People keep saying that it's still alive and even bigger than before... Maybe my brain is starting to fool me, but it looks nothing compared to what it was a few years ago.

I mean:
Most of the modding sites were closed;
Few machinimas and the ones thaFewt are out there get low views;
I don't see any activity out there;
I can't find people who still play this;
...

Where am I wrong?

If the Sims 2 community is no longer alive why is there a steady stream of Creators still creating for the game? There are many TS2 Tumblrs and other sites still creating for the game.

Hang out on this forum awhile. You'll see us. A lot of people have moved from LJ to Tumblr because it's so much easier to post there.

Maybe it isn't as active as a few years ago. I wouldn't know. I wasn't in any simming community til 2010. By the way, topics like this have recurred periodically here at least since then.

Based on experience in other subcultures, I think it likely that the community has changed from what you remember; but that doesn't make it less alive. I've changed in that time, too, but I'm still here.

There are a lot of folks, like me, who had lost their Sims 2 when their computers died, then when got a new one it had that doggone windows 8 that won't allow anyone to have sims 2!
Fortunately, I was able to get all that back through Origin. I still don't know if I can create (just got it), but will give it a good try! (NOW, to see if all my downloads are able to go into place!)
*Stardust*

There there are folks like me ... who go away from the community (for any number of reasons), and then come back years later. The community has changed from what I knew it, but I was very happy to see it was still here and very much still alive. :D

You're looking in the wrong place.

I think the real problem is that the internet changed while you weren't looking. There are now so many services, like tumblr, which allow people to set up their own corner of the internet for free, with a lot of customisation and with much less hassle than used to be involved in setting up your own site, that everything is a lot more fragmented than it was in, say, 2008. Big hubs like MTS, GoS etc. get less use, which can make it more difficult to find "the community", but it sure as shit is still there.

You might want to go check out this thread http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=529171

I played sims 3 but i turned back to sims 2

Still in other places.

The biggest and best are still here. The content that is made now is the best content ever made. Also you say that like you don't see all the new posts, we're here aren't we? Or maybe we're zombies who will eat your brain-who knows.

So what is 'most of these modding sites?' Old crap sites like the exchange? Most people moved to Tumblr, Tumblr is HUGE.

Machinimas is still around, but a lot of people moved on from that. These days they do Let's Play's on Youtube and Livestreams. I think the internet changed while you weren't looking.

But, MarcoVideos. . .

I reckon you've found the right place now you've come here! We all play The Sims 2, and there's plenty of activity on the forum here. Sometimes too much to keep up with it all! When I looked a few minutes ago there were 86 people viewing this Sims 2 Discussion forum! I've already told you how many new Sims 2 uploads there are this month on this site alone.

Seriously, EA/Maxis who own the whole The Sims brand promoted The Sims 2 from 2004 till 2008, when they brought out the last new SP (Mansions and Gardens). They haven't promoted it since. They expected us to move on to new versions of The Sims. Yet there are still all these people here on this forum! I think the level of interest in The Sims 2 is quite remarkable in the circumstances. It's the game that refused to die. Of course the community has changed. What do you expect? In the absence of active promotion from EA/Maxis, there will be far fewer really young players taking up the game; they won't even know about TS2 unless we tell them. And the existing players will all be older. A 13-year-old who took up The Sims 2 when it came out in 2004, will now be 24. Of course they've changed!

But we're all playing TS2 still. Take your time and look round this forum and its sub-forums. Look at the picture forums, the stories, the creation forums, and of course the Downloads. You'll find plenty of activity going on. If you're into The Sims 2, there's bound to be something to your taste. Take a look at the threads on this forum. They're all about Sims 2 so some of them must interest you. Add your contributions to the ones that do. Tell us about your neighbourhoods and your Sims. In short join in the Sims 2 community here. Maxis don't market TS2 any more, so really TS2 is what we Simmers make of it. By and large we're a friendly lot here and rub along well together, even though we have very different ideas on how to play The Sims 2. I reckon I've made some really good friends here.

It's sad that some of the Sims 2 sites have gone, but there are still some good ones around. And MTS is the very best. Or your could start your own Tumblr, share some stuff you've made and tell us about it on the Free Content Updates thread.

And if, at the end of the day you decide that we're a boring fuddy-duddy lot, and you don't want anything to do with us, just make friends with your Sims. They won't let you down. :lovestruc

Although it isn't as active in recent years, there's much better content than it use to be. I don't share my stuff with the community, but comparing the clothing I made now to the clothing I've made years and years ago when the Sims 2 was the latest game, I'd say I've improved - and so has everyone else, it seems. As well as that, we're more... spread about... these days, with people posting on lots of different websites now instead of just a few.

I believe the content has improved. EA/Maxis is no longer pumping out EP/SP's so now we know what we have and the creators are still out there. There doesn't seem to be the rush to be the first to create CC, which was originally bloated.

I've been around since day one and a lot of the pay-sites are gone or moved on to TS3/TS4 creations.

Huzzah - mind you it would be a bit rich to try and charge for a 10 year old game.

I've been around since 2006-07, and activity on various sites have had ups and downs in activity. Lots of creators moved to Tumblr and similar, or to TS3/4, and some came back. Maybe they all think it's easier to manage their own corner of the web, having everything in one space. Personally, I prefer the forum format. Tumblr makes commenting on stuff a bit difficult, and I hate having to go back fifteen pages to find old downloads.

