Some people complain because they like to complain. They’re not interested in trying to change anything, they just want to make noise.
Hah, that’s a good one! I’ve been making contributions for several years now…
You know, I hear people say this all the time; hell, I’ve probably said it myself. But, I’ve yet to see a lick of good evidence that’s it’s actually true. No doubt, people complain more vocally than they need to because they enjoy it, but underneath it all it seems to be motivated by a genuine desire for the thing they’re complaining about to change; whether they realistically expect such a change is another matter, of course.
I’ve never complained about the boards (I don’t think?), but that doesn’t mean this performance shit doesn’t repeatedly piss me off. But what would I have to contribute? I don’t know anything about the software and there’s no point adding to the noise. The powers that be don’t give a flying fuck what I think; that much I know.
I know someone who I swear isn’t happy unless he’s complaining about something. He manages to find a down side to everything; if he won the lottery he’d probably bitch about it putting him into a higher tax bracket.
I agree, and I’m like that with everything else I pay for too. Hell, if my phone quits working regularly, or my DirecTV has constant outages, or my ISP is offline more often than not, do I complain? No. Why? Because I LIKE paying for service and not getting it. I guess I’m weird that way. It pisses me off when something I pay for works the way it’s supposed to, especially if it’s something that’s really useful and gives me enjoyment. That’s just not how it’s supposed to be, and I don’t like it. I’m so glad others feel the same way.
Your analogies are not valid, Equipoise. If I complain to my cable provider about the service, there’s a chance they’ll fix it (or I’ll change cable providers). If I complain about the Dope, there is zero chance they’ll fix it, and I’ve spent too long here carving out a place in this community to just dump it like I would a cable company. But, like I said, the good is still outweighing the bad for me. If the bad starts outweighing the good, I’ll find another message board that will hopefully replace the Dope and be better in the ways the Dope is bad.
My complaint isn’t so much with the crashes. My site goes down from time to time, too. Admins can’t stand 24-hour vigil over their servers. Shit happens.
The thing is, on the SDMB, the problems should be easy to fix, but nobody seems to make the effort. With database corruption, there’s a menu option in the vBulletin administration control panel that allows optimization and repairs. Thing is, the admins here don’t have access to it. Give admins access, and Tuba can fix the database and get the site online, without having to wait for Jerry to return from wherever he may be. It’s considered good practice to repair and optimize the database ever so often, even when things are running fine, as a preventative measure. Does that happen here?
I’ve mentioned the upgrades before. I think a previous poster raises a good point; there could be the mistaken belief that older versions of all software packages are more robust and stable, which is why vBulletin was never updated here. With vB, though, it isn’t true. Upgrades address security issues, performance tweaks, and so on, as well as added features. vBulletin 3.7 is not slower or less stable than 3.0; in fact, the opposite is true. Even then, why weren’t upgrades performed through the years? Why the love for 3.0.7 I do remember when I first joined the SDMB, there was no hesitation in upgrading from 1.* to 2.0, and upgrades in the 2.* series occurred regularly; not as soon as they were released, but often enough to keepthe site relatively up-to-date.
Hey-they have made progress. The previous business model was: promise upgrades and improvements, collect money, and do nothing.
They eliminated the first part.
Hey, you’re right: out of every single occasion when I have been given an opportunity to vote as to whether I’d like this board to function better I have not once cast a vote for change.
Or when they switched from UBB to vB in the first place.
As far as the “silent plurality” is concerned, I suspect there’s a silent plurality that’s already exhausted itself, bitching about the obvious things that could easily be done to improve the board, raise more money, etc., etc., and gotten tired, as drewbert said, of talking to the brick wall.
If the CR’s ownership actually changed, it’s hard to see a difference. Maybe they just planted some bogus articles in business periodicals.
My feeling is that if the attitudes of TPTB now were the same in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the SDMB would be using some creaky version of UBB well into 2003 or 2004.
Let’s face it: the SDMB is now dead last when it comes to the priorities of IT at the Reader. Ignore it until it breaks, fix it, and then ignore it again. There’s more important things to do, like making sure everybody knows how to use the Creative Loafing content management system, upgrading Word on the editor’s laptop, and adding a new networked printer to the receptionist’s desktop PC. It’s a cash cow, and bring treated as such.
That is so warped. Not complaining because you know they don’t give a shit and aren’t going to fix anything so why bother? I do know what you mean though, I usually think that way too, but I can’t help but say something sometimes.
There is no message board as good, content-wise, as The Straight Dope. You know it, I know it, they know it, and boy they’re lording it over us. “Don’t like it, go somewhere else!” when they know damn well there isn’t anywhere else, so we have to suck it up. Argh.
Well, maybe I’ll just get some damned work done around here then.
Is it just me, or have things actually gotten worse after we went PtP?
No, it’s just you that’s gotten worse.
What?
There’s always someone (or something) better. Always.
“Lording it over us” implies a measure of interest in the first place. The only interest is what they earn on subscription and ad revenue, after the hookers and blow have been paid for. If you consider them intellectual partners in this venture, you’re sadly deluded.
Ummm…