To the guest: why won’t you register

[#freejame]

Kind of a loaded question.  I’m not sure I’ve seen a time when there hasn’t been more guests online than users. I know many folks around here, myself included, took many years to create an account and start posting. Please, anyone, what can be done to get you to become an active contributor to this board?

[Zamboni]

Hello Mr. and Mrs. Pegula. Please stay a lurker... 
?

[SwampD]

14 minutes ago, #freejame said:

Kind of a loaded question.  I’m not sure I’ve seen a time when there hasn’t been more guests online than users. I know many folks around here, myself included, took many years to create an account and start posting. Please, anyone, what can be done to get you to become an active contributor to this board?

There is no hockey, and when there was, it was bad. When the hockey is good again, they will join.

If you build it, they will come.

[DarthEbriate]

43 minutes ago, SwampD said:

If you build it, they will come.

Except of course every time you build it, some Rebels come along and blow it up.

[Tondas]

I remember back when I lurked and did not join.  It was a little intimidating seeing posters with 20k posts.  Then, you just jump in and are warmly welcomed by those same posters, it makes a world of difference.  Now, almost 6k posts later, I wish I would have joined in sooner.  As Nike says, "Just do it!  Everybody has an equal voice.

[SDS]

2 hours ago, SwampD said:

There is no hockey, and when there was, it was bad. When the hockey is good again, they will join.

If you build it, they will come.

The message board industry is not a growth industry. Enjoy what we have. 

[freester]

8 hours ago, SDS said:

The message board industry is not a growth industry. Enjoy what we have. 

Unfortunately the Bills Stadium Wall message board has really changed since its dramatic growth following the demise of the official BBMB.  Growth has not been for the better.

[SDS]

1 hour ago, freester said:

Unfortunately the Bills Stadium Wall message board has really changed since its dramatic growth following the demise of the official BBMB.  Growth has not been for the better.

I have been running the board for 22 years. I have heard every year from someone that the board has changed for the worse for the last 20 years. At this time, we must be the worst of the worst... The 4chan of Buffalo Bills communities.

[Taro T]

32 minutes ago, SDS said:

I have been running the board for 22 years. I have heard every year from someone that the board has changed for the worse for the last 20 years. At this time, we must be the worst of the worst... The 4chan of Buffalo Bills communities.

Sheesh.  Don' cha know, nobody goes there anymore, it's way too crowded.

[#freejame]

I’m not asking for growth or change, just want to know if any of the guests have reservations that can be quelled. 

[Stoner]

6 minutes ago, #freejame said:

I’m not asking for growth or change, just want to know if any of the guests have reservations that can be quelled. 

I kind of doubt it's shyness, as anyone can have "Internet muscles." If I had to guess, a lot of people are only interested in perusing the board for information, not for conversation. It's almost a news site. It's how I use it sometimes. It's so crowd-sourced, you won't miss any major Sabres news.

I like the critical mass of posters that we have. If we have a lot more posters, it becomes less manageable. I wouldn't want this to be TSW.

11 hours ago, SDS said:

The message board industry is not a growth industry. Enjoy what we have. 

Anymore, you mean? Because SS has grown a lot over the years. There were game threads during the good old days with 60 posts.

[#freejame]

Just now, PASabreFan said:

I kind of doubt it's shyness, as anyone can have "Internet muscles." If I had to guess, a lot of people are only interested in perusing the board for information, not for conversation. It's almost a news site. It's how I use it sometimes. It's so crowd-sourced, you won't miss any major Sabres news.

I like the critical mass of posters that we have. If we have a lot more posters, it becomes less manageable. I wouldn't want this to be TSW.

I agree and disagree. It can take a while to become part of the conversation and as someone mentioned up thread, there’s a lot of folks with a lot of posts and it can be a bit intimidating to jump in. I would say we pick up maybe 2-3 new posters a year and of those posters it takes about an average of a year or so to jump in. 

I certainly wouldn’t say we need more posters. But we’ve lost a lot of good ones and no doubt there’s a lot of potential good ones lurking. 

[SDS]

26 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

I kind of doubt it's shyness, as anyone can have "Internet muscles." If I had to guess, a lot of people are only interested in perusing the board for information, not for conversation. It's almost a news site. It's how I use it sometimes. It's so crowd-sourced, you won't miss any major Sabres news.

I like the critical mass of posters that we have. If we have a lot more posters, it becomes less manageable. I wouldn't want this to be TSW.

Anymore, you mean? Because SS has grown a lot over the years. There were game threads during the good old days with 60 posts.

I think we have shrunk considerably since our playoff days in 2008. 

[Stoner]

3 hours ago, SDS said:

I think we have shrunk considerably since our playoff days in 2008. 

Interesting. What is your metric? Members? Members who post? Number of posts?

[ParkMeadow]

As a longtime follower (wouldn't say lurker) and only very occasional poster, I will present my personal perspective.

