Richard Askew

Over the last 2months or so there have been instances which have really niggled me to my very core......
I'm an easy going fella but threads which have slated companies and personal attacks on individuals are IMHO bang out of order.....

Then there have been sick and unsuitable threads and links posted which would make a hardened copper have a lump in their throat....

And there have been serious threads with serious questions being asked which have turned into slanging matches...

Sometimes I have questioned my faith in scoobynet as a bbs for enthusiasts and people who have a love of the same thing......

As for whether I'm pi55ed off with all the crap that goes on the answer is YES ...but I have met some of my closest friends on scoobynet - people I will be amigos with for a very long time........I have travelled across Europe due to scoobynet and visited some of the best racetracks in the western world, all due to scoobynet

I have seen the best subaru's that enthusiasts own - and sat in the fastest track weapon that a limited budget can buy.....albeit not a scoob and met fellow enthusiasts from all over the globe - all because of the efforts of Si De Banke and the moderators......

For this I can only say thank you, and ask these people and the regulars for their opinions on how we can carry scoobynet forward without folks becoming disillusioned.....

Ladies and gents the soap box is all yours....

Mungo

It's changed a lot in the 9 months I've been a member.
It seems a lot of the "older", more informed members don't post anymore, and a lot of the threads seem to have become dumbed-down.
It pi55es me of when I can't find a single decent thread to read or reply to...

DavidBrown

You can't please all the people all the time..

I find the IQ of a group is inversely proportional to the number of people in it; look at any large BBS.

On the whole, I think it does a good job.

Like much net-related stuff (spam etc.) you need to develop a mental filter where you ignore the stuff that's irrelevant to you.

But without it, many people would be far less informed about things they're interested in.

Neil Micklethwaite

Some of the threads and some of the posters p155 me off.

The threads and posters who p155 me off - I ignore them.

However I have been surprised on a couple of occasions and my opinions have been changed.

Must be getting more understanding in my old age.

So much so that I lurk rather than post these days.

It seems to be very cyclical and on the whole I like it.

I too have met many people associated with the BBS and the majority are top people.

The ways to make it better - IMHO is charging to use or moderate a lot more 'heavily'.

RichS

Heheh - good thread title! - hard to ignore

The more members we have (6636 at time of writing) the greater the "variety" of postings.

Gotta take the rough with the smooth...


Rich

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

Richard,

I have to agree with you, I guess I personally feel it's gone downhill. It's becoming more and more noticeable, especially over the last 6 months or so.

I've been using this BBS in every one of it's incarnations, since April 1999!

I've always been happy to help people with the stuff I've learnt over the years, and through owning 2 Impreza's now. Recently I found that I feel I can't post an answer for fear of being shot down or flamed.

I too have made some very good friends through Scoobynet, and I tried to offer more by organising meets. Recently I just can't be bothered with the whole thing.

As for a way forward, I don't know.

Needless to say, that we've all heard it before, but I'm just going to stop using Scoobynet as regularly as I have. Or just stop completely.

I use to be a chat regular, I can't be bothered with that either now.

I'll pop my head every now and again, but I think my post quota will drop right off! (Probably not a bad thing Si?? )

It's <I>been</I> fun, it's just not like that anymore!

Cheers
Andy

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

Richard, part of the problem, is the same as has caused 22b to become very quiet; quite simply the Impreza has been around for a while now and most technical questions have already been asked, therefore those with technical knowledge have already provided the answers and may see no point in doing it again. That leaves those of us with less technical knowledge to reply in a way which we understand, therefore the dumbing down the answer, etc.

I have only read the board for the last year and a bit, so do not know what it was like before then, but the larger the number of members, the wider the range of people you have on the board. This will lead to more posts which you do not feel like reading / agree with / etc. Whether this makes it a good place or a bad place comes down to what you are looking for.

Personally I like it, yes there are threads which I wonder about, there are points of view I disagree with, but no-one is forcing you to read them or respond to them, so you just ignore that particular topic and be happy that the bbs is here and does help people.

All IMHO of course

andrew6321

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mungo:

It pi55es me of when I can't find a single decent thread to read or reply to...

Mungo - you could always start one of your own...

I haven't been on the board long enough to comment, other than to say: things change. How you deal with things changing is up to you.

Andrew

Mossman

On the whole, I agree with everyone's comments so far. IMHO, Scoobynet has gone slightly downhill in quality, but that is purely due to more people posting as mentioned before. Some of the "old skool" don't post as regular, and that is a loss. However there are plenty of people who I regard as experts in their field and being a luddite, I would be lost without them.

