Are we dying? [Archive] - Automags.Org Online Forums

QUINCYMASSGUY

03-19-2004, 09:39 PM

When AO wasn't a mainstream PBall forum, a smaller group were more talkative. I think with its increased popularity and publicity, alot of PBN trolls and others with no intents other than to try and get the attention of large crowds started posting here more, and some of the members of the small crowd just decided to move on or have less to do with that ridiculous flaming and fluff. I post mostly in Deep Blue right now to discuss innovations and do contribute once in a while to some of the better threads here in PBall talk but the fluff and "look at me" threads have gotten out of hand. That's just my opinion.

Cliffio

03-19-2004, 10:32 PM

i dont really post very often, mostly just read the crap that gets posted

Lakeview Bulldog

03-19-2004, 10:37 PM

We all gotta die some time. I think it is a little slower, wait till summer, it will pick up.

tony3

03-19-2004, 10:43 PM

Yeah, once in summer things will pick up a lot, it happened at pbr too.

hobbesTZ

03-19-2004, 10:51 PM

I've been posting more over the last few months than e'er before :p

.tMan

03-19-2004, 10:53 PM

do to everyones busy schedule, a lot of members could be on spring break, having a tough time at school, or are in sports. I think that there are a majority of people viewing and not posting. I often do that during the day. And Tomorrow I'm leaving for Spring Break... WOOHOO

RT pRo AuToMaG

03-19-2004, 10:56 PM

No, we aren't dying, we are just having a severe case of the PBN. Same damn topic over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. There has to be at least 3 new 'Ways to beat SP' threads per week, about 5 threads about 'Why electronic guns shouldn't be allowed', a few 'Why people that use pumps have the most skill', 10 'Ways to eliminate cheater boards', 20 'Look at my new toy' threads, and a few here and there about 'What is the next upgrade I should get for my gun'. Sometimes someone steps out of the box and actually posts something that hasn't been discussed, but then that topic will have 20 threads about it in the next few weeks after it's posted.

DiRTyBuNNy

03-19-2004, 11:33 PM

Originally posted by QUINCYMASSGUY
When AO wasn't a mainstream PBall forum, a smaller group were more talkative. I think with its increased popularity and publicity, alot of PBN trolls and others with no intents other than to try and get the attention of large crowds started posting here more, and some of the members of the small crowd just decided to move on or have less to do with that ridiculous flaming and fluff. I post mostly in Deep Blue right now to discuss innovations and do contribute once in a while to some of the better threads here in PBall talk but the fluff and "look at me" threads have gotten out of hand. That's just my opinion.

yeah..what he said...

tony3

03-19-2004, 11:52 PM

I like the look at my new toy threads.....

RenagadeOfFunk

03-20-2004, 12:02 AM

I think its do to the fact that nothing interesting in PB is going on...now its all "are we dying threads"

...:p

AGD

03-20-2004, 12:33 AM

Well I can tell you as an absoulute fact that AO has gotten way busier in the last three months. I statistically track all the major gun forums and we are on the upswing, most others are level.

If it seems slow its in your mind.

AGD

QUINCYMASSGUY

03-20-2004, 12:39 AM

Nah, Cryer was the first to bring it up, or at least the first to do so recently, and I think it's a good point. Everyone is probably busy too, but AO used to be a tighter community, more focused around mag users but definitely open to others. Threads were more civil, the stray idiot or jerk that wandered in here was mostly ignored and quickly realized they weren't welcome, and it was a very friendly, intelligent forum, a breath of fresh air compared to others. But now AO has become a little more "diluted" and lost its signature benefit, which is unfortunate.

EDIT: Although statistics matter, I think the point is that it's becoming more quantity instead of quality, and the more traditional AOers avoid the 500th "look at my spyder" thread, the 50th "did you hear what they just said on PBN" thread, the "I got my body part caught in this for attention" threads, and such. Quality is what AO used to be, now it's actually aiming more towards quantity.

03-20-2004, 12:42 AM

Originally posted by QUINCYMASSGUY
But now AO has become a little more "diluted" and lost its signature benefit, which is unfortunate.

its a forum, everyone has to participate.....

