I'll make a CC soon...
*Pees a little*. Looking forward to it! I had a bit of a CC of a few SNES RPGs in an IM with Corinthian Baby, and it was quite invigorating! Took me back a lot to the CCs on the old blue Pixelation, not to mention I learned a thing or two.
I think the point about multiple communities for pixel art since the early Pixelation is a good one. The community has spread out. I said it in the blog thread as well, but I don't really have a perception of this forum being slow or dead. It seems to be moving along steadily (at least in terms of the critique-grinder section). For me, I spend a lot of time looking at threads in the Pixel Art section, and I very rarely end up looking at threads in other sections. I actually find the board TOO active for my time!
I've been working on a game lately, so that's where most of my creative focus has been. That, and a lot of the art stuff I do now is in other mediums. I'm just spreading out with what I do, but I still love pixel art. To me, this community offers something special. A kind of balance of openness, friendliness, but also expertise. It's cosy and stimulating. When I go to other art communities, they are huge and bizzare to me, like a country boy entering a big city (okay, now I'm just getting cheesy
).
Okay, I started rambling, but my point is Pixelation has its niche, and I think it will draw longevity from that.