I think a way we could try and promote some good activity in the community is by teaming up and working on a project as a group, however not just any project: working on an interactive tutorial for Essentials users.
I'd say one flaw we as developers and community members make is that we assume that every single person who messes with Essentials should have or will dab into RPG Maker XP beforehand, and that;s not true (I know I definitely didn't, and so have several other pepole here judging by repetitive questions). Perhaps such a kit could go minor into RPG Maker XP mechanics (Not too deep, just enough to give the user a friendly understanding), and then work them into understanding Essentials mechanics. Perhaps even give them basic introduction to RGSS as well.
We shouldn't handhold users through everything, but we should give them some tools to help them traverse the forest.
I'd say that we as developers and community members assume that every single person who messes with Essentials should invest some of their own time and effort into making their own game. Most don't. Most just come here, waiting to be spoonfed all their wishes. Some even go as far as not even doing any prior research and come here and ask already answered questions simply because...it's more convenient that way. Going in blind like that is counterproductive, and ends in a lot of grief for the newb and senior members here. Either way, I don't care much. If I see post and want to answer it, I do. If I don't, I don't. Beauty of this being a forum.
Aaaanyway, I don't think the game dev community is dying. It has it's ups and downs like it always had. The only difference is, that the big guns around here, like Wichu and Neo-Dragon (and several others) left, and no one has filled their shoes yet. This is due to several factors. Lack of required knowledge, experience, etc. Most new members we get here are just in transit, and don't stick too long. So of course the project they want so passionately to have all these unique features now, will get abandoned soon. I'm guilty of the same thing. Though difference is, I invested a lot of my own time in it, which kinda sorta went to waste. Most don't even want to do that. Most don't come here to learn, or come because they want to vent their creative passion. There are many here who come for the simple reason of advertising against their competition. It has always been a factor. People looking for praise and reward on the internet.
But again, that's nothing new. And my main issue is with the multitude of people who don't want to invest time to do any prior research. Who don't want to investigate the tools they are using. Who are not ready to put in the effort of acquiring new skills to better their game, or realise their ideas. I came from nothing, and I'm nothing special really. No different wiring in my brain to other humans. It all comes down to practice. Set my mind to a specific goal, and reached it in the end. Now I have the experience and the freedom to do pretty much what I want. The journey may be long and tedious at times, but it's totally worth it. So from experience, I know that it can be done, and that it is actually very rewarding. It would be nice to share this with more people. But then again, these are fan games. Not serious projects that people want to monetize. So there might be a lack of motivation at play here.
In conclusion, I think the section is pretty much as it always has been. It fluctuates in activity and content. And honestly, I don't think a colaborative project is really necessary here. It would be nice to have, but I don't see it as a saving grace. A good flow of constructive critisism and productive suggestions are good on their own.
