State Of Play.

[CtahhR]

The forum is now well into it's thirteenth year and has come such a long way in not just showing what is out there but also how to research and truly appreciate the stories therein.

The forum is far from a perfect entity, great but not perfect. It does have its quirks, downtime, infrequent loss or corruption of posts - this is often exasperated by the load on the forum. It is however always easier to criticise than compliment. There may be complaints the forum "is down" but never praise that it is "back up". A fair example of things being taken for granted.

The users that contribute positively here are fabulous examples of consideration for the greater community. No-one has to picture their items or share their knowledge and yet it continues to stream. There are some very highly respected members here with which I am sure, through the forum, will make life-long friendships. A fun bi-product.

I personally receive hundreds of positive messages each year, praise for the forum's positive advice such as how to research, translate or avoid being ripped off. Very frequently the users giving praise in private do not offer the same support publicly. I would say that users just being here is praise enough to the forum contributors. I know there is a large array of forum users who only ever collect information here rather than presenting it, but then again, they come here to collect it. I would take this point to highlight some of my favourite contributors but I'm sure we all share similar opinions there.

Also frequently the quirks of the forum such as threads corrupting are blamed on individuals on the forum. This is an easy thing to do. I don't mind if anyone wishes to blame me for x y or z, when the reality is different - a simple quick fix. If a forum users feels better for a simple out-lash so be it, reality is often considerably more complicated. How many users here can honestly say they have complained to or about the host or the software designer? That's not so obvious to most.

The forum rules are also in very plain sight, there should be no complaints by those breeching them. As I always say, no-one ever shouts about freedom of speech when they wish to say something positive or constructive. You never hear "I was telling my family I loved them and the authorities came in and silenced me".

Not only the forum but the interest and even the entire world is changing. Many forum users' lives have changed considerably over the last 13 years, many have ceased collecting, many have only just begun. Drastic changes in prices, the shear number of fakes on the market and the "tightening of belts" are just some of the negative factors but on the other hand you have more research opportunities, more information and greater communication options than ever before.

This is just one very tiny corner of the internet and yet it has a great influence on those who are concerned about what they are doing within the interests covered. For users that have not subscribed I heavily suggest it, the forum experience is even better!

Always keep in mind that the world is in a constant state of change but the respect due to the awards and recipients of the past and present is unwavering.

As an optimist I believe that the future will become ever brighter - not just for the forum or the interests covered but for everything and everyone. Building upon the successes of yesterday and today.

If users wish to be derogatory they can, but it must be remembered that the fact that they are even here in the first place is most complimentary.


The following is a list of "quirks" I have experienced over my time at the forum. No-one can be blamed for these, they just happen.

1. Posts not showing up on searches - They're there just don't show up.
2. Posts not "posting". - They're written and presented but just vanish.
3. Threads moving - Threads have moved from one section to another without any explanation. Hopefully now all the sections are named differently this won't occur again.
4. Forum down. Sometimes the forum is just "offline".
5. Error messages. I have lost count of the times I've received error messages. "Forum closed", "500" and more - usually normal service is resumed.
6. Vanishing threads. I have noticed some threads completely vanish, about 80% of the time they return but not always.
7. Corrupted threads. Some threads have turned completely blank or on an even rarer occasion turned into a long page of binary.
8. Missing images. Sometimes even images posted on the forum vanish. Mainly from the 2003 period but not only.
9. Inability to view pages. Sometimes certainly pages of threads are completely inaccessible. Sometimes it is due to my browser cookies being "full" other times it is completely unexplainable.
10. Inability to log on. Sometimes the forum is up and active and yet it is not possible to log in.

There are more... but I think after these 10 examples it becomes considerably more obvious that someone feeling targeted for "special treatment" has only been experiencing quirks that happen to anyone.

If you've never experienced a quirk, don't worry you're getting the same "special treatment" as anyone else!

If anyone wants to complain about the volume of spam posts on the forum now could be a good time to do so. Spammers are a constant threat to the forum that have been tackled with almost universally successfully over the last 18 months.

Attached is an example of an image that has vanished. These redundant posts are being removed from the forum as they are found.