come work for me and i'll pay you chazmo

 

Very good point. I haven't been a member for as long as you, but I have noticed the site deteriorate beginning about 2-3yrs ago. Just seems like more and more guests are logging on and not really contributing in a positive way. It's no suprise UL left.

 

Oh I agree w/u: the site has def deteriorated in the last year or two. And granted, UL, RR and others like them are the exception, not the rule. But I shudder to think what other valuable info we might miss out on -- esp in the UTH, Tech and FI forums -- if our knowledge base was limited to paying members.

BTW, tell UL next time u see him that I miss him too.

 

As one of those non paying members I have to say I'm completely torn by this post. Half of me wants to buy a membership and keep renewing it year after year. But to be honest, just in the 300 or so days that I've been a guest on these forums I've watched it degrade. I'm not even sure if I'll stick around. Sadly, the primary value of this site is all the DIYs. I'm rarely able to gleam useful information out of 90% of the posts that I read everyday.

I too agree that the car now becoming more affordable to the lower age range is part of what is bringing about the difference in attitude and quality of posts on these forums (I think the quality is going down).

What absolutely bugs me more than anything else are the hundreds, and I mean hundreds of repeat posts from kids (literally, 19 year olds) who are asking questions that have been answered in the stickied DIYs at the top of these forums.

Most of these younger people don't bother to read anything on this site, they just jump on and start posting questions. Normally, I'd just ignore these questions and keep moving. The problem here is that I love to use the search feature on this site. And each time someone posts something completely redundant its one more false search entry that makes finding what I'm looking for damn near impossible.

I've tried going the Google route to help refine my searching and while that did make a dent in some of the redundant posts they're still everywhere. The majority of these posts are less than a year old, half of them contain questions about when to change the fluids in the car.

Take this thread for instance. First this guy accidentally posted in S2000 talk and the thread was closed. Then he posted in his local forum. This is a classic example of why S2ki isn't the place it used to be. So after disrupting his local S2000 event he posts other drama, is it a wonder this guy puts his myspace link in his sig? After reading this post am I supposed to feel bad because he over reacted and now he feels guilty? He could have gone without posting any of that, it's just useless drivel.

Here's another example of people trying to help this guy with his first oil change. We literally SPELLED IT OUT for him. His next question? Now he wants to know what transmission and diff fluid to use. Do you think he even read through the oil journals? The link was even posted for him already. I don't know if some of these younger guys are too lazy to read or if they just can't comprehend the excellent information already on this site. But it's stuff like this that amazes me, do they think they'll get a different answer if they keep posting the same questions? And if they did, would it even matter?

I know this is a long winded post and I know I probably sound like a bitter old geezer. Well, I'm 24 and I'm mad because I don't like to see the more seasoned, usually older members of this site make such a great point when they say that the younger S2000 owners are killing the quality of this site. They're absolutely correct and it bugs me that there are so many self centered, inconsiderate young people out there. I appreciate the time and effort people put into this site. I was literally blown away at the massive amounts of time Xviper must have put into his DIYs (and many others members' DIYs as well). So why can't someone new to this site take a few hours and peruse through this material? Do they think they're the first ones to have a problem/question with their car? I just wish people would put more thought into their posts before rattling off any old question without bothering to do an ounce of research. When they do this they're effectively saying "my time is worth more than yours so here, you answer my question while I go do something else".

Sorry for the long read.

 

The first linked thread was entertaining, but the 2nd one was bland so I only read about two posts and skipped the rest.

 

please dont group me with other "younger members literally 19 yo" that don't read DIY's and stickied forums... i hate being discriminated

 

Hey this thread got me off my a$$ and I renewed my S2ki membership.

 

And seriously, for all the people b!tching... I think the new "characters" add some fun to the forum... life blood that we haven't had here since the days of Steve C and XViper.

It was getting a little bland in here.

Of course every question under the sun has been asked already.

But if you're fanatical about that, we should just shut down the site to new posts and make one big-a$$ FAQ.

 

A pic of me and my car.

When I saw the "19-year old" thing getting brought up, I almost thought I was still 19 (but alas, I'm no longer one as of last month).

I'm proud to represent myself as a (now) 20-year old S2000 owner, but on the other hand I won't represent other 20-year old S2000 owners.

 

I don't think that chastising people for asking a decent question that is a repeat. After all that is what this forum is for. If it's a repeat and you want to help but not really deal with them, point them to the faq. If they don't read it then maybe someone who had just learned how to answer his question will take the time to answer the question in depth, that's how information gets passed along.

First time I got on here I asked a "noob" question and was flamed by xViper, but I have a sense of humor and read the faq that he linked me to, followed by the rest of them. Since then xViper and I have had a few good conversations about various aspects of the S and I have even followed him to the "other" forum just to keep in contact.

So flame the noobs, but keep it light and give them some pointers to get them in the right direction. If they don't want to help themselves then let someone else with more patience deal with them (some of us have only heard the fluid questions a few dozen times and don't mind helping them out).

If you're worried about the search, then if you're looking for some new info it shouldn't matter if it's a repeat or not as long as it answers your question. If you're looking for a specific old post then bookmark them when you do find it, so you don't have to search again.

And for the trolls and lamers. Ban, Ignore or just don't pay attention. Whatever you do...


... Don't Feed the Trolls. :insertimageoffingersbeingbitten: