indeed it still is here, as i rarely read through come of the stuff there from time to time.
I have not noticed any change.
I am still pretty new here myself. I watched both forums, this one and, the other one for almost a year before making a decision.
I joined both the same day. I asked the same question on both forums. It was not simple and the correct answer would be from someone that really knew what they were talking about.
I got my answer here in about 15 minutes and welcomed warmly.
I never did get an answer on the other one.
Either no one knew the answer or, no one cared. Either way you guys are stuck with me now.
We just started a small business on top of my regular job so I do not post as much as I did a few months ago. I chime in where I can, and I always try to heck in daily. LOL love the Home Depot thread. May stop by there later.
I like it here but, I will say I do notice a bit of arrogance from time to time.
I'm from the Southern part of the U.S. and well.... We do talk a little slow at times but, we always try to remember to say please, and thank you. That is a way of life where I live. I taught my daughter to respect others just as my father taught me and his taught him.
Respect is so simple, it really makes life just feel better...
Just my humble opinion...
aw, anytime new guys get to a forum? they (usually) quickly pick up on “how to act” based on how everyone else acts around them.
a few “trim ups” aside, of course.
we have a rich blend of personalities here. a lot of us wouldnt hang out together in real life without knowing the other was also into flashlights, i dont think.
i know as an example? me and mr enderman are “polar opposites” i am pretty sure. I am sure it didnt “help” any i was off work and getting “strung out” working on a few little projects 2 and even 3 days at a time? (makes me slightly weird, but i work good like that)
and we both managed to “zen” and still work together. our personalities are like oil and water, but, we made it work… and now? now i like him personally more, having spent time online with him once or twice now.
we dont have to have SLEEPOVERS at each others house here at BLF, we just need to “zen” on our flashlight hobby. “we” are not a homogenous group, like… a hunting site, everyone agrees on most things? we are a really diverse blend of groups of people.
=
just like any lab or office i was ever in? all it takes, is for people to TRY not to be TOO rude, even when they are not having a good time or a good day… and the flip side? is that everyone also has to TRY not to get “offended” and their panties in a knot.
its like pedestrians and drivers? the drivers have to TRY not to HIT the pedestrians? and the pedestrians have to TRY to not GET HIT, for their part. If both sides just “try” a little? it’ll always be down to a dull roar.
where you get problems? is when you have a few drivers speeding thru crosswalks, laughing.
where you get problems? is when you teach pedestrians to walk out RIGHT in front of cars, and to scream “pedestrians have the right of way!!!” at everyone all day long.
where you have BIG problems? is when the pedestrians and drivers are both acting up…lol
I’ve been here nearly 6 years and I’ve noticed it’s much less friendly now. It’s become cliquish IMO.
Let’s hope you’re not right…
But it’s a good signal to give off i.m.o.
These are exceedingly crazy times, or at least, i think they are…
This doesn’t help the average human mood.
I’ll keep an extra eye on myself, i can be ‘moody’ too.
I agree with you that’s why I have only 700+ posts on this forum since I joined BLF in 2011!
It’s always been cliquish, you’re all old and gettin’ grumpy! :laughing:
Old?? I’m 65 and still a kid!
I am relatively new on here but among all the forums I use BLF is by far the best.
On other forums the tone can be very rough, people hiding behind screens and attacking others, trying to discuss politics and religion in a inappropriate way and openly bullying newer or less-known members.
BLF doesn’t seem to be like that at all. I always thought of the members here as very polite, helpful, and supportive. It is almost like users leave their bad mood elsewhere before logging on here.
Having traveled to all continents (with the exception of AU/NZ, unfortunately) I also like the very international environment and users from all over the world!
lol* that too
Now get off my lawn 
I think most folks on BLF are very friendly, well-behaved, and show de-escalating behaviour.
People who are not like that can at times dominate a discussion, and it happens that I stop visiting a thread with a good subject because of that. This happens more often than 5 years ago.
Sometimes those people catch more of the BLF-spirit over time as they learn and get more enthousiastic about flashlights, some leave BLF, some keep showing IMO unfriendly or rude behaviour at times.
