PhD research: The Early Days of the Westeros Forum and the ASOIAF Fandom

[Mya Stone]

Yeah. I'm referring to the 2010 one. Pretty sure George was in town that year for the Hedge Knight coming out add a comic.

I could not make, or was not invited, to the 2006 dinner. :P

I doubt anyone knew who you were! :p

[Jaxom 1974]

I doubt anyone knew who you were! :p

Name tag.

[Iskaral Pust]

I read the first three books in 2002-3 and then starting lurking on EZboard in 2003. Like some others, I was first looking for info on the next book and some speculation, but that was limited and I noticed the GC section. The board at that time was a smaller, closer community with many in-jokes and a high proportion of con attendees. I remember some bizarre games (zorse wars?) and drama. I was lurking for 30 minutes here or there during late evenings at work while waiting for some model to run on a batch of computers. It was funny and entertaining stuff. The GC community was much better than other forums I saw -- smart posters with diverse personalities unified by a common geeky foundation.

I only de-lurked in 2007 to answer a request for career advice in my specific field, and then got drawn in once that inertia had been overcome. I posted a fair amount in 2007-9 but I was never one of the core members. I even joined in chat a few times, which definitely builds stronger interpersonal bonds, but I was not a regular there at all. I have not attended any cons or even met up with any boarders in real life. Most core members are more immersed in this online community and interact outside of the board.

There's a kind of dilution that occurs as the population grows. It's easier to engage with a personality you recognize and have some history with. Sprawl is a problem for conversations. These days I mostly post in the soccer threads, where we have a dozen or so regular posters. I think a few posters have narrowed their posting activity in recent years, but that might be just me projecting my own experience.

There's also the issue of time passing in the real world. I had the most time for the board as a diverting quick break when I was younger and working long hours. I had less time though as I traveled more and especially during my MBA. Also, the books themselves have sapped some energy. The TV show has brought a big influx but many of the original readers felt a waning interest as the last two books took so long and the story faltered quite badly.

[Inevittable]

Thanks everyone, I'm getting lots of useful stuff out of this thread. It's wonderful to hear you reminiscing about the early days of the forum and I'm getting lots of useful information about GRRM's interactions with his fans. I've been trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to contact people connected to the books' publication and the production of the show as part of my research. If any of you have any suggestions please do let me know.

If I could throw a new question into the mix, what do you think have been the most significant ways that the forum has changed over the years, and what do you think caused them?

[Happy Ent]

If I could throw a new question into the mix, what do you think have been the most significant ways that the forum has changed over the years, and what do you think caused them?

1. It has increased in size.

2. An American TV network has adapted the books’ material to a successful series.

[The Marquis de Leech]

3. Cynicism about the series in general has increased among the longstanding members.

4. Perceived decline in quality between the first three books and the latest two, combined with a now decade-and-a-half-long wait.

[Minaku]

Whoa, this is a real thing! I'm an oldbie too, so I'll chime in.

I started reading ASOIAF around 2001 and began lurking on EZboard in 2002, though I didn't start making any posts until about 2003. My first post was on the character of Cersei pre-ADWD. I read some threads and realized I was not the first one to postulate R+L=J. I didn't post much in the book forums after that; the siren call of Misc was too strong. I've been posting in Gen Chat and Entertainment ever since.

This board, as others have said, has an incredibly high level of intelligence. The minds of people here spin me in circles. I'm so proud to be part of a community with such well-learned, well-articulated, decent people. We have our duds and our famous trolls but hey, who doesn't?

Some of my closest friends have come through the board or board chat. I have not met George, but plenty of friends have, and one day I'd like to join that group.

I'd say the biggest changes to the board would have been when we moved, both times. I wasn't around for eesite, but from what I've been told that was pretty dramatic. Our move to this board was a pretty big undertaking as well, though less dramatic. And then of course the influx of newer people who have only watched the TV show, or have been introduced to ASOIAF through the TV show has changed the dynamic of the board a lot. We feel more clique-y now, but I suppose since us old-timers have been around for over a decade we can't really be blamed for waving our canes around and sticking to our own.

[Happy Ent]

Let’s make the member numbers visible again!

[Rorshach]

Let’s make the member numbers visible again!

At least for Chrome, you'll see them in the lower left corner of the screen if you hover the mouse over a name.

[Greywolf2375]

At least for Chrome, you'll see them in the lower left corner of the screen if you hover the mouse over a name.

This is true username19503.

1. It has increased in size.

2. An American TV network has adapted the books’ material to a successful series.

#2. In many ways. :) I'm sure someplace Ran has a nice little bar chart of the membership by year/month and how it looks like a cliff around 2008-9 after the series was announced and started being produced.

[Demonblade]

Thanks everyone, I'm getting lots of useful stuff out of this thread. It's wonderful to hear you reminiscing about the early days of the forum and I'm getting lots of useful information about GRRM's interactions with his fans. I've been trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to contact people connected to the books' publication and the production of the show as part of my research. If any of you have any suggestions please do let me know.

If I could throw a new question into the mix, what do you think have been the most significant ways that the forum has changed over the years, and what do you think caused them?

Ive been around since 2002, was a frequent poster for the first few years, but have been mostly a lurker and posting primarily in the Entertainment forum for the past few years. I'd say as to your new question, probably the most significant changes made over the years was the Misc split into Gen Chat and Ent, as well as the decision by Ran to increase the amount of mods. The former change was done likely to make things easier to find. I didn't like the change when it happened, but quickly got over it, and prefer it to how it used to be. The latter was done because there were too few of them (i.e. Mods) and too many of the rest of us to make this place habitable. There were too many flame wars and dog-piling threads back in the day, and while I would admit to participating and enjoying a flame war or two back in the day, it did get tiresome and quite toxic, to be frank. I think those of us who were around back then remember those days and are too old and matured to seriously want them back.

[Solmyr]

This is true username19503.

I often discriminate on the basis of userID number. Posts from 50k+ -ers I hardly even bother reading :).

[The Marquis de Leech]

I often discriminate on the basis of userID number. Posts from 50k+ -ers I hardly even bother reading :).

Tsk tsk. Three digit userID numbers are infinitely superior to you four digit heathens.

[Solmyr]

Tsk tsk. Three digit userID numbers are infinitely superior to you four digit heathens.

I wholeheartedly agree, therefore I ensure that I discriminate against my own posts, compared to 3-digit-uderID members' posts ;).

[Happy Ent]

Tsk tsk. Three digit userID numbers are infinitely superior to you four digit heathens.

I agree.

Best regards,

User #51

[Rorshach]

So basically OP can now properly digest the caste system in place :)

Sincerely,

User #19503

(yes, I'll scuttle along now, nothing to see here, I'm sorry I intruded etc etc)

[Happy Ent]

I endorse the above post, so the moderators need not delete it. —User #51.

[Mr. X]

I think it was JaimeL who once said he considered you a noob until your post count exceeded your user number. This was back when member numbers were still displayed directly under user names.

[Minaku]

I endorse the above post, so the moderators need not delete it. —User #51.

I endorse this endorsement, even though I can't my member number. I think it's #85.

[The Iceman of the North]

I endorse this endorsement, even though I can't my member number. I think it's #85.

Not even close, it's all the way down at #89. (In Firefox when you hover over a username, you can see the member number in the link to the profile page.)