The end of eXplormi...
 
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The end of eXplorminate


Gaius Konstantine
(@gaius-konstantine)
Warrant Officer Reporter
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 214
Topic starter  

Sad day for 4X enthusiasts and gamers in general as eXplorminate has announced it will be shutting down. 

That site featured a great deal of good content and wasn't restricted to reviews of 4x games only, there were many topics discussed and featured. I'm saddened at the loss, particularly with anything related to space.


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D.C.Elington
(@d-c-elington)
Warrant Officer Registered
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 279
 

Oh that's sad indeed. I discovered the site thanks to you by the way.


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Gaius Konstantine
(@gaius-konstantine)
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Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 214
Topic starter  
Posted by: @d-c-elington

Oh that's sad indeed. I discovered the site thanks to you by the way.

Yes D.C. I agree. it's sad as it is one less site for fans to get good gaming news and articles... but also a bit of an opportunity for SSC. I was thinking that perhaps we could take up some of the slack here, at least with games related to space. So if @sscadmin doesn't object, I would like to expand on the articles posted here. 

Nothing drastic mind you as I don't have the capability for that, but instead of the sporadic previews and reviews I post, I may be increasing both the frequency of those articles and also introducing some new ones. @pinback already provides us with a valuable and steady stream of gaming news so that is already covered well, if anyone else wants to join in from time to time, that would be great.

I would love to get some feedback on this thought.

This post was modified 4 years ago 2 times by Gaius Konstantine

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DarkOne
(@sscadmin)
Supreme Dark Emperor Admin
Joined: 8 years ago
Posts: 7851
 

To everyone, if any proven members of the community want to write articles like @gaius-konstantine has been doing you only have to ask and I will assign the correct role to you. On content of articles or posts, I am very laid back on this, as long as it is sci-fi and/or sci-fi gaming related I am okay with anything a author would create for articles. If your in doubt you could always run it by me 🙂 but I trust the members here so no worries.


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Gaius Konstantine
(@gaius-konstantine)
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Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 214
Topic starter  

Certainly sci-fi and space. While I love games in general, for me it comes down to three groupings as a player. I guess my biggest passion is anything to do with space, doesn't matter if it's a sim or a 4X, as long as it's in space. I've just been fascinated by it since I was kid, (thought for sure we would have a moon-base by now, sigh.) Then I have times when I go off on strategic or tactical war-games, and let me say I own some excellent titles, some are household names, others are boutique games I stumbled on by searching specific topics. The last group would be my more relaxed mode, a good fantasy rpg. (Yes I'm a geek)

But for SSC, I want to write specifically about space related games and topics, no worries there. 


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DarkOne
(@sscadmin)
Supreme Dark Emperor Admin
Joined: 8 years ago
Posts: 7851
 

To be honest I have never heard of eXplorminate until this post. I will say I definitely know their pain, it is tough providing content on a consistent basis for free. I am just thankful to the long time members that help SSC stay current (especially @Pinback) back 10 years ago it was pretty easy to keep track of all the games because scifi was on a downtrend. Now it is booming again and there is so many titles I loose track 😉 

But with hosting rates going up and more and more people switching to a mobile style of lifestyle it gets more difficult to stay current. I try to keep ads on SSC to a minimum, but with loosing ads sponsors and stuff like that the costs do get up there. I usually bring the costs down because I pay for hosting years at a time so that least brings the cost down. But I have had to downsize as well, I used to have a dedicated server. It was too expensive too keep with ad revenue not where it should be so I had to reduce cost. Did I loose members or traffic because of it, probably. But SSC isn't here for the money, its here because I have a passion for these types of games and there was no websites that covered just this topic. 

Content based websites are a lot of work and the majority of use here are older adults with families and jobs so finding the time to dedicate can be difficult. We all have passions and as long as I am able SSC will never have the generators go down, heh I am looking forward to 20yrs on the web in a few more years 🙂 

 

So thank you all who visit and contribute to SSC everyday, its not as popular as it used to be. But for the members that continue stopping by thank you 😉


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Gaius Konstantine
(@gaius-konstantine)
Warrant Officer Reporter
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 214
Topic starter  

@sscadmin

I was a lurker here for years, on and off with varying frequency. My go to site was Space Sector, but then Adam became a developer and I Switched to eXplorminate by default. 

SSC does have an advantage in that it is less "formal". Apart from escalating costs as you mentioned, Rob was becoming overwhelmed by basically producing an on-line show, for a young man with a young family, that is a lot. Here we fly differently, perhaps less structured but we also don't stress if an article or podcast is not ready on schedule. You may have lost some members over time D1, but you're about to get some new ones 😎  


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DarkOne
(@sscadmin)
Supreme Dark Emperor Admin
Joined: 8 years ago
Posts: 7851
 

I didn't think about it that way @gaius-konstantine, I never wanted SSC to be too pointed. So I made it a general scifi gaming site where everything scifi is welcomed here. Because I am a sci-fi fan first and then the games come second. SSC is here to bring people/gamers that love scifi together to discuss the topics we enjoy.

I like reading peoples comments, even if I don't agree with them. The majority of us are adults here and for the most part SSC has avoided the drama that some sites have. I never wanted SSC to be a job, its something I do for fun and others here do for fun maybe thats why SSC has been around so long and will continue to be here for sometime to come. Everyone is welcome to the station, just don't mess with my cleaning droids, they have a tough job cleaning up after this crew 😉


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Gaius Konstantine
(@gaius-konstantine)
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Joined: 4 years ago
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Posted by: @sscadmin

I didn't think about it that way @gaius-konstantine, I never wanted SSC to be too pointed.

