No, it's just that Sonic kinda sucks right now. Go play 2K6 and StH:Genesis (be sure to emulate that latter one, you don't want to waste $20 on it), I think you'll understand. Sega's in a rut, and because of that, so is the community, split pretty prominently to the point that it's the cynics versus idealists or people who do, in fact, enjoy the latest work. And lemme tell you, the cynics are a VERY prominent bunch at this point.

Will this change? Who knows. Sonic's kinda on vacation right now, anyway (barring this Sonic Rush Adventure trademark, and, more prominently, the Mario/Sonic game). Still, until he stops sucking, I don't think the other aspects of the community are going to cease their current atrophy.

That explain much?

Duder, don't go and despair.

I'm going to keep this really short since it's 1:30am and I have class at 9:00. But I feel it's important that I say something.

I've been writing my own fics since I was in 5th grade (almost 9 years ago ). I've always dreamed of being able to turn them into a movie. As I've grown older, I've slowly come to realize how nearly impossible that dream is. But I continue to draw, continue to write, continue to dream. Why? Because it's what I love to do.

Basically what I'm trying to say can best be summed up in a quote: "You do what you love, and f*ck the rest - Little Miss Sunshine". Just keep writing. Maybe some day, someone will notice and fall in love with it. Think of all the old painters who were barely able to food on the table for their families. Their work was rarely appreciated in their time.

So...yeah... I don't know where I'm going with this anymore... need sleep. But just keep doing what you love.

And btw, what Math are you teaching?

Shadow Hog is mostly right about the sonic game thing, i mean it does effect the activity in the forums for sure. I for one am an olbie as well, and havnt been active on the forums much myself. Sonic stuff got me drawing and showed me that i actually can draw when i want it enough. Now... eh. theres no want for me right now, although i do find salvation in the comics because they actually seem to be getting better.

Fan fiction and other fan made things just seem to be somewhat betrayed right now due to sonics lack of effort into making the games as magical as they used to be. The funny thing, is that they never really were "magical". they used to be pretty straight foreward games until sega decided to make it more phantasy rather than having sonic be the main phantasy aspect of the games. I cant put my finger on what changed so much in the feel of sonic, but most of it is a thing of the past. Although, he certainly is a good spark for our own fires to burn, like fan fics and fan art.

We keep our own world alive, because really we created it but we just had some help from the hedgehog and his old friends.

I've kinda floated away from most things pertaining to Sonic. All thats left is the fact that about 50% of my storyline universe and about 80% of its main characters are still anthropomorphic. Not to mention no full stories have been written since I was in college.

I'm not sure about you but with me it's a amalgamation of a lotta things. No good games, loss of interest the comic YEARS ago, spooked away from the fandom by it's more 'exotic' members, getting older, less time, more responsibilities "irl", etc.

Please note this took around 30 minutes to type as I kept having to stop and do things.

~Tobe

i've drifted a bit too, i just don't seem to have that wierd and inspiration flashes of ..stuff any more. i sure don't draw half as much as i used to. i enjoy parts of the games, and the comics have improved in places recently.

*tapes you to the wall* no leaving, just because you feel you've changed a bit!

Do something other than Sonic fan-whatever. I first only cared about Sonic art/stories for a time but soon grew up to like a variety of things. When the well dries up on fan related stuff, come up with something original but yes I've noticed the Sonic community isn't as active as it once was (And now seems to have devolved into BILLIONS of terribly designed fan characters) but I'm sure it'll pick up again...

To answer the questions of different things in order of conversational relevance...

> I can understand that with the comics being in such a ugly state, the interest in READING things that are Sonic-related doesn't sound appealing. HOWEVER, I am from the old school. SatAM is my following now and forever, and albeit with a change or two, my fanfics have always been in that universe. So I hope that gives a little encouragement to read things based on the way it all USED to be, especially since the DVD set came out, you know?

> I want it on record, that I feel the comics are improving nicely in certain respects thanks to Ian doing his best to tie up TONS of loose ends he got thrust with. Not perfect, but it won't be for everyone.

> The games, totally agreed with. I have several of the recent games for GC and Wii. But I have yet to even touch Shadow or Secret Rings, and I've barely played Riders. This is mostly because they're so involved that my busy schedule won't allow me to get wrapped up in them. In short, even if the games were phenomenal, they're not what brought me to the fandom.

> I DO have other things that I do apart from the Sonicverse. As some of you might know, I am very much involved in the game show universe as well as host of Net Press Your Luck, which I've done for almost 9 years now. And as you guys know, I've played games in the chat room with you guys sometimes.

(I also did something else recently involving game shows. I'll do it in a separate post since it's happy news.)

> I teach in high school math right now. I have Algebra 1, and a few remedial classes to help lower level students improve their skills for state testing.

OK, I think that's everything. So yeah, I won't let it stop me. But I'd still like to know what people think.

I can sympathize.

Like SH said, a lot of it may be the rut the Sonic franchise has fallen into. I used to write and draw numerous Sonic fics and pics, but lately I just haven't had the drive. Come to think of it, I haven't had the drive to do anything fan-related, not even related to my fan characters. My poor DA account is rotting, and I haven't touched my FF.net account in forever.

Hopefully, Sega'll get themselves and the Sonic series straightened up, and things'll get better. But whatever happens, you know we're all here for you.

I joined up to talk Sonic, but in most places I use the forum more for general talk, chit-chat etc. than talking about Sonic.

It's like how we've got a Bristol meet-up scheduled - I doubt very much we'll spend lots of it talking about Sonic.

I haven't unpacked my Gamecube properly since I moved in November, but I'll always have a soft spot for Sonic There's just not an awful lot left to talk about.

DW