Being new to this website I got the feeling there is a real simple common sense reason why this site has not chatroom, but all the same, I gotta ask.
Personally, I really do not understand why there is no chatroom and am surprised there is not. Are there plans to have one? Does this have something to do with server problems?
OK, well had to ask.
Bob
| Bob Burns wrote: |
| Being new to this website I got the feeling there is a real simple common sense reason why this site has not chatroom, but all the same, I gotta ask.
Personally, I really do not understand why there is no chatroom and am surprised there is not. Are there plans to have one? Does this have something to do with server problems? OK, well had to ask. Bob |
Chatrooms are not ideal, since they are real-time conversations and any info exchanged therein typically goes away when a session ends. A forum venue is preferable for most of us since there are searchable archives and information stays around indefinitely. For me, chat rooms are not a hallmark of Internet sites of any educational value. I have no use for them at all.
I highly doubt there are plans to launch one. The decision would have little to do with the server setup, I'd guess, and would have much more to do with Nathan's overall vision for the site. It shouldn't be surprising that we don't have one. Most of the major arms and armour discussion sites don't have chat rooms, whether for technical or idealogical reasons.
You could present your Messenger name or e-mail to use in MSN or your ICQ number or Skype Name in your presentation. I´ve met a few of my "Cyberpals" here and on other forums. If you want it to be vissible in every reply you make on the forum you could just ad the adress in your signature!
Martin
MSN: wallgrenmartin@hotmail.com
Skype: martinwallgren
Martin
MSN: wallgrenmartin@hotmail.com
Skype: martinwallgren
Reading what Chad had to say makes all the sense in the world and I gotta say I agree. Archived forums are really the only way to go.
Bob
Bob
myArmoury.com is primary a content-driven Web site that happens to also have a forum. We're about putting out articles. Chatrooms don't fit within that vision. The forum environment is as close as I want to get to faciliate "conversations" and I think it does quite enough to introduce people to one another and start facilitating them to speak on the phone or meet in person. Personally, I find chatrooms annoying. I've tried to elevate the whole "discussion" aspect of this hobby to something more than chit-chat. Chatrooms are almost always exactly the opposite of this and offer very little informational value.
Nathan;
Say the word " Chatroom " and I can't help thinking of a bunch of 14 year old girls going on an on breathlessly: " And then she said ....... " and giggling while trashing their friends !
My apologies to 14th year old girls. :p :lol:
Seriously the occasional really off topic stuff should be handled by P.M. or by exchanging private E-Mail addresses with those who have become actual friends: Made a few of those here by the way.
Say the word " Chatroom " and I can't help thinking of a bunch of 14 year old girls going on an on breathlessly: " And then she said ....... " and giggling while trashing their friends !
My apologies to 14th year old girls. :p :lol:
Seriously the occasional really off topic stuff should be handled by P.M. or by exchanging private E-Mail addresses with those who have become actual friends: Made a few of those here by the way.
I can't emphasize enough how strongly I agree with Nathan on this issue, in fact, we had quite a lot of discussion before we decided to add a discussion forum.
Chat rooms are completely worthless for educational purposes, and that's what we're all about, education. As an example: I've been spending a lot of time working on my 11th century anglo-norman kit. Consequently, I signed onto several Yahoo discussion boards involving reenactment groups of this period. Now these aren't real-time chat rooms but the principle is much the same. I've since signed off of most of them since they're largely useless to me. They have value as communication for a groups members, but the educational value is nill. The discussions are mostly devoted to pissy arguments about a groups rule structure, or "Who's bringin' the keg Saturday?" kind of discussions. Good for them, worthless for me from an information gathering point of view. Chat rooms usually degenerate into the same kind of talk.
Nathan has also mentioned something that I can't stress enough: myArmoury.com is not a discussion forum. It is an education resource that happens to have a forum attached to it. Those articles and reviews are our main focus, that's what we're all about.
Chat rooms are completely worthless for educational purposes, and that's what we're all about, education. As an example: I've been spending a lot of time working on my 11th century anglo-norman kit. Consequently, I signed onto several Yahoo discussion boards involving reenactment groups of this period. Now these aren't real-time chat rooms but the principle is much the same. I've since signed off of most of them since they're largely useless to me. They have value as communication for a groups members, but the educational value is nill. The discussions are mostly devoted to pissy arguments about a groups rule structure, or "Who's bringin' the keg Saturday?" kind of discussions. Good for them, worthless for me from an information gathering point of view. Chat rooms usually degenerate into the same kind of talk.
Nathan has also mentioned something that I can't stress enough: myArmoury.com is not a discussion forum. It is an education resource that happens to have a forum attached to it. Those articles and reviews are our main focus, that's what we're all about.
I'm with you guys on the chatroom issue (though I do welcome the thought). Chatrooms are more for fun, not for gathering info. Don't get me wrong, I do have fun on this site: reading the articles and reviews and posting messages -- but I give tremendous value to the things I've learned here and the opportunities of sharing my knowledge with others. :) Such qualities within chatrooms are scarce at best.
Ted
Ted
I totally agree, a chatroom would end up probably ruining the integrity of this website in the long run. It would open up the opportunity of people saying things on impulse and others being resentful. Now that I have read the responses I have to say that I agree totally.
As for there having been a reluctance of having a discussion forum? Well, I think this is an excellent idea, people are walking libraries of knowledge and I have learned a lot from your posts. As a matter of fact, it was the discussion forums that influeced me to join this website. I have also received some very constructive criticism because of these forums, which has kept me following the right path in the forest of learning.
