Oh VJ

[Fandango 1,439]

'if it aint broke don't fix it'

I'm sure this will get locked or moved, but I don't care. I think all the new changes are unneccesary & ridiculous. I think VJ was a perfectly fine place before all the changes and after seeing all of them, you'd think it was the worst run mb on the planet.

But it wasn't.

I can't put my finger on the exact reason why I feel so strongly against all the change, but I do. Now we got threads movin all over the place, 'subforums' cos some don't want to wade thru 'clutter' of good news be it for scrolling reasons or for 'I can't deal with other people's happiness above my own' reasons, 'organizers', erm...and this forum in particular has seen lots more action with all the new and improved wonderfully micromanaged 'suggestions'.

That's it. It's micromanaged.

I'm sure there's going to be no one or very few who will publicly agree...and that's all well and good. I've been a member of this site for about a year and a bit...bout 7k or 8k posts...so I've put my licks in and have the right to voice this opinion. And that opinion is that seeing all these changes makes me sad....it's trying to re-invent the wheel. It's actually quite ironic because I feel that the red tape beaurocratic mentality that has spawned as of late is very similar to the mentality of the gov't & is partially one of the reasons things take as long as they do. I think it was a wonderful community beforehand...all going thru similar things, mucking through it together...now it's all 'how do we approach dealing with x,y,z' and 'oh lets put the congrats in subforum siberia'

I think the 'organizer' title is ridiculous....call it what it is...it's a moderator. Sure the abilities may be limited, but in fact, if you have the power to move a thread, or lock it, even temporarily...that is moderating a discussion...therefore these 'organizers' are moderators. I don't feel we need mods at all...but if we're going to have them, at least call it what it is instead of dressing it up as summat different.

Oh people will mention the whole 'we have to defend the integrity of the information that is given' or 'we have to make it easy for all the relevant information to be in one place' but at the end of the day, every 'old timer' here has managed just fine. Let alone the fact that no one here is responsible for anyone else...iAnd let's not forget the lil caveat that we're not an immigration helpdesk dispensing information deemed completely reliable and guaranteed, rather a community of laypersons going thru similar experiences and we're simply commiserating with each other and sharing hearsay and personal experience.

But to wrap this up....I doubt this thread will stay...I miss how VJ used to be. I don't know if I'll ever get used to the new & 'improved' format (now made with 50% real juice!) and I just wanted to say so. It's not meant to start a flame war or a multi-day pizzing contest...and it's not meant to offend anyone. It is simply the truth as I see it. So we can agree to disagree.

Have a great day everyone.

Edited April 6, 2007 by Captain Ewok

[brnidokiegurl 0]

strangely i agree

[Otto 83]

If you haven't already seen it...click here... Source

[LaL 418]

Organizers cannot lock, moderate discussion in any capacity, merge or anything like that. the only option that is active is to move, just wanted to clarify that fact.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Lisa,

I agree. I can't be bothered to agree point by point so I'll just leave it at that. You are right.

[JenT 0]

I agree.... seems like a lot of wasted time to me.

[Mags 112]

Now we got threads movin all over the place, 'subforums' cos some don't want to wade thru 'clutter' of good news be it for scrolling reasons or for 'I can't deal with other people's happiness above my own' reasons, 'organizers', erm...and this forum in particular has seen lots more action with all the new and improved wonderfully micromanaged 'suggestions'.

That's it. It's micromanaged.

I have to say that I have been surprised at the amount of thread moving that has been going on. I understand WHY it is being done and that people have only the best intentions when they do it...but alot of the threads that are moved I personally wouldn't have touched. Most of them are "grey area" threads that could do well in either the original forum or another. If in doubt leave them I say...

I'm also going to say that it has occurred to me that over the last week or so many of the organizers (not excluding myself from this) do seem to be requesting this and that and I can't help but think that the Captain may start thinking "oh cripes, what have I done?". We all know he works very hard behind the scenes with this board and I can't help thinking we are just increasing his stress and workload!

Just my opinion, which may be completely wrong of course!

Edited April 6, 2007 by mags

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

Organizers can only move threads and not lock/edit/or anything else. Moving to me seems like an organization task so I used that title. As far as being too much moving I think that right now that is true. I am in the process of writing up some things to better define when/where things should be that I will publish to members and organizers alike. I may tweak the forum names based on some feedback to make it more clear as well.

So hopefully to address your comments, the moving has been a bit much and I take fault in that. I think rushing out new things on a forum have unintended effects and this was one of them. I will be much slower to roll out new features so that they can be implemented smoother and without the hassle.

[john_and_marlene 162]

usually 7 or 8 thousand posts would indicate that a large number of those posts are those that need to be set off to the side so as not to distract from the more valuable information. I would like to see more of the fodder moved to less obtrusive places. I also think that all Off Topic posts should not be included in post counts. I would also like to see a general ANNOUNCEMENTS forum for all the "I got my NOA/I got approved/I got married/I want to vent/I want to rant threads that also would not count toward post counts.

Thousands of posts don't make a helpful poster.

[Niels Bohr 72]

John,

That would require sophisticated coding. I don't like post counts either because people get offended that I post a lot.

Edited April 6, 2007 by consolemaster

[Otto 83]

usually 7 or 8 thousand posts would indicate that a large number of those posts are those that need to be set off to the side so as not to distract from the more valuable information. I would like to see more of the fodder moved to less obtrusive places. I also think that all Off Topic posts should not be included in post counts. I would also like to see a general ANNOUNCEMENTS forum for all the "I got my NOA/I got approved/I got married/I want to vent/I want to rant threads that also would not count toward post counts.

Thousands of posts don't make a helpful poster.

Are there really that many posts as you describe? (7 or 8 thousand? wow...)

[William33 110]

usually 7 or 8 thousand posts would indicate that a large number of those posts are those that need to be set off to the side so as not to distract from the more valuable information. I would like to see more of the fodder moved to less obtrusive places. I also think that all Off Topic posts should not be included in post counts. I would also like to see a general ANNOUNCEMENTS forum for all the "I got my NOA/I got approved/I got married/I want to vent/I want to rant threads that also would not count toward post counts.

Thousands of posts don't make a helpful poster.

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

You guys like the new flags?

[Mags 112]

You guys like the new flags?

Yup!

Edited April 6, 2007 by mags

[Niels Bohr 72]

I like it, but my flag doesn't move? LOL. Doesn't really matter, but I like it. Make me colorful. There's so many countries. Must've taken you alot of work.

Edited April 6, 2007 by consolemaster