Let’s put it straight…. I am considering to totally stop publishing The MSX Games bOX (www.msxgamesbox.com) for various reasons – the major one being the question to know if it really serves somebody?

I have been managing this site for over 7 years now and though it looks there are more and more visitors every year (over 50K in 2004), the feedback and comments I receive are less and less and do not motivate me any way to keep on (except for three of four people who have always backed me up and who will probably recongnise themselves reading this)… so what’s the purpose to keep a site alive when there is barely a thank you and just see people come and leave and nothing more?
I feel internet has become so little personal… I remember the old internet days (that is the previous century) where people filled in my guestbook everyday with nice comments, there were interactions by e-mail etc… that contributed to the fun of developing the site as a pure hobby... nowadays its a little different - whatever new content of site improvements - I have no clue if even somebody out of the 200 visits / day even read a sentence of what I publish!
Anyhow – I am not saying I don’t want to continue but only question myself if there is really any need to continue and invest some of my time delivering content?

Please let me have your thoughts… before I make my decisions.

Heads up, Philip! Unfortunately times (and the MSX Community?) have changed to a point where positive feedback to the efforts you put into creating a game, demo, website or magazine has become quite scarce. People know where to find you when there's something to complain about, but the occasional 'good job', which is often essential to keep your motivation for continuing what you are doing, seems to take a lot more effort. This doesn't mean that people don't appreciate what you're doing though. Please do take your satisfaction from the growing amount of visitors, from the few people that do send you a nice mail or guestbook entry from time to time and from (perhaps most essential) how much you enjoy maintaining your website yourself. I for one like it a lot.

Hey, there's a lot of nicely packed info I've always loved to read'n consider.

Never heard of your site, now looking at it...

Why would you stop? Maybe you could put even some more stuff on it, but it's a nice site.

You should continue, that's sure. Your site is worth of it. However, the real reply to your question is... do you enjoy publishing content on your site? If it is affirmative, you should continue! If not... what would you like to do? has any relation with the MSX?

You must evaluate by yourself, but your site is really good and I think that you should continue.

I visit your website quite often. I really like it. I would like to see more reviews of amateurs games, especially one of mine . It's natural, feedback is VERY VERY important. Without motivation it's hard to "work". I got a few people that give feedback when I code something, and after 1 or 2 weeks everything is gone

Just keep the good work!

It's a nice & useful website. why stop it.

The problem with doing a website all by yourself is the time needed to maintain it. The lack of response doesn't help motivate you at all. That, and some other minor factors made me decide asking the community five years ago to form a team to maintain the MRC. Without those people the MRC would be long dead. One of the main reasons the MRC is still alive is because we motivate each other to continue. And cherish each other for new archievements whether it be for this site, or personal. It is true that Snout takes care most of the tasks but I dare to say that without the support of the rest of the team, even when it's only mental due to lack of time, he and the MRC would not be where they are today. But this is of course only my personal opinion.

I've seen many MSX sites disappear in the last 10 years. Consider forming a team. Or join forces with existing ones. Good luck and keep the faith.

As I told you @ Karoshi Corp. forum in this post, I really appreciate your website. You got something different in your site: the Museum Box and the Homebrew games list. I think you must promote the Homebrew games list in a better way in order to convert it in the reference for anyone searchin' information about the latests releases for the system, like more in-depth reviews of the games, more shots, a score system to remark better games, etc. That could give something more to your great initiative .. And you must update your site more than you do right now, that's a fact, for example, there are no homebrew releases in your 2005 list, but there are games that have been released reciently, such as Magical Stones by Dionisio... but I definitely think you should continue it, it's a great site I often visit.

At Karoshi we started thinking the same as you about the feedback. Even when we created our website, no one seemed to care about the mail links to drop us a single line. Well, some users did, but for us it wasn't enough... that was the main reason why we opened our forum. Now the msx users that play our games have an easy way to tell us whatever they want.

So, two conclusions: don't stop The MSX Games Box and... MSX users!!!... don't be so shy (or lazy) and give feedback to the people working freeware to bring you news, information or games

ppl get more non-verbal these days .. I don't think that stinks perse .. there is an art in verbal minimalism.. ^_^

If you have more visitors to visit your site, then in a non-verbal way they say: 'we like it here' ..

Like your site but (like most ppl) never give feedback,
so,... do not stop.. it will be a loss for MSX community i think.
No feedback does not mean ppl appreciate what you are doing.

Keep it up,.. better times will follow.

Thanks for all the replies - no doubt I enjoy maintaining the site - I would not have done it for so long if I didn't ;-) but as a few of you said, i have done everything alone since the beginning and I have as well less and less time to spend on it thus also resulting in less updates, less news, less of everything... however as it looks so far from your comments, you mostly visit the place and find it of interest - so should give me a kick to continue!
And don't worry, the Homebrew List is highest priority + reviews (I was in the middle of translating my latest review on MSX in France last week ... and will try to finish it soon -). BTW, if you developed a game and would like me to review it, get in touch though I never can promise I will satisfy everybody - it's part of the motivation side as well to be in touch with those who've spent their time in making their great games! Reviews take time - first have to play extensively the game itself - think of the structure of the review and what you want to say - eventually write it and put it in form with screenshorts etc... to make it pleasant to read and view.

Well, hopefully the story continues...I have not always been that motivated lately (and have also other things to do) but if you have something to announce or would like to have published in any form on the site, you're mostly welcome to drop an e-mail or whatever - I only have two hands, one pair of eyes... and it cannot always be one-way...

Great news!. If you think I can help with any review or any other content for your site, feel free to send me an email: we karoshies are busy people, but I'll try to help you in what I can.

In your site, for the second time I saw in Internet from a Google search the expression "Cosmic Battle" + MSX.

The first was in a list from Cobra Software (selling my game without my permission).

See my game in a site as a unfinished homebrew project was one of the reasons I return to code.

Thank you for that!

I like it best when people are busy with MSX because they like it, like you are with your site, msxgamesbox, and don't try to make money of everything.

and no, I don't mean Bazix. In fact, Bazix is still in a starting fase, so it won't be fair to comment on until we've actually seen something

I mean that sometimes in the (Dutch) MSX community I get the feeling money plays such a large role; so often I've seen (at fairs) stuff for MSX being sold that on other systems was free or had a significantly lower price; also, some second hand stuff is of course rare and goes for higher prices, but other stuff seems to have been "declared" rare by some people, which has triggered some prices to go into the absurd.

I do not mean to say everything has to be free or something. But too much focus on money kinda spoils it, IMO (note that this is not a new thing, the (Dutch) MSX community has 'suffered' from this for a long time).