Not Good--

[landnrailroader]

I am certainly glad to see that TrainSim is the great site that it is. Before Train Simulator, I used Flight Simulator a lot as I was a private pilot many years ago. However, what is not good for any of us, is just the way the generations go these days. I have 4 grandchildren, none of whom give a flip about trains or anything that requires effort, and my 3 great-grandchildren are worse. All three great-grands, however, have been out to ride the C&TS and know that their old great grandfather is a docent there. I belong to "Friends of the C&TS", a Masonic Lodge, a church, and the National Railway Historical Soc., and in all of those, one thing stands out - the membership is getting older. The traditional church does not appeal to younger folks. In the 90s, when NS had a steam program, the local NRHS chapter had over 400 members, now there are 20 or so with many living miles from Jacksonville and when we meet, we are doing good if 10 are able to attend. Lodges are dying off. So it is, I think, inevitable that any hobby site will not be around more than perhaps another decade, so download what you want, support Eric's efforts with some $$ and enjoy it while you can. It is sad.

Jerry

[SD40-2]

Jerry,

Not all is lost. I am one of those younger folk, about 29, and while I may be tried some days, I always love coming up with ideas and enjoy induging in creating things for myself or others. There are many others like me who very much have a strong interest, even in railroads that are now long gone.

If I may be so bold, might I suggest that maybe some historical have wrong way round, that the problem might not be a lack of interest in the younger folks here, but that historical societies aren't a good fit, and they should ask what the younger generation wants out of a membership.

Just a thought.

[SlackAction]

Reddit is (and has been) killing off the traditional vBulletin-style forums in a big way. If you look at the r/flightsim subreddit, you'll see that there are over 135,000 members with roughly 5,000 'contributions' (posts/comments) per week, and that's only one of the several subreddits dedicated to flight simulation. It's no surprise that anyone getting into the hobby will naturally find themselves over there (albeit with no file library) instead of Flightsim.com. Reddit can certainly be good for some things, but I have to say I much preferred individual forums for niche hobbies - they offered more, and had a cozy feeling to me, where Reddit just doesn't. It's bland and generic, and politics seem to weasel their way into discussions everywhere.

It's also worth noting that western societies are becoming hyper-individualistic, where personal desires and satisfaction are prioritized above all else. You can even see this in the little things with targeted advertisements and algorithmically-curated social media content that has a tendency to divide rather than unite. I don't think the rise of social media and the decline of traditional community organizations is a coincidence. Personally, I don't think it's healthy, but what do I know?

I agree with you Jerry. I've had MSTS since I could count my age with a single digit, and a huge change in online discourse (and discourse in general) is evident in just the last handful of years.

[NorthernWarrior]

As I posted in the article, my interest in flight simming has waned somewhat, should probably motivate myself to open up FSX, reinstall my Level D 767 and take a flight somewhere.

The one thing I really miss too are the military flight sims from the late 90’s/early 00’s. The Jane’s series which, considering they were published by EA, were surprisingly good. I still remember the awesome, for the time, 3dFX Voodoo graphics (yes it was that long ago) of Longbow 2 along with its 300 page manual. Or the delights of EF2000, flying 40 minutes in real time to get shot down over the target. Go back a bit further and we had all the Microprose titles or Digital Integration Tornado where it took longer to plan the mission than fly it. Sadly those heady days are gone forever.

[anderson martins]

I share the explanation of my friend landnrailroader.

Jerry, you are one of the few, WHICH IS VERY GOOD.

Dear friends, such changes are happening everywhere and in every field.

I keep this to myself: may it be eternal while it lasts.

Hugs

****************

Compartilho da esplanação do amigo landnrailroader .
Jerry, voce é um dos poucos, O QUE É MUITO BOM .
Caros amigos, tais mudanças estão acontecendo em todos os lugares e em todos os campos.

Guardo comigo e par eu próprio : que seja eterno enquanto dure .

Abraços