Not really. For more reviews, I’ve got PocketGamer and Gamezebo in my RSS feed. Keep in mind, unlike TA, both do “sponsored posts,” Buyer beware.
Seconding the "not really", and wondering what makes you think so. Actually, I don't know of any iOS forums with a similar participation level. Note though I don't pay much attention to the frontpage where they write all the articles, I usually just skim over those once or twice a month.
I use the home page - Ive found great games that way (most recently Antihero http://antihero-game.com/)
It's still not the same thing bud. I like the ios6 feeling and weird but useful gestures. If it's possible to run this on jailbreak ios11, I'm updating it right now. Most of my apps are going 64 only lately...
I was trying not to update my phone because the app would be gone for good. It is my only link to the site getting notifications and such. Eli said a site update and a web app will be happening in weeks... I believe that was in October... Site funds are tight... I'd hate for this place to die.
No kidding - I think 99% of the games I have are due to TA! If it goes away, there goes my mobile gaming with it, lol.
I have generally migrated to the switch, but im still reading here each day. But yeah, activity in the forums is pretty slow nowadays. Their news articles are still best when it comes to mobile gaming.
TA is my go-to and source for all the games I have, since long before I actually signed up and started supporting it. Im here almost daily, and intend to be even more active now. I can get supported posts and ads masquerading as articles anywhere. Here is real passion. I especially treasure the long-form pieces, the retrospectives and the articles aimed at encouraging game developers. In the world of gaming, TA occupies a singular and irreplaceable place.
Mobile gaming changed and TA did, too. This place was leaps and bounds more active back in 2012. (6 years ago...yikes!)
I've mostly switched back to consoles/handhelds. I rarely ever play games on my iPhone now. So I was mostly here for the PS4 and (now Switch) threads, but those are pretty dead now. I guess that's not surprising.
The problem we've run into is that the drive for discovery in mobile has been significantly reduced as people settle into the few games they play that are run as a service. Back in 2010 when this forum was bustling, folks were HUNGRY for any kind of new game. Everything was paid, so there was a huge need for someone to "take one for the team" to see if the rest of the community needed to jump on downloading it or not. In 2018, that hunger has been replaced by an all you can eat buffet of free mobile game content. You don't see the same amount of people dog piling in every thread for each new game anymore because even someone who is only casually interested in mobile gaming will have a folder full of games on their phone that they heard were good but haven't even launched once. That problem is only compounded if you actually follow the scene and hop on sales and other things. What's really killing general interest mobile game communities (and this isn't limited to TA, but also the iOS Gaming subreddits, other forums with mobile gaming threads, etc) is that developers have gotten so unbelievably good at retaining players and making sure they never run out of things to do in their games. For example, if you downloaded Clash of Clans and got into it, that game has enough content in it to keep you busy for *years* and they update it on a cycle that's fast enough that you will literally never run out of things to do. If you want to talk about Clash of Clans, you can either do it in game or via the official channels Supercell provides. These types of games are scientifically engineered to never give you the opportunity to be like, "I wonder if anyone is talking about this anywhere else," or "This is getting boring I wonder if there's anything else I can play," etc. Hell, I even get hit with this and playing new games is my job. The two free to play games I follow are Arena of Valor and Hearthstone, and both games have enough for me to do in them that I could delete every other game from my phone and still not get bored. We're in the process of updating our forums to XenForo and doing what MacRumors does with their comments which are all run through the forums. From there, the plan is to use the forum login as the main way you interact with everything on TA which hopefully will generate more interest in threads here since people will already be signed up and logged in to deal with things like their wishlist and commenting.
That makes a lot of sense. At the same time, there seems to be anothe tier of games emerging: multiplatform paid releases like Dandara, Inside, Gorogoa, Morphite, and Jydge (to name a few). These games are benefitting from pre-order buzz and seem to be generating a fair amount of discussion in the forums. And, of course, there’s also crazy releases like FF15 that are getting tons of attention. I wonder if there’s a way to highlight these games in the forums — maybe even a monthly round-up.
I still check TA out but a lot less than I used to. iOS 11 killed it mostly for me. I only ever accessed it through the App and whilst I wouldn't say I miss it, it just means that that's now out of my daily routine(s). Just to step back a few years though - and TA was like my twitter back in the day - I didn't realise it then as I had no comprehension of twitter - where I would pop in several times - check out threads, read comments, leave comments, try to be funny (and fail) - I used to look forward to reading some of the flare ups whilst I was brushing my teeth. What an absolute laugh it used to be. Even though I didn't really know any of the other users you got a real flavour of what they were about (I think) and I honestly used to look forward to hearing and seeing what certain users were thinking. I also now after many, many years have so many games that I'm almost embarrassed about the size of my backlog/collection so I've taken the opportunity to just kinda work through them. I also started in twitter - and whilst I don't tweet it's now my daily go to for online chitchat - granted, it's mainly other people's chitchat. I do have to say though TA was - and still is - fantastic at what it does and hope there really is a new breed of regular TA'er. It really had (and probably still has) one of the best online communities I've ever come across. I have to say that I have next to no experience in any other online community though. Christ, I even got upset when that Bronxsta chap was banned and thinking about it now makes me wonder why I was upset but I developed affinities with certain users over the years and that whole Connector Chatroom thing was a signal to me that the chap wasn't entirely well and perhaps had TA too much at the centre of his life. What a crazy time that was in a now completely inexplicable way. Anyway, in what is likely my last post for some time on TA I really hope it flourishes and I'll be welcome back when I've worked through my backlog and it becomes part of my daily routine again. All the very best, Eli, Jared and all the folks I've replied to over the years. I'll still be checking Shaun's Monday update thing and new Releases every Thursday, mind. Old habits...... slamraman
Still read the articles, but I have to admit, since iOS 11 killed the app, my daily trip to the forums has slipped to once or twice a fortnight. TA is still the top place for iOS game news and reviews for me though.
I still check out the forums 2-3 times a week and have TA on my RSS, but I’ve also got PocketGamer there and mostly just check out the iOS Gameling subreddit.
