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New members, quantity over quality?

Discussion in 'General Board' started by ian, Oct 27, 2016.

  1. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    I'm all for new members joining here, it has been quiet for a long time, but of late, does anyone else get the feeling that quantity over quality isn't exactly helping, or does it not matter, providing there is posting activity?

    With the greatest of respect to all new members, I can't remember the last one to join that wasn't either trying to indirectly sell seo or web services, registering every FTR uk domain based on estibot valuations only to try and sell them to an audience of seasoned domain investors, or those trying to flog domains as premium that no one would accept even with money attached.

    Everyone has to start somewhere I'll admit, and maybe I was no different, but of late, the pattern has been the same, sign up, offer no introduction, try to sell some low-rent domains and argue with anyone that doesn't agree. I even had one rant at me on PM because I marked his post as 'optimistic' (trying to sell something like BabyItsColdOutside.co.ltd.org.uk for £1,000); he turned out to be ok and took my opinions on board, but was very defence to begin with.

    As said, nothing against new members, just the odd quality of posts (probably like this one) lately, and absolutely nothing against this forum, of which I still enjoy visiting, and still benefit from the occasional sale on. Just an observation, and to spark a bit of conversation with the regulars (if there are any left :D)
     
  2. Domain Forum

    Acorn Domains Elite Member

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  3. Adam H

    Adam H Well-Known Member

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    Its a webmaster niche, its bound to get its fair share of junk, this place seems to have flown under the radar for probably longer than it should, which stunted its growth considerably imo. With every handful of crap you'd normally expect to see a couple promising posters come through who show some enthusiasm for the niche, the only thing with acorn is there is no community anymore, there is no discussion that makes anyone want to stick around and learn, when the occasional one does come through they get beat down with their first mistake instead of being explained that its not done like that around here.

    Acorn is hostile, it has been for a very long time and was when I signed up. A little clique if you like that's hard to penetrate but even harder now days as many of the regulars don't really want or care to add any quality other than an abrupt or sarcastic response ( I've been guilty of that too ) and they've seen and replied to all the same questions over and over again. Acorns biggest problem is not letting new blood come in to replace / prop up the old guard of fear of upsetting some of the regulars imo.

    People like Accelerator is a forum admins wet dream, prolific posters even if most of them spark heated debate its what makes forums tick........but the "forum" won't allow posters like him to keep it going as he gets shot down ( just using him as an example, obviously need a bit more diversity than that.......and common sense :D )
     
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    Last edited: Oct 27, 2016
  4. Murray

    Murray Well-Known Member

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    I was thinking someone should post a wanted thread, just something generic

    "Fitness domain wanted £x,xxx budget"

    But at the end of the post it says "this is not a real wanted thread, if you post a domain below you're likely to get banned"

    Then ban all the people who reply who don't come to read or contribute, just post their crap domains :cool:
     
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  5. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    I'm not sure there is a "clique" here is there, not any more, or certainly not one I'm privy to anyway (where can I join!). Don't tarnish us with the same brush as a certain individual you have had a disagreement with, every forum has one haha. Agreed there is sometimes hostility, but not out of malice, just sheer frustration at the naivety of some members, especially those that should know better (you mentioned one), but as said, we all start somewhere right, and for many of late, they are not UK residents, so language barriers and understanding of the UK market are limited which is fair enough; nothing against the world wide audience, but this is a UK domain forum that chose not to branch out, so knowledge or a willingness to learn is surely requisite?
     
  6. scottmccloud

    scottmccloud Well-Known Member

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    The problem is that it's not a discussion form anymore, it's a classifieds site.

    For a discussion forum about domains, there's a remarkable amount of restrictions on actually discussing domains.
     
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  7. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    HAHA, would there be any members left?

    Case in point, thread started for "Premium Gambling Domains Wanted[...]Budget is up to 7 figures for the right domain. Only looking for super premium stuff" (regardless of how genuine it is), promptly followed by the regular "PM Sent" (all from members with less than 10 posts), and then "Redouble .net".

    Can we have an area to discuss these which doesn't directly impact the 'for sale / wanted' section ;)
     
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2016
  8. Adam H

    Adam H Well-Known Member

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    I think that's enough to scare off anyone that has anything about them, the people that just come here to sell will post sales threads regardless of hostility as they are only here for one thing.
     
  9. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    Exactly, revert to my title, for sale ads that don't actually result in commission/profits for the forum, won't hold up well without contributors and discussion. I guess domain investing in its own right causes this, because it is a very isolated industry where everyone, even you and I, are competitors.
     
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  10. scottmccloud

    scottmccloud Well-Known Member

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    Why are you competitors? You almost certainly have domain portfolios that are substantially different from each other so I don't see where the competition comes in?
     
  11. ian

    ian Well-Known Member

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    Ok fair point, competitors is a little more specific to certain aspects of the industry (drop-catching, trying to buy the same domain etc), rather than domain sales, but the main point being that the industry is very cagey about sharing, on any level. I guess it works for other forums because the spread is much greater, I'm sure some seasoned pro's on there know who and who not to discuss business with for conflict of interests.
     
