ScatterbrainKid Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 A guy just emailed me to ask this question below but I don't know the answer, what shall I tell him?- "One question I couldn't find on the website, do you know how many member has flightsim.com? I'd like to give a figure in my piece of how many people are into FSX. I know simaviation has about 86 thousand members." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrzippy Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 You don't use those blue tabs much up near the top? New Posts, Private Messages, FAQ, Calendar, Community...etc. Results 1 to 30 of 658349 So I'd say roughly 658,349 members. Still thinking about a new flightsim only computer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatRace Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 One of those questions that regularly pop up Official FlightSim.Com statistics below Threads: 284,131 Posts: 1,916,594 Members: 659,050 Active Members: 96,017 Welcome to our newest member, porubansv Blogs: 242 Entries: 420 Last 24 Hours: 0 Latest Blog Entry, Eh101 conrol issues by MOONDOG187 Just how many of those 96,017 active members are really active remains an open question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnuss Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I'm not sure what you're looking at at the top of the page, Mr. Zippy, but at the bottom of the forum's home screen, below the Currently Active Users (1788 as I write this) section and under the FlightSim.Com Statistics banner, there are a number of things, including "Members 659,050" (very close to your figure) and "Active Members 96,017" (these may change by the time you read this, though). Ed: I see RatRace beat me to it. Larry N. As Skylab would say: Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatRace Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I'm not sure what you're looking at at the top of the page, Mr. Zippy, but ... You have to forgive Mr. Zippy, he's a relative newcomer :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrzippy Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I'm not sure what you're looking at at the top of the page, Mr. Zippy Just using the Member's list Still thinking about a new flightsim only computer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 As with any website, it depends on what figure you seek. Generically, "members" (the upper figure, around 660k) is everyone who ever registered here; 90% of those never returned (date registered and last visit are the same day). Active members usually refers to those who actually posted in the forums or blogs, or uploaded something, or at least log in periodically; probably 90% of those are no longer around. Currently active is those who have posted "recently" (this criteria varies greatly with site, could be thirty days, could be a year or more). This can be sad when going through old bookmarks. I recently visited an older race sim site that claimed over 100k members; the last addition to the file library was 2011, the last forum post was 2012, and the site was last updated 2013. (I'm amazed the site is still there after so long with no activity.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnuss Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Just using the Member's list ... Ahhh, under Community. OK, I'd not seen that. I learn something new almost every day. Larry N. As Skylab would say: Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StringBean Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 As with any website, it depends on what figure you seek. Generically, "members" (the upper figure, around 660k) is everyone who ever registered here; 90% of those never returned (date registered and last visit are the same day). Active members usually refers to those who actually posted in the forums or blogs, or uploaded something, or at least log in periodically; probably 90% of those are no longer around. Currently active is those who have posted "recently" (this criteria varies greatly with site, could be thirty days, could be a year or more). Even some of that data is suspect as IIRC the membership dates here were reset at one time. I think the oldest date you will see is 2005 when we all know this place is older than that. Also. how many members join solely for access to the library? This discussion is further proof that you can torture statistics until they tell you what you want to here, which may not be the truth. peace, the Bean WWOD---What Would Opa Do? Farewell, my freind (sp) Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScatterbrainKid Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 The boss at one of my old wargaming clubs 'The Few Good Men' had the right idea, he automatically cancelled people's membership if they hadn't made a forum post for a month, it was his way of clearing out the dead wood and ensuring the membership really were all good contributing men..:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScatterbrainKid Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Okay just to recap, the guy I mentioned in the starter post is a journalist writing a piece about flight sims. I sent him a link to this thread so he can read our sensational answers, and he's just sent me this follow-up question, what can we tell him?- "I spoke with my editor and he says the piece is good but could be stronger. Do you know when Flightsim.com and similar website were launched? Was it a consequence of Microsoft stop releasing the program and so people came together on the web?