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BOOsTER Group: Musicians Posts: 1024 Joined: Jan. 2003 Posted: May 27 2004, 08:01 I think we need an offtopic board just to chit-chat about nothing...you know what I mean eh?   -------------- http://www.djbooster.net Back to top

Q! Group: Members Posts: 110 Joined: Dec. 2002 Posted: May 27 2004, 10:35 i second that. -------------- http://qisgod.host.sk/ Back to top

Jammer Group: Members Posts: 643 Joined: April 2000 Posted: May 27 2004, 13:24 Hmm. I can't say I agree with you BOOsTER. I'm firmly in the camp against this, and I'm sure Richard supports me too. Here are my reasons: It would be seen by some members just as a way of racking up 'impressive' post counts, so they no longer tally with the level of experience and seniority a member has on the board. From post counts I can see that Korgscrew and Ugo are among those with the most experience. If a member wasn't so intent on providing knowledge of MO and just commenting on other things, the single quality that makes TubularBoard better than Mike's official one would be gone Off-topic posts generally encourage much more posting as there is little brain activity involved for 'Word Association' or other similarly inane topics. With more posts happening, this will put a strain on Olivier's server You can post things that are still slightly related to Mike, but also related to what you want to say in the General Discussion forum. Such things I wouldn't mind joining in with would be music-related discussions. What I would mind are things like "What car do you drive" etc. After all, a lot of us are musicians right? I can confidently say that 100% of members here enjoy listening to music so are musical in some sense of the word If you want to chat about 'nothing' there are other places: Maestro, #mike_oldfield, other MO forums which I personally don't visit, or ( preferably not! ) Mike's official board. Alternatively you can use instant messenging like ICQ or MSN if you'd like to chat. I'd be perfectly willing to do this with other members, but not everyone uses one or displays their contact details. Maybe we should create a community for chatting this way? I know there are a few of you who'd like the idea of an off-topic forum. I got a lot of flak for showing what I thought of off-topic posts in Mike's board but I hope you can see my reasons. I think, more than anything, it would degrade such a well-respected and widely visited site! Without sounding like I'm sucking up to the management, thanks Olivier and Richard for moderating and maintaining the board and making it what it is. I mean it! Back to top

BOOsTER Group: Musicians Posts: 1024 Joined: Jan. 2003 Posted: May 27 2004, 15:46 Jammer, I can't agree, I think that off topic boards are something that makes the community more connected, and!!! I don't think that the post count of someone makes him respected here!!! For example Richard is not respected here because he has thousands of posts! But for the quality of them!!! That's my 2 cents about it -------------- http://www.djbooster.net Back to top

olracUK Group: Members Posts: 1683 Joined: June 2003 Posted: May 27 2004, 19:34 I'll go with Jammer. The Mike Web Village has many places to visit, all with a unique feel. The MO.com site is nearly snowed under with "off-topic" crap. The "feel" I get from here (Tub.Net) is of a more technical, grown-up vibe. To start talking about "favourite lawnmowers" here would detract from the hard work the musicians put in, and all the more serious comments. i visit Maestro for the "human" touch, and MO.com for the laughs -------------- The answer is 42 - but what is the question? Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: May 28 2004, 08:28 Just one stupid question, but I'm unable to search for the answer right now. On which IRC server is #mike_oldfield located? I remember seeing that somewhere, but I just can never find what I'm looking at the moment... -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

BOOsTER Group: Musicians Posts: 1024 Joined: Jan. 2003 Posted: May 28 2004, 10:01 I believe DalNet but I am maybe wrong... -------------- http://www.djbooster.net Back to top

Holger Group: Members Posts: 1506 Joined: Feb. 2003 Posted: May 28 2004, 10:50 Yep, it's DALNet. Back to top

Jammer Group: Members Posts: 643 Joined: April 2000 Posted: May 28 2004, 11:30 The official website to it is here: http://home.no/jbrauti/oldfield/chat/ I think it's Richard's decision in the end. Don't forget it's also the web design and the scripting that makes this forum more professional than Mike's one! You have good reasons BOOsTER I'm sure your posts will remain quality ones, but soon enough an o/t forum would lead to the problems I mentioned before Back to top

