Is everything okay here?

acdc1 · #1 04-07-2008, 06:28 PM

For some reason, I have a feeling that something just isn't going right at TRF. It seems like some of the "old regulars" have stopped getting on and posting as much. I know, I know, posters have personal lives outside of the forums as well. Maybe people are just busier. I know that I have a good deal going on and can't spend as much time on here. But I'm afraid that something bigger is happening, and I don't want to have to do anything drastic.

Lena · #2 04-07-2008, 06:56 PM

Well, it´s as with many forums on all kind of topics. In the beginning of the "forum movement" the number was - logically - small. These days many ppl post in forums. Many different people have different needs. So it´s not unusal that some members create their own forums with topics/co-members, which feed more the needs of specific groups. E.g. there are forums, where ppl can post in their mother tongue or there are more "exclusive forums"
Some of the "wedding hype posters", who were quite active shortly after the Danish and Spanish CP wedding have probably lost their interest.
But quite active posters, who are generally interested in Royalty, usually can´t get rid of this "habit"

**Elspeth** · #3 04-07-2008, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acdc1

For some reason, I have a feeling that something just isn't going right at TRF. It seems like some of the "old regulars" have stopped getting on and posting as much. I know, I know, posters have personal lives outside of the forums as well. Maybe people are just busier. I know that I have a good deal going on and can't spend as much time on here. But I'm afraid that something bigger is happening, and I don't want to have to do anything drastic.

I almost hate to ask, but what did you have in mind?

rominet09 · #4 04-07-2008, 07:39 PM

Obviously the Royal world is rather dull nowadays
We

Sorry I continue : we have only Albert/Charlene story worth discussing

marmi · #5 04-07-2008, 07:42 PM

That was my question too, Elspeth.

I disagree - I think that there are other things to discuss. I'm sure there's discussion about the verdict on Diana's death, Joachim & Marie's upcoming wedding is garnering attention as it gets closer, Mathilde's newborn child...

The royal worlds not too dull yet (for me, at least - I can only speak for myself)

acdc1 · #6 04-07-2008, 07:52 PM

I wasn't saying the royal world is uneventful; to the contrary, I think it's very exciting!

It's the Royal Forums I'm worried about. People who used to post all the time rarely log on. A few moderators quit. A few posters threatened to leave. I'm afraid something is happening here, and there's going to be an internet coup, or something like that. I just want to make sure that nothing's wrong.

marmi · #7 04-07-2008, 07:59 PM

I wasnt referring to you, acdc1, but to other posts. And I obviously enjoy the royal world or I wouldnt be here!

And with regards to the mods who have stepped down, maybe they stayed on until a certain date, which is why its been a few recently. I'm one of the current ones will post a comment soon.

COUNTESS · #8 04-07-2008, 08:27 PM

Do you think people are bored with rehashing Diana 11 years later. If there are not accolades for Charles and Camilla there is acrimony. Many discussions disintergrate into uninteresting palaver and are repeated and repeated ad infinitum. Any political comment is squashed. Some of the threads have had interesting topics of late, but many retreat into banal discussion, I believe, for fear of entering into the relm of "real discussion", without fear of retribution. That does not mean name calling or being disrespectful to a poster, but we lack the ability to say things in a forthright manner and have them dissected and discussed. Culture, politics and relgion is a no, no. Therefore, we are relegated to who wore this and that and how great their tiaras looked. Perhaps, for some that is not enough.

**Marengo** · #9 04-07-2008, 08:32 PM

There certainly isn't a 'coup' or anything of the sort going on, but there have been some changes in the moderating team.

We created a lot of new forums and subforums a few months ago to keep this site easy navigable and users-friendly. This change has lead to more activity in other forums (like the Russian one for example). Add to this the article site, the PoM poll, the newsletter and the new bookclub and you can understand that we decided to expand the moderating team.

So last month several new moderators were added to the team, a few moderators became a supermoderator and we added two administrators too. Again, this has nothing to do with a 'take-over' or unrest but was just a practical thing. Due to these new moderators a few older moderators who were busy with real-life things and who just stayed on to help us out in busy times were able to leave the team.

I think this explains most of your concerns? If not, feel free to ask. I believe we do try to inform you all about these changes, there are threads about 'moderators' in the various forums for example and changes are usually explained in the newsletter too, but maybe we failed to do so on a few occassions?

--

Edit: I found the boardreader, which shows that the number of posts a day is around 200 on avarage. Take a look here.

**Elspeth** · #10 04-07-2008, 08:49 PM

Things change, and forums evolve. People come and go - it happens.

This forum is undergoing a fairly deliberate change of emphasis from its earlier incarnation as a forum concentrating on the lifestyles of the high-profile crown prince couples and their families in western Europe to being more of a global resource on royalty, including historical royalty. We've added subforums for reigning monarchs and royal history in all the forums, and we've lightened up on the no-politics-or-religion rules in the hopes that we can encourage serious discussion about the role of royal figures in political and religious issues through the centuries.

Partly because of the copyright issue but also because of the change of direction, we don't have as many photos or as much chat about lifestyles of celebrity royals. Some people, including some moderators, whose interest was in the lifestyle of celebrity royals and who preferred the way the forum used to be have left. That isn't a new development, however; most of those changes are between a year and two years old.

We've recently expanded the moderation team, partly because a couple of mods stepped down and partly because some of the moderators were carrying very heavy loads of forums to moderate and were feeling a bit overwhelmed. Also, having expanded the picture of the month poll and started the articles site and now the book club, we just needed more people on the mod team and on the admin team.

