Everyone has left, including myself just about, you used to be able to post at night and check in the morning and and if your topic sucked and no one replied it would be at the bottom of the list or off the page.

Now, Even if you do get a reply on a poorly written topic it stays towards the top or middle of the list for 3 days. These forums have topics that are 5+ days old still on the first page.

Is this what the mods/admins wanted when becoming stricter, to boot all the regulars away.

This site has turned into a search engine instead of a message board.

http://www.nethirdgen.org/forum/show...&threadid=5200

 

I have to agree. This site used to be the best, the ultimate tech site with a little bit of humor. Now, its a dead site with endless archives, and its a damn shame. All the people who really knew their **** are basically gone. Its a damn shame, but apparently, thats what the admins wanted, and they got it. This is no longer a message board, its a tech board with the option to post(which will probably get locked anyway).

Ya know whats really sad? Every time I see MetalliCamaroRS's signature in a thread, I automatically think its locked. Hm, call me crazy, but Id bet Im not the only one who notices that. I also remember this thread once, was titled something along the lines of "Post pics of RADICAL thirdgens!"... the thread had been going for over 2 years... tons of great, rare pictures. Then, someone posts a pic of a nice 4th gen in there, and bam... the thread was locked. Not only had the thread been alive longer than the moderator who closed it, he could have acually done his job and simply removed the 4th gen picture if it was that big a problem. When I inquired about it, I was told that it wasnt "appearance" related... well, let me ask: If that thred isnt appearance related, what is?

 

I haven't noticed a difference in this site within the past year or whatever the timeframe. I never even browse the Appearance board though and I bet that is the forum that has changed the most over the last year or so.

 

i think its still a message board people asking new questions all the time. well new to them at least but could of searched and found the answer. others like posting pictures and such.

to me this is a tech only message board that has searching to help go to what u need quick.

 

It's been kind of a long time since I was able to spend any time around. What I see now is just a continuation of what we were seeing when I started getting too busy to keep up with the boards. I think that as the site continues to grow, we see an increase in what some of us would consider frivolous topics and in questions that have been answered time and time again. I could see those types of things driving people away. Maybe it's not really a problem though, and what you are noticing is everybody being busy for the holidays?

 

i agree with rob and brian. i used to browse the appearance board pretty regularly.. bout the only thing i check anymore is the regional board that i'm assigned to, because i'm still obligated to watch over it. i still check the general engine, history, and suspension boards regularly, but that's about it. plus i get bitched at a lot because of how the appearance mods are being dicks.

the search function pisses me off to no end. it pisses me off even more when people merely say "do a search"

if you don't want to help others beyond saying "do a search" like you're implying that you're all-knowing, then get the hell off this board. that's how i feel. if you want to pull my moderator privileges, then do as you see fit.

 

First of all Rob, I don't remember that thread you are talking about. I'll try and find it, but I really don't remember it. If you can find it, post a link. If I locked it and it really didn't need to be locked I'll be the first to admit I was wrong.

Anyway, you really can't please some people. When the Appearance and Detailing boards where basically unmoderated, people criticized the site because of all the useless crap and that board was said to be full of off topic garbage. So then Josh and I clean it up and now everyone bitches and moans because we lock their garbage posts that don't belong (actually they only complain that I lock threads even though Josh does just as much moderating). If a post belongs on the interior board, post it on the interior board. If the post is about 4th gens, corvettes, or imports, go to a message board pertaining to that. Its really not that hard to understand.

If you want to chat about other off-topic garbage, create a chat room on AIM. I lock stuff that has no purpose being on here or on the Appearance and Detailing board. I'd love to see all these people who are always whining handle that board.