For me, I use it seriously, and not so seriously, and boy, it helps me get through a day in the office!

I too have met many good friends and I would miss it. It rarely "pisses me off", in fact it amuses me more than anything else as well as answering questions, making me jealous and in the whole, keeps me entertained.

At the end of the day, no one forces anyone to read it and long may it continue.

Mossman

chiark

I think that it is nigh-on impossible to change a community as large as Scoobynet, and I love it for what it is.

The more people that come on, the more diverse views. Yes, there's some stuff that is purile (hell, some of it is mine ) but there's still enough excellent discussion going on here to keep me, and by the success evidenced by the popularity of the board, many more, interested.

I find myself recently following drivetrain, misc, braking, lighting, interior and security more and more, as this is where the action and serious discussion is. General is, as it always has been, general: there's crap, and there's good stuff.

Finally, I go with the flow and delve into non-scooby and muppet too.

And ICE is quite good.

A board will always change by its very nature. New people will come on, experienced people will disappear citing change as the reason for their absence, others will take on the mantle of technical guru and try to help out all they can...

It's an excellent community, and a real asset to all Subaru drivers and enthusiasts. All people that I have met in real life are wonderful people.

Take the rough with the smooth, set bull**** filters to "maximum" and keep on checking in.

It would be nice if people occasionally thought, "Would I say what I'm posting to someone's face in full view of a crowded pub" before posting, but that is the same with any on-line community.

Nick.

dsmith

The thing that without a doubt annoys me most is those (and several have done in the past) that post a

"Scoobynet is not as good any more. Too many Plebs own imprezas. I'm not thought of as special any more. I'm not going to post anymore."

style post. Nothing is seen for a few months then they start posting again.

If anyone gets tired of scoobynet just don't read and don't post. This board is much better than the sum of the individuals that post here.

I go through phases of reading and posting but do keep coming back

Dean

GaryC

Read the things that don't.
Don't read the things that do.
Start more 'intelligent', non-drivel threads to reduce the percentage of non-'intelligent, drivel threads.



The BBS is what YOU make it

SDB

Hi All

Important thread.

OK.. ScoobyNet *has* changed over the last 9 months. It has 3 times the number of members, and more than 3 times the traffic.

The reason it may appear that the more informed members do not post as much, is that there is a higher number of people, so where as before these posts would stick out more, and be at the top for longer, there are **3 time** (that's SUCH a lot!) the people now, so there are more posts about general subject.

The technical forums are still VERY educated and informative.. the general is more general. (sounds like it's all going to plan to me!! ) We even have a muppet forum (which accounts for nearly 10%!!! of the traffic on scoobynet!!!) to remove some of the sillyness away from the general forum.

The information and posts you used to love, are still there (in the right place) if you look for them, but there is a whole lot more as well.

The community is bigger and more diverse, but we are all enthusiasts, and the larger we get, the more powerful as a community to put pressure on fuel prices, insurance, etc, etc, we become. So I personally see things getting better and better, at the same time as getting bigger and bigger.

---

Being honest with yourself is important as well though..

If you are saying that there are no good threads anymore. You could always post some yourself?

Maybe there isn't anything ground breaking to say today?

At the end of the day, we are a community. ScoobyNet is a forum to allow that community to communicate.

Every month we sign up more new members than we did the month before. This has been the case consistently since september last year (I don't know about before that)

Every month the traffic increases by a greater amount than it did the previous month. This has been the same since august last year, although it was going down gradually before that.

Every month the ammount of posts increases by a greater ammount than it did the month before.

ScoobyNet is continually getting bigger. This means that there will be a substantially greater *variety*, it does NOT mean that there will be less good stuff.

If you took out all the posts you considered to be dross, I bet there is more serious / informative stuff in there than there was a year ago... It's just that it is accompanies by a greater amount of general conversation / entertainment.

In addition. You may think that there is less to reply to because most of the questions you see posted have already been answered a thousand times. But the new people haven't seen that.

It's all about the community, not you individually.

I really think this is an important thread, but I also feel strongly that we are moving forwards, and that everything we do it a benefit to the community as a whole rather than one person's (ie me) ideals. God knows, it a whole hill of wasted hard work if that's not the case.

All the best

Simon

SDB

After reading this, I have realised that I am guilty of only really looking in the general forum, and a few others.

