Hello fellow Ot'ers this thread is meant to be a analysis of the current state of OT. I will take a objective approach to quantify if OT has been improving or if it has been getting worse (#OTisDead).
First I would like to explain how I gather this data! All data was gathered through the osu!api and ppy might hate me since I forgot to rate-limit my requests.
I will split this analysis into separate sections so this thread is more readable.
(If you are here only for my opinion its in the conclusion section (would be cool if you read the whole post tho >_<))
Section 1: User Activity Metrics
I measured user activity in 2 way.
The average number of posts each month seems very sporadic peeking during the summer months and holiday seasons and dipping when people have work/school. looking at the greater overall trend the number of new posts every month does seem to be decreasing albeit slowly.
In this graph we do seem some interesting behavior. even though the average amount of posts made each month remains somewhat stable, that is not the story being told in this graph. This suggests that OT users don't interact as much with new threads as they did in the past.
- Number of posts made per month
- Number of replies per month
Number of posts made per month
The average number of posts each month seems very sporadic peeking during the summer months and holiday seasons and dipping when people have work/school. looking at the greater overall trend the number of new posts every month does seem to be decreasing albeit slowly.
Number of Replies per month
In this graph we do seem some interesting behavior. even though the average amount of posts made each month remains somewhat stable, that is not the story being told in this graph. This suggests that OT users don't interact as much with new threads as they did in the past.
Section 2: User Demographics
User Demographics were measured in the following ways
Similarly to the number of replies per month, this graph demonstrates a clear decease in unique posters. This could suggest a couple things...
-OT is less welcoming
-Less people are interested in forums
-Lower quality posts -> Outsiders less motivated to participate
Ignoring Jan 2023 this graph demonstrates a kind of periodicity in New users droughts, every ~4months OT has significantly less New Users when compared to the rest of the year. This is most likely to do with holidays and such things.
This graph shows the ratio between New Poster vs Veteran Posters each month. We a decrease in the overall trend meaning more Veteran posters are making more posts than New users. Again possibly suggesting that OT is struggling to grow.
- Unique Posters (new users OP+replies)
- New Posters vs Veteran Posters
- Ratio between New vs Veteran
Unique Posters
Similarly to the number of replies per month, this graph demonstrates a clear decease in unique posters. This could suggest a couple things...
-OT is less welcoming
-Less people are interested in forums
-Lower quality posts -> Outsiders less motivated to participate
New Posters vs Veteran Posters
IMPORTANT: A Veteran Poster is not the same as a oldfag a veteran poster is just someone who has posted for more than 1 month! (also ignore jan 2023)Ignoring Jan 2023 this graph demonstrates a kind of periodicity in New users droughts, every ~4months OT has significantly less New Users when compared to the rest of the year. This is most likely to do with holidays and such things.
New vs Vet Ratio
This graph shows the ratio between New Poster vs Veteran Posters each month. We a decrease in the overall trend meaning more Veteran posters are making more posts than New users. Again possibly suggesting that OT is struggling to grow.
Section 3: Post Demographics
Because of how hard it is to interpret and quantify post data this section will only include 1 data point which is the average number of words a post has in OT. (just to OP not the replies)
The sole purpose of this is to try to understand if posts are getting shorter. I have seen people complain in the past that OT is suffering from a lot of 1 liner posts.
Yet again we see a overall decrease in the trend. This means that posts are becoming shorter. It does not mean that posts are getting worse though! although a lot of people associate post length with effort they are not equivalent!!!
The sole purpose of this is to try to understand if posts are getting shorter. I have seen people complain in the past that OT is suffering from a lot of 1 liner posts.
Yet again we see a overall decrease in the trend. This means that posts are becoming shorter. It does not mean that posts are getting worse though! although a lot of people associate post length with effort they are not equivalent!!!
Section 4 Most Active Users
This section has the least amount of impact on the current state of OT but something tells me it's what people are going to be most interested about.
There is not much to be evaluated here...
It is important to note that just because someone was most active it does not mean they had the biggest impact
Users which created most posts per month
There is not much to be evaluated here...
Users that got most replies per month
It is important to note that just because someone was most active it does not mean they had the biggest impact
Conclusion
OT is objectively becoming less interactive, not the posts per say but more people are replying less and less to posts.This is not inherently bad. OT still has new users (although less than before) but the number of posts remains consistent and doesn't seem to be dropping much. I don't think it appropriate to say that OT is dying just based of this limited data alone.
I think that OT is in it's teenage years, confused on what it wants to be. I think the main problem with OT is the community feels a bit fragmented. People interact with posts but sometimes it feels like they comment just for the sake of commenting. Don't get me wrong this is a micro-niche online sub-forum you can do whatever the fuck you want. But I feel like complaining a bit. I have been active in OT for like a month or something primarily as a way to fight boredom and I have had a blast looking at OT history and what not. but I feel like OT has fallen off? at least compared to present day. reading through old posts people seem so much more engaged. I am not saying OT is shit cause if it was I wouldn't be here. But I ask you now WHAT CHANGED? was it RP dying? abraker once said (paraphrasing) "RP Meta lets people make good posts without knowing how to" is that true? I like current day posts but post before seemed so much more thought-out. I understand that to some extent my posts are part of the problem they aren't very engaging, they are long, sometimes technical, and hard to reply. But genuinely I ask again what changed? what killed off the engagement. I don't suffer from Nostalgia like some of you might, I am not looking at the past with rose tinted glasses. OT just feels less engaging than before. Why? Do you guys think that OT has less effort into it than before?
Fuck me man this really did turn into a "OT is dead" post didn't it
What can we take away from this?
OT is objectively becoming less interactive, not the posts per say but more people are replying less and less to posts.This is not inherently bad. OT still has new users (although less than before) but the number of posts remains consistent and doesn't seem to be dropping much. I don't think it appropriate to say that OT is dying just based of this limited data alone.
My Subjective Opinion:
I think that OT is in it's teenage years, confused on what it wants to be. I think the main problem with OT is the community feels a bit fragmented. People interact with posts but sometimes it feels like they comment just for the sake of commenting. Don't get me wrong this is a micro-niche online sub-forum you can do whatever the fuck you want. But I feel like complaining a bit. I have been active in OT for like a month or something primarily as a way to fight boredom and I have had a blast looking at OT history and what not. but I feel like OT has fallen off? at least compared to present day. reading through old posts people seem so much more engaged. I am not saying OT is shit cause if it was I wouldn't be here. But I ask you now WHAT CHANGED? was it RP dying? abraker once said (paraphrasing) "RP Meta lets people make good posts without knowing how to" is that true? I like current day posts but post before seemed so much more thought-out. I understand that to some extent my posts are part of the problem they aren't very engaging, they are long, sometimes technical, and hard to reply. But genuinely I ask again what changed? what killed off the engagement. I don't suffer from Nostalgia like some of you might, I am not looking at the past with rose tinted glasses. OT just feels less engaging than before. Why? Do you guys think that OT has less effort into it than before?
Fuck me man this really did turn into a "OT is dead" post didn't it
