What other manufacturers/sections do you want adding to the forums?

[netsmithUK]

OK I know this has been raised before and I could dig back through all those posts an piece a list together but i thought new year, new list.

I started off thinking, "get a list of all RC manufacturers that the members want listing" and I know some members will shudder at the idea of more none Tamiya stuff being covered here, but with the new forum you can choose to see this forum or not, so I don't see this as a problem. It also makes sense to make the list we cover here the same as the list we have when adding cars to the showroom, so bear that in mind too.

The only issue I can think of is we also discussed having Nitro forums, and we already have a Racing Forum and Monster Truck, so I think we are running the risk of making things more confusing rather than easier. If you have a Nitro Traxxas Monster Truck which you race, which forum do you post questions about it in?

I'm up for suggestions and opinions here. At the end of the day we'll all have different ones, so don't get upset if people don't agree with you or your particular suggestions doesn't get implemented.

As a test I've included a Poll, to a)guage opinion and b)see if the polls work. As its the first I wouldn't put too much store by the results until I've been able to validate some of the voting 'patterns'

If you include manufacturers in your post that you want including please colour them red so its easy for me to pick them out.

Cheers

Chris

[supergreg]

I don't think there is need for more manufacturer forums, but there was discussion about a TANKS forum when we talked about the nitro thing.

[Backlash]

In the other makes section maybe Associated or even LOSI.???

 

[backtomyroots]

I would love to see a TANK forum as I have been contemplating taking on the challenge of a Leopard.

[Stefan(2)]

I would say

1/16 Tanks

1/14 Rigs

Equepment (lath, cnc "stuff" , tools in general)

Stefan

[Shodog]

RCMT.net is very compartmentalized like this and I think it's becoming less popular because of it.  The problem I see with multiple forums is that there will be so many that people who might have valuable information to contribute will only look at just a few forums and miss out on the other stuff.

Case in point.  Ask a question about something in the Kyosho forum and it will linger unanswered or with only one reply for days.  Post the same question in the vintage tamiya forum and people will slobber all over themselves to answer it. 

[Cul-Tech]

I am with Shodog 100% on this.

[jozza]

Personally I think that splitting forums for other manufacturers is not a good idea. If I want specific information about my HPI Savage, I will visit an HPI based forum site and get the information from there. If there is too much dilution of non Tamiya subjects in the forums, I think that subjects posted won't get the attention they would in a fourm dedicated to that manufacturer. And as Shodog points out, it could lead to confusion as to where you post an item about some cars.

 

However, it would be nice for other manufacturers to be added to the showroom categories. HPI, Shumacher, Losi etc, so that I don't have to put my HPI Savage in as Miscellaneous, which means that people looking for popular trucks and cars like the Savage have to search through "Miscs" to find it.

[netsmithUK]

Hi Tipsy,

I sort of agree, in that really if you want key information about models then you are probably best off visiting those specific forums and I'm not thinking of trying to replace them in anyway. But at the same time we do have members that already discuss them here, which i don't really have a problem with, they can put them in their showrooms so why not talk about them in the forums? At the momemt though these discussions mainly take place in the "Tamiya General Discussions" forum, which feels wrong both for them and those people that want to read that forum for Tamiya info.

If we had dedicated forums then people could turn then on or off as required. If no one uses them, fair enough, they are not used. If they do then great they've done their job. It also means as admins if people do post else where then we can simply move them to the appropriate place

Maybe the thing to do, is rather than creating more we alctually consolidate the ones we do have into one big one "Other makes discussion" - if you look at the numbers the ones we have add up to 5000 posts nearly which makes it actually quite a popular part of the forum. Being bigger might actually make it used more?

 

Chris

[DJTheo]

I also agree with Jozza and Shodog, things get pretty lost in many subcategories or multiply asked. I personally would rather preffer a categorization according to type of vehice like "vintage on road, vintage off road, modern on road, modern buggies, MT, rigs, tanks" which would be more helpfull using technical similarities then a categorization according to brands but with different vehicle types.

Cheers

[netsmithUK]

and just lose the word "Tamiya" form the forum titles?