It's really great to have a website that is focused on the collector, even though I do not have an abundance of money at this particular point in life to put together a collection of custom made or limited edition pieces, I am able to collect high quality production pieces. In other words, all our hearts are in the same places in that we are collectors, it is only economic circumstances that seperate us into how elaborate and extensive our collections can be. But what is really important here is that we are all of the same mind set, we are collectors of replicas that help keep the history of our heritage alive. We all share something very special!
Happy Collecting,
Bob
As for there having been a reluctance of having a discussion forum? Well, I think this is an excellent idea, people are walking libraries of knowledge and I have learned a lot from your posts. As a matter of fact, it was the discussion forums that influeced me to join this website. I have also received some very constructive criticism because of these forums, which has kept me following the right path in the forest of learning.
It's really great to have a website that is focused on the collector, even though I do not have an abundance of money at this particular point in life to put together a collection of custom made or limited edition pieces, I am able to collect high quality production pieces. In other words, all our hearts are in the same places in that we are collectors, it is only economic circumstances that seperate us into how elaborate and extensive our collections can be. But what is really important here is that we are all of the same mind set, we are collectors of replicas that help keep the history of our heritage alive. We all share something very special!
Happy Collecting,
Bob
| Bob Burns wrote: |
| As for there having been a reluctance of having a discussion forum? Well, I think this is an excellent idea, people are walking libraries of knowledge and I have learned a lot from your posts. As a matter of fact, it was the discussion forums that influeced me to join this website. I have also received some very constructive criticism because of these forums, which has kept me following the right path in the forest of learning. |
Bob,
I love the discussion boards here, too (obviously :) ). Posting is pretty active, mostly mature in tone, and usually quite informative. Lots of learning happens in these pages. What's always fascinating to me is knowing that the rest of the site (articles, reviews, albums, etc.) gets far more hits than the forums do. We get many thousands of visitors that never log into the forums, but visit and learn from other parts of the site.
It goes back to Nathan's vision, which Nathan and Patrick touched on: making a website that is content-based. The forums are a component of that content and not necessarily the largest component. That's why we've spent so much time developing the many resources found here, and why we push to constantly update the site with new, relevant, and hopefully useful content. Just about anyone can create a discussion forum; not everyone can/will create and maintain what we have here.
Chad;
Maybe the perspective of heavy users of the Forums is skewed into giving more importance to the Forums is that most of us have read all the articles at least once and a lot of them many times: I know I look forward to any new content and make a priority of reading anything new. I also go back to an article at times to refresh my memory. But I visit every day because of the content of the Forums: It a rare day that I don't learn something new or enjoy the exchanges.
I learn a great deal from the Forum discussions and our more knowledgeable members.
I also learn from the less well informed because their questions often bring interesting replies or news ways of looking at things.
Maybe the perspective of heavy users of the Forums is skewed into giving more importance to the Forums is that most of us have read all the articles at least once and a lot of them many times: I know I look forward to any new content and make a priority of reading anything new. I also go back to an article at times to refresh my memory. But I visit every day because of the content of the Forums: It a rare day that I don't learn something new or enjoy the exchanges.
I learn a great deal from the Forum discussions and our more knowledgeable members.
I also learn from the less well informed because their questions often bring interesting replies or news ways of looking at things.
| Jean Thibodeau wrote: |
| Maybe the perspective of heavy users of the Forums is skewed into giving more importance to the Forums is that most of us have read all the articles at least once and a lot of them many times: I know I look forward to any new content and make a priority of reading anything new. I also go back to an article at times to refresh my memory. But I visit every day because of the content of the Forums: It a rare day that I don't learn something new or enjoy the exchanges.
I learn a great deal from the Forum discussions and our more knowledgeable members. I also learn from the less well informed because their questions often bring interesting replies or news ways of looking at things. |
Jean,
I competely understand your point, and I'm not trying to understate or play down the importance and/or relevance of the forums at all. Like you, I'm on the forums all the time (probably too much for my own good :) ), and I read each article many times (part of that is a Team Member's "job", the rest is because the articles are great references). I've learned a ton from the forums.
In fact, evidence of the forums' importance to the overall mission of the site can be seen in the high level of customization Nathan has done to improve usability of the forums and to link different parts of the site together via the forum software. The open source software that is the core of this site is available to all. But I know Nathan has and continues to tweak it and add features to it. So it's an important piece of the puzzle, but still is just one piece. :)
The interplay of the different components of the site is fascinating, too. A collection page may link to a review. That review may have a source that links to the bookstore. The bookstore book entry will link to individual reading lists. Being in a user's reading list may entice you to look at their profile. Looking at their profile could make you view all their posts. Etc., etc., etc.
Chad;
No argument from me here :cool: I only understood the relative importance of the features as far as volume of trafic some months back when I think Nathan first mentioned it.
And it does all connect together very well as you said. But for me the Forum led me to read and appreciate the featured content as opposed to others who find the site when researching some historical or weapon related question and don't join or participate in the Forums.
By the way I lurked as a guest for at least 6 months before I registered my membership.
In any case the Forums may not be the reason for the site but they do add to it. Also the high level of civility of the
discussions and the good moderation that does a great job preventing the unproductive and childish flame wars that pollute far to many internet Forums is a major plus of this site.
Consider yourself and the other moderators and Nathan complimented. :cool:
No argument from me here :cool: I only understood the relative importance of the features as far as volume of trafic some months back when I think Nathan first mentioned it.
And it does all connect together very well as you said. But for me the Forum led me to read and appreciate the featured content as opposed to others who find the site when researching some historical or weapon related question and don't join or participate in the Forums.
By the way I lurked as a guest for at least 6 months before I registered my membership.
In any case the Forums may not be the reason for the site but they do add to it. Also the high level of civility of the
discussions and the good moderation that does a great job preventing the unproductive and childish flame wars that pollute far to many internet Forums is a major plus of this site.
Consider yourself and the other moderators and Nathan complimented. :cool:
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