I've just taken the time to look in a few other forums and have found around 6 threads of DEEP technical interest to me which I have replied to.

It is very easy to sink into just looking at generel, etc.

Take a nose around, there's some great stuff in there.

Cheers

Simon

Shark

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Simon de Banke:
<B>Take a nose around, there's some great stuff in there.
[/quote]

Did you go in the Muppet Show too

My opinion is that the board has become much more diverse. I think its great and I just apply one simple rule, If you don't like it, don't look at it.

David

Diesel

As long as they keep churning out Scoobys, it will continue to grow Simon!

What would help me here is an ability to track a posting - similar to the notification option you can get if you actually originate a message. There are so many headings and pages here, and some have such similar headings (like 'Octane Booster' or 'new model') that following a thread you may have chipped in on is tricky, and almost impossible if you aren't accessing your PC EVERY day.

D

SDB

Diesel

I know EXACTLY what you mean about the thread tracking...

we have just about finished the new software and this feature is included

spudgun

i really enjoy scoobynet! i only read it when i get home, not at work.
i enjoy the general banter about cars. my backbox and such like is done, but i do try and help others when i can, not that i know much
sometimes its nice to read a post or reply and know your not alone on a particular dilemma, problem, or u want to share in the joy of summat( sti's!! )
going down hill for last 6 months? ooer, thats how long ive been on here
i think its great, warts n all!

astraboy

Scoobynet is the don. I only hope I can come to one of the meets in the near future. It took me a while to settle down and I admit mistakes were made along the way. Slagging off the moderators weren't my best idea, I have to admit. However, now that I have found my place in here, I feel privilaged to be accepted into the community.
I don't know How I got through the day before I had scoobynet. I need my daily fix. If there is nowt interesting on, I post something to make it interesting. Then stand back to see what happens. Some things **** me off, shock me, upset me, make me laugh, inform me and generally get me through the day. That is what is so good about this place, you never know what you're gonna get. It aint perfect, but show me a place that is.
regards,
astraboy.
P.S. and besides, If there was no Scoobynet, there would be no Muppet Collective. you will be assimilated.....

John R

Just thought I'd stick my nose in here and give my views on this forum.

I'm pretty new here but post extensively on the EVO forum.

We have also been having a lot of problems on the EVO forum recently, due primarily to poor servers, a max power invasion, and a basic lack of control or interest from EVO.

This forum IMHO is excellent. I don't have a Scooby (200SX) but find it very useful, informative and much more wide-ranging than the EVO forum.

I primarily stay at the EVO forum for the greater balance over a range of cars and because I have made a lot of friends there. I'm not sure that if I bought a Sccoby my allegiances would be so strong.

There is an excellent mix of very funny muppet stuff, technical knowhow, general car chat and organised events.

You can post pictures , you have a friendly and available group of moderators who seem to know where to draw the line. You have a proper chat room and a functional and well run shop. Members in individuals areas have their own sections and you even have sections to buy and sell your own stuff. We have none of this. I'm not sure forums get much better than this.

In no way am I slagging the EVO forum, I simply wish it was a bit more like this sometimes. EVO in fairness are sorting out a lot of these problems at the moment.

It may not be the ultimate utopia you would all like but I still reckon you have an exceptionally well run communityy and resource here.

Just my 2d.

John

Dan D

im a new member and hope to bring up interesting things and the more people who join then the better the site will be? but why is there not anyone in the chat room?

rjh

I started using scoobynet about a year ago (when I got my MY00! ). Have to say it's invaluable + wouldn't be without it Helped me get my juddering clutch sorted (Euro import), got me a Magnex exhast at a good price, makes me paranoid about things going bang !!

There are a few muppets who base all their opinions on GT2 but you can see them a mile off!!

Best of all it's free!! (Thanks to all those who give up their own time to keep it going )

Richard

Ian Griffiths

You're not alone in the Scooby community. I've experienced exactly the same 'downturn' in quality over the past year or so at corsasport.co.uk

The site is now in its fourth year and, like here, the 'oldies' (me included, oops!)sometimes complain the old technical content isn't there, there is more flaming and content is generally further away from topic.

Its all a side-effect of growth. A larger and older community will of course have more opinions, more 'hey check this out' threads, more chat and everything else you don't remember through the rose tints.

Relax however. You're safe. Scoobynet is technically excellent, moderated fairly and has enough forums to deal with chit-chat threads while leaving the technical stuff undiluted. And still it grows.

