The General Chat thread

[SAJewers]

Windows 10 Creators Update is now out: https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comm ... t/dfvdjik/

If you have Windows 10 and a free half hour this week, go download and install it now, otherwise it'll roll out to you sometime after April 11, potentially while you're streaming or editing a video or something.

[Robo4900]

Apparently the Canadian voices for Dragon Ball Z reunited to do a dub of Kai. Hasn't aired yet, but man, wouldn't it be awesome to hear Scott McNeil as Piccolo again?

[SAJewers]

So, an election just happened on NS, and voter turnout is pegged at 53.55%, potentially the lowest turnout ever. Ouch.

[Robo4900]

I've been looking to start reading Spider-Man comics for a while, but it's always seemed daunting to have 50 years' worth of comics to read, plus buying all of that would cost a mint. Some people online suggest picking it up from Dan Slott's run starting at #648 of Amazing Spider-Man. Thankfully, buying the comics starting from there seems to be affordable, and I can get it all on my Kindle Fire.

I wanted to ask what people here think about this plan of starting from Amazing Spider-Man #648, and continuing from there.
Good idea? Bad idea? Is there anything I'd need to know before going in that isn't explained?

[Bebop Man]

I'm not around an awful lot but... these forums look deader than The Escapist's.

[Elomin Sha]

Don't I know it. It's gone downhill over the last few years. Personal opinion: streams are where the interaction is now (I don't go there). Also most posts now are nothing but people lamenting about depression and other things. Also, people having fits when you say something and they don't like and not using critical thinking in response. There isn't much point being around here any more. It feels like people are feigning friendships.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

I chat more with people from here on other platforms. Doctor Who thread got resurrected recently.

[Hekla]

There's a certain beauty to a barely-used forum. At least it's easy to catch up with new posts and the like.

[Robo4900]

A lot of the forum is pretty dead, but I find places like the Doctor Who thread a rather delightful part to keep up with.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

I do think the Twitch channel offers an outlet for socialising within the community.

However, I am someone who can't realistically follow the streams. So I feel sort of alone. So I do appreciate the bread crumb interactions I have outside of LRR with LRRites.

[Necabo]

The discord chat is mostly also the culprit here

[Jamfalcon]

Yeah, I think it's a combination of the two, and a few long-time forum folks moving on, but there not being enough discussion for new people to join in as frequently.

For myself, I do miss it, and I find the chats aren't nearly as good of a fit for me. I like being able to think out my words, make a lengthy (if needed) post, and walk away once I hit post without feeling like I'm stuck there and need to watch for replies right away. Plus, I don't multitask well so I need to put all of my focus into a chat.

[Robo4900]

Wait, there's a LRR Discord chat?

[Jamfalcon]

Yep! I think I didn't find it (or at least a link) until well after it was set up, I don't think there was ever an announcement on the blog or Twitter or anything, so it probably mostly came up on the streams, and is one of those things they assume people know about by now.

Here's the link.

[AdmiralMemo]

Twitch Chat and Discord fill much the same role of a conversation. Also, as an aside to Merrymaker, please be aware that people are in LRR's stream chat 24/7, no matter if there's a stream on or not. Usually, it's only like 2 or 3, but they're there. I've gone on at really odd hours and there's always someone to talk to.

However, I like the lack of immediacy of the forums personally. I'm totally with Jamfalcon on this one. The forums and the Discord/Twitch Chat fill different roles, much like email and Twitter do.

I wonder if LRR talked up the forums a little more on the streams, whether we'd see more people appearing again.

[Aeralis]

Forums are definitely my preferred form of community chat. "Lack of immediacy" was a good way to put it: You can check up on and add to a discussion whenever, whereas in chat you gotta be there right when it happens, and getting in on a busy chat can be tough.

It's also pretty clear that forums are a dying medium, being slowly replaced by things like Slack and Discord. (Which is kinda funny to think about since IRC has been a thing for basically forever. I guess a fresh coat of paint and some glitter stickers really do make all the difference!)

[Wooglie]

Saw this and thought of LRR http://www.the10and3.com/this-is-how-canada-talks/
Bunnyhug was a particular favourite of mine.

[gcninja]

Just gonna leave this here.....

14 years and this is probably top 10 laughs from LRR/Crew stuff (streams included)
Probably belongs on r/stoppedworking too.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Well, I missed Desert Bus again this year.

[AdmiralMemo]

Sad. VST has your back, though. Was it due to external factors or just not realizing what date and time things were?

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

The social media accounts I follow on platforms I used, didn't inform me. I knew Desert Bus was coming up, I just didn't know it was happening. Perhaps me subscribing to the Desert Bus channel will alert me when it starts again.

[Jamfalcon]

Maybe you could set up a Google Calendar alert (or similar) to email you November 1st and remind you to check when it starts next year? They'll definitely have announced the time by then, but not started yet.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

I saw the announcement on Facebook. But it gets filed under "thing happening soon" and it drops out my of mind. I just need a reminder that it's happening now. My life is so chaotically structured that I'll miss any "save the dates". Yeah, subscribed to DB YT channel will do that.