Why are new people put off by the board?

[Dark Jimbo]

Thought I'd start a new thread on this rather than clutter up Amstor's review thread - but that perfectly highlights what puts new people off coming here - one guy innocently starts a review thread about new books and a bunch of idiots (more Art than Logan, to be fair) jump down his throat moaning and bitching; which then leads into a convoluted, in-depth discussion/argument.

Add this to what happened with Carlsborg and Spurrier on the prog thread, and if I had just joined the board, I'd probably leave it again. It might just be the most un-welcoming place in the world (although I hasten to add, it's great once you've settled in).

And I also maintain the board itself needs an upgrade. The 2kreview board looks brill and is nice and easy to navigate, this by contrast looks old and convoluted - I've heard time and again from people that the mere look of the board put them off, or that they couldn't work out how to use it. Adding icons or working out the bold/italic tabs is hardly easy compared to other boards, is it?

I'm also taking the liberty of quoting Logan's sensible points from the other thread:

My only gripe about multiple threads discussing the same topic is that it makes it harder for new people to get the hang of the place. In Bristol I spoke to many people coming to the 2000 AD table and if I could get it in the conversation I?d mention the message board. Many weren?t interested at all but the few who had paid it a visit but didn?t take part gave various reasons for it including:
Cliques and already established hierarchy that made it fell unwelcoming to any one new.
Topics being in multiple places, so hard to follow and going wildly off topic very quickly.
Personal attacks on people.
Not being that interesting.
Are you joking I?m not that sad.
And a whole host of others that boiled down to read the comic, not interested in anything else or who else reads it.

[Dark Jimbo]

But I hasten to add - Wake, you do a brilliant job, this is in no way a jab at you. :)

[Keef Monkey]

I can't do italics.

[Wils]

Despite the negative thoughts and comments about here, it's nowhere near as aggressive, anal, petty, ridiculous and downright scary as other comic-related messageboards.

[Bico]

"Cliques and already established hierarchy that made it fell unwelcoming to any one new"

Fair enough, but you can't complain that others are getting on with a conversation just because you walk in halfway through, and the internet is no different.  Better, in fact, as if you're actually interested, you can just look through the previous threads via the 'search' function.  As for cliques and hierarchy, that's what you get in any group of people, not just one isolated messageboard on the internet.  The ones who get along will make references to events off the board between themselves, but it's hardly the end of the world, is it?

"Topics being in multiple places, so hard to follow and going wildly off topic very quickly."

Well, no offence, but so what?  I've been on other messageboards where the admins/mods are absolute nazis when it comes to discussing stuff, and those boards/forums are cliqey, anally-retentive geek-outs of the worst kind.  You only THINK this board is a little hostile to newcomers.

"Personal attacks on people."

I'll give you that.  But as ever, not isolated to this board.  If you want to see REAL personal hostility, try going on a gaming forum and slagging off the Xbox.  They don't like that.

"Not being that interesting."

And surely would be distinctly LESS interesting if it was confined to the one subject and no off-topic banter allowed.  Of course, they might just mean that there was to much on-topic discussion and this detracted from all the good stuff, like personal attacks and multiple threads about Urban Dead and why a fez is/isn't a hat where monkeys are concerned.

"Are you joking I?m not that sad."

Well, to be fair - if you're at a comics convention, so you're actually SADDER.  Anyone with a computer can visit the 2000ad messageboard from their home, which is decidedly less sad than spending an entire day/weekend surrounded by overweight Batman fanboys who live in their mum's spare room.





And if I haven't said it before - I'm perfectly willing to admit that a fez is a hat, but because of sheer ubiquitousness, NOT when combined with a monkey.  A 'monkey in a fez' is a monkey in a fez, and a 'monkey in a hat' is a monkey wearing something else.  A bowler hat, perhaps.  Or a trilby or a panama.

[Floyd-the-k]

Maybe the board could be pepped up a bit (icons etc) but overall I like it.  'take what you like and ignore the rest' is my philosophy here. Mostly.

