I have to agree too. I'm certainly no fan of the man or his techniqes with Race Chat, but the expression 'you reap what you sow' springs to mind. Race Chat doesn't stand a chance of long term survival run in the present manner. Oople on the overhand, does!

Assuming we all remember to drop Jimmy a bit of cash now and again, right? :)

There are a lot of reasons the TC and 12th guys don't come on here. Here's one that encapsulates the many...
Me, me, me, me... And your responsibility to anyone else...?

Here's one that gets ignored most of the time...Why can't most people take a more considered view......or make a considered argument that allows people to live and let live?You lot often come across as equally arrogant, but you seem to add rude and ignorant to that too, on too many occasions. Some things do seem to defy logic, and some people are not good at dealing with others. There is never an excuse for being rude to people, or ignorant in one's behaviour, just because you don't get what you want, or others don't agree with you.

I realise this won't make the slightest difference to most of you, and I regret that I shan't live long enough to see you change with age and experience. But you will! I am a child of the 1960s. We were no less bold in our opinions, or our desire to change the World. But we weren't rude, we weren't ignorant of others, and we were taught to give others respect, whoever they were. We are, however, more mellow and grumpy - because we didn't change the World!! :D

You want more people on this forum; I'd like to use this forum more. For that to happen there needs to be change and there needs to be compromise. In the same way you criticise Rob for not having those traits, do you have them? The evidence of this thread is you don't. Things, therefore, are not likely to change!

Let the flaming begin!

I've run a few forums (still do run a couple) & moderated on a load in the past. Realisitcally i reckon the running costs for a site like Racechat would be about £10 a month for hosting - £30 a month if he's running it on the back of a reseller package with someone like WebFusion would get you "unlimited" hosting (unlimited in Bandwidth & webspace) & to use a VB forum would cost around £80 a year for the licence for the VB forum software (same as what oople use), although switching to SMF or even MyBB he could save himself the £80 as realisitically he's running the basic forum without modifications or hacks. OK i know there are some other running costs such as advertising (should he advertise in one of the mags or trade books) along with the domain etc - i'm also guessing they have a few parked domains but even so a .com works out around £30 a year & a .co.uk costs about £7 for 2 years if you shop around.

I think my only gripe with Racechat is that some of the people on there (& a couple of the mods as well) it seems to me are of the mindset of "well i've run in the nationals & you haven't so as far as i'm concerned you have no say in this thread" or "you weren't at the BRCA AGM, so you don't have an opinion as far as i'm concerned" & "why ask that question, have you not read your BRCA handbook?" seems to be a fairly universal responce when people post because they want to clarify the rules & regulations on racing & what their BRCA membership involves.. so as a result some people new to the sport or people wanting to ask questions because they want to progress further with the sport or wanting to get back into racing after some time away & of course those who want to try to make sure they understand the rules & regulations in the handbook to cut the wheat from the chaff, may often get made to feel inferior by some of the responces. If Rob Stamped on those types of things (i.e making the newcomer feel a welcome part of the site, rather than just another mug with money to spend & regarded the newcomer as much as those who run nationals who are in the "click") rather than banning people or removing threads that go against his logic it would be a much better place.

Personally i don't like the idea of paying to use any forum - i'm sure the paid site would have an equally good competitor who doesn't charge anyway - but i don't mind the site's having a donate button & i'd be more willing to offer a few quid as a donation from my paypal rather than a "thou shalt pay" hard-sell attitude, but that's just me. Plus i'm pretty sure the taxman has other ideas on accepting payments as gifts & demanding payments as an income.

At the end of the day though, it's Rob's forum & he can run it how he likes, i'm pretty sure we all have an opinion on the place, but is it right to slag off the competition & the administration.. at the end of the day we are all here on forums like Oople & Racechat plus many of the other RC forums on the net because of RC racing & the RC cars we run along with the spirit of doing so. Rob's probably a very nice guy in person (i've never met the bloke so am only generalising), but as with the picture of the hardnut behind his computer screen a few pages back, the same image of the person probably doesn't come across online - especially when people just want to slag off his site & are judging the man by how he runs his site. It's a world of difference between someone intending to run their site with a rod of iron & the person intending to be mean to everyone.

