A recent issue brought my attention to something I've been thinking about for a long time because it made me consider whether or not I'd ever revisit this site. In April, I was kicked out of my account and unable to log back in because my old password, which I've never before had a problem with, suddenly wouldn't let me log in. I figured it was something with the boards. For some stupid reason, I held out hope that this issue would eventually be resolved by the site's developers, knowing that they're legitimately good about site upkeep. So I was surprised when, a month later, I was still unable to log in to my account. I got it fixed easily enough by requesting a new password sent to my email account, but it's really the last straw I've had with this forum. This issue would've probably deterred me from logging in ever again if I didn't have a history with this forum. Recently there's been a slew of shit that's been really taking this forum into the gutter. Gif wars, pointless repetitive threads with one- or two-word posts in the General Discussion, the leaving of much of the old crowd, and banning threats aside, I want to address the elephant in the room. This was screenshotted by me about a minute before starting to type this post (on a Saturday, at mid-day in America), and it reflects the current trend of the board.





Let's cut to the chase. It's obvious that the overwhelming majority of FFS members are using the site for free music downloads, and the vast majority of people viewing the forum are lurkers. Now, I know that the "Final Fantasy" part of the forums have been dead for some time now, but it's painfully clear that this board has next to nothing in terms of new content about Final Fantasy. The fact that "Final Fantasy" is still a part of "Final Fantasy Shrine" is kind of a joke. I'm not trying to criticize or reprimand anyone for using whatever part of the forum they wish. In fact I think this accurately reflects the current downhill trend of the series.

But why not just have a different, dedicated forum for music downloads? Why lump it in with "Final Fantasy" Shrine? Is it because that's just the way it's always been and we can't change it? Or is it that these--let's be honest--illegal uploads are more easily hidden if they're not on a marked website? If the Final Fantasy part of FFS is dead, let it die instead of limping along like a one-legged, bleeding, sick cat. Now, I'll freely admit that this is free content about which I'm complaining, and I'm not trying to implore people to go back to the "good old days" of the board where we actually had interesting conversations throughout the site. God knows I was rarely a part of such conversations. I also don't have a problem with people who download music illegally. On the surface, I don't have a problem with that part of the forum, but I just want to ask the people who are in charge of the site or the developer to really take an introspective look at the board and think about whether or not it really makes sense to keep this format. Because to me, it doesn't make sense; it's obvious that 98% of people who use this site use it for music downloads. Again, I don't have a problem with this per se, but it doesn't make sense to me to keep it the way it is because of this.

Some people might say that no part of the site is hurting anyone, so I should shut up and let people use the site for whatever they want. The issue for me is that this forum used to mean something. It used to be more than a warehouse of illegal music download links. Right now it's not even a shell of its former self, it's beyond being a joke, it's just sad and pathetic. I know that the majority of the site being dedicated to the music download portion has been this way for a long time, and what I'm saying is nothing revelatory. But I honestly think that people used to care about the "FF" part of "FFS." For God's sake, it's in the name of the forum. But upon reflection, having FF in the name makes about as much sense as having any other series in the name. I don't think it was originally like that. I wasn't around from the very beginning, but I was around long enough to see that there was interest in and quite a lot of content on the FF side of the board, and there was a more equal dispersal of members throughout the different areas of the site. Of course, as I said, it's been in this current state for a long while now.

I'm not asking for anything solid in particular. I don't have a solution here. I'm not expecting a total revamp of the site, or for the downloads or FF sections of the board to get removed. However, what I want to ask is for whoever is in charge of maintaining and developing the site to take a moment to seriously reflect on what the aim, purpose, and scope of the Final Fantasy Shrine is, knowing, as they do, that 98% of the site's traffic comes from music downloads. Is this what they want the site to be, and be known for? If both the users and the people who manage this site don't care about Final Fantasy content, maybe it would be best to do something else with it, to take the Shrine in another direction, or to create two different boards. Because right now, in the opinion of this user, there's a total disconnect between "Final Fantasy Shrine" and the supposed content of the forum being "Final Fantasy." Having been involved with some of the history of the board, to see this site, which used to have interesting characters and foster interesting discussions and actually be about something, now be basically a forum version of Anime and OST PirateBay, the current state of the boards is beyond pathetic. I know I'm going to get eaten alive for this, but I can't be alone in thinking this. To anyone who read this whole thing, thanks for taking the time to read it. I know nothing will change, I just wanted to get this out there.