 

honestly,

I have to say that I have been browsing these boards for over 2 years now and have been a member since Jan 02. In that time I have seen a lot of changes. Honestly, it seems that while board traffic is up, there are only a few members who have responded to some of my questions which have been more technical and hard to answer than "will 4th gen seats fit in a thirdgen"

Now I know that people get pissed when a thread gets locked, but honestly I think that the boards are moving much more smoothly and if you stay within the lines you won't get upset. Flaming has been down and I don't think picking on metali is justified, the appearance board is probably the only board which is strict, but strict within the rules and guidelines set forth. Would I want to deal with locking threads all the time? nope....but he does it and i'm grateful. The board is not full of garbage or flame wars that go on forever about how "r1ce" sucks and everything else is better. It's like the people who remember the cars in the 60s.....back then they really weren't as great as they remember.....just they only remember the good parts. Seems like that's how you guys think as well.

As for Andy and josh....i applaud you guys. off my soap box now.

 

Well, the way I see it is that you can't please everyone. I think the site has cleaned up a bit. KarpsTA and the other mod that was there (can't remember who) basically left and never really modded much...so the admins made us mods. It's tough to mod...you have to make decisions that may or may not **** people off. You have to make the judgement to determine whether or not it falls within the guidelines of the rules or not.

The moderators don't make the rules, we just enforce them. Just like the police, they don't make the laws, they just enforce them....yet people still get mad at them for enforcing them, but people praise them too. So it's just a matter of who's buttons you push on any given day.

People simply don't like the fact that it's a tech only site. I personally would like if we had a non-tech board, but this site has tried that before and it got so out of hand that the site had to shut down. So now I can understand why they only want to remain tech only. This is a great site with a lot of tech only info. I appreciate the fact that I can do a search and find the answer rather quickly than having to search through a bunch of BS or non-tech crap.

Yes, I remember when the boards had tons of new posts everyday...but how many of those posts were within the guidelines of the board rules? Not many...

I think that a good reason why the board has slowed down is because the same stuff is being covered over and over again and people are realizing that it's no fun to reply to the same topics over and over again.

And now that we have an administrator that is active, or at least on the boards for a few hours everyday, we can get stuff done ASAP.

My rant and rave is over now.

 

Oh no man, it wasnt you. I know who the mod was but Im not going to say anything... thats over and done with I guess. As for the signature comment, it was nothing personal... you just happen to close alot of threads on the app board and your sig is the last one in every one of em.

 

As for an off-topic... if SOOOOOOOOOO many other boards can do it, so can this one. Metallica.com, NEThirdgen.org, IronMaiden.com... these sites have TONS of traffic, yet keep things in order... and as we all know especially on a music message board, things can get pretty ugly.

And I agree Josh, I too appreciate being able to search and get the info Im looking for... I never said I hate this place, because I dont... I just hate what has happenned to it.

NOW, on a lighter note, who the heck made the search word size minimum of 3??? How is some n00b supposed to search for help fixing a code 32 if he cant even search for it? Huh? Huh?

 

dirk did that, here's why. if you search for anything less than 3 characters, you would get many more results than what you were looking for, and it would take forever to do the search.

 

Having a search minimum of 2 words for a site with this many posts would make the searchindex table large. You'd have to rebuild the searchindex and could tighten the list on the badwords file to help the issue. But with improvements that are coming, I'm sure it makes it a less desirable and lesser best of an option. I'm just saying it can be done, but since Dirk thinks 3 is the best he can do for now, I'd have to say he probably knows best since this is his system and he knows more.

As far as the other comments, I agree with Josh that the moderators will get the good and bad simply for the job they must do, just like an officer of the law is often called several names as well as given a bad image just for enforcing the law. But that's not to say that there aren't bad officers and moderators.

I think this site could use work. Instead of it being a work in progress, it seems like it's just maintained by the forum. Despite there being a 2nd admin, his access and his understanding outside of the forum is limited (trying not to offend, but to make a point) since most of the recent work is just cosmetic changes. There's so much more than just that. But with the way things are, I can see how this site is looking to be just a searchable archive. Outside of the forums it seems a bit dead. As far as the comments about active admins, Brad seemed active by locking threads and banning a lot of people when he was around. He also seemed to have quite a bit of knowledge on this system which I think is what TGO needs because while Dirk certainly seems to know what he's doing, he may not have a lot of time to do it alone.

