NON-MONSTER FORUMS TO BE CLOSED AND REMOVED ON APRIL 27TH

[zombiehorror]

Trust me, Mike, we've had the discussion.   

I recall a generic discussion of bipedal vs. quadrupedal werewolves; although it did include various movie references the topic in general wasn't specifically movie related.

[aura of foreboding]

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. 

[carbon]

The only time any forum needs to worry about its future is when users lose their passion about it. Fortunately, this thread proves there's plenty of passion out there. Even though this is only a temporary thread intended to hash out the forum's transition, it does have a certain twisted charm of its own. Where else online can we witness the spectacle of flame wars between limerick, dinosaur, pinball and monster factions? I, for one, shall miss it.

But, y'know, there is a way anyone can preserve this glorious thread for posterity. All you have to do is...oh, never mind...

Hugs and cake to all.

[BaronLatos35]

I remember a long time ago Googling about the Universal Monsters since I had also re discovered my childhood Horror Host Count Gore online and came across the UMA. It was exactly what I needed to find.

Someone earlier wrote "we speak a common language" regarding monsters and that is one reason why I keep coming back.

Who else would care if I saw Dracula's Daughter on Svengoolie or I can see the other members that watched it as well? My wife calls it the Monster Club and I love it.

The UMA was always a fun place and for the most part nonsense free. Of course there were fights but overall it was a cool vibe with people who talked about Monsterkid stuff. Recently, it seems to pop up more often.

I have always seen the UMA as my monster escape and I have enjoyed my years here. I have met some great people and learned a lot. At the end of the day, I just want to talk about Monsterkid stuff with cool people.

A few topics that I believe have a place in the new UMA: (I realize some have been mentioned, just my opinion)

- UP's artwork should have a place in our crypt.

- Halloween memories and memorabilia (the Monsterkid holiday)

- Horror Literature- Aside from the obvious, I really enjoyed Elisabeth's stories.

By the way, tonight is Walpurgis Night, UP always made it a point to celebrate it here on the boards. If you choose, toast one to UP for his night.

[Mike Scott]

Trust me, Mike, we've had the discussion.   

I don't pay much attention if it ain't movie related.

[Mike Scott]

But, y'know, there is a way anyone can preserve this glorious thread for posterity. All you have to do is...oh, never mind...

To much like work for most people, but they can always be reminded of it if they get to whining. 

[aura of foreboding]

I don't pay much attention...

You're better off that way, Mike.    

[60sThru80s]

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

For every aphorism like "Absence makes the heart grow fonder," there's always it's opposite. Appropriately in this case, it's "Out of sight, out of mind" 

[aura of foreboding]

For every aphorism like "Absence makes the heart grow fonder," there's always it's opposite. Appropriately in this case, it's "Out of sight, out of mind" 

If only I could unsee some of what I have seen.   

[Allhallowsday]

To much like work for most people, but they can always be reminded of it if they get to whining. 

Mike, I liked your music selections.  I'm always fascinated by other people's musical interests.  But, it's not like it matters. 

[The Batman]

I have very mixed feelings about this. It's good to go back to the roots but what happens when people are tired of talking about the things they have talked about a 1,000 times? I myself have asked questions before and instead of getting active replies have gotten just directed to the topic that has already been covered. not to say thats not ok but it lacks interaction. And unfortunately there's not a ton of monster stuff that is new to keep conversations new so where does that leave us? I really considered UMA a giant family. I want to know how they are doing. Now granted there was some out of control threads lately but I think limiting our topics kinda takes you out of the comfort zone. Just my thoughts

You made some interesting points.

I have seen what some boards have done to cure this issue.

They just have ONE thread called The Off Topic Thread.
In the Off Topic Thread, people understand they have full freedom to discuss anything from a movie they enjoyed to their birthday or a cool munchie they have discovered, or recipes or photos of their cool pet(s) or their new motorcycle or car, or a new hobby they are enjoying, where they recently took vacation and what they saw there, etc. It would be understood there would be ZERO politics, ZERO religion and ZERO anything else that would be an instant flame topic.

ONE thread to rule'em all for ALL general discussion comments.

Will that happen here?
I doubt it, but I just wanted to throw that one out here.
I will not stress-out whether or not this becomes a thread.

Take a look at how many people need to type off topic WITHIN this thread. Hmmmmm...

[Elisabeth]

Batman...That is a BRILLIANT idea!  I'm very fond of this board, but I know very little about things like models, masks and vintage toys.  I just collect photographs, and write.  I do know, though, that we can moderate ourselves:  We're Old Enough to do that.  I also think that we're old enough to take personal "beefs" to Private Message.

One thing I'd add though, is NO "DEAR ABBY" THREADS!  That should go to PRIVATE MESSAGE, or ideally, off Site.  We can't go back to "WHAT WAS"... and "WHAT IS TO COME" sounds terribly empty (at least to me.)  We should, however, be able to reach a happy medium.