QUINCYMASSGUY

03-20-2004, 12:53 AM

I'm not saying it's not their right to come here, just that alot of the members who were more chatty before aren't as much now because of their presence which is unfortunate. We're losing good members. I am still an AO fan, but the PBN AKA forum is quickly gaining popularity as well.

JEDI

03-20-2004, 01:01 AM

Originally posted by AGD
Well I can tell you as an absoulute fact that AO has gotten way busier in the last three months. I statistically track all the major gun forums and we are on the upswing, most others are level.

If it seems slow its in your mind.

AGD

Wait, so you switched from Quality to Quantity.

"Because Quantity is bound to shoot straight eventually."

...doesn't mean the forum content is any good.

FalconGuy016

03-20-2004, 01:08 AM

Yeah, I stopped talking :p

Jedi, this thread is specifically about quanitity, and he answered that question. I havent seen a decline in quality, have you?

Torbo

03-20-2004, 01:28 AM

Originally posted by RT pRo AuToMaG
No, we aren't dying, we are just having a severe case of the PBN. Same damn topic over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. There has to be at least 3 new 'Ways to beat SP' threads per week, about 5 threads about 'Why electronic guns shouldn't be allowed', a few 'Why people that use pumps have the most skill', 10 'Ways to eliminate cheater boards', 20 'Look at my new toy' threads, and a few here and there about 'What is the next upgrade I should get for my gun'. Sometimes someone steps out of the box and actually posts something that hasn't been discussed, but then that topic will have 20 threads about it in the next few weeks after it's posted.

absolutly and totally agree. 100%. That and since it smaller, its harder to buy stuff, since theres so much less of it.

Cryer

03-20-2004, 04:42 AM

Originally posted by AGD
Well I can tell you as an absoulute fact that AO has gotten way busier in the last three months. I statistically track all the major gun forums and we are on the upswing, most others are level.

If it seems slow its in your mind.

AGD

Maybe I just get on when everyone else is doing something else...

Good to hear in either case.

shartley

03-20-2004, 06:14 AM

Numbers will tell you what they want you to see. AO has in my opinion changed, and indeed begun to see a huge drop in quality posts.

1stdeadeye

03-20-2004, 07:51 AM

Originally posted by JEDI

Wait, so you switched from Quality to Quantity.

"Because Quantity is bound to shoot straight eventually."

...doesn't mean the forum content is any good.

Well maybe we should just modify your old sig:

Because Quality is always on backorder, we will go for quantity for a while!;)

As for the are we dying, I doubt it. There are more nonsense threads then ever, but I still see a lot of quality form the core group that I interact with.

tyrion2323

03-20-2004, 09:49 AM

I post multiple times each day.

I think that forums ebb and flow. Having spent years on the SWG forums I noticed trends. People like to talk about one thing, and then they leave it, and then when another thing comes up, the boards get lively again.

Peace

Jacob :p

Ter-Me-Nate

03-20-2004, 10:06 AM

People and many others just read the forums, and use the "search"
function like me, because you can useually find the answer there.
Maybe the problem is everytime someone posts a memeber screams to a search noob, so they either do a search or are just afraid to post

another board i hang out on is search... search... search
all the time clubrsx.com

sneakyhacker420

03-20-2004, 10:07 AM

i noticed a decline after pie rev was killed

and i noticed that i lost interest in AO for a while after my post count was reset :(

Mango

03-20-2004, 10:28 AM

Originally posted by shartley
Numbers will tell you what they want you to see. AO has in my opinion changed, and indeed begun to see a huge drop in quality posts.

I couldn't agree more.

sneakyhacker420

03-20-2004, 10:46 AM

Originally posted by SprayingMango

I couldn't agree more.
count me in with that

i have got to say i HATED AO when everyone was hyped up in this smart parts crap, and as i've seen lately, they still are... in ways to beat them and all... but the truth is, that they have more money, and are basically invulnerable in this case

SuiciDal Sn Y p ER

03-20-2004, 11:16 AM

nothing good to talk about right now, gotta wait till tournaments start, scenario events begin, and new products are released. It's the spring! Everyone right now is just happy that the snow is gone.

