Alright, I realize that I may be putting my privileges to post on this forum at risk here by opening this pandora's box of opinion, but someone ought to do this and might as well be a backseat member like myself who has nothing to lose:
We're coming up soon on one year under new management, and I thought a great question to ask here is, what does everyone think of the forum, one year later?
When I first came to this forum, I hit it off to a rocky start with some of the members, but I quickly realized my faults and took a break fro the forum. A couple of years, and a lifetime of maturity, later, I returned and have been on again, off again paying attention to Mylargescale. Last year I was somewhat saddened to hear that mylargescale would be sold to a company to manage it, but I also understood that running a forum can keep a person quite busy, and it is almost always money out of profit, so I can respect our old owner's decision to sell the forum.
One year later, I've been looking around and it seems to me that this forum is a shadow of what it once was. I knew we'd all be in for a little ride when the company took over, that's just how it works, but I had no idea this 'little ride' would be enough for more than a few members to quit. I'm aware of some problems this site faces, but I get a feeling in my stomach that it's only the tip of the iceberg. My feelings are confirmed by this feedback forum, which is now up to 150 threads including mine, and the bugging forum is at 456. That's 456 individual problems, within one year, that's a lot.
My feelings of people leaving the site are also confirmed. last year, before the forum was sold, there was over 1,000 members a day coming to the forum, and possibly thousands of unregistered guests. I look now and currently as I type there's only about 20 members logged in at the moment, a Monday night after work in March. The 'Active topics' filter also confirms my suspicions as there isn't even a full page of active threads listed.
Based on those observations, I have to say that this forum has gone downhill in the last year. To be frank, if I expressed my opinion in simpler terms, they'd all be four letter words that I can't say on television, so I won't say them here. Such terms aren't directed at any members, you are all good people and great modelers. To say that I respect everyone here is an understatement. But rather, those terms I'd direct at the forum itself, how well it's working, and, heaven forbid, our new management.
And to Admin, while I doubt I'll be banned for asking such questions and making such comments, please remember that this is feedback, not flaming. Mylargescale, like all forums, is a way to communicate with like minded hobbyists. When that communication breaks down, the hobby as a whole suffers and I am getting the gut feeling that the large scale hobby is taking a hit with the way Mylargescale is currently headed.
Regardless, I may recognize some people from the forum at Denver in July, so see you then!
--James
We're coming up soon on one year under new management, and I thought a great question to ask here is, what does everyone think of the forum, one year later?
When I first came to this forum, I hit it off to a rocky start with some of the members, but I quickly realized my faults and took a break fro the forum. A couple of years, and a lifetime of maturity, later, I returned and have been on again, off again paying attention to Mylargescale. Last year I was somewhat saddened to hear that mylargescale would be sold to a company to manage it, but I also understood that running a forum can keep a person quite busy, and it is almost always money out of profit, so I can respect our old owner's decision to sell the forum.
One year later, I've been looking around and it seems to me that this forum is a shadow of what it once was. I knew we'd all be in for a little ride when the company took over, that's just how it works, but I had no idea this 'little ride' would be enough for more than a few members to quit. I'm aware of some problems this site faces, but I get a feeling in my stomach that it's only the tip of the iceberg. My feelings are confirmed by this feedback forum, which is now up to 150 threads including mine, and the bugging forum is at 456. That's 456 individual problems, within one year, that's a lot.
My feelings of people leaving the site are also confirmed. last year, before the forum was sold, there was over 1,000 members a day coming to the forum, and possibly thousands of unregistered guests. I look now and currently as I type there's only about 20 members logged in at the moment, a Monday night after work in March. The 'Active topics' filter also confirms my suspicions as there isn't even a full page of active threads listed.
Based on those observations, I have to say that this forum has gone downhill in the last year. To be frank, if I expressed my opinion in simpler terms, they'd all be four letter words that I can't say on television, so I won't say them here. Such terms aren't directed at any members, you are all good people and great modelers. To say that I respect everyone here is an understatement. But rather, those terms I'd direct at the forum itself, how well it's working, and, heaven forbid, our new management.
And to Admin, while I doubt I'll be banned for asking such questions and making such comments, please remember that this is feedback, not flaming. Mylargescale, like all forums, is a way to communicate with like minded hobbyists. When that communication breaks down, the hobby as a whole suffers and I am getting the gut feeling that the large scale hobby is taking a hit with the way Mylargescale is currently headed.
Regardless, I may recognize some people from the forum at Denver in July, so see you then!
--James