What is the deal with the Blog police?
by James Brad Barnette · in General Discussion · 11/05/2009 (7:11 pm) · 29 replies
Why is Scott Burns removing peoples blogs that contain information about alternative engines and telling people that they should post in the forum? I though we had the right to post what ever we want in a blog. Is it becasue they fear loss of sales.
I think so.
I think so.
About the author
#2
Blogs which are obviously looking for discussion should be posted in the forum. The blogs are for people to announce their works for others to see.
11/05/2009 (7:16 pm)
What is the deal with conspiracy theorists?Blogs which are obviously looking for discussion should be posted in the forum. The blogs are for people to announce their works for others to see.
#3
11/05/2009 (7:21 pm)
What phillip said and this is why gg is getting rid of them. I was amazed they kept the unity blog up when it went free but this engine should stay out of the blogs. I downloaded UDK to check it out I can get into the engine, but it crashes very often. I was not even doing much besides looking at things that it came with. 
#4
The first two were rehashes of discussions going on in the forums currently. The third was, ultimately, more along the lines of a discussion for the forums. I was on the fence about making the call on Marc's blog but in the end I'm striving to be fair and even across the board.
11/05/2009 (7:33 pm)
Blogs are intended to be a place where users can post about their own projects or show off something they're working on.The first two were rehashes of discussions going on in the forums currently. The third was, ultimately, more along the lines of a discussion for the forums. I was on the fence about making the call on Marc's blog but in the end I'm striving to be fair and even across the board.
#5
@Phillip:
Not a conspiracy. Just saying it gives the appearance that they are trying to move blogs containing information competitive products so that they are not so visible to the potential customer. I mean the blogs are right out front. If I was in marketing for GG it would have irritated me. I think that it sets a bad precedent moving it, but if Marketing T3D was my job I would not want Blogs by our users recommending a competitor's product pretty much right out front on our website.
But the obvious answer is Torque is finally becoming a business first and a community second. Where for the first 6-7 years it was all about community and a certain philosophy. Not knocking it I think that since a lot of the old way of doing things and mentalities have been bled out, Torque has benefited greatly. Those philosophies were great to get the ball rolling but in the long run they held torque back for a long time.
11/05/2009 (9:05 pm)
I see... aside from the obvious posting question in blogs rather than forums I didn't realize that we had restrictions on what we posted in them. Besides I though Marc's blog was just that a statement of how he felt about things that had happened in the industry lately. It was not done in the form of a question nor did it require a response. @Phillip:
Not a conspiracy. Just saying it gives the appearance that they are trying to move blogs containing information competitive products so that they are not so visible to the potential customer. I mean the blogs are right out front. If I was in marketing for GG it would have irritated me. I think that it sets a bad precedent moving it, but if Marketing T3D was my job I would not want Blogs by our users recommending a competitor's product pretty much right out front on our website.
But the obvious answer is Torque is finally becoming a business first and a community second. Where for the first 6-7 years it was all about community and a certain philosophy. Not knocking it I think that since a lot of the old way of doing things and mentalities have been bled out, Torque has benefited greatly. Those philosophies were great to get the ball rolling but in the long run they held torque back for a long time.
#6
11/05/2009 (9:21 pm)
Spend some time on IRC and feel the community, James ;)
#7
11/05/2009 (10:01 pm)
I appreciate your effort Scott. It makes a more professional, on-point atmosphere. Forums/blogs, you've got it spot on IMO.
#8
11/05/2009 (10:16 pm)
Talking of IRC, we haven't had an IRC night for aeons. 
#9
11/05/2009 (10:51 pm)
How about the 19th of this month. A special IRC Hour, with very special guests?
#10
edit: now I'll have to recheck the instructions on how to use IRC ... like I do every IRC night. damn you brain!
11/05/2009 (10:54 pm)
Yay!edit: now I'll have to recheck the instructions on how to use IRC ... like I do every IRC night. damn you brain!
#11
Thing is, my Blog actually presented more reason to keep considering T3D...
Hiding the new engine choices won't help sales, people will hear about and look at the new engines one way or the other, and now, not have the community opinions easily available to sway the choice to T3D anymore.
Most blanket approaches harm rather than help...fear is a non-productive thing....
11/05/2009 (11:14 pm)
Hmmm....Just saw this..After I posted a similar blog, noticing the first one had been deleted, only to see my Blog disappear in minutes as well.Thing is, my Blog actually presented more reason to keep considering T3D...
Hiding the new engine choices won't help sales, people will hear about and look at the new engines one way or the other, and now, not have the community opinions easily available to sway the choice to T3D anymore.
Most blanket approaches harm rather than help...fear is a non-productive thing....
#12
Is the special guest going to answer generic, soft, pre-approved questions ? ..or is it possible I can toss a fast ball in there ? I have a hankering I know who it is.