We could at least TRY.....

"E"

[Flower]

One thread for all that isn't monster related? Music? Pets? Etc ..

As much as I respect you,  The Batman .. it would be a mess.  Imagine looking thru pages and pages of stuff that doesn't interest you to find something of interest .. I won't have seen your birds or other cool things.

I was on a forum where new people joined who were trolls calling themselves 'Derailers' and they would use threads as chat rooms, chatting away in the middle of threads with posts such as 'Where' Mel?' which would go on for pages when people were attempting to follow a thread.

I agree that threads that are self serving shouldn't be on most forums but then again, no one is forcing anyone to read ALL threads.  If you don't like animals, it's simple enough not to click on a thread about pets but then again, if you are looking for recipes, you would then have to deal with pages of birthdays and animals.

What is done is done and this is not a plea to change anything, only a comment that your suggestion as well meaning as it is wouldn't be practical.

*I'm not a fan of PM wars and my feelings are that if someone insults you in public that it's dealt with in public, if someone insults you in private, then it's dealt with in private.  That being said PM's are PRIVATE MESSAGES and things said in PM should stay in PM and not posted or brought up in posts.  Now I getting off topic .. carry on ... 

[monsterphile]

It took me a few days to read through all the posts in this thread.  I wanted to do this fully before responding. 

The big question people were asking was "Why?"  The answer is not simple.  The problem with the overgrowth of off-topic threads reminded me of weeds in a lawn.  When there's only a few, the lawn still looks OK.  When they are taking over the lawn, not so much.

When a member clicks the "Report a Post" button, the mods get an email about it with a link to the problem thread.  Sure, as individuals we could ignore them and let another mod deal with it, but I think we all try to do our part when we can.  If it's about a spambot or an accidental double post, it's not a big deal.  When it's a conflict between members or about something inappropriate, it's a lot more of an issue and may require more time and behind-the-scenes discussion. 

The problem is that the off-topic threads tend to be a breeding ground for problems.  Under the guise of humor, people try to squeeze in political jabs, suggestive images/photos that are degrading to women (and I'm not a prude), and jabs at others.  Sometimes it happens in on-topic threads, but off-topic lends itself to it so much more. 

Another problem is the pure amount of clutter that was there.  I'm just going to make up some examples that may or may not have been created.  There was mention of some music in this thread already.  OK, so someone creates a thread about KISS.  Then comes separate threads for favorite band member, favorite album, favorite song, a poll about whether they were better in make up or out, and Did you ever see them in concert?  Then starts threads on the Mego KISS figures, the McFarlane KISS figures, general KISS collectibles, and Showcase your KISS t-shirts.  It could all have gone into one thread about monsters meet rock music.  All of it.  With dozens of individual threads, they get lost and scattered about and then topics start getting repeated.  Of course, this could happen with on-topic threads as well, and I'd encourage members not to start all these little micro topics there either.  A new member shouldn't have to dig through pages of threads to find the thread about Godzilla toys.  I've seen identical photos posted in multiple threads by the same member.  Also, sometimes there's 15 different angles of the same item.  I'm not talking about just front and back shots, but a left-angled shot and a right-angled shot with one better than the other.  It's all a matter of self-control.

On page 5 of this thread there was a criticism that Mike Scott is the only mod that posts regularly.  Mike's schedule allows him the ability to have the time for that.  I wish I could have more time for it, but I don't.  When I do, however, I'd like to be able to find the topics and threads that are key to the UMA.  Even if I click on "Show unread posts since last visit" there were pages of threads and it was a headache in the making to go through them.  I did read a lot of threads and posts though.  If I didn't have anything new to add, I didn't post.  That's a brain filter that not everyone seems to have unfortunately.

Right now, that's all I have to add.


Rob

[Flower]

Rob,

I'm not disagreeing with anything that you posted but there is also the fact that there will always be a certain amount of 'clutter' in most threads of any nature.  A member posts their artwork, makes a detailed post about their experiences, etc. and people will respond .. often there are multiple posts of praise and/or questions .. long or short.  In a sense, scrolling thru posts of 'beautiful job' , 'I love it' .. etc .. can be time consuming but this is a community where people support each other and wish to show appreciation for the talents and hard work of others.

There will always be posts on any forum of any type that 'push the envelope' ... Your choice as a poster is to ignore it, notify a mod or perhaps stop posting in that thread if the matter bothers you or isn't resolved. 

Dealing with the entire community is a responsibility of the mods and admins and if certain posters or types of posts became a burden, individual posters should've been notified before it was felt that things were going out of control .. perhaps they were as I don't know what happens behind the scenes.

Changes have been implemented and time will tell.