Reversing the slow decline of SD.NET

[Ralin]

And bringing back Archinist? Seriously? There's a 'reason' that guy triggered the coining of the phrase 'dumber than Broomstick's parrots'. How is bringing THAT guy of all people back supposed to be an improvement?

I found him to be a funny and engaging poster who started many good threads and discussions. Can't say any of Broomstick's parrots have done the same, so far as I know.

[LadyTevar]

And bringing back Archinist? Seriously? There's a 'reason' that guy triggered the coining of the phrase 'dumber than Broomstick's parrots'. How is bringing THAT guy of all people back supposed to be an improvement?

I found him to be a funny and engaging poster who started many good threads and discussions. Can't say any of Broomstick's parrots have done the same, so far as I know.

I'll just state for the record Nitram and I also thought he was 'dumber than Broomstick's parrots'. Most of the 'discussion' he started were several posters coming to tell him how he idea wouldn't work, and then argue with him as he vainly tried to prove he was right.

[Lord Revan]

And bringing back Archinist? Seriously? There's a 'reason' that guy triggered the coining of the phrase 'dumber than Broomstick's parrots'. How is bringing THAT guy of all people back supposed to be an improvement?

I found him to be a funny and engaging poster who started many good threads and discussions. Can't say any of Broomstick's parrots have done the same, so far as I know.

I'll just state for the record Nitram and I also thought he was 'dumber than Broomstick's parrots'. Most of the 'discussion' he started were several posters coming to tell him how he idea wouldn't work, and then argue with him as he vainly tried to prove he was right.

I would say that he didn't even "try to prove" so much as just argue that he was right all along without any evidence, to the point of changing to the argument mid thread just to block ways people went to other paths then his desired one.

Sure he was fun for a few laughs but it got old really fast as there was literally no dimensions to his posting, it was always the same thing with a different coat of paint.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

I don't like the unstructured nature of Discord.(Not that there's anything 'Wrong' with Discord, I just don't think it works very well for what we had HERE.)

And bringing back Archinist? Seriously? There's a 'reason' that guy triggered the coining of the phrase 'dumber than Broomstick's parrots'. How is bringing THAT guy of all people back supposed to be an improvement?

This is the same guy who thought a man was capable of carrying 20 truck batteries on his back, each of which would weigh three times what a normal car battery does

[LadyTevar]

I don't like the unstructured nature of Discord.(Not that there's anything 'Wrong' with Discord, I just don't think it works very well for what we had HERE.)

And bringing back Archinist? Seriously? There's a 'reason' that guy triggered the coining of the phrase 'dumber than Broomstick's parrots'. How is bringing THAT guy of all people back supposed to be an improvement?

This is the same guy who thought a man was capable of carrying 20 truck batteries on his back, each of which would weigh three times what a normal car battery does

Again.... "Dumber than Broomstick's parrots"

[bobalot]

Reading the feedback here, the proposal is about as popular as the plague (with good reasons provided).

Wondering if there are other actions that can increase engagement and posting without letting a posse of clowns back in.

[LadyTevar]

Reading the feedback here, the proposal is about as popular as the plague (with good reasons provided).

Wondering if there are other actions that can increase engagement and posting without letting a posse of clowns back in.

If you think of one, let us know.
Personally, I think this BBS has pretty much ran its course. I only come back because it's my job, and sometimes there's still good discussion going on, especially in N&P.
Also, I can vent my frustrations in HOS, so when I'm upset I'm not bottling it up and making things worse.

[Solauren]

I think a change of ownership and management would be needed to implement changes.
(Note: Again, no interest in doing that. Even if Mike were willing to sell it at a reasonable price, I'd rather spend my money on things like Transformers toys, and a new 3d Printer like a Bambu PS1 with 4 material systems, or the new Creality K2 with similar).

