OT forum of HWC?

[Mephisto]

I've been thinking about how this place is developing. I've been a HWC member since June 2000. I'm not part of the old crowd, but I'm also not a newbie.
HWC OT was meant as a place for the HWC community to relax and talk about OT subjects.
Now it seems the place feels like mixture of Xibase and JJR's. There are quite some members here that are not HWC members and have never posted there.
Does it make a difference?
Yes, IMO it does. HWC OT had a large number of members posting there, which meant a lot of different opinions. I think OTC should not become a Xibase/JJR512 clone, because these somehow "closed" communities don't represent the HWC feeling that it had when I came there. It was kind of more open.
Just my opinion.
Now you can flame me as you like.

 

[ris]

you'd be surprised how many of those here are or were member of hwc that left a loooong time ago

i do know what you mean though, and the continuation of some issues from other boards is a little annoying, probably more so for those have been through it once before.

 

[Gonz]

I only posted at HWC once-too much infighting for my tastes. This is a very general statement so don't start bitching : it seems that OCN hates JJR512 which hates HWC which hates OCN. Round & round it goes. Xibase is a middle ground for many of those members. OTC looks like a coming together of all the parts.

 

[ris]

wow, i had no idea there was so much more background to this, thanks gonz. i am a member of some of the boards you mention but go to them very irregularly, much in the way that ot at hwc was somewhere i visited rather than lived.
i think much of that was due to the time i arrived at hwc, i was a newbie and didn't know all the personalities so steered clear.

 

[outside looking in]

The only thing I see lacking is HWC members. Personally, I don't care how many Xibase, OCN, or JJR members come here as well... the more, the merrier.

However, this was meant to be a place for HWC members to come and relax as well. I think we need to do some "recruiting" in one way or another, to let those at HWC that would be interested know that this place is here.

I get the feeling that most over there aren't even aware of this site yet. How many of them do you really think read the feedback forum, let alone to the end of a long thread?

I'm tempted to put a post up there that's just blatant, like with a title of "Been wanting the HWC OT forum back? Information inside" and a brief explanation of this site and how it came to be. Sure, it would be locked right away, but as far as I know the admins and mods are in the habit of locking or moving threads, not deleting them. They might not be happy, but it would be there for all to see.

I won't right now though... not until I do some more thinking. I'm hoping there's a better way, one that doens't piss off HWC admin.

 

[Leslie]

They do delete threads, though, ask MitchShaft. lol I don't know whether they would or not with this topic.

 

[outside looking in]

Guess I just haven't noticed any of those. There have been plenty lately that drifted off-topic, and a mod stepped in and locked it... but the thread was still there.

They might just delet it though if it was OT from the start.

 

[Mephisto]

Originally posted by ris:
you'd be surprised how many of those here are or were member of hwc that left a loooong time ago

I don't know all, but most of them. May I also remind you that I joined there before you?!

Originally posted by outside looking in:
The only thing I see lacking is HWC members.

Well, a very minor issue for OT HWC.
No, I'm joking, I think that's THE critical point.
BTW OLI I voted for you as a mod.

 

[Gonz]

Word it so it's not completely off-topic. Something like;

Since (enter date here) HWC has decided to not allow OT conversations. We have appreciated the on-topic discussions & look forward to many more years. Helping others with their hardware & software problems is a good way to learn. If you wish to have OT, look here. Thanks HWC for a great forum.

 

[samcurry]

All the sites listed were a direct result of HWC taking away the OT forum. some were started before it was gone but all increased in size when it finally did close.
And there are a few that have decided to make this place their personal soapbox for problems they had at other sites.

Mephisto could you elaborate a little on the "openness" comment. I'm not sure what your refering to, this site allows for more openness pertaining to topics and language than any of the mentioned sites except for OCN, i would consider them about equal on this.

You guys are correct you will have to be careful how you post at HWC to get more members aware that this place exist. I do know that they wished for NO affiliation between the sites.

 

[outside looking in]

The only problem I have with that Gonz is that it should probably go in the feeback forum there. I don't think many members read the feedback forum very often. Putting it in CPU or General would get the intended audience, but I think it would be pretty hard to word it as to be on-topic there.

