a lot of the "old guard" of UT - members that were around when I was a new member all those moons ago?
I see a lot of , to me, new faces (=new friends I hope), but alot of old friends seem to be missing.
Established Member
a lot of the "old guard" of UT - members that were around when I was a new member all those moons ago?
I see a lot of , to me, new faces (=new friends I hope), but alot of old friends seem to be missing.
Established Member
Funny you mention this, the same thing occurred to me too. Besides people moving to other interests or boards, I guess this board has become too large to "see" what is happening and who is where. Sort of like a little village growing into a city? Maybe everybody is only posting in the threads they seem most comfortable/interested in. And what seems different here compare to the UT board (I must confess I didn't cheack lately) is the thread where people could post pictures of themselves and talk like they are meeting eachother in a bar. The BAUT Cafe "What aBAUt you" maybe? Or the "Bar at the End of the Universe"?Originally Posted by damienpaul
Cheers.
Established Member
I believe im one of those old faces too.
I have to agree i have seen little of those people i used to see on the UT boards.
I myself have been here very little - the whole village turning into city thing kinda. I guess this is propabliy why.
Established Member
Hi Chromestar,
You sure are one of those "old" faces, something else I noticed is the "merger" changed everything into a larger BA board; the UT part (which was unique, I think) has definitely changed and (to me at least) almost disappeared.
Cheers.
Order of Kilopi
May I ask just what it is that has changed? It might be good to reintroduce some of the things lost.
Established Member
To reintroduce many of the other aspects described would require reintroducing some of the personalities behind them - most of these personalities have moved on - some only lurk, not feeling comfortable to post, some were banned a while back. The rules and the increased sophistication would probably not permit such things (they were not necessarily silly).
I am, and I am sure VanderL and ChromeStar are not saying its a bad thing - its great to see the forum grow - but I do agree with VanderL - the unique UT part has largely been swept away or replaced, e.g. the old UT Rogues Gallery is buried/merged somewhere (pages upon pages of UT members).
Many of the "old guard" feel they have no place on the forum anymore, some, like me are reduced from active poster to lurker, some remain.
So, I do not think it is possible to reintroduce what was lost.
The board has evolved, and us "old guard" are just relics of the past
Order of Kilopi
Oh, now don't say that! Is there anything at all that can be done to make you feel more welcome here? This is your forum as well, after all.
Established Member
The thing is, Canuck (I've spoken about this with many other UTers), UT used to be a cosy little town for many people. Now that, as Chrome says, it has turned into a city. I find most of my former friends on UT are rarely posting now-a-days.
It might be impossible or very hard to restore the UT-atmosphere to BAUT. I appreciate your wanting us to feel comfortable too, and I do (and will) try to post here frequently.
Order of Kilopi
I can understand that. BAUT is a big leap from UT. But there must be something. Anything?
Established Member
Like I said, I mainly lurk now - its probably a case of trying to adapt to the new BAUT. To follow from ChromeStar's and Rahul's analogy - the town grew into a city and many old UTer's houses were replaced with factories - so they moved on, or they live on the outskirts - in the non-descript outer suburbs.
Order of Kilopi
Now that I think about it, the same sort of thing may have happened on the BABB a short time before the merger. It got too big. There was a certain feeling of, well, wrongness in the air. A bunch of people left. We had a big increase in spam, trolls, and temper flare-ups. The only mod at the time was the BA, and things were getting to be too much for him to handle -- the board just got out of hand. Ironically, the merger seems to have fixed the BABB problems. But the strife lasted for a few months, and it took a while to adapt.
So I know where you're coming from. I just wish there was a way to avoid it.
Established Member
I don't think there will be any strife from some ormer UTers (unless this thread is at all referred to as "strife") - they simply moved away. Others (like me) have fallen back into the shadows.
Similar, except without the strife - just quietness and absenteeism
Don't get me wrong, I think the merger is a prudent thing to do - sharing of resources and building a gigantic member and info base, but I know from my own perspective - I am not needed anymore, my "voice" not required.
Order of Kilopi
And that's what kills me. I hate to see people go.
