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Thread: What's Going on With FPN?

  1. #141
    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Quote Originally Posted by Wuddus View Post
    I was aware that there were different facets to fountain pen people, but wasn't aware there was an "us and them" tension. Even though it's a niche arena, I would have thought there'd be plenty of space for all to follow their own preferences, whether that's high priced or low, new or old, restoring, collecting, or just having fun inking them up and using them. Then again, we are talking about people, so on that level it does make sense
    Indeed. It is somewhat recent, but is a reflection of a return of interest in pens. You are entirely correct in identifying the problem as simply one of human interaction, and there are quite a few people trying to work to make things smoother.

    One other factor is that pen collecting, as such, didn't really become a thing until the 70s or so, because prior to that people just used the darn things. With enough time and product accrued, the older pens became... collectible. What we are witnessing now is a bit of a generational event (not unlike other millenial changes) in that the bulk of the collecting community, and especially the most knowledgable, are older. It is very possible that many of them (and I've seen this first-hand) just aren't drawn to online venues the way they are to non-virtual gatherings and other forms of being connected. It isn't as if there aren't places with collectors in the main - the long-running pen forum Pentrace is a good example. It also shows, if you read it, what a forum looks like when it is populated by mostly older gen players. I don't mean that negatively, and I'm a member there, too, but there is a very different energy and style and purpose of posting.

    I highly doubt there will ever be an online venue that can maintain a flow of threads that equally delights the n00b and the veteran alike. All one can do is put things in place and run the joint in a manner that is conducive to all, and let it play out as it will.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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  3. #142
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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post
    What, if anything, would make the forums a more attractive place to visit for people from the most varied of camps? I am all about as much inclusion possible, always have been.
    If I may offer a suggestion, I would say creating space for all the relevent "factions" for want of a better term. The way the forum is set out at present, it's by brand or region, which gets people of different interests tripping over each other in the same space, with higher potential for clashing of personalities. If there was more space given to vintage pens, luxury pens, and budget pens, this would give the various parties their own lair as it were, so that for example the collectors of high end or rare vintage pens don't think I'm "lowering the tone" with my current excitement for Jinhaos and Wing Sungs. On the flip side, you won't get those in the shallow end of the pool with me, feeling a bit claustrophobic with those they might consider elitists. Maybe some of the newcomers that dabble in the cheapies, might feel the urge to move to luxury or vintage pens, or maybe they'll be happy playing around with stuff under a tenner indefinitely.

    The threshold at which I consider a pen price to be obscene, is probably less than the minimum value that some people would consider spending on a "good" pen. I think that it might attract more people if the forum recognised these differences, and gave different rooms for different aspects of pen geekery.

    Just a thought. Please don't read too much into it.

  4. #143
    Senior Member dfo's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Quote Originally Posted by Wuddus View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post
    What, if anything, would make the forums a more attractive place to visit for people from the most varied of camps? I am all about as much inclusion possible, always have been.
    If I may offer a suggestion.
    The problem is that this is not the place to offer suggestions. None of us can change anything. I would send a message to the admin.
    "Love is the final fight."

  5. #144
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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    It was only offered for the purposes of this discussion, not an operational proposal

  6. #145
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Quote Originally Posted by Pterodactylus View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Pterodactylus View Post
    I miss a ink review index badly here (but who should create and maintain one?).
    I would.
    Great Chrissy, when can you start?

    Can we stick an index thread to the top of a forum?
    Best would be that only a limited amount of people can edit the index, so that the others canˋt post in it (and spoil it)
    I guess we will need our admin to set this up.
    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Pterodactylus View Post
    Can we stick an index thread to the top of a forum?
    Best would be that only a limited amount of people can edit the index, so that the others canˋt post in it (and spoil it)
    I guess we will need our admin to set this up.
    Please try to remember (I realize you are partially new here): FPG is somewhat crippled in that we don't have a lot of participation/connection to our only admin, the owner of the site. To make things change around the forum on an infrastructure level is not a thing that happens just because we want to or ask for. It *may* be possible to have something like a stickied post or a post that always appears at the top, but that would have to be in conjunction with getting successfully in touch with Eric.
    Jon is right, it would certainly need to be pinned, otherwise it would disappear down into the rest of the posts, and it would need to be edited/updated, (which probably isn't so difficult on here, as I think "edit time" lasts forever.) Also, it would need to be closed to reply posts, just kept as an index.

