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Post by devogirl on Jan 11, 2023 22:29:31 GMT -5
I know, but Proboards deleted the chat room and there was nothing we could do about that. For several years after, we linked to a chat room on a different platform that was sort of maintained by another member, but he was too busy to keep it up when it broke. Also that chat was not moderated in any way and people who were not PD members could and did participate. That always made me nervous, because it's like rolling out the welcome mat for catfishing and pretenders.
There was also a monthly devs only chat from around 2010-2013 that was sometimes fun but it devolved into a lot of gossip and in-fighting.
Ayla was hosting a monthly chat for a while recently, which was great, thanks for doing that! It's a lot of work though and hard to keep up consistently. If anyone wants to organize chats, please do so.
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Post by devogirl on Jan 11, 2023 22:39:04 GMT -5
The fights amongst the OGs over cursing and "off topic threads" were wild. I think the better word is "tedious"
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Post by Braced4Impact on Jan 11, 2023 22:42:18 GMT -5
Yeah the infighting DEFINITELY sucked, I left (and returned obviously) twice because of that, and there were also a shit-ton of cliques that formed, and if you dared to make friends with someone from another circle, you could be ostracized. That was pretty childish. That's mostly gone away now, which is good, but with it, the lengthy, heartfelt posts that really made you think.
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Post by ayla on Jan 11, 2023 22:56:24 GMT -5
Ayla was hosting a monthly chat for a while recently, which was great, thanks for doing that! It's a lot of work though and hard to keep up consistently. If anyone wants to organize chats, please do so. Yeah Phila and I were able to run it for 9 months or so but then we both got a bit more busy on the weekends and nobody volunteered to take up the reins. I’m happy to pass the torch to someone new who has the wherewithal to run things, and to help that person get set up… I just don’t know if there’s enough interest, and showing your face and speaking on camera is a bigger “ask” for many people than participating in a chat room. Still, I felt we were able to have some good conversations!
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Post by Armus on Jan 12, 2023 0:31:42 GMT -5
I wish there were other platforms we could migrate to but so far I haven't found anything comparable. Basically just reddit, which isn't an amazing option obviously, but would almost definitely bring more eyeballs to the community. Then discord is the only other alternative, but it can be hard to manage public discords (speaking from experience) and its also hard to even have a discord be public enough for new people to find it and join in the first place. That said, discord did recently add a forums feature. I hate it, but its there.
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Post by mnquad07 on Jan 12, 2023 12:22:36 GMT -5
online fighting, makes no sense LOL I'd be interested in a chat screen on this
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Post by mnquad07 on Jan 12, 2023 16:40:07 GMT -5
I have noticed the traffic is really slow :-(
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Post by robbb on Jan 14, 2023 12:45:56 GMT -5
I have reactivated my account after a number of years to answer this one from my own point of view as to why I left.
I used to be a very active member here going right back to the days it was very much down to Lee and Devogirl, but I left some years ago and haven't been back.
As social media became more of a thing the safety that anonymity offered to say whatever you wanted to someone however you wanted to say it crept in here. It came to a climax for me in a conversation where I was told I was wrong. I pointed out that having a difference of opinion did not mean I was wrong. I found myself at the tail end of a barrage of abuse via private message.
I had never been here to defend myself and I certainly hadn't been here to be verbally abused so I decided it was time to leave. Since then I have had a look without signing in maybe once a year and never felt the need to comment.
The sad thing is I now find this willingness to be aggressive towards or unaccepting of others and their opinions has now spilled over into the real world. Very sad.
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Post by Braced4Impact on Jan 14, 2023 14:08:01 GMT -5
I have reactivated my account after a number of years to answer this one from my own point of view as to why I left. I used to be a very active member here going right back to the days it was very much down to Lee and Devogirl, but I left some years ago and haven't been back. As social media became more of a thing the safety that anonymity offered to say whatever you wanted to someone however you wanted to say it crept in here. It came to a climax for me in a conversation where I was told I was wrong. I pointed out that having a difference of opinion did not mean I was wrong. I found myself at the tail end of a barrage of abuse via private message. I had never been here to defend myself and I certainly hadn't been here to be verbally abused so I decided it was time to leave. Since then I have had a look without signing in maybe once a year and never felt the need to comment. The sad thing is I now find this willingness to be aggressive towards or unaccepting of others and their opinions has now spilled over into the real world. Very sad. I'm sorry that happened to you, Robbb. It's sad when a difference of opinion leads to such viciousness. We're all unique individuals with our own points of view, and as long as what you're doing isn't illegal or blatantly immoral, people should let you do as you please.
