Freestyle Scene = Dead?

[G-Kid]

Im currently sat on the loo thinking about this, is the freestyle scene really dead?

Im not sure, there was a specific period of time, like between 07-09 where the freestyle scene was growing so much, i mean at a ridicolous rate.
However over the last year and abit, it seems to be shrinking.

Its certainly happening in the UK, i remember back in the day there seemed to be a new pair of freestylers every month, and we ended the year with twice as many freestylers as we started, But since then, the energy has slowly dropped, barely any new freestylers and most of me and the "old" guys have either dissapered or been on and off.

It can also be seen on this forum, I remember back in the day, good videos would get +50 comments, nowadays videos of twice the quality will get 20 max. Tbh i think getting rid of oLi was the downfall of this forum, ever since then its gone downhill, the guy kept this place alive so much. Even though i like the ideas Adi and the team are coming up with, id rather have oLi any day of the week. *NO ECUABOL* (no homo)
it seems like this in the whole scene too, Pryscrwsfrbadgfstfb (polish comp) and Rbss getting delayed or cancelled, barely ever seeing new footage from any of the greats, or theyve quit, barely any videos in general too.


What are your guys opinions on whether its dying or not? what made it like this if so? and do you think it will ever grow back?

Discuss.

G.

[Tupac]

It's definitely dying.
I think because of the insane level that this sport has gotten too, people (new-freestylers) feel so intimidated by everyone else.

[L_I_S]

I think because of the insane level that this sport has gotten too, people (new-freestylers) feel so intimidated by everyone else.

My thoughts exactly.

About the commenting, you can still see a lot of comments on the actual youtube video comment section. I think that most freestylers would know by now that a high commented video on youtube will help increase the number of view of the video where as if you comment here, they don't.
The lack of commenting could also be caused by certain topics created in this section, such as: What kind of comments do you like? The options where something like, "Great combos", "Great combos, try working on X", "Work on X". The "great combos" comment didn't get many votes so freestylers have stopped using those kind of comments. If I remember correctly, it was your idol Oli who created that topic or had a big part in that thread.

[JonKonik]

Yeah the level is really high now and the veterans don't freestyle as much and aren't as active. To be honest it's not as enjoyable anymore, there are too many people out there with the mentality of being the best, achieving new records, hardcore combos. 2006-2008 were the best years, NAS forum and everything.

[SvenF]

Oh come on, I hate all those "negative" threads saying that the freestyle scene is all dead etc. I mean sure the past years have been great, and I'm pretty sure that in 2,3-4 years people will be talking great about this or last year. People might not make that many videos anymore, because I have the feeling they don't practice hardcore tricks that much anymore, but rather train more creative or LP stuff. But that doesn't mean the freestyle scene is dead. Besides, I agree with Elias that people comment more on YouTube videos than here on BF.

Hint: A new mindblowing video will be out soon...

[tbc]

The shock/surprise value has decreased too. its hard to impress people these days, a tatw atatw nt doesnt matter much these days, before it was like the biggest achievment. Oli did add spice.
Beyondfootball is going to be a part of history no matter, its life, ups and down... we still need a forum imo.

[samfs]

no more hardcore fs I'm afraid very soon people are just going to care about creative, stylish combos and that's good, but the hardcore side of freestyle will be ignored! Maybe this is just because the level has gone up so high that very few people can match it, but I think it's also because people think the creative side of freestyle is better for getting shows and performances, so people practice that more...that is just as bad as the whole freestyle scene going down because, for me, hardcore > creativity by far (no offence intended to people who love creative stuff).

[Royal Freakiness]

Maybe the comment section here is dying coz whenever I post in a thread it seems like most ppl try to avoid it  
as you can see, I've been posting the most comments, hence the highest credits  

When are we gonna have the Official Beyondfootball forum allround competition for 2011? Yeah, I know we have that partnered online comp thing going on, but I don't think it will gather as much attention as the last bfforum comp. (Arthur vs Skora, Sven vs Zhura, Sven dropping out  )

We've reached such a high hardcore level in fs that most videos seem boring and most veterans don't bother commenting.

[ningja]

It seems to be kinda dead. In melbourne, there are a lot of fsers that can't fs because of school, work, injuries and other commitments. however as a noob it does seem quite intimidating. it doesn't seem anyone cares about a noobs comment or opinion. i've fsed a year, and improved at a pretty much sloth pace and i don't really care about being hardcore (by today's standards) because for me, it's too much commitment. And anyways, where's the fun in drilling yourself to the ground and having no fun while freestyling? i'd definitely rather be stylish and be the hardcore type, described to me by aznfs, from back in 07/08 where tatw-amatw was the master combo etc. etc. another note, it's not always about being hardcore, it's about being friends having the same interest and sharing talents, being creative and enjoying the sport  ok my rant is over

[Ethan]

You guys saying hardcore is what is destroying the sport...

When a master like Mirko, Becs etc release a video people have no problem with saying 'omg that was mindboggling, such a ridiculous level, so motivating etc.' However the second there is an oppertunity to appear 'alternative' by saying hardcore is 'no fun' and it's all about having fun and making friends and being creative, people post...

Being realistic, those of you saying hardcore is no fun are lying...it is just harder to achieve big things, but the feeling of satisfaction when you do is unbeatable compared to doing eclipse - leiki chip - dragon stall - 360atw. Hardcore freestyle is just going through a patchy phase, although nobody has mentioned winter. It is far harder to stay motivated through winter and there has been quite bad weather this year. People need to stop giving up hardcore and stick with (let's be honest) the rewarding, difficult side of freestyle.

*Those of you who want to know what Sven is talking about may want to check his Twitter

[Tom]

Its not dead, its changed!

[Christof]

i think the problem is that today, your motivation can't be to become the best, because it's almost impossible. And if you just do it for fun and you don't train a lot, you won't get noticed today, like 5 years ago Latw was an incredible trick, and today nobody cares...

Also if the younger people today have the choice between playing PlayStation or go out to do sports, more and more choose playing PS...
Though I have to admit that playing FIFA11 in HQ is a big difference to FIFA 98 RTWC  :-D