I've been around for some time now, and because I own 3 gtas, I doubt I will be going anywhere, anytime, soon. There's some other nice, smaller, 3rd gen sites out there where my trival comments, input and help seem a bit more appreciated and reviewed which is why I sometimes think this place isn't as friendly as others and is why I merely just watch.

btw, I want to add that I hope this isn't taken too harsh or wrong because I don't mean to flame, attack, etc., but merely provide feedback. sometimes feedback is needed and helpful to insure readers continue to have a good place to visit. thanks

 

I for one like alot of the changes. IMHO cleaning up the apperance board has helped. i hae recently actualy started going into there. i used to not even bother, because there was so much garbage there, it was a waste of space.

tech only is nice, it makes it possible to search for valid information. as much as you guys think that the lack of non-tech conversation is driving people away. the lack of technical content drove people like myself away. for a long time the whole site had the feel like you stepped onto a kindergarden plalyground. i think cracking down on stupid posts is the best thing for this site. it CAN be a great technical resource. there are plenty of very smart people that are here and willing to help. but some of us who do alot of replying, and very rarely ask a question, get sick of every good technical thread we get involved in, turn to crap. because of the lack of maturity by some members.

my only wish is that we could flame people for not searching first. enough flaming and people will get the point, and then search i had that a couple of these forums have the SAME question on the main page 10 times.

 

Okay cool, I knew I didn't remember doing that and I usually just remove images that have nothing to do with the thread.

And yeah, I lock a lot of threads. But thats becasue a lot of threads have to be locked. If it belongs elsewhere, I move it.

And as for an off-topic forum, I also would like it. It would be cool to talk to people about other interests. But at the same time, you can easily create a chat room (or even use the one on the main page) for that. They tried it before and had to shut down the site, so I don't think they should have to go through that again.

 

Yup... problem is with a chat room, where ya gonna post it ya know? A link to a chat room is obviously non-tech, so it would pretty much get deleted as soon as it was posted. And to be honest, the one on the front page is fairly cheesey, and basically noone uses it. I propose a permanent link to an AIM chat on the top of the page... that way, if people are in the mood to bull**** with someone, instead of posting useless drivel, they can just go into the chat instantly.

I think most people would like an off-topic board, and the reasoning behind it is simple: Yes, theres tons of non-tech boards... problem is, most of them are localized to a certain region, eg NEThirdgen.org, SEThirdgen.org, Cascade Crew, etc... I think a off-topic board here would be a great way to communicate with people all over the country, as opposed to mostly in your region. With the right amount of moderation, yet without being a dictator, I think it would work well... it has so many other places. Obviously things like pornography, crude language, and harsh flaming would be prohibited. Hell, I would gladly volunteer to be one of the moderators of it if it were to happen.

 

I joined TGO in 1999. Seems a long time ago now I can tell you. I haven't noticed any difference in the site over that time. Although that is not saying there hasn't been a reduction in posts.
This site is the most valuable thing that us 3rd gen camaros in the UK can possibly have! 9 out of 10 of my potential postings have been sorted through the search facility.
About 3 years ago, one of our UK based forums for the ford granada crashed and all data was lost. 3 years worth of it! Can't start to imagine how much valuable info went to the wall. The moderators even e-mailed every member to search their temporary internet files for any downloaded threads, and to e-mail them back in!
I submitted loads and loads of detailed information before it was all lost. I then lost all heart in it, but began to post them back up, one at a time. I used to get annoyed when the same question was asked that I had given a detailed reply to some time earlier. "Use the search button" I thought.
Vader in particular has given quite a lot of extremely detailed posts. All very, very impressive. he deserves a medal, surely?!
At this point I must admit to posting a thread that, with some proper searching, was unecesssary. https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...+owners+manual
I tried-honest, but obviously didn't try hard enough! Drew certainly told me off in an unmerciful fashion! Sorry for the lack of research Drew!! Won't do it again! Got my owners manual though. Thanks for the links. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't reply though, before he locked it.
The mods do an unenviable job. And a good one.
If a search gets the answer, good job done!