  12. Murray

    Murray Well-Known Member

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    I've never really found it to be hostile
     
  13. Adam H

    Adam H Well-Known Member

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    It never bothered me personally, thick skin and all that. I always like communities like acorn but I could see why it would put some people off...I've mellowed a little in the past couple of years since my little girl was born, I cant see the point in bickering with people that have no significance anymore where I used to find it entertaining. #gettingold
     
  14. bonusmedia

    bonusmedia Well-Known Member

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    Domaining attracts a lot of chancers. The lucky ones get nowhere and quit fast, the less lucky score a sale or two, waste a lot of money on crap, and end up spamming desperately.

    Anyone who posts domain wanted threads knows what a barrage of shit you get - but I'm sure many buyers are just as bad. I actually responded to that super premium thread with a 5/6 figure domain and the guy had no clue.

    I think in truth there's often just not much actual domaining news to discuss. I suspect a lot of the controversy and arguing here stems from sheer boredom.

    Outside domaining, it seems pointless trying to have serious business discussions because, like most forums, the people with half an ounce of sense are in the minority.
    I know this sounds arrogant but there's no sense in exposing commercially sensitive information for ridicule by the tin foil hat brigade.
     
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  15. invincible

    invincible Well-Known Member

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    Forum was going downhill when Alan finally saw how it could become and was motivated to sell it within 48 hours of his last post within that thread. Alan hasn't been heard from since and approximately 48 hours after his last post we had a new owner who adopted the Alan's former "admin" username so it's forever been confusing given two people have shared one username.

    It was sensible to take some time to consider the migration to XenForo and the forum is larger better for it. However the introduction of unrelated advertising, particular the ecig and streamTV stuff at the footer, is quite downmarket. In my opinion there doesn't appear to have been any significant investment in quality/relevant content by the new owner and the addition of The Bar was an additional unwelcome distraction from the main reason most of us are supposedly here. The end result is as we see it now. I am happy to post here, as I have done on many recent occasions, and have written some quite in-depth posts about managed/premium DNS and zone files, but I am now also delighted to be contributing elsewhere which is satisfying enough. I have no shares in the ownership of this forum (nor do I wish for any) and the reason that I currently choose not to pay a membership fee is because I don't sell domain names here, but simply contribute free content out of enjoyment. I could begin to wonder whether my being here is simply lining someone else's pockets when I don't see them continually investing in good quality content (the cost of the hosting and the upgrade to Xenforo doesn't count as continually investing in my opinion because that's not too expensive and was long overdue). If one doesn't intend to continually invest, don't expect others to do it for free. I think that's perfectly reasonable.

    I think the ridiculous post and thread editing should stop because of the reasons I have detailed elsewhere, except when the original poster edits their own posts to some degree.

    Simply put, if you don't like it you're welcome to write some good content for free and see where it gets you or go elsewhere and write it. The improvements need to come from further up.
     
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  16. scottmccloud

    scottmccloud Well-Known Member

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    I've said it before but I'll say it again, the only way I can see Acorn thriving again is to widen its remit. There simply isn't enough activity in the .uk domain space to have a forum dedicated to it.

    The no discussions in domain name sales threads is ridiculous. I know this rule has been in place for a long time but when I first joined Acorn, it wasn't enforced and some really fascinating discussions ensued (and I bet more sales were made because of it).

    If I was an outsider coming to this forum and saw that you couldn't comment or ask questions on sales threads then the warning signals would start to ring. Why not? What have you got to hide? Why do we have to discuss it by PM? Why won't you commit to discussing something in public? Am I going to get scammed?
     
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  17. bonusmedia

    bonusmedia Well-Known Member

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    Last edited: Oct 27, 2016
  18. invincible

    invincible Well-Known Member

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    I agree that there probably isn't enough content in .uk alone to substantiate a domain name forum solely about it but there could be additional content if motivated and interested people (i.e. directed by the forum owner) were writing it. They're not because no direction in that way is being given. NamePros has dedicated writers. I assume they get paid.

    Many members here want this forum to remain the No 1 place for .uk discussion and don't want that diluted. In my opinion it wouldn't take much for NamePros to up their .uk game and more .uk discussion appearing over there. If the balance tipped, why would one keep coming here? What would the USP be? If I want to read about affiliating or web design or SEO or hosting wouldn't I already be looking elsewhere if I was smart?

    I am not sure that the current rating system is a good one. I don't think the Optimistic and some of the others are beneficial and get rid of The Bar too. I'd like also to see a "Thank you" rating. The ultimate improvement will be high quality relevant domain name content being posted. Anyone wishing to volunteer?
     
  19. Murray

    Murray Well-Known Member

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    I think in part that's because the amount of good domains dropping is drying up

    Even 3 years ago there were a lot better drops so more to talk about and more buzz
     
  20. invincible

    invincible Well-Known Member

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    At least you're honest about why you are predominantly here. :)
     
  21. Murray

    Murray Well-Known Member

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    I would say I'm here out of bordem & nosiness mainly
     
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