I must have missed BBW8675309's quality posts while trying to catch up with your endless "If the Rockets were a bowl of soup..." threads. (Split Pea, btw...)
I thought the D&D in hangout was the "elite" forum. At least everyone over there thinks their poopie don't stink. BTW- My idea is this... I'd suggest a forum devoted to newbies called "You're stuck here until, you prove yourself in a battle royale of 'survival of the one who make most sense' and you're required not to post an extreme number of trade proposal threads that make no improvement to Rockets whatsover, and you'll only survive if the large silver claw at the top of the holding chamber (crew) selects you randomly from the top of the pile based on your post ratings as a predeterminer, after a 30 day evalution period." In other words, not a "Veteran Forum" but a "Newbie Proving Grounds"... call it the "ClutchBBDL" or something... Maybe even make it "30 days or 400 quality posts (no bans, warnings) whichever comes first. This way the is incentive to grow up quicker, and give the "vets" a good reason to "stay up" on their game... This doesn't seem to divide as much, yet... it encourages good posts from the start. And it could serve to weed out the trolls that don't intend to stick anywho... And maybe even posters rated higher from the start could be read by "vets" and they could be collectively drafted (as in suggested) up to the "bigs" sooner. A spin on the idea...
He is the poster formerly known as Azadre (not that that would change the answer to his question, I assume).
I think anybody who could tell you about "the bet" (just ask me, SJC, Raven Lunatic, crispee, Comic Book Guy, newbihad, etc) goes back far enough to be considered veteran. Or maybe anyone who has heard of rivals.com and could somehow connect that with clutchcity.
Didn't rivals.com used to have a close affiliation with this right around the .net start? I remember going to clutchcity.net (or was it .com back then) and having to select between 2 things, clutchcity and something else. Of course all I did was read threads back then and don't seem like much of a vet.
YAY! Finally a criteria I would qualify by. Actually, I think I'd enjoy such a forum whether I qualified or not, as long as I could read the posts. I think the thread rating system is a nice idea towards the utopian forum of 100% quality threads that we all dream of.
So what happens to someone like myself who has been around since way back, but only post in the GARM if I feel strongly about something? Do the people who have been here since the beginning get shut out of the chance to post just because of our post count?
Except I'd be a veteran with a cool 2k under my belt, horrible post quailites(wait that hasn't chaged), and I'd have been a member for 3 years in July... Oh well.
If you were to create such a forum, I think IROC it has the right idea. Not a 'veteran's only' forum, but more a 'clubhouse' or proving grounds. Three ways I think could support it: 1. As somebody said - make the forum viewable by all. Even topics that come up that the 'general' GARM forum could still be commented on even though they can't post in the 'clubhouse' forum. Also, it cuts down the 'elitist' measure slightly. 2. Only make it a Rockets board. None of the other forums really need such a split, as the GARM seems to be the only problem anyway. 3. The members aren't just veterans. I've seen boards where people are chosen by other members of the 'clubhouse' forum to join - also an adoption system, where someone adopts another new poster for access to the forum for a brief period of time. If they do well, the other clubbies don't have a problem, they vote and the person stays. It's a difficult balance - keeping a board with lots of solid material and feedback, but at the same time not trying to appear elitist, shutting others out, or not giving new folks a chance. You've got to provide all that. Of course, there is one other option....more mods to help out in the GARM. The crew works hard but can't do everything. Regular guys who spend a lot of time monitoring the board and maybe get slightly more liberal with their closing...it's more hard-nosed, but when a board seems to be getting out of hand its the usual course of action.
I also have to say that, based on what I thought I knew of Jeff's character, this seems completely incompatible with how he thinks things should work. Clearly he is large, contains multitudes, etc...
Even if the Vets had their own "Penthouse" where they could "think" among themselves without the bothersome noise and chatter from the "kids." I still think the (old) GARM would thrive just as always. I mean, just look at the Game Stickys. They are usually filled with 10 to 20 junior posters. Every now and again you'll get a few vets chime in here and there. But still, the newbies post away, enoying themselves, without the vets. I feel that young/rookie posters add a bit of "chaos" to the BBS. They are like energetic puppies that wont stop jumping around (until you smack them!) If there was a separte area for vets, that place could be used for serious discussion/concepts about whatever. I think that it *seems* "elitist" now if we implemented a vet fourm. But if it was implented it would serve as a privilege to reach by some of the newer posters. I mean, if they only stick around for a few years. Well, they don't matter (people come and go). But what if you stick around 10 years? I think that deservers something? Anyways, it's not the big a deal. Might be fun to try. I'd settle for Avatars. But I know, I know....bandwidth! What about new rankings, NCAA style? Freshmen Sophomore Junior Senior Running with Chainsaw!
I thought Manny got changed to CBC via the bet and changed back at the same time as HeyPee, etc. Oh well, it was a long time ago.
No, both Manny and I asked for name changes, which was unrelated to the bet (maybe inspired by it, but not part of it). Manny changed his name back later.
