Is it just me... or does NAM seem boring lately?? I don't mean to be critical... because there are plenty of new postings on here... but I just don't find it fun anymore. Sadly to say.

Maybe I have just outgrown the (newbie) new Mini owner fever... it's probably just me... but does anyone else feel this way?

 

here!!!!

 

Good one!

I get it!!

And I agree!

 

No.
That said, I find new topics, old topics, all topics of interest.
My MINI is an important part of my life. It gets me 100+ miles a day to work and back.It does this in 100F temps. and - 50F temps.
If I drove a ford or a toyota, I may not worry about keeping up on the car I drove.
But because I MOTOR in a MINI and in these parts, they are not to well know,this site lets me know what to watch out for, how to keep it looking great, and OT, well my day always starts and ends there.

 

Yes. Chalk it up to an inevitable dilution of the early-adopter hard core tribe by invading hordes of laggard poseurs. You saw it coming.

 

that and a few of the people who kept it interesting/used to frequent have left or been kicked off...they would pose questions and or stir things up when people weren't telling it straight...etc etc...

that is my opinion....

 

Ah ha! I knew that. But wanted to see if someone would say that.

 

Boring, no. Familiar, yes.:smile:

You can always hit OT for something out of the ordinary.
Though Tuls has a bit of a point, and I still miss OTP...

Like any relationship, your interface with NAM will change over time.
And like any relationship, if you cheat on us, we'll cut your, uh, antenna (toggle?) off!

 

It’s not boring but it is also not too awe inspiring as of late. A few people/characters have been kicked off. Many threads are locked at the first sign of any real debate. The “do a search” ***** keep people from posting new perspectives and/or questions, so the same old threads are rehashed over and over. If a person asks a new question or has something to say on an old thread, most of us don’t bother opening it anymore.

 

I agree with Tuls. The trolls get kicked off too quick and or banned too long. lol.

 

So what happened to that El Rojos guy, the guy with the twincharged, red machine?

 

he got canned, along with all the threads he started. WHOLE threads. That was unfortunate part... .took my post count down by like 50.

 

I agree...many of the more interesting users have been banned or left due to some not-nice posters. I have been here since the beggining of MCO...its sorta slipping with this new crowd that is coming in. Things are definitely not the same as they were And im not even talking trolls...there were good people kicked for improper sigs, or for trying to stand up for aftermarket parts.

diablito Rojo posts on some of the "other" forums rather regularly where free speech is allowed.

I spend a lot more time on TMMZ figuring out all the new track days etc....seems a bit more calm.

 

Really? What happened? He was abrasive at times but entertaining.

 

You've just got past infatuation and now its not new and fresh. If its love you stick around and enjoy the familiar, find things still interesting/things to learn and expand on, people to help, if not you drop off and/or find another ride to obsess about in the first throws of newness

The deal with controversial personalities seems to happen a lot on forums, it always appears to be a big deal since they stir things up so much, but the result is that the real content is not all that effected - there is just less drama for awhile until the next 'offender' comes along.

Its just the way of the auto message board.. hope you make it past your bored stage.

 

Hmmm, I'd say you get what you put in. If you are finding things dull, then make some posts to liven things up, without crossing the NAM guidelines of course.

I mean, what's worse, the constant familiarity of a community, or the lack of etiquette among the new MINI owners??? I'm finding very very few 2005 MC or MCS owners who wave or even acknowledge other MINI's. Passed by 3 of them yesterday and 1 today, not a single acknowledgement.

To keep things interesting, try reading up on something you haven't had much interest in before. Since my free servicing ended 5000 miles ago, I've been actively reading about doing all my own servicing. Doing a brake flush and replacing to SS lines has been one of them. Not a ton of information on how to do this, but it's out there if you search hard enough. It's a lot like being married. It's not always fresh and exciting unless you do something about it. And I'm not talking about having an affair.

