Leaving the forum (again)?

[guest]

I was persuaded, somewhat against my better judgement it has to be said, to rejoin the forum for a trial period of a month. That period is now up, and I have to decide (in conjunction with the admin) whether to remain or not. One factor in the decision must be that the volume of posts has declined markedly since I rejoined, and my last two posts have received no replies or comments of any sort. One 'senior' member - somebody with a much greater knowledge of BBC BASIC than I have - has not posted at all since I rejoined (he argued against my return to the old BB4W forum).

It's pretty clear to me what decision I must make, but I'll wait until I've seen the reaction (if any) here before making it final - I was criticised last time for leaving without any explanation.

[RNBW]

Richard
What I have noticed over the last month is how much more buoyant the forum has been. Before that posts seemed to come in dribs and drabs. It seems to me that your presence has encouraged people to post, so I would very much like to see you continue.

Who is this person who knows more about BBC Basic than you do (I doubt that is the case with BB4W and BBCSDL2). This person has not stood light as a forum contributor in the last few months. Will this person please stand up.

[guest]

Who is this person who knows more about BBC Basic than you do (I doubt that is the case with BB4W and BBCSDL2). This person has not stood light as a forum contributor in the last few months.

You're wrong: this person has made 39 posts to the forum from June of this year until I rejoined, since when he has not posted at all. He has been a major supporter of BB4W since its inception, is the co-author of one of the BB4W libraries and at least one of the example programs supplied with BB4W and BBCSDL. He is genuinely more knowledgeable about BB4W than I am, not least because my memory is failing so badly (I no longer program using BB4W myself, I only use BBCSDL). His value to the forum is much greater than mine.

The number of posts to the forum has declined, not increased, since I rejoined and the reason is well known: some members won't post because they are afraid of my reaction. I have received many complaints about that, over the years (including from the current admin). Here is one relevant comment, made at the old BB4W forum: "I should point out that you won't be doing Richard any favours if you let him come back and moderate again btw, he'll simply dig himself straight back into the same old hole".

[Zaphod]

Richard,

I would very much like you to continue as you have been since your return and as long as you are able. Any technical input is useful especially with BBC SDL.
I tend to work on Windows business applications and so have tended to stick with the old BB4W but perhaps one rainy day I might branch out. But if there are topics that I can contribute to I will if the mood takes me and time allows. I have never written a game or graphics based program so those fields, which seems to be the favored ones today, I will leave for others.

Perhaps I should add that for the last couple of months I have been busy taking a road trip across the US and back, and I don't take track this forum when on the road. Indeed I have no idea what has been going on if anything.

Z

[p_m21987]

Hello,

I can't understand why anyone at all would have any problem with you being on the forum.
It seems you were talking about Zaphod, since his number of posts and join date match your description. Zaphod himself has just posted in this thread to say that he wants you to continue posting on the forum.

I personally would like you to continue posting on the forum.

my last two posts have received no replies or comments of any sort

Not every post will get a reply, even on a very busy forum. And this is a small community after all. It can often happen that people found something you said interesting or helpful, but won't necessarily have anything to say in response.

PM

[David Williams]

One factor in the decision must be that the volume of posts has declined markedly since I rejoined, and my last two posts have received no replies or comments of any sort.

I think this forum has always been comparatively quiet. There are periods of activity and others when nothing gets posted for several days on end (rather like the Groups.io forum it would appear). And as for not receiving replies, well that's happened to me more times than I can remember (referring mostly to the old Conforums site and the long-defunct Yahoo! discussion group). I came to accept that's just what happens sometimes.

It's pretty clear to me what decision I must make, but I'll wait until I've seen the reaction (if any) here before making it final - I was criticised last time for leaving without any explanation.

There is no reason to leave, and absolutely no-one wants to you to go, and I really hope you don't end up convincing yourself otherwise.


David.
--

[DDRM]

Hi Richard,

With both personal and admin hats on, I would strongly encourage you to remain as a member of the forum. If there HAS been a decline in posts by some other "senior" members, it is because you have frequently and expertly come in and answered queries, for which I am very grateful.I won't get into the argument about whether you or Zaphod are the more expert, but you are both much better than me, so having access to you is a clear benefit to the community. Please do NOT interpret that as me saying I'll step back: I simply won't need to pitch in as much if better and quicker responses are coming in!

I'm not sure the overall activity has changed much: as David Williams says, it's always been a fairly quiet forum, and there are big swings in activity, so I wouldn't want to draw too many conclusions. My own feeling, not based on stats, is that actually there have been quite a lot of exchanges in the last month or so, and that the promptness and quality of the responses has improved, largely due to your input.

I've noticed that during your "trial month" you have not taken administrative action, but referred it to me. While I personally would be happy for you to take up the (joint?) administrative reins again, perhaps a compromise that would please everyone would be for you to continue to participate as a "member", but refer admin decisions to me? We can discuss them privately if you wish.

Best wishes,

D

[Edja]

Richard,
I have already replied on several occasions in the past how valuable your participation is on the forum. I'm not going to repeat the arguments I presented then. They are all still valid.

Statistics about the number of posts and (lack of) response are not really significant given the small sample (maybe the result of the excellent documentation?) So don't conclude there is no interest.

I seldom reply to a post simply because I don't have the knowledge of some of the expert fields or because I'm not into music or gaming or 3D. But I do enjoy reading all posts every day.

Since you have participated again on the forum, it has become much more interesting. I consider the direct style in your posts and replies something to be encouraged, always to the point, precise and helpful. I'm sure there many more who think the same.

Eddy

[guest]

perhaps a compromise that would please everyone would be for you to continue to participate as a "member", but refer admin decisions to me?

That goes without saying. As far as I am concerned you are the sole administrator of this forum; there would be a riot if I attempted to perform any administrative tasks (I would refer you to the comment that I quoted from the old BB4W forum, where it was made very clear that allowing me to have any admin role would be unacceptable).

I have to look back over many years (starting off with the old Yahoo! group and then later the old Conforums board) of complaint after complaint about me. I have never forgotten the lengthy criticism of me written way back (probably well over a decade ago) by 'Zaphod' - although he didn't call himself that then - at the Yahoo! group, which didn't pull any punches.

I have little doubt that my rapidly worsening 'cognitive impairment' is contributing to my current feelings (it is often accompanied by depression), but at the same time it means there is little of value that I can contribute to the forum anyway.

[Zaphod]

I have never forgotten the lengthy criticism of me written way back (probably well over a decade ago) by 'Zaphod'

If I remember it was a response to you asking what needed to be done to improve the forum. It was certainly not the personal attack that you took it to be as several people pointed out at the time. I was mistaken in that I thought you wanted to know. I would not have given that response unsolicited. I regret that it has affected you in the way that it has but that is not something I can control.
But back to the question, your input is valuable and has always been of interest to me even if I don't always like your style and don't always agree with you.

Zaphod, AKA Malvern, AKA Malcolm.