Yeah, Chuck you might be misunderstanding me. I wasn't really referring to posts of blueprinting or 3D modeling (both of which I am a
huge proponent of--being a professional CG artist) but more of debates over what is canon and why, arguments over reworking Trek episodes in CG, and other such unresolvable and pointless time-wasters that have little or nothing to do with the hobby of scifi modeling--whether in 3D, on paper, or in plastic and resin.
As an example, threads like
this one while harmless in and of themselves, are really pointless on a hobby forum, no offense intended to
Warped9 and his creative imagination. But really, why post that on Hobbytalk? Photochopped screencaps really aren't what we're here for are we? Yeah its only
one thread, someone will argue, but what about when it becomes
ten, or
fifty, or
more? I've been around long enough, both as a forum administrator (4 years) and as a moderator to see this happen many times. As Thomas can attest to, I do
tons of CG modeling, animation, and rendering... but I don't post that here because its really not going to help anyone build a better model. It would simply be gratuitous, and I don't need the ego boost.
Like I said before, Steve was a real hardass sometimes, but his forum was an excellent resource for the very specific topics it was designed for. It was successful because he kept the focus consistent and the threads on track. Its not at all an easy job and inevitably you're going to piss off some people who think things should be done differently. He was resistant to the inevitable desire to add CG to the discussions, but other than that and a few silly personal issues, he did a good job running his forum.
I definitely think those other kinds of Trek topics have their place--
on other forums--but it seems, sadly, that the people who thrive on that kind of stuff tend to spread it to
any forum where Trek is discussed in any fashion. I've seen a lot of cross-polination between here and TrekBBS. Odd though how most of the TrekBBSers coming to HobbyTalk never actually build any models. They just debate Trek.
Its really not fair to tell someone to just skip a topic when such things really have no bearing here. I've had to leave several other forums because the reason I was there was lost amongst all the BS and fan-boy preaching. I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, I'm all for talking about anything the mods are cool with--so long as this forum doesn't become another fan-boy battleground, or so out of focus that its use as the great source of information we've all come to depend on is undermined. I know this is a new forum and not Steve's territory any longer, but I'm hoping that it will still stay hobby/model focused. I've been coming to Hobby Talk in its various incarnations for many years and have found it to be a great modeling resource. I have learned so much from it and its members. I hope that it can continue that way. :thumbsup: