Why No Stars ????

[Frank53]

I'd like to take this opportunity to shamelessly pad my post count.

[Buckeye Riveter]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ChiefEagles

WOOOOH, this horse has been beat to death. Lets move on to another subject and have fun. [:D] God bless all.

[#ditto]

BTW, if someone wants some of my stars you are welcome to them. [:D]

[Poppa_Zit]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dwiemer

Poppa_Zit,
wanted to email you privately, but you don't have it listed. since i am the one being quoted in your message, i will simply justify the quote. it had nothing to do with you or your posts, the offense is when someone tells others that if they want the weather, goto weather.com. the point the poster was making was obvious and for me offensive. some on this board just like to check in, if they want to post the weather in their neck of the woods, fine. but please don't jump on someone for doing so. That said, to quote the Chief, "This horse has been beat to death". At no time did I mention you or your posts.
Dennis

Dennis --

When someone makes a joke (or is being sarcastic, which is another form of humor) about getting the weather, in my opinion anyone who would take offense to something so harmless is being way too sensitive. I was merely attempting to express a neutral point of view. There is also a lot of humor and sarcasm on these boards, and I personally find it quite entertaining most of the time.

One of my points was we didn't need was for this to be blown out of proportion and carried over to any of the coffee pots so vigilante coffee guzzlers could rush over here and stick out their chests and harrumph a lot and express their righteous indignation. Which is exactly what started to happen.

BTW, I keep my email private because there are too many flamers who'd use it and I don't need the hassle or sorting out the fools from real emails. If something really needs to be said, it can be done right here so everyone can see who posted it, or not said at all.[:D]

[dwiemer]

Poppa_Zit,
wanted to email you privately, but you don't have it listed. since i am the one being quoted in your message, i will simply justify the quote. it had nothing to do with you or your posts, the offense is when someone tells others that if they want the weather, goto weather.com. the point the poster was making was obvious and for me offensive. some on this board just like to check in, if they want to post the weather in their neck of the woods, fine. but please don't jump on someone for doing so. That said, to quote the Chief, "This horse has been beat to death". At no time did I mention you or your posts.
Dennis

[pbjwilson]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ChiefEagles

WOOOOH, this horse has been beat to death. Lets move on to another subject and have fun. [:D] God bless all.

Amen Chief.

[Poppa_Zit]

QUOTE: Originally posted by csxt30

Well, if someone emailed you that, seems to me, you are adding to starting a flame war. Who cares about some email you got ? Delete it & go forward. Post your opinions & thoughts, not someone elses emails .

Csxt30, your accusation of me starting a "flame war" is pretty ridiculous.

Here's the point apparently you missed: Someone else who does the "coffee pot" thing sent me the "take offense" message in an email so I would see it because it referred to a thread in which I posted. He thought I might want to respond to the allegations in the post.

So what you read was me expressing my opinions and thoughts. How do you figure I posted someone else's emails?

Maybe you just read my post too fast. [swg]

[IRONROOSTER]

It's really fascinating. Here we have a fun little thing like stars and post counts which have no significance beyond being a simple count. Yet somehow they are responsible for meaningless posts (whatever that means), pseudo expertise, and who knows what else.

This hobby is supposed to be fun and this forum should be fun also. Just as we should tolerate how each other practices this hobby, so should we tolerate the diversity on this forum. Diversity is part of what makes this such an interesting hobby.

[2c]

Enjoy, but remember you have less than 2 days to get that next star [:o)][:o)]
Paul, who will forever be a [bow]5 star member[bow]

[ChiefEagles]

WOOOOH, this horse has been beat to death. Lets move on to another subject and have fun. [:D] God bless all.

[Anonymous]

Whatever floats your boats fellas, but I don't think most people find the Yankee vs. Rebel stuff very humorous. [zzz]

[csxt30]

Well, if someone emailed you that, seems to me, you are adding to starting a flame war. Who cares about some email you got ? Delete it & go forward. Post your opinions & thoughts, not someone elses emails .

[Anonymous]

For me personally it doesnt matter about the star system. Though I like the colors of the stars as you progress up the posts, it can give the message that if someone wants to be important, then they have to up their post count by making pointless posts.

I like reading the posts in the Coffee Pot, and I post there from time to time. It's also nice to learn about the other members here from their point of view from where they live, whether its here in the US or another country. Usually when I post, I post something that I feel that will contribute to the forum in some way. I am not intimidated in any way about the other guys here who have more stars than me, or by the post count.

