Reunion Thread: Dream Views Off Topic Regulars 2004 - 2009

[Tavasion]

I had a conversation with my friend about how the internet has gotten so corralled these days. I check about two to three different sites regularly excluding porn. 10 years ago, I used to surf everything. Now a days, everything is getting reshared, retweed and reblogged. We live in a world where companies are hacking other companies and the internet seems smaller. Yes there are still tons of things to do on it, and obviously everyone is connected. But the amount of exploration seems funneled in my opinion. I feel the same. I used to be here and in a lot of other forums a lot 10 years ago. Now, everything is sort of conglomerated into a few big sites. I'm mostly on Reddit these days, or Youtube, and surfing just doesn't seem to hold the appeal anymore. Forums in general seem to have mostly fallen off as well, since it is not as immediate as other forms of communication these days. This is the only forum I still check in on

[Amethyst Star]

*slips in quietly* Apparently that was two years ago that I posted in that "returning to/departing from DV" thread. I could have sworn that was just a few months ago... Once November is over, I think I'll try to be a tiny bit present. Not promising anything, but I still like to lurk every now and then.

[Timothy Paradox]

I feel the same. I used to be here and in a lot of other forums a lot 10 years ago. Now, everything is sort of conglomerated into a few big sites. I'm mostly on Reddit these days, or Youtube, and surfing just doesn't seem to hold the appeal anymore. Forums in general seem to have mostly fallen off as well, since it is not as immediate as other forms of communication these days. This is the only forum I still check in on Same. My ritual is: -check email -check Facebook -check Youtube (G+ notifications, mostly) And that's it. I get all my news and socializing from FB. Forums are too slow and clunky. Also, FB allows one to connect to people from many social circles at the same time. For example, I'm in a Deus Ex fan group. I'm in a Lucid Dreaming group. A few Survivalist pages. In years past, I would need to have a forum for each individual interest, but who has time for that when you can get it all on one single megasite? Spending too much time on a specialized forum (like this one) feels like a waste of time to me.

[b12]

Hi guys

[LifeStandsStill]

I was basically a big lurker, didn't post too much I think. Life definitely gets in the way but I come lurk every now and then. Plus what others have said about having just a few sites that can centralize and condense things into one website, I agree with that.

[IAmCoder]

The beauty of the internet in the 80s and 90s was that you could find people with the same obscure interests on the other side of the planet. There might have been no one in your street, neighborhood or even city with knowledge about your interest, but through a bulletin board or forum you could instantly find anyone currently searching for it and exchange ideas with them. We were no longer limited to the people chanced upon us through school and social ties. But then the megasites took over... and now it feels like we are back at square one. Another major loss is anonymity. You could say and do anything behind an avatar... but on Facebook people tend to avoid saying anything in fear of being judged. Save for those not aware of what they are spouting forth. I can only hope that the glory days of the BBS are not forgotten and a future generation starts the connection of minds anew!

[Original Poster]

I'm not really sure what this thread is about because I still haven't taken UM off my ignore list :/

[lifeinsteps]

What the heck I joined in 2009 I was looking at this thread like "I remember these guys but I think I came after these fellas." Guess not, who knew IAmCoder's post is super real to me (it won't let me quote it for some reason). Back in middle and high-school, BBS was my life. I had no friends at school who were on the same page as me about my interests and looked to the internet to find other people to discuss them with. All my real friends were there. I imagine it sounds sad to some, but I was never sad about it, I had more friends than I could shake a stick at!

[Patrick]

It's funny seeing all these names that were such a big part of my life ten years ago... time goes too fast

[Xaqaria]

Hey y'all.

[mooseantlers]

It's funny seeing all these names that were such a big part of my life ten years ago... time goes too fast Hey you holy it has been an eternity!! You still watchin hockey??

[Mzzkc]

I didn't get involved in any off-topic stuff until all the cool people I had looked up to during my year of lurking had already moved on. rip me, I guess

[Crucible]

Oh hi. I kinda gave up on working on lucid dreaming around 2005-2006. I get them every day, but I don't really put a lot of thought into them. Just a normal part of dreaming now.

[Patrick]

Hey you holy it has been an eternity!! You still watchin hockey?? Haha as much as I can! Leafs will make the playoffs for certain :/

[mooseantlers]

Haha as much as I can! Leafs will make the playoffs for certain :/ Haha thought you were a kings fan. I'm really hoping the Nucks get a better draft pic... If you're into hockey you should check out some box lacrosse as well.

[mooseantlers]

I had a conversation with my friend about how the internet has gotten so corralled these days. I check about two to three different sites regularly excluding porn. 10 years ago, I used to surf everything. Now a days, everything is getting reshared, retweed and reblogged. We live in a world where companies are hacking other companies and the internet seems smaller. Yes there are still tons of things to do on it, and obviously everyone is connected. But the amount of exploration seems funneled in my opinion. I feel like these days Facebook groups have replaced the function of message boards. Every single message board I've been a regular on has seen declines in popularity over the past few years and I've found .any active Facebook discussion groups. Many that are local in nature, its almost as if the trend of socialsing around the world on social media is declining and online communities just connect people with similar interests in the same regional community.

[Jeff777]

What Dream Views Off Topic Discussion regulars from 2004 to 2009 still come here? Who from that era, the golden age of Dream Views Off Topic Discussion, just checked in for the first time in a long time and saw this thread? I don't come here much any more, but here I am right now. If any of you show up in here, hello again. Welcome back, unless you never left. If that is the case, I still say hello again. If you take off again, always remember that you can come back to this thread whenever and maybe run into some old regulars. Even if it is a ghost town in here, you can change that by telling us you are here. If you leave, your post will still be here. Then others can say hello to you, making their posts here also. After a lot of that, a lot of posts will be here, and this will be even more of a good place to check in and say hello. That makes this a good place to check in and say hello in the first place. So, hello. His highness. UM. You are a DV legendary god amongst men sir. Good to read you again. -bows- From left to right -> Oneironaut, Amethyst Star, Man of Steel, Clairity, Mes Tarrant, UM and Auron's taking the picture.

[AURON]

His highness. UM. You are a DV legendary god amongst men sir. Good to read you again. -bows- From left to right -> Oneironaut, Amethyst Star, Man of Steel, Clairity, Mes Tarrant, UM and Auron's taking the picture. Holy crap, I'm dead bro! Stopped in the other day and the site was down. Any info on that? Yeah, I'm too lazy to look at announcements.

[Black_Eagle]

Do I count? I miss this place... I miss online communities that actually had... community. I miss all the friends I made here...

[Universal Mind]

This reunion turned out much better than I thought it would. I'm really glad to see everybody who showed up in here, even Original Poster. I hope his menstrual cramps from past chess matches will eventually calm down for him. His highness. UM. You are a DV legendary god amongst men sir. Good to read you again. -bows- From left to right -> Oneironaut, Amethyst Star, Man of Steel, Clairity, Mes Tarrant, UM and Auron's taking the picture. Thank you, Jefff. It is great to see you here again. Are you still living in my metro area?

[RooJ]

<3

[Universal Mind]

A few folks from the old school showed up here and posted recently, so this thread is hereby resurrected.

[meggyfayephotography]

A few folks from the old school showed up here and posted recently, so this thread is hereby resurrected. Yay!!!!! I'm resurrecting my DJ too!