no offence guys

[ady]

is it me or is this forum getting a bit pants? apart from reading up and coming events ummmm it just seems a bit dull. I aint here to offend but is anyone else feeling the same?

the events are still great but the chat and posts on here seem to have gone a bit downhill or old posts randomly being restarted.

e.g 12 months after something advertised for sale someone is posting is it still for sale

and does the FRA still exist lol, apart from updating the site whats going on at the min? am i missing something lol

[PJ-27]

Re: no offence guys

When I first joined I really enjoyed reading all the build diaries, how to build my robot and learning about upcoming events.

But now I learn little more about building robots, a lot of repeated questions, build diaries are infrequently updated and I know there is only 1 (or 2) FW events a year.

Although it could be when I first joined there was a wealth of information to read through and now I just have.....

[roketrhino900]

Re: no offence guys

All doom and gloom!
All great things have ups and downs, it shouldn't last for long.

[ady]

Re: no offence guys

yeah hopefully it wont last. for me i used to come here daily to read about other peoples projects etc.... but now i just seem to come here once a week if that. others forums im with seem to have so much more to read and talk about.

[harry hills]

Re: no offence guys

i'd better start spaming my build diary with all my insanity then

[blazerbotics]

Re: no offence guys

Completely agree Adrian

[RogueTwoRobots]

Re: no offence guys

It's all the spamming (not necessarily from you Harry) with pointless and un-informative crap that's the problem. Combine this with a lack of general forum etiquette in some instances and frustration from long-time forum contributors as their pleas (to use Google and the forum search function before asking a question that's already been asked) repeatedly fall on deaf ears and you get more people logging on less frequently which leads to a decline in quality information and discussions on the forum.

[typhoon_driver]

Re: no offence guys

If you aren't a fan then it's easy enough to leave.

[grant_ploughbot]

Re: no offence guys

Yeah I do agree - Seem's to be alot of going over the same thing and pointless arguments. Hopefully it's just a short spate that will pass by. I would do a build diary if I had time to build anything!

[Ellis]

Re: no offence guys

It's been a while since the last competitive FW event, so hopefully now with the champs rolling around we'll get a boost in activity as people frantically try to get their machines into shape (as I am!).

[PJ-27]

Re: no offence guys

The search function is a bit useless/tricky to use, which doesn't help.

I just searched the word 'Dad' and got told No suitable matches. You're trying to tell me that word never comes up?

Plus you can often get more concise information by just asking.

[limpet]

Re: no offence guys

Just some ideas.
Having found the answers to my questions really helpful I may not have needed to ask them if the forum was better organised,
how about a section dedicated to equipment, if someone has used 'x' servo then they could post a sort of review of it, how they used it, what it weighs, where to get it from etc. You could have speed controllers, materials, chargers, anything but it must be kept organised so it can be easily found.

Dividing the forum between Heavies, Feathers and Ants seems to split it up too much.

Interest comes and goes along with events and other seasonal influences so I don`t think thats too much of a problem.

I`m a moderator on another unrelated forum and we have monthly competitions to help generate interest, some with prizes, sometimes just a raffle type thread where a prize is awarded to a random poster.

[Leonardomayo]

Re: no offence guys

I think it could be improved with a bit of spring cleaning. For example, having a completed sales/closed wanted adverts section to stop people going Has it been bought yet?, and possibly pruning some of the 15 threads by one person in the BW section.

Also am I the only one who can't edit my posts after they have been posted for a while? If there is a time limit then that must make maintaining and sort of long running thread (A FAQ, A Database) impossible, surely?

This forum has been very helpful with providing me with information regarding construction of fighting robots, but I have to admit I have had to search a fair bit for answers at times, with the search function being of little use and there being little organisation. And my reluctance to post threads containing questions that have probably already been answered somewhere in the dark depths of the forum.

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Forum Lurker
~Connor

[team_orr]

Re: no offence guys

This is also something I have been noticing for a while now. Without pointing the proverbial finger too much it seems to me that a lot of the spam and repeated questions come from new roboteers who are typically quite young. I'm not saying I have anything against young people in the sport (being one myself) I just feel that their forum use and etiquette is a bit meh. It also seems that a lot of forum garbage is simply the same questions that have been asked and answered hundreds of times. I recommended this a while ago and nothing happened but how about a FAQ and tutorial section for people who are just starting out? I think that would help quite alot. I also think the time limit on editing posts should be removed as quite frankly it's rather silly. In the for sale section there should be a way to clearly show the item has been sold/taken off the market. As we get further and further away from the time of robot wars I have noticed a lot of older roboteers have hanged up the gloves to be replaced with new, less experianced roboteers. The problem with this is that when new people come in and ask questions less and less people who do still use the forum have the correct answers so a lot of garbage gets thrown around and the actual factual information gets lost amid a ton of crap.

Just my 2 cents
Jack

[kodster]

Re: no offence guys

If you aren't a fan then it's easy enough to leave.

That's rather provocative, don't you think?

But yeah I've been spending less and less time on the forums. However, that's mainly due to real life issues and just plain interest elsewhere. But I can understand where the others are coming from, I still love this forum to death.