Olde, I'm posting mainly to address the "first paragraph" of your post. With regards to your password suddenly not being recognized, thus, preventing you from logging into your account… It's something that affected every user: there was a Database Error, forum went offline for a few hours and when it got back, "we" found ourselves booted out of our account(s) and unable to login. We all had to request a new password.

As for the rest of your post, I'll admit that I found the Shrine thanks to one of the (at the time) Download Links threads: more specifically, I was after the music of The Terminator for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive and Jessie's thread was among the results at the top, so, I was mainly a lurker. Still, I am sympathetic, a message like yours showed up multiple times over the years… Personally speaking, I've never contributed much to the meaningful discussions because I prefer to read and, secondly, even though I happen to be a rather decent Final Fantasy fan (that's the thought I like to entertain, at least), by the time I've approached this place, I went countless times through the average FF-related topics, nowadays, the only kind of stuff which I would find a bit interesting are troll-threads about "Who do you think shaves his/her pubic hair best?"

Given the current state of the main website, and the general lack of activity in most parts of the forums, I would personally leave active only Questions/Feedback/Assistance and those forums related to Downloads, but I simply moderate Video Game Music Download Links+Requests. The board should really get a major revamp and, no, I'm not necessarily speaking of the kind of revamp I am suggesting, before some of you might think otherwise.

I've been raising this topic for years Olde... Offered some suggestions to try and revive the Non download sections to Sarah some time ago and was even told that she'd get back to me about them... which she never did. This site WAS about Final Fantasy first and foremost, but now is nothing but a download site and is a mockery of what it used to be. The main site hasn't been updated in YEARS!!! The last update to the main site was this (http://www.ffshrine.org/FullStory.php?nid=84) :

Jump Fiesta: Final Fantasy, Square-Enix Titles to be Featured - 11.20.06

Square-Enix has confirmed that at the Jump Fiesta gameshow the following games will make appearances:

FINAL FANTASY XIII
FINAL FANTASY Versus XIII
FINAL FANTASY Agito XIII
KINGDOM HEARTS II FINAL MIX +
FINAL FANTASY XII REVENANT WINGS
FINAL FANTASY VII ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE
DIRGE of CERBERUS LOST EPISODE
BEFORE CRISIS - FINAL FANTASY VII
IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD
MONOTONE
DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS - Joker
SAINTLY SWORD LEGEND 4

Interestingly Final Fantasy Crisis Core is missing from the lineup. It appears that Square-Enix's focus has definitely shifted towards the new Final Fantasy Fabula Nova Crystalis line of games.

Written by Ender

No one in the Admin or other Mods (apart from Enkidoh and myself) seem to really remember that this was a Final Fantasy forum (surprisingly about Final Fantasy, what a shock!) which did have a lot of meaningful activity. Yeah we had some assholes deliberately causing trouble now and then, but that's on every forum. The overall feel and quality of this forum has plummeted since Galbadia Hotel was taken offline and the download section was added here. I don't think Sarah or Jessie even care about about what this site's original purpose was... which is a shame because it WAS a good site. Now... well I've been on some other forums where people have roasted this site and it's member base... all because of the download section. Here's a example...

