the state of the forum

[fitzythe4p]

Hello all,
       I have been visiting this forum for roughly 5-6 years now, and I feel it neccesary to set the record straight over the state of this section of the ask the bachmann forums, as, over the past year or so, the quality of content being posted on here has plummeted. this is not aimed at anyone in particular, nor is it a series of orders that must be followed. this is a reminder of forum conduct, and some friendly advice on keeping this forum professional, and enjoyable for all involved. firstly, we all need to be reminded on how and when to reply to posts that others put up on any thread. it is not neccesary to include the quote of every person who has posted before you, every time you post. the purpose of the quote function is to adress a specific post or chat. the quote function should be used sparingly, and only when responding to a post that is relatively far back in the thread. secondly, some things are not neccesary to post at all. making a joke relating to the discussion is perfectly fine every once in a while, provided that it is accompanied by some piece of information that positively contributes to the discussion. making posts that are exactly the same as one another member posted is simply unnecessary, especially when it is in a post by itself. it does nothing to contribute to the forum, nor the thread it rests in. as I said, it is simply unnecessary. also relating to posts that people put on threads, excessive use of emoticons, entire posts written in caps, and over use of punctuation, such as exclamation points, are equally unnecessary. expressing excitement, frustration, or any other emotions being conveyed through a post can just as easily be put across using just one piece of puntuation, and emoticons used sparingly. Thirdly, any new threads started must cover a topic that cannot otherwise be discussed in a already existing thread. many threads have been started recently that are simply unnecessary. Finally, I think we need to remember what this forum is about in the first place. this forum exists so that people can discuss the bachmann thomas and friends range, the thomas and friends brand in general, and to share advice and modelling tips. nothing else. all to often threads go far off topic, and the point of the forum is lost. lets all remember why we're here in the first place. As I said, I am not pointing any fingers, and no one person is to blame for the forum going downhill. however, if we all simply try to stick to these guidelines, I think you will all find this forum an enjoyable and fun place to visit on the internet.
Thank you.

[BillingsRR]

I wouldn't say the forum is "going downhill" and we all must remember most of the posters on here are under the age of 18 and don't all have the best typing skills. I will say there is so much random off-topicness and the quoting entire conversations gets very annoying, I was thinking the same thing about 15 minutes ago. It would be nice to see proper grammar on here, but it is the internet and everyone makes mistakes.  You've made a few in your original post, you forgot to capitalize the first work in several of your sentences 

[fitzythe4p]

Fair enough, BillingsRR. The main point that I was trying to convery regarding grammar is the excessive use of punctuation and emoticons. The term "going downhill" could have been left out as well. My main point of my little rant was primarily to remind everyone to keep things proffesional, keeping threads on topc, and adressing some of the issues facing the forum at the moment.

[BillingsRR]

I agree all with you on the emotions and punctuations as well, forgot to mention that.


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The stuff above gets very annoying after the first ten times and takes up half of the posts

[thomasj219]

Exactly the point, and you can say that they are under 18 so can't be perfect but when we first joined we were not like this. The reason was for the older members that taught us the ways, now most are gone and the few that remain (including myself) grow tired of the constant stream of foolishness so post much less than we used to and in topic related to a SPECIFIC topic.

[BillingsRR]

When I referred to the under 18 part, I was really referring to the 8-11 year olds who have accounts here. That is where most of the issues stated about come from.

[thomasj219]

Still the point remains. With no teachers foolishness and immaturity reign supreme.

[fitzythe4p]

Still the point remains. With no teachers foolishness and immaturity reign supreme.

.   In many ways I agree with this statement. This is the main reason that I started this discussion in the first place; to remind the younger members on here of the fourm conduct and how to productively contribute here. Perhaps we as older members of this forum could assist in teaching this to these certain members and create a happy and productive environment in which information can be shared.

[thomasj219]

Perhaps, but not in the way of imposing strict rules, more a guiding hand.

[AJWPRODUCTIONS]

When I referred to the under 18 part, I was really referring to the 8-11 year olds who have accounts here. That is where most of the issues stated about come from.

there's only user on the board who's under 11...

[fitzythe4p]

Please refrain from pointing out specific forum members. You seem to be missing the whole point of this thread. Please go back and read my original post.

[AJWPRODUCTIONS]

Please refrain from pointing out specific forum members. You seem to be missing the whole point of this thread. Please go back and read my original post.

I get the point I was only saying there's only one user that age.. I'll modify my post

[branmas]

Please refrain from pointing out specific forum members. You seem to be missing the whole point of this thread. Please go back and read my original post.

I get the point I was only saying there's only one user that age.. I'll modify my post

and thats me!

[Mulfred]

I totally see the point here. I can't tell you how many times the past week I've yelled something at the screen when I've read some stupid coment or dumb joke. which Is why I'm debating on LEAVING.

[fighter4luv]

The fact that we're in a Bachmann Thomas (toys) forum, I can safely assume that most of the members who will post are still under 18. Can you really expect a lot of the young people to understand a lot of how forums work, or even hold back on emoticons. I know I use one from time to time, but a lot of the younger members will tend you use them more often. They're just having fun. If you want the forum to be "professional", there would only be a group of older members on here.

Although mainly the Bachmann board for Thomas is for the toy range of Bachmann, and others, there is also a "everything Thomas" thread, which allows everyone to discuss anything they like about the Thomas series in general. I agree that all other Thomas topics should be just discussed in there, and not given a brand new thread - but if the moderators see a problem with the forums, I'm sure they would do something. I bet they're just excited to have a forum that is frequently visited every day

Like my work policy says "work hard, but have fun doing it" so don't turn this forum into a boring place, coz that will be it for me.