So i googled "metro 2033 forums", and both the steam forums and the "official metro 2033 forums" were quite dead, with only 1 topic having recent posts and the others all being replied to 2 weeks ago, or even months ago.

So am i in the wrong place, or do those players just not go on forums? Its a far cry from what the Skyrim forums or Bioware forums are like, for example. I thought Metro was a pretty popular game?

edit: Alright, so while typing this out (ironic, pfft) i actually found this "steam discussion" place for Metro which seems pretty lively. Strange that they would have two forums, one in the typical thread post style while the other steam discussion is in a conversation-like style.

Anyway, just curious to know, are the skyrim forums one of the most active forums out there? Because i've also went to others like the dishonored or fable forums, and they were pretty much a backwater village.

It depends. When the game is what's hip, it's got countless. I mean, when Skyrim and New Vegas was new, it was PACKED. As the game isn't new and hip, people leave, leaving only the dedicated fans of the series or game to remain. It's just the typical way gaming forums work.

The TES games have been around for 20 years. That's a lot of repeat customers and a large fan base devoted to the games.
And the TES and Fallout games have huge modding communities with them, which generates much of the forum activity.

Some game forums really slow down after a game has been released for a year, as people stop playing the game. But the very nature of some games here allow repeat and extended playing. These games stick with people way past the initial release.

I have been to a number of game forums where the last post was made more than a year or two ago. Yes, I tend to play older games, because I am cheap old fart and like to pay less than half for most of my games. I know posting a question won't get an answer, so I just get real good at Searching out answers.

However, all Bethesda has to do is announce something is coming, and those boards will light up. Just a tweet from the actor playing 3 Dog sparked a surge in activity in the Fallout section. We even got a bunch of people playing Fallout 3 and New Vegas for the first time, as evidenced by the hardware and software threads (Fallout 3 needs a couple tweaks to install and run on Win7)

On top of what the other two guys said already, these forums aren't just for TES and Fallout, it's for all games that under published under gamesas which is a large library of games, many of them popular. So that too helps spread the word of those other titles, which attracts even more people to those forums to discuss the game even if they don't have it (or have it yet). 4A has one title under their belt and while fairly successful, still limited it's audience. Add to the fact that they haven't tapped into the Sony market also limits them further.

Because game industry is so small? Also wish I could say young too but it isnt.. but anyway theres only a few notable company. And big chunk of player only know EA and Blizzard and think the rest are crap.

I think the games with the most discussions are the ones with a lot of quests and exploration, which suits the TES games perfectly (and modding certainly helps too). But for shooters, not so much, and certainly not a shooter released several years ago.

Even Bioshock Infinite, which is arguably the most popular shooter of the year, still have a fairly inactive official forum compared to two year old Skyrim and is more on the same level as the 7.5 year old Oblivion.

If the game is a part of a series, there's usually more activity because it gathered a relatively big fanbase over the years and people can compare games, talk about their expectations for the next title etc. RPGs spark discussion because multiple quest choices and followers create a unique experience for every player - the same is true for most sandboxes and immersive sims (although the latter tend to have a smaller, dedicated fanbase). There's not much to talk about if the game is linear and fairly old (by gaming standards).

Then of course you have video game giants that always attract more attention. It's no wonder that Bethesda and Bioware, highly successful companies with 20 year history have very active forums. On the other hand, 4A developed Metro and nothing else.

Some games are just more disposable than others, I guess. I think this largely affects games that are mainly linear, single player and striving towards a movie-like feel. This gives them a limited shelf life and the target audience just moves on to the next hotness. You need things like modability or a competitive scene if you want to foster a lasting community.

I think the main thing is that this place, unlike many others, was the focal point for discussion of a series which was until recently a rather niche interest. But when the games because more popular, that community was already strong. I don't know how many times ive directed people on other, deader forums to just come to this site and ask if they were having problems, because you tend to get an answer in minutes.

Every time that happens, that person would stay because, well, why wouldn't they?

But with a lot of other games, there never was this central location. I can't even think of a site that has a strong final fantasy forum. And the Pokemon games, while extremely active, have a few key hubs that don't interact much.

And of course, because this commmunity's pretty strong and already here, it means new sites which try to hold a dedicated forum to the ES games mostly collapse, since we're already here.

A lot of things keep this place active. I probably couldnt give a certain answer, but those are the things ive noticed over the years.

Most forums dedicated to specific things are going to be a bit lifeless. Even forums for things like hermit crab care are pretty much lifeless. Some of this has to do with some of those sites having easier to use chatrooms, though. Something like a Metro game will have a slower forum due to the nature of it. The people who will want to talk about it will be lower than those who want to talk about say, Pokemon or TES.

Most games will become niche or forgotten(or both), so this is also the reason many forums for specific series and games get rather slow.

gamesas games just attract a better crowd, and modding brings together a sense of community.

Also, the moderators here are part of the community. At the official 2k Sports forums the moderators act more like the enforcers of "lol, there is nothing wrong with x game, y bug doesn't exist, x game is 100% bug free and perfect, lol BANNNED!" (Not that I was banned for posting a bug, but I've been in heated discussions there where I proved the moderators wrong with concrete evidence on multiple occasions and the end result was the OP's bug thread got locked!)

Some forums have corners like "Community Discussion" and other treacherous places that keep you from leaving even if you have no interest in the actual games any longer.

End of Rine, ding dong bannu!

Anyways, most of the threads are mostly, "How do I get x event to happen?" or "What's the best way to do y quest?." My favorite ones are "What's a good build?" and everyone will pour out their favorite builds or their current character. Sadly though, some games have their own "mini-commuity" off the forums, where the players know who's decent, and who's a total [censored].

The number of games has outpaced the number of gamers, distributing them to ever sparser communal populations.

Like people have said, games with a start, middle and an end tend to have people drop off the forums after a while.

HOWEVER, ever since getting Oblivion on PS3 launch day I've been hooked on Beth games! I found out about these forums when Fallout 3 came out and now, even when I'm taking a break from the worlds of TES or Fallout, these Forums have been my home

Because its just the nature of Bethesda games in particular, they warrant longer and more drawn out complex discussions compared to say, shooters (barring BioShock 3 but as someone else mentioned its apparently dead over there too). That and the whole fanbase arguement and what not.

The unofficial WoW forums (mmo champion) currently has 10,964 users onlne at the moment. Lol and thats actually updated every refresh.