Bit-tech has lost its spirit

I remember when I came here two years ago - not really all that long ago in the grand scheme of things - back when all the original staff still posted, bigz didnt do much in the way of reviews, and bit-tech was all about mods and the modding community.

That spirit now has faded, and now, the forums are filled with a few copycats, and not too much in the way of revolutionary mods. Ever since bit-tech went to the newest version, there has not been a SINGLE front page mod that wasnt corporate sponsored. Nowadays, all there is to see are forums, hardware reviews, debates in the forums that are becoming more and more politically polarized, and reposts of the same old websites that have been seen time and time again in general discussion.

Bit-tech's haydays, for now, have passed. A lot of what made bit-tech special has faded, and some of it has passed away all together. I honestly feel you guys need to step back for a minute and re-evaluate why you started bit-tech. These pages started as a gallery for the emerging world of computer modding. Bring that spirit back before its too late, and the forums are overrun with nothing more than the average techno neophyte having power supply problems.

 

I've not been here aslong as others, from the old days.
But I do know what your refering to, and I see your point of view.

 

I agree, the community spirit could be greatly improved.

/runs

 

I agree there! To be quite honets, I couldn't have said it better! (and I'm a little afraid to as well)
I really do miss the old-style mods that were just for fun, or were functional.


Ah well, websites change I guess.

I also miss the "spam pit"

 

I concur. I have stopped visiting the site almost entirely since the staff decided to "broaden their audience."

It's their right, and I do not blame them for attempting to do so. However I feel it is worth pointing out that while attempting to widen their viewing audience, they have also neglected the community that really made Bit-Tech what it was.

 

I havnet been on the forums for more than a mere 4 months? But I see what youre getting at...

I just dont hope it will end in being a THG kind of Website.. Reviews over and over again...

What happened to Innovation??

 

I also haven't been on the site in a while, I just check in and read up on projects.
Things seemed to get a bit busy and less "community"

I still send people to bit-tech all the time, but it just took too much time to keep up with.

 

Yeah, same really. I was never that into the mods, but could appreciate them. I was mainly interested hardware/overclocking/benching, which completely dried up and there was no regs to have competitions with

That's why i started lurking at XS, but that's a cold place to be at

 

You could just quit the internet?

 

LOL i can never do that!!!

 

So, anyway...

I don't really think the people behind it have gotten greedy/worse. Review content is still very good, etc.

My only issue is less good content in the forums, especially in hardware where everyone justs asks why their computer isn't working properly. But, to be expected with expansion and wider audiences I suppose.

 

[Warning - the following post is a continuous stream of conciousness and may not make sense...may lack reason...in short like it or take it with a pinch of salt]

Bit has certainly changed but I would argue over whether it is worse, just different. There are some stunning mods in the Project logs forum, people are designing and building computers in a style that they want, mods are well executed and many quite polished. Although innovation has dropped the number of people involved in modding and restyling their PCs has risen, there are a lot of custom cases now and there are several custom water loops some with home made blocks. The mods now seem to be to add functionality that doesn't exist, to increase performance and to personalise what was previously an army of beige clones. People are avidly discussing enthusiast hardware, there are a LOT of hardware options for enthusiasts and the pros and cons of each are debated in Hardware & Overclocking. Since I began tweaking and modding back in 2000 the market for enthusiasts has really grown, we can get a lot of kit that we couldn't get before and we can still pull it apart, personalise it, add extras and make it our own. I think the 'problem' if there is one, is that there are fewer people who spend a lot of time on ambitious customisations that don't involve raw performance. Part of that may be due to the fact that the hardware market changes so rapidly that many of us upgrade regularly. A case mod can take 6 months if you're working full time and its ambitious, sometimes it'll take even longer, in that time hardware has moved on and the hardware you were looking at to start with will have changed. Also with a larger audience mods can get 'lost' in the constant influx of small, less ambitious designs, a mod which takes a long time will frequently 'disappear' from the first page of the project logs because of the sheer number of people turning over smaller projects. When the community is small then the recognition you get for something ambitious is more concentrated and this in itself can provide motivation but in this larger pool of people such mods can be frequently relegated to archive pages and without the interest the creator can quickly loose interest. Peer recognition is a strong motivator in small focused communities and it is that type of recognition Bit has lost to a degree. Part of that is due to the larger community and part of that is due to the separation of discussion and project logs (I've only recently started looking at discussions on projects, I wonder how many of you bother commenting?) which means fewer people contribute encouragement. One way to circumvent the separation of projects from the discussion and to prevent their disappearance in the slew of smaller less ambitious projects would be to have an index of "ambitious/innovative mods" which was mediated by a group of peers. This could serve as an index for the more substantial or interesting projects. Access could be possible once a modder has a portfolio of work or by the decision of the peer group that the particular mod is innovative in technique, performance or functionality. The upside to this is you create a sub community with a tighter cohesion and similar interests, the downside is that there will be inevitable friction with the wider community and those who feel their work deserves similar status. The success will hinge upon the implementation and on that subject I have few suggestions.

