No, I'm not asking which is better.

What I'd like to talk about are the contrasts of nature between these two sites.

Chudah's Corner has an EXTENSIVE database of soundtrack information, yet its messageboards experience sparse activity; it's a VERY small community of members, and the likes of visits by routine members have decreased. It's primarily a database site, but you think what with that whole database drawing in an audience, you'd think there'd be more discussion on their boards?

STC's database of soundtracks is...relatively limited in comparison, yet the messageboards are a HAPPENING social scene. STC seems to be primarily a message board site, but what is it that drew people here in the first place?

...

Why does the site with the extensive database experience so little forum traffic, while this site, with the limited database, experiences a comparatively astronomical volume of forum traffic?

Sorry if I'm jabbing a straw where I shouldn't, but I find the traffic patterns of these two sites to be fascinating, given certain background information.

This was one of the first VGM related sites on the Internet and has been around for at least 10+ years.  Originally the reviews were well read as there was not nearly as large of a vgm scene as there is today (read: there pretty much were no other sites except altpop, rpgfan, quasi's hotlineserver / corner / whatever, and gmr).  Over the course of time, the forums became an area where VGM knowledgeable people exchanged information, cds and talked, altpop had (and still has) some of the originals dating all the way back to the beginning of the site (Carl, Adam, Quasi).

Chudahs corner is just a soundtrack database, and as extensive as it is, the majority of people that go there don't go there for a social scene, they go there to look up a tracklist, translations, cover scans.  It's a site people go to when they know what they want, not really when they want to chat.   I would venture to guess that more than half of the users at Chudah's forums are active members here.

Neither is really bad, but each has their own purpose and their user base supports their purpose.

I found this site a decade ago when the game music "scene" wasn't as big as it is now; Chudah's Corner didn't exist. I found this place, liked it, and never left--never had reason to. I'd guess the same is true of most regulars.

I think Virtual Boot hit the nail on the head. This forum is the original ... we're not moving anywhere else.

Not that I claim my section as some amazing VGM hub ... considering we limit ourselves to just RPGs ... but RPGFan's soundtrack section has almost 1000 soundtracks reviewed (currently 961), with complete English tracklists and audio samples. Yet, if you check the RPGFan message boards ... there's like, NOTHING being discussed. It's just where people settle.

I don't know if STC will ever become an active site for soundtrack reviews again, and personally, I don't care. I love this forum. I love the simple white layout. I love Adam Corn. I'm not going anywhere.

Ramza

I think that the atmosphere here has always felt less oppressive than the one at Chudah's Corner.  This place has no moderators or people with titles/positions to lord themselves over anyone.  It feels very open and inviting.  It feels like everyone is the same.  Like everyone is free to speak their mind.

Also, I agree with jb that CC just lends itself to being used as a database first and foremost for some reason.  Plus it seems like topics just disappear over there when they don't get responses for a while.  I don't know if they get removed by administrators or by the system, but that hurts the sense of history and community for me.  Topics shouldn't disappear until they've been pushed back and replaced by other topics over a period of time.

Yeah, this place is happenin' because it's been around forever.  A lot of us old timers have been posting here since this place was literally one of the only places on the internet to talk about game music in English.  As such, a community has built up and we exist as that regardless of what the rest of the site is doing.  That's fine with me, too... if STC became high profile these days, we'd get an influx of the idiots who populate basically every single other message board on the internet.

WUR CAN I FIND CHRONT TRIGGER MP3Z? thx

0MFG www.kazaa.com HAZ TEHM AL 4 PHREE!!!!11ELEVEN

Frreal though, STC is pretty much the only VGM "community" I'm active in due to the caliber of people who post here.  STC is and always has been just a place to talk with other VGM crazies and nothing else.  I know there are reviews, track lists, etc. here but for me it's all about the forums.  As far as information goes, there are several sites that do it better (GMR, VGMdb, GMCL) but that doesn't necessarily mean more people wanna talk there.  Seems like whatever a site is best known for, that's the only thing people wanna use that site for.  And as far as reviews go, they really don't mean shit to me personally as I always like to form my own opinion rather than read someone else's.  We get enough "reviews" in threads here at STC anyway.

-Mike

To be honest, I can't remember which site I found first... it was around the same time though. I do know I joined CC's forums a good amount of time before STC's though.

