Considering closing GM

[crickhollow]

Originally posted by HOBBIT
After reading all of the messages here, I have changed my mind. I love general messages and I only post here. All of your input really helped me to make my decision in favor of keeping general messages. Afro-elf is obvioulsy right, and I am sorry if I ofended you in anyway. I am sorry for being saruman .

who logged on under hobbit's name?

[HOBBIT]

No one did. I posted that myself. I was originally brainwashed by Tater, now I am free and thinking for myself.

[Menelvagor]

*digs around in the back pages of GM (boy, this really does get a lot of traffic!)*

I think the best example of GM's importance comes from the admins themselves. Ben posted this after Tater's April Fools day prank when people started leaving because of it. I think this about sums it up.

Please let me know what you feel has been wrong with the board lately. Unlike some other administrators, I really do care what the users think and I like to keep them happy. Based on the overwhelming support voiced for Tater's silly color-changing thing, I thought you guys liked pranks.

Would you guys like a serious Tolkien forum with no nonsense allowed, or a no-rules teen hangout with a loose Tolkien theme? I think some people can't make up their minds. I personally would strive for something in the middle, preferably toward the former . Please remember that this is General Messages. I love LotR, but discussing it in-depth every day for three years is simply not possible, imo. That's why I think the miscellaneous areas are healthy for the board.

Because of the interest generated by the movie, the Tolkien forums experienced an unprecedented renaissance. For the first time, there were more messages posted in the Tolkien forums than in the unrelated areas. During the first year or so of our existence, General Messages alone made up more than 50% of the board. This is a wonderful turnaround, I think, considering that this is a Tolkien board. Darth Tater, on the other hand, feels that the new people have only worsened Entmoot. In my opinion, I think that exchanging ideas and talking with a larger member base (but still small enough to be cozy) is the whole point of all of this. Obviously with any large group of people you'll find some bad apples.

If your beef is with this miscellaneous community area, consider restricting yourself to the Middle-earth forums for awhile. Unfortunately, I haven't been as involved there as I'd like, but I know the discussion is top-notch.

There is a certain fatigue with anything that begins to seem permanent on the Internet. I don't think any of the current regulars here (minus the staff) have been posting for even a year. Very few of the former regulars exited with fanfare like Nibs; they just slowly found other interests and drifted away. Of course, new people drifted in to replace them. It's just the temporary nature of the Web. Some of us in the administration have been here since 1999, and I guess restlessness comes with doing the same thing for such a long period of time. Darth Tater seems to respond by pulling pranks to shake things up. I just haven't been posting much. Of course, we feel responsibility to the board that a regular user wouldn't have. Users come and go, and times past will always seem like "the good old days."

And remember, if you have a suggestion or a concern, contact an admin. Try me if no one else responds. Some of us do have lives outside of Entmoot (heh), so a response might not be instantaneous, but you will receive a reply eventually. We do read everything you send us.

Particular emphasis on that last bit I put in bold. Even the admins need a break from serious Tolkien. In fact, concidering the previous record of a certain admin that started this thread, this might even just be the product of that same thing, just trying to shake things up. Kicking the anthill.

[StrawberryIcecream]

CBG why are you so mean?

You do realise by putting that remark about you not listening to our opinions you made everyone feel worthless dont you?

And not taking into account people's opinions in narrowminded.

and just to remind you:

yeah you, darth tater, hobbit, bmilder, SHG etc... have the right to do what ever you want because its your board.

but we are all the entmoot. it wouldnt be much of a moot if there was just treebeard talking to himself would it?

I'm off to cool down now but dont think you're getting rid of me because NO WAY am i being driven out of one of favourite places to be!

[Andúril]

HOBBIT, if I may ask, why has the Anti-theist thread undertaken padlock status?

[Cirdan]

Originally posted by StrawberryIcecream
CBG why are you so mean?

You do realise by putting that remark about you not listening to our opinions you made everyone feel worthless dont you?

