v7n Is On Camera

[Zap]

Originally Posted by kristeejo

So, Zap, hows the wife and kids?

They're doing well. Wife is good. Daughter is a regular 3 year old. (She may even make it to 4 - we're on the fence about that). And, Zap Jr. is still baking. He's not done yet, but he's coming along nicely.

How are you and yours?

[kristeejo]

never got the damned lexus

[EBK]

Originally Posted by labrocca

It seems like people post a lot of nonsense there.

There goes 98% of my posts..

I am sarcastic to BTW at times, it's the axxhole in me

[kristeejo]

Originally Posted by Zap

They're doing well. Wife is good. Daughter is a regular 3 year old. (She may even make it to 4 - we're on the fence about that). And, Zap Jr. is still baking. He's not done yet, but he's coming along nicely.

How are you and yours?

My three are fine as well. THREE TEENS AND I'M STILL BREATHING. Enjoy them while they are baking and three.

[Nick]

Originally Posted by kristeejo

never got the damned lexus

You never told me what kind

[Zap]

Originally Posted by Nick

You never told me what kind

Geez, Nick. Wake up man! I've barely been paying attention and even I can answer that one.

[digitalpoint]

Originally Posted by labrocca

If you want me to give you an earful PM me here Shawn and I will respond otherwise I am just going my seperate way quietly.

It's all good, I actually did read everything you already posted, so...

Originally Posted by labrocca

I think DP is actually TOO active for my tastes. It seems like people post a lot of nonsense there. If you watch the DP spy it's pretty silly the amount of posts happening.

Yeah, because this thread is full of ultra-informative posts, eh? (hehe)

But I do agree... there's certainly a point where a forum ends up moving from being ultra personal to becoming more of an impersonal resource. Without just shutting down new user registrations, the best we can hope for is some sort of "controlled chaos". Sometimes I miss the days of being small and knowing everyone in the forum personally, but now it's to the point that I see people with 1,000+ posts, and I have no clue who they are (and don't ever recall seeing them before or any of their posts).

DP is currently churning out 4,500+ posts/day (and growing every week)... I'm betting V7N will ultimately run into the same problems for the simple reason there is only so much any single person can actually read in a day. Maybe V7N will be able to last until 10,000 posts/day (and still have John know most people), but there certainly is a threshold where that's not possible anymore. Maybe 5,000 or 10,000 posts/day, but there definitely is a line you cross at some point.

[King Justice]

Originally Posted by labrocca

hehe....yeah I wanted my name changed their. It makes it easier to leave and be forgotten. I shut off my sig, avatar, and PM system before I left.

I already voiced over at DP my feelings about the place. I don't want to bash Shawn or DP but I think he needs to hear some criticism. Unfortunately I think it's falling on deaf ears as Shawn appears to think his site is great. There are some great things about DP and that's true.

If you want me to give you an earful PM me here Shawn and I will respond otherwise I am just going my seperate way quietly.

I think of myself as a polite person...a bit sarcastic at times (NYer in me) but overall I am friendly. I hate rude people. I been on the web and forums for over 10 years now. I joined v7n months ago when they had that competition and links were everywhere. I don't like to split up my forums too much. I tend to focus on 3 webmaster forums at a time. Right now it's NP, DNF, and possibly here. I think DP is actually TOO active for my tastes. It seems like people post a lot of nonsense there. If you watch the DP spy it's pretty silly the amount of posts happening.

bah...

I love you man.

[labrocca]

I have left forums before that grew too big. It's not a big deal really. My term at DP imho was short though. I might just become a big lurker here and there. NP and DNF are still imho better forums for the type of activity I like.

One thing Shawn...reconsider your stance on moderators. You may not think it's important that people know the mods care but ultimately it's why I left. The impression I get is that the mods are your buddy crew not a professional staff. For one there isn't a normal link to see the mod group. I have never seen the group before you posted it in that thread. Looking at the group that is mod...it's incredibly small for a forums of your size. While you say that staff handles problems fast...they aren't transparent so how would anyone know? Again that's appearances.

All well run professional forums have one thing in common. Solid moderation. It appears your site lacks that...whether that's the truth could be another matter.

I think you have this idea that staff should be invisible. How effective do you think the police would be if they took the same stance? Police presence always lowers crime. Moderator presence would curb rule breaking as well.

[King Justice]

Originally Posted by labrocca

I have left forums before that grew too big. It's not a big deal really. My term at DP imho was short though. I might just become a big lurker here and there. NP and DNF are still imho better forums for the type of activity I like.

One thing Shawn...reconsider your stance on moderators. You may not think it's important that people know the mods care but ultimately it's why I left. The impression I get is that the mods are your buddy crew not a professional staff. For one there isn't a normal link to see the mod group. I have never seen the group before you posted it in that thread. Looking at the group that is mod...it's incredibly small for a forums of your size. While you say that staff handles problems fast...they aren't transparent so how would anyone know? Again that's appearances.

All well run professional forums have one thing in common. Solid moderation. It appears your site lacks that...whether that's the truth could be another matter.

I think you have this idea that staff should be invisible. How effective do you think the police would be if they took the same stance? Police presence always lowers crime. Moderator presence would curb rule breaking as well.

Wow. Gooooooooood point.
Rep added.

[kristeejo]

EGS - It's easy for me to see why you had difficulty in other forums. Lighten up a bit and ...it's ok to vear off the subject. It usually comes full circle.

