So we're losing forums... so what?

My general reaction to this supposedly Earth-shattering announcement has pretty much been: "Whatever."

I fail to see how any of the forums we're losing were really useful in any way. If you want to say happy birthday or post some bulletin that only has relevance to your friends or whatever it is that you seem to think must be done in the "Bulletin" forum, do it in-game! With your friends! To people who care! Are you all so attention-starved you think you must bring everyone's attention to your or a friend's minor event? Or if you're running classifieds there... why? There are numerous in-game classifieds services, there is a search tool that will find nearly anything you need in-game, you can use any one of our major distributor groups like SL Exchange, there is nothing you're losing of any value here.

The Sandbox? What does the Sandbox contribute? Why are you posting there? Again, there is an entire world in which you can spread your crazy, random, completely pointless and time-wasting gibberish and play silly word games to your heart's content. Go! Have a blast! There's no sense wasting the bandwidth or storage space on the main forums archiving your worthless drivel.

Land and Economy? Really not too useful. What I've seen come to pass in there is basic-level discussion of obvious topics, questions on whether or not the price of land is good or bad (Which can be decided by yourself if you take the time to do a bit of research, or you can, again, ask someone IN THE GAME), discussion of the current value of the Linden dollar (Complain all you want, it's not real currency. Bitch to your virtual business partners and/or customers or go find another sandbox that'll let you sell your things and get away with this much whining and direct insulting of the supervising staff), and various other topics that really contribute nothing of particular value to the information accessible on the main site or it's forums.

In-World Political Science? Excuse me if I have trouble taking this one seriously. Next.

Finally, the only even debatably important one: General Topics.

Why are we losing General Topics? Well, consider what Second Life is. The game you play on a regular basis is a social one. The focus is on interaction between you and the other virtual residents and the creation and trade of content. Why do you need a social forum when you can equally easily talk amongst yourselves in the game? Can you not create social gathering places for discussion? Is it not possible to script a functional and efficient forum-equivalent inside the game? What about groups and discussions within those groups? Not only are they real time, but you can log IMs and cull out the relevant data for yourself.

What have we ever really gained from the General Forum? Social interaction at most, social unrest at the worst, and mountains and mountains of drama.

I for one am tired of the daily whinefest and it's associated bickering as you all fight to be king of the crap heap.

I don't care. In a few years, nobody else will care. Except maybe you.

Long story short: Get over it folks. You lose nothing you don't already have the power to do. No voice is being taken from you that you weren't already able to exercise elsewhere. You are not losing power, you're just being redirected to where these sort of discussions should have been taking place to begin with.

*looks at post count*

fuck off.

You forgot CONTENT CREATION FORUMS. Please describe how unimportant they are to everyone, since you know it all.

Edit: ROFLMAO CJ, you expressed my thoughts more eloquently than I ever could have

My thoughts exactly.

There's a reason I don't post here. Thank you for so eloquently illustrating that very reason.

Might I also add that I have explained why the forums here are rather useless and that perhaps I've been using the previously mentioned alternate venues to express my opinions? Maybe you didn't actually read the post? Perhaps you didn't bother to think about it.

When you can provide a concrete counter of substance with valid supporting arguments I'll entertain your objections to my post.

As far as the Content Creation forums go, there will always be in-game options and the knowledge base is supposedly taking on the forum's functions and may, in fact, even be a better alternative in the long run. Furthermore, there is the LSL Wiki, which is a wiki after all, and may be edited to suit the purpose should the need arise.

EDIT: I can't resist, by the way. By your logic:

*Looks at join date* Fuck off.

No, my logic was based, naturally, on use of the forums, since that is afterall what's being discussed here. Why should I waste my time validating criticism of something you clearly don't use with a constructive reply?

My point was that your post was actually far more insulting to the majority here who do use, and contrary to your opinion, find value in them, and object to their closure, than the gratuitous use of obcenity on my part.

Whilst perhaps I may not use that particular choice of words, I do echo the sentiments.

The forums are a useful form of discussion with others of topical subjects that affect us. Without those, how do we communicate?

Just because 'you' do not see the value of these forums, it doesn't mean the rest of us don't. Incidently, you say that you have been using 'alternate forums'. Why do you use them and not these? I happen to use 3 SL forums.

Lewis

What CJ said.

Lewis: Once again, have you even read the post? Second Life is a giant social network containing all the people you've already been talking to here. Use it. I don't think I can put it much simpler than that, but I can try if you really need the assitance in understanding things here. I never mentioned any alternative forums, your inference is based on nothing of substance.

Everyone else: The comment responding to the one targeting my post count, by the way, was intended to note the superficiality of your basis for complaint. The fact that I do not post here with frequency does not mean I never have anything to say nor that I do not or have not used the forums. In fact, I do read the forums on occasion, and generally wonder why I bother wasting my time. 90% or more of the information exchanged on this forum is pointless or would be better dealt with in-game. The uproar over this issue, however, has been sufficient to draw my attention and frankly I think it's rather foolish if you sit back and consider the bigger issue:

The forums are redundant. Use the game itself.

The function of a "General Topics" forum on the average website's set of forums is to give the users of a site with no other outlets for social interaction a place to discuss things relevant to whatever that site's focus may be, or even just to talk with each other. There is no need for a social forum for a social game. The exact same functionality comes pre-packaged with the software this forum centers around.

Sorry bud, you gotta pay your dues before you get to beat up on Lewis




We are not worthy.




Nah, you're wrong.

