Hi guys,
Well, I guess this might be a question of quantity versus quality. Maybe some guys are spending more time at their workbenches, or maybe, as Tojo has said, they are spending more time on other forums.
The point is, the FSM Forum is a modeling forum, plain and simple. There isn't a free-speech issue: FSM has rules for its Forum and members are expected to adhere to them. We retain the right to remove members who do not respect or adhere to those rules. Otherwise, members are free to come and go as they please.
Just because we aren't churning through posts right now doesn't mean that we won't in the future. Nor does it mean that we should be. We would rather see 500 quality posts that come in over the course of a day rather than 5,000 posts that contain a single word or add little or nothing to the conversation.
As for fun, have it. Threads can meander. When it gets personal or distasteful is when we run into problems.
Finally, there have been two members banned recently: one for posting an inappropriate image of a nude woman and the other for swearing on the forum. Both of these are plainly out of bounds. They have been since the beginning. There have been numerous posts regarding such content and the repercussions for putting that sort of material on the forum. We talked to one over the phone twice about the banning, and had even agreed to discuss lifting the ban. Then he ban dodged, which ended in his permanent removal.
As we have said many times in the past, come here, talk, joke, blow off steam, and most importantly post about your models. However, remember that there are other people on the receiving ends of these posts, many who don't actually post but just lurk (lurk is not a pejorative). There are people who are not members who read these posts. But your fellow members deserve respect, and we are going to do our best to make sure that no one is posting anything abusive or inflammatory. It's not the Wild West in here, nor is it any one member or any one group of members' personal playground, despite what some people may have thought. We're sorry if that disappoints, but that's the way it is.
Take a look at ChuckW, Bsyamato, or VanceCrozier's posts to see what they've been working on lately. Group builds are still going. Stikpusher, RedCorvette, Bish, Hans, Tarnship, CallSignOwl, Professordeath, and many, many more, including you guys, are all still here, still building models, answering questions, and sharing knowledge. To my way of thinking, that's a fine, quality crowd to have around.
As always, if you want to discuss things further, you can email Aaron or me, or you can call us at 262-796-8776, xt. 299 or 230, respectively. But let's get back to talking about modeling and not worrying about the numbers on the Forum. Traffic picks up best when one of you has a cool new model or technique to show off or talk about.
Tim