[Arefin Bari]

Originally Posted by Jaine Perotti

While there have been a number of threads where critical opinions have been posted, do you really believe that it is terribly different from just a few years ago? I've been a member of the ChiefDelphi forums for 3 years, and lurked for about 1 year previous to that. I don't think the frequency of critical posts has risen all that much. There have always been complaints about certain calls, rules, and team actions. There always will be.

Yes it is terribly different from just a few years ago. There have been complaints in the past but not like this.

Originally Posted by Jaine Perotti

There is nothing wrong with pointing out problems that need to be addressed, and I think you would agree with me on that. Suggestions about how things should be improved are needed in order to maintain the functionality of the FIRST organization. I don't believe every complaint needs to be accompanied by a perfect solution to the problem. Are you saying that if a team has trouble with their Banebots transmission, they have no right to complain because they can't come up with a solution to the problem by themselves? I doubt it. I think your (and my) main beef is with the uninformed, insulting, and destructive posts.

Yup, I agree. Problems need to be pointed out. But at the same time provide us with a solution (Ex. In my post I pointed out what Dr. Joe and Shane Colton did).

When did I say in my post that Teams shouldn’t point out if they were having trouble with the transmissions? Please use quotes and the words I said.

Yup, you are right. I was very upset with the uninformed, insulting, and destructive posts. More so, I hate it when people jump on the bandwagon with choosing their favorite side to the topic.

Originally Posted by Jaine Perotti

It upsets me too. But I think the ratio of good posts to bad posts is not as high as you seem to think it is. Arefin, have you ever been a member/avid lurker on any other forums on the internet? I have, and believe me - the quality of posts here (in terms of respect, appropriateness, etc) is much higher than what you see most everywhere else. I'm not saying we should stop trying to reduce the number of bad posts, but I don't think the ChiefDelphi community is in any state of crisis either!

Yes, I have been a member of quite a few other forums. I spend most of my time browsing here than any other forum because of the quality of the posts. Honestly, if you have kept track of Chiefdelphi in the past 3 years (which you have since I have known you), you would agree that there have been more complaints this season than any other season.

Originally Posted by Jaine Perotti

Again, I don't believe this aspect of FIRST has diminished at all. I have not seen a drop in the willingness of teams to share their resources. Likewise, I have not really seen a disproportionate increase in the number of critical threads for this time of year (as opposed to March/April of previous years). I think you are perceiving an increase only because this is competition season (so naturally the topics of conversation are going to be about the venues, the referees, the plays, etc.).

This is a forum - a means of exchanging ideas! The purpose here isn't to pat ourselves on the backs and proclaim how wonderful we are in every thread! It's human nature to focus on the negatives - just look at the news headlines. People want to discuss the problems so that they can be solved or prevented. That us why ChiefDelphi exists - to discuss and solve the problems we encounter, so that we can improve ourselves and our community.

Yup, same here, I haven’t seen a drop in the willingness of teams to share their resources. But I did see teams bashing other teams at the championship (when I was standing right next to them), I am not gong to mention any team numbers. I was very surprised.

“This is a forum – a means of exchanging ideas!”… okay let’s exchange ideas. Let’s not talk about what Team A did to Team B like there have been situations this past season. Pointing it out once is fine, but when there are many posting the same thing over and over, not only it gets boring, it also puts down a whole team. Let Team A and Team B work it out between themselves.

“People want to discuss the problems so that they can be solved or prevented,” you know… discussion solves a problem. But a topic where you have two different sides to it and you have people choosing sides will not solve a problem.

Originally Posted by Jaine Perotti

I agree that people should wait until they have gathered all of the perspectives/evidence available before they post. However, I must reiterate that I still believe the quality of posting here is quite good. If you reread the thread about Curie semifinals, you will find a large number of well thought out posts and only a small number of posts that were in poor taste. Yes, the bad posts are still there, but I don't think there is a whole lot more that we can do about it. We are never going to be able to eliminate them completely - that shouldn't be our goal. Our goal should be to continue encouraging people to make informed, respectful posts (and we have been doing a good job).

Again, if you analyze my post, you will know that I wasn’t talking about the Curie semifinal thread, there are a lot more there than just that one thread. There are very well thought posts. Who said, the goal was to eliminate bad posts? I personally believe, I encourage people to informative and respectful posts.

Originally Posted by Jaine Perotti

I wouldn't be too concerned about the reaction of the parent. ChiefDelphi is not meant to explain to outsiders/newcomers what FIRST is all about. That is what the official FIRST website is for. ChiefDelphi is about what goes on behind the scenes - and therefore is the perfect place to discuss problems and voice complaints. Perhaps you should not have referred her to this site if you felt that reading controversial FIRST topics would have discouraged her from becoming involved in the program.

Jaine, out of everyone I didn’t expect you to say that I shouldn’t be concerned about the reaction of the parent who wants to get involved in FIRST. Maybe you wouldn’t be concerned, but I am.

“Chiefdelphi is about what goes on behind the scenes- and therefore is the perfect place to discuss problems and voice complaints.” Hmm… judging from what you said… maybe … teams and other websites shouldn’t put Chiefdelphi in their “other links” tab. If people are to come here on the forum and find us “complaining,” In this case, that’s how the parent feel, and I am concerned.

Keep the fresh ideas coming and keep discussing them, I love new ideas, but think twice before you post and be respectful.

Jaine, I know you will come back and ask me and point out over and over that people have been respectful on the forum just like you did in your post and I want to tell you right now that I am not saying that people are being disrespectful. In a critical time like this, people need to be reminded to not to post when they are frustrated.

You are a very good reader and you can analyze well. You have the power to write to turn a topic around to a totally something new. I like that.

If you would like to discuss this further, feel free to send me a pm, im, email. I doubt I will be browsing CD for the next week like I always do. Finals are going to kick my butt.