And not taking into account people's opinions in narrowminded.

and just to remind you:

yeah you, darth tater, hobbit, bmilder, SHG etc... have the right to do what ever you want because its your board.

but we are all the entmoot. it wouldnt be much of a moot if there was just treebeard talking to himself would it?

I'm off to cool down now but dont think you're getting rid of me because NO WAY am i being driven out of one of favourite places to be!

Sorry, I don't feel worthless because of CBG's comments. If the admins want to go back to a more cloistered environment, so be it. It's their ball, they can take it and go home, if that's what they want. Tolkien fundamentalism?

[jerseydevil]

I put some additional comments on the The decline of entmoot thread.

This is I thought should be stated here though. This is what Tater said on 9/20/1999

The rules of the forum

Though we admins and moderators have the final say in what's acceptible and what isn't, you should still be able to have imput. How much swearing should we tolerate? What kind of posting is innapropriate? This is your board, you deside.

Ben then asked who he meant by "you".

Tater's response -

By you I ment the folks who will hopefully storm this site making it the best bb on the internet!

One thing, without people posting - a messageboard isn't worth much. Admins don't really make a messageboard - it's the users that do. In 1999 it seems as if Tater realised this.

[Radagast The Brown]

I think that the admins still determine what to close and what not, and they actually deside the most of the desisions. I think they needs to do it and not to ask as on all the unimportant desisions but this doesn't mean they have to deside this desision and because of this Tater asked us on this desision.

[Comic Book Guy]

After reading all of the messages here, I have changed my mind. I love general messages and I only post here. All of your input really helped me to make my decision in favor of keeping general messages. Afro-elf is obvioulsy right, and I am sorry if I ofended you in anyway. I am sorry for being saruman .

Saruman decieved people, just like you have done, so you are still 'Saruman'.

CBG why are you so mean?

You do realise by putting that remark about you not listening to our opinions you made everyone feel worthless dont you?

I dunno, it's matter of opinon, I guess.

HOBBIT, if I may ask, why has the Anti-theist thread undertaken padlock status?

It became a spam thread.

[BeardofPants]

Originally posted by Comic Book Guy


It became a spam thread.

Nothing to do with the traffic problems then?

[afro-elf]

one mans spam is another's....

I think it was closed to early

Now Bop and Anduril and their half dwarf stuff

[BeardofPants]

Originally posted by afro-elf
Now Bop and Anduril and their half dwarf stuff

Voyeurs....

[Finrod Felagund]

This is slightly amusing...

[Janny]

I must most vehemently protest the suggestion. The Moot may have been designed for people to discuss Tolkein, but it is only natural that the intelligent thinking people that Mooter are would want to expand their minds into issues such as terrorism et al.

[Khamûl]

Don't take the suggestion too seriously. If you check the dates, this thread is almost two years old and, as you can see, GM is still open.

[brownjenkins]

inane banter prevails!

it funny seeing some of the posters i use to read on here

[Grey_Wolf]

If you want to control the subjects taken up here sub-forums would perhaps be a good idea.

Politics
- Socialism/Communism
- Conservatism
- Centerpolitics

Culture
- Food
- Architecture
- Archiology

Sciences
- Technology
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics

...and so on.

[Tessar]

Ummm guys...


This was a silly thread started TWO YEARS AGO .

[Giroth]

Hmm. I can see the reason for concern,but I would hate to see GM go down. GM is the mooters' place to get to know each other better and have fun. I also hate the spam on this board, but maybe this could serve as a warning or a more official one could be put up. I say that if the spam continues at an unbearable level, the board should indeed be closed. But if the spam level drops, then the board should be left here for the rest of us. I'd hate to see the spammers take down GM for the rest of us non-spammers who go here for some decent fun ahd chat.

Whatever the admins do is in the best interest of the board..I just hope it doesn't come to closing GM.

[BeardofPants]

Ah yes, the great kicking of the anthill, and we were all sent scurrying for our livelihood. Lovely spaaaaam.