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So I got an email


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Hows it going fellas just recieved an email asking me to come back to the forum. I joined a while back when I bought my first pinball machine . I liked the classifieds section as I'm always looking for another pinny. Because of forum rules to have a certain amount of posts to be able to view the classifieds is why I stopped using this forum . I know nothing about pinball machines other than the fact I like playing them. A lot of people seem to be of the opinion that members who just view the classifieds and don't post messages are users/leaches . Wouldn't you want maximum exposure to your ads? . I've been on many forums over the years as I have many hobbies and I've seen time and time again forums die due to too many rules.....An excellent example of this is outerlimits4x4 this used to be an excellent friendly forum then a few members became moderators and started adding more and more rules trying to rule with an iron fist .....go check it out now its a ghost town . My advice and feel free to do with it as you please is to chill out relax make this a more welcoming place. Don't try to make people do an introductory message don't try to make people post just for the sake of posting . At the end of the day the more traffic you get through your forum the more successful your forum will be.
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Hows it going fellas just recieved an email asking me to come back to the forum. I joined a while back when I bought my first pinball machine . I liked the classifieds section as I'm always looking for another pinny. Because of forum rules to have a certain amount of posts to be able to view the classifieds is why I stopped using this forum . I know nothing about pinball machines other than the fact I like playing them. A lot of people seem to be of the opinion that members who just view the classifieds and don't post messages are users/leaches . Wouldn't you want maximum exposure to your ads? . I've been on many forums over the years as I have many hobbies and I've seen time and time again forums die due to too many rules.....An excellent example of this is outerlimits4x4 this used to be an excellent friendly forum then a few members became moderators and started adding more and more rules trying to rule with an iron fist .....go check it out now its a ghost town . My advice and feel free to do with it as you please is to chill out relax make this a more welcoming place. Don't try to make people do an introductory message don't try to make people post just for the sake of posting . At the end of the day the more traffic you get through your forum the more successful your forum will be.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

The trading section has been closed off to guests for years and is a privilege extended to those who support AA either by posting content or donating and will remain a secure private area for active AAers to buy, sell and trade.

If the trading section is all you are interested in then I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place, there's plenty of free Facebook pages and what not where you can buy and sell. The focus of AA is the people, machines and events surrounding them first and foremost, everything else is secondary.

Lastly while there are nudges for inactive people to participate there is no obligation to do so lurk all you like however if I see a newbie participating and making an effort to get involved I will give them full membership.

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Thanks for the posts! :)

 

Posts don't have to be technical at all. We can post about why we like playing pinball, general chat, gatherings and comps... or whatever! There's a spot here for almost anything. If anyone doesn't like posting very much, as little as $5 donation to help with keeping AA running gives new members instant access if they are genuinely keen. $5 is pidgeon feed, but of course you can chip in as much as you like!

 

It's nice that there is somewhere on the net for an interest group that isn't half made up of Trolls and anonymous turd stirrers :)

 

Thanks to all the commited people that make this place work! ... and the ballance of openess for the anonymous public I think works well as it is. Keep up the great work! ... It really is appreciated!

 

Cheers :)

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If all you're interested in is buying and selling there are a million other avenues for that. This is a forum for discussion first and foremost, not a classifieds site.

 

Gumtree has 100x the machines that get posted here, there is no need for fomo.

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Gumtree has 100x the machines that get posted here, there is no need for fomo.

 

They can't see that though, can they?

 

I get both sides of this argument.

 

On one hand, there are people who are relatively introverted or don't want to post for a variety of other reasons (work restrictions, etc.). I'm not overly sure it's worthwhile trying to encourage these lurkers to post. A lot of people lurk because they want to. It's conscious, so no amount of prodding will get them to post. You'll just piss them off.

 

On the other hand, if the trading section was open to one and all, there would be far more spam and crap in there as the spammer signed up just to post in there.

 

The system as it stands is a fairly happy balance between these two competing objectives.

 

Personally, I would've preferred if I could've read but not posted in there when I first joined as all I really wanted was a price check on something. In hindsight it is what encouraged me to post a bit and got things moving and now look where we are? I'm putting my two cents in on every thread I can and no one is happy. ;)

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I was just telling you guys why I stopped using your forum ....I see a few of you understand....keep up the good work sleazus I'm sure you will attract many new members . this will be my last post here feel free to delete my account.
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I was just telling you guys why I stopped using your forum ....I see a few of you understand....keep up the good work sleazus I'm sure you will attract many new members . this will be my last post here feel free to delete my account.

 

That'll teach us :unsure

 

Look I get your sentiment AND appreciate your initial feedback BUT you say you stopped "using" our forum because you couldn't see the For Sale section. So you weren't really using it, only looking at shopping. As Arcade King said, this forum is not a Sales site. It's a community site for like-minded people to interact.

 

I think Arcade King summed it up nicely so I won't repeat it.

 

Brad

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I think characterising it as not being bothered is unfair Doug. For some people, public forums whether online or in person are difficult situations. AA could be seen as particularly intimidating in some ways given the size of the audience and the propensity of some members to bite the heads off others for small missteps.

