Top 5 redundent recurrent airsoft threads

sliabh

For a friday...

Another "raise the 1J" limit thread has appeared (and is being mocked). I respect the right of people to ask questions and so on, but too many people don't bother doing even a basic search of old threads before charging in.

Regardless of how you might want to deal with it - stickies (which are never read), laughing at them (leading to calls of elitism or cliques), locking threads (leading to calls of heavy handed moderation) or just banning people for being lazy (has the advantage that you can't hear them complain later), what do you think are the 5 most redundant recurring threads that keep reappearing?

My suggestions:

• "What is a good sniper?"
• and it's related "what is a good gun"
• Raising the 1J limit.
• Teams ("I am starting", "I want to join")
• Importing from Asia, is it still legal?

Any others that make you despair of people learning how to use the search function?

ronan keane

Another Reacurring thread I have seen here is:

Is This Legal?

Also Threads about Video Games ruining Airsoft....... Okay I'm guilty with that one but Eh Sue Me

And to be fair why would Boards have a f*cking forum for something illegal??

swiftblade

Where is there to play/buy in______?

That one comes up a bit

Puding

most redundant thread........people complaining about honest questions, only stupid question is a question unasked

commonly asked question are generally asked for a reason, either there complicated or there is conflicting information out there ( a common issue when people just say 'search' ) for example

fayer

Puding wrote: »

most redundant thread........people complaining about honest questions, only stupid question is a question unasked

commonly asked question are generally asked for a reason, either there complicated or there is conflicting information out there ( a common issue when people just say 'search' ) for example

Well said Chris!

cobra 08

Puding wrote: »

most redundant thread........people complaining about honest questions, only stupid question is a question unasked

commonly asked question are generally asked for a reason, either there complicated or there is conflicting information out there ( a common issue when people just say 'search' ) for example

+1.
People come on here to find information. Most questions in OP are ones new/beginner players ask so of course they're going to keep popping up. I'm sure there is a thread in here for every subject related to airsoft so does that mean before anyone starts a thread on anything they should search the forum first.
Did the OP search the forum before starting this one because I'm sure this came up before?

TheDoc

[QUOTE=cobra 08;73549273Did the OP search the forum before starting this one because I'm sure this came up before?[/QUOTE]

It hasnt

I can see where sliabh is coming from though, its fairly dribbly to come on here and see another thread thats been done a million times with better debate and discussion, as the same threads appear more and more, the less people are going to be arsed repeating themselves.

cobra 08

TheDoc wrote: »

It hasnt

I can see where sliabh is coming from though, its fairly dribbly to come on here and see another thread thats been done a million times with better debate and discussion, as the same threads appear more and more, the less people are going to be arsed repeating themselves.[/

cobra 08

TheDoc wrote: »

It hasnt

I can see where sliabh is coming from though, its fairly dribbly to come on here and see another thread thats been done a million times with better debate and discussion, as the same threads appear more and more, the less people are going to be arsed repeating themselves.

Nobody is obliged to post in them. But you can't blame the new users for asking a question.

Stercus Accidit

When you start noticing recurring threads, making lists there-of, and treating questions as redundant...

You are spending too much time on the forum!

IMO Airsoft is dynamic, as is the political climate it exists in, and as such the answers to these questions change slowly, but do change. Now, if you are seeing the same questions and answers too frequently, you aren't spending enough time away from here!

In time raising the 1 joule limit could become very current, and a new JG bar 10 will be 'wot am best sniper' and so on.

Witcher

I think the lack of activity is making the recurring question problem seem worse than it is, there are very few new threads popping up in the average week now than even a year ago so it looks like more repetitive threads are being made, when it's probably the same amount as always.

The only threads that seems to be posted in now are the photo and discussion thread and off topic, you can breeze over an entire days posting in the forum in a few minutes reading 3/4 posts in said threads and that's largely the extent of the posting in the forum recently.

sliabh

There are some questions that do change over time - the imports one for example. But the constant stream of sniper and 1J limit ones was a little wearying. And even a basic search will tell you these have been done to death.

I am all for encouraging people to ask question (firm believer that there is no such thing as a dumb question, only dumb answers), but its polite to check if you are asking something that has been asked repeatedly already.

When I started here I lurked for a while and started with a question in "New and need help getting started".

