You People

How did you guys get so BORING? Am I the only one having fun lately? I'm living my life to the fullest, and letting everyone else know about it but I hardly hear a peep from you people. This forum used to be alive and kicking but ever since Pest went to war and I went to jail this place seems more like a graveyard than a forum.

What happened to all of our respect and fame? People used to flock to our banner, die in our name in the wars of words and harsh language. Now we're lucky to get a second glance on the group listing.

What did we do to make ourselves this way? We had something that I can't find anywhere else, a sort of camraderie that no longer exists on the internet. When we raided something, it was razed to the ground. When we fought, it was worthy of song and rhyme.

How did you let our castle crumble around us? Normally when a new RE game comes out, Umbrella and whatever other faction get a HUGE recruitment boost. I hardly see anyone that joined lately. I see all sorts of Spec Ops and Army Ranger guilds out there now, on Byond and the like (DF won't run anymore).

The main question is: What are we going to do to fix this?

Mass recruitment drive, if possible. If DF is still a grindfest then we can apply our talents elsewhere. We're a fun and exciting bunch, maybe merge with another group that would appreciate us. Not that we would lose our individuality, just create an "Axis of Evil" mentality. All the evil super powers, joining for the destruction of mankind, ect.

The second: What are we going to do now?

That depends on YOU PEOPLE. I have rehab in a few days. Then a few job fairs to attend. I won't be able to talk to you guys for awhile while I straighten my life out. My life is STRAIGHT and LEGIT, but the MAN thinks I have an ANGER PROBLEM. According to the doctors, its because I had a poor relationship with the slug of a man who was my father. (Does not include Pest, who was a slug for a time).

Now, I have things to drink and a parole to break.

It isn't as if we wanted this, or that we didn't try to keep new people around...

You gotta realize something, Jen. We can't force anyone to stay, that isn't how things work.
Things had been going down hill for a while before you even left. Sure, we got lots of members
trickling in on a daily basis... and they trickled right out just as fast.

There isn't any one thing that happened that led to this, it was more like a lot of little things.
For starters, the level requirement for people to join the clan in DF went from 30 to 50. That
alone slowed down our groups rate of growth as is. With less people joining on DF, we had
even less people joining here. This here, I'd say, is our primary problem, but it isn't the only
one.

Second of all, most of the people here have had to devote more time to college, or have gone
on to enlist in the military, same as pest or have moved on to jobs. They have less free time
and though they do spend some of it here, it isn't anywhere near what it used to be, as you
can see.

Thirdly, I'd say is the forums we're using. I realize there is a great deal of sentimental value
here, but the forums aren't very attractive. They aren't the most versatile or functional either.
Wesker and I are considering a move, but we want to make sure that everyone is willing to
before we devote time and effort into it.

As for what we're going to do? Good question, one I may have an answer for. It might be a bit
radical, but what if we invited STARS, Tricell, the BSAA and the USS from DF to make our forums
their own? Granted that the first three probably have their own forums by now, the idea of unifying
the clans under one site is alluring. Each group could have their own section of the forums, perhaps
modded by the leader of their respective group. Of course, we'd never give them administration,
that'd be reckless.

The problem is convincing them, though, for all the aforementioned problems I stated above. If
their forums are better than ours, what reason would have to downgrade just to incorporate less
than 10 members into their ranks? 10 strangers at that.

I sorta like the whole "Small, tight-knit group of friends" feel we have.

I would be willing to drop the requirement level to DF to 30 for the time being. Part of the reason we raised it was because at the time we had something like 12-16 active members posting on the thread and playing the game, and a ton of people who applied, got accepted, and never posted again. The current state is kind of sad, though, with the majority of the people who signed on at our reboot last December gone. Animal Mother has sort of disappeared (2 times :s), Melsat just quit DF entirely, and the others we picked up along the way since then have sort of fallen off. We have 3-4 people still actively posting on the thread.

As for allowing the other RE clans of DF to post on our forum, I think we would have to be selective. I have zero respect for the USS that just popped up, because it's run by one of the many clowns who launched a clan just for the sake of being in charge of something; he didn't even meet his own requirements for the first couple of days. I haven't seen the TriCell or BSAA thread either.

I kinda agree with Wesker.I mean why do we want/need hundreds of members anyways?

Forum change? Why not? Sure this place has sentimental value but I'll keep visiting every now and then regardless of the forums.

Strayne wrote:

I sorta like the whole "Small, tight-knit group of friends" feel we have.

Yeah, I'm not liking the idea of merging with other clans. In fact, it wouldn't bother me at all if we entirely dropped our focus on DF. It took five years, but I've finally lost ALL hope for it.

As for how we got this way, Birkin pretty much hit the nail on the head. Here's the status of some of the people we've called "regulars" over the years.



Kyo - Now in the military. Too busy for us.

Pest - Now in the military. Almost too busy for us.