BOOsTER Group: Musicians Posts: 1024 Joined: Jan. 2003 Posted: May 28 2004, 12:59 Quote (Jammer @ May 28 2004, 17:30) but soon enough an o/t forum would lead to the problems I mentioned before more moderators?   and yes it's on richard...but I wanted to know what the general thoughts are on this subject... -------------- http://www.djbooster.net Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: May 28 2004, 14:26 Thanks a bunch, guys. I'll try to get there this weekend if I can. -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: May 28 2004, 17:46 Well, in the end Olivier has the last say (we call this 'passing the buck' )*. I have to say that I also think that an off topic area could end up being more trouble than it's worth, and would really prefer than things here keep something approaching focused on Mike (it's pretty broad already...). There's always the option to meet people via the 'fans around the world' area and chatter somewhere else. I've seen some places where the off topic areas attract more activity than the rest of the board. That could be bad news in our case, as we could end up seriously pushing resources on the server (people might remember how irritating was a few years ago when the forums kept going down because they were placing too heavy a load on the server - the situation's improved slightly, but resources are still limited). That would really be my main concern, that it could end up being a disproportionate drain on resources (both electronic and human). I can't say personally that off-topic chatter has ever brought me closer to anyone on a forum...talking to people privately has, and that's really what I'd recommend that people here do. The communities like the IRC channel are good places to meet people for a chat as well. I would prefer to see the relatively limited resources here being put to a more unique use - if we don't keep things at least relatively focused, we could end up losing sight of what this place is really about. * Before you get your hopes up, Olivier doesn't think much of the idea either... Back to top

Olivier Group: Super Admins Posts: 1869 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: May 29 2004, 00:03 Last say (for now): Yes, resources are still limited, especially the bandwith (we can only transfer a limited amount of data per month). Now you can always post some off-topic messages here and there, just try to find a link, even if it's very distant, to the forum you post it to. And I would say that funny off-topic messages are more welcomed than sensitive or serious topics. For example: "I live on Earth, just like Mike, and lot of people on Earth own a car. What's your favorite car?" Experimented off-topic posters would rather say: "Mike likes Mercedes, what's your favorite car?" Back to top

BOOsTER Group: Musicians Posts: 1024 Joined: Jan. 2003 Posted: May 29 2004, 05:49 ehm:) thanks Olivier, now I know how to spam board "legally" -------------- http://www.djbooster.net Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: May 29 2004, 17:05 Well, you know...keep it within reason...I think that one of the main reasons people come here is because of the fact that the discussion stays fairly focused, so it would be nice to keep it that way! I'd also rather not have things here end up like the way they've got in certain other places... Back to top

BOOsTER Group: Musicians Posts: 1024 Joined: Jan. 2003 Posted: May 29 2004, 17:17 oh well...you are right, I didn't think of it this way... -------------- http://www.djbooster.net Back to top

maria Group: Members Posts: 928 Joined: July 2002 Posted: May 30 2004, 10:38 Quote (Olivier @ May 29 2004, 00:03) Now you can always post some off-topic messages here and there, just try to find a link, even if it's very distant, to the forum you post it to. And I would say that funny off-topic messages are more welcomed than sensitive or serious topics. For example: "I live on Earth, just like Mike, and lot of people on Earth own a car. What's your favorite car?" Experimented off-topic posters would rather say: "Mike likes Mercedes, what's your favorite car?" sometimes the links can be "complex" indeed... mike plays music in europe in 2004, so what about a topic (or even better, two) about football played in europe in 2004... i find it pleasant when on-topic conversations leave a straight path to roam a bit, or to talk about other more or less related matters, but maybe it isn't a good idea (regarding how the amount of 'off-topics' has been increased in a short time in mike's site) to encourage this kind of conversations just because if at last there's an abuse of them, they can make a site look confusing. imho it's necessary some kind of balance in that and as some have already said, there are chances to talk to people about personal or completely unrelated matters in other places. sure a conversation about football could be even more exciting if interested people arranged a meeting to chat in the jet's area in maestro -------------- ...morning and evening i'm flying, i'm dreaming... Back to top

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