Scratch has become a shell of its former self.
Published 2023-11-25
I wanted to make this rant for a long time but I never did due to fear of controversy and the wonderful Scratch Team finally banning me after having a bone to pick with me for the last 8 months.
While yes, I have said in the past that I would leave once and for all, I decided to come back to the site to give it another change, to see if it has improved.
Consider my expectations blown, and they weren't even that high to begin with.
I remember discovering Scratch back in 4th grade, where our teacher would let us play games on the site as a form of free time. It would only be until 2020 where I would make my first account, @SuperPoochy288. I abandoned the account shortly after due to my projects getting zero recognition. Then, one day I remembered this site and decided to make another account, that being this one.
I still have some great memories of this site, meeting most of my online friends here, back when "Famous Scratchers" were an actual thing and them having actual talent making them stand out. Remembering the era of Super Scratch Smash and Codebreakers. Well, before The_Updator moved on and ArcanisHD turning out to be a kid diddler. I had some fun on this website, and it inspired me to become a game developer.
However, thats when sunshine and lollipops ends. When I joined was the beginning of the decline of Scratch. Clout chasing, adult content, terrible moderation practices, some of the greats leaving the website, generic content on every corner of the website, and now, bots.
This website has been in decline for years on end, and the Scratch Team has been doing nothing but making unnecessary changes because according to them, accessibility is their top priority, when it honestly shouldn't. Who the hell asked for high contrast blocks over dark mode?
Remember when Scratch Team had 50 members instead of 8? Neither do I.
This is why I feel like this website is just not for me anymore. I'm only on here because Scratch is the only coding language I know, even though by now I should learn other languages like Python or C. All of my friends have moved on from this site, including me, but only occasionally the monthly project or slapping a like on a random project.
Thats when I decided to move to Gamejolt, which I only joined to put 3 Nights with Toby 2 on it, later I took it down because I didn't like it. And Gamejolt itself is an awful website, having nearly identical issues to Scratch. Maybe I should make an Itch account. Only reason why I'm still on it is because its where all of my friends are. All of them.
And I sure as hell am not making a Twitter account.
I don't care if this project gets taken down or that I get banned after so long, I just want to make my point.
Scratch Team, if you are reading this, please fix this website. It has been in decline for far too long and has become a shell of its former self.
I might delete my account, but I feel like I might regret it after time like when I deleted all of my very old projects. I'll still respond to comments and such, but other than that, I am done with this website. Done.
Its not for me anymore.
If this website starts to heal by a miracle, I may come back, but by then I would probably have moved on from the language itself.
Find me on other sites if you can, please. I will definitely be cooking up stuff there. With Turbowarp. Until then, this is goodbye.
Gamejolt - @Kolby125 (Must be over 13 to sign up)
Youtube - @Kolby125
"They said new Scratchers would take their place, but new Scratchers never came."
Music is from Papa Louie: When Pizzas Attack by Flipline Studios.
#rant