But all the cool stuff happening on BLF and the many people who are immensely dedicated to the flashlight hobby, for me more than compensates for an unfriendly athmosphere every now and then.
Glad someone agrees with me.
Born in 61, I think I fit right in here with most. LOL!!
CRX, you'll get there eventually. The old and grumpy. LOL ;)
Old and grumpy.., hm..,could be what my daughter is trying to tell me lately , in a very subtle way...?
I have to admit that sometimes I act less friendly , but only like a response to the lack of respect or arrogance of a newbie, that claims he knows everything , and we should bow , and be grateful that he noticed us...!!!
Also , I had to point out that more and more incomers are out of the genuine scope of this forum.., with threads and posts that has nothing to do with it , I'll call them " stalkers for no reason"..., but ,as a general atmosphere , is no big difference .
As Jerromel said , we are living hard times , and the tolerance is not what it was...Maybe is time for reflection...
Robert, I just had to walk on your beautiful lawn barefooted. It made feel like a youngster again.
I’ll play the devil’s advocate -> years ago when I was a new member with under 10 posts I was PM’d by a so called established/respected member with a few thousand posts -> in a nutshell that member requested that I stop posting in threads where I had thought outloud & mentioned some harmless mods I had planned (something trivial & non-offensive like that & it was only 1 or 2 posts.) Apparently just reading my harmless posts was offensive to HIM. Geeh, what a classy guy.
In any case I just PM’d back to that member that he needn’t write me any further as I would just delete any messages with his name on it unread.
Afterall, this IS just flashlights we’re talking about & here for. At the end of the day I just say that it’s nothing worth letting anyone get under our skin for.
But yeah after all that -> Yes, I agree with you. I do feel a little change on the forum. But so far I feel it is minor & cyclic.
Seems to be a lot more “professionals” . By that, I mean designers, EEs and the such who are actually designing and creating lights.
I had also seen a few threads with “professionals”. By that, I mean people who think they know the best of everyone for a specific topic.
As time goes on the forum has gotten HUGE. Way more people, the usual people have moved on, new members move in and take the place. I used to like to sign in and keep up to date on whats going on in the forums, but its become overwhelming and I seem to cherry pick a few threads and keep up on them… not so much because of the members, but the overwhelming amount of content now
Well, I’ve been here a couple years now. The general atmosphere hasn’t changed a lot in the time I’ve been a member, as far as I can tell. Yes, we get an occasional upset. But, from what I’ve seen, that’s always been the case. Even some of the long-standing members have been a little rude at times. I can tell you, as a person who is seen as rude sometimes myself, I think the analogy that sedstar used of the car driver and pedestrian is spot on. We’re supposed to be self-moderating here. For the most part, it seems to be working very well.
But maybe sometimes we do need to stand up to people who are being disruptive and tell them so. We need to not be afraid to tell new people ‘the way it is’ here, so that it can stay that way, and NOT end up like ‘the other place’ or worse. And maybe that happens more often now than it used to. I think it’s because the newbies are starting to outnumber the old timers. We have a higher concentration of members that are less connected. I don’t think it’s any more cliquish than it was when I joined. Take that as you will. But there are definitely different classes of members - those who are integrated well into BLF and those who are not (yet). Over the past couple years, that second class has been growing. It has always been there, but it was a smaller, more manageable group in the past. This explosion of new memberships is due largely to the BLF specials, IMO.
We need a bigger middle class. People like me, who aren’t the old timers, and maybe don’t know as much, and maybe aren’t completely integrated ourselves, but we can be the glue that holds the other groups together. We can answer some of the questions. We can facilitate some of the cultural integration of new members. And we can point back to the rules when needed, so the older members don’t have to get grumpy, or pining for ‘the good ole days’ when BLF was smaller and everyone knew each other.
In short, I believe that we’re not less friendly overall, we’re just seeing less friendly behavior more often because we’re a larger, more diverse group than the BLF of a few years ago. As for being helpful, I see that hasn’t changed much either. But, since we have been seeing a lot of new memberships in the past couple years, the ratio has shifted between people that can be helpful and those who need them to be. As more of the newer guys start to gain confidence themselves, this can shift back the other way. It just might take a little time. I’ve been here this long, and I’m still a newbie!