I can configure it that users can turn forums on and off based on personal preference, but if we went that route it wouldn't allow them to turn off everything that wasn't Tamiya. Maybe that doesn't matter any more, as we discuss most things here already....

[OCD]

I'm not sure if I want to vote for any of those choices.

I could recommend some changes, but I think that they better serve me

rather than the greater good.  Truthfully I like the flexability

of the forums in that many of the categories do overlap, so threads

have a less likely chance of getting lost in a corner so-to

speak.  Shodog you're right, things do go unanswered in the

Kyosho-etc forums, but I figured that is to be expected since this is a

Tamiya focused forum.  Occasionally a non-Tamiya thread gets

started in the Tamiya sections (or any topic in the wrong section) and

it it will get answers immediately: isn't this a good thing?  I

believe that encouraging posts of any sort is most important. 

This way the question gets a variety of answers before being 'stored

away' for later reference when the admin. relocates it to it's proper

section.  Some of you, myself included, loathe reading all of the

misplaced and sometimes redundent threads that pour in here

daily.  I consider this the small price I pay while using this

tremendous reference resource.  You see, people feel welcome to

post here: it's really the friendliest place around!  As result we

get fresher, more diverse variety of material than any one else. 

Nice isn't it?  Like you said - RCMT is dying on it's feet. 

Rude, close minded attitudes have not paid off for them. 

Now Personally, it would suit me to have a Tamiya nitro column,

but I  get the feeling that people here wouldn't be into

that.  It's kind of sad to me though, I recently bumped into

another TC member (FatBoySlim) at a different Tamiya nitro forum - Talk

about a ghost town!  Some posts were sitting unanswered for 6

month stretches!!(Why do people bother answering 6 mo old threads?)

When I talked with FBS he told me he uses that forum because TC's forum

doesn't cut it. I would have to agree. Maybe there isn't enough

TGX-TG10-TNX-XBG-Nitro Force/Thunder owners here?  How do people

here feel about a Tamiya nitro section?

Like I  said, I really don't mind the way the forum is now. If

we're going to change it, I vote we make it more inclusive rather than

exclusive. I like my forum full of useful information and the

occasional Hibernaculum bedtime story.

End rant.  

[netsmithUK]

LOL - you've just highlighted a problem with polls, what do you do after you've got votes and you realise you've missed off some options [:S]

I agree with you OCD, I like to encourage people to post, and I really don't mind seeing topics started that are not of interest to me (and me and the other mods spend a lot of time looking through the forums but I also realise that some people don't have the same time or patience as me, and like any system, a lot of what we are about is getting people to the information they want quickly and easily.

One of the things I like about this new forum is the easy location of unanswered posts. I know old time members of the club can become wary of some repeated or newbie questions but I think it would be quite nice if as a club we could make the effort to post polite answers, even if its just links to other thread. With this new system I could even create a new role something "Answer Team" these users commit to answering unanswered posts in a polite manner and in return get a special icon appearing next to their names (ok I stole the idea from ebay and their ebay assitants) - any volenteers?

 I think the issue we have is we are getting bigger fast, we are getting 200-300 posts every 24hrs, so having too few sections can end up with each becoming too much of a pain to wade through. I guess we've got to strike a balance.

I'm certainly up for creating Nitro, tanks, electrics and other forums if people prefer we go that way.

Chris

[phiber_optik]

Id like to see an HPI section as I own quiet a few HPI nitros, a nitro

advice section might also be useful for newbies and people like me who

forget stuff

[supergreg]

One more suggestion for the TANKS forum: What if we call it "TRACKED VEHICLES", which includes all non-military stuff from other companies? I can see there are quite some Blizzard owners around (including me)! []

[XanderP]

I think we should add a forum for anything tamiya that isn't a car e.g big rigs, tanks

and one big forum for other makes, possibly dividing the general tamiya disscussion into electric and nitro might be a good idea.

[terry.sc]

Surprised to see HPI don't

have their own showroom section, but a quick count of numbers in

showrooms gives a total of only around 100 HPIs which actually makes

Traxxas more popular. Thought HPI would be more popular than that. I

would like to see sections for Associated and Schumacher

both of which are the third and fourth most popular makes in the

showrooms after Tamiya and Kyosho. These are also the ones discussed

about most often in the 'other makes' forum and there is some very

valuable information on those two buried in the 'other makes' section.