Thanks to all the members who have responded to my posts in the past!
Andy.

 

I don't think TGO will try another misc forum, it seems quite clear. But I have to disagree with the comments saying that it won't work. There is many bigger vBulletin car sites with a lounge forum and it works. I'm not really wishing for a Misc forum as I think the regional forums do a good job of being able to post your Hellos and create Events for your area. Outside of that, I can't see needing a Misc forum. My point is, with good moderators, I can't believe that it can't work. Again, I (personally) don't care if there is, or isn't, a lounge forum. I also have to add to the previous reply that I completely agree with the comments about Vader.

 

There's too much misinformation and nonsense in this post to reply to it all and neither Dirk or I really want to sit here all day and type up a big post only so people who think they know better or what they're talking about can disagree or dispute us, because they obviously know better than the people who run a site going 7 years strong which has only gotten bigger, better, more used, and more popular over time. But I will reply to some. Did any1 stop, just stop for a second to think what time of year this is or what season weather-wise we are in? It always starts getting slow around this time.

It's funny because people claim the site to not be the same or that it's getting used less when not only 2 months ago ThirdGen.Org had its 1st over 1,000,000 hit day ever and the most users online at once ever a month later. What it is, is that we are getting less off-topic BS questions, people getting answers more from the Search and FAQ Board, and Members getting their answers faster by having knowledgeable people answer and no BS posts in between that just take up space (and server space) in topics but make it seem more active. There is also no more PhotoShop requests (we link to a site that does them) and a limit to attatchments for space reasons with the server. All this equals less posts. Sometimes it seems like the only people that really know whats what and why it is better are the people that have been here for a long time, and we get the same few complainers over and over again. If you feel a Mod is not being lenient enough, PM him or me. Dirk and I both know what we're doing, he's been here all the years that the site has been online and I've been here for 4 doing stuff behind the scenes way before I "officially" became an Admin. I think we know what we are doing and the Mods usually follow the rules without any problems too. So far the only people that have made sense in this post are Metalli, josh14, Andy F, xpnd3, iroc22, MS., MdFormula, and D316. TGO isn't gonna have Non-Tech so don't bother asking, go somewhere else for it. Staying on topic and having a sense of humor is all we ask here, if you were behind the scenes you'd know that alot has changed for the better here and that we want to always keep this place as the best source for Third Gens, and nothing else.

 

Um, I make no sense? I've been doing website related work for longer than 4 years and have made a few corrections to you I hope you're not telling me that I don't know anything or know what I'm doing. Thanks.

 

You might know your computer tech, and that's great. It's nothing special as many people out there know it also. That's that is the side that Dirk handles and he is probably one of the best out there. Next.

 

edit.... i guess i was wrong.

 

This is why I mentioned you're too quick to jump and make some mistakes. I take the above as an insult. I've corrected you a few times (which you deleted). Please don't be so quick to judge a person you don't know. Thanks.

 

I reworded it to make you "happy" I guess. I deleted things you said before that seemed like they were said just to argue and annoy about things that people don't care about on this car site. This post is an example of stuff that we are tired of so bare with the frustration. There will always be complainers and people wanting to change things. Now, NEXT.

 

I never said it was special, but it has helped. Thanks for degrading it, still. Are you having a bad day?

By the way, I do understand the frustration with having a non-tech forum suggestion brought up so often, but insulting someone who, while isn't an expert but has helped, would be hard to be okay with. Hopefully you can understand.

 

Well, Im sorry I dont make sense to you, but apparently were (86 and myself) not the only ones who noticed a difference. Where is all this misinformation you speak of? What did I say that didnt make sense? Maybe we dont know whats going on behind the scenes because were not told? When a group of us notice something, and we speak up about, were suddenly misinformed because the administration failed to tell us in the first place? Im sorry we sound "uneducated" as you put it elsewhere... but the simple fact that by you specifically singling out people who "made sense" to you, basically putting the rest of us down, is the single largest reason that alot of great people are no longer here.