I don't want to talk about individual people here, but please feel free to PM me if you want to talk about specifics. However, I know a lot of people have noticed that Avalon hasn't been around and have asked why. All I can say is that I wish I knew. Since the political protests in Armenia at the beginning of March she's had only very sporadic internet access, and we haven't heard from her for something like three weeks now and we're all rather worried. The last e-mail I received from her was full of how much she was looking forward to getting back to TRF now that the internet restrictions had been lifted, she came back for one day, and we haven't heard from her since. I hope, as do we all, that the problem is just internet access and not something more sinister, but we're not sure how to go about finding out.

If that doesn't answer your questions, feel free to carry on asking!

**Elspeth** · #11 04-07-2008, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by COUNTESS

Do you think people are bored with rehashing Diana 11 years later. If there are not accolades for Charles and Camilla there is acrimony. Many discussions disintergrate into uninteresting palaver and are repeated and repeated ad infinitum. Any political comment is squashed. Some of the threads have had interesting topics of late, but many retreat into banal discussion, I believe, for fear of entering into the relm of "real discussion", without fear of retribution. That does not mean name calling or being disrespectful to a poster, but we lack the ability to say things in a forthright manner and have them dissected and discussed. Culture, politics and relgion is a no, no. Therefore, we are relegated to who wore this and that and how great their tiaras looked. Perhaps, for some that is not enough.

THis is not true, as you ought to know by just looking through the forums, where you'll find discussions of political and religious issues as they relate to royalty.

It doesn't matter how loudly you complain - we're not going to open up the forums to non-royal-related politics and religion. We have no interest whatever in threads full of why my country is better than your country and why my god is the One True God and heretics need to die. If you want that sort of discussion, you can find it elsewhere.

**Lady Jennifer** · #12 04-07-2008, 10:09 PM

Interests come & go. I think that's another reason. Around 10yrs ago I was involved in other royalty boards, but then real life stepped in (college & the college life) & my interest didn't disappear but I didn't have time to get online like I had in the past. I think that's what happens sometimes. Also, real life gets in the way. I know I don't have as much time as I used to. Before I had my current job I used to be able to come online & stay online all the time. Now my times been cut down (mainly because I can't stay up til 2am like I used to & I can't get onto TRF from work

). People might have exams coming up, starting new classes, on vacation, getting married, etc. I think this shows a normal progression of message boards, the internet & life in general. Its always changing. People leave & new people appear. That's not saying the old ones won't come back....

MARG · #13 04-07-2008, 10:32 PM

Don''t know about other posters, by here in NZ my internet provider "ugraded" in a big way. Consequently, first I had weeks of no email, followed by weeks of some but not all and the coup de grace? Posts coming in in doubles and then triples.

Early in the year I moved house, changed internet provider, had my hard drive crash and I resorted to "borrowing" laptops from family members. I also discovered a previously unknown phenomena . . .people are most peculiar about their computers . . . . borrowing one is veiwed much as "borrowing" their toothbrushes!

My new Desktop is now installed on the study desk. It is singing it's siren call, now if I can just get the damned wireless router sorted . . .

So you see, stuff happens!

jcbcode99 · #14 04-07-2008, 11:03 PM

I have noticed some changes here, but in all honesty I think they are quite good. There are more moderators, more topics, and thusly, more discussion. Yes, sometimes we do get our hands slapped--but that's ok! Other times we're fairly easy with what we think of feel and I like that. I enjoy everyone on this board--but I do want to ask a question--feel free to tell me if I've done a "no no" in doing so, but I've noticed when I go back looking for something in threads that some posters have become "banned"--which really interested me--how does one get "banned"? Not that I'm looking to make it happen, I'm just curious as to what the criteria are for such a decision??
Thanks!

**Elspeth** · #15 04-07-2008, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcbcode99

I have noticed some changes here, but in all honesty I think they are quite good. There are more moderators, more topics, and thusly, more discussion. Yes, sometimes we do get our hands slapped--but that's ok! Other times we're fairly easy with what we think of feel and I like that. I enjoy everyone on this board--but I do want to ask a question--feel free to tell me if I've done a "no no" in doing so, but I've noticed when I go back looking for something in threads that some posters have become "banned"--which really interested me--how does one get "banned"? Not that I'm looking to make it happen, I'm just curious as to what the criteria are for such a decision??
Thanks!

Glad you're enjoying some of the changes and features!

To answer your last questions, Ennyllorac summed it up pretty well here when she said "A "banned" member is one that is no longer allowed to participate in the forum because of total disregard of Forum policy."

Unless a brand-new member starts trolling or spamming, at which point they're just tossed off the forum with no notice, banning doesn't happen until after several formal warnings. It might come as a surprise to other people because the previous interactions have been conducted by private message, but it shouldn't come as a surprise to the person concerned.

COUNTESS · #16 04-08-2008, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elspeth

THis is not true, as you ought to know by just looking through the forums, where you'll find discussions of political and religious issues as they relate to royalty.

It doesn't matter how loudly you complain - we're not going to open up the forums to non-royal-related politics and religion. We have no interest whatever in threads full of why my country is better than your country and why my god is the One True God and heretics need to die. If you want that sort of discussion, you can find it elsewhere.

When Bhutto was killed and the discussion became too political, it was stopped. It amazed me, as she was political. I do not want to say my country is better than yours or my God is better. That is ridiculous banter. I would like to know how someone feels, as I have learned from them and their perception of things. But, I still state, you have to tread very carefully, or your post will be removed. Or the topic shut down.