RenagadeOfFunk

03-20-2004, 11:23 AM

...i think cryer was successful in making a 1/2 decent thread or better...this actually got Tom's attention...

...he solved the first part of the problem he is talking about...(starting a thread people will want to respond to)...after all this is a forum

cphilip

03-20-2004, 11:28 AM

....Hmmm... Didn't know we had a way to measure "quality" of posts. I guess thats all subjective. Ask yourself this question. Does your rating have to do with how many times you seen the same subject come up? ... or does it have to do with what the subject is about? How many subjects could there be on Paintball? i.e. to a new member all those old subjects might be highly interesting. And invariably rehashed to a lot of you older guys. But nessicary to bring the new ones up to speed. So in those cases you just have to suffer through them till they come up to speed on it.. and then here comes another guy! Hehehe...

Chris

03-20-2004, 11:31 AM

Quality posts have been on the decline for almost 2 years now. As said earlier, the AO population grew very rapidly. As it did so, the number of morons posting here became nearly intollerable for me, and I can guess many others. I know I became less and less interested because of it. I always drop by, but rarely do I say a word.

cphilip

03-20-2004, 11:49 AM

...again... the fact that YOU are less interested has less to do with overall quality than it does with what you have already been exposed to. That means your already caught up on all those rehashed subjects and are only looking for new subjects. But as to a rating overall...show me the data! There is none. It's all subjective and personal. I don't doubt your take on it at all. I am just pointing out that its more to do with your longivity here than it is with what the subject is. But its only YOUR take on it. A new member might find it quite facinating.

RenagadeOfFunk

03-20-2004, 12:07 PM

and then again its good once in a while for someone to post a stupid thread to give us, "experienced ones", something to complain about :):rolleyes::cool:

Cryer

03-20-2004, 12:18 PM

Its just that...
I browse the forums using the "get new posts" search feature. Used to be, I would have time to read and reply to one post before the threads that were next to it were on the second page. Now it seems like I can take all day... Maybe people are just looking and not saying anything... Maybe I'm freaking out... And maybe its just a pattern that I havent noticed before...

I'm not necessarily saying overall quality has gone down... Of course we do have some threads that... well... suck;)... But we always have, and always will. It just seems to me (again, maybe I'm wrong) that less people are posting.

50 cal

03-20-2004, 12:24 PM

Originally posted by AGD

If it seems slow its in your mind.

AGD

I'm sorry, but that part of the quote just begs to have a few words moved around or a few added to it!:D :D

Cryer

03-20-2004, 12:29 PM

Originally posted by 50 cal

I'm sorry, but that part of the quote just begs to have a few words moved around or a few added to it!:D :D

:confused: wha-?

And just as I was rationalizing that we've somehow managed to maintain some level of quality in our collective posting...:o

;)

AGD

03-20-2004, 01:03 PM

Well lets stick to topic if you want to complain about post quality. The title of the thread is "Are we dying?" that is not about post quality, thats asking if there are fewer people here plain and simple. The answer is no.

Post quality is subjective and not quantifiable, its always opinion. Ask yourself this, AO is more than ten times bigger than any gun forum on PBN. With all those extra posts is our general quality 10 times worse?

AGD

Cryer

03-20-2004, 01:06 PM

Thats actually what I was originally getting at when I posted... Membership numbers and post frequency... I realize we're the largest owners group in paintball and everything. I was just saying it seems like people are joining, but posting less. Maybe its that I'm not on during "peak" hours or something...

cphilip

03-20-2004, 01:22 PM

Post quality is like the Weather.... everyone complains about it but no one does anything about it... ;)

Mango

03-20-2004, 01:43 PM

Don't worry guys, I hired a Post Inspector to assure the quality of our posts.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jtrussell7/inspector.jpg

;)

1stdeadeye

03-20-2004, 01:44 PM

Originally posted by SprayingMango
Don't worry guys, I hired a Post Inspector to assure the quality of our posts.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jtrussell7/inspector.jpg

;)

Does he get a gun to deal with PWs?

Rather

03-20-2004, 02:01 PM

Originally posted by 1stdeadeye

Does he get a gun to deal with PWs?