 

We are frustrated with posts like this I guess you could say JT. The implying, accusing, and whatever else by people just making generalizations based on nothing will do that.

 

And whats with the attitude? None of us here are coping an attitude. If were such a bother to you, why did you take the admin spot in the first place? The whole point of being an admin is to keep this place going, listen to our issues, and fairly respect each and every individual. Your treating us like were personally attacking you and like your shooting us down one by one.

 

Who are these great people that are no longer here? And I'd hardly call 2 people a group. If you read through the TGO Rules and can't follow them, are we the problem? The behind the scenes stuff is how things get done and solved here now, which is substantialy better and more effective than before. Mods that do nothing are gone and TGO has more than before overall. There's alot more good things to say. Behind the scenes is the Admins and Mods business. All we ask is that you follow the rules and not question them.

And whats with the attitude? None of us here are coping an attitude. If were such a bother to you, why did you take the admin spot in the first place? The whole point of being an admin is to keep this place going, listen to our issues, and fairly respect each and every individual.

And that's what I've done, this post is a rare exception, as it's about maybe the 4th time I've publicly been annoyed ever. And the others were all before I had the Admin title and were with troublemakers that were here for just that.

 

i don't understand that, either....

twenty.... for as many people that say tgo is great, i'd bet there's just as many who motherfu** the place. in fact, go read the link over at ne3g that brian was thoughtful enough to post.

management that is pissy is just as bad as no mangement at all. i don't really think anything's changed, except for seeing a hell of a lot more threads that are locked.

 

In the nearly 3 years Ive been here, Ive had but one confrontation on the TBI boards due to some mis-information that was being given out that I stood up against, so some took it personally. The rest of the time, Ive done nothing but try to help people to the best of my knowledge, and learn all I could. You can even verify this if you felt compelled to, but Im sure you dont. And if you think 86 and I are the only ones who feel this way, why not check some other feedback on other boards? And Im still curious as to what I said that didnt make sence... if your going to personally single me out for what I said, I think the least I deserve is an explanation.

 

Stop asking for Non-Tech. It IS NOT happening. That is 1 thing that annoys us like crazy. Do people not see the sticky at the top, or it in the Rules, AND in the Registration form?! Any1 who's been here long enough knows that I never have an attitude about anything unless there is a real reason. The non-tech requesting and a post about how this place is falling apart pretty much did it. Read my earlier post again for whatever reasons you might not understand about things being slow. I don't want to make it seem like I'm coming at you but trying to make you (all) understand instead, in this post, about how lousy it is now that things are tighter and Mods are doing their jobs. And of course, how we still have no Non-Tech! Look at it from our perspective. Should we take away the FAQ Board and stickies so there can be more posts? Or how about take away the Search if it bothers people to do it so much? See what I mean? It just doesn't make sense. And JT, like I've told you before, if you wanna help out with the computer technicalities that's fine, but don't challenge or question me with it. You'll win everytime, as this is mostly Dirks field and what he likes doing. And 88, about your search question, it will be fixed when we upgrade to VBB3, if it ever comes out. (its been delayed for a long time and has many new features, which is one reason why we aren't adding things to this version of the board and are waiting instead )

 

Hits and people on line at a time dont equate to posts, no one disputes that value of this site. Its more or less the comfort of it, Now its more or less post your sh** and log off, it used to be post your sh**, speak your opinion, maybe have a healthy discussion, then log off. Its totally impersonal and just not a "community"

Hell, you refer to me and my website in your first reply and dont even know its me your talkin about.

 

I don't understand why you would feel that way. I myself have never enforced people to be like that. I will guarantee you that Metalli and josh14 will agree if you ask that I try to let some things get by once in a while. And I am quite aware that's your site, and otherwise appreciate you guys helping TGO. But the complaining, come on. I can tell Mods to be more lenient, but then we'll all hear the "Mods aren't doing their job" thing or "How about if people would stay on-topic" comments. There's no way to please everyone.