Hosting for this website costs £720 a year, I would imagine racechat would be similar?

that's not too bad, £70 a month seems to be the going rate, but i suppose a lot depends on bandwidth useage as to what package to go for.. i run a forum at the moment on the back of another site & it costs me £120 per year for the hosting, but i'm running that on the back of a reseller package because it's cheaper for me to pay for a reseller than seperate pay fees to a host for each individual site i run / own.

I have seen Linux/Unix cPanel hosting packages with 150gb limits, 10gb webspace, multiple domain parking for as low as £50 a year which for most forums should be ample as a starting platform, but then i have seen/known some people who are paying £70 a year just to host a 10 page site on an account that is no bigger than the "free" webspace you get with your ISP that can only run basic HTML & store a few images.

Personally speaking, I've never had a problem with Rob and we've got on well so I don't want this post appearing that I'm giving him a kick in the balls. I'm not banned from RaceChat, I used to be a really active poster on there but as people were banned one by one (occasionally just trying to stir things up, but got more and more frequent), my interest waned, along with getting more involved with MSUK.

The biggest problem with RaceChat is that its sooooo confusing. Theres a few guys that I'd have no problems going straight to, if I needed info (mainly Jim Spencer), and if those members weren't around, then sticky threads would explain what I needed. But, go and have a look. Most stickies are well out of date. Some haven't had posts in them since 2006. Others are trying to explain technology that was new then, but old hat now (2.4ghz) and has moved on. I don't want to be disrespectful, but theres stickies from someone who has sadly passed away. There are sections that don't make sense, don't get used, and have parts that are covered elsewhere.

The whole forum would really benefit from being streamlined, simplified, and have a giant injection of new blood, new ideas and new impetus.

No forum is perfect, everywhere has problems. I'm sure for the amount of people here that wouldn't register on RaceChat, theres an equal number of people elsewhere that wouldn't register on oOple.

Can't we all just get along? :cry: :D

I haven't looked for a while but I think the site does ~200gb a month traffic rising to around 350 + in summer, but last time I looked was last year some time and it does go up every month.

Make a difference dude, moderate a secion and have an influence as you seem level-headed enough to me. Don't sit and complain that I'm doing a bad job as it doesn't really help the matters you discussed. Your problem is with the way the site is run, not these users. These users you've rightly criticized are from racechat / have used racechat (as I have)- but you're not on racechat complaining about them, you're on here. The difference is me and how I've run things.

The onroad thing? I think your point is bogus to be honest. There's a very simple reason that there's limited on-road users on here, that's because the site was set up for 10th off road, there's photos of buggies all over the place and very limited promotion of flat-track racing in general on here. Coupled with the fact that places like racechat have active sponsorship of on-road forums and a decent on-road following then it's going to be slow growth.
If I start covering races, reviewing cars and promoting products it'll be a much quicker rise in the forum numbers for those classes - but I just don't have time for everything right now.

I take pride in how friendly and helpful this website is - if you don't agree then perhaps I need to look again and change some things. If you're looking at just this thread then of course that's different from talking about the entire website.
To be honest, 99.99% of the forum is fantastic I feel - I don't want to change how things are or the approach. I'm not sure why you quote Dave Grunill and in reference to what he's said you claim that it's the reason certain users don't come on here - I think it's complete utter fantasy, in all respect. ;)

I'd like to point out that I've heard, on numerous occasions over the past 4-5 years from a LOT of respected on-roadies, say ''I wish there was a site like oOple for us, his photography and race reports are better than anything we've got''.

