This community is dead, we have to change

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Alright, just to add some context. I was here in the drift lounge heyday, mid-FM2. I worked hard to get on the best teams, and cement myself as a respected name in this community way before I started YouTube. Just want to get that out of the way, before people think just because I have some subscribers I’m now a martyr.

Now I stopped going on the forums around late FM4. Battling wasn’t really my thing anymore, not because of anything in specific, just I didn’t have time for it anymore. I preferred to work on my YouTube channel instead, especially since around this time, the battle between wheel drifters and controller drifters was way too much to bear, and people took who were winning and losing battles WAY too seriously.

Flash forward to about a month ago. Figured with the re-design I’d dabble in the forums again. I still love coming here, too many memories and too many friendships were made here to completely forget about the forums entirely. I come back to find out, not only is our community just as hostile as it was before, it’s dead. There’s probably, what? 10, maybe 20 people posting in here regularly now? That makes me sick. I remember when the Drift Lounge RAN fm.net. We dominated this whole website, or at least had a huge chunk of the pie. Yeah, sure, FM3-FM4 times we had a rambunctious reputation, but if you waded through the overzealous morons and uneducated idiots there was a good core group of great, welcoming people. We didn’t like AWD drifters, or people who used posi-camber, or points drifters, however. We just wanted some respect and some order. That’s my next point.

This is a quote I wrote in another thread, which, is still on the mainpage.

We never hated on anyone out of the box, because we thought we were better. I mean, a few of us did, but there are idiots on either side of this argument. Points drifters who were eloquent, understanding and intelligent were welcomed here with open arms. So were AWD drifters! Again, you just have to wade through the idiots.

Now that that is out of the way, what the hell happened? And before the few points drifters left blame it on the tandem guys, get it straight. First of all, the tandem community is the only reason a points system exists. We’re not asking you to conform, just respect your elders, know your roots. Secondly, every single trolling, aggressive, attack post I see in these forums now is initiated by a points drifter trying to cut a chink in the armour of the battle community. Why? What for? We’re not making threads going after you guys, and especially with the removal of basically every feature that made battles and tandems fun/possible, we understand we have to share these forums. So what is it? Are you trying to drive us out? Because nobody is going to win this war. We’re all going to end up banned and this community will be REALLY dead.

Now, I love this place. I love the FM.Net drift lounge. Don’t ask me why, especially now, but I do. I can’t bear to see this ran into the ground more than it is now. As I see it, we only have two options. Segregate, or integrate.

The first option would be the creation of two subforums, tandem and points. Delete the battle lounge and the team lounge (seeing as points/tandem teams/battles can be posted in their own respective subforums), with generic Forza drifting threads being posted in the main area. Such as Show Your Drift Cars, drift tunes, etc. etc. That way, we won’t bother each other, and both sub-genres of this community can regroup and grow.

The second, and the more likely option, is we all have to smarten up here. Points drifters have to stop acting like they have something to prove, and learn to take some criticism. Tandem drifters have to stop attacking every thread or post that has anything to do with points for absolutely no reason. It’s cool to have an opinion, guys. Hell, I’m the one who suggested a points vs tandem debate in Heironymous (sic)'s thread. But when your arguments boil down to “dis is dum and ur dum” then what the hell is either side achieving?

I don’t want to see us fall apart. Call me a sappy nerd or whatever, but we have something way too great here to throw away. I’ve made life-long friends through this game, even flown down to meet some of them. Why should we deny other people that experience?

I’m willing to represent the OG Tandem side if anyone wants to have a discussion below. I will be ignoring any blatant attacks or ignorant posts, just for the sake of a peaceful protest.

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this was very well written and I agree with everything that you said! so hats off to you for doing this.

I will also gladly discuss things just as Aero would cause I sit back and remember the same days he speaks of very often and it makes me sad things don’t go back to how they were

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Agreed.
This place is a ghost town.
What I want more than anything is this place to be bumping again.

I said the same thing in the same thread

" I want this place to pick up, I want to see some real competition come out of this place like it was even on FM4. Its dead right now and I believe that a good part of it is because people come here for the first time, take one look at the front page and turn around and never come back. Why wouldn’t they? Who would want to come to a message board that has no order and no respect for the rules."

It was nice when it was full of people who gave a [Mod edit - WSD - Profanity]

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I don’t even care if this place fills up with people using P Class Subarus with drag slicks and positive camber, shooting for the highest score. I really don’t. It’d hurt a bit inside, but I’d rather see a healthy community full of smart people doing what they love than this, just 5-10 people on either side arguing all the time.

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I’d have to agree with both parties above. I wish it wasn’t this way, but certain people within the drift lounge ruined the place, as well as points Drifters to be honest.

+1 Aero.

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well said mate. i think the reason we keep coming around and want this place to thrive, is because back in the glory days of FM2, we made so many great friends and met so many like minded individuals, and we want to see the forum be like that again. sure there were some people i made fun of and rather disliked, thus making fun of them more, but that was where the fun was. you disliked someone and talked smack to each other, settle it with a battle and let it be. i definitely wouldn’t know any of you blokes without being here in FM2. aero, mo, westies, chocobo/lizard, MSD, etc. im far beyond battles at this point because it bores me, but i’d really love to see this place thrive again and actually take off. i think the sub forum suggestions are a great idea as well

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Im sort of a fusion of a tandem and points drifter. I drifted a lot in Gran Turismo and came to Forza 4. Never drifted in FM4 when Fm5 came out i drifted in points lobbies. I noticed I wasn’t getting as many points as some. So I went to tandeming with my normal tunes.

