note: This is The Column, a part of Apolyton where anyone can write about whatever he/she wants :) If you feel like writing, submit your article via the article submission page

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#75 WE ARE NOT THE WORLD Simon de Vet warns about taking Internet polls as absolute indicators. #76 MY JOURNEY AS A GAMER Martin pours his heart out over his affection for Civ. #77 A CIVILIZATION 3 CHALLENGE Connorkimbro sets up a challenge for Firaxis. #78 MILLENIUM GAMING FRONTIERS DanQ passes his predictions for gaming in the years to come. #79 HOW CIV NEARLY TOOK OVER MY LIFE AND DESTROYED MY MORALS Alexander's Horse does not want anyone to lose sight of what is important. COLUMN ARCHIVE

It’s a dirty job, but somebody has got to do it… the desperate appeal for a new column has prompted my honourable self to put pen to paper (or rather fingers to keyboard) on behalf of the ACS column for the first time.

Anyway, back on to my chosen topic. As long ago as May, Markos, in a similar situation to now, with a column not forthcoming from the masses, penned what basically amounted to ‘a day in the life of the administrator’. Basically, Markos’ tasks for the night amounted simply to dealing with various issues arising from the forums; ‘I'm checking for the billionth time today the forums’.

The only other event worthy of mention in Markos’ diary was the IRC chat held that day. And where was that publicised? On the forums. And who attended? The regular posters at the forums. It just made me wonder; how big a part of Apolyton have the forums now become?

How much time do the administrators spend on the forums compared to other parts of the site? I look at the latest news on the main page; seven or eight columns, and a couple of patches. And in that time how many forum announcements have been made? How many administrative actions have Markos or Dan made, or been asked to make?

I look back at the past columns. When the idea first came to me to write this, at the beginning of the month, before apathy and laziness set in, the previous two columns had been exclusively about the forums. The next column to go up concerned the Civ 3 wish list; a product of the forums. There had also been several other columns dedicated to forum related matters.

Dan and Markos have spent seemingly endless time and money on updates to the forums; script updates come regularly, and no time is wasted implementing these changes, however small. When Alexander’s Horse complained about the disappearance of one of his personal favourite face icons, Markos (I think) took the time to actually redraw the icon to the Alexander’s satisfaction. It seems almost that the forums have become Apolyton. They must take up the overwhelming majority of the administrators time dealing with ACS.

But then, I thought to myself, is this a problem? Even with the number of Civilization games now available, there is only so much that can change in a given period. A new scenario takes time to make, and once made, Apolyton is there to give the scenario a chance to prosper. Without the forums, Apolyton risks becoming fairly static, simply because there are only so many developments happening at any one time. The forums are much more fluid; they are and can constantly change. There is something new there every day; every hour even, depending on which of the forums you frequent. The forums allow Apolyton to maintain a loyal group of regular visitors; without them, Civ fans would simply drift in and away from ACS, checking to see if there was, say, a new article that interested them. If there was, it would be read, and then they would leave.

The forums, however, are much more magnetic. There is always something new, and invariably something interesting. As is often said, you can’t escape from Apolyton! It is the forums here that set Apolyton apart from other similar sites, and it is the forums that keep people here.

Perhaps the forums are now the most important part of Apolyton. But who is complaining?

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About the author: Iain is from Manchester, UK, and had nothing better to do than to write this article...

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