Oolite Bulletins

Yah-Ta-Hey wrote:

SeventT's rants remind me of the flame wars on some other bbs groups that I used to visit.

Whoaaaa there Neddy (cool avatar BTW) I am not going out of my way to start any silly such thing as a "flame-war".... Good gosh almighty there is no such need to "primp and pose" in order to gain fatuous "game-points" on a bulletin board.

Jeez willikers.... most of us (from what I have seen) have reached that level of maturity where the "brain/mind" has finally - once again - risen above the belt buckle - and gone back into the head region... somewhere that it has never been since the onset of puberty....

Now for the younger lads out there who don't quite get it... give it another 30 years and when you ain't getting it and you don't give a "monkeys" then you'll actually be getting it!

As for me? Well I have now got "moobs" - man boobs! A great invention.

Shit - I wish I had them 40 years ago. How many dates did I have to spend good dosh on just to get a "feely" of them.... nowadays I just rub my chest and think "That's a lot of money saved - and a lot quicker too - at least I didn't have to fumble with a bra strap!"

Another little pointer for those of us who remember playing Elite back in 85... you may have been a teenager then... but you are old now - just like the rest of us. So take my advice - if it is warm outside whatever you do - resist the temptation to go bare-chested when you walk outdoors. Trust me, it scares dogs and confuses the hell out of small babies!

No, there's no flame wars going on here.... what is left of life is too short to be spent with aimless "willy-waggling" contests - even if I could find a tweezer and a magnifying glass in the first place!

Oh don't worry son... you may be chuckling now but give it a few years and you'll be going "That old Barsteward 7T was right!"

Suggestions?

Well I think I have already made them.

Logically one can only work within the restraints of the phpBB Forum Software like BIAW can only work under the SMF BB software that was last updated in 2011.

I mean even the latest call out for help on the phphBB site was in May 2011... and even then there wasn't a reply...

I am not knocking the host BB software... it's quite adequate for the purpose and having run a BB with SMF software I know it is quite hoopy!

My only suggestion - as I have stated before is that "as a noob to this site - I found it quite intimidating to navigate my way around it."

Now of course if you have had some time to float around this site (maybe even grown up with it) you may not share my point of view... and that's fair and dandy. All I am trying to bring to the table is my point of view as a "noob" to this site...

If you can't see it... well jolly good.... perhaps in a few weeks I won't see it either... because I will get used to the unfriendly layout of the boards...

What I am saying is that even within the confines of the host software the "Oolite" section could be expanded from the current three "Announcements" "Discussion" and "Expansion Pack" (which are quite unwelcoming and uninformative) that they could include a "FAQ" a "Welcome to the Board" and a "Rules and Disclaimer" section.

In actual fact - I seem to remember that all BBs are now legally obliged to put a "Rules and Disclaimer" section on their front page - in fact, yes that's been law since 2007...


In fact I know you HAVE to put some legal schpeel up like this one I helped draft....


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And the fact that this site has gotten away with not pinning such a topic to the top menu somewhat baffles me.

So there you go "maik" is that enough of a start for you?

SevenT wrote:

In fact I know you HAVE to put some legal schpeel up like this one I helped draft....

Out of pure interest. Is this the case in US or something?

You did, when you registered.

I'm a bit concerned about this conversation and a few other "inflammatory" ones that all seem to have been originated around SevenT, one of which has already been admin-trimmed by Giles.

A few observations.

The majority of the users on here are of the older persuasion, and I think that creates a different kind of environment to what might be considered a "normal" forum. It's far less likely to become a flame war because most of us know how much to say and when to draw it back a little. That's my tuppence on why this is generally called "the friendliest board this side of Riedquat".

We've never needed repeated polls to see where everyone is, and to be honest it's something that not everyone is into. It's been done before and was never very popular. The map idea has proved to be more popular than other "location surveys". To be honest, if we want to tell members of the forum where we are then we generally bring it up in conversation or reveal it on our own rather than being corralled into having it all in one place.

