Recent trends...

It appears that this issue has come to a resolution, but I just wanted to put in my 2 cents. What I like about this site is that it allows everyone to read and write posts. It is a very open forum to all users even if they have only been here for a few days. I think it is essential to a new owner to be able to ask questions and have access to all of the forums. Restricting us new users would make us feel inferior and unwanted, and would ultimately lead to noobs abandoning this site altogether. I really don't see any problem with this site the way it is, and I say that if it aint broke, don't fix it.

My thoughts on this subject: Personally, I don't mind the noobs and tools that come on this site seeking help/attention/arguments. I think this forum is cohesive enough to withstand the petty issues that come up, yet open enough for people to have fun and voice their opinions without offending too many people. The trolls that post and try to stir s#@t or look for a fight typically lose interest and will eventually find another forum to harass. There will always be annoying people that join especially on a popular forum, but that's no reason to try and change the forum-ula. ;)

One nice thing about this forum is that it has become a place for new people to seek personal help from a lot of experienced people. Sure, there's tons of information out there and there seems to be an endless stream of "Why won't my Ball eat?" questions that have been answered umpteen-million times, but I actually enjoy answering those questions even though there are countless threads with that same topic or tons of stickies covering every every aspect this cool hobby. New Ball owners care a lot about their pet and want to feel like they are getting personal attention to their problem instead of just some generic post, and this forum allows people to get that personal attention in a non-threatening environment. Of course a lot of the old-timers here answer the same questions over and over so that might lead to a little bit of joking around in the thread, but what's the harm if nobody gets offended and people are having fun giving advice or going off-topic?

Once again, I think things work great around here and the mods are doing an excellent job! Keep up the good work! :sunny:

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Well, the good news is that this is ONLY THE INTERNET :sweeet: ... It's not life and death and 30 years from now, no one will care.

I like the idea of having a site that I can go to and have fun away from the daily grind of life that sometimes can be a real drag ... if that site suddenly starts to have the same limits and consequences that life does, why would I waste my time? I'd rather turn the computer off and get some work done.

If you take a minute to put emotion aside, you'd see that the site is really not "getting worse lately" ... this site rocks, always has, always will! ... we've been hit with a ton of odd ball posts in the last week or so, but ... SO WHAT? ... Those morons will be gone in 2 weeks and we'll still be here doing what we do. I really don't understand why everyones panties/boxers are all wadded up??? ... it's happened before and we've recovered ... and no matter what anyone does, it WILL happen again.

Judy, Matt, and the rest of the admin/mod crew are good eggs and wicked smart ... I think they're doing an EXCELLENT job of running things "AS IS" ... asking them to do more/faster only makes thier lives harder and this site less fun. I say poo poo to that. I'd rather just let it roll off me and keep the site the way it is ... PERFECT! :love:

-adam

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Bang , I agree 100%

I think a lot of the reason there are so many repeat threads is because people want to make sure they didn't miss something. I could tell my snake was dehydrated but would have had no idea he was skinny and underfed as well had I not posted his picture and had input from two members whose posts I have respected a lot since joining BP.net.
So please excuse the noob repeat threads... I know mine was posted to make sure I wan't missing something that an expert's eye obviously saw right away.

Though, it may be a good idea to make a "post formula - use this when asking for help!" sticky thread that has a questionnaire like feel. It could go like this:

If you are posting a thread because your snake has a problem, please answer all of these questions in your first post. You could copy/paste these questions, even!
Remember, BP.net is NOT the same as a vet! If this is an emergency please call your vet!

When did you get your snake?
Was it from a breeder or a pet store?
Is this your first snake? Do you have any others?
How old is he/she?
Is he or she housed with any other snakes?
Was he captive bred (his parents were also in captivity), captive hatched (an egg taken from the wild), or wild caught (caught in the wild, already hatched)?
When was his last feed?
What size is he eating?
Is he eating live, pre-killed or frozen?
When was his last shed?
What are your warm and cool side temperatures?
What is the humidity in your cage?
What is the volume (10 gal, 20 gal, etc)?
Is your enclosure glass or plastic or something else?
What is the problem?
What have you done about it so far?

With something like this, there will be more threads with ALL the info needed in the first post, instead of "my bpw ont eat plz help right away" and then everyone asking for different information, which makes reading the thread and understanding the problem like pulling teeth.

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The trolls that post and try to stir s#@t or look for a fight typically lose interest and will eventually find another forum to harass. There will always be annoying people that join especially on a popular forum, but that's no reason to try and change the forum-ula.

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The old addage "Don't feed the trolls" goes a long way - whether blatant or subtle it's the attention that fuels them. When there is no resistance, no fight they get bored and move on - just as you've said. If you suspect that is the case it has likely occured to staff as well - we are proud of how the site has evolved over the years and invest ourselves in keeping it open and friendly regardless of the effort that sometimes requires and are eyeballing potential issues.

I am glad we have folks who all share that common desire to help/educate whether it means sharing basic info over or pointing the folks in the right direction without hostile or canned responses which seem to be in no shortage on the interweb. I am also glad we have folks who care enough to bring these concerns up.

What can I say, we rock. Collectively - for all you do this 'rita's for you members/staff and everyone. Fresh strawberry/kiwi ritas on me - my house tonight. Be there or don't be impaired ;)

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

What can I say, we rock. Collectively - for all you do this 'rita's for you members/staff and everyone. Fresh strawberry/kiwi ritas on me - my house tonight. Be there or don't be impaired ;)

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I'm in! :carrot:

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

Collectively - for all you do this 'rita's for you members/staff and everyone. Fresh strawberry/kiwi ritas on me - my house tonight. Be there or don't be impaired ;)

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May we watch Army of Darkness on your plasma screen :wuv:

Change of lineup, cue m'boy.

Big Trouble In Little China!


Sadly no plasma.

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

Change of lineup, cue m'boy.

Big Trouble In Little China!

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Man, I am so four minutes ago :tears:

You should get one...my brother just did....50" Samsung. I know where I'll be for football, march madness, last season of the sopranos, etc!