For what its worth one of the best beginner threads I saw was "Top 5 affordable AEGs for under 250e" from back in 2009.

I think there is a lot to be said for one or two more like that. In 2011 what would people recommend for under €250? And add how to build up a decent load out for less than €50/€100?

Something worth reading and discussing?

Shidosha

I mostly lurk, as my post-count will no doubt indicate, but I'm plenty active on other fora throughout the internet.

Recurring questions and themes are perfectly normal once a forum gets beyond a certain size. Yes, there's always a Search option. But they're invariably hard to use right to get the answer you want. Either you search to generally and get a thousand results, or too specifically and get none.

I think the recurring post/theme is just something you've got to live with on a high-traffic forum. The best way of cutting down on it is with high-quality stickies.

For example, that "Best AEGs for under €250" thread that Sliabh linked should be cleaned up by a mod and stickied. That's good info right there. This sticky is good, lots of quality info, but requires a bit of an attention span. This one is not so much, not that many people are going to bother watching a 12 minute video if they've just got a quick question.

If you're an experience hand at this, and a veteran of the forum, and you don't like the recurring questions, then write up a guide and get it stickied. LOTS of people give airsoft a go and want to get into it, but have limited budgets, why not put a bit of effort into researching what's worth buying around the €150 mark and letting people know? How's about one of the old hands takes the time to sit down and write up a "Newbies guide to airsoft snipers"? Loads of people like the sniper "style" from computer games, and a quick education on what it's like (with repeated messages to go buy an AEG instead) sitting at the top of the forum would be handy.

I understand the frustration of seeing the same things coming up again and again. But on a busy forum you can't stop that happening. However, with a bit of input and a little time you can maybe help out and reduce the numbers somewhat.

I'm gonna go back to lurking some more now, before someone shouts at me.

Steve

I guess that's what sets us apart from a wikipedia page - here you can mostly get answers (from humans) to your question. There'll always be new people here and they'll always be welcome - that's what we're supposed to do here as a community, no?

gerrowadat

I've tried to point people at http://www.irishairsoft.info/ before - it was intended to be a repository of information like this, where it could be kept up to date where something was no longer true. If someone wants to write something on there about the 1j limit, that'd probably a good place to link to.

Inari

Strangely enough the first thing that came to mind was "What's more redundant than a discussion about redundancy?"

A great quote is perfect for Boards.ie; You learn more from a stupid question, than from a smart answer.

Yes, people could search first. But in all sincerity, does it actually matter? What else are we discussing here? I mean, are we going to ignore the elephant in the room? This place is glorified tumbleweed at the moment, so the recurrent threads are completely harmless.

If we, the regular Boards.ie users, actually bother to try and help others out, then they too should help more, and actually start proper discussion threads. However if people reply sarcastically with snide remarks or one word (hyperlinked, or otherwise) "search" answers, then why would they bother with this place?

Some users on here are seriously disillusioned, for a variety of reasons. However, new users come on every day, so we really should be more forthcoming so that this community doesn't dissipate into nothingness.

King John The Last

Personally, I would not like to be linked a thread from 2009 when looking for advice. Why? Because things change in 2 years. New releases are made, more guns are cloned and prices change. I dont want to know the top 5 affordable AEGs for under 250e in 2009, I want to know what they are now.

Lemming

King John The Last wrote: »

Personally, I would not like to be linked a thread from 2009 when looking for advice. Why? Because things change in 2 years. New releases are made, more guns are cloned and prices change. I dont want to know the top 5 affordable AEGs for under 250e in 2009, I want to know what they are now.

with that logic, the answer you get now will be linked in 2013. So why ever ask a question?

Inari

Lemming wrote: »

with that logic, the answer you get now will be linked in 2013. So why ever ask a question?

To get any/all information possible. If you are linked to a 2 year old thread, then you will have some information to go by, and can ask more specific questions, which in turn can instigate discussion.

A lot can happen in short spaces of time, and a lot does happen. People should ask questions, and people should also attempt to help other people.

sliabh

So someone want to kick off the "Top 5 AEGs for €250 in 2011" thread then so?

I'd do it, but I used up all my thread creation credits already...

King John The Last

Yes, I would ask the question now to get all the new information available now. Ask it again in 2013 to get all the extra info again