Established Member
Much of their "work", threads started by them - that are now like Rogue's Gallery - buried and replaced (some presumably are deleted) - there is little reason for many of them to come back.
But, realistically, it does not matter, as new members come in all the time - new members with new ideas, opinions and fresh perspectives. I could contribute a whole lot more as my climatology interest also involves solar/lunar teleconnections with climate, as well as planetary climate. But not know where to "re"start.
Order of Kilopi
Well, I'm not really sure what to say, truth be told. I can't think of an answer. Maybe try starting a thread about those interests; you're bound to catch a few like-minded people.
Vulcan Administrator
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Administrator
Hmm, this is an interesting problem, and it actually surprised me a bit. I know that the larger forum has scared a few forum regulars away, and that makes me a little sad, but nothing can ever stay the same. What we have now is an enormous community of people interested in space and astronomy. Any question, any topic gets dozens of responses within a few hours. Before the merge hours would sometimes go by without a single post. It felt like going into an empty nightclub. Now the joint is jumping, and I like that.
It's not necessary to stay on top of every thread, just get involved in the conversations you enjoy. Subscribe to the threads and that's all you need to look at.
Established Member
BAUT not only grants access to profiles and individuals history of posts, but also TWO methods of reaching individuals who either have "gone on Vacation" or due to normal situations where strife or hurt is communicated "have layed low" - using 1). the e-mail and/or 2).private message links are invaluable to healing or at least reaching out. As long as such private ways are voluntarily exposed by the recipient when they are solicited unethically, these two added features are GREAT. Haven't heard from someone lately? Send them an e-mail.
Established Member
I want to add that the general atmosphere in BAUT has changed over the last months, the new rules (keeping news items free of ATM ideas and keeping ATM ideas free of pseudoscience) can be interpreted as "put up or shut up", which means people really do "shut up" and swith to "lurk mode" or disappear completely.
Cheers.
Administrator
The switch also came with a radically increased number of people who were supporting the ATM side of some of these arguments, including a few who were abusing the system to get their offbeat ideas to seem more legitimate. Allowing that changes the forum from an educational resource to trash. Actually debating these alternatives with fairly strict guidelines is also better exposure for the more reasoned of these theories, and makes them rise above the kids with analogies ideas (i.e. The universe is like a bowl of cherries, and the SMBHs are like the pits, and so there must be giant trees somewhere, growing from these pits... (making up an example here, so as not to insult anyone in particular)).
Forming opinions as we speak
Established Member
Hey Louis,
Unfortunately, I haven't worked on the song since we last talked about it, probably a year and a half ago. Yeah, it was great fun, and seemed to be going nicely, but then, well, you know.
I don't get here very often, cause it's too big and I don't really know many people here, but I'll try to be more active in the future.
Anyway, it's good to hear from you. Take care, my Friend!
Established Member
Hi Jimmy,
Good to hear from you again, that's indeed a long time ago. Some good ideas don't get realised, but it was real fun to be "working" on the idea (you and Weaselbunny were most active). Which part of the BAUT forum are you most comfortable with (so I can "drop in" once in a while)?
Cheers.
Established Member
Like, I said -its good to see BAUT grow, however, it does feel like its out with the old and in with the new...
I do read my fav topics but literally do not feel comfortable posting in them at all.
Established Member
Thank you ToSeek - its good to see its buried in there somewhere
Fraser, like I said, I do not consider it a bad thing, just missing some old friends
Fr. Wayne, yes I am well aware of those features - however, some come up as non contactable by either means
Established Member
Hang around Damien, we need more Aussies on the board.
with regards
Established Member
Oh, I plan to stay, just mainly lurking and stirring up the mods... :PHang around Damien, we need more Aussies on the board.
with regards
Order of Kilopi
Aussie Aussie Aussie!
Vulcan Administrator
Oi! Oi! Oi!
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Order of Kilopi
Member
Yeah I lurk too (a bit) but I've felt useless since my contributions to UT (or the acknowledgment of receipt thereof) were all basically eliminated. It's hard finding a new place. It's like in Los Angeles, where you are forced to buy a new house and suddenly all the other houses are taken.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote