This forum is dying - discuss

[cambridgealex]

Tal are u at Dtd? Where?

[Tal]

Tal are u at Dtd? Where?

Just left, mate, I'm afraid.

[cambridgealex]

Tal are u at Dtd? Where?

Just left, mate, I'm afraid.

How'd you get on in the comp?

[Tal]

Tal are u at Dtd? Where?

Just left, mate, I'm afraid.

How'd you get on in the comp?

Not sure. Was too busy reading blonde.

About halfway up/down in the Super 50.

[hector62]

What we need is another blatchgate. With that in mind tomorrow I am launching a new betting investment opportunity. I will be concentrating on Rugby matches where I will find drop goal opportunities and matches that will end in draws, as well as unearthing undiscovered Indian cricketers.

Minimum investment will be £200 but get in early as it will be huge. ( or it may go tits up !)



Is the forum dying ? Not at all but it does change from time to time. I miss many of the people who are not posting at the moment but I still have hope  they will return. It takes time for new people to find a niche on a forum and to start to feel comfortable enough to drive the forum with new threads and to impart some of their personality into existing threads. In the past year we have seen notable input from Honeybadger, Millidonk, horseplayer, Tal and others. I go onto The Hendon mob forum every week and it  only takes me about 5 minutes to look at the threads that are of interest. It is years since I even posted on there so in comparison we have riches beyond belief here. I usually spend more time looking at the Gutshot forum and I think that one is actually dead.

The only way that the sponsorship by DTD affects me is that it enables me to have Tighty's updates and for that I am eternally grateful. I can't even imagine  that I would make a  post  that would be censored in anyway. It may be different for people who visit DTD but that is not me - yet!

If there is anyone who genuinely believes the forum is dying then try this. Start a thread about a computer problem or needing  advice  on something. Then see how soon you get a response and the number of people who offer a solution. You will soon realise that all is far from gloomy.

I would make one request though and that would be for someone to fix the clock !

[FUN4FRASER]

So is The forum dying ?............. Im not really sure that is the case  but I do know myself and others  feel there is a clique on Blonde which is definitely a contributory  factor to why people refrain from posting . An example of this is when somebody ( such as Mantis) posts  a controversial/debatable opinion . There can quite often be a pack like mentality when it comes to the replies, with normally the same people in agreement ganging up to voice their opinion. These same people can be connected by various means (friends,poker staking etc) and as a consequence they will never or rarely oppose each others viewpoints( which is obviously very unhealthy for a forum). I have also observed and experienced  how  aggressive some of the posters can be .Take Greek Stein for example, hes probably a nice guy in real life but in the past there there has been such a tone and anger to some of his posts that one thinks..." actually I cant be bothered with the aggro anymore".Another case in point is  Aaron who quite often will post on most subjects ranging from PHAs to betting discussions .Not withstanding the fact he is quite often factually incorrect  some of the abuse and nastiness he has had to endure is beyond believe so its all credit to him he takes it with a pinch of salt.
 
As an individual Im a very positive person thats very much into the concept of Community Spirit & Human Endeavour, and feel these qualities should be the very embodiment of this  type of forum so wouldnt it be better place if people tried to be a bit more tolerant and nicer with their replies, even if they dont agree with somebodies point of view  ?

[MANTIS01]

If a forum wants to be exciting and entertaining a bit of controversy here and there, a few dust ups, and opposing, often conflicting views are all pretty essential imo. There seems to be this desire to avoid 'aggro' and have a quiet life, but when you're in the entertainments business controversy is what you want. Or sex, but that seems unlikely. So I would let the wagon roll and stop trying to manicure threads. That realism is very important and attractive to a forum audience. Eg that Greekstein banning question thread sounded more interesting than shit women bishops.

I remember a thread few weeks ago where pages of posts were deleted just because it involved DTD, like somebody was having some kinda panic attack in the mod box. 

[bobAlike]

I think forum dying is probably a bit too strong a word. The forum has changed without a doubt and not for the first time and undoubtedly not for the last.

The latest change, I don't believe has anything to do with the so called cliques. So I don't want to get in to a discussion about them.

The latest change for me is all to do with the DTD sponsorship. The money DTD provide to Blonde is great news for the 'business' side of Blonde but there is certainly a cost to the integrity of Blonde.

These are purely my thoughts and I have no agenda other than putting my views forward.

I like Blonde for the community it is and I like DTD for what they have done for the UK poker scene but regardless of this Blonde should be an independant place where the members should be  able to post what they like within reason. This, I feel, is what's fundamentally missing at the moment. How many people have been banned from Blonde/DTD or self exiled because of what's been said about DTD? In truth its probably not that many but it certainly feels that way.

IMO the deal is simply too restrictive.

[Killerkilsby]

So is The forum dying ?............. Im not really sure that is the case  but I do know myself and others  feel there is a clique on Blonde which is definitely a contributory  factor to why people refrain from posting . An example of this is when somebody ( such as Mantis) posts  a controversial/debatable opinion . There can quite often be a pack like mentality when it comes to the replies, with normally the same people in agreement ganging up to voice their opinion. These same people can be connected by various means (friends,poker staking etc) and as a consequence they will never or rarely oppose each others viewpoints( which is obviously very unhealthy for a forum). I have also observed and experienced  how  aggressive some of the posters can be .Take Greek Stein for example, hes probably a nice guy in real life but in the past there there has been such a tone and anger to some of his posts that one thinks..." actually I cant be bothered with the aggro anymore".Another case in point is  Aaron who quite often will post on most subjects ranging from PHAs to betting discussions .Not withstanding the fact he is quite often factually incorrect  some of the abuse and nastiness he has had to endure is beyond believe so its all credit to him he takes it with a pinch of salt.
 
As an individual Im a very positive person thats very much into the concept of Community Spirit & Human Endeavour, and feel these qualities should be the very embodiment of this  type of forum so wouldnt it be better place if people tried to be a bit more tolerant and nicer with their replies, even if they dont agree with somebodies point of view  ?

Agree with all the above, so many times ill write a reply then just delete to save the aggro. Have to agree the treatment of Aaron has been awful as well.

[Doobs]

 Has one single person been banned from blonde because of what they said about DTD?  Cos certainly hasn't, he posted earlier.  Most people have heard his story by now, and the chip leader thing was long since discussed and an apology issued.  Sure it was unsavoury, but it is time people moved on and climb off those high horses of theirs.

Every single forum can appear unappealing and cliquey to outsiders.  I made very few posts in my first 5 years or so because of this.   As others have said, the place is very welcoming.

[Woodsey]

As others have said, the place is very welcoming.

That is very true. You only have to frequent a bunch of different forums to realise that. The mods are  a lot tougher here than most places which is a good thing for the most part. It stops a lot of the shitfests you get on many forums, they might be fun to rail sometimes, but they ruin it for the most part.

[MintTrav]

I have been posting here for a year, starting mainly to do the quizzes and then joining in various discussions. I notice that quite a bit of the discussion on the forum takes place in people's diaries. A lot of the diaries are very interesting to read, but I do think that structuring the forum like that limits input sometimes. If some of the discussions that take place in the diaries were posted as general threads, they might attract more responses. Though I knew quite a few people on here before I joined, most of them are not running regular diaries. I have never posted on someone's diary, as the people who own them don't know me and it would feel a bit like walking into their house and sitting down in their front room uninvited. I can remember a very interesting discussion a while ago about which cubicle to use in public toilets. To me, it is obvious that it should be the second-last one and I would have posted to say so, but the discussion was on Red-Dog's diary and it seemed a bit like a discussion between friends, so it would have felt a bit rude to barge in, whereas I would have posted if it was discussed on a general thread.

[millidonk]

Last ainec. Trav so if there are 3 cubicles you go in the middle? Ewww.

[MintTrav]

Last ainec. Trav so if there are 3 cubicles you go in the middle? Ewww.

Of course not. As you suggest, that would be disgusting. I was thinking of when there is a longer line of them.

[FUN4FRASER]

If a forum wants to be exciting and entertaining a bit of controversy here and there, a few dust ups, and opposing, often conflicting views are all pretty essential imo. There seems to be this desire to avoid 'aggro' and have a quiet life, but when you're in the entertainments business controversy is what you want. Or sex, but that seems unlikely. So I would let the wagon roll and stop trying to manicure threads. That realism is very important and attractive to a forum audience. Eg that Greekstein banning question thread sounded more interesting than shit women bishops.

I remember a thread few weeks ago where pages of posts were deleted just because it involved DTD, like somebody was having some kinda panic attack in the mod box. 

This is true.......

Its a forum where of course there should be healthy debate but also where people can voice their opinions without fear of ridicule.

You have to bear in mind that some people are more knowledgeable than others (it depends on the subject matter )  .For example in PHA section ...if Phil Galfond was to post a Hand History then any player regardless of experience should be entitled to register their opinion too. It maybe the later is technically wrong in his or her post , but if this is the case they should be told in a helpful way rather than what has happened a lot in the past which is certain people effectively saying " My poker status is superior to yours and you are talking shit "  as a consequence people feel intimidated and they wont want to post again.

This is the same in any of the forums subject matters, people dont want to be made to look stupid .So its not a case of people " avoiding aggro" its surely more a case of why should they have to  answer aggro type questions ?.

It could be said  that people should stand up for themselves.... but why should they ? Not everybody has come on here for an argument ! ...only to discuss , socially interact and possibly gain knowledge ! Its for these reasons I know that some people choose not to bother posting  ,which of course affects activity levels hence the OPs initial question.

I totally agree that Blonde is a very welcoming place ,with a lot of great people, that talk a lot of sense however it would be ignorant to not accept that some do spoil it for others.