@Dee:
I seriously doubt the decision was based on any amount of fear whatsoever. That is nonsensical to say IMO.
Do we really need to read about how someone feels when T3D or Unity or C4 or NeoAxis or Unreal or ANY other engine has a shift in the struggle for attaining that weeks top level marketing news ?
11/06/2009 (12:12 am)
@Mperry:Is the special guest going to answer generic, soft, pre-approved questions ? ..or is it possible I can toss a fast ball in there ? I have a hankering I know who it is.
@Dee:
I seriously doubt the decision was based on any amount of fear whatsoever. That is nonsensical to say IMO.
Do we really need to read about how someone feels when T3D or Unity or C4 or NeoAxis or Unreal or ANY other engine has a shift in the struggle for attaining that weeks top level marketing news ?
#13
Well said. We have forums, and there are about 4 active threads already discussing this. What's the point of the blog section being cluttered with the same rehashed discussion. It keeps being said...the blog section is for project discussion only, not engine competition (especially pimping a competitor product).
11/06/2009 (12:22 am)
@eb - I look forward to you throwing the heat =)Quote:Do we really need to read about how someone feels when T3D or Unity or C4 or NeoAxis or Unreal or ANY other engine has a shift in the struggle for attaining that weeks top level marketing news ?
Well said. We have forums, and there are about 4 active threads already discussing this. What's the point of the blog section being cluttered with the same rehashed discussion. It keeps being said...the blog section is for project discussion only, not engine competition (especially pimping a competitor product).
#14
Makes sense.
@eb, "Do we really need..." -- yes, that's the point of writing. To share opinions and info...but yes, in a forum is more appropriate, now that the diff is clear.
Basic point is that forums are deep, so info does get lost and hidden, even if unintentionally.
11/06/2009 (12:54 am)
@Michael, yes, never realized the structured design to push a difference between blogs and forums.Makes sense.
@eb, "Do we really need..." -- yes, that's the point of writing. To share opinions and info...but yes, in a forum is more appropriate, now that the diff is clear.
Basic point is that forums are deep, so info does get lost and hidden, even if unintentionally.
#15
11/06/2009 (1:58 am)
With as active as those threads have been it will be quite some time before they become hard to find.
#16
I would then propose you re-think re-bumping that thread, at that time. ;)
11/06/2009 (2:10 am)
If you want to track something and gather replies, ..I'd bookmark it and bump it every week or two.. until someone says, "why have you been bumping this thread for 2 years now?". I would then propose you re-think re-bumping that thread, at that time. ;)
#17
11/06/2009 (2:11 am)
BUMP 
#18
11/06/2009 (3:05 am)
Quote:How about the 19th of this month. A special IRC Hour, with very special guests?Sure, every info from the garage is welcome :)
Quote:I'd bookmark it and bump it every week or two..Request: auto-bump feature for this site!
#19
When I saw the first one go I figured someone was trolling, but the feed summary for the second one scanned as a sensible post so I've dropped in to find out what was going on before assuming the worst.
If it isn't an insignificant minority keeping tabs on GG via RSS then maybe it's worth replacing certain deleted blogs with a reason/redirect to forum notice instead of leaving it up to the imagination.
On a related note, forum RSS feeds... please? ;)
11/07/2009 (2:03 pm)
For what it's worth, it is rather easy to come to the conclusion GG is purging content about rival engines if you only follow RSS feeds and rarely dip into the forums. (unless there's a forum feed I don't know about?)When I saw the first one go I figured someone was trolling, but the feed summary for the second one scanned as a sensible post so I've dropped in to find out what was going on before assuming the worst.
If it isn't an insignificant minority keeping tabs on GG via RSS then maybe it's worth replacing certain deleted blogs with a reason/redirect to forum notice instead of leaving it up to the imagination.
On a related note, forum RSS feeds... please? ;)
#20
Out of curiosity, how is this handled on the "other guys'" forums?
I think that's a very good idea.
To further (and second) that... Would I be hitting the crackpipe especially hard if I suggested a system where watched threads could be assembled into an RSS feed, or even following certain forums altogether?
11/07/2009 (6:48 pm)
Quote:For what it's worth, it is rather easy to come to the conclusion GG is purging content about rival engines if you only follow RSS feeds and rarely dip into the forums.
Out of curiosity, how is this handled on the "other guys'" forums?
Quote:If it isn't an insignificant minority keeping tabs on GG via RSS then maybe it's worth replacing certain deleted blogs with a reason/redirect to forum notice instead of leaving it up to the imagination.
I think that's a very good idea.
Quote:On a related note, forum RSS feeds... please? ;)
To further (and second) that... Would I be hitting the crackpipe especially hard if I suggested a system where watched threads could be assembled into an RSS feed, or even following certain forums altogether?
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