 

Personally I think the focus of this particular forum is not of the typical 'car guys' and the usual topics that follow. It's more of 'being quirky', making sure there is never anything too controversial. That's cool, but relatively limiting. That being said, I would say that most Mini owners are the same way as well. The typical Mini owner is certainly not the same as a Firebird, Mustang, Evo, SRT-4, S4, etc. driver. So I think this forum does a good job of specifically catering to the owners. I do wish there was a typical 'car guy' forum for the Mini though.

 

I think part of the problem is like yesterday someone asked a question and the first reply was some like ---- we already talked about that -- do a search . I mean sometimes I do a search and can not find what I want or really isn't answered in that thread. Is it better to start a new thread and say I could not find the answer I was looking for or tag a post on the end of an old thread hoping someone will read all 118 posts and to see that what they are going to say has not been said?

Earl

 

I took an extended break from NAM, for several months. Anything gets boring if you do it too much -- well, almost anything. I realized that I was only really looking at OT, and I decided not to post again until I had a MINI issue to discuss.

I've been here since the MCO days, and I miss a lot of the people that used to be on here all of the time back then. That's life, I guess. Things do seem a bit more stringent than they used to. The site is bigger, with more users and sponsors, and it seems to be more policed as a result.

Anyway, if you're bored of NAM, I'd suggest taking a few weeks or months away from it and coming back fresh.

 

I chalk it up to a couple reasons, at least from my point of view and where I am coming from. One, it's summertime. The days are nice and long and I have projects going, so not as much time to post as in colder weather. I occasionally post from work (shhhh!) during the day and I check in now and then to see if I can help out.

The other reason is that I have seen a rise in heavy-handed moderation in areas where it sometimes is not needed. The days of hands-off, self-moderated posting of the past are long gone now. There is less of a feeling of community and camaraderie and more of the feeling that we have to bite our tongues more often than not. This decline started after the final end of OT:P came to pass as certain moderators took it upon themselves to nuke any thread they felt was crossing the (their) line when there were no issues with the discussion with the forum members. In the meantime, some other threads became pits of animosity while the mods were elsewhere. This forum was built by the community members, all of whom have accomplished amazing things. Just look at the number of clubs and events that take place.

I would like to see a return to the earlier days when the community was growing and nurturing itself all the while having fun and learning without having to worry about the guards in the towers with their rifles. Granted, there were some issues, but they were so entirely minor compared to any other similar forum.

Just my $0.02.

 

In my experience, the "car guy" forums are also made up of a high percentage of non-technical people. Granted, this one is higher, but not by a huge margin. Were this just an S forum the percentage would be a little better.

I don't necessarily have a problem with the bannings, but the deletion of entire historical threads because of political or financial motivations is unacceptible for me. The deletion of all the MTH stuff is the perfect example. The owner couldn't get his money so he screwed the members. Stopping new posts and deleting old ones are entirely different animals.

Anyway... despite the bitching, the board really hasn't changed much -- you just get tired of seeing the same threads over and over and over and over from people who can't search, and insist on starting new threads instead of contributing to existing ones.

 

I dont know how much it would change if it were an S forum...95% of the people here have S's, and the 5% of the cooper owners are pretty technical and many, like myself, have heavily modified track coopers. I bet percentage wise there are far more non-technical MCS owners....just out of the fact that nearly everyone owns an MCS. This is also seen as the forum for people not as interested in things like full engine tuning, and tracking their cars. There are other mini forums for that stuff.

And i agree fully on the second one. Greed can do some bad things to organizations. When money begins to dictate what can and can't be talked about, the organization will run into some problems.

 

Here Here......



Art

 

I agree. You can't find it. You start a new thread (maybe the old thread is old info) - and the first person jumps down your throat. Yet, so many other subject routinly are repeated.

 

I agree... this is part of what I miss. I may not have agreed with the more colorful figures (on here in the past)... but I always respected they're right to express there opinon. Often, I could see there side too... even if it wasn't my position too. But that was a part of what made NAM interesting.

I started this thread... because the kind of response that's happening here - is exactly what I hoped for.