Z - Soon to be in the military, where he will lose most of his free time. Has been forced inactive due to work.

Austin - Soon to be in the military, where he will lose most of his free time. Has already lost much of it due to work, but is still fairly active

Settingsun - Lost along the way (many of you might not remember him, but he was one of our early regulars)

Konny - Lost along the way (same)

Jarki - Bant

Nicholai - Long gone and still our supreme Admin

Syn - AWOL from Umbrella, but sometimes contactable.

Imp - AWOL from Umbrella, but sometimes contactable.

Me - College and recently work are dominating my schedule, limiting me to one real project at a time, whereas back in the old days I might have four MMOs and two RPs going at once.

Havoc - Lost to a combination of college, work, and secretly hating you all for years.

Fatalitywolf - Who fucking knows

Wesker - Still active actually

Pengor - As our youngest member from the olden days, Pengor has finally come into his manhood and discovered women. Now he spends most of his time having sex with them.

Kanden - Still active, but never comes along on clan outings

Jen - Recently re-arisen

Birkin - Soon to be dead

Barry - Dead



I know I left a bunch of people out, but I have to leave for class soon, and anyone who didn't immediately pop into my head is probably long gone. Anyway, I'm thankful that we've gotten to the point where all of our flimsy members have died out, but it's sad to see real life taking its toll on regulars. I plan to be around for years to come, but I won't be surprised if it's just me, Wesker, and Birkin by then, with Pengor, Austin, and Z floating by once in a fortnight. I've seen this coming since day one, and I'm glad we've lasted so long. Umbrella won't be dying anytime soon, but unfortunately, we just can't be 15 and carefree again.

That being said, I'm all for a vigorous reboot. Despite being at my busiest, I'm also at the happiest point I've been in my life for a long time. I'd support moving to a newer, prettier forum. Hell, it wouldn't be the first time I've lost 2000+ posts around here. I'd also be willing to participate in a big clan activity, like an RP or an MMO. Currently at least three members of Umbrella play Combat Arms, though I'm well aware CA isn't for everyone.

One of our biggest obstacles over the years has been finding a game we can ALL play, what with half of us having bad computers, the other half having bad connections, and the third half simply not liking whichever game was suggested. It's worth thinking about.

Anyway, schooooooool

Imp is actually still around, he just forgets that he ever logs into the chatbox due to no sound. He would also be more contactable to trigger IF HE PICKED A SINGLE STEAM NAME AND STUCK WITH IT D:<

I think time is the biggest killer of activity, with everyone either growing out of DF, DF sucking now, or people just growing up and moving on with their "Adult" lives. I am still around on byond, mostly SS13.

Kyo isn't in the military anymore as far as I know, I saw SettingSun a short while back, Syn & Imp are on Steam frequently, and I won't be dying for the foreseeable future.

Strayne wrote:

Kyo isn't in the military anymore as far as I know, I saw SettingSun a short while back, Syn & Imp are on Steam frequently, and I won't be dying for the foreseeable future.

Oh.

*slides the knife back into her boot*

*Rises from the abyss untarnished by years of accumulated dust.*

I feel like I've seen this debate before.. Oh wait! I made it didn't I!? I've had this idea running in my head for 2 years and every time I've brought it up others have shot it down. Truly my plate is full with work, school, homework, and social life; yet a lot of time is still focused towards video gaming in general.

It isn't through a secret hatred I no longer visit the forums (Although that part is pretty true). It is because this website has been in the sewers a long time now. Why are we even slightly focused on DF anymore? Because we have one admin and three other guys that play it? I know five that play Halo but I don't see it competing for spotlight. Umbrella is no longer a name needed for this clan. Though fond lovers of the resident evil series I don't see us hopping on the Operation Raccoon City bandwagon and playing it daily together. That is the kind of game we dreamed of when this forum was started.

We may longer be military, scientists, or generals of Umbrella; but what we are is gamers. And as gamers we should alter this site to display such. The final issue we must face as a forum is the Introverted vs. the Extroverted. Those who like what is and those who like to explore more. Take Trigger as an example: Trigger plays Combat Arms, Runescape, League of Legends, and on an off day Maplestory. What he doesn't play is Dead Frontier. Keep that in your brain and bare with me for a second. There are other people on the internet that play those games that Trigger plays and probably share an equally lovable personality. Why should we keep from them this treasure we have that is our website? What I think people fear is a great change. The change in actuality wouldn't be all that great.. The people we have trusted for years will still be our admins and they alone will regulate the new traffic of members. Those who share our similarities would stay, and those who attempt something else would be banished.

I've waited years for people to see things in this light yet the idea has been shot down so many times I've all but given up for it. So this. This is my last attempt at this cause. Without improvement Havoc will take his final plunge into the dark abyss and never be seen from again.

We aren't focused on DF anymore, why does everyone say we are?

All we lack is a current objective.

I just pointed out our objective.

