Michael Noakes wrote:

Heya,

There hasn't been this much traffic since the so-called 'old days'--are we 
really that old now?  Wow.  And I think Mike's got it right--a lot of what 
made the FFML a useful writer resource and source of fanfiction is no longer 
as relevant today.  FF.net generates far more criticism these days, and 
while some of it is pretty silly stuff, I've also received some very 
intelligent and critical reviews from there.
 

I took a Macross/Babylon thread I'm working on from Anime Addventure and 
took it over to Spacebattles to get some help for it and I did

What FF.net can't provide, and what the FFML used to, was critical, in-depth 
feedback with which an author could improve their work.  Eventually that 
evolved into finding pre-readers before posting to the FFML, which began to 
undermine the whole reason for the list's existance (from a writer's point 
of view, really) but a writer's not going to complain about that; he or she 
is still getting the desired feedback.
 

Ah yes.  I recall getting an e-mail saying to get a pre-reader before 
posting to the FFML.  Kind of made this place a joke of what it was 
supposed to be.  If I was supposed to get a pre-reader before posting, 
then this list was useless for helping me out.

FF.net also doesn't provide much of a social atmosphere.  I made a couple of 
long-term e-mail acquaintances through the FFML . . . but that's far less 
likely these days, if off-topic comments can get you tempbanned.
 

I think it was because of the Ranma 1/2 flame wars that sparked that 
comming down. 

Then there was that 'Riding a Wooden Pony' post with a graphic picture.  
God, that sent the list into a tizzy for a long while.

Finally, though--I think Mike's absolutely correct about some people moving 
on, and no one replacing them.  New writers getting into this stuff look for 
 

Others have probably gotten burned out on Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Sailor 
Moon, etc.

FF.net type stuff, I'm guessing; it's just easier.  Hell, I joined the ML 
way back in 96? 97?  Nearly a decade ago.  

The Anime Addventure has been sucking in a lot of the old writers.  
Warringer, DragonBard, Greg  'Metroanime' Sharpe, and others.

Didn't even have Explorer to 
use--what was that old interface, Lynx or something?  I was a university 
student then.  Loads of free time.  Now I'm in the so-called 'real world' 
and time's a wee bit more valuable, though I do write much more than I did 
back then, and faster as well.  It's just not necessarily anime-orientated.  
 

I have others I'm working on as well, but MOTU and DC Comics don't 
really have lists dedicated to them.

Which doesn't mean that I won't be finishing off long-overdue stories, 
but... well, people change.  Other than the big Miyazaki films, it's pretty 
rare that I watch anime anymore.
 

True.  I'm actually hunting down some of the old cartoons I watched 
before anime got so big: Bionic 6, Galaxy Rangers,  He-Man, She-Ra,  
Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, Jem and the Holograms, Dungeons and 
Dragons,  Galaxy High, along with some old live action shows(ie. Jason 
of Star Command)

There is also that really grey area in regards to certain US cartoons: 
Transformers, MegaMan, Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Legend of Zelda, etc.

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