 

Ok, so please me then! j/k I see your points, but I never heard anyone complain about being off topic unless it was a fight over the 4 letter work R**E

 

i took it as an insult to, not on me, but you.

I'm not taking sides here, but also remember sometimes the communication in written words is sometimes lost

 

Yes, I didn't mean it to come off that way. Which is why I edited it. What I originally meant, was that while doing a search on all JTs posts I noticed that nearly every single post he has ever made was either on this board or a regional. Wondering why JT never asked or responds to any tech questions whatsoever. I wouldn't have even known he had a Third Gen until this post. I've been wondering why he has been here all this time and what exactly his motives were and why exactly he was so interested in the mechanics of TGO.

 

Again, this is why I have said you are too quick to judge or comment. Honestly, you don't know me at all. If you doubt me so much, and since you know Josh who also lives in IA, I can have him verify I own a Third Gen if he wanted to. He can see two of my Notchbacks if he wanted. I own 3 Third Gens to be exact. Yes, that's probably hard to believe of itself, but I'll invite Josh to verify that I own 3 GTAs.

Again, like I said, I think you have me all wrong. But I also think you are a bit harsh. I was quite disappointed with your comments here.

By the way, I don't hardly ever ask questions here because I do know quite a bit about my cars as I do my own work. I'm willing to check things on my own, rather than post about any issues I have with my vehicles. Why I never answer anyone's tech questions? Well, I'm not an expert, and I would be the last person who would want to give out bad info. Working on a car in person is different than working on it through a person over the internet.

 

I still am losing the point as to how this site has 'fallin apart' so to speak. There are many new faces who are providing knowledgeable information in a positive form and a lot of the faces you might have seen kicking around this place may have left in favor for more non-tech forms of expressing themselves because maybe they really didn't have anything technical to bring to the forum Personally I like not having a non-tech board on this site, it takes away the focus from the technical aspects that this community shines in. I frequent other forums which have General Discussion boards where I will post something funny or ask an off-topic question because usually a General Discussion board never has topics pertaining to the cars which the forums were built around. Besides I dislike non-tech forums anyway because the guys seem to be always talking about their wives or how their jobs suck or need help with relationships etc, I always want to just tell them to go out and get a life and stop asking advice from people who you have never even met before. If I want to go talk about BS topics I'll go to the bar with my friends, if I want to talk cars I'll come to TGO.

 

You can't please every1 JT, I realized that a while ago. I take alot of your posts as critsizm of TGO and what goes on here, and I'm not the only one. It's good to see that you own some Thirds. Take it all to PM now.

 

Thanks.

There's been so many, but you're right that's usually the biggest BS starter. The idea is usually to lock something that looks as if it will be a problem before it happens, but maybe we can be a little more "loose" for a while on boards like A/D just to see. And don't think that you can't laugh about stuff or have humor on TGO, if you can't then something's wrong. Remember to communicate when you see something in particluar that you might have not thought was handled correctly. Otherwise, posts like this happen. And this will hopefully be the last one like it for me. I didn't want to be so public with some coments but I actually felt for a change like it needed it. It's something a person like me would obviously take offense to as TGO is important to me and should be. When someone makes a topic with a title like this it's like woah, that has a tendency to feel personal. I would actually like it better if things like this were PMed right to me. On a side note, JT and I have worked whatever out.

 

Maybe thats because the posts don't belong and someone is finally moderating. (If you're referring to all the locked threads on the A&D boards)

I agree that a non-tech board could potentially work out with the right amount of moderation. But thats not our decision, thats up to Dirk and Twenty and its not going to happen. What can ya do but take it to another site?

And I think a link to an AIM chat would be good, cause no one uses that TGO chatroom.

 

i have to agree with what your saying.

it almost seems that everyone is afraid to post something because either itll get locked or some one will jump down their throat about what they are saying or asking. (believe me its happened )

 

I think this post has had enough. Everyone's opinions have been heard.