[ButtonIt]

Firstly, this is just a topic for discussion. It is in no way my prediction for the future. I am not dissing Newbies or other forum members.

I bring forward the subject of "Forum Death". A time will come when most subject matters have been covered in great depth. The forum "masters" will be sick of the "what's this noise" and "Wave or Boost" threads started by Newbies, and will spend less time on MINI2. Obviously new changes will be put in place by BMW, but how often will that happen and how long will it take to discuss them to saturation point?

The MINI is still a new car. Not every subject has been discussed, and there will still be new bugs found with the design of the car. But, as BMW fix these issues, will we run out of things to discuss?

ICE and Performance and tuning aspects of the MINI world will always progress, but these areas only appeal to a certain percentage of MINI2 users. How many will be interested in this aspect? How many will be put off by the amount of Ricers that fit cars with crazy bodykits and 12" exhaust pipes? This will happen as second hand cars get older and more affordable for the younger drivers.

I have seen this happen before. I participate on a forum in the geeky world of Telecomms. A few years ago the forum thrived with expert engineers sharing information and ideas and helping each other out of technical problems. Now I log on to see complete novices (I know they still need help, but they could try searching ) asking inane questions that any good engineer should know already. (The difference between MINI2 and the tech forum is that MINI2 is for everyone while the tech forum is aimed specifically at engineers).

Can we save MINI2 from forum death? I believe the community spirit that exists on this forum can keep MINI2 going forever.

What are your thoughts?

[d2create]

I've been involved with other car forums that have been around for years and continue to grow. There will always be newbies, there will always be the same questions over and over. That's just the way it is. In this case, the mini popularity will continue to grow, as will this forum.

[dcfkan]

I mainly check the following forums on MINI2:

Meetings and Events UK
Meetings and Events Europe
OT & B

I try and help newbies when I have time, mostly by pointing them to the SEARCH function

However, I do appreciate that computer and forums etc. could be new to certain folks, and the terminology used in here may be completely alien to them.

It really does depend on my mood when I am surfing MINI2 - sometimes I am more helpful than others

I believe MINI2 will be quite entertaining for a few more years, as long as MINIs are in production

My 2 whatever

DK :apple:

[NEMINI]

I think we'll always have the 'meets' and there will always be excitement generated from that. I think you will see people come and go. I myself left for 6 months, not because I was mad at anyone but because I got bored for a spell. It's always going to happen, people will sell thier MINI's and move on also. As for the so called 'masters' with hordes of knowledge there will always be new ones to take thier place. I think this place is self sustaining in that respect, for every poster that seems to know all the answers there is another who is learning them all.

[ALD0]

I think't will strive for a good long while longer, as mentioned there will always be meetups, true that most faults will be fixed but there will be new faults (not sounding to put MINI down)
Many regular forum members will come and go, it's just the way things go.

[LuckyRVA]

And MINI will continue to spit out new models and updated versions of the one's we're driving now, which will lead to more questions and growth blah blah blah yadda yadda.


-Jason

[MGB Boy]

I don't think a car has to continue to be new to support a thriving forum, there just need to be people interested in it. Some of the classic marques have great frums because someone is always thinking of something new to do to a car. It's interesting, the life cycles forums can go through. I was involved with another marque-specific auto board that had the distinction of being the oldest, best established board out there for the brand in question (MG). Lively, lots of discussion, lots of insiders in the MG community involved. A couple years ago, it started to get overrun with people who were just there to **** in the pool, so to speak. People who would post 3rd grade level insults (like "U R GAY!!!"), people who would post just to tell you your car sucks, and people who weren't so much interested in talking cars as they were in using the board to vent their anti-European xenophobia. It's amazing, some of these people truly had no life, they weren't just quick fly-by flame trolls; They would post, at length, every day for months on end, explaining why they didn't like the cars that everyone else was there to post about.

Unfortunately, the forum used an older software that didn't require registration in order to post, so there was no simple way to remove a problem child. There was also no moderator system, and an entrenched minority would scream "fascist!" at the tops of their lungs if anyone even dared suggest moderators and post/poster removal functions might be a good idea. Eventually, a lot of us original regulars drifted away to a couple of other new boards that sprung up in direct response to the problems. The old board is still running, and the tech/advice areas about older MGs are still great, but the areas for modern cars and current automotive events just isn't what it once was, it's never recovered. It used to be an "every day and twice on Sunday" read for me, but I haven't been there in months....

