[antx]

So, it's like this somehow: Sijun is a nice little cosy caf� where people like to go to relax, drink their coffee and chat a little. Once in a while some new people come by and some of them eventually move on to other places in search for more action.
Now, Matthew thought as well it�s getting too quite at Sijun and likes to extend this place with a room for poker and pool tables and a dance floor perhaps.
But the people here for some reason think the place is just fine as it is: Quite...

I�m here now for two and a half years and from my point of view the forum DID slow down. There used to be more themed thread going on, more replies written, more critics and tips given and even overpaints where something common back then. Some might say the forum has become more mature, but I�m afraid it rather has grown old...

I still think a new section with some action would be a good idea. That way the finished work section would be really for finished work only like the WIP thread is for WIP stuff only as well. The new section could contain then the themed threads, daily/weekly/monthly... efforts, competitions, the speedpaintings thread, a sketch thread and so on. All that what doesn�t really belong in the finished work section. We could off couse keep such threads in the finished work section but that I find too chaotic and they sink down too fast there too.

Now some might say I�d better move on to another forum, but as I said before other forums do not really appeal to me. I still like Sijun best, but that does not mean, that I have to be content with it.

Or is it that people here are afraid that such a section might draw too much attention and bring people back we rather dont want to see back agian? That at least I do understand. But I'd personally rather take them than having to visit two forums because it's too quite for me here.

Sumaleth: one question for you cos I think you might have the best insight there: Is that really only a question of the will of the people here or is that also technical and management wise a problem? Do you think there were enough people available/willing for some administration/moderating work or do most people just don�t have the time/motivation?

I know from my self that I do not have the time to maintain like a daily effort. I just could not ensure a new topic every day. But a bot could do that. It just has to be done. Is that realistic in case of Sijun or am I dreaming? I mean it doesn't sound so hard to me.

About the "best of Sijun" thead I'm afraid that this might fail on the maintenance side of it. Someone would have to do this and not just for a week or so...

Lunatique: I would not worry about the imitators. Those that truely just imitate will give it up at some point and others are just doing it to hold on to something for the start. As spyroteknik said, they will at some point find their own style. How else can you learn from others work if you don�t try to apply what you've observed? The first two years here I was like bind for a style. I did so many just to try around and only now I slowly start to find my way to something consequent. The imitating is just a part of the learning I think.

[merlyns]

please no new sections. as said, to much splitting of a little crowd. sketches can go in the wip forum anyway.

sijun, is going easy, its like a lounge caf�. also, sijun is doing way better then some time ago.
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[Liquilan]

Not trying to be redundant but Hybrid7 launched today and is in backings with CGN I was told...maybe check it out and get something started? Not saying ditch Sijun but it's great to see other people making a community effort...i think this one will do good
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Liquilan

[weaselball2]

I love all the great art that can be found deep within sijuns forums...I think we need a way to bring that back to the surface. Sijun loses it's art day by day as old image links fail...it would be nice for someone to make a carbon copy before much of it fades away. If anyone has enough programming skill, a spider could be made that downloaded any images that still worked and tied them to their respective user names. In this way, a gaint gallery of all the works of sijun artists past and present could be preserved.

If everyone thinks this is a good idea, I might be able to make a spider with a month or two's work. Of course, we would have to have Dhabid's help to get the gallery running...but I think it would be a great addition to the forums.

If somehow we could get the gallery to auto-update whenever someone posts some new work on the forums, it would be even better...I don't know how to pull this off though.

[AndyT]

There is no way to backup images (too much webspace required) and I don't think that would be legal either.
No, I think the words of wisdom here are worthy of being collected.
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http://www.conceptworld.org

[CwStone]

What i like most about your idea weasel ball is that this would allow everyone at sijun to use sijun as their online portfolio (a feature that, IMO, is hat makes daviantart so successful). I say go for it.

another thing: Everyone's talking about passing the torch from Dhabib to someone else due to his non activity. well, if the torch is gonna be passed, if i was to nominate someone i'd say give it to matthew as he's probably the most active and involved member around. Just my two cents.

one more thing: The idea of more forums in here is not pleasing to me, as i thouroughly enjoy the close interactions as a result of the low number of forums. Unlike deviantart where theres like, a billion, here u KNOW that a lot of people r gonna see ur work
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-Chase

[AndyT]

Sumaleth is obviously doing a great job. No need to change anything.

