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How much has PA changed over the years? |
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A Crimson Mellotron 
Prog Reviewer 
Joined: September 10 2020 Location: Sofia, Bulgaria Status: Offline Points: 5690 |
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 Topic: How much has PA changed over the years?Posted: May 10 2021 at 03:31 |
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This is a question for the people that have been on the site from its birth up to 2012-13, let's say. (Especially for the ones that are on here since the mid-2000s) I was wondering how much and in what ways have the site and the forum changed over the years. If you happen to have any pictures of its interface before, please feel free to share. Or just tell us about your memories and how you came across this place. How much have the artists and album pages changed as well? Or was it like that always? I am curious to see the answers.
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Progishness
Forum Senior Member 
Joined: December 10 2020 Location: Planet Rhubarb Status: Offline Points: 2565 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 03:47 |
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Despite this newish account, I've been a background member here since about 2007/8. One thing that does occur to me is that the main site could do with a bit of a makeover as the format has barely altered IIRC, but is looking a bit tired now - not too much tho to make it ultra flashy and/or awkward to navigate.
Edited by Progishness - May 10 2021 at 03:51 |
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"We're going to need a bigger swear jar."
Chloë Grace Moretz as Mindy McCready aka 'Hit Girl' in Kick-Ass 2 |
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nick_h_nz
Collaborator
Prog Metal / Heavy Prog Team Joined: March 01 2013 Location: Suffolk, UK Status: Offline Points: 6737 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 04:10 |
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I’ve been using the site since approx 2010. After a few years of lurking, I decided to join the forum, with the intention of participating, in 2013. Actually, I just carried on lurking, reading, and observing. I think I made my first post last year, after a decade of inaction.
Has the site changed much? Only in so much as the active posters have changed over the years. Some names are still around from when I first arrived, and some are back under different names, but for the most part a lot of who were the main active players have long gone. The same old tired discussions still get posted, and the same old tired arguments regurgitated. But the biggest change I have noticed, is that a lot of the more active and vocal members of the forum are more open minded than the was the case a decade ago. There are still some who have a very narrow view of prog, but thankfully they seem to be becoming more of a minority as the years go by. I don’t really care that the site looks tired, as I will always take functionality over aesthetics. I’ve seen too many websites and forums “upgraded” over the years, so that they become far nicer to look at, but also far more awkward and unwieldy to use. PA is far from being a perfect site, but it’s shortcomings are well known, and don’t cause any great impediment. Ultimately, the greatest resource this site has is, is its users. And I think in this regard, the site has improved over the years. |
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A Crimson Mellotron
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 10 2020 Location: Sofia, Bulgaria Status: Offline Points: 5690 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 04:24 |
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^Interesting observations by both. I have noticed in some pretty old posts (talk about 2005-2009) that the forum users are [often] completely different faces (or rather, avatars  ), with some exceptions, as nick said.I am also curious about the age groups - how have they changed this decade? However, this is impossible to know, right? |
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Icarium
Forum Senior Member
VIP Member Joined: March 21 2008 Location: Tigerstaden Status: Offline Points: 34083 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 04:43 |
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Im agreeing with progishness though it doesnt really bother me that much but a little lip gloss and some "CGI" would not be bad either. The colour scheme is good but a slight upgrade on the desktop would not be a negative. I also asked in another thread i started about if there were any change of vissits during covid time. If there is any noticable change
Edited by Icarium - May 10 2021 at 04:43 |
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Progishness
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 10 2020 Location: Planet Rhubarb Status: Offline Points: 2565 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 04:44 |
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Most of the discussions get recycled from time to time, and it is interesting to see the differences of opinion as to what 'prog' is. I'm of that generation who were teenagers when prog was in its first flush, i.e. late 60's / early 70's, so my views may well differ to someone born in the 90's, or in this millennium. I dislike the terms 'boomer' or 'millennial' as they add nothing to discussions. Good music transcends time and age groups, and the quality stuff will survive and be appreciated by younger generations. Yep I'm rambling, but put it down to me being senile!
Edited by Progishness - May 10 2021 at 05:05 |
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"We're going to need a bigger swear jar."
Chloë Grace Moretz as Mindy McCready aka 'Hit Girl' in Kick-Ass 2 |
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Raff
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 29 2005 Location: None Status: Offline Points: 24429 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 04:53 |
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As one of the veterans here, I can tell you that the forum is a much nicer, more relaxed place now. Even if there are a couple of people who get on my nerves, this is nothing compared to what the place used to be. And the Collab zone was even worse than the main forum. Things got so bad at one point that I left the site for four years. I am glad I came back, though. I have a sentimental attachment to this site, which to me is a much better place to hang out than those awful social media (or "anti-social media", as I like to call them
 ). It's true that discussions get recycled, and a lot of people are stuck in the Seventies, but that's a problem of the whole "prog scene", so to speak. |
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SteveG
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Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20617 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 05:19 |
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Posters back in the day were much more like ExitTheLemming. Take that as you will.
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Sean Trane
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Prog Folk Joined: April 29 2004 Location: Heart of Europe Status: Offline Points: 20414 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 05:45 |
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In terms of looks on the site as a whole, there hasn't been much change except for the illustrated banner on the Database header section. Once inside a band's page, there used to be the full discography links appearing on every page in the top right hand corner, which gave instant access to other albums, instead of haviçng to back down to the bio page. This was taken out because it was slowing down the page-loading process On the forum side, not much visual changes, but we had a major increase of forums and sub-forums, which didnn't make it easier to find your young.