I liked Bit when I first started to graze anonymously on its many postings and I like it now. What I like it for has changed but I have no reason to question the dedication or commitment of the staff. The community has changed and many of its members are older and have different focuses, this happens in all peer groupings, look at the music scene. As with all groups this one will grow, evolve, splinter and regroup as time goes on, its the dedication of its members that shape that. Decide what you want and go for it, a cohesive group within a larger community can shape that community if they have the determination, you are Bits' soul, make sure you stay true to what you want from it.

Most of all don't underestimate the influence of bit-tech on the wider computing community, look around at what is available now compared to the market in 1998. Without the people who make up Bit none of this may have been achieved. It is all of YOU who make up Bit-tech that are changing computing, YOU are changing the way people perceive computers and every person who is take part in Bit adds a little more influence.

 

Don't you guys think this could be down to the changes in the way the project logs has been done. I tend to look at the project logs, but don't post in the forum as I can't see what relates to what and cba to look at the dates.

Perhaps there should be a trial on bring back the old system?

Don't get me wrong, the staff does a great job in reviews and they certainly provide interesting content, but a lot of the community lies at the heart of being impressed by mods, and expressing that feeling. It's becoming harder to do so due to the project log setup, and the fact modding is being pushed aside on the main page (only 9 articles since November, and none of them actually original mods, just case reviews etc!)

Perhaps the concept of modding should be pushed up the agenda a little more?

Although bit-tech does have it's moments, remember the J{}E incident!

 

I have to agree with Roto, alot of the "spirit" seems to be missing on the forums these days. I guess once a site grows to the extent Bit-tech has and becomes a business it has to have a different focus. I'll still keep on checking the front page just to make sure I don't miss a macroman case mod. But generally find the forums a bit less friendly / interesting than they once were, so I don't post nearly as much as I used to.

Hopefully it's just a phase.

 

You say it like you've been here forever, Roto

We seem to be getting a LOT of new members now who are asking the same stuff over and over, and there's literally only so-much on the internet tbh. Every forum goes through highs and lows and whilst you never realise the highs you sure as hell cant miss the lows.

In 5 years modding has come a huge way and now the COST of making a case that's revolutionary and front page worth has exponentially increased. Back when Koolvin took a dremel to a YY Cube everyone thought he was nuts, but now, noone would turn a head to a weekends work. The fact that there's a WHOLE FORUM being constantly filled with peoples non-sponcered personal projects is a testiment to how far it's come and how big it really is now. You cant go back to how things were because we've moved on and things have got bigger and better (or just, more commercial). It's a double edged sword, you either stay underground and die or grow and loose some of your roots.

I think they're less friendly because there's more people we dont know. Yet, if you go elsewhere you'd find it a hell of a lot "less friendly". We still have fun, keep it clean but I myself have patience which wears thin, especially with a lot of the noobs

Mods generally take MONTHS to pull together and the people who make them now need whole workshops just to do something that's critically "wow" to you. Doing something original is EVEN HARDER since modding is now mainstream and evident on dozens of sites. It's like asking for a regular divine intervention.

Thing is, I think the site as a whole has moved on from modding to more of everything, whereas hardcore modding is now done by the community in the project log forum. It's not all good, but there are a few gems in there every month or so.

I have to say also (this is like my 6th edit) that we get a lot of people now who dont have english as their first language, so that frustrates people, and the mods have to deal with a few "free ipod!!11" etc threads a day (If I could inflict pain on these people, I would without hesitation) and kids who use far too many "!!!!!!111knoneone" who I'd love just to ban outright. But you cant ban people just for being stupid and as you get more people you are statistically more likely to accumilate more idiots as you do.

7: We need an "old skool" section, huh, invite only? Old mens club?

 

I think that one thing that could be done would be to feature some more mods on the main site. I remember I started reading Bit back in Spring 04, purely because of the mods. Iwasn't too interested in the hardware reviews, but spent whole evenings reading mods like Orac over and over again. I didn't join the forums until later that year, but it was still a great place to be.
Since the update, there really haven't been many mods featured, and those that have have been corporate sponsored. Now I know you guys have to make money, but including the community by featuring a couple of the really great mods that have been done would be a good thing.

 

Personally I think this thread raises alot of very good points as recently its kind of what I've been thinking but too affraid to say.

Something mentioned in Bindi's post that from time to time we do see some real gems in the project logs section, what may be nice is if the team perhaps every so often collected up all these "gems" and decided on perhaps a couple to feature on the front page or something?

As much as I love reading hardware reviews that's all I seem to see recently

 

BT has def changed since I've been lurking around, it has gone from being entirely focused on modding to becoming pretty much a tech review site with the odd sponsored mod featured on the front page.

I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing as modding has become much more mainstream since then and as such the mods can still be found in the projects forums.

It may have lost some of the old community spirit it once had, but that's what happens when communities grow.

Would that not just divide the community up even more?

 

I remember the old days!

 

Oh that'd be fun.

'the toolshed'