Primarily this forum started as a development and programming forum for people who wanted to contribute to Oolite, then it expanded into a wider fanbase. At its core it won't change, and if people find it unfriendly then that's their opinion. Personally I find it to be the friendliest forum I've been on.

Everything you're asking for is on the forum already, but you have to put a bit of effort into finding it - not much, though. That may differ from a lot of big forums, but it's certainly not unusual.

SevenT: joining a forum then trying to mould it into what you want a forum to look like isn't particularly friendly. Everyone here gets on, with the occasional difference of opinion, but you've come on here like a firestorm and suggested change after change after change and the audience is, in my opinion, becoming increasingly hostile. Responding to contrary opinions with flippancy and borderline patronising behaviour is only going to make the situation worse. For example:

SevenT wrote:

Whoaaaa there Neddy (cool avatar BTW) I am not going out of my way to start any silly such thing as a "flame-war".... Good gosh almighty there is no such need to "primp and pose" in order to gain fatuous "game-points" on a bulletin board.

If you want to gain respect and get members on side for your suggestions, I suggest backing off a little and making objective and non-inflammatory posts.

I'm not trying to criticise, just advise.

Selezen wrote:

I'm a bit concerned about this conversation and a few other "inflammatory" ones that all seem to have been originated around SevenT, one of which has already been admin-trimmed by Giles.

If you want to gain respect and get members on side for your suggestions, I suggest backing off a little and making objective and non-inflammatory posts.

I'm not trying to criticise, just advise.

It's OK grandma - I have probably got a few years over the top of you - but you guy's on here seem to be actively promoting senility - senile precosia and the state of "Don't fix it if it ain't broke"

Well I have just logged back on here after three years away and I can assure you that nothings been fixed because none of you can see that there is something broke...

That's fine and dandy if you live in "La la Land" but in the real world a BB should evolve...

Fortunately this site has not regressed... but sadly it seems to have stagnated...

I will now do the honourable thing - the equivalent of falling on my own sword...

I will ban myself from this forum and apologise for being such a terminal tosser!

SevenT wrote:

It's OK grandma

SevenT wrote:

I have probably got a few years over the top of you

SevenT wrote:

but you guy's on here seem to be actively promoting senility

Nothing quite like the smell of insults in the morning.

SevenT wrote:

That's fine and dandy if you live in "La la Land" but in the real world a BB should evolve...

SevenT wrote:

Fortunately this site has not regressed... but sadly it seems to have stagnated...

This is a development forum for an open source game. How many new OXPs have come out in the last three years? How many new releases of Oolite? Shaders? Hm. I may have to go look up "stagnant".
Seriously though, forums don't evolve once they reach a level of functionality where the membership is happy and productive and where new people still join - which is where this one is, I think.

SevenT wrote:

I will now do the honourable thing - the equivalent of falling on my own sword...I will ban myself from this forum and apologise for being such a terminal tosser!

There is hope! Treatment is available in the form of FreeChoice(tm) - the decision to be a new you!

Sorry, I know I'm starting to troll as well now, but I feel the need to defend the forum against miscreants and malcontents. I'll stop it now and go back to being a grandma. Now who wants some boiled sweets?

Selezen wrote:

I'll stop it now and go back to being a grandma. Now who wants some boiled sweets?

- too funny Selezen - do they have to be boiled though??

Seven-T: while the format of the boards is perhaps old in style, it works quite well. It's clearly the same software that Linux Mint forums use, as well as OpenTTD forums. I personally like the format, and I think most others do as well, otherwise it would have been changed already - (if these fellas don't like something they fix it - as the Expansion Pack forum demonstrates ) - so I'd hardly say that the board has stagnated. Anyway, as Selezen says, you don't have to ban yourself, just keep the comments to things that you wouldn't mind your mother reading. All input and ideas are important .