Again ... if everybody agrees, if you host Sijun, if you write the online gallery ... then it might be possible to do just that.

I think Sumaleth mentioned that his idea of Sijun was something like that ... with gallery threads for members.
Not sure if I remember correctly. Correct me if I'm wrong.
But then definitely with hotlinked images.

And it never happened and probably isn't going to happen.
You guys have suggestions that are way too radical ...
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http://www.conceptworld.org

[aphelionart]

i think it's the people who make this site what it is, not the setup. and as has already been said, the simplicity of everything leaves the focus on the content.. i think if u were to actually add more forums, it'd be because there were too many people posting, not too little.

the benefit of having a small place with no real moderator is that u can do something like post a themed thread like speedpainting, but say call it "speedcomic", post a few images and see if the "ball" rolls anywhere (see the lifedrawing, self portrait, and "gods with guns" posts).

heh, my only wish for this place would be our own "massive black workshop"... i vote we all meet up at craig's house!

-matt

[weaselball2]

it might be radical, but it's what I would do with sijun if I was dhabih . Besides, having a gallery linked to each member would probably require a reprogrammed forum . I agree with the legality problem, it's something I hadn't thought of before. I would just have to show the images using the links provided(I don't even know if autogenerating thumbnails would be legal...). That is, unless we could somehow manage to get permission from everyone... Oh well, unless dhabih announces to shut down the forum one day, im fine with it being in his hands. It's his forum, he can do what he wants.

I would think about writing such a forum if I had a go from dhabih, but I don't have the money (or desire) to create a sijun "replacement" at another site. It just wouldn't be right to kill dhabihs creation by making another forum somewhere else.

If Sijun was ever under threat of being shut down...this would be a different story. If that was the case I wouldn't hesitate to make a carbon copy of the forums in an effort to save this place. However, there appears to be no such threat. Even though Dhabih doesn't post, there is no evidence that the forums are "decaying", they seem to be working just fine even without his maintinence.

I just wish he would come back himself and make some updates, or give a few people ftp to his server so they can update the place themselves.

about handing the torch... The problem with something like that is that they need to know a lot about web programming (html, javascript, php or perl, sql) to be able to improve the site. If by handing the torch you mean adding new moderators, I don't think that would do much. Sumaleth does fine.

as for the size issue...im not sure if that would be as much of a problem as you think. If there is ~20 mb of images per page, and only 126 pages, thats only a couple gigabytes of space. As for getting the bandwidth to host that many images... Now that would be a problem

I still think the best solution would be to contact him and let him know the forum needs a new breath of life. Maybe he just forgot about us?

[balistic]

[Matthew]

Liquilan, pretty cheesy to come in here and post that, we are discussing Sijun here.


With all said I still love this place just wished or thought some changes were necessary but if most of you like it as it is I think it is better to make it stay that way.
What I like the most in this thread is that all of you guys still care about the forum and that is the most important thing.

Sumaleth, many thanks for your post and I really mean it.

ok I will stop with my Drama Queen posting that I am doing sometimes and just go with the flow. I think Sijun will survive with all of you guys on-board the Sijun ship.
Thanks again guys for all of your thoughts about this issue.
Matthew

[Chruser]

[Matthew]

Chruser, U might wanna know that my main-concern wasn't to make the changes so more people would come, I rather wanted the guys that are here to stay. Many guys have left and I don't wanna mention names.

with one of my crazy ideas I thought the answer was to make a change, maybe that is not the answer though?

[Godwin]

i think there needs to be more activity, in the sense of replying to forum threads... i remember the time when i joined 2 years ago, there was a lot of activity, people posted comments when C&C was asked, people wowed at artwork and so on... these days, it's really quiet around here, you can post artwork, and get one or two replies or even no replies and it'll rot away unless you bump it up...

i just think some of the old members should set an example and try to provide C&C whenever its asked for, instead of focusing on one or two mega-threads... sijun will continue to decline and lose its appeal if things dont improve

ok whatever im in school after a long day and i cant type properly....just saying that the problem probably lies in us rather than the forums
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Derelict Studios|Godwin's Space

[Freebooter]

What am I to say, being a new member, but I think that Sijun feels a lot more up close and personal than lets say CGtalk. Here I can remember peoples names and works, because at Sijun personalities don't disappear into mass.
Sijun appears to have focus on painting and theories rather than clinical renderings and 'manga'. Not that I have anything against kitten eared girls or Harry Potter fan-art, but it is good thing that Sijun doesn't have any of it.

