Wonder how many people have left.

[Cindy-]

Any stats? I would be curious how many people have left these forums. How are they doing? 😉

[Guest]

Well, we've effectively lost the entire photography forum.

Ann, Fred, Linda, Shep, Larry, Wade, Hopper, Nick, Ramona  - just to name a few.  I can't recall all the names and going back to the forum only reveals new names that I don't recognize, primarily because we all had to change our login names. 

[Cindy-]

It would be my guess Adobe wanted the oldies to disappear. I could draw no other conclusion.

[Guest]

That's a very sad conclusion. 

[Guest]

Cindy- wrote:

It would be my guess Adobe wanted the oldies to disappear. I could draw no other conclusion.

The disappearance of the good old regulars – including a couple of major stalwarts in the last few days – is only a by-product of the adobe desire to promote thier own idea of a "community" which, as we know, is a carry-over from an earlier system and has now been extended to things like product Help pages as well as these forums.

This "community" with its silly titles and misleading points system has alienated the true community of regular volunteer helpers from the industry, to the extent that, in my estimation, only about 10% of those people remain. Those that have left have not been replaced and never will.

Their contributions, and the valuable discussions which they stimulated, will be sorely missed by those who come to the forums for help and to learn. What remains is a pathetic rump.

The misguided management style of adobe has lost them an asset which had cost them nothing and was worth millions.

[Ramón G Castañeda]

John Joslin wrote:

…and has now been extended to things like product Help pages as well…

That in itself is a huge travesty that deserves separate attention outside this forum and at the highest level of the Adobe leadership.

Having turned the Help files into a web site where the likes of Zeno Bokor feel free to babble on is one more demonstration of the contempt Adobe has for its customer base.  Adobe doesn't deserve one penny of our collective business.

[Guest]

What remains is a pathetic rump.

just wanted to make sure that point wasn't missed.

[Cindy-]

>> What remains is a pathetic rump. > just wanted to make sure that point wasn't missed.  
None of it is missed. I certainly don't care much for the offerings of Adobe these days.

[pamelaviolet]

Wow, as a late-comer I'm not familiar with those who left, but was kind of stunned to see the lack of activity on the design forum.

What did adobe do that caused these people to leave?  To be shut out?  Or?

[Cindy-]

> What did adobe do that caused these people to leave?  To be shut out?  Or? 

For openers they completely screwed up the forums even after endless user input which they payed absolutely no attention to. I would say a complete lack of respect for those who feed them.

I am sure there are those who could add to the list but this is at the top of my gripes.

[Guest]

And what used to be a happy community of volunteer helpers has turned into a residue of edgy, angry grumps.

[Ramón G Castañeda]

This particular grump is getting grumpier than ever out of sheer frustration with the infinite variety of forum quirks.  I'm hitting the Mark All Read button with increasing frequency.

If someone wrote a magazine article about these new forums, nobody would believe him.

[S_D_A_]

And nobody would read it. Haven't you heard ? Dead tree journalism is in it's death throes.

You guys just don't get it do you ? These forums turned into nothing but a cliquish hangout for people that have a sense of entitlement. No corporation wants that as a public face when you're trying to appeal to new users.

[John Waller]

S.D.A. wrote:

These forums turned into nothing but a cliquish hangout for people that have a sense of entitlement.

You're welcome to your opinion but that wasn't my experience at all.

The previous forums were a great place of learning from experienced users.

These forums are a pale shadow of that with much of that experience gone. So sad that Adobe doesn't care.

[Cindy-]

> You guys just don't get it do you ?

Really? I am afraid YOU don't get it.

[Fr__Watson]

Really? I am afraid YOU don't get it.

I wouldn't pay too much heed to what he says; I think the fact that he seems to be rather heartily disliked by a large number of the people who do remain has clouded his perception!

[Guest]

Cindy, I think your sarcasm detector is broken!   

[Cindy-]

> Cindy, I think your sarcasm detector is broken!

I re-read the post and I don't think my "detector" is broken at all

[Guest]

Cindy- wrote:

> Cindy, I think your sarcasm detector is broken!

I re-read the post and I don't think my "detector" is broken at all

It's not Cindy, that was totally serious, at least by planet Earth's translation. But perhaps some people are already moved over the planet Jive, where everything works in reverse!

As to the original question, I'd like to know too, but I don't think we'll ever find out. (Unless Adobe has a rogue employee out there? )  I bet it's a very significant number.

Maybe the forum I visit hasn't been hit too hard, since it's a newer/popular technology and there's always new people who don't know any better (about the old community) coming in to replace the ones leaving.  But I definitely feel for the people in the mainstay areas like Photoshop and such where the new people (probably?) aren't flowing in so much.

[Cindy-]

> But I definitely feel for the people in the mainstay areas like Photoshop and such where the new people (probably?) aren't flowing in so much.

  And the ones who are? Well.....

[Guest]

ooo.. it's that bad huh? I may have to pay it a visit some time just to see myself..

[Guest]

Just keep swimmimg!! What do we do? We swim swim swim

Cindy- wrote:

> But I definitely feel for the people in the mainstay areas like Photoshop and such where the new people (probably?) aren't flowing in so much.

  And the ones who are? Well.....

[Cindy-]

I have gone ashore.

[Guest]

It's a evolution thing.

[Guest]