 

It's like a really, really loud party where everyone else knows each other and you're the new guy. For some people that's easy, for others it's really, really difficult.

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I think characterising it as not being bothered is unfair Doug. For some people, public forums whether online or in person are difficult situations. AA could be seen as particularly intimidating in some ways given the size of the audience and the propensity of some members to bite the heads off others for small missteps.

 

It's like a really, really loud party where everyone else knows each other and you're the new guy. For some people that's easy, for others it's really, really difficult.

 

 

Andrew, sometimes you just have to jump in and get wet if you want to learn to swim. IMO

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I think characterising it as not being bothered is unfair Doug. For some people, public forums whether online or in person are difficult situations. AA could be seen as particularly intimidating in some ways given the size of the audience and the propensity of some members to bite the heads off others for small missteps.

 

It's like a really, really loud party where everyone else knows each other and you're the new guy. For some people that's easy, for others it's really, really difficult.

 

Agreed completely. I lurked for a good year before posting.....of course now you can't shut me up ;)

 

However (And this is not aimed at you ajfclark), just a general statement.

 

As has been repeatedly stated in many, many threads over the years though:

 

"The entire forum with the exception of the Trading Section is completely OPEN and FREE to READ, PARTICIPATE, GARNER KNOWLEDGE, POST...you name it"

 

At no point is a Member, wether they lurk or not limited in using this community in the exact manner it was intended. The Trading Section is a "reward" or "service" provided to participating members. By participation we mean by being an active member OR if you don't feel comfortable engaging with other members, then a small donation. Again I couldn't give a toss if someone doesn't want to pay $5.00. If you don't want too then don't. I don't care. I highly encourage active participation as the preferred method of interacting with this site.

 

BUT if you're not going to be an active member why should you get the same "reward" that active members get? And if you don't, what have to missed out on? A trading section....whoopty doo. 98% of the people complaining about it are the ones who post nothing so what as a community have we lost? I don't get the logic?

 

The OP posted that he stopped "using" the forums when he could no longer read the Trading Section. Meaning that's all he used it for. Again I repeat, what has the community lost?

 

Then lets talk about the entry point if someone couldn't be bothered or is too intimidated to post. $5.00. Lets put that into perspective. Most of the trading section items are priced in the 1000's of dollars and they cry about $5.00. I chuckle every time I read a complaint at that hypocracy particularly when they usually save far more than that by picking up a generous member offer.

 

Yes I'm getting a little angry but that's because this has been stated so many times already.

 

Brad

I really need to have this in my signature lol

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Andrew, sometimes you just have to jump in and get wet if you want to learn to swim. IMO

True. I'm just saying it's easier for some to jump than others, even though it's the same water.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Agreed completely. I lurked for a good year before posting.....of course now you can't shut me up ;)

You too eh?

 

I concur that the bit about the access to the sale threads has been done to death, and as I mentioned before, the only reasonable thing I can think of changing (which may not be technically possible or desirable) is whether the thread titles should be visible. That would remove some of the mystery and let people peek under the skirt to see how vibrant or not the trading aspect of the community is.

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True. I'm just saying it's easier for some to jump than others, even though it's the same water.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

 

You too eh?

 

I concur that the bit about the access to the sale threads has been done to death, and as I mentioned before, the only reasonable thing I can think of changing (which may not be technically possible or desirable) is whether the thread titles should be visible. That would remove some of the mystery and let people peek under the skirt to see how vibrant or not the trading aspect of the community is.

 

Its typical for me in most forums. I lurk.

 

As for thread title viewability, honestly I think it would make the complaints even more frequent and loud and again we don't really want members who are only here for the Trading Section.

 

Cheers,

 

Brad

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the only reasonable thing I can think of changing (which may not be technically possible or desirable) is whether the thread titles should be visible.

One problem I see with this would be that if they can see it, couldn't they just PM the seller therefore getting the "goods"? I mean, a lot of sales seem to be completed in PM.

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One problem I see with this would be that if they can see it, couldn't they just PM the seller therefore getting the "goods"? I mean, a lot of sales seem to be completed in PM.

Good point. That's dead in the water then.

 

They'll just have to trust those of us that can see that there isn't really that much happening in there and most of the action is out here where everyone can see it anyway.

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Such a non-issue its ridiculous, and the people who blow up about it always do the same thing. Take their bat and ball and go home. If you're such an introvert that you can't post something semi-anonymously on the web, pay the $5 to see behind the curtain. FYI, there is nothing there. A few bargains yes, but usually on gear that this type of person wouldn't be interested in anyway.

 

For the record I didn't even sign up to the site for a year or so because of how heated it was around this place 10 years ago. The community is so welcoming now it blows me away compared to back in the day. I don't know if people got older, or all the trolls got moderated off the site, but its a very welcoming place these days in comparison.

 

Side note: Every forum I've joined feels threatening to begin with. Everyone seems to know each other by name, they seem to meet up socially, and the accumulated knowledge seems overwhelming at first. But you dive in and do your best, try not to step on any toes, and if you do you apologise. Over time you feel like you belong and you wonder why you ever felt that way to begin with.

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