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Have we succeeded?


imschur

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When I set out to start doing websites and forums a few years ago I had a few goals.

1. No elitism

2. Friendly and fun

3.Gentle to newbies and no question is stupid.

4.Promote the platform(s)

5. Raise awareness and understanding of the variations and differences. (everything isn't an AR-10, no 308 uppers on AR-15's etc )

Have we succeeded? Are we different?

Not looking for praise, just honest feedback. You wont hurt my feelings.

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I recently went to one of those "other" sites looking for a review of a part... After clicking and scrolling through pages of B.S. and nonsense I didn't even care about the info anymore. In all honestly, when it comes to AR's, this is home for me now... I don't have the time, nor the energy, to devote to those "other" sites anymore.

The friendships that are made on this page are pretty outstanding too. Edgecrusher flew from MA to AZ to shoot with 98Z5V... How many other forums can say that?

I still frequent CalGuns.net from time to time, but just for the auctions. I think all my posts on that website say "I'll take it".

1911forum is still decent place for my other vice. If you think getting an AR is difficult in Cali... Try finding an off-list pistol for a decent price.

PS. Still looking for a good price on a Kimber Pro TLE/RL Stainless

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The friendships that are made on this page are pretty outstanding too. Edgecrusher flew from MA to AZ to shoot with 98Z5V... How many other forums can say that?

Greg is one hell of a great guy, too.  He even brought his fiancee, and Holy Shat, SHE CAN SHOOT!!!  :o  He had such a damn good time, that he's trying to move out here now.  I'm just sayin'...  <laughs>

One of these days, I'll lure you down here, too.  I don't stand a chance of getting Drew out here - he's skeered...  That he won't go back.  <lmao>

I'm trying to get a group-shoot going on here, and I've got the facility to do it on.  Maybe we can get that rolling sometime.  There's really never a "bad time" to shoot in AZ...  <thumbsup>

Whenever the Turkey Shoot goes down a little north of me, I'll be there. 

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<thumbsup>, bet we are the best forum going. friendships established here won't fade, no matter the distance, or the cost of me building a home,

  :o  He had such a damn good time, that he's trying to move out here now.  I'm just sayin'...  <laughs>  <lmao>

I'm trying to get a group-shoot going on here, and I've got the facility to do it on.  Maybe we can get that rolling sometime.  There's really never a "bad time" to shoot in AZ...  <thumbsup>

that has something to do with it, plus the riding weather. gonna see if you can drag the ol' knee pucks someday  8). all you guys are gtg in my book on advice w/o drama, honest opinions, and a great knowledge base. pretty good jokes too  <thumbsup>

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I think you have created an awesome site to cover the platform. The boards aren't a jumbled up mess, and the members are all friendly, the more experienced are eager and willing to share their knowledge in their areas of expertise. I am very thankful I stumbled upon it, as it has helped me greatly. Thanks Drew, and thanks to all the members as well.

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Though I'm relatively new to this forum, I've been doing the forums for about 10 years and before that there was listserv and of course usenet news. I've been to sites which after a short while, grew tiresome from all "seekers" chasing all the elitists. I think a sign of a good forum is one where you feel as comfortable reporting your failures and screw-ups as you do your accomplishments. That's truly an extended family. So far, despite having unfortunately chosen a brand that doesn't get much participation, I think you are doing a great job. I'm still discovering some of the sub-forums where I don't have a dog in the fight, but find folk's threads still interesting to read.

The only improvement I would like to see would be a "Save Draft" feature for times when you're called away for a while. All in all, I'd say it's a job well done.

Hoot

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This may be more a matter of where I was personally, when I  first started posting here and not representative of what the other members experienced. When I first started posting here, I was not posting extensively on any forums,  I really didn't feel as though I had much to contribute. I feel as though, with the help of the other members, I've become much more competent in my knowledge of the .308 AR platform. Certainly what you've listed has all been achieved (IMHO) but, I think it's something that may be easier to accomplish than to maintain, especially as the membership grows, although I believe that you, and the other administrators/moderaters are still doing an exceptional job of it, I believe that by it's very nature it will require greater effort to maintain  as the forum grows.

Funny thing, since becoming active here, I have begun to be more active on other forums that may focus more on certain other platforms, and although I've met many good people on them, I truly find the atmosphere here to be much friendlier, and more geared to helping people to, accomplish their goals with these guns, and the generous sharing of knowledge, experience, and even parts/resources is truly commendable.  Hope that didn't sound too touchy feely group hug for anyone.

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So far, you seam to be successful.

But it DOES seam that every single forum that gets really big, goes down the tube.

I've thought allot about this as I have long considered starting my own forum and have sought to NOT make the mistakes that pretty much everyone eventually does. So i have carefully studied what it is that causes these forums to go down the tubes.

What I have found is that is is almost always a combination of peer pressure and moderator misconduct. When the forum starts ruling the moderators and the moderators start ruling the forum, it's only a matter of time before things fall apart.

I myself am virtually immune to peer pressure, so it's not a problem for me, but for your average Joe, the only thing I can think of is to make an extended effort to never form personal relationships with your mods. Select them according to their performance and always be ready to step in and overturn their decisions and even get rid of them if need be.

Allot of forums have a "moderator has the last word" policy yet that is probably the single worst policy you can have as it is almost always rogue moderators who cause a forum to go down the tubes.

I'm a moderator on another site and the owner and I have gone over this allot. One policy we have (one i myself encouraged but works well) is that I am only able to restrict someone's account, but the site owner is the only one who can outright ban someone. I have always run things according to his preferences, but the system was put in place for the event that any other mods get out of hand and try to hijack his sight, he always has the means to come back and fix things and effectively respond to any grievances.

Above all, don't let the forum control you. YOU control the forum.

So long as you yourself are on top of things, not giving in to or tolerating forum corruption, it'll always stay a good place to be no matter how big it gets. Neglect or violate any one of those duties and it WILL fall apart, sooner or later.

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  • 2 weeks later...

When I set out to start doing websites and forums a few years ago I had a few goals.

1. No elitism

2. Friendly and fun

3.Gentle to newbies and no question is stupid.

4.Promote the platform(s)

5. Raise awareness and understanding of the variations and differences. (everything isn't an AR-10, no 308 uppers on AR-15's etc )

Have we succeeded? Are we different?

Not looking for praise, just honest feedback. You wont hurt my feelings.

I would say yes to the above, keep it a place where people can come to learn and not turn into a rompus rm like arfcom and people will keep coming back. <thumbsup>

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