If you're worrying about CC disappearing, I suggest you head over to Simscave for a little peek in their update section. For TS2 there are updates almost daily, and 6-10 pages every week or so, and that's not even all the CC that people upload. http://simscave.mustbedestroyed.org...php?board=172.0

Their is even still people who make things for the sims 1, granted it's only about a handful or so, but still even that community is still going.

I would say that the TS2 community has certainly been reduced in size since its heydey, when it was more or less the only game in town, so to speak. But I would also say that it has vastly improved in quality, at least from my point of view. The newer games have whittled away at the community, but those of us who stayed -- and those of us who went away for whatever reason but then came back -- are likely to stay for a very long time to come. We also tend to be older, which I, as an older person (I'll be 51 next month), appreciate. I'm not a fan of the drama that the kids/teens who play the newer games seem to like to stir up. Even the younger ones who play TS2 seem to be...I don't know...older than their years, maybe.

Now, true, pretty much everything about TS2 that can be modded has already been modded, so there isn't as much new modding going on as there used to be...but there also doesn't need to be as much because it's pretty much all already out there. But there's plenty of object creation/recoloring, hair creation/recoloring, clothing creation/recoloring, lot-sharing, etc. going on, and many of those who make stuff have been doing so for a long time now, so their stuff tends to be very nice. As others have said, aside from enduring places like here at MTS or GoS, most of the creation-sharing seems to be going on on Tumblr these days, probably because doing so is convenient and free, whereas building/maintaining a website takes ability, time, and, if it gets popular enough, it will cost you money to keep it going. The latter, especially, is not very attractive. Also, many creators enjoy the freedom of not having to adhere to a site's rules in order to share their stuff, and Tumblr and the like is definitely the way for them to go. As a downloader, that might make it more difficult to find stuff than just going to a site, but it's not that difficult and there's plenty of stuff to be had.

As for forums...Well, I don't really visit anywhere except here because A) I just don't have the time to keep up with a bunch of different places and B) I genuinely like the people who regularly post here and enjoy "talking" to them. So, I can't say if other TS2 forums are active or not, but this one is certainly active enough for me.

So yeah, the TS2 community is alive and well but also evolving. It may not be the same as it was 5 years ago -- The only constant is change, as they say -- but it's still kicking. I don't know whether or not machinma is still a "thing" because I never watched them, myself, but like others have said, I know Let's Plays and livestreams are quite popular...although I don't watch those, either, myself.

Maybe you are looking in the wrong places. There are new items here at MTS. On the first page of downloads alone is 12 new items posted just this past week. One, today. Over at PBK Sun & Moon add new crafting stations they are working on, as well as others.

The WCIF here at MTS is constantly changing with the community helping each other find the downloads they are missing, lost or can't find. I posted one just today there and in 15 minutes the link I was looking for was posted.

I, just read the other day in the Stupid Random Questions thread, someone saying How fast that thread moves.

The community is still alive, you just have to look in different places today than you use to.

No matter what, I always come back to Sims 2. There is just nothing like it.

The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection was released last year, though, and new players turned up. I have played Sims 1, 2, 3 and 4 - Sims 2 will always remain my favourite game; and I am relatively new to the community - I've only joined MTS around 2 years ago. Up to now I have not created anything for the game except a rather sad-looking dress recolor; and I have only learned how to take a screenshot and upload it in the last month. So I don't know how the community really looked back then, but i do think that size is less important than love, and the people here love Sims 2!
One day, I am going to upload a lot, when I have figured out how to make a proper roof

The community is still here, and still going strong! In fact, in some ways it's actually bigger than it used to be, as many have tried 3/4 and either come back or decided 2 was the game they wanted. It's just vastly more spread out then before with the large amount of free hosting sites available. The best part about the community now is that the quality has come to the top - sure, we've lost some good sites, but the best are still around. And we now have the added benefit of not having to update with every new release!

I'm playing this game since i got it christmas 2004. At that time i was 12 years old.

Now I'm 23 and i don't think i ever stop playing this game - especially since UC came out last year.
I love Sims 2 so much and it helped me throughout my teenager years. It was harsh times for me then. Damn bullying...

Even though the community isn't as big as in 2008 there are so many lovely sites. Most time i'm here on MTS or on PBK and GOS. And Tumblr of course.
If there are new threads in the WCIF-sections i will look through them. You don't know how many stuff i downloaded the last weeks!

The community has been reduced through time and other games, but it's not dead. All you have to do is go on Tumblr and find all the independent CC creators who have Simblrs on it. Veranka, Seven Skell, CrispsandKerosene, and a whole lot of other people are there.

Then there's the Sims Cave where you can always find something new that's been developed/made for the game.

With Sims 4 having come out and major disappointment ensued, Sims 2 still looks to be the best of the games.

I mostly come here, because this is forum-like and more likely to have a bunch of people gathered. Some sort of central place to meet collegue simmers.
Of course, sometimes I go on a download spree and end up on tumblr's I never heard of before and find some jewel for my game.
But like someone else said, it is a bit of work to search through the older pages in hopes of finding some treasure.
Luckily, we have databases set up by some nice people to help us out. Plus, google still can be a good friend.