He does now. :D

http://www.jayloo.com/lib/get_file.php?id=1446

shartley

03-20-2004, 02:57 PM

Originally posted by AGD
Well lets stick to topic if you want to complain about post quality. The title of the thread is "Are we dying?" that is not about post quality, thats asking if there are fewer people here plain and simple. The answer is no.

Post quality is subjective and not quantifiable, its always opinion. Ask yourself this, AO is more than ten times bigger than any gun forum on PBN. With all those extra posts is our general quality 10 times worse?

AGD
Okay, so post numbers and member numbers is what matters…. Okay. Then we have grown. WooHoo AO!

Now on the matter of quality… that is not really “not quantifiable”. Yes, it is opinion, but that can determine the quality. Opinion also elects the president of the US, and I think we can agree that majority opinion is what makes the standards for “quality”. ;)

If you are asking if AO is better than PBN… YES! Are you saying that AO is better than PBN’s Automag section? YES. But if you are asking if AO is better than it was 2 years ago…. NO. You can always find someplace worse, but is that really the standard we should judge ourselves by? Well, yes, if all you want to do is think you are better than someplace else….. but that does not really address the issue IMHO.

No, AO is not dieing in numbers or posts… but I for one think it IS dieing in spirit. But to each their own.

evan123

03-20-2004, 02:58 PM

Originally posted by Cliffio
i dont really post very often, mostly just read the crap that gets posted

Same here. I just feel that there are no threads worth replying to

logamus

03-20-2004, 04:54 PM

i have been spending the majority of my time in the friendly corner. there really hasnt been anything besides this thread that cought my eye in pt.

mango, the post inspector made me laugh hard.

QUINCYMASSGUY

03-20-2004, 05:18 PM

I agree with Shartley, by technical numbers AO is growing, but the core of it, the nature of it everyone loved and Tom Kaye bragged about plenty, is quickly dying. Not much we can do, and they do have a right to be here, but I think alot of the more senior members are going to be finding a more lowkey forum where they can get the traditional AO spirit without all the crap that seems to be surfacing.

1stdeadeye

03-20-2004, 05:23 PM

Originally posted by Rather

He does now. :D

http://www.jayloo.com/lib/get_file.php?id=1446

Much better!

Post whores beware! The inspector is packing heat!!!!:D

Digits

03-20-2004, 05:31 PM

Originally posted by tony3
I like the look at my new toy threads.....

ditto.. But all the other threas he listed get annoying.. But I love looking at peoples new pball guns

845

03-20-2004, 06:12 PM

The majority of posts over the lasts year have been about Smart Parts or whining about trigger bounce. The Friendly Corner has basicly been politics threads. Its getting sought of boring to surf AO.

ERut

03-20-2004, 06:54 PM

Originally posted by Cliffio
i dont really post very often, mostly just read the crap that gets posted

Only 6.31 times per day right:D;) :D

Mango

03-20-2004, 09:38 PM

Originally posted by ERut

Only 6.31 times per day right:D;) :D

HAHA! ZING!

cphilip

03-20-2004, 09:47 PM

Be a part of the solution... not a part of the problem. Its a membership driven thing. I can't do it all myself! :D

Ok here is something interesting! My local radar of the storms moving through here!

http://radar.weather.gov/radar/images/DS.p20-r/SI.kgsp/latest.gif

RenagadeOfFunk

03-20-2004, 10:39 PM

(In darth vaders voice) i see the dark post whore in you young phill :cool:

cphilip

03-20-2004, 10:52 PM

I believe that may be the first time in a long time I been called young!

Your signature is out of compliance by the way...

03-20-2004, 10:58 PM

Originally posted by shartley

Okay, so post numbers and member numbers is what matters…. Okay. Then we have grown. WooHoo AO!

Now on the matter of quality… that is not really “not quantifiable”. Yes, it is opinion, but that can determine the quality. Opinion also elects the president of the US, and I think we can agree that majority opinion is what makes the standards for “quality”. ;)

If you are asking if AO is better than PBN… YES! Are you saying that AO is better than PBN’s Automag section? YES. But if you are asking if AO is better than it was 2 years ago…. NO. You can always find someplace worse, but is that really the standard we should judge ourselves by? Well, yes, if all you want to do is think you are better than someplace else….. but that does not really address the issue IMHO.

No, AO is not dieing in numbers or posts… but I for one think it IS dieing in spirit. But to each their own.

Shartley,
Our constant on AO. Constantly posting the same, lengthy mind numbning posts daily.. ;)

RenagadeOfFunk

03-20-2004, 11:24 PM

Originally posted by cphilip
I believe that may be the first time in a long time I been called young!

Your signature is out of compliance by the way...

Thanks phill...can;t believe i read the sig post :(...
...ill resize (even though i think larer is more efective ;))

davidnj

03-21-2004, 12:55 AM

I think cphilip nailed it. Many of the posts Im reading are repeats or along the same subject of posts I read when I first joined. I still come and browse, Ive never posted much, but lately alot of the posts seem to be things Ive read before. Good thing? Bad thing? I dont know. To me its sort of bad because there aren't many interesting topics to read. To others that have never seen them, it may not be such a bad thing.

To answer the topic though, no I dont think AO is dying.

Chris

03-21-2004, 02:10 AM

Originally posted by cphilip
...again... the fact that YOU are less interested has less to do with overall quality than it does with what you have already been exposed to. That means your already caught up on all those rehashed subjects and are only looking for new subjects. But as to a rating overall...show me the data! There is none. It's all subjective and personal. I don't doubt your take on it at all. I am just pointing out that its more to do with your longivity here than it is with what the subject is. But its only YOUR take on it. A new member might find it quite facinating.

I thought I was very careful to make it clear that it was MY thoughts on the subject. I am only able to speak for myself, and I have personally found that the quality of posts has declined, maybe I should say that the quantity of what I would determine worthless posts has increased. Because of this, I have come to the determination that the overall quality has gone down. The fact is that there are still many good posts. The number of quality posts may be the same or higher, but now I have to sort through 2 pages of posts in order to find them.

GoatBoy

03-21-2004, 03:56 AM

This reminds me of the whole "there's no such thing as right or wrong" argument.

Of course these ideas are subjective, but we can't bury our heads in the sand and say, "la la la la la la I can't hear you." For instance, we can't live our lives without having some concept of right and wrong.

Posts do have a "quality" to them. Just because it is not exactly quantifiable doesn't mean it doesn't have this property, and that it can't be observed as being increasing or decreasing. You might not be able to exactly pinpoint where it is, but I think you can spot what direction it's going. It's like... the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle or something.

I would think any of you head honcho mods would understand this, unless you hold yourself STRICTLY to forum rules for posting behavior. You argue against measuring "post quality" since it's "personal and subjective", but on the other hand, don't you have to make some sort of "quality" determination when you read posts? I'm sure there have been posts and behavior that you regulated or didn't regulate that didn't neatly fall within posting rules.

If you really MUST have quantitative data, I wonder what kind of results you'd get by just running all the posts through a spelling/grammar checker to score the mistakes. Then you could sort the scores by date. I think that would be a pretty funny exercise, if not wholly conclusive.

Anyways, I've sort of noticed a 2-party system around here. We have the AO Cult and the PBN'ers. Both parties are equally capable of souring discussions around here. We have a few "Libertarians" running around who keep things interesting, but... they're not a major party.

Is this supposedly ethereal post trend killing AO? Of course not. AGD's happy with the forum statistics. It's like they practically have a line of people waiting to come and join one of the two parties. If any of us become disinterested (I count myself in this group, and I think I know a few others that might as well)... who cares? Well, other than Cryer.

SpecialBlend2786

03-21-2004, 04:50 AM

yeah, school's been beating the crap outta me lately, gotta study for all my AP tests and finals and SAT's are next week and and and AAAAAARRRGGGGGGG!!!!

yeah, so thats why I havn't been active lately :(

Cryer

03-22-2004, 11:41 AM

an example of what I am talking about:

I just got home from work, log on to AO and click on Get New Posts (http://www.automags.org/forums/search.php?s=&action=getnew) and the search returns with the result:

"Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms."

Now I realize its the middle of the day, people are at work, school, etc... but that has never happened to me before. Usually there are at least half a page of active topics around this time...