Since When Did This Become A Chore?

[Akamai921]

It might be because I've been here for as long as I have, but always lurked more than posted (as one can tell from my count...), but I feel like BZP has almost become more of a chore to check rather than an entertaining experience.This isn't dissing the site at all; it's an excellent forum, and one that I have always- and will always- love to death. I simply feel like it's not as fun anymore; that I only check in habitually, or out of a sense of necessity.Does anyone else feel this way? Is the board becoming less fun, or have I just been here for too long and need a refresher?

Edited January 24, 2012 by Akamai921

[Scanty Demon]

I feel like that too, don't get me wrong, I like BZP. Although it does feel like a chore it maybe because over the summer I got addicted to the internet. Plus I think we all might need a refresher on BZP.Edit: I think this would be better in General discussion.

Edited January 24, 2012 by muharax makuta of insanity

[Mef Man]

I feel this way as well (my last thousand and a half posts coming from the past month). I'm referring to the BZPRPG mainly being a chore, but I think it is more fun than a chore.I don't know; maybe someone else agrees with me.-Mef

[GSR]

In my experience, this is almost inevitable with forums; it can be alleviated by strong social ties and/or new material to discuss, but BZP is naturally lacking in the latter (especially now that folks have settled in to the new forums), and the former can break down for a variety of reasons.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Eh, I've got a nice bunch of chums in COT, and there's always something for us to discuss, whether it's something-something particle physics or something-something sorry lasers don't work that way. I've never gotten deep enough into the meat and potatoes of BZP for it to get chore-like.

[Voxumo]

I find that since bionicle ended bzpower has branched out, but was Bzpower not created because of bionicle and i feel that should be the main focus of bzpower not hero factory. i find it more annoying that certain topics you post in the post does not count towards your overall post count. but in general i do not find it a chore but more so that bzpower is slowly forgetting why bzpower was created in the first place, Bionicle.

[Archer Vonn]

i either see i have something to say and say it, or i pass it up. i don't see how that could possibly be viewed as a chore.

[Xomeron]

Eh, I've got a nice bunch of chums in COT, and there's always something for us to discuss, whether it's something-something particle physics or something-something sorry lasers don't work that way. I've never gotten deep enough into the meat and potatoes of BZP for it to get chore-like.

^This

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

i either see i have something to say and say it, or i pass it up. i don't see how that could possibly be viewed as a chore.

^Oh, also this.If I don't have anything to say (and with the chums I've got, that's a bit rare), I can just as easily go compose a madrigal or build weird Minecraft castles. Well, maybe not a madrigal, I'm not very experienced with those. I'd probably do some weird thing that takes a couple of key elements from a genre and makes them do things they were never meant to do. (You should have seen what I did to reggae. Repetitive, tranquil music? I think not!)@Shadow Reaper: Problem is there's not much left of Bionicle to discuss. Toy line's dead, BZP can either adapt or go down with it. As it's already been proven that if BZP goes down, I lose contact with some of the craziest people I know, it's in my best interests for the site to adapt.

[You just lost the game]

I always liked BZP, and yes, it does feel a bit of a chore to check. Mostly, only because I've found other forums to stalk. :PI always will pop up on BZP, just never as frequent as I used to.

[Kakaru]

This is the exact reason why I've been habitually quitting the site for the past couple years. There was a disturbing sense of clique-ish-ness that nearly drove me away for good, and I can't help but feel it's why so many of my earliest friends have disappeared forever: It seemed that certain groups of members had their own social hangouts where they would formulate grand schemes and absurd conversations, then discuss them in their blogs and over several pages of CoT. No doubt it was a hilarious and incredibly meta reference that I could never begin to comprehend, so I began to feel left out. I could never quite reach those particular groups: I wasn't in the right place at the right time, I didn't read what they read, watch what they watched, listen to what they listened to. I was the oddball, the tag-along. The four-year-old who wanted to hang out with the cool kids, but I never understood what it meant. There was a hidden qualifier just out of my grasp. Have I not been a member long enough? Is my proto level not high enough? Do I not post frequently enough?It was that frightening feeling that I was missing out on something big that kept me from quitting entirely: The next staff-prank or inside joke, a well-crafted RPG, or just the general goings-on. I kept having to come back -not only out of loyalty, this is my chosen community- but of fear that I would one day meet another BZPower member and be so out of the loop that we would have nothing to discuss.An overwhelming sense of guilt at abandoning my friends (and not knowing what they were talking about) is what ultimately drew me back time after time, and now I'm here indefinitely, for better or worse.But yeah, sometimes it feels like such a chore that I go to sleep at night dreading having to log on the next day. Not near so much anymore, though. I look forward to Tuesdays with only the barest hint of an uneasy stomach.</whiny emotional rant>

Edited January 24, 2012 by Kakaru

[Archer Vonn]

...i'd feel mean if i didn't ask whats on tuesdays

[HAZMAT]

He posts news on Tuesdays.