My thoughts are no along the line of....
- Put a lot of threads into 'storage'. Possibly in a separate web address
(I've seen this with larger discussion forum. i.e archive.oldstardestroyer.net). On the plus side, this would effectively isolate a lot of the more toxic discussions to 'no longer relevant beyond research material'. The entire 'Hall of Shame' and 'Parting Shots' would also need to be put there.

- Make the members only areas viewable, just not postable. I'll admit, there might be a few areas that need to remain completely hidden. (The only members one I'm part of is the Transformers discussion area).

- You'd have to tweak the rules to make a less hostile and toxic environment.

- You'd have to contact all former posters to let them know of a change in management. (we'll call it SD.NET V2 for these purposes)

[LadyTevar]

All nice ideas, but there's one thing that's the big problem and it's not just a problem with BBS forums -- No New Members.

No one is coming to join. No one is showing enough interest to join. We are not generating "foot-traffic" -- 90% of new posts are spambots that get deleted as soon as a Mod sees them.
We have lost the ability to draw people in.

This is not a unique experience tho. Lion's Club, various men's clubs like the Masons and Knights of (X) are also having trouble gaining and retaining new members. Women's clubs, like WeightWatchers and TOPS (TakeOffPoundsSensibly), which used to thrive on dieting women, are aged and dying. Even my own SCA is suffering from the lack of newcomers, and we're searching hard for answers.

If there is nothing to attract and retain new members, groups die. And SDNet is simply not attractive to newcomers.

[Raw Shark]

I honestly don't see a problem here. Maybe this is the cynical Gen-Xer in me, but all things die eventually. Someday I will die, probably doing something heroic or foolish. Or both. I will be very, very surprised if it happens in a boring way. But my words will live on, for kindred souls who want to read them. This is why I write.

[Solauren]

And do you not want the place where you wrote those words, to endure?

[LadyTevar]

And do you not want the place where you wrote those words, to endure?

If we wanted it to endure, we should have wrote on paper, or stone.
Every digital work of art, written, 'painted', etc., is impermanent and will be lost the minute the batteries on the server run out.

[Ralin]

Automated and user backups not withstanding

[Alferd Packer]

All nice ideas, but there's one thing that's the big problem and it's not just a problem with BBS forums -- No New Members.

EXACTLY. This forum was originally stood up in support of the SD.net website, which Mike was (at the time) actively updating, in order for people to discuss the topics presented. The original website hasn't been updated in...what, 20 years? Absent an external force like an active main site driving users to the forum to discuss the website, no one new will show up. I'm sure the forum bled users at a fairly steady rate back then, but it was fine because there were fresh ones to replace them. Turn off the proverbial spigot, though, and the tub will just slowly drain/evaporate.

Also, the internet is a vastly different place than it was 20 years ago. Pretty much all content is now aggregated on like, 10 websites that everyone uses. Like this was niche site in its heyday, and now I wouldn't even know what you'd call it. Super-niche? Point is, even if Mike was still actively updating the main site, someone would probably just repost his articles on Reddit, and all the discussion would happen there.

That said, I would be sad to see this forum vanish. I sometimes go years between posting, but I definitely stop by regularly, even after all these decades.

[LadyTevar]

Automated and user backups not withstanding

Again... they will only last as long as there's electricity to keep them stable. Once the power goes off for the last time and the batteries drain away, what will you have left?

[LadyTevar]

All nice ideas, but there's one thing that's the big problem and it's not just a problem with BBS forums -- No New Members.

EXACTLY. This forum was originally stood up in support of the SD.net website, which Mike was (at the time) actively updating, in order for people to discuss the topics presented. The original website hasn't been updated in...what, 20 years? Absent an external force like an active main site driving users to the forum to discuss the website, no one new will show up. I'm sure the forum bled users at a fairly steady rate back then, but it was fine because there were fresh ones to replace them. Turn off the proverbial spigot, though, and the tub will just slowly drain/evaporate.

