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Theres alot of discussion about having new forum sections added. Which is all fine if the section is valid for Train related interest. However there are now so many forum sections its becoming a bit to cluttered in my view.
Have people thought about removing sections?
Examples would be Trainz Cab Modelling / Trainz Scenario's / MSTS for USA.
These 3 sections have next to NO posts in them. Im not picking on the Trainz ones because im not a fan of Trainz. Ive highlighted them becuase they dont get used. As for the USA section. Well tbh the USA market does have train-sim.com, and it looks like most people use that so there seems little point having the under used section on here.
However all other forum sections seem to have a localised interest of discussion in them so they clearly warrant their existence.
. . : :Simulating the UK's first dedicated high speed line for MSTS: : . .
My recent posts have alerted me to some member’s complaints about the number of forums.
I don't see the problem, but may be missing the point.
I'm with you on Trainz. The very openness of the MSTS community is what gives it the edge in my book. I was disgusted when, having read the recent review on Trainz 2004, I went to look at what was downloadable for Trainz on their own web site. Hey I don't get to see that until I purchase Trainz!!!! It's like bookshops that seals all the books in plastic. It's a book for Chuffs sake!!! Not food!!! Sure I'm gonna shell out £25 on a book that you won't let me browse.
I've also visited the MSTS for USA forum and was rather disappointed at the lack of posting. I know there are a great many UK Train Sim fans that equally like US routes and stuff. I agree that Train Sim has an equally enthusiastically supported forum… but have you read some of the stuff? I like Americans. They’re a pretty friendly bunch by and large but their written communication skills on Train Sims forums can leave something to be desired. I’d hoped that the USA forum on UKTS would provide a slightly more “anglicisedâ€
What im saying is...whats the point of having sections people dont use. Arent they just a waste of space, as yes i DO think with so many forums, some things are being lost.
. . : :Simulating the UK's first dedicated high speed line for MSTS: : . .
I suspect that we're closer in our objectives than you think.
To try and explain what I'm getting at....
Books have a "Contents" at the front and an "Index" at the back.
Contents tells you whats in the book and where it's generally laid out.
A "good" index will tell you where any specific item is referred to in the book.
If the book has only a couple of Chapters or Sections the Index will have shed loads of references for any given topic, but with little or no guidance for what these references relate to. A bit like the search engine on this forum.
If it has loads of Chapters and Sections that divide the subject into specific areas you can take an educated guess at which of the shed loads of references in the index is likely to be the one that will answer your question.
As to little used. I really enjoyed Heidi express when I first got it. I was however rather pee'd off with the lack of English translations for activities etc.
If you were short of cash and thinking of buying it the Swiss forum would alert you to this. So what if it's not a new topic! Knowledge is knowledge.
Knowledge is power.
I generally agree that there are too many forum sections, but the way I visit it's not too big a deal.
I log on usually twice daily, hit the "view posts since last visit" and scan down the topics. Usually there are about 60, and I can go through them in a couple of minutes. The topics with useful subject lines are easy to scan, and I take a look when the topic is of interest.
When some idiot starts a topic with the subject "Oops" or "Help" or some other totally useless description, I glance at the forum name. If it's Hartside or It Bites or GMax or Buses or MSTS for USA or Football, etc. I'll usually ignore it; if it is Sounds! or Activity Creation or Newbies (or NHL Hockey, if it existed here) or some other item of potential interest to me, I'll check the author and open it or not, depending. Takes a split second. In that case, a large number of forums is useful to help scan.
Once in a while, though, I'll bugg@r things and screw up the chance to "view posts since last visit." When that happens, I have to sift though the huge list of forums, and drop in on the ones of interest to see what's new. That is when the excessive number of forums gets to be a bit of a pain.
I suppose, like most things in life, one person's boon is someone else's bane (I just made that up) (the wording, that is, not the concept).
