Important: Merging of the Baseball Forums

[Brisco]

I am posting in this thread, but I am hoping this gets discussed as part of the merger thread on ORG where they are having what I consider to be both an interesting and fruitful discussion about the past, present and future of Redszone.

First, about me, I have been part of this board since it crossed over from the old board on the enquirer page. A military deployment interrupted my access for a while and when I returned I had forgotten my login name and lost the old email address so i had to start fresh. I have always loved coming to this board just to primarily read the posts of others. I think of myself as a huge Reds fan, but with none of the advanced baseball knowledge of some other posters, I seldom have much to add.

Now, about the general denigration of post quality that keeps being referred to on the ORG. I think Doug made excellent points about the fact that the Reds success limits the areas for improvement and thus the potential fruitful topics on the 'Zone. I also think that he is right that as the board matures, certain fundamental discussions (which stat is more valid and so on) get ironed out, which again limits the new and interesting discussion.

However, I disagree with most of the ORG posters when they talk about all the posters that have left. I do not think that this is necessarily the fault of the board so much as it is simple attrition. There are many things in life that pull us away from things and even the best board on the net is still going to lose around 10% of its avid posters every given year.

The real issue is that the current board separation may have actually prevented those expected losses from being replaced by new avid posters. The Sundeck has become like the Queen's Australia... a place for criminals... in this case that means newbies, boring lurkers like myself, and the immature offensive types the ORG likes to keep out. This is what is turning away your potential "new talent". You have to wonder how many new FCBs, TRFs, M2s, and RedStorms have been turned away by the interactions that they have had on the Deck... not wanting to put in the work, and I do mean work, it would take to impress the folks on ORG... folks you do not really have direct interaction with since you cant engage in the same conversations.

I think the new rules are great, but I have one caveat... i think the Mods of the new Sundeck should be primarily focused on helping new folks become part of the community... they should interact with the casual fan who asks the stupid question now and then, but do so in a supportive and educational way. In fact, I propose that it be a rotational duty for all the core posters of the old ORG. Say two of them are on duty each week to help make the Sundeck a welcoming environment... doing the basic things like explaining acronyms or what nickname refers to what player. They are not there to police the Deck, but rather serve as Rush Chairmen (Animal House reference).

This may seem like a chore at first, but the fact is they all love the Reds and I think explaining things to newbies can make you love being a fan even more.

I would willing volunteer to be part of this rotation if you need me after the merge, but I hope that the folks more knowledgeable than I would take up the mantle.

Thanks for taking the time to read this,

Brisco

[Larry Schuler]

Last year I was recruited to be a part of a program where Old Red Guard posters were sent back to the Sun Deck to both help & monitor the newer posters. Sort of like a mix between a secret shopper and 21 Jump Street. The plan was to help usher in a new golden era of RedsZone with a squad of exceptional young posters. However, just after I was demoted to the Sun Deck the program was shelved. It turned out that the moderator who organized it did so without the consent & knowledge of the admins. The moderator responsible for Operation New Red Guard was banned & deleted but myself and a few (still anonymous) posters who were recruited were given a less drastic punishment: we had to stay on the Sun Deck. I alleged that I had no knowledge that the mission was illegal yet I accepted my punishment. The merging of the forums allows me to re-enter my original home and try to re-build all the great, high quality posts that were deleted off my record long ago. I look forward to, with great anticipation, the reunion between myself and my brothers M2, Raisor, DougDirt and the rest. God bless this new world we live in & sorry to anyone I may have hurt in Operation NRG.

[RiverRat13]

Originally Posted by Brisco

Now, about the general denigration of post quality that keeps being referred to on the ORG. I think Doug made excellent points about the fact that the Reds success limits the areas for improvement and thus the potential fruitful topics on the 'Zone.

I think this is a great point and can be applied to why this particular winter has been very slow on both the ORG and SunDeck.. I wanted Walt to add a couple of left-handed bats, preferably one to replace or platoon with Stubbs and one to play 3B to spell Frazier. I also wanted the Reds to acquire a back-end bullpen guy to allow Chapman to be tried in the rotation. He took care of all of those things before I took care of my Christmas shopping. Not a whole lot to discuss until we start playing some games.

[Mutaman]

Hey Texas Dave, how do we feel about this. Sort of enjoyed old Sun Deck last summer. Do we want to be part of a club that would accept us as members?

[texasdave]

It was fun last summer. Winning 97 games will do that.

[Parliament]

Originally Posted by Larry Schuler

Last year I was recruited to be a part of a program where Old Red Guard posters were sent back to the Sun Deck to both help & monitor the newer posters. Sort of like a mix between a secret shopper and 21 Jump Street. The plan was to help usher in a new golden era of RedsZone with a squad of exceptional young posters. However, just after I was demoted to the Sun Deck the program was shelved. It turned out that the moderator who organized it did so without the consent & knowledge of the admins. The moderator responsible for Operation New Red Guard was banned & deleted but myself and a few (still anonymous) posters who were recruited were given a less drastic punishment: we had to stay on the Sun Deck. I alleged that I had no knowledge that the mission was illegal yet I accepted my punishment. The merging of the forums allows me to re-enter my original home and try to re-build all the great, high quality posts that were deleted off my record long ago. I look forward to, with great anticipation, the reunion between myself and my brothers M2, Raisor, DougDirt and the rest. God bless this new world we live in & sorry to anyone I may have hurt in Operation NRG.

Just curious, why on earth would you stay and contribute your time and energy to a website that did that to you?

[Boss-Hog]

Originally Posted by Parliament

Just curious, why on earth would you stay and contribute your time and energy to a website that did that to you?

That's satire and not factual.

[Maldez]

Originally Posted by Jr's Boy

Caste system is exactly what I said.I know your a Reds message board veteran,I remember your name on the old AOL Reds board.Remember the ''Casey vs Konerko''thread?

Wow, that brings back memories! What was the name of the board whipping boy that everybody jumped on because he was such a mouthy know-it-all?

[Mutaman]

Originally Posted by texasdave

It was fun last summer. Winning 97 games will do that.

And just think how many we'll win now that we've got another left handed hitter.

[smixsell]

Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!! (in my best "William Wallace" voice)

[BEETTLEBUG]

Boss Hog,
excuse me if I have missed the change over date if posted but when is this going to take place?

[Red Raindog]

Originally Posted by BEETTLEBUG

Boss Hog,
excuse me if I have missed the change over date if posted but when is this going to take place?

1st post in this thread says 2/1 to 2/3 is the tentative start date but certainly before Spring Training

Will life ever be the same?

[Boss-Hog]

Originally Posted by Red Raindog

1st post in this thread says 2/1 to 2/3 is the tentative start date but certainly before Spring Training

Will life ever be the same?

That's the plan, but due to a busy weekend, I MAY be able to make the changes tomorrow.

[BEETTLEBUG]

Thank you Boss-Hog kool.

[Boss-Hog]

The "like" addon has been implemented; this will be on a trial basis. The button refers to the original name of the addon ("thanks"), so give us some time until we can come up with something similar that has the "like" verbiage. In the meantime, the functionality should be identical, but let us know if you have any issues with it.

I've disabled the "like" stats under each user name in a post, but I left them enabled in user profiles (under the "Statistics" tab). They can be enabled in both, neither or one place(s). You can also use the search function to find all "liked" posts throughout the site.

I expect to have the remaining changes related to the merger done by tomorrow.