I am looking for some suggestions as to the "registered user only" forum. Which of the 2 should I do?

[imported_mknutson]

[Craig]

I've voted based upon the choices provided. Are we to assume that because there isn't a "Only have a registered forum" and "Keep the status quo" that this 2 forum model (once requiring registration and one not) is the way you're going? If those choices had been present my vote would have been different.

[imported_mknutson]

That would be pretty drastic. I am not sure how successful that would be. We can always give a crap area for people to get lost into. Then a real forum for real discussions.

Here is the plan potentially:

The BASE Board: Registered users can post, anyone can read.

General Forum: Anyone can post, and read.

Technical Forum: Truely technical threads get moved to this forum after a given period. No one can post, anyone can read.


[hr]
BTW, I created a read only technical forum I plan to move some VERY technical postings to live. Do you think this will help?

[Jumper82]

sounds like a great idea....It gives a section for everyone...and still gives you some freedom..So, If you don't want to read and filter through the crap you don't have to.....
Kenny
Phreefaln@hotmail.com

[flummi]

i think a new "general" free-for-all and a restricted base board with registration is a great idea.

i also like the idea of moving technical threads so one can find them easier. if everyone participates, then we can end up with a pretty extensive knowledge base, easily accessible also for new jumpers - which might in future help to prevent bad things from happening.

blue skies, soft walls.
flummi

[Skinflicka]

Mick,

I don't see how this is going to help. Yes, I want to see technical issues discussed on the BASE Board. Yes, I want to have fun by poking at my firends once in a while. Yes, I want to be able to discuss site details openly and know that the info is secure. No, I don't ever want a repeat of the recent debacle which proved so hurtful to Wayne Stout and his family. If you retain an open forum you'll get the same kind of stuff and people who don't know the difference and don't understand the mechanics of your B.B. system will still associate those threads with the BASE jumping community.

So what will have changed? Nothing, I fear.

I understand the necessity to have an open forum to attract revenue to keep the board open. I also think that the people who control that revenue will not want to be associated with a community which appears to have such little consideration for the rest of humanity.

You may have become a victim of your own success. The BASE Board has become huge with a following that includes many who are not involved in the sport but have an interest. It does make it easier to enter the sport but is that really a positive? It took me three years of study, $5000 and emmigration to get to my first jump. That kind of barrier means that only the most dedicated and determined pass the first hurdle. Now it's $1500 for a FJC. You may as well sell a hand grenade to a teenager.

I won't try to speak for the rest of the community but what I'd like to see is an underground system for communication of BASE info which is out of earshot of the authorities. I fear that this year has further underlined the case against BASE jumping. Personally, I don't think it will ever go mainstream. We're going to be kept locked out of the "sports society". As an activity we've become nothing more than circus freaks surrounded by people who are just waiting to see us fu(k up with a morbid fascination.

Fu(k 'em. I hope I land on them when I go in.

If you're going to make a change then go the whole hog. Ban the retards. Require referees. Make it a tough interview to get in. Require new members to be sponsered by a peer with a BASE number. I'm just spitballing here but your suggested change, while relatively simple to administrate and implement, is really no change at all. Improve the quality of info and get rid of the disinformation and bull$hit.

I want no association with people who cause the kind of deliberate hurt that we've seen lately.

I'm a BASE jumper. By definition, I'm an outlaw in all but the most exceptional circumstances. I have my own code. But, if I want acceptance or brotherhood among my peers then I must concede. I cannot be a loner, by definition. Why does a loner need a vehicle like the BASE Board? If you're alone, truely alone, then get on with it. Don't bother everyone else. If you want to be part of a very special, diverse group of experts in their field, then humble up, admit we need each other, gain some respect and embrace what we have. We are the minority. We will always be the minority. If you think one day we won't be the minority then wake up.
We need to look out for each other and each others interests. That includes each others families and friends cos they're a part of us.

It's time to hide from prying eyes...at least for the short term.

Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints.

Let's get out of the limelight for a while.


Thanks for the work you do, Mick. Many people appreciate it.

Best wishes,

Skin - BASE 727

[flummi]

>If you're going to make a change then go the
>whole hog. Ban the retards. Require referees.
>Make it a tough interview to get in. Require
>new members to be sponsered by a peer with a
>BASE number.

i had the same idea of having a recommendation (to make sure that there is a real person behind anyone that registers) - just did not know how to put it.

so: thanx.

play hard, pay attention to details.
flummi

[d-dog]

I believe the best (and only) way to ensure higher-quality, non-destructive communcation here is to have a main forum that:

1. anyone can read, registered or not.

2. only registered, authenticated users can post to.

Having one registered forum and one unregistered forum, no matter what titles we give them, will just result in the latter withering to a few committed folks who post there exclusively. Everyone else will default to the unregistered forum - even those of us who don't want to will have to read it and keep in touch with what is said there.

Eventually, something will be said there that will make registered users respond to it there, in the unregistered forum. Q.E.D. - we are right back where we started.

There is NO justifiable reason that posters to a BASE forum must have full, complete, total anonymity. This isn't a forum for discussing sexual abuse survival, or substance use, or some other deeply sensitive subject where legitimate posters would have legitimate reasons to be completely anonymous.

Honestly, the only people who will be put off by a registration requirement are the very people we cannot have doing what they have done in the past. They either post anonymous attacks or post anonymous dis-information. This does not further discussion on the board, nor does it further our sport. It can't be good for business with advertisers - what advertiser would want to be seen alongside the drivel that we've seen here of late?

If someone interested in our sport wants to post questions and learn interactively from other jumpers, they have to register. Heck, we register for silly sites like weather.com - it isn't like registration is a massive issue. Our little site for electronic music in the Pacific Northwest, ntwekno.org, has over 8,000 registered users. The cascadeclimbers.com website has 5,000+ reigstered users. Besides, in my experience, solid advertisers are much more interested in registered user count than in raw pageviews; registration entails some modicum of committment, and advertisers who are willing to pay decent rates want to see visitors to a site who are there because of a real interest, not just there for a quick thrill.

Instantiate a group of moderators who have the ability to ban posters who transgress a posted set of forum guidelines, said guidelines developed by the BASE community (which could include not publicly posting site information, etc.).

This is how nearly every functional online community operates, and there is no reason the BASE board should be fundamentally different.

Peace,

D-d0g
ddog@wrinko.com
www.wrinko.com

[Skypuppy]

Yeah - what they said. I'm not going to vote for either of the suggestions on your poll because i think what the last 3 responses said makes sense...

One doesn't have to have a base # to post - just have to register...

It seems to work on skydive.com...

Altho' I'll still be reading it no matter what you decide...

[FLsurfer]

I'd have to say D-Dog has the best suggestions. I'd just like to add that I don't think a BASE # should be a requirement for registering. Some of us live in places without S's and E's so between surf trips and vacations it's probaly going to take a while for me to even get BASE. I've also met a few jumpers that have accomplished BASE but getting their #'s is not a priority for them. I'd rather see some type of interview set up for registering and then have some moderators monitor the board. Just my .02

[imported_mknutson]

So are you suggesting Make posting to the BB registered users only, and NOT make a general forum at all. This way I will just DELETE all off-topic threads?

I can do that as well, and I have actually modified the POLL to reflect that.

[imported_mknutson]

I am locking this POLL so I can reset the voting as to the new 3 options.

Sorry. I just thought we needed to start again.