HUH? Is TPL Dying or is it just Summer time get away?
I was gone a little with health issues but this is not the first time I have been away, back for a little but not long and it is almost dead in here! I remember just over a month ago we had so many posts it took me a good while to look them all over! Past couple days I have stopped in all I am seeing as far as new comments on posts is two or three and on two or three posts.....
I am sure this is just because Summer is finally here and people are spending more time outside but then again I know a lot of older folks don't like this heat and stay in the AC during the hot time of Summer. Kind of makes me wonder if this site is getting old for some people.
I like it here but I am a rare one that feels better outside when it is HOT out! Yesterday and today we are under a heat advisory, as soon as I get done here I am heading outside to spend most of the day out in the sun doing what ever my body lets me do, if I can walk a while I will be walking, if I can go somewhere I will go, what ever I do I will be outside enjoying this before Winter creeps its way back here!
So who is just out enjoying Summer and Who is thinking this site is losing people?
Why do you think it is so quiet lately?
What can we do to get things going again?
I try to post interesting things on here to keep people chatting but I can only talk about and post so much, some things are meant to keep comments going everyday, others are just when it sparks someones interest, what topics can we add? Aromatic Smokers only was for semi daily posts about what Aromatics you were smoking each day. What are you drinking was a daily comment section as well as what are you smoking today from another member but you can only comment so much especially if you smoke the same thing everyday. lol
What would be a good topic?
What has not already been posted?
Admins will still need an edit button for our commenting so if we have a typo or other mistake we can edit it and make it right.
I read where a few people think they should update the points system, I agree, once you get so high in rank it would take a long time to advance but also what is Ranking? Experience is better than just posting and commenting. I was thinking they could do a class and have a test after it and each test you get so many points and that could be another way to move up in Rank. If you didn't want to move up you don't take tests or you don't score high so you can test again later.
Who knows but the system they have in place now has flooded us with a lot of posts that are almost the same or exactly the same with the title just changed a little. Example: We have two Aromatic only posts. We have multiple new member welcomes type posts, we have a couple where are you at type posts and so on.
Admins, think about the testing idea for moving up in Rank, I could show some examples on how to do it.
OK I have rambled enough, going outside to enjoy the weather. I have one project that I have been working on for a member here, got to get it done today!! Sending PM to him before I log off.
I am sure this is just because Summer is finally here and people are spending more time outside but then again I know a lot of older folks don't like this heat and stay in the AC during the hot time of Summer. Kind of makes me wonder if this site is getting old for some people.
I like it here but I am a rare one that feels better outside when it is HOT out! Yesterday and today we are under a heat advisory, as soon as I get done here I am heading outside to spend most of the day out in the sun doing what ever my body lets me do, if I can walk a while I will be walking, if I can go somewhere I will go, what ever I do I will be outside enjoying this before Winter creeps its way back here!
So who is just out enjoying Summer and Who is thinking this site is losing people?
Why do you think it is so quiet lately?
What can we do to get things going again?
I try to post interesting things on here to keep people chatting but I can only talk about and post so much, some things are meant to keep comments going everyday, others are just when it sparks someones interest, what topics can we add? Aromatic Smokers only was for semi daily posts about what Aromatics you were smoking each day. What are you drinking was a daily comment section as well as what are you smoking today from another member but you can only comment so much especially if you smoke the same thing everyday. lol
What would be a good topic?
What has not already been posted?
Admins will still need an edit button for our commenting so if we have a typo or other mistake we can edit it and make it right.
I read where a few people think they should update the points system, I agree, once you get so high in rank it would take a long time to advance but also what is Ranking? Experience is better than just posting and commenting. I was thinking they could do a class and have a test after it and each test you get so many points and that could be another way to move up in Rank. If you didn't want to move up you don't take tests or you don't score high so you can test again later.
Who knows but the system they have in place now has flooded us with a lot of posts that are almost the same or exactly the same with the title just changed a little. Example: We have two Aromatic only posts. We have multiple new member welcomes type posts, we have a couple where are you at type posts and so on.
Admins, think about the testing idea for moving up in Rank, I could show some examples on how to do it.
OK I have rambled enough, going outside to enjoy the weather. I have one project that I have been working on for a member here, got to get it done today!! Sending PM to him before I log off.
Comments
Most days I am outside enjoying the weather or trying to do things around the farm, I love sitting on back deck or front porch smoking my Pipes or Cigars with a nice drink and some music.
Nice hot days I can get in the pool with my cigar or pipe on the side ready for a puff or two every so often. Rainy days I have to sit inside either working on a project or two or watching TV when I am not checking on messages and other internet stuff.
