Chatterbox??? What happened to models??

Eric - I do have to wonder about the number of posts per day that some members post - how much modeling per day can get done with 100+ posts in a 24 hour period?
Having said that, I do think that this particular forum (Off Topic) is just that - for people to spout their drivel and for other to try to convince them otherwise. Isn't that what debate is all about? I must admit I've had my opinions changed on particular issues on a number of occasions by the replies in some threads.
That's what we're here for, man. Dissent!!

looking at it, I find the forum was different back then, we had just been given the OT forum, and way OT threads were not in progress. I now stay out of big political, etc. debates. the other guy will never conform to what you believe, so why bother. forum games: I have posted once since the first week they were started, because I believe that that is basically reformed star farming.

I remember threads like: how to get kids involved in modeling. stuff like that. not discussions about politics, etc.

I'm with you in saying, I don't like the direction this forum is going either.

my run to 100 posts today started the same way my last one did, at about 60-70 posts. I did not go on today and think "I'm going to hit 100 again". when I got to that mark I decided "why not", and went into areas of the forum I usually do not go into, and I posted there. a very refreshing view of the forum, I must say.

as a side note. for modeling today, I sanded down all the seams on my 1/72 lancaster while in between posting this evening.

Lee, I understand what you're saying and agree..to a point. It jsut seems that a lot of the debates have been getting out of hand and causing more resentment than good.

The current race to see who can post the most in a day is just rediculous, of course, that's my opinion.

The trend that the OT forum has taken has made me only look in at rare occasions for the last 4 months or so and then I almost miss posts like Lemonjello coming home from Afghanistan which is definitely a good one to have here and good news too.

It's just the trend as a whole that's disturbing to me, I'm wondering where it's going to end up????

Eric

Do you mean he is not coming back? I thought he was just busy with his models. Oh man.

Yeah, Dwight, you guessed correctly. Unfortunately. Drivel like the rush to see who can place the greatest number of useless posts in one outing is detracting from the original purpose of the forums: to inform and share information. This sophmoric attempt at one-upmanship is pretty ridiculous. If you have to do it, confine it to OT and not spread this crap around the rest of the forums.

that's a shame. we'll miss him!!!

I too hope that he doesn't leave, Eric. It would be a HUGE loss for us all. I hardly look in these forums. I used to play the word game and what not, but I stay out of the political discussions because I am not a debater. I can only put my foot in my mouth time and time again. I am sure it is good for those who need to rant about certain subjects. I guess I don't have anything to complain about!

Dan

QUOTE: Originally posted by Keyworth Yeah, Dwight, you guessed correctly. Unfortunately. Drivel like the rush to see who can place the greatest number of useless posts in one outing is detracting from the original purpose of the forums: to inform and share information. This sophmoric attempt at one-upmanship is pretty ridiculous. If you have to do it, confine it to OT and not spread this crap around the rest of the forums.

And just to think I had my share in the posting binge sometime in my stay here. And that makes me feel guilty in a way...

And to cause somebody to go away...

Dwight, that wasn't directed at you! If you thought so, my profound apologies. I was just ranting about the changing nature of FSM since the inception of the OT forum. I rightly think that maybe it's time to eliminate OT and get back to the original purpose of the forums: modelling and all it's aspects. Leave politics to other places better suited to deal with issues of the day. Again, my apologies if you thought I aimed that one at you. - Ed

Not at all ED. I was just saying that I felt as if I may have contributed to what led him go away.

Glad to hear it.

QUOTE: Originally posted by erush Lee, I understand what you're saying and agree..to a point. It jsut seems that a lot of the debates have been getting out of hand and causing more resentment than good.

I have to be honest and admit that I while I'm on here quite a bit, I don't read everything. Which debates do you feel are getting out of hand? Are there any in particular? If you (or anyone else) would like to send a couple of examples, I'll be happy to look at it. Perhaps we're missing something here.

QUOTE: Originally posted by erush The current race to see who can post the most in a day is just rediculous, of course, that's my opinion.

Perhaps it's my fault. When I added the "In the past 24 hours" statistics to the forum index page, the intention was to provide a better glimpse at the activity and display a list of active members...well the intention wasn't to encourage a race. It was a feature I've seen on other forums and it wasn't difficult at all to add. If it's a problem, I can turn it off. I suspect after a couple days, the novelty is going to wear off. Remember how polls initially were sprouting up everywhere and now it's uncommon to see one?

