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stoneunhinged Inner circle 3067 Posts |
I fully understand why the post count doesn't include certain forums. No need to get into the arguments.
But recently there have been things that make me feel a bit differently about the post count. A high post count potentially represents that a Café member is an active contributer to the Café. And being an active contributer to the Café should mean, I think, that one is an active contributer to the Café. Now, the 50-post-let's-finally-get-secret-info idea was a good one. Ten years ago. Nowadays it is just silly. There is nothing in the closed forums that can't be gathered by truly curious people who use the Internet. But, you know, I'll let this argument go for now. My main point is this: I never really gave a beaver's behind about the post count until recently. What recently became clear to me (and some can read between the lines here, I think) is that I am a *very* active member of the Café. I'm not really sure who Internet friends are (who can be sure?), but I can tell you this: my Café friends are my very best and very important Internet friends. In times of trouble, my first thought is to post here. And the fact is that my post count does not reflect my true activity here. I post the most in the "Not very magical, still..." forum. Because I have made friends there. Yes, real friends. I have had invitations to dinners and visits and overnight stays (don't spend the money on hotels!). I have private conversations about life and death and things that are "non-magical" but truly "magical" in the sense that this brotherhood brings to us. I have experienced things that you would not believe: people doing favors for me that I cannot possibly re-pay. Through this forum. A giant thanks to Steve. GIANT. The Magic Café is the most important Internet connection that I have in my life, and my Internet connection is truly important to me. Right now. But: I have, according to the search engine, 4588 posts in the "Not very magical still..." forum. My official count is 2868. So, add this to my official post count, and I'm something like a "Café Addict". So what does this lesser post count say to new members? Does it say that I'm not interested in the Café? Does it say that I'm not interested in magic? Does it say that I've got secrets, but not so many as Bill Palmer or Jonathan Townsend? It means NOTHING. It means that being one of the most active members of the Magic Café doesn't count as much as others. Right now, in my particular situation, I find this upsetting. I want Café people to recognize me. I want them to help me. I want them to pray for me. My "official" post count doesn't tell them how important the Magic Café is to me, and how important my relationship to the Café is to me--and to them. Y'all ought to re-think the post count. I have no idea how to do it, computer wise, since I ain't no computer guy. But once someone gets past those fifty posts, the posts in forums like "not very magical, still..." mean that they (like me!) are a part of our community. Right now I feel like a very small part of our community. My post count isn't so low; but neither does it represent the "hope" I would like to receive if the Café would acknowledge my "presence" in a greater way than the stupid "post count" does. Look here: http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......um=61&44 Would my post count bring more prayers? I ask you, with all charity and respect? Would it? Probably not. But the deeper truth is that I am one of the most active members of the Café, and my post count doesn't reflect that. So any potential "wow" factor (Hey! He's one of us!) is diminished by the rather stupid rule that posts in the "Not so very magical, still..." forum do not count. No, those posts shouldn't count for "Deep Secrets!" (as if there are any). But they should count toward saying, "Hey, I'm a Café member, and I spend a lot of time here, and I'm suffering right now. Got a few prayers up your sleeve?" That's my diatribe. I know there will be no changes. But I wanted to get that off my chest. Thanks for listening. |
Tom Jorgenson Inner circle LOOSE ANGLES, CALIFORNIA 4451 Posts |
You're welcome.
We dance an invisible dance to music they cannot hear.
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HerbLarry Special user Poof! 731 Posts |
I could care less about post count but Stone has a point and if it matters that much to him I ask why not?
Seriously, why not? And don't say secrets. Secrets schmecrets.
You know why don't act naive.
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mmreed Inner circle Harrisburg, PA 1432 Posts |
I think the entire forum is long over due for a total overhaul. Search functionality, forum sections, notification ability, ect... there are so many modern forum solutions that have a much fresher approach. I love the Café, but it has a very 1990s BBS Bulletin Board vibe.
Mark Reed
Wedding and Event Entertainment |
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-10-22 15:53, mmreed wrote: Sure, there are a lot of changes that could be made but the Café was set up to be different than all the rest. If the Café were the same, there would be no reason for it's existence. No need to get into the search feature as that has been discussed to death and it is being worked on. Regardless of what changes are made, the membership is not happy. When we had only a few forums, multiple requests came in to break those down into more logical area. Hence, the original Workers forum was broken down into sleights, flourishes, trick cards, big cards small cards, packet tricks. This results in members complaining that there are too many forums. The search feature was removed temporarily because members were complaining about the slowness of the Café. Then we to improve the Café, the search feature was broght back with a few restrictions and that resulted in complaints about the restrictions. Recently Steve added a "chat" button in a few forums. Was the membership appreciative? No just a lot of complaints about another icon. I can't speak directly for Steve but wouldn't you think that being criticized for every change would eventually present the thought of "why bother making changes, they aren't appreciated anyway, I'll just leave things as they are". This is Steve's baby and he does try to make changes with the limited resources we have to make the Café a better place while maintaining it's original concept. Stone: There are other reasons for the 50 post requirement. It is not just to keep folks out of the secret sessions. The restriction keeps new members from going directly to the let's make a deal areas which is provided as a courtesy to members who contribute and support the Café. It also gives us a chance to watch posts by new members to get an idea of who they are and whether or not they belong here. This is a magic forum and the post count increase is restricted to forums about magic. Not magical but is not a magic related forum so posts there do no count. To be honest, the majority of members here could care less how many posts a person has. Some comments I have seen when a person has thousands of posts is that the member must not have much to do he has time to make that many posts. It doesn't reflect on the persons contributions here at all.
Where the magic begins
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