What Happened To This Forum?

[KonKossKang]

That's the point of this site. For noobs, casuals & maybe a group of experienced individuals every now & again looking through various question threads.
Weeding out the trolls from the ones with legit questions [I'd say maybe some temporary "adjustments"] for a few of them if I was to be placed.

A volunteer that would moderate with discretion & swiftness regardless of something as arbitrary as a payout & pricetag.
If of course those absent mods are indeed absent it would be a nice change of pace for a few others to be placed into the ranks.

I intend on using both here/GS in the future for different reasons as I've not made a space over there yet, but as with any other place such as this one...
Those asking for help...should be able to receive it if the person is up to the task...I'm fairly certain there are a few people here who would be more than willing to help out really busy individuals I believe...
If of course such a task is not too...demanding in terms of what you two are doing.

 

[highkoo]

lol, Holy shit, its Xab.
One of the good ones, folks.

Really it died with Mano1 left

From another 10+ year vet, that is the unfortunate truth. It has absolutely never been like it was, since.
And since then, I rarely just browse around. Its mostly notifications from insane ten year old threads now.

Recognizing that this is a place built for noobs to stumble around is important. It has always been that, and it will always naturally attract those people. So, exploit that. What noobs want is feedback from peers. Information on technique is everywhere. Youtube is a click away. But feedback from peers who are coming from the right perspective is the first thing they want, and the hardest thing to get. FP needs to completely re-arrange the forum and have a huge focus on that. Set up some kind of system that encourages active sharing and critique. Link forum status to feedback given for feedback given.

Also, for me personally, the structure of the forum and sub-forums is total nonsense. It is immediately off-putting, imo. Simplify it, moderate it.

 

[B Side Producer]

Well, we might disagree with you, but what are you doing to make things better here?

GJ

Well, I've had periods of time where I've been very active on this forum, trying to help out anyone who had a question or issue at some area I had some knowledge in. Redirect ppl, continuously pointing them out to the search function, linking to a succesful search, pointing them out to other topics with the same problem and re writing advice on nr 1534 question to which freaking monitor to buy. Something imo needs to be resolved by active moderation, ergo, you need lots of moderators if you have lots of activity. I'm less active now. Too busy with all kinds of stuff like graduating uni, work, sport, social life, gf, making music on the pc, playing saxophone, etc.
Also, I made post nr. 9 addressing issues where I think your main problem lies. I understand you being positive and all, wanting solutions. I do give a few options for solving some of the things that I think contribute a lot to current in-activeness on the forum. But do you know the problem? Is the problem clear? Do you have a concrete request for help?
Me posting here is already helping out. 3rd post in this thread. Bit too easy to throw that question in my face tbh. I've been a contributing participating member of this forum in all kinds of ways if you paid attention. As far as the solutions, check my post and some posts after it.
More moderators for 1. Get a selected group of head moderators with ruling power. Get a few moderators with clear tasks like moving topics to the right section; if ppl haven't used the search function, link to a proper search (which is little work) and lock the topic, etc. Get the forum structure organized. Start a PR section with one of their tasks being attracting activity. Etc. Some good things have been said here. Although, still, as in the main days of this forum, there was a shitload of activity. You need enough in management being able to manage that.

 

[rhythmgj]

B Side, that was a general "you," not meaning to throw anything into anyone's face at all. But the question remains for all of us, rather than just complaining or saying "the ship has sunk."
And yes, we need more mods, and all of the ideas that those who were serious about contributing have presented are good ones. I will send them up the line, so don't be surprised if any of you are contacted regarding implementation/future participation. A few things to remember though: 1) FP is supposed to be a newbie user-friendly place; that's kind of the point. 2) It is always easier to point out problems than to implement solutions. Several folks have said things like "I might help out, if it's not too much work." Therein lies the problem. It is a lot of work, right now. But it doesn't have to be... if we can get more hands on deck, maybe not so much. It will be interesting to see who actually responds to the question "What are you doing to make things better?" when the call goes out. This really will determine how much if any of these suggestions are implemented, and what the future of FP actually is.

I thank you all for your honest input, but I think this thread has run its course...

GJ