in the head??? Like you??? And if you by any chance are insinuating what you are insinuating…STFU![/quote]
See! That sharp tongue and lightining wit had a lot to do with you being accepted into the fold pretty quickly. Many newbs are just too thin skinned at times.[/quote]
It was blunt at the time and I did get my fair share of my bullying okay. But yes, there were folks who laughed at my jokes and informed me when I was being stupid too.
It would suck if this place went under because it took so long to build up some of the useful information threads. I don’t like change. Change is highly over-rated. I’ve been over to the Mao now and it seems that it is pretty much just Forumosa with a different name. I guess I’ll follow Forumosa and Maoman wherever they go. But which one is the real Forumosa now? Where should we go? 
It’s all good!
Just remember…“No matter where ya go…There Ya are”…B. Banzai
Oh, and do try your best to always remain directly over the center of the planet.
I have two issues with change in this instance. The first is a pet grievance with the existing 'mosa. I’ve never liked the fact some posters do a sneaky name change, or more than one, making redundant any historical knowledge of the poster. Nice way to reconstruct yourself, I suppose, but it’s irksome when it appears many know who the old posters are, and their revamped monickers. Perhaps their is some behind the scenes list or some such for the mods?
Anyway, a quick look at the new site and I see who I assume are posters from here with new user names. Frankly, I can;t be arsed tryng to work out who is who. It’s just all too confusing. it’s handy to have a username that has some history, as you often know their credibility or otherwise, and what sort of stance they tend to adopt.
I guess I’ll get the inside skinny on why this move was a necessity at some point next time I’m in Taiwan. No idea what it was deemed necessary. I would have aimed for consolidation, not splintering.
Still the upside is that suspended users can probably go hang out and annoy people in either fora. In that sense, it may make suspending posters less of an issue.
HG
[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]I have two issues with change in this instance. The first is a pet grievance with the existing 'mosa. I’ve never liked the fact some posters do a sneaky name change, or more than one, making redundant any historical knowledge of the poster. Nice way to reconstruct yourself, I suppose, but it’s irksome when it appears many know who the old posters are, and their revamped monickers. Perhaps their is some behind the scenes list or some such for the mods?
Anyway, a quick look at the new site and I see who I assume are posters from here with new user names. Frankly, I can;t be arsed tryng to work out who is who. It’s just all too confusing. it’s handy to have a username that has some history, as you often know their credibility or otherwise, and what sort of stance they tend to adopt.
I guess I’ll get the inside skinny on why this move was a necessity at some point next time I’m in Taiwan. No idea what it was deemed necessary. I would have aimed for consolidation, not splintering.
Still the upside is that suspended users can probably go hang out and annoy people in either fora. In that sense, it may make suspending posters less of an issue.
HG[/quote]
yeah it would be nice if someone could just come out and discuss the large grey mammal in the room. The simplest explanation would be Maoman and Gus have had some sort of philosophical difference or else MM just wants sole control of his own site (which is perfectly reasonable). Setting up a mirror site with cloned mods is just weird though. We don’t need two sites and unless everyone jumps ship I see no point in moving. However if in some way the two sites could have clear differentiation it would make more sense. I prefer lesser moderation and along with others have made my views known on this. So if we could keep Forumosa going with less “interference” from mods that would be a good thing. Meanwhile MM and his mod squad can snip, cut, and temp away as is their wont over in Taiwanease or whatever its called.
i at least still plan to be me, if that is any consolation 
edit: but yes that will be cool. Because MaoM and his crew are snippitty snippers .
May I field this as I feel I’m sticking out like a turd in a punchbowl.
Long long ago, I asked Anthony to change my password. Flobbing and modding the flob got the best of me and I was still showing up every day anyway. Later, I reremembered that I had a smurf, allowed then under modrules and I began using it. That smurf, as fun as it was, was not so much fun for admin, and it was banned. A year or so later I logged in again as someone new as I needed some info and frankly, I missed being in the hive. The hive had changed somewhat by then.
This is the rule you alluded to, banned members are allowed to return as long as they don’t reveal their former, banned, ID ie Leo/Hatch/bobepine, toesave/gobbo or something like that, the 14 chewys and the 37 tomhills. Some returned because they were banned, some because they wanted to fuck with people. Mike Raphonechecker was my fave!
The reason you may not have know about me in particular (if it was me you were talking about) was probably because we have never been close online and I never felt the urge to out myself to you…in fact you may not have even been around…can’t recall. It’s not like I was keeping it secret, just off the boards.
Anywho, like I said, if you were asking about me, there you go. If you were asking about others, I hope I have cleared the air somewhat as to why some people (have to) come back under new names. Oh, and some long term posters (mods even! shockeroo) change their IDs because, like me, jdsmith, they grew tired of people bothering them.