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnuss Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Nels, of course, can easily answer that, but this site had been around for several years when I joined in late 1997 or early 1998, with FS98, so it had nothing to do with MS stopping FS production. There's at least one FS4 aircraft uploaded in January 1991 on this site. I didn't bother checking further. The site has also been through several forum software changes, sometimes changing people's join dates. Larry N. As Skylab would say: Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatRace Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 I know Wikipedia isn't always reliable, but still .. The website sources its origins to Bulletin Board System discussion groups for flight simulation dating back as far as 1985 and was one of the earliest flight simulator sites on the internet.[4] The existing library of files dates back prior to the website in its current format, with some existing files originating from when the website was run on the BBS provider Xevious BBS, which was established by the FlightSim.Com creator Nels Anderson in 1983 and still runs as part of the site today Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flightsim.com Edit: does anyone here remember what a BBS is? (The Wikipedia page seems a little outdated) First archived page of Flightsim.com, dated November 4, 1996 http://web.archive.org/web/19961104195802/https://www.flightsim.com/ Courtesy of the WayBackMachine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n4gix Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Edit: does anyone here remember what a BBS is? (The Wikipedia page seems a little outdated) Yes, I remember quite well. I ran a 20 node (that is 20 phone lines) BBS (Bulletin Board System) under PCBoard for nearly ten years, only having the last 2 lines disconnected in 2001 when I finally called it quits and retired the system. It was great fun while it lasted! In many ways we've come full circle. Internet "Usegroups" pretty much brought about the gradual demise of BBS's, and now we're back to what amounts to a web-based BBS on steroids! :cool: Bill Leaming http://smileys.sur-la-toile.com/repository/Combat/0054.gif Gauge Programming - 3d Modeling Military Visualizations Flightsim.com Panels & Gauges Forum Moderator Flightsim Rig: Intel Core i7-2600K - 8GB DDR3 1333 - EVGA GTX770 4GB - Win7 64bit Home Premium Development Rig1: Intel Core i7-3770k - 16GB DDR3 - Dual Radeon HD7770 SLI 1GB - Win7 64bit Professional Development Rig2: Intel Core i7-860 - 8GB DDR3 Corsair - GeForce GTS240 1GB - Win7 64bit Home Premium NOTE: Unless explicitly stated in the post, everything written by my hand is MY opinion. I do NOT speak for any company, real or imagined... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 .... This discussion is further proof that you can torture statistics until they tell you what you want to here, which may not be the truth.... "Statistics have proven that 90% of statistics are erroneous." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomTweak Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Yes, I remember quite well. I ran a 20 node (that is 20 phone lines) BBS (Bulletin Board System) under PCBoard for nearly ten years, only having the last 2 lines disconnected in 2001 when I finally called it quits and retired the system. I was on several BBS when the 300 Baud modem was new and fast. And when we got the 1200B, OH BOY! The Operators, Mods, whatever you like to call them would contact my lovely wife all the time. If ANYone could find a bug or problem in a BBS, it was her. She screwed up more BBS than anyone I know. Not hacking or anything, just finding problems they had missed. It looks like a Golden Age of BBS, in hindsight. At the time, it was the latest and greatest stuff to hit the new NET. And a kinda nifty way to meet women :D And I still fought tooth and nail to keep Windows off my systems at work and home as long as I could. I hate Windows, with a passion. It's a memory vampire for people that can't figure DOS out, and need pretty pictures to click on to accomplish anything at all. Just a pet peeve... Pat☺ [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Had a thought...then there was the smell of something burning, and sparks, and then a big fire, and then the lights went out! I guess I better not do that again! Sgt, USMC, 10 years proud service, Inactive reserve now :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Nels, of course, can easily answer that, but this site had been around for several years when I joined in late 1997 or early 1998, with FS98, so it had nothing to do with MS stopping FS production. There's at least one FS4 aircraft uploaded in January 1991 on this site. I didn't bother checking further. The site has also been through several forum software changes, sometimes changing people's join dates. I joined around spring 1998, just after getting FS98, and recall the extensive libraries even then (still remember my first download - a tan/red Luscombe Sedan ...but cannot remember my current phone number, lol). Got an email in 2005 that I needed to re-register (new software?), then some odd issue in '07 required me to register yet again. This must be one of the oldest game sites on the net. (FWIW the oldest sites, according to http://www.top1us.com/oldest-websites.html, date to 1985-86. (It's a boring Saturday afternoon and I'm putting off going grocery shopping.)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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