Even with that said I find the conversations on here are kind of fading in different ways, almost like people are running out of things to say or talk about.... There are enough Tobacco blends out there we could all keep going for a couple years talking about them, same with Pipes, there are so many pipes out there and more being designed every day. Personally I hate typing so that is why I don't chat as much as I could on here and those who have seen my messages know I do chat a bit.....Sometime I even ramble about random crap. lol
Being disabled gives me a lot of time to think and B.S. with people sometimes to the point of driving people crazy I guess.
I figure it this way....you don't have to read what I write! LMAO
OK Eyes are sore, hands are sore, vision is blurry, time to finish this and go do something else away from the Computer!
JimInks went on a bit of a recruiting campaign and seems to have really grown the member base.
Nice site, nice folks.
Although I thoroughly enjoy this site, TBP is definitely easier to navigate and is a much quicker site (no latency issues that we've experienced here)
All of this stuff is cyclical.
Although I agree that a good number of posts over there are indeed Jim's "what r ya smokin now" type of entries, there have been a flood of new members, mostly from the site you mentioned with the napoleonic potentate.
(as an aside, this other forum (who's name must not be mentioned for fear of conjuring up the "dark smoke") was the only one I frequented until the beginning of the year. Back on Feb 6, in honor of President Reagan's birthday, I changed my avatar to one of him in front of a flag. The next day it had been taken down and had a one line pm to read the rules. I deduces that Woody had interpreted my avatar as a political statement. I pinged him back to clarify, he returned an even shorter reply to the affirmative. I then came across the avatar I now use on all of the Pipe Forums I belong to, and put it up instead. The next day I couldn't log onto the site. After dozens of tries and sending unanswered messages to the site I finally reached out to JimInks, via another site, and asked him to see if he could have someone give me a hand. It was then that I learned that Woody had banned me from the site... Permanently. So, even though I'm not a vindictive person, I am deriving a little bit of joy in learning that folks are leaving his site in search of a less despotic environment in which to enjoy one's smoke free from the tyrannical whims of an obtuse modtator... This was the first and only time I've been banned from a forum. Here endeth the preachment)
I too enjoy this site for the reasons you mentioned, and though my comments about the ease of navigating and using the site may seem a little bit coarse, they were based off of my personal experience here in comparison to other sites. Not intended to be unnecessarily harsh or rude, just honest. Sorry, but I'm absolutely not a "Politically Correct" individual and refuse to be.
Manners, Decorum, Civility...? Absolutely ! But to attempt communication in a censured, nonsensical manner, utilizing the "approved Group Think De Jour" talking points, words and phrases? Yeah... NO!
Back to what's right about this site...
The members.
In the short time I've been here I've yet to experience any sort of snobbery or jealousy from any of the folks here. Some of the other sites are either D!ck measuring contests of smoking the most expensive blends in the most expensive pipes and smack talking those that don't or can't. Or their rife with folks that jealously criticize others for a post that mentions an exclusive blend or expensive pipe.
TPL is a nice quiet respite from the rigors of the day. I quite enjoy perusing the clever photography of Ghost and his pipe collection, or the philosophical ponderings of Motie.
The main negative here is the latency. It's an absolute a$$whoop at times. The other is the inability to edit a post once you've made it. I also enjoy the relative ease by which some of the other sites allow you to easily check threads and posts that you've participated in and the ability to quickly see "what's new". Here @ TPL, it's not so straight forward.
So Pappy, not tryng to be a contrarian here, but even though I like TPL very much, I do wish the latency and cumbersomeness weren't so.
Just my $.02
Dino
I do see places for improvement but I also see a good place to be and chat with people. To many rules can kill a place, a lot of Pipe forums would hate that some of us talk about Cigars at times and Smoke Cigars, so far I have never been told not to talk about Cigars, I feel this is a good Smoking Forum!
Improvements? YES Bad place? NO! Easier ways to talk to admins? YES Over all? 9 out of 10
I'm more attracted to the place because of the members and don't mind the fact that The Pipeline doesn't have all the bells and whistles of other sites. Heck, I'm still moderating a number of out dated Yahoo Horror Groups even though the bulk of the members moved on to places like Facebook because it offers more of those bells and whistles. I'm old school and don't need all the eye candy and confusing options.
It's been about 10 years since I worked in the Steel Mill and miss the camaraderie as we'd sit in the shanty between job and shoot the breeze. The Pipeline has become my alternative to a shanty full of friends. And what makes it even better is no foreman around to interrupt your conversation and give you a job.