[G10]

Originally Posted by digitalpoint

But I do agree... there's certainly a point where a forum ends up moving from being ultra personal to becoming more of an impersonal resource. Without just shutting down new user registrations, the best we can hope for is some sort of "controlled chaos". Sometimes I miss the days of being small and knowing everyone in the forum personally, but now it's to the point that I see people with 1,000+ posts, and I have no clue who they are (and don't ever recall seeing them before or any of their posts).

This is totally true.

If you work for a smaller company, you know most people and it is quite personal and nice but as the company grows, you become less of a name and more of a number, or even a statistic.

There is a price to pay for expansion and that is that you lose the personal touch (keep it clean ).

It happens to all businesses, forums, communities etc. It's just one of the pitfalls of expansion.

BTW Shawn - Have you found a suitable venue for the dance-off yet?

[digitalpoint]

Originally Posted by labrocca

I have left forums before that grew too big. It's not a big deal really. My term at DP imho was short though. I might just become a big lurker here and there. NP and DNF are still imho better forums for the type of activity I like.

One thing Shawn...reconsider your stance on moderators. You may not think it's important that people know the mods care but ultimately it's why I left. The impression I get is that the mods are your buddy crew not a professional staff. For one there isn't a normal link to see the mod group. I have never seen the group before you posted it in that thread. Looking at the group that is mod...it's incredibly small for a forums of your size. While you say that staff handles problems fast...they aren't transparent so how would anyone know? Again that's appearances.

All well run professional forums have one thing in common. Solid moderation. It appears your site lacks that...whether that's the truth could be another matter.

I think you have this idea that staff should be invisible. How effective do you think the police would be if they took the same stance? Police presence always lowers crime. Moderator presence would curb rule breaking as well.

The mod group *is* very small... Primarily because we hand pick mods that would be fantastic mods vs. people who want to be a mod just to say they are a mod (it's definitely not my personal circle of friends... in fact, I have had my friends ask if they could be mods and I tell them no because I don't think they would actually be a good mod). That, combined with a whole BUNCH of custom back-end stuff to make moderation fast/easier makes it so we don't need a large staff, just a good staff (things like the ability to drag-and-drop threads to another forum via AJAX makes thread movement a 1 second affair, some custom stuff that prevents banned users [usually spammers] from signing up under a new account, etc.)

If you are going to compare mods to the police, think about the infraction system... it's incredibly effective (and fast for moderators). It's more or less a "ticket" from a cop. Enough tickets and you automatically go to jail (banned).

I'm not a big fan of a big police (mod) presence... People shouldn't be good because they are worried about who's watching them. They should be good because it's the right thing to do. I also am not a fan of the forums where mods have their egos... "I'm a mod, and the world knows... so bow down to me." So based on that, the best "police" type comparison I can make with our mods is some sort of elite special forces (hehe). A small group that are invisible and incredibly effective.

I think your (personal) biggest issue is that the stuff you reported wasn't publicly acknowledged that it was taken care of. You were the witness to a crime, and unless you ask the police for the police report, they aren't going to go out of their way to send it to you...

Hell, if you want to take a comparison to police, MY car got stolen a little while back, and the police didn't even send ME a copy of the police report. Turns out I had to call them and specifically ask them to send it to me.

Originally Posted by G10

BTW Shawn - Have you found a suitable venue for the dance-off yet?

No, not yet... still looking. Any suggestions?

[Mong]

Originally Posted by labrocca

I have left forums before that grew too big. It's not a big deal really. My term at DP imho was short though. I might just become a big lurker here and there. NP and DNF are still imho better forums for the type of activity I like.

One thing Shawn...reconsider your stance on moderators. You may not think it's important that people know the mods care but ultimately it's why I left. The impression I get is that the mods are your buddy crew not a professional staff. For one there isn't a normal link to see the mod group. I have never seen the group before you posted it in that thread. Looking at the group that is mod...it's incredibly small for a forums of your size. While you say that staff handles problems fast...they aren't transparent so how would anyone know? Again that's appearances.

All well run professional forums have one thing in common. Solid moderation. It appears your site lacks that...whether that's the truth could be another matter.

I think you have this idea that staff should be invisible. How effective do you think the police would be if they took the same stance? Police presence always lowers crime. Moderator presence would curb rule breaking as well.

imo it is real beauty and attractiveness of dp.

[BingoBalls]

Isnt it wonderful that John & Shawn has come into each other forums to join in with the discussion about V7 & DP? Great sense of community there.

Keep up the great work lads - I enjoy being a member of both forums and have got lots of help from both your hard work and no I am not arse licking.

OK I am moving on again, I just wanted to add that

[digitalpoint]

Originally Posted by labrocca

All well run professional forums have one thing in common. Solid moderation. It appears your site lacks that...whether that's the truth could be another matter.

Oh, I forgot to mention, we have a MASSIVE amount of moderation happening... to me, the best moderation is when users don't notice (so they are doing a good job I guess). But here's some stats...

• 892 individual actions logged to the moderation log in the last 24 hours
  
• 498 users merged into other accounts (duplicate accounts)
  
• 1,032 users are currently banned (probably 70% of those being permanent bans) for various reasons (usually spamming)

You don't really think there is (relatively) little spam on Digital Point simply because we ask people to not spam, do you?