Lets continue the trend.

Editted because I sounded a pompus ****.

[This message has been edited by Ian Griffiths (edited 28 June 2001).]

pedestrian

I'm so new I've barely been concieved, but have been a reader for several months now. I wouldnt have registered if it wasnt for the diversity contained here, or the general quality of info and debate. I dont wish to cause any offence, but a lot of the older Scooby owners I know seem to become more disappointed as more and more people start to own and love Scoobies.

These more experienced owners should take the lead in introducing members to this site aswell as their Scoobies. Nothing stops anyone from posting new topics so if people dont like whats available - post something which they will like.

As more and more people join, more variety will evolve naturally, and surely this should be accepted?

Variety is the spice of life (except when it comes to cars of course!).

WREXY

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Andy Tang:
<B>I've always been happy to help people with the stuff I've learnt over the years and through owning 2 Impreza's now. Recently I found that I feel I can't post an answer for fear of being shot down or flamed.

[/quote]

I too feel I can't post an answer for fear of being flamed. I thought I was the only one. And there are probably more. OK I haven't been posting on here for long at all, but have been reading since January and have a bit of knowledge about the Impreza, I think. But this should have nothing to do with it.
Sometimes I think I know the answer and try and help. I agree it might be wrong. But can't it be discussed more politely? It's not a contest of "I know more than you". We are all trying to help, all providing our input to get to the solution.

Andy, I think we should feel free to post to anything we think we can be of help and if we get flamed, tuff, because, I like this bbs, it adds to the joy of owning a Scoob. The icing on the cake. And there are some top people on this bbs. Moderators included.
I've started a little Scooby club here in Greece with a few that post on here and met some people from the UK and other countries.
I will be meeting up with some when they come here for holidays and when I go abroad, comparing our Scoobs and exchanging ideas. The main thing is I'm learning and expanding my knowledge. All this made possible through the bbs.

A huge thanks to Simon for an excellent job he has done with the bbs and also to the moderators and all involved.

WREXY.

DT

Scoobynet is excellent. Informative and Fun. The only downside is the time I spend dipping in when I should be getting on with my work!!!

JayDee

I tend to lurk / look a lot and post occasionally. Over the last two years I have seen the board develop from what seemed to me at the time to be a semi-exclusive club to something much more broad based and open.

Of course there are stupid threads which you simply ignore.

But the amount of knowledge gained about Scoobies is tremendous. For example dealers may try to fob you off with the clutch problem being a "feature" but Scoobynet tells you otherwise.

Awareness of speeding camera policies has saved my licence being dirtied on several occasions.

And I enjoy the light hearted chatty nature of many of the threads.

The ONLY thread I have ever found distasteful was the recent Jamie Bulger one which seemed to bring out the worst howling vigilante mob instinct in some of us. I thought - I don't want anything to do with this.

But Simon you should be congratulated on the success of this board.

JD

JayDee

I like the IT content as well

JD

Scott J Davies

Couldn't be ar5ed to read all the replies, so I'll just go straight into it:

1. My number one niggle is when people negatively comment on the service they have had from a company they have dealt with, I have read a thread on every Scooby tuner in the UK that has done something wrong. Running a business isn't easy and I am sure evry one I have dealt with would do their best to put whatever mistakes they have made right. Enough already!

2. My number 2 niggle is some of the suspicious members that the Scoobynet gets, we know the ones from the past 'My friend is thinking of an Evo6 or Scoob I think Scoob wastes Evo what do you think?' posts, I won't mention the current ones. I believe Scoobynet would be better if it were a subscribable service, MHO. If this were more frequent it would go straight to the top!

3. My number 3 all time greatest niggle is................................................ .................................................. .................................................. .............................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .......Adam M


SJD

BarryK

Hell no, this BBS introduced me to Counterstrike for heavens sake!

Now I can't get off CS to read the BBS as m uch as I did!

Astraboy, 400 odd posts eh? So you are obviously not the abusive nurk everyone thought you were "back then", ha ha.

People rareley are, but the written word doesn't convey the sentiment of the speaker does it, maybe everyone takes things a bit too seriously at times.

Often I find what I post has been tempered by what has happened on my drive to work/home that day. So I change from grump to more grumpy depending!!!

Have to agree with the holy matyrdom "I'm not putting up with all these people" type posts, when people stomp off. Just get lost, I don't want to hear about how special you thought you used to be.

I'm still here so nuts to you all.