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Post by mnquad07 on Jan 14, 2023 16:15:14 GMT -5
I don't like that. Hearing about the "attacking" & "defending" and find it kind of weird, maybe hypocritical of members to attack members. When it's a place like this, everything should be accepted and other likes, and whatnot, that branch out from that. I don't know if I'm saying what's in my head correctly. Everything makes sense in my head but gets mixed up on its way to my mouth.
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Post by dutchdev on Dec 27, 2023 4:21:31 GMT -5
Old thread, but I have to be available to work today and looking for distractions, so reading through some old threads.
Those on the discord server know I am hardly the shy or silent type but posting on this board feels intimidating and here is why:
The continuous "already been asked/answered/discussed, look it up in the archives". While I get that it is annoying to see the same question for the umpteenth time, it feels to me that any question I ask must be researched extensively beforehand. Add to that the "you are dragging up a old thread" comments and it feels like you have to have something really profound to say if you dare to post.
While active members might leave, you need new accretion to have it stay a active board and in my view the above prevents that. So maybe not make your first reply to a question, here are the threads look it up. I think new people can add new perspectives through conversations, even if you have to repeat a view (or don't and let others answer).
Or don't and let the board become devipedia.
PS There even is a thread dedicated to being tired of questions.
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Post by Braced4Impact on Dec 27, 2023 8:35:06 GMT -5
Old thread, but I have to be available to work today and looking for distractions, so reading through some old threads. Those on the discord server know I am hardly the shy or silent type but posting on this board feels intimidating and here is why: The continuous "already been asked/answered/discussed, look it up in the archives". While I get that it is annoying to see the same question for the umpteenth time, it feels to me that any question I ask must be researched extensively beforehand. Add to that the "you are dragging up a old thread" comments and it feels like you have to have something really profound to say if you dare to post. While active members might leave, you need new accretion to have it stay a active board and in my view the above prevents that. So maybe not make your first reply to a question, here are the threads look it up. I think new people can add new perspectives through conversations, even if you have to repeat a view (or don't and let others answer). Or don't and let the board become devipedia. PS There even is a thread dedicated to being tired of questions. I can see that POV and get that. Especially if something had been asked but it was several months or even years ago. I also see the other point of view that if it's the same questions being asked by newer members over and over again, there are some sticky threads that can answer those questions. I think civility, unfortunately, takes a bit of a hit when going online as opposed to real world interactions. People are more free to criticize and judge as there's a wall of anonymity to veil you. Also, throughout the history of the board, there have always been cliques and small groups that band together and give each other echo-chambers to bolster their views. That can, of course, be very intimidating to newer members or ones where English isn't their first language. Lastly, I also get that with the rise of social media, message boards can seem somewhat archaic and intimidating for some for the reasons I mentioned above.
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Post by devogirl on Dec 27, 2023 8:40:00 GMT -5
Thanks for bring this up dutchdev! I generally only do this when it's a PWD guy posting for the first time "why are you a dev" or "is it a fetish." I find these posts super annoying because if you're joining a community the very least you can do is read a few of the posts and have some tact. Don't burst into a room full of strangers and be like "So are you all perverts or what?" I don't expect new members to dig through years of old posts, but reading a little bit is common courtesy. Also most of the guys who post these questions don't stick around long enough to bother to read the answer. The other posts I really hate are the ones that are like "I just found out about devs yesterday but let me mansplain your attraction, here's what I think it's all about." Come on, guys!
When new dev members bring up questions, I try to engage more in depth because this board is really here for the devs. If I haven't always succeeded in that goal I apologize.
I know the thread you mean where people say they don't bother to answer questions anymore. That was years ago too! Actually I think most of the people who said that have stopped logging in here. It's too bad, but that's life. We're more than just devs, and most people drift away when other parts of their lives take priority. I understand not wanting to answer the same questions over and over. It takes time and energy to really engage, and eventually you just can't keep saying the same thing over and over. I do try to keep up when I think the topic is important but I admit I have let some threads go by without adding anything because I was busy.
The solution is not to guilt trip the older members who are less engaged (I know you weren't doing that), but as you said to get more new people discussing in these threads. If most of the discussions are happening on discord, then there will be less traffic here. I hope newer, more active members are posting here too and not just on discord.
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Post by loveonaroll2 on Dec 27, 2023 12:52:53 GMT -5
Even though I’m active, as I used to be I love this community. I’m grateful for it. I’m so glad I found this place. I hope you guys are having a very happy holiday season!
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Post by sy on Dec 27, 2023 16:38:56 GMT -5
To be honest the only reason I'm not active anymore, it's because I'm back at the gym and other personal changes.
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