Yeah, the forum was a real war zone in some ways (but nothing like Rate Your Music ever was) but it was fun and fascinating. I joined on the fourth day of the site's birth (though it existed in a different form before hand) and reviewing away and advising M@X (upon his demand), but it took me months before actually jumping in the thick of things in the forums. I'd say that 75% o my posts were published before 2009. Edited by Sean Trane - May 10 2021 at 05:48 |
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let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
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nick_h_nz
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Prog Metal / Heavy Prog Team Joined: March 01 2013 Location: Suffolk, UK Status: Offline Points: 6737 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 06:30 |
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This is why it took me so long to post here. It took me approx three years before registering on the site, and a further ten years before posting - purely because I didn’t feel comfortable doing so. I won’t say it was toxic, but it was definitely not as nice as it is now. And for all those who complain about the toxicity of FB, all I can say is that you never saw this forum at its worst (in my opinion, obviously). |
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nick_h_nz
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Prog Metal / Heavy Prog Team Joined: March 01 2013 Location: Suffolk, UK Status: Offline Points: 6737 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 06:31 |
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It’s funny, ‘cause it’s true! 😄 |
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Easy Money
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Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: August 11 2007 Location: Memphis Status: Offline Points: 10679 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 06:32 |
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You can go on the site called WayBackMachine and see screen shots of the site going back to its beginning.
The site was at a peak about 12 or more years ago, with a much larger active membership and more abusive and aggressive behavior. Admins used to do a lot more banning and threatening to ban. Admins were much more aggressive in policing the site. Collabs got in big fights over controversial additions etc. I have not seen a big blow up over an artist addition in a long time. Edited by Easy Money - May 10 2021 at 06:34 |
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A Crimson Mellotron
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Joined: September 10 2020 Location: Sofia, Bulgaria Status: Offline Points: 5690 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 06:54 |
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One can find pretty interesting things. Did you know that 'Selling England by the Pound' was the number 1 album on the site for some time last decade?
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Lewian
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Joined: August 09 2015 Location: Italy Status: Online Points: 15151 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 06:55 |
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Nice to read something positive about the present compared to the past of the forum for a change!
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Psychedelic Paul
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Joined: September 16 2019 Location: Nottingham, U.K Status: Offline Points: 43457 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 07:11 |
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I must have joined at just the right time then, because I'd never seen the PA forums before September 2019.
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Shadowyzard
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Joined: February 24 2020 Location: Davutlar Status: Offline Points: 4506 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 07:21 |
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Hmm... I've been here for about 16 years. Though I gave several long, and very long breaks. I can say that this platform has never been too unpleasant for me. If here is a more peaceful place now as Raff says (she seems right), perhaps we have transcended progressivisim and are post-progressive rockers now.
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I prophesy disaster
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Joined: December 31 2017 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 4918 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 09:01 |
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I had been visiting this site for about 10 to 15 years, I don't remember exactly when I discovered the site. I spent most of the time reading reviews, only occasionally visiting the forum. Usually, this would be because a search for a group that is not in the database would lead to the forum. If I recall correctly, it was one of those occasions where I had been searching the database for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, and I came across a discussion in the forum about whether they should be included in PA. It was to add my two cents to the discussion in favour of their inclusion that I actually become a member of the site.
One thing that I note is that many of the usernames I see in older reviews for albums are not currently posting in the forum. Edited by I prophesy disaster - May 10 2021 at 09:06 |
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No, I know how to behave in the restaurant now, I don't tear at the meat with my hands. If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man.
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rogerthat
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Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 10:12 |
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Forum is less populated and quieter than before. It's gotten a bit more active post covid, else I could go days without finding interesting new threads, if new threads, to browse through.
I don't know whether that's really a good thing. Maybe it could be more hostile before but coming from the far more opinionated and closed-minded environment of metal-archives, that didn't really bother me. I always found and find PA quite a civil place and I am not someone who minds disagreeableness per se until it gets to the point of verbal abuse. There were so many once regular posters who have simply quit the forum now or haven't visited in a very long time at any rate - Dean, Andy, Mike, Pessimist, Teo, thellama, etc. There was so much to learn for me from the posts of someone like Dean. I remember him predicting the streaming music industry way back - like at least ten years ago. It's rare that the forum is that enriching anymore but it remains a pleasant enough place to hang out and talk about prog, even though we are all tired of talking about it.
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Matti
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Joined: April 15 2005 Location: Finland Status: Offline Points: 2148 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 11:36 |
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Having been here since 2005 without ever leaving for longer periods, it's evident that ProgArchives is absolutely a most central internet site for me (I joined Facebook no sooner than in 2014, I think).
I agree with Raff and other long-timers that the Forum is both calmer and nicer nowadays. But actually I have never been VERY active in the Forum discussions, I'm primarily a utiliser of our gorgeous database and a lover of good music (not just prog-prog) who likes writing reviews. |
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chopper
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 13 2005 Location: Essex, UK Status: Offline Points: 20032 |
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Posted: May 10 2021 at 11:45 |
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I've been knocking around a while. I remember at least one forum software update but tbh I can't remember what the difference was. Fundamentally things are the same but we no longer hear from the likes of Snow Dog and even micky is not around so much these days.
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Raff wrote:
).
It's true that discussions get recycled, and a lot of people are stuck
in the Seventies, but that's a problem of the whole "prog scene", so to
speak.