I've been thinking recently about this; about places I frequented once but now, for whatever reason, tend to avoid; and about places I may have lurked at for a while when first entering the community and then fled without ever saying a word after having seen enough. (Poor customer service, local curmudgeons, hostility to customers and a host of others turn offs)

 

I just took a swing through some old hangouts, and the question seemed even more topical, making me wonder about how others feel.

 

So. What about a forum makes you want to settle down for a while and make it a home away from home?

 

What makes you stay; and if you don't stay, what about a particular forum makes you leave?

 

How does the attitude of a forum; the way you feel they deal with people, affect your buying decisions? (if the forum is also a vendor?)

 

Has there ever been a product you wished to purchase, but didn't, because of their forums?

 

Have you ever been comfortable at a forum, and then had that forum change in a way that made you leave?

 

Do you think that Flight sim forums tend to behave differently than others?

 

What do you think in the end has made Avsim such a popular community?

Good diplomacy, good debate, good humour, good people to hang out with. AVSIM does have a lot of that, not 100% but in the top places I visit over the world pipe.

 

These forums are great places to visit when you have a bit of downtime in your day, and for me Facebook is far to generic to be interesting. AVSiM is where like minded individuals share ideas and knowledge.

Hello

It does seem like forum traffic is well down recently especially in the FSX forum

I have not been around much recently, what happened ?

Hello

It does seem like forum traffic is well down recently especially in the FSX forum

I have not been around much recently, what happened ?

 

Hi MD,

 

Actually the numbers are doing well and have a continuous seasonally adjusted growth pattern, although last year the excitement and aggravation of Flight put them out of the atmosphere.

 

Lots of things happen, but controversy seems to add to the numbers as people like to read the gossip and bet on the fights, even if they remain mostly spectators. As much as anything, forums like this are a spectators sport as much as pro wrestling, but not as crooked.

 

In any case MD, it is really good to see you again now that I we don't have MS Flight to talk about, since I agree with everything you said, but not necessarily why you said it!

I've been a member of numerous forums devoted to a variety of topics. It seems like the forums I stick with are those that offer a lively "general discussion" area. It's funny, I always join to find specific information about a particular subject then stay for the more open threads which often have nothing to do with focus of the site.

Lots of things happen, but controversy seems to add to the numbers as people like to read the gossip and bet on the fights, even if they remain mostly spectators. As much as anything, forums like this are a spectators sport as much as pro wrestling, but not as crooked.

 

:LMAO:

 

When you put it that way it sounds like Howard Stern's formula for ratings :lol:

 

If a new Flight Sim was announced then this place would be booming with people.....Hopefully someday soon

When you put it that way it sounds like Howard Stern's formula for ratings

 

But not intentionally, believe you me!

If a new Flight Sim was announced then this place would be booming with people.....Hopefully someday soon

 

I think you need to have a look at the live stats page (automatically updated every 30 minutes) here:

 

http://forum.avsim.net/stats/

When it comes to product specific forums, I like a place that hasn't yet been overwhelmed by too many product enthusiasts. I've seen often that forums can become places where if you bring up a problem, or ask a probing question, you are immediately harangued as a troll by an army of people who appear to believe it is more important to be a loyal fan than anything else like, for example, having their simulation actually be accurate. <_<

 

Related to this are forums where the developers basically lie, try to misdirect, or constantly push back against what they know is a legitimate issue. One time I was surfing AVSIM and I saw a discussion going about about a very popular particular program, which I'm tempted to name, but I won't out of politeness, where the customer support guy had acknowledged the problem, but was insisting that there was nothing to be done about it. Since I wasn't a member of Avsim at the time, I inquired about the very same problem on the developers own forums. The very same person, completely LIED and said that he had never heard about the issue before, which immediately set things off on the wrong track. What a jerk!

When it comes to product specific forums, I like a place that hasn't yet been overwhelmed by too many product enthusiasts. I've seen often that forums can become places where if you bring up a problem, or ask a probing question, you are immediately harangued as a troll by an army of people who believe it is more important to be a loyal fan than it is to have their simulation be accurate.

 

I have lurked on sites like that, then walked away quietly. Sometimes its a shame because the product itself is ok, but who wants to deal with that?

 

Its not the "Army of people" that annoys: its when its clear the army has the tacit approval of the forum that enough becomes enough.

Its not the "Army of people" that annoys: its when its clear the army has the tacit approval of the forum that enough becomes enough.

 

Yes, well put. Some developers want to make things for the love of making them, and welcome input, while some just want to sell you something and are more than happy to hide behind their fan base or perhaps even begin to believe their own sales pitch, thus rendering any actual discussion moot.

I've been thinking recently about this; about places I frequented once but now, for whatever reason, tend to avoid; and about places I may have lurked at for a while when first entering the community and then fled without ever saying a word after having seen enough. (Poor customer service, local curmudgeons, hostility to customers and a host of others turn offs)

 

I just took a swing through some old hangouts, and the question seemed even more topical, making me wonder about how others feel.

