³TtHhEe EeNnDd OoFf TtHhEe SsCcEeNnEe?@ ¢TtHhEe EeNnDd OoFf TtHhEe SsCcEeNnEe?@ what is happening? It seems to me that the Amiga scene is a rather dull place to be at the moment. Now a days there are 4-5 big, I mean really big parties, during a whole year. At these parties great releases are released. This is very nice, but... What the hell is a swapper supposed to do in the meantime??? I used to swap a lot. Not anymore, sometimes I find it really hard to find one decent demo/intro to send out to my contacts. This is a horrible situation for a swapper. Well, it's not that I am having problems getting the "new and hot" stuff (modem rulez). Sometimes you are lucky and a mag is released, like when Raw and Upstream are released at the very bloody night. This makes you happy, but since mags only appears three times a year, this is not so fantastic anyway. Can you remember the last time you saw a great demo not being released at a party? I think there was a demo released sometime in 1989!!!!! The scene used to be a hobby, but real life has overtaken us, many of us not even noticing it yet. In the real life there is one simple rule: money rules! You are welcome to deny that, but I find it rather tough to find argumentations against that statement. And now, the worst thing has happened, money rules the scene now. OUR scene! Further more the scene has become too big! Just look at the parties. Back in the late eighties, many parties were held. Now it is only 4-5 huge events, which even get press coverage. Hmm, this makes you wonder, doesn't it? Money sure rules now! Look at the competition prizes. Speaks for itselves, right? You are not even able to go to a party with your computer anymore. People just steal it then. Fucking unbelieveable, this scene used to be build on friendship, but what in the name of God has happened? At the Party IV, which by the way was extremely boring, somebody stole my diskdrive. Well, I do not care too much about that. But some guy's A4000 suddenly vanished... I just cannot understand how a guy can be able to steal another freaks A4000. See, there goes the friendship! In the good old days, "the golden years" that could never happen! Seems like people's moral has dropped too low... Hope it will rise again. I am leaving the scene at summer. Because I want to go to England for a year, I guess when I come back the Amiga scene is almost dead. At least it will die soon if the development continues like this. ²NIGHTHAWK/REBELS