I WILL CRUSH FFSHRINE!!! (http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?pageID=32&threadID=72941&archive=0)

Even the Urban Dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ffshrine) has this to say about the board :

Despite the misleading name, the last thing the "Final Fantasy Shrine Forum" is about is actually discussing about the Final Fantasy series of Japanese Role Playing Games. It has been estimated that at least 70 % of its registered membership has never seen, let alone played, these games featuring crazy androgynous men with big (really big) swords and even bigger eyes. To the contrary, the forum is about sharing Original Soundtrack albums from any media (animes, games, movies) in archived (.rar, .zip, .tar, .bar, .001. , hjsplit etc. etc.) file formats. And don't you dare not upload it in lossless!

It's no wonder that 90% of the members I originally knew here, have left (one in particular swearing never to come back here again)... Only reason I'm still here, is this was the first forum I ever joined and for some perverse feeling of loyalty, I'm still here. Over the years, I've seen how far this site has fallen... and I honestly don't know if there's anyway to revive it. No one cares about Final Fantasy here now... Only about stepping around copyright laws etc and offering 'free' downloads of all sorts of material.

As a bloke who joined here because of the Downloads section and admittedly at one point aided in the complete disintegration of what General Discussion used to be (sorry!), let me tell you I have the upmost respect for you guys who watched the Final Fantasy Shrine sink into the depths of Internet hell, which is what the downloads section pretty much is today.

The Video Game Music Download Links section is a fine place, with a general positive atmosphere, but the Film, Television and Classical Music Download Links section is a shithole. At this point it's pretty much like any warez site now. You can almost smell the stench. I don't really have any solution or anything constructive to add, but I just wanted to say that as a frequenter of that area of the forum I'm well aware of what an awful place it is.

I used to try get things going when Steam started porting games to Steam.

But, let's face it, you can't beat the original intent. A lot of games are meant to be memories. Even just emulated.
You can never reclaim that nostalgia of first discovering your first fantasy game, be it on the NES system over your uncles while eating pizza and playing for just half an hour before you have to leave, or renting on the PS1 for the newest games. You can only recreate new memories. Learning to setup your system or portable hardware to emulate the old games is what helps you rediscover the fantasy in a new way. It becomes personal that you're going out of your way to emulate a game you once loved. But, it won't be the same. It cannot be the same. But the new memories are about the journey. The cliche of finding your way to sitting down and actually playing it but in a new perspective.

That's what adaptation and survival is all about. Sure, you might be robbed a majority of the excitement and new sensations from when you first introduced yourself to the fantasy, but there will always be smaller times that really account for a lot. And when those moments stop meaning anything, then there's no point living the fantasy anymore. There's only the realization to move on.

I for one, refuse to let this be my final fantasy.

There's still plenty to be obtained from here. I like hearing what others have to say about gaming because it's created a new perspective for me on my buying choises. I used to be a compulsive shopper for Steam and GOG. But, now I'm prioritizing myself and looking for what's available before committing to anything.
I love hearing about reviews and I love hearing about all the options there are to modding.

There's still plenty I want to hear about in regards to the HD remasters on Steam for FFX/X-2 and any modding options.
And I'd like to extend it to reviews about Doom, as I'm seriously considering buying that at full price right now instead of waiting for Christmas sales.

There's nothing to stop any one of us from creating a thread in the right section in hopes to start any conversation.
Except when the series has gone commercial and mostly are just porting mobile versions to Steam and emulating is still the #1 guarantee of not sullying any fading memories you have before they truly become the living definition of the word "fantasy". Was there ever a good version? Or were we all just kids and wanting to dream just a little bit bigger?

It's easy to look to only one section. It requires less effort than to actually make a stand and start something that might lead to something more adventurous.

(This message has been brought to you by SparkTech, now on Windows 10)

OP, what's you point?

OP, what's you point?

The forums are not ever going to be the way they were, which should be looked at as a blessing. The forums are now being used as a helpful resource to share rare and hard to find albums and what not. If you just want a kindergarten-mentality frat house setting where people casually call others the 'N' word then go join Stormfront or some other white nationalist support group. For all of the other random NSFW image and shock threads I guess you could always start new topics, but I would advise against it as some of those things have gotten Miss (or should that be Mr.) Nyb3rg targeted all over the web.