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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    For what little it may be worth I will also support not only the idea but that Chrissy (if willing) heads it up.

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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Seems like the other place has solved it's problems and got a dribble of new members. Wonder what is causing the slowdown.

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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post
    Seems like the other place has solved it's problems and got a dribble of new members. Wonder what is causing the slowdown.
    They've removed the Captcha from their registration form.

    I still won't be signing up though.

  11. #149
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Quote Originally Posted by Wuddus View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post
    Seems like the other place has solved it's problems and got a dribble of new members. Wonder what is causing the slowdown.
    They've removed the Captcha from their registration form.

    I still won't be signing up though.
    I believe that a couple of us went on there and mentioned that they had not had a new member since 21st April. That seemed to work. I guess that's why FPN was down yesterday.

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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Was it? Oh, right. That all makes more sense then I haven't been paying attention unless prompted by something in this thread.

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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    I believe that a couple of us went on there and mentioned that they had not had a new member since 21st April. That seemed to work. I guess that's why FPN was down yesterday.
    Then Google was kind, since they stated they would discontinue that reCaptcha API march 31:st

    I tried to register there before I found this forum. Didn't work, so I tried to mail them but never got a response. So I checked in on the form now and then, but got tired of doing that. Now I'm here instead.

  14. #152
    Junior Member mickjborthwick's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Huh they fixed it? But they told me it wasn't broken and working as intended LOL
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  16. #153
    Senior Member myu's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    It used to be a great place. I was a moderator and an admin there for a while. Later, I abandoned it due to some life changes. When I returned a couple of years later, it had changed rather dramatically. First, the board software was different and things were reorganized a bit. But the most telling was the membership. Seems a lot of the veteran members jumped ship or went into hibernation. I've since posted a number of times and it has taken usually days or weeks for someone from the "olden time" to reply, if at all. The chatter section is still busy like it used to be, but chocked full of "What was the last movie you saw", "Bad Jokes," "What games do you play o your phone," and other mundane stuff like that. A couple of interesting topics, but not much going on. I do see some FPG folks pop up from time to time.

    The Classifieds area seems to be one of the busier places. Do many folks from here sell on FPN?

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  18. #154
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Quote Originally Posted by myu View Post
    The Classifieds area seems to be one of the busier places. Do many folks from here sell on FPN?
    I believe that they do. I regularly see the same adverts from the same members on on both forums.

  19. #155
    Senior Member Sailor Kenshin's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Quote Originally Posted by myu View Post
    It used to be a great place. I was a moderator and an admin there for a while. Later, I abandoned it due to some life changes. When I returned a couple of years later, it had changed rather dramatically. First, the board software was different and things were reorganized a bit. But the most telling was the membership. Seems a lot of the veteran members jumped ship or went into hibernation. I've since posted a number of times and it has taken usually days or weeks for someone from the "olden time" to reply, if at all. The chatter section is still busy like it used to be, but chocked full of "What was the last movie you saw", "Bad Jokes," "What games do you play o your phone," and other mundane stuff like that. A couple of interesting topics, but not much going on. I do see some FPG folks pop up from time to time.

    The Classifieds area seems to be one of the busier places. Do many folks from here sell on FPN?
    I used to, and most of my sales were from The Beforetime, when it was EZ just to make a regular post in the correct subforum and show your wares. I don't sell on FPN any more. Too difficult, and you get buried by the pros, even if you stick to your Occasional Seller neighborhood.

    The only pen I've sold here on FPG in recent memory was a TWSBI. I usually give away anything that I paid less than $25 for.
    My other pen is a Montblanc.

    And my other blog is a tumblr!


    And my latest ebook, for spooky wintery reading:

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  20. #156
    Senior Member countrydirt's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's Going on With FPN?

    Quote Originally Posted by mickjborthwick View Post
    Huh they fixed it? But they told me it wasn't broken and working as intended LOL
    No, they didn't fix it, but they eliminated Captcha V...whatever and are going to an admin approval for new members.

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