But the best thing at Sijun is that you get constructive criticism and advice rather than empty praise.

Sijun is only forum I have found worth checking at regular basis.

[Warhead82]

i like sijun the way it is, but it might be cool, to have some stuff sort of how CA has, like contests, and events, like the drahn time thread, etc... To make it fun and more active. You wouldn't have to change anything, but just more things to help people learn, instead of people, just posting and commenting.

Cheers
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When you look at a blank canvas or drawing paper, it stares you in the eyes and thinks it can beat you.~ Justin Beckett

[DJorgensen]

Hmm.... well the last time I posted was 2 months plus a day.

One reason is that viewing the speed painting thread from home on dial-up is too painful, whereas at University I have access to high-speed connections. I love Sijun - the whole atmosphere - how I actually know people by their screen name versus their avatar, and by their art rather than thier skills at typing emo and angsty rants.

Other forums bother me with having too much action. Sure they can be more exciting, but they quickly become more of a distraction that takes up all of your time.

I agree that there should be more themed threads like the draw-club.
Perhaps co-ordinating some contest would be fun, but getting participants I feel would be difficult considering that there is such a range in all of the active members' skill level and experience.
Stagnation will be the downfall of Sijun, but even if this is the case, at least it will still be Sijun until the end.

To be honest, I rarely post art here - yet I have learned an incredible amount just from observing everyone else's works over the past year. I am eternally grateful to all you guys. Without you I would be lost (or participating in flamewars at Eatpoo rather than drawing).

-Denby J.
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[balistic]

[Warhead82]

Activities like draw club and the propeller thread are cool though, we just don't have the population to do a new one every week.



Yes they are. And it doesn't mean everyone has to participate, might just be something extra, and for the ones that want to do it. I don't really care.

Just an idea.
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When you look at a blank canvas or drawing paper, it stares you in the eyes and thinks it can beat you.~ Justin Beckett

[HaRdC0rePixxX]

W3 n33d m0|2e Fl4m3 \/\/aRz ! and shemale midget pr0n also.

each time i post in the speedy thread of sijun, it feels like returning back home, except home is a lot quieter now the kids are gone.
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Wet tentacles, horny chixxx & scary designs
www.hpx1.com

[ceenda]

Yes, there was something nostalgic about the old flamers. Back then, it was almost an artform in itself. Would make a good promo DVD.

"The Flames of Sijun"
Featuring audio commentary/interviews by "binder", "stneil777" etc.

[spooge demon]

Signal to noise ratio is more important than "activity." To me anyway. Some of the other busier boards take a lot of time to keep up with, time I don't have I am afraid.

But speed paintings are two clicks away, the same distance as Pooh or CA. Think of them as all part of the same, uh, community, or something like that.

I agree with everything that has been said here. Sumaleth hit it right on.

Don't try to make this board like other ones. Go post there if that is what you want. Each board should have a separate feeling/philosophy, and see what people like. If there is no interest, it dies. There is nothing wrong with that, unless you have some other reason to see the board continue.

And I have felt guilty about not answering many emails I get asking for crits or asking the same questions over and over and over again. I have been sending people here, saying I can help them publicly. Efficient that way.

If they are dicks I send em to Pooh:) But they do have a really nice newbie faq by Ken Wong. Put that Faq in sticky somewhere.

[Alen]

I haven't participated as much as I would like to, but this is one of the few communities that I'm a member of, and my favorite by far. Everytime I come here, the work I see makes my day that much better. So I'll say a few words.. Like someone already put it, Sijun is a like a cafe I like to come to and relax. I've been visiting and lurking here for quite some time now, and hopefully I will be able to start doing some more presentable work worthy of these forums. Having said that, I would really hate to see this place close down.

As for Dhabih, last I heard he was hired by Valve Software, if I'm not mistaken(?). That was a very long time ago, and I haven't heard much from him, or of him, since.

[Gort]

[jr]

i've been part of this forum for a few years now but it looks like i'm going to have to move to that hip happenin forum hybrid7.


but seriously folks.
there isn't alot of activity here which isn't a bad thing, like craig said, it's very easy to keep up if you've been away for a while. why would anyone change that?
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