[CHTrilogy]

Well I notice I'm not posting as much...

[Than the Moa]

Become a staff member, then you can complain about checking the site feeling like a chore. :PMoved to General Discussion as this is about BZPower.

[Bambi]

You don't have to get on BZP, you know. If you're not enjoying it you should feel free to leave.

[Eyru]

Speaking as a fellow lurker (or ex-lurker, really), I find that the less I interact with the community on BZPower, the less enjoyable it is. Why do you find checking BZPower to be a chore? It's simple, really: where's the fun in checking something every day?The fact is, simply dropping by to watch other people interact is no fun at all. It's like going to the park every day to watch a group of friends play soccer. If you want to have fun, you need to join the community and interact with people, because then you're part of the action instead of merely an observer.To answer your question, yes, I have felt before that BZPower was something I did out of habit more than something I did because I enjoyed it. Each time I felt this way, it was during a posting drought, when I stopped interacting. BZPower has always felt the most fun when I kick around the blogs, write stories, and participate in the BZPRPG.To sum it up: you get out what you put in.

[Gatanui]

When there is little activity, little to discuss and when I am busy in real life, it definitely feels like a chore sometimes, especially when the only thing I have time to do is approve posts and read through the reports. I hope I will have a ton to talk about after ToyFair at the latest, though. ~Gata.

Edited January 24, 2012 by Gatanui

[Akuna Toa of Sonics]

Sometimes I feel that way, when I get my daily amount of posts in. But most of the time, I enjoy checking on the Creative Outlet, and I sometimes visit COT.I can't be as active as I want currently because of my stupid midterms. My biology one is going to be ridiculously hard...

[BBCCD]

it's not as fun anymore because barely anyone came back after the downtime.

[Voltex]

I definitely find BZPower more enjoyable if there`s something that warrants my coming here; as such, I like to participate in an RPG and a game whenever possible, since those are always fun. It`s also the reason why I do my best to keep at least one comedy running at a time. Just checking BZPower wouldn`t be fun- it`s the interactions that make it an entertaining experience. RPGs create a sense of teamwork (or rivavlry) and a sense of mystery as you and others work to progress and discover the story behind the game you`re playing, creating elaborate background for your few or many characters. Games allow you to have the same sort of fun except on a more sporadic and leisurely basis. The story forums can be like reading a good book or magazine - or, if you`re on the other side, like writing one.General Discussion and COT (along with the majority of the forums) also require input to be enjoyed. This topic would have left me feeling very unsatisfied had I not replied despite knowing I had things to say on the matter.So it`s like members have already said here before; you get out of it what you put into it. And if you miss a few days, no big deal. Nobody is going to get mad, and there are plenty of people willing to explain what`s gone on during your abscence. If you find visiting the forums boring, perhaps searching for an activity like the RPGs and games that might appeal to you would work. Otherwise, I dunno. I`ve never really found the forums boring, because there`s always been stuff for me to do.-ibrow

[Artakha Prime]

Thsi is my second post in... well, a few onths time. The downtime of BZP banished me from the forums, wich was what was keeping me here the most. Since BIONICLE got shot down by LEGO, there ain't any interesting news to read on here. Sure, BZP is trying to put up at least one article per day, but they are all so discriminately unimportant, i don't even bother to read most of them.The only reason i'm checking in here is the hope of some day, a new chapter of any online serial will be released. Hope is a good thing...

[Grantaire]

I know how it feels. For me, my interest faded a lot with the move. The entire feel of the site changed, and there was no drive to replace it. Half my friends went inactive, and I couldn't get on as often as i would like. I'm quite content being as lurker though, and I firmly recommend it to anyone who feels that being active on BZP is too stressful.

[Protohuman]

You're all growing up.

[Toa Zaz]

It's 'cause Bionicle's over.

[UltraHau]

I think my post-per-day average has gone up since the downtime, but BZP does feel more like a chore now - it lacks that fun feeling. Call of Destiny is one of the few things I find interesting to talk about here nowadays.

He posts news on Tuesdays.

For us, the day Kakaru posts news is the greatest day of the week. But for Kakaru, it is Tuesday.

[Eeko]

Sometimes it can feel like a chore, especially when there's a lot of reports to go through. :PBut overall, checking BZP feels like less of a chore. I'm more active than I used to be, (albeit in less places ), and I chat more.

