Question for TrevorD

[koaftder]

Anybody find it bizarre that the question was addressed to Trevor, yet AmigaKit spoke for him? wtf.

[koaftder]

No, not really, @Spiranto answered the question first since  it was overnight in New Zealand where I live.

TrevorD

Huh? It's not bizarre because some other guy dumped a post that didn't answer OP's question (Trevor will answer later is not an answer, and Trevor has a lot of old computers doesn't answer anything either) which was then followed by a response from AmigaKit who half answered for you?

"Trevor has a lot of old computers" and "AmigaKit has new junk for sale in the pipeline" doesn't really address the concern with a lot of folks. It's looking like this place is becoming a heavily moderated, OS4 centric site. The internet already has plenty of those, which explains why the user count of late has been so low.

[koaftder]

I, for one, can't wait for my next order of "new junk" from AmigaKit.  Since shipping to me takes 3-4 weeks I'm waiting until the USB module for the X-Surf 100 becomes available before I pull the trigger on my order for a bunch of fun new toys.  Thank god their amount of loyal customers outweighs opinions like this. :bitch:

Loyalty is for chumps. If something is a good deal, you buy it, else move on. I find the concept of loyalty to a retailer almost disgusting. I reserve loyalty for things like my family, my wife, my child, etc. Not a place that trades mugs, stickers, mouse pads and various computer bits and pieces for money. You usually hear the phrase "loyal customer" when someone is whining about how they've been treated...

This is all a distraction though, because it is irrelevant to the the point of the thread. Likewise with focusing on the fact that more crap is coming down the sales pipeline. So what that AmigaKit is going to have more stuff to sling on their web store? That's another website.

This site has changed. In the upper right hand corner of the site, there's a giant square banner of a dude in a shoe styled space ship thing with X1000 rocket propellent thingeys. "TREVOR'S AMIGA BLOG". At least it's not what it was before, that giant picture of Trevor. It links to to the guy's blog. WTF?! Why? And it's focused on all manner of things, but a constant theme is the NG kit he's funded and OS 4, and a heaping dose of linux.

And no offense to Trevor, but I don't care about his blog, that's not why I've been coming here regularly for over a decade. When I saw that blog banner for the first time I thought to myself, "That's the biggest wank piece I've ever seen". I figured it would go down after a while, but it didn't. It's creeped a lot of people out, and it's sent the wrong message.

It used to be that when you'd  visit the site, you'd see a column of user contributed images, which featured a lot of classic gear. Now you don't see anything at all. It's gone, unless you log in. Same for the user blogs, and being able to peruse user posts from the user profiles. Bye bye went the search tool too, unless you're logged in.

Imagine what a potential new community member will see when they first visit AO. No cool user gallery previews("Random pics"), no user gallery off the nav menu, and a big ass link to Trevor's blog in the corner. Hopefully there're be something interesting in the news section and recent threads pane. Hope they don't decide to do a search.

That's a real kick in the balls to have to be a registered member to see the galleys. That cuts a huge chunk of soul right out of the website. I probably never would have registered with this site if it wasn't for the picture gallery that caught my interest. There's nothing like seeing the kit you never saw back in the day, seeing other people's projects and desktop screen shots to rope you in.

And finally we've had an issue with a new moderator, that nobody knows, wasn't elected by the community, and of questionable ethics, going bezerk in the forum.

So now, back to part of the original question:

Now that you bought Amiga.org and Amigaworld, how should a past Amiga 500 user see these websites or how should any Amiga user see these websites...
What I mean is that, how do we fit in since you've changed the landscape...

See, answers like "Trevor's got a lot of old computers", and "AmigaKit is going to sling some more stuff" aren't answers. And this is a good question, and it deserves a thoughtful answer.

[koaftder]

@koaftder

AmigaKit and A-Eon are made up of Amiga fans - that's not just NG Amigas, they all have a500s, a1200s, a4000s etc. The fact that AmigaKit are continuing to invest in new products, and continue to support all flavours of Amiga and its derivatives on their forums, I feel demonstrates the answer to the original question much more than just saying "oh yes, we like a500 owners". AmigaKit have actually put their money where their mouth is, and proven a commitment to the Amigas such as the a500.

None of this is really in question. AmigaKit has a good reputation for the reasons you mention above. But pointing this out doesn't really address the question of where this community site is going. And it's important because the user base is evaporating.

Serious question: What would you like to see from AmigaKit more than they are doing already?

But I've already addressed a large chunk of this, regarding the openness of the site to non-registered users, and lurker users who aren't logged in. That and moderation concerns. The former to appeal to old timers looking to get back into the scene and newer blood from the retro scene. The later needs to be addressed to stave off people leaving out of disgust and disinterest.

(incidentally, when I answered the OP, I wasn't speaking for or trying to represent anyone, hence my saying "I'm sure Trevor will be along shortly....". As this was a question sent in a public forum for discussion, and not a PM, I felt it was safe to allay his fears, as I know for an absolute fact that A500 users are quite safe on here, because Trevor himself is a fan).

I get that, and I'm not taking a jab at you, or anyone really. I'm kind of surprised though that Trevor didn't take much of an opportunity to spell out where this place is going. This has always been a heavily classic centric place.

Edit: in the interest of fairness, it should be pointed out that the moderator you mention has publically apologised for his mistake, and has already reversed his ban.

I only recall a somewhat half apology on AWN regarding this one thing I think you're talking about. I don't really want to spend a lot of time on this, but this has just been one incident in a string of unprofessional behavior. It's going to take more than one apology about one thing to fix this kind of damage.

In the future, with new mod posts, I'd like to see someone from the fold, so to speak, get appointed to these kinds of positions, and preferably by a vote from the community. That's a good way to build trust, and it's worked out well in the past.

I'd like to see AmigaKit explain where they want to go with this new mod, and explain to the community their intention with all this and why he's a good fit. If he's a good fit then there must be a reasonable explanation for this. If not, thank the guy for his time, remove his mod status and promote someone from within, preferably via a vote.

The previous owners had good intentions, and generally did a good job as host, but there was some screw ups that hurt the user base. I'd like to see that kind of thing become more rare. As it is right now, it's not really looking that way.

[koaftder]

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