Cheers.
No worries, JD, and no one specific in mind. I just gleaned occasionally that someone previously was someone else type chatter a few times.
HG
One complaint - I tried to register over there under a new user name, and I have not heard a word.
Wonder what’s going on.
Just try logging in. It seems you get registered without needing an email notification for verification.
Thank you Maoman and Elektronisk, I think I am sorted now.
Is it rude to ask why?
The two do look very similar to me and perhaps other casual users - same forums, same text describing them. Maybe I’m missing the subtleties of moderation etc. I’m not really a forum expert, but it doesn’t look much like a new venture to me. With the same basic purpose, it looks like competition. Are there further developments in the offing on Taiwanease that will make it a new thing?
To be honest, a lot of web forums look essentially similar to me. Like I say, maybe I’m missing the subtleties of the design and running of forums and I certainly seem to be oblivious to the internal politics of this one. Perhaps I should have attended Forumosa happy hours before I left.
Don’t all PHPBB forums look exactly the same at the very beginning? 
But, seriously, how could two (or any number of) general (as opposed to niche) BBSs specifically aimed at serving people from (predominantly) English speaking countries who live in Taiwan really be anything else but “similar”? You can name the forums what you like, they will still end up having the same kind of contents: questions about dating, visa and ARCs, and shops (“where to find…?”), complaints about the strange culture, etc., advice on travel, leisure activities, entertainment, etc., and debates on “hot” topics like politics and religion - unless the owner limits the BBS to a certain type (for example, a classified ads or other information only BBS that does not permit debates).
Any real differences that may develop between such BBSs would seem to come down to “atmosphere” or “style”, the result of the owner’s management approach and the interactions of the people who use those BBSs.
Don’t all PHPBB forums look exactly the same at the very beginning?
But, seriously, how could two (or any number of) general (as opposed to niche) BBSs specifically aimed at serving people from (predominantly) English speaking countries who live in Taiwan really be anything else but “similar”? You can name the forums what you like, they will still end up having the same kind of contents: questions about dating, visa and ARCs, and shops (“where to find…?”), complaints about the strange culture, etc., advice on travel, leisure activities, entertainment, etc., and debates on “hot” topics like politics and religion - unless the owner limits the BBS to a certain type (for example, a classified ads or other information only BBS that does not permit debates).
Any real differences that may develop between such BBSs would seem to come down to “atmosphere” or “style”, the result of the owner’s management approach and the interactions of the people who use those BBSs.[/quote]
Exactly. Which is the reason one wonders why. It’s not really breaking out in a new direction, it’s doing the same thing in a nuanced way, essentially in competition. To the casual (non cliquey - an issue that’s been mentioned) user, they look identical.
Don’t all PHPBB forums look exactly the same at the very beginning?
But, seriously, how could two (or any number of) general (as opposed to niche) BBSs specifically aimed at serving people from (predominantly) English speaking countries who live in Taiwan really be anything else but “similar”?[/quote]
Of course. So would someone kindly answer the question, why has Maoman bothered to do this?
There’s the real world out there to deal with, & I have enough trouble keeping up with this forum, let alone another one dealing with the same topics. I don’t want / don’t need the input on here to be diluted across 2 different places.
I suppose there’s been internal politics, but it’s just depressing to see that Forumosa clone sitting there.
As said earlier, why is no-one talking about the elephant?
Thing is, there is no way I’m going to be following two essentially similar forums - I spend too much time online already. So if I’m forced to choose, I’d like it to be an informed choice. I can work out the practical sides - which one is more useful, but if I’m going to nail my colours to someone’s mast…
It’s been all very civilised in public, on this thread, which I salute but it seems there must be more to it than that, information which is not irrelevant to punters deciding whether to go over to “the other side” - not an expression that suggests the two sites are complementary. Reasonable?
I’ve met both of the parties concerned face-to-face since the divorce. Neither one seems to have any hard feelings or be blaming anyone. I’ve known both of them for many years, I know how they work, and I’m pretty sure it’s simply a case of having to make a difficult choice about strategic issues. One person feels one way, the other disagrees, so the solution is to test both.
Strategic means “which software features do we spend our limited funds on?” - a big question and one that’s easy to disagree over. You can disagree about where to spend money, but still be friends. Trust me on this, there are no politics going on behind the scenes.
Mmmm… but such a solution (a ‘battle’ of the forums), which will run for a couple of years at least, serves up rubbish fare for Forumosans IMO.
I do. But it’s still rubbish 
.
Whatever the (inevitable) similarity and hence competitiveness between the forums, it seems the magazine is the USP. Fair enough.