Makes sense. Lets hope that pinside keeps its style for all of us that are here and not to try to change for those that are not.

It's less of a problem with the Pinside/the pinball internet community, but rather with internet forums as a whole. If you go to the most popular forum for any hobby (forum.bodybuilding.com , http://www.caraudio.com/forums/) you get the same thing.

Exactly.

An example of this in the Predator thread would be the discussion about the definition of a "scam" and whether or not that is what occurred, was fine to me. But the recent lengthy discussion about credit cards and whether they are good or bad, who has the best benefits, etc? Not so much.

Funny. Your last episode almost got me to write you an email. You and I agree on some differ on others. I listen because I enjoy your passion and your podcast is entertaining. It also helps with a 3hr round trip commute. I think your banter with your opposite sex life partner is sweet and genuine. What would drive me to write you by email is how preachy your forum rant became. It's just not your mo; at least up to ep83. I jumped ahead to hear your take on predator. The forum is life in a microcosm. It is scattered, magnificent, terrible, boring, obnoxious and off topic all in one. If you focus on one thing, that's all that you'll see. I see threads of helping people, donating money to charities, sharing excitement for pinball, coming here for a shoulder to cry on, a place to vent. If you want to focus on the negative, that is your choice. Surely you can skip past the off topic stuff or ignore the most egregious offenders.

The main crux of why I was thinking of emailing was how you segued into the "other" website. You may have not been suggesting to go that other site as you so proffered, but how could one not conclude that was your intent. Here's how Nate sounded to me: "pinside has been a drag lately. I'm thinking about emailing robin. Oh, btw, there's this really cool website that doesn't have drama. Don't get me wrong I'm not suggesting people choose one over the other."

At any rate, I know what you do is free. I appreciate the content. I just hope the shows success doesn't augment the guy I have been used to listening to the first 83 episodes. Thanks again.

I am a recent follower of the show and I never write much of my opinion here on pinside like so many others. I have to say that in the short time I've been listening to your show there has been a slow change in its delivery/message. I don't want be negative because I dig what you are trying to do, and I'm just some dude typing on a forum. My advice.....don't get sucked up by the pinball elite and don't get sucked down by the pinball degenerates.

I thought this thread was to notify us of a new espisodes of coast2coastpinball

I get what you're saying, but to in a sense badmouth pinside and then plug another website in the same breathe made it seem like you have an agenda to push traffic to the other pinball site. Just my take on it, anyone can correct me if im way off base here.

I love the podcast.

But I don't agree with your take on the Pinside off topic "issue".

From your point of view, when you are trying to research material for a new episode, I can see how off topic posts would be frustrating. But giving moderators power to moderate on whether posts are on or off topic??? It's clearly impractical and I don't think it's wanted.

I find most threads where it is important to be on topic...technical threads, game code threads, etc...are fine. But there are other threads that are based on topics not so concrete and they are bound to get off topic at some point. But even those threads end up back on topic eventually.

The boob thing is automatically hidden now if you change your settings.

Probably more of an issue is aggressive trolling. Possibly that should be moderated more, but again probably impractical.

I think all these issues are part and parcel with internet forums. But also in real life. Imagine trying to have a real life conversation with 500 people at once.

Yea, but it's logical to contain C2C Pinball discussion to this one as opposed to starting a new one.

Regarding the "off topic" posts, I think that in matters that are quite serious like the Predator one, it may be more prudent to keep discussion "on topic." However, I consistently follow threads like the Claigslist EM listing one. Sometimes, post after post of new listings can get a bit old and breaking up the monotony with some humor is beneficial. Especially, for the "crazies" that think their random trashed 70's Williams EM is worth 2k.

It might be an Internet forum problem, but it is easily fixed by moderators who pay attention and strictly enforce the rules. NeoGAF, one of the other forums I visit, has pretty strict policies that the moderators enforce. These policies keep threads on topic and remove much of the off-topic pictures and conversations.

Not that Pinside should have a moderator police force who ban every user that breaks the rules, but I agree that off-topic posts do not belong and detract from the pinball-related threads.

Agenda does not equate to having an opinion that differs from yours.

I don't see anything even remotely wrong, on any level at all, with him mentioning another pinball forum on his podcast. A podcast, you know, that talks about pinball. Kind of like pinball forums do.

So if he thinks some of his listeners might prefer the way they do things at another pinball forum, how is it wrong to give them the information for that site?

Not wrong. It just seemed to paint pinside negatively in order to plug tilt or whatever the name of the other site is. Like I said just an opinion and I may be off base and obviously Nate can podcast whatever he wants.

