle with shades as a consequence of colour blindness so this format is very kind to me. Thanks Jay and co.

Suits wrote: ↑March 12th, 2020, 2:07 pm I have my iPhone in dark mode, Twitter in dark mode, WhatsApp in Dark Mode and reddit in Dark Mode.

I'd selfishly prefer the forum to be in Dark Mode also .

It's cool though, I know how forum/database upgrades can go. Many many moons ago, we lost 6 months of posts during an update.

Many users left after losing all that information.

It's all appreciated.

I'm 99% sure that was all restored later on the same day!

Alex79uk wrote: ↑March 12th, 2020, 2:56 pm

Suits wrote: ↑March 12th, 2020, 2:07 pm I have my iPhone in dark mode, Twitter in dark mode, WhatsApp in Dark Mode and reddit in Dark Mode.

I'd selfishly prefer the forum to be in Dark Mode also .

It's cool though, I know how forum/database upgrades can go. Many many moons ago, we lost 6 months of posts during an update.

Many users left after losing all that information.

It's all appreciated.

I'm 99% sure that was all restored later on the same day!

This isn’t about CandR, this is from a forum I was part of in 2008. We ran an update, it failed, then lost the rollback save we did prior.

Then the server crashed.

It all went wrong.

Last useable save we had was about 6 months prior.

Loads of users were well pissed and left.

This was back in the glory days of forums mind, so it soon resumed where it left off after a few weeks.

Oh man that's a pain.

I started a forum as an offshoot of the PC Gamer forum almost 20 years ago and about five years ago we had to move host and lost the entire thing. Was pretty gutting, so much was on there over the 15 or so years, threads that we all pretty much grew up together in really. The forum is still going but I've more or less passed it on to other people now.

I keep getting

General Error
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User caneandr_fr_user already has more than 'max_user_connections' active connections [1203]

An sql error occurred while fetching this page. Please contact an administrator if this problem persists.

...when browsing the forum normally. Is it an issue on my end?