Also, the internet is a vastly different place than it was 20 years ago. Pretty much all content is now aggregated on like, 10 websites that everyone uses. Like this was niche site in its heyday, and now I wouldn't even know what you'd call it. Super-niche? Point is, even if Mike was still actively updating the main site, someone would probably just repost his articles on Reddit, and all the discussion would happen there.

That said, I would be sad to see this forum vanish. I sometimes go years between posting, but I definitely stop by regularly, even after all these decades.

Some of the original Aggregated Sites would generate traffic back to where the article was linked from, but that's rare now.
And, TBH, SDnet isn't kicking out anything that bots find worthy of stealing anymore.

[Ralin]

Automated and user backups not withstanding

Again... they will only last as long as there's electricity to keep them stable. Once the power goes off for the last time and the batteries drain away, what will you have left?

Other backups.

Lotta ways for paper to not survive in legible form if we're going to go down that route.

[LadyTevar]

Automated and user backups not withstanding

Again... they will only last as long as there's electricity to keep them stable. Once the power goes off for the last time and the batteries drain away, what will you have left?

Other backups.

Lotta ways for paper to not survive in legible form if we're going to go down that route.

I will point out they're getting legible information from scrolls that were charcoaled in Herculium and Pompeii. But those are indeed rare cases.
I will still state that most digital online forums and sources do not have limitedless backups available to keep them running. Meanwhile, there are books that have survived in readable condition inside of abandoned houses for decades. Yes, they may be a bit musty and moldy, but they are readable. What state would a digital source be in the same abadoned building with no power for decades, exposed to mold and mildew?

[Solauren]

Again... they will only last as long as there's electricity to keep them stable. Once the power goes off for the last time and the batteries drain away, what will you have left?

Other backups.

Lotta ways for paper to not survive in legible form if we're going to go down that route.

I will point out they're getting legible information from scrolls that were charcoaled in Herculium and Pompeii. But those are indeed rare cases.
I will still state that most digital online forums and sources do not have limitedless backups available to keep them running. Meanwhile, there are books that have survived in readable condition inside of abandoned houses for decades. Yes, they may be a bit musty and moldy, but they are readable. What state would a digital source be in the same abadoned building with no power for decades, exposed to mold and mildew?

CD or DVD in a sealed case should be fine.

[LadyTevar]

CD or DVD in a sealed case should be fine.

And how much can those store?
And, let's be honest right now, How Many People Save to CD/DVD right now? How many just "save to the Cloud" and call it done?

How many company backups are CD/DVD, versus solid state computer backups?

I'd not be surprised if future archeologists find a lot of music CDs, assuming they'd have the tech to play it, which is another kettle of worms in itself.

But, we've gotten far off-topic.

[Broomstick]

I don't like the unstructured nature of Discord.(Not that there's anything 'Wrong' with Discord, I just don't think it works very well for what we had HERE.)

And bringing back Archinist? Seriously? There's a 'reason' that guy triggered the coining of the phrase 'dumber than Broomstick's parrots'. How is bringing THAT guy of all people back supposed to be an improvement?

As the owner of Broomstick's parrots I'm opposed to bringing back Archinist. He was briefly amusing, but it got old really, really fast.

Can't say any of Broomstick's parrots have done the same, so far as I know.

I can't allow the parrot near the computer keyboard for fear he'll order too much stuff on Amazon. He doesn't really understand where the birdseed and toys come from, or rather where the money for them come from.

[Solauren]

CD or DVD in a sealed case should be fine.

And how much can those store?

Well, I downloaded the WOTC discussion forms, at least the D&D Section of it, before it closed.
Compressed, it was just over a Gigabyte. Standard Text compression of 20:1 would put it at about 22 Gigabytes.
That's 4 DVDs in capacity, probably 5 when you deal with having to sort things so they all fit without stuff being divided up.

Given the sheer amount of activity on that board, that's probably more then SD.NET by a comfortable margin.