This board is one of the first sites I go to every day, not only for Sabres news (of which there has been so little lately), but also for urbane and erudite threads, responded to in a civil and respectful manner by a broad representation of genuinely nice folks.  While I certainly do not agree with every opinion, I respect the ability of the regular posters on this board to carry on (mostly) civil debates on a wide variety of subjects.  Even more importantly, there is an obvious and pervasive mutual affection shown toward each other, which would be the envy of most families!

I would love to someday be able to meet up for one of the SabreSpace events at a game, but with a paucity of posts I do not have the sense of familiarity with most of you that seems requisite for participating.  Early on in my SS experience, I did meet Shrader for a Bruins game in Boston, but our main connection in that brief time was to have each others backs if trouble arose (which fortunately it didn't).

I do not post regularly for a few reasons.

1. I am an old guy and not facile on the keyboard, so it takes me a lot longer than most to type my responses.  Definitely a drawback on Game Day threads.

2. Until the current stay-at-home situation, I did not have much time to spend on the computer.  It was much easier to read what had been posted than to actually respond.

3. I have played hockey since childhood, and continue to do so twice a week. However, I do not understand analytics, and my appreciation for the game is based on experience and eyeballs.  Not as easy with these tools to lay out a cogent explanation as it is using Corsi numbers, etc. 

4. I am considered by most as a man of few words.  I strongly adhere to the axiom, "Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk."  I would say that some of the wisdom I have acquired has come from regular visits to this board.

Thank you all, and I hope to continue to follow (and occasionally post) for many years to come.

[Tondas]

4 minutes ago, ParkMeadow said:

As a longtime follower (wouldn't say lurker) and only very occasional poster, I will present my personal perspective.

This board is one of the first sites I go to every day, not only for Sabres news (of which there has been so little lately), but also for urbane and erudite threads, responded to in a civil and respectful manner by a broad representation of genuinely nice folks.  While I certainly do not agree with every opinion, I respect the ability of the regular posters on this board to carry on (mostly) civil debates on a wide variety of subjects.  Even more importantly, there is an obvious and pervasive mutual affection shown toward each other, which would be the envy of most families!

I would love to someday be able to meet up for one of the SabreSpace events at a game, but with a paucity of posts I do not have the sense of familiarity with most of you that seems requisite for participating.  Early on in my SS experience, I did meet Shrader for a Bruins game in Boston, but our main connection in that brief time was to have each others backs if trouble arose (which fortunately it didn't).

I do not post regularly for a few reasons.

1. I am an old guy and not facile on the keyboard, so it takes me a lot longer than most to type my responses.  Definitely a drawback on Game Day threads.

2. Until the current stay-at-home situation, I did not have much time to spend on the computer.  It was much easier to read what had been posted than to actually respond.

3. I have played hockey since childhood, and continue to do so twice a week. However, I do not understand analytics, and my appreciation for the game is based on experience and eyeballs.  Not as easy with these tools to lay out a cogent explanation as it is using Corsi numbers, etc. 

4. I am considered by most as a man of few words.  I strongly adhere to the axiom, "Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk."  I would say that some of the wisdom I have acquired has come from regular visits to this board.

Thank you all, and I hope to continue to follow (and occasionally post) for many years to come.

Great post.  Man, that's some impressive vocabulary you got there.   I'm an old guy too (58).  Game day typing is a problem.  I'm with you on all 4 of your points except number 3.  I have played since childhood but no longer do.  And you're right about civility on this board.  We're like hockey players, we may drop the gloves during the game, but we'll be out for a few beers after it.  This is a great board.

[ParkMeadow]

35 minutes ago, Tondas said:

Great post.  Man, that's some impressive vocabulary you got there.   I'm an old guy too (58).  Game day typing is a problem.  I'm with you on all 4 of your points except number 3.  I have played since childhood but no longer do.  And you're right about civility on this board.  We're like hockey players, we may drop the gloves during the game, but we'll be out for a few beers after it.  This is a great board.

Thanks, Tondas!

You said in about seven sentences as much or more than I did in the lengthy post above.

I guess that'd be #5 in my reasons:  I tend to be too wordy!

[nfreeman]

2 hours ago, ParkMeadow said:

As a longtime follower (wouldn't say lurker) and only very occasional poster, I will present my personal perspective.

This board is one of the first sites I go to every day, not only for Sabres news (of which there has been so little lately), but also for urbane and erudite threads, responded to in a civil and respectful manner by a broad representation of genuinely nice folks.  While I certainly do not agree with every opinion, I respect the ability of the regular posters on this board to carry on (mostly) civil debates on a wide variety of subjects.  Even more importantly, there is an obvious and pervasive mutual affection shown toward each other, which would be the envy of most families!

I would love to someday be able to meet up for one of the SabreSpace events at a game, but with a paucity of posts I do not have the sense of familiarity with most of you that seems requisite for participating.  Early on in my SS experience, I did meet Shrader for a Bruins game in Boston, but our main connection in that brief time was to have each others backs if trouble arose (which fortunately it didn't).