The reason for the "chatterbox award" post was that I was a bit surprised to see the 24 hour post counts. There was a hint of sarcasm in there but it's subtleness was probably lost on most.

Dave, all well and good, but it's cost the readership and the forum membership one of it's most knowledgeable contributors for the duration. I really do think that the whole concept of an OT forum has outlived it's usefulness. I think that the magazine and it's readership would be better served if we left politics and other non-modelling subjects to those arenas spefically created for them. Leave FSM to modelling and it's attributes, please.

Dave, thanks for jumping in.

As far as the debates go, it's not been any in particular lately, because I haven't read any of them in months. It was primarily the political and religous debates, which tend to get heated in any environment. I've got my views and don't mind stating them but I'm not the type to try to change other views on a modeling forum. I don't have a problem with anyone stating thier opinion on anything in hear but a few of the debates left a bad taste in my mouth because of the animosity it generated.

The counter, well, you're right, it'll wear off after a while, it was just a suprise I guess after not having been around for a few days and I did get your subtleness but I couldn't belive there was 4 pages of replies to it.

I'm kinda with Ed though. It seems that the whole forum has taken a turn since the Off Topic forum came around, not at first, but like anything else, it sneaks up on you. I personally think it's begining to detract from the family feel of the whole forum. Again, i'm just stating my opinion of course and everyone's got one so....take it for what it's worth.

It has been harder to get an interest in the forum for me lately and part of it's just because it's summer and I'm doing ither things. But when I do get on and start seeing some of the things mentioned, I don't stick around as long.

OK, I'll let this dog lie, I've had my say. I'm not trying to step on toes, I wold just hate to lose anymore quality members on the best site out here.

Eric

This forum is for each one of us whatever it is that we want it to be.

If you just wanna talk about models and related subjects, great.

If you wanna talk models, related subjects and non-related subjects, fine. Sometimes models get boring and you need an alternative outlet but would like that outlet to be in familiar territory.

I generally don't really care about post counts. Only once on this forum have I gone into overdrive and posted like mad, and that was when 1000 posts had yet to be broken. That's a pretty cool thing to shoot for, whatever your general disposition happens to be. So I figured that I'd try to be the first to break 1000. Why? I dunno, really. Just for the hell of it, I guess. It simply occurred to me at the right time, and I got silly for awhile.

Anyhoo, if folks wanna be chatterboxes and make 'meaningless' posts, don't jump on 'em for it because there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. It's their choice to make those 'meaningless' posts and, to them, they're probably not all that meaningless.

Everyone is different. Everyone has their own agenda, or lack of one. And who are you, I or anyone else to discourage someone from participating in a thread like 'The Word Association Game' or 'The Neverending Story', or from starting a congratulatory thread when someone passes 1000 posts?

Some people like that kinda stuff. Some people don't. But if you're the kind who couldn't care about these things, then leave those who do alone! They're not hurting anyone by doing it.

And if you get all hot and bothered because someone said, 'HEY! Congrats on your 1000th post!", then you've obviously got some issues, because there's nothing wrong with patting your friends, or even a complete stranger, on the back for achieving a milestone.

Even if that milestone is 'meaningless'...


Fade to Black...

I would like to take this moment to apologize to everyone for the "argument" I had with another person about religion. I admit that it was damned childish of me and I hope there are no hard feelings or such. You are right though, there is no place here to discuss religion or politics. I promise I won't let this happen again. Instead of dropping the OT, there should be a rule against discussing religion or politics here. And some of the crime ones have been pretty disturbing.

