When Matt started this forum I think is was mainly due to having a forum to go with a tank club and tanks in general,plus a forum he could get going in a fashion to be run the way he thinks is best and more apealing to other tankers.At the rate it is growing and has grown in such a short period of time I think we can all agree he seems to have come up with the right idea.It is not easy to get a forum going with a lot of activity and a continual flow of posts from the members.All you have to do is try searching for tank forums on the internet-----You will find a lot of dead one's that guys have thought could just be started posting nothing but tanks.A tank club forum by itself I think would have the same outcome.If you go on a forum that in the past 12 hours ( for example ) has had 4 or 5 new posts and mabe and you can read everything in 4 or 5 minutes,then what do you do.
Does one just set and wait for something to show up,very dull and I don't think anyone is going to hang around very long.As more members come on board,the more posting you are going to see and the more you may find posts of interest.One brand,one scale,is going to be very hard to keep going.And one big factor is a big share of the members "are" or "have been" invovled in other of the hobbys,and may still have interest in these along with the tanks.It is this lay-out that Matt has that will seperate it from a standard tank forum,and will open the door to others who may not now be into tanks but who may very well be down the road.It's also fun to be able to go into off topic areas and post up things that are just fun stuff
about "whatever".The great part is there is a spot for what ever your interest,and those who have the same interest will gather there and talk your talk.
Going to talk about and use RCU as an example.When I first found that forum it was because I was looking up an airplane trying to find out about it.(it was a Military drone-MIG 27 that my son bought at a hobby shop and gave me for a christmas present).I joined up and stayed busy for a while disscussing and working on this Mig.(this turned out to be a very friendly place )Then I ended up in the helicopter forum trying to find out about some of the cheap double rotor helicopters that looked like they would be fun to try and that I had been looking at being sold by some of the big online dealers.So I posted some questions about them and in short order was attacked by some of the hot shot heli guys who informed me that they were junk and I should buy such and such helicopter that started out at $500.00 dollars and up.(this sound familar).So I bought (one of the cheap ones I had asked about) and my son and my son-in-law also bought one,and yes they were fun.I haven't flown mine for a while but my son bought another simular one also to go with the other one and flies his all the time in his beach house,and got to say he got dam good with them.
Then I discovered the tank forum,and a year and a half later had around 42 or 43 tanks of various scales and makes and models.And one thing thats hard to get away from in these forums is the same old thing(those are junk,these are the best,mine is better than yours
ect.--ect--).This is a question of "why" that I have never been able to understand,and how hard is it to understand that everyone has different taste's and different ideas of what tanking is to themselves.There is room for everyone no mater how serious and detail orientated you may be.I like 90 percent of it all,and what don't appeal to me I stay away from.(or try to) When I got into tanking I thought it was much larger than it really is when you get right down to it.You look at RCU they are one of the biggest over-all group of RC forums I have found(but haven't looked that much).Go into airplanes and RC cars there(their bread and butter)and you will find a catagory for every concievably type car and airplane.The tank forum on RCU (the main forum,the war room,photo section) and if you want to sell something you go into an area set up to sell cars and try to figure out how to post your tank there.(good luck,most people will give up first).If you want to see or read about anything other than a tank or post an off topic subject,you have to go strictly to that section.And you most likely will not find any of your fellow tankers there digging through car related posts to read yours.The RCU tank forum is not all as big as some of us think it is,a big busy day there may be 30 or 35 guys and gals logged on.Most times 12 to twenty
may be online.Not very many people when you stop to think that this forum is open to anyone around the world,24 hours a day.This should be some thing to keep in mind when there is talk of limiting what should only be allowed to be posted.Diversity and many choices is what I think is going to make a new forum grow and be an interesting place to spend one's time.
Sorry about writing a novel here (just my opinion for what ever it's worth)
BIGMIG ;)
? still, this forum has come so far in such a short time thanks to the few who persevered...