[Tanky]

I dunno when it happened, but some time when I was offline for a couple months, this place really went downhill. Seems like a lot of the fun people dont even post here anymore. Even the caption competitions aren't as funny as they were.
Maybe it's just a case of a rose-tinted monitor- there's always been times when random fights break out- but the overall tone on here has been generally negative for some time. Maybe some of the usual suspects could learn a lesson from the 'MMO' thread amongst others. Maybe the various creators that have been caught up in things could learn to rise above it. It looks pretty bad to any observer, especially when it's obvious who's behind the icon. I have to be nice to a lot of people I can't stand when I've got a new tune out, what's the difference?
Anyways, these are just my observations, and I hope nobody decides to use them in a fight. Remember kids - arguing online is like the special olympics. It doesn't matter who wins, you're all still retarded.
Peace out. xTGx

[Rob Spalding]

I'm not sure, having only been dipping in and out, trying not to get involved in fights etc for about 18 months, but the general tone of the board started to slip when the Meg dropped it's page count.  Then it took another turn when we got the new format Meg.
I'm not saying one is the result of the other, but the bitchiness seems to have got ramped up at those two points.
There just seem to be less people posting as well.

[Dark Jimbo]

Having a little while to think on this a bit more, I've realised this board is nowhere near as bad as I made it sound - it was just that several recent arguments got unessecarily vicious very quickly and made it seem worse than usual.

I do love it here, the people are generally great, intelligent and fun, and though there are a few twats they don't seem to last long. Compared to a lot of other boards this is like a haven where people can pretty much say what they want, which is obviously the ideal scenario - I just wish certain people wouldn't have a complete fit over things which offend them and make us all suffer. Just don't comment, eh?

[W. R. Logan]

I know that this board is no where near as 'ggressive, anal, petty, ridiculous and downright scary as other comic-related messageboards' as Wils said but a huge chunk of 2000 AD readers only read 2000 AD, they don't read American comics, or frequent message boards. So when they do notice the message board mentioned and pay a visit they rarely stay, post or take another look.

[Cordite]

I'm astonished you think you're not part of the problem.  There were three complaints against Amstor?s thread, three.  All of the other responses were in support of it, and either implicitly or explicitly against what you or the other two said.
What does that tell you?  If a newcomer were to stumble in, whose posts do you think would drive him or her away?  Who comes across as unfriendly, cliquey, bitchy?

[Noisybast]

Oi! Shut it, Tanky!

;)

[Quirkafleeg]

yeah there has a been a recentish slowish change in the population of the board that has changed the nature of what's being posted...

And it's bloody hot ain't it?!

[W. R. Logan]

>I'm astonished you think you're not part of the problem. There were three complaints against Amstor?s thread, three.

I simply asked why a topic needed to be split over two threads, Amstor gave his answer.
I have no idea who Amstor is and I'm sure if he has a problem with the question he can put his point across and doesn?t need you to hold his hand or put any points across on his behalf. I don?t remember posting anything personal or aggressive whereas your tone seems to be getting more heated with every post.
If I?ve offended you in the past I really couldn?t give a toss but if someone has a problem with any comment I make about them I?m sure they don?t need you to jump up for them.

[Cordite]

Fantastic!  Ignore the point while trying to make out there is some kind of feud here.  Also suggest that a person doesn't have any right to post, or to speak his mind.  
The board according to this guy: a joyless, totalitarian place, where you can only speak about 2000 AD and, in particular, Dredd.

You haven't really offended me in the past; it's more that you offend me in the present.  You left because things were not to your taste, and now you're back, trying to shape the board into what you think it should be.  I don't think the board has benefited from your return, but that's just me.  I've already said I'm going to killfile you, and feel free to do the same to me.

The point has been made that this is a much less unpleasant place than many other forums.  I agree.  I happen to think that it could quite easily be a much nicer place, if certain people -- and they tend to be the same ones over and again -- got a sense of perspective, and stopped being so unnecessarily unpleasant.

Quite honestly, can anybody disagree that the incredibly petty and bitchy comments made on that thread were unworthy and pointless?  Just think for a moment and imagine how, when you post that kind of thing, you come across.  As I say, I'm going to start killfileing.  I'll give it a day so that anybody who wants can reply, and then that's it; I expect my levels of irritation to drop exponentially.

It's a beautiful day.  I'm going out for a bike ride.