Heh...

Topic: "Really Important: Off-Topic forum discussion hasn't helped with my CPU problems"

Hey everybody,

I have been having some problems with my CPU overheating.

I went over to The unofficial HWC Off-Topic forum to try and get some help, but discussion there is about life, love, and the universe, and the wonderful people there just couldn't help me.

Even though I enjoy the chat and open evironment that some of you may remember from the HWC OT forum years ago, I would love to get my CPU temps down.

I'm using a GlobalWin FOP-38 on a 1.3 Tbird. Do you think I need to change heatsinks, or just reapply thermal compound?

If I don't reply back here thanking you for your advice, it's probably because I'm busy chatting over at the Off-Topic forum. Perhaps you could come over there and catch me and let me know what my cooling problems might be.

Thanks, and hope to see you soon.

Lol.

I wonder if Eric would just smile, or come chasing me with all his dot com strength.

If you're reading this Eric, whadda ya think? Would I be hung for posting this?

 

[Leslie]

Why don't we wait and ask toolbox or see what Bink thinks? (I love doing that lol) they'd probably be able to guess more than anyone else.

 

[fury]

As far as I know, the majority of Xi/JJR/OCN people that have signed up here are HWC members as well and much of the time, were registered and posting there much longer than they ever were at the other three sites. Even then, there are far more HWC members than Xi/JJR/OCN. I've got a load of registration notification emails sitting in my inbox to prove it.

As for an off-topic post over at the place where off-topic is not allowed, I don't think that will go very far. First, it would not be appreciated by the administrators (especially since they have requested that we neither express nor imply any affiliation whatsoever) and probably be a bad mark on our name, and secondly, it'd probably be moved quicker than anyone could even see it.

I know that the issue of getting word out about the site is tough to extend out to the limited options that we have, but I do not feel that a blatant advertisement is what we need.

A link to us in your signature is a great way to get word out, and you can still hint towards there being a better place for OT, such as this:

"Oooh, that's too bad that the off topic forum had to go, but there are other places we can go for that... "

But that still has to be contained into a post that is going along with the topic, which would most likely be a thread in the feedback forum. I don't know how one would incorporate a hint like this into a post in General or CPUs, however.

 

[outside looking in]

Aww, you didn't think I snuck it in there without being too obvious?

You're right though, an advertisement would probably be deleted or moved to feeback and locked before many people saw it anyway.

Emails could always be sent to those that have there emails viewable, but I've always thought that was a bit too intrusive (although they chose to display it ?( ), so I'm not going to be the one sending any of those out.

Unfortunately, most people just ignore other people's sigs, since they're always there and have been read before most likely.

I might start putting a tag at the end of each actual post I make, since people would continue reading and see that part (being above that magical dotted line and all). Something simple, like "And read my sig" would probably do. Just draw attention to it for those that would otherwise never notice.

 

[fury]

That's a good point.

Maybe a little hint like "Anyone catch my new sig?" at the end of a nice long detailed post so that it's more than 95% on topic or something will get people's attention

 

[JJR512]

For the record, I don't agree 100% with this statement: "it seems that OCN hates JJR512 which hates HWC which hates OCN". I don't hate HWC, although I assume you didn't mean me, personally, but the board that shares my name. As far as the general membership of my board, we have some members that hate HWC in general, and also many that love it. Personally, I respect it for what it is: A good hardware message board. For talking about hardware-related problems, HWC is one of the best places to go. I don't hate HWC; on the contrary, I have a good deal of respect for that board.

 

[Gonz]

damn Justin , read the part BEFORE that specific area...it was a generalization & oversimplification of what has been going on the last year or so

 

[JJR512]

I know, I read it. All I'm saying is that as a generalized and simplified statement regarding any time period, I have never personally hated HWC (I have had specific complaints but in general have held my respect for that place), and in my opinion, the atmosphere of my board itself is not hatred for HWC, either. True, we do have some members who detest the place most vehemently. But we also have some diehard HWC fans, too. No big deal.

 

[Professur]

I'd just like to throw the Force3D name into the hat too. And VirtualDR.

 

[outside looking in]

Isn't VirtualDR an internet.com site?