[Sumiki]

It's not a chore for me. BZPower is a pastime.If a pastime is a chore, I suggest getting another pastime.

[Velox]

This is the exact reason why I've been habitually quitting the site for the past couple years.

And I've always been there to smack you upside the head every time you did. =PBut yes, to an extent I feel the same way. Though a lot of it is simply due to time restraints, the other part just being losing interest in LEGO and interest in other things. I will, however, always cherish BZPower and still come on. And so I must disagree with the "chore" part -- coming on BZP practically never feels like being a chore (the only time it does is if I'm incredibly busy so I come on for just a couple minutes to see if there are any things I need to attend to, but even then I do enjoy it), and I do enjoy it. I wish I could be more active, and I am trying to be. I don't like being a lurker, but that's just how it is right now. As I said, though, I do hope to change that. Edited January 25, 2012 by Velox

[Cederak]

I don't think I'd still be here if I thought of BZP as a chore. There's always a sense of curiosity when I enter the forums, and that sometimes comes with disappointment when I discover nothing is really happening in the forum sections I tend to frequent. I enter this site because I have a genuine interest in it, not because it feels like a requirement or necessity. I like to stay current with world events, and reading through that kind of news can feel like a chore at times. BZP is more like checking in with friends to see what's going on.-Ced

[GSR]

I think Cederak's hit the nail on the head. To me a chore is something that not only do you feel obligated to do, you actively dislike it. BZP may not be the most active forum around, and I don't exactly walk away from each visit enriched by the experience, but I definitely wouldn't call it a chore.

[25K Now!]

It does feel a bit less enjoyable going on BZPower, but I don't consider it a chore.

[fishers64]

I do find myself "punking" occasionally. This is due to my habit of marking forums as read that I've gone through so I know when a new post is coming, but unfortunately I also have a good deal of topics on the board that I have little to no interest in, and so when a forum becomes unread I don't know if it is a topic of interest to me has been replied to or not. The notifications I have set up do help with this, but I really would think an auto-mark-as-read that I could set for topics I never want to read or get notified of new posts for again. It is annoying, because I have to open the forum to find out that nothing interesting happened and mark the forum as read again.Aside from that, why would I not be on here if I didn't enjoy it? The second I feel like this place is a chore and a bane on my existence, I leave.

[Makuta_of_Oz]

Yeah, I've felt like that too. I think, though, that it may just be from less activity after the cancellation and the downtime. Or it could just be because the forum art isn't as pretty as it used to be (I really miss those colourful envelope icons).

[Dorek]

Definitely after the downtime; I do check habitually, but it feels so much by rote now. There's never any really lively debate; it's either pointless, stagnant, or things devolve into a flame war so quickly that there's no chance of getting it back on track.I do feel the same way about other forums too, but I think there's a bit more freedom in what can be discussed, so there's a much wider room of discussion; even if the pace is sluggish, as BZP is becoming, there's a much greater chance of something new popping up and generating new ideas and thoughts, as opposed to rehashing what's already there.

[GeluNumber1]

I wouldn't say so. As Sumiki said, BZPower is a pastime, for me at least.

[Toa of Ice - 1987]

It's 'cause Bionicle's over.

Yeah BZPower has faded quite a lot over the last two years since the abrupt end in 2010 http://www.bzpower.com/board/public/style_emoticons/default/sneaky2.gif and ever since GregF went dark from most of the internet and left the bioniclestory.com in a cliffhanger state with unfinished serials... http://www.bzpower.com/board/public/style_emoticons/default/sneaky2.gif making it seem like most of the community is gone elsewhere. :(As for me ... I've hung around here ever since Kanohi Power was started in 2001 and am still not planning on ever leaving quite soon, although i'm almost 25 years old now.For 10 years BZPower has been part of my life with memories alongside of Bionicle.Although the forum may seem dull at certain times and full of life the next day...i still hold belief that Bionicle might return.

[T.B.O.C]

I think it's become more of a chore for me because of the no more BIONICLE news for about two years, now. I remember getting all excited seeing the new sets from the Toyfair pics, reviews of the new sets, and discussion about what next year may be.but now, it's just System and Hero Factory, which doesn't really appeal to me as much as BIONICLE did. The Hero Factory version of what I said above also don't appeal to me more either.

[MrSciFiGuy]

A little. I know where you are coming from. For me its mainly the aesthetics of the site. It just is different from the old site. There were a lot of people who left during the dark age of server downtime. But, I see old names and I see new talent that keep this site always interesting.

[Valendale]

I've noticed this as well. I find it due to the overall decrease in activity over the last month or so. But every now and then an interesting topic, just like this one, makes it all worthwhile.