We can't all run out and buy a PS3 with non-existent monies.

D:

You used to have one.

Not to mention I spend most of my time playing league of legends now which is online and free to play.

Also, about half of us have shitty computers, eliminating them from anything more than chat on the site.

Your not focusing on anything but half of this situation. What your missing is there are other people from the games we all do play who should be more than welcome to the website. Why aren't they allowed to join?

When did I ever say anything alluding to the fact that others can't join? I said I like the way it is currently, not that I'd prevent it from moving on, like we already pretty much have.

As is evident by me inviting people to the forum, I'm fine with folks joining up. Do a little bit of research before you make an accusation.

I'm fine with a few or most of our members finding a game and playing it. I always have been. Just don't expect everyone to conform to your requests, because not everyone has the ability to game like we can, and I'm not going to force one game on all of our members... Or even force all our members to game.

We shifted our focus from DF onto brighter gaming horizons already, but you weren't here for that. Trigger and I are currently playing CA, which we've tried to get everyone into. Birkin even tried it, but it crashes for him.

I guess I just don't understand what exactly it is you want. You've been consistently cryptic in your intent ever since a time gone by.

The forums are open to outsiders, we're trying to find other games to play, the ruling class of admins is open for "DESERVING" non-DF personnel... What do you want done? A mass recruitment drive & a "Perfect" democracy? If you desire the former, it's your duty (And the duty of everyone you can convince of the same) to recruit; If you laid out a basic plan, the admins might even help. The latter is a dream; realized by none, seen by plenty.

I'm sorry if I seem harsh, but I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. You need to help me, help you.

Well first of all you got angry at a point I wasn't attempting to make. I'm not asking we force people to game nor focus on one game. If that was my attempt wouldn't I be directly pointing out a game I'd like us to focus on? I switch around games so often that it would be annoying to me to join a clan that simply focuses on one. I lack the time and dedication to such an attempt.

Your right on one part though, I've been gone a long time so I wasn't here for your attempts to recruit people.

Anyway, I'll try to explain my vision. The reason people from other games don't stick to this website is not because of its inactivity it is due to the name, the focus, and basis. A zombie clan when people are playing games that aren't zombie based? We don't even play zombie games very often anymore so really the name Umbrella is only for a nostalgic basis. All I want is for us to craft the website into something less focused and more accommodating to people from other games. Maybe I want to invite a friend from Assassins Creed or perhaps even a friend from League of Legends. The thing is they would be more interested if the game was just a place for gamers and friends alike to just get together and both chat about their day as well as gather a few friends who can play those games with them. Really what I'm asking you is to accommodate to the heaving gaming side of this forum. I know your reply would typically be go to gamehub or another website for pure gamers but that isn't the focus. I'm not looking to have this website changed into a purely gaming, that is not what my idea is about. It can be simply defined as so: A few close gaming friends and a site to get together on and make scheduled dates for playing together. Kind of like a calender of sorts. These people would not simply be driven to the website for gaming however, in free time we could create more active roleplays for everyone to join with more intensive plots that can only be achieved my a larger group of people. So in theory, I'm using gamers to create a larger group of members that will further allow us to open up new avenues we have always wanted to see.

I don't find the idea that hard to grasp really.


Edit In: If we are already inviting friends from other games then the first step I'm talking about is achieved.. It would help to change the website to a different color scheme and design. If I haven't already pointed it out enough: I made this scheme we are using from scratch and would have no problem in my spare time with creating a new scheme. You don't have to set it automatically. In fact you can create templates so that the other admins can see it and then you can install it to the website after it gets a nod of acceptance. What you would first have to get past though is I'm not here to destroy the website. Since me and pest created umbrella it has only been my intention to see it thrive, or at least go out in its times of failure with a sense of dignity. I'd like to help but I don't think you want my help. With that said, I can vocally portray my intents but past that there is nothing for me unless we can better get along. <3 x3

I don't really play any of the games that you people do. I pretty much stick to StarCraft, and TF2, and to my knowledge the only person here who plays TF2 aside from me is Trig. In regards to DF, I have not actually played that game for more than 20 minutes consecutively in almost a year. The only reason I still log in is to make sure that the clan doesn't completely fall apart. As for inviting people to join us on the forum, I've tried it with two people and both were uninterested. I don't really have anyone else to invite to the forums because I barely have any friends on the internet anymore to begin with.

Either way, I'm fine with almost any direction that this forum is pointed in, but I don't know that I can help much with getting us there.

I didn't get angry, particularly, I was just being rather stern. Sorry if you felt that I was angry at you.

We're not changing our name just to accommodate newbies, though. The color scheme is up for a redesign if you want to get someone to do it.

I'm just gonna sit back, open up a root beer, and watch the world burn.

What color scheme are we thinking of using? I thought we would need Nicolai if we wanted a full forum change theme but I'm not too sure.

This one. xD