As the long-time admin of Ashundar, and now
Terragen.org, I've seen a lot of ups and downs. I've seen a lot of hacking issues, and often there is a temporary downturn associated with them. But that never equaled a long-term problem before. I don't think it has much, if anything, to do with that. Rather, it is the success and strength of the forums here, an option which has only been available for a couple years, which I think has had the greatest impact. The previous Yahoo list had far less traffic, and at the time that it was the "semi-official" discussion area, the other communities had a lot more activity. It's not just Ashundar that is down to its core members and lesser overall traffic, it's also Terranuts and others as well. I would guess the only separate TG communities that may remain strong are the ones that focus on non-English languages, since this forum is definitely English-centric.
In any case I will be honest, this kind of convergence is something I have always wanted to see, and I am glad of the success of these forums. And I don't just speak as a Planetside employee, but also as a user and yes, even as the admin of Ashundar. Is this redirection of Ashundar "good" for our community there? Potentially not, of course. But for the overall TG community, which both Ashundar and Planetside serve, I think it is a great thing, and that's what's important.
Meanwhile I think Ashundar still has life left in it, it's just a matter of specialization and tending. Both the current primary admins (myself and Old_Blaggard) have had very busy lives lately, so some upgrades we have planned for a long time have not happened. The move from LDU to SimpleMachines Forum was a big positive step, but there's a lot more to do. Seeing that Planetside has a very strong technical community here, as well as a growing Wiki (which I think is at it should be), I think our niche is more in areas where Planetside is less likely to want to be involved; things like file hosting, dedicated galleries, etc. We're also focused on a much smaller and more tight-knit community. And this too will grow and shrink with the semi-random joining and departure of members and the various changes in all their lives. Change is inevitable. I don't think it will be forever, and I am happy to keep Ashundar available for as long as it is useful even for a few people. If it eventually comes down to just being a file resource and gallery, I'm fine with that. If the forum here fulfills the rest of the community's needs, so be it. But somehow I think there will always be a need for "outside" places, smaller communities.
Ashundar, now
Terragen.org, will be there for a long time to come yet.
- Oshyan