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Aero worded that very, very well. The DRIFT community should seriously begin to work together whether you are RWD, AWD, FWD, points, tandem, battle, style, limbo, new, old, fast or slow! We are all here to enjoy drifting and a helping hand and welcome arms should be held out to anyone who comes here, whether they are brand new or a returning veteran. Like I said in a post I made in the tandem vs points thread, we (tandem and points drifters) are two sides of the same coin, such as those who battle and those who prefer to tandem and chill. I would personally love to see this place thriving with new faces, old vets, and teams everywhere! I do prefer tandem over points but that doesn’t mean I don’t respect points drifters that deserve it. Both of Aero’s plans sound like they will help, although I personally wouldn’t prefer the first over the second, I know it’s gonna take more than myself to make change. Basically, I am saying with deal with the idiots who do nothing but start [Mod edit - WSD - Implied profanity] on both sides in a way and help get this place going again. Anyway I can help, please feel free to PM me and let me know because I have no issue taking initiative to fix this place as much as I can.

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+10000 This is true! We need to rally the people who know what they are talking about, know what they are doing, and get them to all become a little more active on the forums to help better this place and make it friendly again. The hostility is ridiculous and almost disgusting and some of the attitudes of the “drifters” here. I’m just sad to have seen this place let itself go, like an old childhood home you revisit and it’s destroyed. Change would be a nice thing, however it is achieved.

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Why is there even a debate about tandem vs points? Both are different play styles. You like to play it one way, someone likes to play it a different way. If people can’t see past that, then they are the problem with the community.

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It’s not even the different styles that’s the problem. It’s the people that hold themselves like they’re better than everyone else.

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This 100%, Just before Forza 5 release and just after the Drift Lounge was alive and seemed to be well (Though it seems it’s been declining slightly since Forza 2) but a couple of months ago is when it seemed to have died down a lot which is pretty sad. I’ve been viewing the forums since 2007/8 and decided in sign up in 2009 because the community was huge and now I hardly even venture into the Drift Lounge and each time I do there seems to be a disagreement between two types of players and that’s it.

Also as Minty said above FM5 and Xbox One happened which is another contribution to the community being ‘dead’. It also seems that a lot of the community’s on Forza 5 a quieter than before. Not everyone is going to shell out the huge amount of money it costs for the system or the games.

Hopefully things get better and the community rises from the dead again and I will be here to see it. In the mean time if anyone wants to tandem the THROW a friend request my way! I’ll be happy to drift whenever I’m on.

Happy drifting!

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Honestly, tandem drifting is the best thing to do in forza. im still new to it but I hate points drifting. Its so boring and does not take any skill. I miss the days where people drifted for style and fun and Turn 10 kind of ruined drifting in FM5. The y took out the tracks that every loved like Suzuka, Maple Valley, and Fujimi Kiado but they left in Bernese alps the track that only points drifters like. Also, is it to much to ask for more JDM stuff like more cars and body kits?

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A comment like this, is the subject of the thread. Please refrain from making comments such as, XX Drifting style is better than XXX drifting style, because XXX takes no skill. It is insulting and unnecessary.

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Would have to disagree with you on Alps I am one of the better points drifters and I absolutely hate that track but everyone seems to vote for it in hopper lobbies for some reason that’s not saying much though when people are still voting for 11 laps on Top Gear just want to bash my brains in. I would much rather points drift on tracks like Full Positano, Tsukuba, Suzuka East, and Fujimi Kiado.

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= ( I am one of those who vote for the 11 lap Topgear track. I really like it’s simplicity, and I do like getting close to people on it.

I think the Alps thing is hilarious. In Forza 4, you couldn’t get people to run the alps if you tried. In Forza 5, you can’t get people away from it!

Personally, I’ll take Laguna Seca, Indianapolis, Nurburgring GP and Le Mans all day. 4 of the best tracks in the game in my opinion.

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Add Catalunya School to that and you have this game’s decent tracks. You could argue that you could add a layout of Long Beach to that but that’s really it. In the hoppers I cannot understand why people vote for certain tracks. The Test Track for example. After the first turn if you bottom out over the rain gulley you lose points or if you’re circuit racing or hot lapping you get a dirty lap. In drift battles in Ireland anyway one guy doesn’t get get a 10-0 when the other either leads well or chases on his doorhandles.

I’ll end this (mild) rant here…

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Test track is one of the only tracks I like tbh

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im popping in real quick to say yeah the forums are dead… yeah theres not alot of event and such but its still a place you can some and meet new people i want to see moments like we had on forza 3 and forza 4 where teams were like family and F/As where children to be taken under your wings i miss that there was no ego no popularity contests over whos better it was just plan old we do this to have fun nothing else nothing more… KDF

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Never really had anything to do with the forums (only because I didnt really know it existed for ages)

But I have been playing Forza for years now, and I’ve seen a huge downfall. And It’s not the forums only that are dead, it’s the gaming experience as well. People are arrogant, rude, and just inconsiderate. You have a handful of drifters who are actual decent human beings, but for the most part, you will be abused and cursed at every lobby you join. Whether it’s if you accidently hit them, don’t score as many points, cut them off, whatever it may be. There was once a time where if you did these things you’d apologise, have a laugh and make a new friend. But now I find myself having to leave lobbies, and occassionaly just turn off Forza altogether to avoid an argument.

I’ve hardly touched Forza in months because it’s becoming more trouble than what it’s worth. And it sucks, it’s given me some awesome memories. But now it almost seems like it’s time to say farewell to the whole series.

Something needs to happen ASAP!

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