 

So. What about a forum makes you want to settle down for a while and make it a home away from home?

 

What makes you stay; and if you don't stay, what about a particular forum makes you leave?

 

How does the attitude of a forum; the way you feel they deal with people, affect your buying decisions? (if the forum is also a vendor?)

 

Has there ever been a product you wished to purchase, but didn't, because of their forums?

 

Have you ever been comfortable at a forum, and then had that forum change in a way that made you leave?

 

Do you think that Flight sim forums tend to behave differently than others?

 

What do you think in the end has made Avsim such a popular community?

All of the replies are speaking for myself only:

 

1) Settling down is based on ease of navigation, ease of colors viewed (especailly if there are a bunch of topics you want to read) and answers to questions I have that have already been resolved

 

2) Why leave? Difficult naviagtion of the site, dead sites (topics posted, but no replies and low view amounts), fake forum mods, fake forum experts, no responses from the developers (which usually leads to the degeneration of the forum till all that is left to talk about is stupid, barely on topic, discussions)

 

3) In a vendors forum, alI worry about is the responsivness to issues, bugs and willingness to improve. I love forums where the developers discuss issues and abhor forums where you get the silent treatment or even worse, treated as pests

 

4) There has not been a product i did not purchase due to the forums

 

5) I was comfortable in a forum but stagnation and no communication led me to go elsewhere. There are a very rare few that I left due to changes in the forum design

 

6) I've particpated at 4chan. I've posted on something awful. I was a poster on WoW's forums. AVSIM's trolls are NOTHING compaired to those trolls. Sometimes I get a kick on these forums when I see some of the pitiful trolls here. Big difference between debating a WX radar (which I think we should have) versus something awful's goons or even Wow (during the RealID debacle) where people troll you by finding you in real life and describing your RL address, girlfriend and job.

 

I think AVSIM is so popular because it has just enough drama, a superior library, and a massive knowledgebase. When the site remains consistently active, search engines will usually pull up the site on page 1 of results. Which in turn MAY generate more aviation enthusiast traffic. Oh yeah.. and it's free.

 

PS: I didn't know about the versatility of FSX till I came to AVSIM one day. I'd heard of it before but researched it here.

I've only really left forums because of time. I come back from time to time.

Heavy handed moderation is generally a big turnoff for me, and I say that knowing full well that Avsim itself has been the target of such criticism, so I speak constructively. I do tend to favor websites that let a flame war run its course, let the people feel they have made the points they need to make, and let it burn out on its own. Just as the moderators of a website feel the need to "raise there voice" every so often to be heard, so too do the members of a forum during an earnest, passionate discussion. It is very human. I always feel more comfortable on a forum when I feel that I too can do that if absolutely necessary, and that I won't necessarily get the hammer for it--there are many ways to insult somebody and it is always ashame to see a person who couches their condescension in faux politness is completely safe, but the person who gets a bit hot under the collar in response is in dire peril of getting squashed by a moderator. In such instances it isn't about some perception of "freedom of speech" so much as it is allowing people to communicate naturally.

I do tend to favor websites that let a flame war run its course, let the people feel they have made the points they need to make, and let it burn out on its own.

 

And...

 

In such instances it isn't about some perception of "freedom of speech" so much as it is allowing people to communicate naturally.

 

Our ToS' state:

 

Behavior and Your Actions: AVSIM’s goal is to provide an educational and entertainment resource for people with similar interests and a community that is fun to be part of by users from around the world. Your acts and words on AVSIM will not, in any way, infringe upon other’s enjoyment of the AVSIM site. Any acts of bigotry, profanity, or disregard for what is reasonably considered to be social “norms” will result in suspension or banning entirely. Keep in mind that AVSIM is a multi-national and multi-cultural site, and "norms" vary from country to country. What may be acceptable in your culture / country, may not be acceptable in others. If in doubt, contact AVSIM staff BEFORE you post anything that could be offensive elsewhere.

 

Your "communicating naturally", whatever that means, may be offensive to others. We are catering to over 100,000 members from around the world. A couple of folks who want to "communicate naturally" and making it uncomfortable for others is not acceptable. The few that find our enforcement of our Terms of Service unacceptable, are encouraged to find their freedom to "communicate naturally" elsewhere.

 

We have been providing this service for over 16 years. All in all, I would say that the larger community agrees with our management of these forums and the proof in that is our continuing growth. And, it doesn't surprise me one iota that this topic has very quickly touched on our approach to managing these forums.

 

That seems to be the topic of the moment in various corners of the hobby, mostly fomented by those with an ax to grind. Our response is very simple and straight forward; if a person cannot abide by our ToS' (which they agreed to when they registered), and think they should be exempted from them or entitled to ignore them, then they are going to be shown the door, eventually or immediately. If that makes us #####, Gestapo, whatever, then so be it. We can live with the childish denigration and which adults among us recognize for what it is.