Still, Berny brings up a good point even though this is pretty obvious to anyone that visits both sites. Personally, I am rather disappointed in the relatively low amount of traffic in the forums at CC though and wish there was a way to get more people involved/interested.

As for reviews, I think most hope that people will find them useful but to a certain extent I think people that write need to write for themselves first and foremost but not as a vehicle for self-attention, rather a way for the writer to solidify there own opinion. If it helps someone, that's a bonus and I don't expect anyone to accept everything that's there as black and white.

I love the reg'lars here, because everyone is so awesome. I can learn from everyone by partaking in and watching debates, get to know my friends better through talking, and the marketplace has become something of a hangout for me in recent months (for the first eight or so years I was here, I didn't touch the damn thing) where I can find rare stuff at sometimes awesome prices. I sincerely believe that the most interesting people I've ever met, I never actually have, you know?

As for the reviews, I read them sometimes to get a handle for whether or not I'll enjoy a soundtrack, or to check product numbers when buying from folks online, and of course, the samples are nice, as well.

I've never really been into Chudah's Corner, except once to check on information on various Suikoden soundtracks.

CC has a lot of excellent soundtrack coverage, definitely with RPGs (which overlaps with RPGFan). But for me, the big niche that CC does better than ANYONE else is the Bishoujo dating sim soundtracks. In a sense, they are a dime a dozen, but there's also some GREAT stuff out there that most of us English-speaking folk have never even LISTENED to! Almost everything Takeshi Abo's written under the KID label (Memories Off, Ever17, etc) is solid gold.

Also, CC has a great "Liner Notes" translation database. I turn to that whenever I can to learn more about a soundtrack or a composer.

EDIT --- for example...

http://www.chudahs-corner.com/liners/in … SSCX-10016

The orchestrator, at the end, declares with some fervor that this is the debut work of a musical genius -- that is, Hamauzu. And of course, he is right. Also, the liner notes to FFX (Hamauzu's comments) are equally revealing. It makes me think that Hamauzu has been quite intentional on his work up the ladder, and I'm very excited about how FF XIII may turn out.

Ah ha!  NOW I remember why I rarely visit CC.

-Mike

When I found this place (back in '99 I think), it was the only place I could find info I needed on VGM. I just stuck around ever since. I'm sure now there are great VGM sites but I like the company here and saw no need to go looking for anywhere else.

I've been here since 97, and I fell in love with the forums instantly.  I signed up for CC's forums early on, and I actually participated actively for quite awhile, but after a time, I just got sick of all the people who were, to paraphrase, "OMG I went to college and took music theory and therefore my opinion on everything is better than yours... melodic music sucks... I am god... etc."  You know who I'm talking about.  Also, FWIW, I'm modestly liquored up at this moment, so I'm feeling kinda sappy.  STC is my internet family.  Yay internet family!  Man, do I need to stop using the internet after I've been drinking... seriously.  Also, it's my f---ing birthday, so if I want to drunk post, I freaking will.  That is all. ;-)

Yay for posting on internet forums while liquored up   And yay for birthdays!  Happy birthday XLord!

As far as I know STC (it was GameTracks back in the day) and Game Music Online were the first - and for a while only - English-language sites to focus on game soundtracks.  This is back in 1996 or '97 (wish I knew exactly when) and even the "world wide web" itself was still kind of a new thing, and it was the first time people who had read the occasional game music story in EGM or Die Hard or seen the CDs in ads for Die Hard Gamers Club and the like could really exchange information about what all was out there.  Even more so when the forums went up a while later.

And for some reason even after the main site updates slowed down to a trickle and then a halt, lots of people still hung around, and not only that but happened to be some of the nicer, more amiable people you will find on the internet.  Which I am still a little surprised by but extremely grateful for.  And I'm also grateful for the job Chudah's Corner and RPGFan (and others) have done of keeping a steady stream of soundtrack info coming for the fans in the years since I have been slacking.

So yeah while I'm not familiar with the happenings on their forums, they're doing a bang-up job on the sites themselves and seem to be really into what they're doing, which I respect.

Wow I'm not even drunk and I'm feeling kinda sappy

You too?  Mine is actually Monday, but I had my party last night and I plead the 5th.

.

Posted back in 2004-ish, and knew about the site in the late 90's, but never really was active until this year.  Of all the forums I visit, this one seems to have the best community.  As always, it's an honor to be involved with everyone here. 

