This is NOT worth reading...

...it's only about your scene.

TAD (finger on the button)

This will be a short article. The reason for this? Well, either read on to find out, or quit now, I don't really care at this point in time.

The bell tolls for thee?

The long drawn out death throws of the scene is duly upon us. It is now coughing up blood, a vulture is hovering overhead, children cry and in the distance the unmistakable sound of hammer pounding the last nails of a coffin can be heard. All is lost. All creativity, all skill, talent and enthusiasm has gone. This blighted place is now a ghost town. A lone tumble weed rolls around the dry, lifeless ground like a lost child trying to push its way through the crowds at a supermarket.

Yeah, so what's new?

A strange, dark figure approaches. His hand reaches into his dusty coat and surfaces with a sharp metal object. It is the most dangerous weapon known to man. It can start wars, ruin lives, control emotions, make grown people cry with either laughter or pain. So what is this deadly weapon?

It is a pen; a method of communication unchanged for many, many centuries. Its history can be traced back into the mists of time. No doubt some caveman used a stick dipped into mud or blood and cast marks onto a rock. He had found a way to express himself so that others could experience his thoughts. As the caveman became old he needed to teach the young so that next generation of his people could enjoy this important communication technology. If he didn't then this art would be lost, consumed by the dust of time.

The new, dynamic digital quill of today isn't that much different from that early sketch pad. It still requires some understanding and skill of the materials and how to use them. Without continuing the process of handing down knowledge today, tomorrow's scene will become the apocalypse-like desert that many have predicted it will (or has already) become.

Far from being a utopian paradise where artists in all forms of media can demonstrate their skill in the noble arts of coding, drawing, music and writing, the scene is very much like real world that extends beyond the borders of each demo-party. There are those who wish to instigate its downfall, to demolish the demo-makers, to negate newbies and to trash the try-ers. In short they wish to smash the scene which they (supposedly) care about SO much.

I'm always surprised at how much negativity exists between sceners. I'm not talking about flamez, slagging wars or group conflicts which have been started by some comments or action at a demo-party, ICQ, IRC or other forum, I mean the unprovoked attacks on those new to the scene; the 'newbies'. It seems that the advocators of the 'you suck' mentality do more harm than good. Do they wish to destroy 'their' scene, or to gain a pathetic moment of triumph by bashing someone else's efforts? It's like an adult saying 'you suck' towards a baby taking its very first few steps.

If anything newbies need positive encouragement, help and (I dare to say it) role models. In the past when the scene was 'alive' and much, much smaller there was more of an atmosphere of excitement, new boundaries were being tested and pushed back. Incredible new techniques and effects were regularly introduced to an bright-eyed audience who were very eager to lap up each new production. A standard machine's hardware was hacked to death, driven ever faster by optimised code. Today's scene (if those negative individuals are to be believed) is dead. Nothing new is being created, no amazing effects have been seen and no new group have wowed the world wide audience. This, of course, doesn't quite ring true. If today's scene is dead then why are there more people than ever becoming active in it?

You only have to look at the growth of new diskmags and the explosion in scene related news-sites to realise that the scene is growing, perhaps not in the way that certain people/groups would like, but it is growing. It will never be like the 'good old days' (which to be honest I miss). This is a difficult thing for some people to accept, but accept they must or continue to destroy their precious scene and themselves.

As one really smart woman said, "It takes very little talent to say what you DON'T like, any fool can say that, but it is far more revealing to say what you DO like because it puts you at the mercy of others".

Conclusion?

Well, I'm getting sick of this article (much like the negative attitudes towards the newbies and the scene). There is a weak attempt by some to instil a false air of elite-ness over others simply by posting a comment about how lame other people, or their productions, are.

You can either continue this behaviour now and complain later when the scene is truly dead because everyone has stopped releasing their work and instead have become like yourself, ambushing newbies for the sake of boosting their own inadequate sense of self worth for a few pica-seconds...

... OR ...

... you could invest some of that supposedly 'elite knowledge' of yours back into the scene. Yes, that scene which is SO important to you. The same scene which you have just posted your millionth 'you suck' message into. Just think, the time it has taken up to post all those messages could have be directed into something really worthwhile, like a demo, a piece of music or art. You remember, all those old things which scene used to have.

Right, that's enough of this bull shit. So go ahead, set fire to my InBox, I don't really care. Any little kid playing with matches can produce a feeble, little fire for a brief, passing moment. The really 'leet' dudes can cast sparks of imagination which burn forever like an eternal flame. They know how to set the world on fire and it isn't from posting 'you suck' flamez everywhere.

TAD