:thumbsup:

Surely oOple is the best 1/10th offroad forum in the world??

if it is or it isn't a lot (& i do mean a lot) of on-road 10th racers & 12th users do use this site. Granted a lot of those people are probably here for the "for sale" section, but don't forget a lot of current on-road users have had buggies at some time or another - me included - but there is also that whole issue of "see how they are getting on" especially now technology changes are coming along so fast among those who race both on & off-road.

I don't race buggies anymore, just 10th tourers & 12th scale these days but i like the atmosphere here & the fact there are names on here i recognise so if i want to discuss on-road i know i can.

Slowone- How many busy forums do you regularly post on? Busy forums are friendly if you take everything with a pinch of salt! They have loads of banter which may come across as rude, ignorant, etc but it isn't, it is just some fun!

Quiet forums are always over moderated/no community feel, so with out big changes they will stay quiet.

i dont get you lot

rob has a good site, liked by many, if you dont agree or like it move on, why make pointless posts? that to me makes you look a tad imature!

yup im a mod on there, some on here dont like the way i mod, but i apply the rules, stick to em and youll be ok, if you dont like em, as i say dont bother

i spend time on here, i play by jimmys rules, i have no problems, i can diferenciate between the two styles and the way the owners run thier forums, so come on guys its toy cars, and grown up blokes/lasses chatting!!

any new comer readinfg this will be scared that if they do soming out of line you'll treat them like that!

I think it is to do with the seemingly pointless warnings and bans that you get, and the secret squirrel form of editing of information that goes on there, that has pissed so many people off. No I can differentiate between someone blatantly breaking the rules, but to be warned and edited for posting a link, to help someone who has legitimately asked a question, and someone legitimately answering, it is just daft to be honest. Sure, Rob would like to think his sight to be an Encyclopaedia of RC knowledge, but the internet just don't work that way.

I guess, the difference between Racechat and here, is that on here, people are allowed to vent their frustration and have mostly freedom to post.

Looks like I'm still out in the cold :confused:

pm box on there says

and the time of my post here is 27-03-2010, 04:04pm ish

My sentence looks to have been extended, maybe because I emailed him asking questions.

Sent another to ask why the extension so it may get extended again :woot:

just found this in my settings

16:20 27-03-10

the handcuffs are off :thumbsup:, for now;)

Steady tiger! I didn't say you did a bad job, you do a different job. I'd be happy to moderate, but have never been asked.

I quote Dave because he post makes clear that he doesn't give a stuff about what he posts, and expects someone else (Oople or a parent) to stop people reading it - not on! We don't take that attitude at our race meetings, on or off the track. We are subject to Rules about behaviour, and we stick to them by an large. Off-road and TC events (I've done both) are friendly places where people josh, but are not arrogant and rude. Give them a keyboard however... ! :D :D Why not apply that on here, or any other forum? Your posts suggest you would prefer that.

I've nothing against you or Oople, Jimmy, sorry if it came across that way.

Well Dave isn't a good example, but I get what you mean. As Dave does post what he wants but what he wants is to not cause offence and rock boats, he's a mature guy, so what he posts is of no harm to anyone and may include mild expletions used in context, like we all do.

I suppose oOple is partly self-policing. As for example, I have a lot of respect for Jimmy and fellow members so wouldn't post anything offensive or dodgy. Where it is different to Racechat is the amount we can go off-topic, the amount of humour and the amount of linking, offers of services and the like, all for free without reprocution. The moderaters do their job stealth like here, seems to work.

I don't see why it would be the websites problem to ensure the information and discussion is child friendly, if you got kids, you should be FULLY AWARE of what they are looking at on the internet, just like you should know what they are watching on tv, dvd and games they are playing, fed up of people making it others responsibility to ensure little Jonny and Janet don't see anything nasty....

By the way, I got 5 kids, and as much as it pisses my kids off, it is my house, if I don't think it is appropriate, it gets turned off, simples...