I for one would be disappointed to see the OT section of the forum disappear.
I only average a little over one post per day, but I enjoy reading other people's posts immensely, no matter what their content, both modeling related & OT.
I'm not very active socially & this forum is really my only outlet for exchanging ideas with other human beings other than my wife & with a few co-workers. And
isn't this forum--& the internet in general, & this country--what this is all about,
the free exchange of ideas, freedom of speech? The more the better, says I!
Bring it on! And if you don't care for a certain subject or someone else's opinion then you can always skip over it & move on to something that you do like. There's always something here for everyone--a giant online idea buffet if you will.
We just celebrated our independence day in this country; what better way is there to express our American character than by practicing the freedom of speech that we've fought to preserve for ourselves & for others? Let every forum
member look to himself & not be too concerned with the posting habits of others. After all, posting has no calories, it doesn't cause cancer, & you can't catch anything from it--pretty harmless if you ask me. Of course there's going to
be alot of trivial, lightweight posts out there, but that's the way things are. Unless
you're into academic subjects in a big way, where else in life do you find non-stop pearls of wisdom & an absense of fluf? I find this forum to be not only a reflection of our society & our country, but also a reflection of life itself, life in all it's diversity, beauty & energy. So let freedom ring!!! Post on, my brothers!!!

FineScale Modelling.............(i like the two l's in the word)

quality vs. quantity

to post or not to post

i came here or discovered FSM forum because of the magazine......the modelling magazine.......about the hobby of scale modelling.......and what makes the hobby so special.........
the modellers essence,
their personalities,
their perspectives,
their motivations
culminating in or contributing to the promotion of and participation in this all consuming art..........
i think i'll just keep it that way.......
......although i can't find a viable argument to dispute Richard's post.......
rock on.......

QUOTE: Originally posted by BlackWolf3945 This forum is for each one of us whatever it is that we want it to be. If you just wanna talk about models and related subjects, great. If you wanna talk models, related subjects and non-related subjects, fine. Sometimes models get boring and you need an alternative outlet but would like that outlet to be in familiar territory. I generally don't really care about post counts. Only once on this forum have I gone into overdrive and posted like mad, and that was when 1000 posts had yet to be broken. That's a pretty cool thing to shoot for, whatever your general disposition happens to be. So I figured that I'd try to be the first to break 1000. Why? I dunno, really. Just for the hell of it, I guess. It simply occurred to me at the right time, and I got silly for awhile. Anyhoo, if folks wanna be chatterboxes and make 'meaningless' posts, don't jump on 'em for it because there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. It's their choice to make those 'meaningless' posts and, to them, they're probably not all that meaningless. Everyone is different. Everyone has their own agenda, or lack of one. And who are you, I or anyone else to discourage someone from participating in a thread like 'The Word Association Game' or 'The Neverending Story', or from starting a congratulatory thread when someone passes 1000 posts? Some people like that kinda stuff. Some people don't. But if you're the kind who couldn't care about these things, then leave those who do alone! They're not hurting anyone by doing it. And if you get all hot and bothered because someone said, 'HEY! Congrats on your 1000th post!", then you've obviously got some issues, because there's nothing wrong with patting your friends, or even a complete stranger, on the back for achieving a milestone. Even if that milestone is 'meaningless'... Fade to Black...

Well put Steve-O
I hate it that somebody left (Who?) but it would be silly to blame the OT or those who enjoy that section for that persons choice. OT isn't manditory reading and the solution is easy. If you don't like it don't particapate in it. I've been here from the beginning and see nothing but this forum getting stronger and more interesting. I believe it has the potential to go bad like Hyper-you-know-what but Dave keeps the forums on an even keel. This thread seems to be causing as much distress as I've seen any cause.
Maybe a warning is in order on the OT. Something like "Free exhange of ideas, Enter at your own risk" or do it like they do the forum testers topic and make it invisable to the rest of the forum. That way those interested could sign up for it.
It gets a bit scary when people start calling for the banning of ideas they don't like.

I tend to agree with Steve and Woody. This is, after all, the "Off Topic" Forum and technically there shouldn't be anything here about models since those would be "On Topic".

I also don't think it's fair to say that one person's view of what is not important or relative is all-inclusive. Just because it isn't important to one person doesn't mean that it isn't important to others. As Woody said, the Off Topic forum isn't mandatory reading and it can easily be ignored.

Personally it is one of my favorite areas. I find a lot of interesting tid-bits here that would otherwise be lost. True, they may have nothing whatsoever to do with models, but so what? They are still interesting.

Weeeelll, I certainly don't begrudge anyone from posting as much as they want here. After all, that's what forums are for! As for the quality of posts (versus quantity), who are we to judge what is frivolous or not? If you spend any time at all here at FSM, you should be able to decide for yourself whose posts you consider to be "frivolous," and then avoid them at your own discretion.