-Ricardo

[AidenL]

I think there is something special about M2, there seems to be a 'spirit' here, something a little bit extra, beyond the normal forum activities, maybe its the meets, maybe its the jokes in OT & B, maybe its something you can't quite put your finger on, but I do think it will go on for quite some time yet.........

[Paul]

2 years 9 months down the line I'm still enjoying it! The site is also bussier and more active than it's ever been before, month on month......

People come and go, but as long as we work hard I see no reason why we cant keep on the up and up. And up. And up...........

I also really like the mix of people we have here, considering the level of activity and the number of members from around the globe and different backgrounds I think things go very well here, and that's just credit to you all.

[Paul]

Quote: Originally Posted by dcfkan

I try and help newbies when I have time, mostly by pointing them to the SEARCH function

There's a search function?!

[R1]

Quote: Originally Posted by ButtonIt

(The difference between MINI2 and the tech forum is that MINI2 is for everyone while the tech forum is aimed specifically at engineers).

With respect , the difference between a tech forum and MINI2 forum is that Sunday meet ups are a lot more fun and interesting!!

Seriously though, a lot of us on here have actually got to know each other on MINI2 in person, not just as a user name. I think this will help to keep it going.

[NEMINI]

Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Mullett

2 years 9 months down the line I'm still enjoying it! The site is also bussier and more active than it's ever been before, month on month......

People come and go, but as long as we work hard I see no reason why we cant keep on the up and up. And up. And up...........

I also really like the mix of people we have here, considering the level of activity and the number of members from around the globe and different backgrounds I think things go very well here, and that's just credit to you all.

You certainly are deserving of a large share of the credit too Paul. Your willingness to listen to what we the users want is unfortunately not always present on other boards, not to mention your willingness to continually update the software, add new features, improve old ones and everything else you do.

Cheers to Paul and everyone that makes this a place we all want to keep coming back to.

[R1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Max

Chris lol I hear what u say.

Whilst there are idiots like you, me and all the others on here, the forums will not die.

What is fact, of course, is that the last day we will see this site will be 31 Dec 2047.

By then I'll be 93 freakin years old haha

Reason: All our computers work on Binary Code (no?) eg on, off, on, off or 1, 0, 1, 0.

As Binary code can cope only with nubers up to 2047, the year 2048 will not be recognised so our current OS and apps will crash.

Lets be clear the latest MS OS underlying code started in 1981 or was it 1980?

We gonna have another Y2K (Groan I hear you all, but wtf is Bill Gates & Co doing about solving this one? U cannot redifine the rulez for Binary lol)

So, 2047 is my guess (as I will be 93 I won't give a ***** anyway haha)

What the hell is he talking about!!!???

[dcfkan]

Quote: Originally Posted by R1

Seriously though, a lot of us on here have actually got to know each other on MINI2 in person, not just as a user name.

And the wives/husbands/boyfriends/girlfriends/sons/daughters/pets too

DK :apple:

[R1]

Quote: Originally Posted by dcfkan

And the wives/husbands/boyfriends/girlfriends/sons/daughters/pets too

DK :apple:

You haven't met the R1 yet though!

[R1]

It's only because we keep posting off topic drival type posts to make up our post numbers!!

[AidenL]

Quote: Originally Posted by Max

Also we have some cool mods and admin guys on here

(Max goes off to be sick in the corner at what he just wrote - haha)

Aw, thanks Max..............*sniff*...........

[R1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Max

Also we have some cool mods and admin guys on here

That lot keep holding me back on some of the posts I've wanted to right in the past!!

[AprilWhine]

I think you have a point, forums are already shifting. Meetings used to be one small quiet forum, now look! The meetings forums are the largest area on MINI2. The other areas that are growing are racing and modifications. But that happens with most fan cars as the fan base gels.

[NEMINI]

Quote: Originally Posted by AprilWhine

The other areas that are growing are racing and modifications.

Just wait until warranties start running out