Being one of the Kyosho experts around here I find that the relatively

small number of us do check the Kyosho section when we check the Tamiya

ones. If there is a question I can answer I will, wherever it is. I

don't find that a Kyosho question in the main section gets answered

more often than the Kyosho section, if anything you will get a better

answer in the Kyosho section.

I have noticed though that clicking on the "Tamiyaclub.com forums" link

at the top just shows the Tamiya sections and doesn't reveal the other

makes section. The old forums had a similar setup and I occasionally

get the impression that some people don't realise these extra sections

exist but only when you click on the "Tamiyaclub.com" link instead. A

recent example of this is the HPI Baja 5B, it was discussed for a month

in the other makes section before another discussion was started in the

vintage forums by people who hadn't seen the original until people were

directed to the original thread.

I muist admit an increase in the number of sections available wouldn't

affect me as (normally) I just use the "posts you have not read" link

so I see everything that has been added since my last visit rather than

going through the sections individually.

[ChrisB]

Like others I would probably not be for a significant increase in the number of forum sections. Whilst I think its good to hear about other makes and models (especially some of the vintage stuff from other manufacturers), I think the focus needs to stay Tamiya based.

Having said that I think a tank / tracked vehicle section and or a truck specific section might prove useful as these kits (both Tamiya and otherwise) do throw up a lot of queries that are unique to that type of kit.

Personally I think the current setup works pretty well. Maybe its just because there

 a lot of Blizzard owners on here that are also big Tamiya fans, but I find a Blizzard related post in the Kyosho section rarely sits there unanswered for long [].

Chris

[RETRO R/C]

I am with Terry on this one.

The specific "brand" threads like the Kyosho thread get a more

dedicated responce without allot of  "fluff" etc. You get a more

didicated "hardcore" style answer in these forums - as we are genearlly

enthusiasts of the relatively "lesser" collected brand.

Having said that - I think the "OTHER BRAND" forums now are too

diverse. I think we should have Kyosho by itself - and then all other

brands in together - as there simple are not enough posts to warrant

the individual forums.

Besides - the more people that post in a "all brands thrown together"

area - the more interesting that will be to people who would not

normally look in there! - It is the "what is going on in there"

theory.[] People will see alot more posts as all the brands will be

combined - wheras at the moment - it is not unusual for the mraui

threads and others, to go for weeks without a post. It will also

generate more posting as it will be a one stop point.

Thats me on the "other brands idea " anyway.

For the record - I would very much like to see a TANK/TRACKED VEHICLES

forum. I would also love to see a 1/14th scale truck / rig forum as

welll.

Cheers

Darryn

[netsmithUK]

OK What about this as a compromise.

We have two new forums (following the them of what we have already)

Tanks & Tractor Trucks (If its really heavily used we'll look at splitting it later (quite easy with new forum)

Nitro

Kyosho can stay

Marui get bundled with "Other makes" - not quite sure why out of all the other manufacturers we singled them out in the first place.

And then both of these two we will move into the "Tamiyaclub.com Forums" section, which will increase their exposure a little - again we might split it up again later?

I'll still add the other manufacturers to the main showrooms as classification is more important (and easily controlled there)

Chris

 

 

[supergreg]

Sounds great!

[grizz]

yep Nitro sounds good to me

[tarznatz]

I think a Nitro category would be sufficient for now, and maybe a Tanks category. Other than that, too many makes it harder to keep up with everything, as others have said.

 

On edit: oops! Didn't read the whole thread - yeah i think you've come to the right conclusions, even without my esteemed opinion!

 

[OCD]

Yay!

Glad to hear that there's some support for a nitro forum!

[RichieRich]

I think there's only about a dozen people that post in the Kyosho forum.  Please keep this one!!!  It's the only place where we there seems to be more than a handful of Kyosho fans.  There are already plenty of boards for Associated, Losi and the other "racer" manufacturers.