3DOKid wrote:Okay. So, in simple terms, we want developers, we don't want belly aching about price or people trying to scam other people?
Okay, so I'm presuming you're approaching this as a purely hypothetical situation (I could be wrong) - what if YOU were to launch a new Jaguar forum to fill the void left by Jaguar Sector II?
So, the main truth of the matter, from what I can ascertain, is that JS-II always had 'competition' from Atari Age anyway. If anything, JS-II (and please, I mean no disrespect) was a lot like this place: once really very active, with pages of posts per day, with lots of regular active members and has now dwindled down to a VERY few regular posters and those odd 'classic' characters who pop their head round the door and say "hi" 2 -3 times a year, then disappear again. By contrast, "AA" (as it's abbreviated) is a site/forum dedicated to Atari as a whole, therefore, it has a broader audience and larger amount of members who's interests bleed, not only into one another's console(s) of choice, but cover a passion for Atari as a whole. Therefore, tbh, AA always had the edge when looking at the bigger picture of what is the online Atari gaming community presence. And still does. Jaguar Sector had become a minority of loyal Jag enthusiasts by the end, by which many had fallen by the wayside in one form or anther over time. Usually through some form of hostility shown towards one another at some time - either in JS-II itself, or a combination of negativity bouncing back and forth between JS-II and AA. Like rumours flying over the neighbours back wall, and back again.
AA has a lot of the angles covered tbh and has a healthy Jaguar 'sector' of it's own. Much more active than what JS-II had become in the end. I think Jay recognised all these things vs recent troubles with a few members (over different matters) and pulled the plug due to them brandishing and threatening legalities > harsh differences of opinion. Too much hassle for him vs a very quiet forum environment. Plus, I dare say, he's not as enthusiastic about the Jag as he once was 20+ years ago.
Perhaps there IS room for a new, fresh pasture for Jaguar gamers - new and old, and budding new developers and enthusiasts, to all gather round and enjoy the Jaguar once more, from a fresh perspective? I don't know.
As with the 3DO, a good portion of the discussion surrounded the hypothetical > the actual. People were more often concerned with the "what if's" and the "what could've been's" as opposed to just discussing the games - as they are today. Could the Jag have run Duke Nukem 3D? Could the Jag CD have run Quake?? What happened to Tomb Raider for Jag and how would it have run?? etc. Not all that dissimilar to here, on the 3DO forum tbh.
However, a lot of those discussions went from the simple "Yes, I think it probably could have run DN3D" to indepth technical discussions between the Jaguar ex-devs and Jaguar can-devs, throwing lots of jargon, code and mathematics around concerning the puzzling hardware as to why or why not it was or wasn't possible.
Unlike the 3DO's more proven abilities in the field of 3D (re: Need for Speed, Total Eclipse, Killing Time, Road Rash etc) largely thanks to the choice and foresight to opt for the CD format, right off the bat, the Jaguar - in many fans eyes, was never really given the chance due to a combination of Atari's abominable financial handling of the Jaguar, which in turn leaked through to the hardware and the games. There's a lot of bitterness surrounding the Jaguar at times (re: what if) and this, often, can generate a lot of tension. A lot of alluding to "but it could have" as opposed to what it did and what it was good at. The sort of behaviour exhibited 10-fold (and some) by the retro SEGA community. Anyway, it's these shortcomings and a general (global) consideration of the Jaguar's unworthiness that creates a very thick-skinned, opinionated crowd who are fiercely defensive of the Jaguar. Then, you're potentially attempting to combine that with newbies and newcomers to the console too. Which can be difficult.
There's a really, really twisted elitism surrounding the Jaguar - mainly born by the majority of gamers inability to understand the console, it's history and in consequence, it's drawbacks/strengths. Born from the minorities appreciation for something the majority of the industry damned.
I'm rambling thoughts into keyboard now, but I think an opportunity exists, but you'd definitely need to carefully consider the best way to approach the whole thing (thus your questions already, I understand?).
Small example: I recently watched a video made by a small group of development wannabe newcomers who are very enthusiastic about the Jaguar. They tried a fresh, light-hearted approach to making a Jag video entitled "Jaguar Virgins" - the idea of which was to expose an individual with ZERO knowledge or experience of the Jaguar to the console, controller and a game - for their first time ever.
Anyway, it's all done in a sit back and have a laugh at how this person interprets such events for the first time and, I remember, some of the responses to the video were from an individual who was offended by the perceived 'lack of respect' the video had shown the Jaguar and AVP.
I couldn't even be arsed replying. Seriously...