I've just looked at the stats and at the moment there are apparently 1703 people in the chatroom and 90 on the forums.
90 is still a good number, but you can see what is pulling in the crowds.
I would like to see a lot more of the site opened up to freebie members. Maybe that is not good business, I don't know. If only the Forums were opened up I am concerned you would get a lot of people trying to advertise and trolling here, simply because they can't interact elsewhere.
With regards to flamming etc, I think you get that on Forums everywhere, simply because everyone has plenty of time to analyze a message to death. I post on a cats forum with lots of nice American cat women (not literally, they are not in PVC sadly) and even these ladies can get into massive rows on their forum.
To be honest, I am not sure if this will work, but if someone is being a bit harsh, just let them know maybe via PM. Possibly that will just cause more arguments, who knows.
I would like to post more and start new threads but very early on I was a bit discouraged by the flaming of newbies and by the trigger happy modding. I remember threads used to get locked for no apparent reason - it was very odd.
Another reason newbies might not want to post that much is that it feels a bit clickey or at least that's the perception.
What I find off putting is when a very interesting thread is going on some people start making silly comments with their mates and the thread gets hijacked by one or two all posting banal stuff like:
Poster 1: oh you're so funny,
Poster 2: oh no you're funnier,
P1: I know hahahaha,
P2: oh no you'll be in trouble now, just laughed at me
P1: oh really? what you gonna do then lol
and on and on and on and it get sooo boring and I just think sod it those two/three just ruined a very good thread. The thread becomes a private conversation - and if they really want a private conversation they could easily have it in the chatrooms instead.
As for being oversentisite yes perhaps some people are but I suppose they longer they stay the less sensitive they'll become - maybe they just need time.
Another thing I've noticed is that sometimes a member who's not that well known starts a thread; for some reason it receives very little replies or attention. However if a well known member starts a thread - whether it's silly or serious it always gets a lot of replies... very strange that.
Am I right or is that just my imagination?
The chat rooms offer witty one liners or more often one worders. But generally I think the forums provide the right conditions for a debate.
One of the advantages of the forums is that committed newbies can establish themselves by careful postings and this helps them to get invites to the meets.
Careful postings means that newbies won't find themselves in an awkward situation, and then become uncertain about themselves. But there's many who start with a devil may care attitude, and then feel they have messed up.
Its difficult to anticipate how people will do in the forums. If you offer too much help you may be stuck with someone clingy.
It's very much a cyclical thing in the forums. I think we all see similar threads appearing throughout the year. More recently they have come round more quickly.
But the debates can only be what the contributors put into them. They need to be entered into with consideration of the prevailing conditions. A topic debated a month ago will have a different character to the current one. Otherwise one just ends up cherry picking and looking for the debate that suits one's bag of one liners.
But there's no point getting hung up about the site. It won't provide for you. Its just entertainment.
Hmmm, well is it so bad if they want wank fodder? I'm sure there could be room for both on the forum.
Looking at the context of the rest of the site, it doesn't seem that innapropriate.
I am curious, would such a post be locked be locked, and if so why?
(I only gave the fantasy or photo thing as examples, things that I could quickly think of)
<PERSONAL opinion follows>
I've been here for over 4 years now, since it started, and have seen more people join up and leave than I care to think about. It's the nature of the beast and will ever thus be so! A lot of those whom I regard as my closest friends I met on here but they are no longer active here, some inhabit other sites and some are not anywhere, but I keep regular contact with them, talk on the phone to them, visit them, meet them elsewhere and join in the family stuff whether good or bad or mundane.
A few weeks ago I posted about regarding the site as somewhere you 'live' - and then it changes happen and people move out, more move in and the landscape and dynamics change. Expecting things to remain static is unrealistic, otherwise we'd still be living in caves without running water or power.
If I cease to enjoy a place (pub, club, work etc) I don't go back. No point in keeping going back just to confirm how awful you knew it was!! I don't need to go to my 'favourite' pub once it's been revamped just to sit there and carp, criticise or moan on - leaving quietly is graceful!
Long live the Big Black Dalek and what he created even if both he and it are evolving!
<END of PERSONAL opinion>
:P
<<<<<<Choon kicks soapbox to one side >>>>>>
and do chip in with my twopeneth on occasions 
ops: Well, you not seeing mine :P 
:rotflmao: 
others will fail? 
and then they will hit cancel account buttons, or deliberately run headlong into bans to demonstrate a particularly telling point, as they see it, or they will quietly slope off into the sunset? 
any which way, they quite deliberately remove themselves from the site.! ;)