I never thought you did. In my mind SSC is a hangout for like minded people and a great place for a some devs to gain a voice. That has been my perception for a long time.

Even for myself, I have no desire to feel like I have to follow any type of blueprint, both here and in the real world (though it's a bit tougher there). I enjoy sci-fi and I enjoy games, I also enjoy writing and reading. And bear with me for a moment as what I'm about to write may help you understand exactly why I'm here.

I have many go to sites for my interests, everything from politics, archaeology, science, etc. I also had my go to sites for games, but over the years they have either shut down or morphed into something that doesn't interest me. I have no desire to sit through an hour-long podcast listening to someone talk for the sake of talking, nor do I care to read reviews the size of a small novel. At the same time, I found (in the past) that many reviews were tempered as to not offend a larger studio or publisher. For my taste, a review should be as short as possible while conveying as much "critical" information as possible, it should also be honest. If it goes over a couple of pages, I'm bored, especially if it is poorly written. (Previews are even easier as they should just discuss what a studio is attempting to do with very little feedback).

So I docked at the station and figured it was a good a place as any to do some of what I wanted to see done. A few reviews/previews and general articles about Space based games. The added bonus of course is chatting with the rest of you and keeping track of Pinback's nice steady stream of what's going on in the gaming world. No job friend, I'm here cause I'm enjoying myself, if SSC benefits from that... well it's a win win in my book. If on the other hand I wasn't having a bit of fun or my presence was damaging to SSC, I wouldn't be here.

The only two things that sadden me somewhat is that I didn't join sooner and the fact that I'm not entirely free to maniacally play and try as many games as I would like. But as I like the luxury of eating and having my loved ones provided for... this will just remain a part time hobby.

 


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Cody
 Cody
(@cody)
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Posted by: @gaius-konstantine

In my mind SSC is a hangout for like minded people

The beer's good, the coffee's good, and the jukebox is far out! Hey D1 - can we get a pinball machine?

Oolite Naval Attaché


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Gaius Konstantine
(@gaius-konstantine)
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Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 214
Topic starter  
Posted by: @cody

Hey D1 - can we get a pinball machine?

Oh yeah! I so second that, let's get that gritty bar/pub feel going!


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DarkOne
(@sscadmin)
Supreme Dark Emperor Admin
Joined: 8 years ago
Posts: 7851
 
Posted by: @cody

Hey D1 - can we get a pinball machine?

I will see what I can do... not too many people still know what a pinball machine even is anymore 😉 I will contact the other outposts to see what the scavengers can dig up on their runs @Cody but that's a big ask to find a pinball machine in the future heh

Hint... this one was my favorite so I will hunt for this one...

 

Posted by: @gaius-konstantine

The only two things that sadden me somewhat is that I didn't join sooner and the fact that I'm not entirely free to maniacally play and try as many games as I would like.

I have always wondered why people lurk here and take years to say hi, we are friendly bunch pilots here.... yeah we are definitely social distancing on the edge of the universe so sometimes we may get a little loopy but besides that we are laid back group. haha

I have had that problem for a long time I have a ton of games just very little time to play them but been trying to play my over 700 game steam library slowly, maybe I can get through it in the next 30yrs.

Well time to relax and be yourself Gaius, your with like minded people now and in this day and age of social media its getting harder and harder to find a spot that is fun to spend your precious free time.

Maybe SSC has reduced in population because people just don't know how to write multiple lines of text anymore 😉

This post was modified 4 years ago by DarkOne

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Cody
 Cody
(@cody)
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Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 1953
 
Posted by: @sscadmin

this one was my favorite so I will hunt for this one...

If you're ever in Budapest, this is a place I could spend hours in!

Who knows... maybe next year I might take a vacation there.

Oolite Naval Attaché


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D.C.Elington
(@d-c-elington)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 279
 
Posted by: @sscadmin

Everyone is welcome to the station, just don't mess with my cleaning droids, they have a tough job cleaning up after this crew 😉

Wilco! 😀 


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Gaius Konstantine
(@gaius-konstantine)
Warrant Officer Reporter
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 214
Topic starter  
Posted by: @cody

If you're ever in Budapest, this is a place I could spend hours in!

Who knows... maybe next year I might take a vacation there.

Way cool Cody, I wonder how many of those I played. Budapest heh? About three hours from my current location, maybe we'll meet up there.

 

Posted by: @sscadmin

I have always wondered why people lurk here and take years to say hi, we are friendly bunch pilots here

Can't speak for anyone else, but here's my story. I wasn't just a lurker here, I was a lurker period, not active anywhere. One day Adam Solo announced he was going to develop a game and for some reason I signed up to his forum. At first I was hesitant to write, but eventually it started to flow naturally and the majority of my posts were well received by the members. At One point, I even joined the staff there and contributed greatly to the game, I wrote some lore, events, did a lot of testing and helped with design adjustments. 

After that my confidence shot up as I saw a lot of my ideas and thoughts were shared by many players. With my role there ended (at my request), I started to become more active in many other forums as well. But I still needed a main forum to concentrate on gaming, and one where my thoughts would be perceived as being neutral (something I could not do on Adam's site as a former moderator and as someone listed in the game credits). 

SSC is perfect for that then. A loose grouping of fans exchanging thoughts and ideas on sci-fi games (my favourite). So that's it, I was a career lurker, it wasn't just SSC. 


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