As far as the "chatterbox competition" goes, to me, it's all just silly fun that harms no one. (I hope that doesn't offend anyone who may be dead serious about their post count!!)

Concerning the often heated debates about religion or politics or whatever in the OT forums, I just avoid them. I don't come to FSM to discuss such things. I come here to discuss modelling. But, if those topics are in the OT forum, I have no complaints. Some people enjoy those heated debates, and again, I begrudge them not.

The FSM forums certainly have changed in the last year and a half that I've been here, and I've seen some good people come and go.

Personally, I find myself posting less and less these days. There just aren't that many topics lately that I feel I can add anything to or comment on, and I haven't had any decent ideas for new topics of my own lately. That is, topics that I would deem worthy of presenting to our community for comment.

Even though I hold second place in overall posts (behind Shermanfreak, of course!), I never felt that I was one of the "power posters" of the forums. I can see that this position will be short lived, due to the advent of some very prolific posters. And to this new generation of power posters, I say, "More power to ya!"

Now, let's build some models.

Woody...........Steve............Scott............J-Hulk...........Richard...........
well spoken......

You know this thread is almost about the things that you are bemoaning. You're bringing up a persons personal opinion. What makes this thread any more important than the 1000's of others started? Each person is affected differently by each thread, so what might be important to one person, becomes drivel to another. Contrary to my post counts, I'm not trying to spike numbers to gain special attention or whatnot, I'm just having fun. And if someone is posting a 100 posts in a day, (never even came close) who cares? To each their own agenda. Some like to build, some like to talk. The O.T forum was created for a reason, to learn more about one another and to talk about something other than shop. If one doesn't like the O.T. forum, than stick with the build forums. You should find what you're looking for there. Try bringing up more threads there also. Of course just my

well the reason i joined the fsm forum's was to learn about other people , i.e are americans different to me , are canadians different to me answer is no , in fact i have made some good friends via the forums , i talk to some off you via the chatrooms , i went to a airshow with someone from the fsm forum's , also i've gained more knowlege on modelling from the fsm forum's , i have to say this the best forum going , if me doing 120 posts the otherday has offended people im sorry , but i kept it to the off topics , when i joined there was a lot of political subjects in the o/t's but i like to have fun so i put a few topics up which some of you guys enjoyed , made some of you laugh , to me personally though most nights i'd sit and watch tv , now i come on here , to learn from you guys , to put up pctures of stuff im doing because i know i'll get a honest answer, and also if i make some of you guys laugh , it makes me happy

Gotta admit there's a lot of sense spoken here.......
I guess the good thing about the OT topics are that you have a choice.
If you don't like what you're hearing, switch it to something else, like Aircraft, Armor or Sci-fi.
I've never gotten into the swing of the power-post.......can't be bothered. As it's been said, it might be frivolous, but it hurts no one.

The way I see my moniter when logging into this site is as follows. There are 16 topics that are build or other wise model related, 6 that deal with community issues (introductions, announcements, and testing), and 1 OT where anything goes. How does one area dictate where 22 others are going? As I post this there are currently 33,541 posts in this area, so there is obviously a large interest in "meaningless" chatter.
As to any anger some debates may cause. Sure some of you guys have gotten my blood pressure up a notch, but as soon as I get to the next thread, I forgot about it. If someone's political views or religous beliefs cause you to hate anything that person is or is capable of, then you have deeper issues that this forum IMO. I disagree strongly with some of you in here on certain issues but would still buy you the cold beverage of your choice and talk models any time.

Who left? is it me or is it kinda childish to quit a forum that you like just because you dont agree with another person's view? if i find an offensive post, i just leave the thread and head for another one. i'm not gonna quit visiting this forum for something as trivial as that. oh well, live and let live i guess. i think that its cool just the way it is personally. you have to wonder how good the advice is that is given by someone who has 100 or more post in a day! when do they have time to build!! is their hobby building or posting? later.

Someone left because they didn't like what they were reading in a SMALL section of the forum? Who was holding the gun to their head making them read "drivel" ? If he/she was that disturbed by it why continue looking? There had to be other reasons as I find this hard to beleive.