I do not post regularly for a few reasons.

1. I am an old guy and not facile on the keyboard, so it takes me a lot longer than most to type my responses.  Definitely a drawback on Game Day threads.

2. Until the current stay-at-home situation, I did not have much time to spend on the computer.  It was much easier to read what had been posted than to actually respond.

3. I have played hockey since childhood, and continue to do so twice a week. However, I do not understand analytics, and my appreciation for the game is based on experience and eyeballs.  Not as easy with these tools to lay out a cogent explanation as it is using Corsi numbers, etc. 

4. I am considered by most as a man of few words.  I strongly adhere to the axiom, "Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk."  I would say that some of the wisdom I have acquired has come from regular visits to this board.

Thank you all, and I hope to continue to follow (and occasionally post) for many years to come.

 

1 hour ago, Tondas said:

Great post.  Man, that's some impressive vocabulary you got there.   I'm an old guy too (58).  Game day typing is a problem.  I'm with you on all 4 of your points except number 3.  I have played since childhood but no longer do.  And you're right about civility on this board.  We're like hockey players, we may drop the gloves during the game, but we'll be out for a few beers after it.  This is a great board.

 

Awesome.

[Indabuff]

3 hours ago, Tondas said:

Great post.  Man, that's some impressive vocabulary you got there.   I'm an old guy too (58).  Game day typing is a problem.  I'm with you on all 4 of your points except number 3.  I have played since childhood but no longer do.  And you're right about civility on this board.  We're like hockey players, we may drop the gloves during the game, but we'll be out for a few beers after it.  This is a great board.

You might not play hockey anymore but you've got the humor of a whippersnapper!

[Tondas]

1 minute ago, Indabuff said:

You might not play hockey anymore but you've got the humor of a whippersnapper!

Thanks @Indabuff.  Like they say, when one skill goes away (hockey), another one takes it's place (humor).  I try to add value/entertainment to this board anyway I can.

[SDS]

17 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Interesting. What is your metric? Members? Members who post? Number of posts?

I don’t have hard numbers other than a porous memory. The group was greatly diversified 12 years ago.

I’ve been people watching a long time and there are fans that will engage through thick and thin and then there are others who don’t care to discuss things if there aren’t enough positives to balance the negatives. Ten years of losing hockey  will cause people to reprioritize their hobbies. 

[Tondas]

10 hours ago, SDS said:

Ten years of losing hockey  will cause people to reprioritize their hobbies. 

Not me.  The Sabres are my priority through thick and thin  That's why I don't let my wife read my posts.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Tondas

[Sabres Fan in NS]

16 hours ago, ParkMeadow said:

As a longtime follower (wouldn't say lurker) and only very occasional poster, I will present my personal perspective.

This board is one of the first sites I go to every day, not only for Sabres news (of which there has been so little lately), but also for urbane and erudite threads, responded to in a civil and respectful manner by a broad representation of genuinely nice folks.  While I certainly do not agree with every opinion, I respect the ability of the regular posters on this board to carry on (mostly) civil debates on a wide variety of subjects.  Even more importantly, there is an obvious and pervasive mutual affection shown toward each other, which would be the envy of most families!

I would love to someday be able to meet up for one of the SabreSpace events at a game, but with a paucity of posts I do not have the sense of familiarity with most of you that seems requisite for participating.  Early on in my SS experience, I did meet Shrader for a Bruins game in Boston, but our main connection in that brief time was to have each others backs if trouble arose (which fortunately it didn't).

I do not post regularly for a few reasons.

1. I am an old guy and not facile on the keyboard, so it takes me a lot longer than most to type my responses.  Definitely a drawback on Game Day threads.

2. Until the current stay-at-home situation, I did not have much time to spend on the computer.  It was much easier to read what had been posted than to actually respond.

3. I have played hockey since childhood, and continue to do so twice a week. However, I do not understand analytics, and my appreciation for the game is based on experience and eyeballs.  Not as easy with these tools to lay out a cogent explanation as it is using Corsi numbers, etc. 

4. I am considered by most as a man of few words.  I strongly adhere to the axiom, "Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk."  I would say that some of the wisdom I have acquired has come from regular visits to this board.

Thank you all, and I hope to continue to follow (and occasionally post) for many years to come.

This is a fantastic post and sums up everything very nicely.  We are a family here.  Thank you and everyone else, no matter how much, or little, you contribure, you are all part of the family.

[Stoner]

43 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

This is a fantastic post and sums up everything very nicely.  We are a family here.  Thank you and everyone else, no matter how much, or little, you contribure, you are all part of the family.

Parkie is the quiet family member who sits off to the side at Thanksgiving and just watches, wonders what is wrong with these people?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

7 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Parkie is the quiet family member who sits off to the side at Thanksgiving and just watches, wonders what is wrong with these people?

We all have one that needs to keep an eye out for everyone else and to try to figure out how best to deal with the dysfunction, which often is just to make it through the day and then forget about it for another year.