The forums provide a medium for communication within a community that is not possible, technically or otherwise, in game. Frankly you look foolish suggesting otherwise.

Did you not write:

Might I also add that I have explained why the forums here are rather useless and that perhaps I've been using the previously mentioned alternate venues to express my opinions?

Second Life itself performs a very different role from the forums. I clearly understand the difference and the purpose of both, and it appears clearly that you are the one requiring explanation.

One simple example. Someone posts here that they can't find out how to do "xyz" in game. Having spent most of the last week doing "xyz", I can find them in game, show them exactly how to "xyz", and possibly make a new friend from it. What's their option? Ask Live Help, who may or may not respond, and the person giving help will disappear once the advice was given probably never to be seen again.

For any social networking to happen, you first have to find people. Finding people who share your interests is harder, and at least here you can get an idea about people before approaching them, which isn't something you can necessarily do looking at green dots on a map. Most of the people I talk to in-world I have started by talking to on the forums. It's how I've bought things, and pointed people in the right direction. Sure, the game is more important than the forums, but I feel the game needs the forums (or at least A forum, rather than lots of third party ones) to be truly successful. A blog will never replace the forum, and it seems now that the reason the "all singing and dancing" Linden blog was created was misleading or hidden from us at the time.

Lewis

Some random nobody who manages 10 posts in 2 years and evidently is not a part of the community here can't possibly be any threat to me whatsoever.

Lewis

Although i have mixed feelings about the disappearance of the forums, the argument: "use the world itself" doesn't cut it.

The forums allow a way to publish news and discuss opinions in a way that is persistent and can be digested at your own time and convenience. There is no such alternative in world.
Which form of communication in world to you suggest should be used to replace the notification and discussion function of the forums? Group IMs, spamming your friend list?

As to 'everything is available in search'. This is just not true. The current classifieds system does not allow easy posting of new products or services, categorized and organized in a chronological fashion. If it was, it would be used more in that way. I'm not even going to touch the monetary aspect.

Basically, the only alternative for the SL forums is another forum (or multiple forums), this is also the way things seem to go, as the amount of accounts on resident forums is rising rapidly.

Shorter Alan Beckett:

*agrees with CJ's first post here*

The forums can't be useful to you if you don't use them.

I myself have recieved a great amount of help from my fellow Residents and the loss of the forums concerns me greatly. Not only are we losing an anvenue to actually give LL our feedback (feedback, not bitching), but we are losing the ability to draw from the vast array of knowledge within the community.

Inside SL, I can not ask a question of the entire world at once. I can here and without intruding on anyone's time. In-world mesages would even if I could send them.

Live Help has been mentioned. No disrespect to those who do work there, but the majority of those within that group are worthless. More often than not, I recieve help only when a Linden is listening and steps in. Other times the people there are jsut plain rude. I have been told literally to go "RTFM".

Here we ignore the forum tolls and flamers and glean the useful information from the rest. The "useless" information is just socialising. Something a vast majority of SL seems incapable of.

By all means, LL should restructure the forums. Remove un-needed threads like the Sandbox. Split Answers into Answers, Complaints, and move Suggestions up to the top of the page, and learn to ignore the trolls like the rest of us do to listen to the actual voice of the community.

I asked in Answers (no response of yet) as to just how we are to communitcate back to LL wihtout the forums.

To me, the removal of the forums just makes the text on the mani page of the site which reads "...mde by, and run by, the Residents..." a blantent lie. If LL doesn't even have the means to hear us, how can they be using our input?

~Jessy

.....i just wish they'd keep the content creation section; i'd be a happy camper......

For the rest: Good riddance, attention-seeking morons.

By this criterion, I have no reason to be critical of the National Enquirer because I do not regularly contribute to their Letters To The Editor page.

Thanks for the eloquent edit.

Just because you don't see the need for content creation forums, doesn't mean others don't. I talked about it in some other thread, how you can only ask experiences from other players, people who have had to use e.g. certain 3rd party programmes, different equiptment outside of SL, where no Wikis or live-help will provide an answer for. Like what's your experience on this, what would you recommend...it is obvious that you have never needed to consult others, but are a very self-contained person. Good for you! Not all of us are perfect like that.

yes I edited it..

as some one new, I have found the forums to be a HUGE source of information, both social and techinical. Removing the forums is a very bad move.

Agreed.

do you think they could have strated thinking of closing the forums as to sidetrack ppl, so they will appear pressured to keep the forums and than everyone will be thankfull and get off their back for a bit?

We need alternative forums. A lot of folks come here to 'get their fix' when they can't be in game. I did 98% of my shopping easily using the daily forums.

I learned tons. The scripting library will be a *huge* loss to those of us that are learning scripting or can't script and need something that's out there public domain for us to grab and use.

I hope members of the community will step forward and work towards replacement venues, most notably in the more productive areas.

I admit I don't enjoy the 'sl is dying' and 'zomg the economy is crashing' and the like threads, but I also know that every forum everywhere ends up with lots of that.

Personally, I sort of took advantage of my webhost's press a button and create a forum thing and just threw together a forum for new products. Its not live yet, but anyone wanting to tell me if they think its a good idea can go look at SLthings.com. All forums are currently locked to posting.

Char

At this point, it won't change my decision to drop tier and the premium membership if the decide to keep the forums. I've decided that the random acts of weird and horrid policies revolving minors accessing adult material and intellectual property are just not something I can support. The closure of the forums just shows me that they would rather hide from the community than support it.

There are a lot of nice looking MMO's coming out this fall.