Chudah's corner is a great database for VGM soundtracks and whatnot (they have a forum?).

StC was definitely here first.  I remember this site being around 1994!  From here, I was able to find Game Music Online.  StC has pretty much evolved into an active forum.  CC is an excellent resource of soundtrack information, including soundtracks from dating sims.  It has a forum, but it does not yet have the activity level that StC's forums have.  StC simply has been around longer.

Because the forums here are more active, I think the marketplace forums sees more activity too.  You go where the people are, I suppose.

I'll venture a theory to say that people "can't have an unlimited number of online sites they call HOME".   There's only so many forums you can stay active with on a regular basis. 

Let's say a person has a dozen forums people they like to read/check on a regular basis.  There's not enough time in the day to spend equal time on all of them, so natually a sort of hierarchy appears. 

The site where the person has the most friends or has the most appeal gets checked first, and becomes the "Home base" of their online life, while the others get visited whenever there is time to do so.

Another aspect deals with having to repeat yourself.  It's a bit of a chore to copy/paste the same comments to other/multiple forums where the same topic is being discussed over there.   When you've got something to say about a topic, you tend to post it at the "online home" first and maybe repost it later at the other places if you get around to it.

It's pretty natural for this sort of behavior to occur, and I wouldn't confuse a website's "Importance" by what the users do there, because EVERY vgm-related website is valuable to somebody.

while ive only visited chudah's a few times, here at STC it seems that many of us have been posting for nearly a decade. we share the same sense of nostalgia towards the glory days of vgm. when it comes to purchasing a used item, i would feel 100x more comfortable about buying from someone off here than even on ebay.

Aha, I see now.

My entry point into the VGM online community began with remix communities like OneUp Studios and Project Majestic Mix/KFSS Studios, who then linked me to Chudah's Corner and STC; you could say it was those guys who altogether helped me become an internet addict in the first place.

Chudah's Corner drew me in because of its database, so I tended to post there much more than I ever posted here. When Chudah's forums turned desolate, I ended up migrating here, pretty much making this my forum site of choice. So that's why I find the traffic patterns between these two sites interesting, because it turned out differently for me than most members here, but I'm relatively new recruit, so that explains that.

Same here, almost entirely.

However, I mostly lurk, posting only when I feel I can actually contribute something to the topic at hand. (Although that's true of almost all forums I frequent; I spend most of my online chatting time on IRC networks)

I became aware of the level of activity on these forums about two years ago, when something in the marketplace caught my eye, and I've been checking them almost every day since. I'm keeping up to date with what's going on through the threads here, even though I fear I don't really have as much posting presence as I should, relative to what I gain.

Everything has already been said in this thread... STC is the most awesome forum/community on the net, the only one I keep coming back to. CC and other game music sites are great and all play their part, but this will always be the hub. Databases, reviews, album info, interviews, etc. will always be cool, but nothing beats direct communication with fellow VGM fans. This is where the vitality is.

...And yet you still haven't reviewed the Landstalker soundtrack CD. One of the greatest RPGs of the 16-bit generation, and it's not there! I bet if it was a SNES game you wouldn't have forgotten about it.

Well, truth be told, the soundtrack isn't the best. But if you aspire for complete RPG music coverage, that one is obvious.

What? I never posted at CC.

Happy 10th Anniversary of vgm love, for many of us

What can I say? I'm swamped. Care to submit a review?

Nah, I don't do reviews anymore (only occasional informal ones on forums like this, not for publishing). But I hope someone else will, Landstalker is a cornerstone in many Mega Drive/Genesis fans' RPG-experience (IMO the best action-RPG of the 16-bit generation, beating out even Zelda 3, SOM, and Terranigma), it seems like a glaring omission not to have it there. For reference, this is the album I was talking about. Long out of print, but usually goes pretty cheap in auctions. The music is by Motoaki Takenouchi, the same guy who did Shining Force II. Not as good as SFII, but it has it's nostalgic charm.

BTW, I didn't mean it as a knock. I think the RPGFan soundtracks section is quite the achievement, actually, and I love the fact that you have samples up for every album listed. Now, if there was only such an archive for all VGM albums (not just RPG-related). Kind of like a mix of RPGFan's soundtrack section, CC, GMR, etc..... Maybe in the far future, when we have converted everyone else and VGM has become the dominant form of human cultural expression in the world.