I could see this happening for various reasons, like the switch to not enforcing real names, and problems with the board itself not working as well as the old one.

I just don't know what they were trying to achieve - there is no Take 5 equivalent for all users, which would improve community between users of different apps, combustion and ACP plugins weren't moved either.

The Area tutorials have improved though, it would be nice to have content from older versions, some of that contains useful info, such as the demos that someone did from Ubi for (Max6? 7?)

I know people were worried about the T&C of submitting their content before, I'm not sure if this ever changed.

- Steve

Can I collect my $10 now?

Real names = accountability
Simple UI = easy to use

Those things made the old webboard work very well.

Brandon said it very clearly.
It's all quite simple, Autodesk need look no further than the old Webboard for inspiration:
- Left tree pane for navigation.
- No sections with small fonts and high color contrast (white over close-to-black colors). Readability should be a priority.
- Real names in posts
- Speed!
- etc.

Many professional Max users have already left the official forums, and the trend continues. This was clearly not the goal when creating Autodesk's Area, so let's hope things change for the better.

Yes the AREA is quite POOR, Don't care to use it anymore. Mixing all products in one pile is stinks, PLUS there are no real good files or quality advanced info there.

I agree with all of the above.
I have been a 3DSand MAX user since 1991 and Ver.1. We've worked with ListServ and Compuserve until the Webboard arrived and great FAs like Darv, Kate Pike. We have to assume that this AREA thingy was created by people who have not used the Webboard?

All good things end...
John Rankin.

I think the AREA was spawned from the old Alias content. It just has the feel of the old Alias website and content. It also seems to be hurting like Alias was.

My 2 cents.

You know the sense of doom you get when you encounter some bit of 'product' that is being pedaled by some corporate shill as hip?
You know that feeling? That creepy buzz in the back of your head that goes off when some soulless marketing clown thinks they've been able to reduce the complex interplay of thought and reaction that make up your cognition systems to a few boxes in a spreadsheet they barely know how to use (but hey, have you seen what you can do with computers these days?) and thus, you ARE a number.
Yeah, that feeling.
I mean, I wouldn't go as far as "I am not a number, I am a free man!", but I would say that the Area is less than. More than that I couldn't say as after my initial visits, I haven't been there.

John wrote:
> All good things end...

Yeah, the problem is when they call it "innovation".

I for one like certain additions to the Area, such as the artists' showcase. But the forums are a mess, I hope they can repair them. Otherwise they'll continue to sink and go underwater. And there's not much sense in keeping forums that drive visitors away. If that is the case Autodesk might as well revive the old webboard and close the current forum implementation. I'm not sure they realize how important the old Webboard was to Max users and how much it contributes (read used to contribute) in attracting new users to the software.

Craig wrote:
> You know that feeling?

Good description, Craig. Too much "branding" going around, and many times it's taking priority over simple common sense. In this particular case it seems to have been counterproductive for the company itself.

It's unfriendly and hard to read. It feels like it was ruined just to rebrand it. It's a real loss to the community.

I no longer use it.

I would love to hear from someone at Autodesk about this - whether they intend to do much to remedy the complaints or if it's just going to be left to waste away.

Maybe it will be popular with new users who don't know any different.

However, it seems particularly short-sighted, even for Autodesk, to risk losing the cumulative years of experience of the grumpy old bastards who've been around since it were all fields.

- Steve

"Is it important to register for a website and forums using your real name?"

Maybe if AD wasn't so coy about the the phrasing of the question they would get more responses:

"Is it important to register for this website and forum using your real name?"

I can't even find the darn poll! Does anyone have an URL?

Hi Rune. I'm afraid the poll is no more. It's been replaced.

I hope those in charge of these matters at Autodesk are reading feedback from users as constructive criticism. It may be needed to mention that Autodesk is the same company that implemented the old Webboard that we Max users enjoyed so much to use. I for one (and I'm sure many others are also) grateful for having had that place for discussion available to us. And I hope this helps Autodesk understand that users' complaints arise from the fact that the current implementation is not as good as the old one. If there's some negativity in the posts, it's because of the frustration of having lost something that was very beneficial to all of us. The Webboard also had a great, friendly atmosphere.

This has nothing to do with the content of the Area (some people like it, others not so much - that's normal and predictable). I hope Autodesk takes the responses as healthy criticism from the part of users, and (hopefully) acts accordingly. They have already listened to users' requests in the past.

So where is everyone else going? I miss you guys.

Pablo said:
> It may be needed to mention that Autodesk is the
> same company that implemented the old
> Webboard that we Max users enjoyed so much to
> use.

That's not totally true, Kinetix / Discreet made the webboard. And while they were owned by autodesk, they were a much smaller company that had a more intimate connection with their userbase.

Thanks for the note, Neil. Yes, I am aware that it was not Autodesk per se, but it was still the "mother company".