If one starts feeling like they have to make pointless posts just to up their count in order to feel more important, then that person is losing focus on what this forum is really about. What it means is that we are all here as a community and to help each other out whenever we can, and to laugh and share memories at the same time. That way every person, whether you have zero or 40,000 posts, can feel like they belong and that they count as a person for who they are, not for number adding.

[Poppa_Zit]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dwiemer

I see in the thread about "No Stars" that some take offense to the topics typically discussed and posted here on the Pot. This is the first that I have seen of this attitude here and I hope it is short lived. I have heard that that goes on on the other forum, but it should not happen here. This is a great bunch of folks and it is good that we can kid, joke, and share our lives with those of a common interest. I hope y'all feel as I do. So Take care, have a great day, and God Bless.
Dennis

The above was just emailed to me.

Why are you trying to start trouble by posting this in your coffee pot?

Re-read all of the posts in this "No Stars" thread. Not one person says they "take offense" with what you folks do over there, so why are you making that stuff up? The email said others over there are starting to rattle their sabres -- for no good reason.

Some people think the "coffee pot" is a wonderful place, and I respect that opinion.

But let's also please respect the opinions of those who think it is corny or pointless or funny or a waste of time. That is NOT the same thing as taking offense. Some members simply do not care for such home-spun chit-chat, and so they stay away as some of your regulars have so ordered.

It came up on this thread because several posters think a lot of soon-to-be-discontinued stars have been "earned" for coffee pot posts that contain absolutely no content of any merit or quality.

The coffee pot threads on these forums do not appeal to everyone, that's all. Why should accepting that fact be such a big deal? It's certainly not worth starting a flame war, is it?

[spankybird]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dwiemer

Hate to give them Ohio boys credit, but as you say Chief, they sure know their trains.
....
Dennis

Thank you from NE Ohio [^]

[bow]

[ChiefEagles]

Passive Agressive. [;)] [:)]

[dwiemer]

Hate to give them Ohio boys credit, but as you say Chief, they sure know their trains. I agree that the Coffee pot is the proper place for us to share our lives, all the other spots are for sharing knowledge of trains. So, how did the question about star count denegrate to such a level anyway?
Dennis

[ChiefEagles]

Sure is funny. Some folks don't like Coffee Pot type posts but it has been adpoted [very sucessfully] on other forums. More train knowledge with the Coffee Pot gang than you can bottle up and sale. I dare say that there is more model train knowledge in just the Ohio gang than all of "the stuffed shirts" combined. [;)]

[Anonymous]

Doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I would rather see quality posts
rather than posts for the sake of a count. Would free up more storage for
the webmasters and make finding relvant info easier without having to sift
through a bunch of "stuff".

The final decision is that of the site owners, so I'll just go along.

Edit:

BTW...The "coffee pot" thread is a nice idea. I read it every so often. Better
place for chit chat instead of the train threads. Kind of like visiting each
others layouts and homes! Hope the site owners keep the thread.

[dwiemer]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Doug B

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bergie

Frankly, the discussions in our various "coffee shop" threads are the perfect example. Post like, "What's for breakfast?" or "Yeah, me too" shouldn't give one user any type of credibility over another user.

Bergie

BINGO! Seems like a lot of bandwidth is wasted with those threads. The same people post over and over and run their post counts up. If you want to know about the weather, go to www.weatherchannel.com[swg]

Sorry, I think you are hitting a sore spot here. The coffee pot is where you get to know the other folks on this forum. We chat about many things, family, weather, whatever. It really rubs me the wrong way when you start jumping on folks for posting the usual post at the coffee pot. If CTT was worried about bandwidth being wasted on such, they could always archive the posts after a few days. That being said, it is their game. I personally encourage folks to stop by the coffee pot and tell us how things are in your neck of the woods. If you are not interested, fine, don't go.
Dennis

[Poppa_Zit]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Allan Miller

Bergi's comment . . .

"Frankly, the discussions in our various "coffee shop" threads are the perfect example. Post like, "What's for breakfast?" or "Yeah, me too" shouldn't give one user any type of credibility over another user."

. . .is right on the money. Stars have no relevance (today) as far as topical posts or the content of posts is concerned. I saw an interesting news report yesterday about how the Internet has altered the concept of "friendships," and threads like the coffee shop threads on this and many other forums provide perfect examples of the observations made in that report.

Okay, now you're killin' me. I'll be the one to bite, Allan. What DID the report say about Internet "friendships?"

Since you also are a writer I know you put that word in quotation marks for a good reason; I have a hunch where this is headed. And I probably will agree.

Enlighten us, please.

BTW, it's sunny and 79 degrees here with a possible thundershower this evening. I'll take mine with two Equals and skim latte. [swg]

[Anonymous]

Bergi's comment . . .

"Frankly, the discussions in our various "coffee shop" threads are the perfect example. Post like, "What's for breakfast?" or "Yeah, me too" shouldn't give one user any type of credibility over another user."

. . .is right on the money. Stars have no relevance (today) as far as topical posts or the content of posts is concerned. I saw an interesting news report yesterday about how the Internet has altered the concept of "friendships," and threads like the coffee shop threads on this and many other forums provide perfect examples of the observations made in that report.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bergie

Think "quality of post" over "quantity of posts". It's that simple.

Frankly, the discussions in our various "coffee shop" threads are the perfect example. Post like, "What's for breakfast?" or "Yeah, me too" shouldn't give one user any type of credibility over another user.

Bergie

I agree... in fact, I've noticed on this, as well as the OGR forum, some people who are long-time members with relatively few posts often give the most valuable information (myself NOT included). The "coffee pot" is a great idea since it is a place to just "chat" and get to know each other on a more personal basis. However, daily weather reports have nothing to do with a person's "train knowledge". Joe

[thatboy37]

i really didnt know what the star system was but always wondered what it stood for, and now i know. it nevered mattered to me as for i really thought that the site for sharing, and giving also helping each other in time of need for information to get their model railroad layout up and running, plus to show what you have accomplished on your layout as to this is really the only way for others to see each others layouts as some of us really dont get to travel as much as others so this would be the only way for us to say and help out without really being there. if you know what i mean. but the guys that have been here longer and know alot more should have some type of rating to let others know who could and possibly could give the best info to help get the ones of us up and running who really loved trains all their lives and now able to invest a little in the hobby some help. until next time peace

thatboy37 aka reggie

[philo426]

Let me clarify !I think my post came across as harsher than intended.I just think it was funny when someone posted who did not know the answer.

[alstom]

I joined here on June 23, 2005 and have made 940 something posts. At first, I kind of wanted to get in with the big boys (yes, I admit) and get four to five stars right away. But soon, I realized the same thing that many have posted on here.

I agree exactly with Bergie that what you SHOULD look for in a post is the quality. Not the quantity of how many posts that the user had made.

I have three green stars currently and, if this site wouldn't be going under the construction it is going to be under, I would probably get four yellow/golden stars within the next month or two. But, honestly, I do not care all that much.

Just remember that: "It is the quality of the post, not the quantity of posts." That is the right way to go, so don't let your stars bother you if they go.

-But I do want my stars a little bit! I have three, almost four, almost! Dang it, should've posted more.....LOL

Rich

..................

EDIT: Bergie, if you read this, just a quick question, will the "average-per-day" thing in your profile be staying, because mine is 2.48.

[dbaker48]

Ahhhh, come on guys. It's just a bunch of people having a little fun. It's great that people get together to just talk about the weather or mundane activities that are happening in their days or life. Seems to me if I remember the "good ol days" thats what neighbors would do at the fence, just light hearted conversation. Unfortunately there really isn't enough of that anymore.

Sure, this forum provides a LOT of valuable and good technical information, but isn't it really more for ENTERTAINMENT? How boring this would all be if it was just about fixing a wiring problem, or repairing a piece of inventory. I hope the personal posts and light heartedness does not go away.

It is probably best to eliminate the stars, because as the way most other things go in todays society, we must protect those that would draw the wrong interpretation from the significance.That the stars are releated to quality, and of course their not. (We are becoming less and less responsible for ourselves, and rely more on others to protect us.)

I hope the slippery slope doesn't delete all the smiley face icons also. Even though there is a legend to define the intended meaning.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bergie

Frankly, the discussions in our various "coffee shop" threads are the perfect example. Post like, "What's for breakfast?" or "Yeah, me too" shouldn't give one user any type of credibility over another user.

Bergie

BINGO! Seems like a lot of bandwidth is wasted with those threads. The same people post over and over and run their post counts up. If you want to know about the weather, go to www.weatherchannel.com[swg]

[Bergie]

Think "quality of post" over "quantity of posts". It's that simple.

Frankly, the discussions in our various "coffee shop" threads are the perfect example. Post like, "What's for breakfast?" or "Yeah, me too" shouldn't give one user any type of credibility over another user.

Bergie

[lionelsoni]

Stars don't make me no never mind.

[cmrj]

Hello guy's, I don't post very much, but I do read what you have to say. I contribute when my knowlege allow's. I still consider my self a newbe. I think the stars are a good thing.
[2c] Mike