I do enjoy the podcasts though Nate, keep up the good work. The only bad part to me about the show is the wait I have to endure between shows. Take care man.

Hey Nate, You do what you do! I feel the same way and honestly don't even read in those posts anymore because it takes me hours to catch up. Anyways, I appreciate what you do Nate! Be you man!

Well there you go. That's clearly vindication. Good luck to you on your commentary.

I took no offense as a matter of fact I felt like I got it. It stressed the competition guys. I am the pinball is fun its a party type and usually dont play well with those super engineer heads that love talking rule sets all day long. I totally felt like that site sounded perfect for them and knew it would not be my pinball heaven.

Its funny how Nate talks about how much his numbers have grown because at the same time he said how many pinsiders have shared his thoughts. Well just like his podcast take a look at pinsides growth. Its staggering.

I wonder how many pinsiders went there because of this site. Meh this made me lose interest. Sorry it was too hard to read our forum so you could re braodcast it.

The most common response I get when mentioning Pinside in a real-world conversation is: "I try to stay off Pinside". I agree: it's disheartening.

Thinking back, there was a point in this last episode where I was excited to "take back Pinside" (speaking up when things have gone awry...rather than just ignoring them, if even just with downvotes and tilt warnings). But I think that sentiment got lost with the immediately introduction of a different forum. I only say that as constructive feedback. I think both messages could have been presented more strongly if split between two different episodes.

I think the show has changed, and I like it. In fact, that open letter about Predator made me tell someone "Man, Coast 2 Coast has gotten *so* good". I know I was hearing Nate's true thoughts on the matter - and I really respected that.

Nate, I know you must feel a lot of pressure to keep up with everything, but you don't need to. Yeah, the Predator stuff blew up pretty huge, but in the wide world of pinball, it's still a small thing. In real life, it's probably not even worth an entire conversation - just a sentence or two in passing. I really respect that you're keeping up with everything so you can get things right, and not misrepresent, but as someone else suggested - don't get so deep into this stuff that it starts taking away the fun.

"Hey, it's only pinball."

To me, it didn't seem like there was an agenda at all, in fact Nate was even careful to point out that he wasn't trying to put one site against the other. He's just a guy with a microphone and I appreciate that he offers up his personal opinion, whether I agree or not, it would be a pretty boring show otherwise.

It's not like Pinside has a monopoly on Pinball forums, plenty out there already. I like this one a lot, you take the good with the bad, but the bad is far outweighed. But do we really have to tiptoe around saying some "other" site's name? Like we're all gonna defect if we find out what it is?

No we don't, I think you're reading into my post to much. Was just an opinion I took away from it.

I felt the same kind of thing, I must admit. It wasn't a big deal, but it sounded a bit like a mini threat the way it was framed. Not really a big deal either way, IMO.

That's not at all what I was alluding to. It was somewhat off putting in the context it was presented. Like it was stated several times before, it's just a commentary and I added mine. I guess I'm sensitive to the movement that pinside has gotten bad. The things I have learned here are immeasurable and I think pinside is fantastic...even with the few who try to spoil it. I choose to see the good. ::shrug::

I love Coast 2 Coast Pinball and I Love Pinside as well.
I don't think Nate was bashing Pinside that much. He freely admits that a lot of content from his
show comes directly from this site.

As much as I enjoyed the Babes in the Predator thread ( I probably clicked on 90% of them ),
it was kind of frustrating to see 200 new posts and None of it was actually about the situation with
Predator. Someone new to the site trying to find some news in posts like that would likely get
discouraged and give up without finding any real info.

Maybe an OFF-TOPIC button you could toggle on and off in posts where it hid stuff not specifically
pertaining to the initial topic posted would be a good idea.

But, yeah, i'm not going anywhere, love this site too much.

Not directing it at you specifically, a few people have said "other" now. I don't think we should have to worry about mentioning some other forum by name is all.

I find that Pinside is what you make of it. If you don't care for drama it's pretty easy to avoid. Just stop reading the threads about games that aren't out yet and 90% of it will vanish from your life!

Some of these posts make me shake my head. Nate has mentioned/plugged Pinside thousands of time on his Podcast. The segment "Forum Static" pulls 100% of its content from this site (atleast currently). The site has grown its users base significantly in the past few years and the amount of junk (some ive posted) has increased significantly too. Some of the folks here say off-topic posts in threads are fun and silly etc.. I'd like to see them make a serious post and have some people make off-topic posts that totally derail their thread. Im sure they won't think its so fun and silly then.

I said "other" because I couldn't remember the name. It's not like I'm afraid to say it for fear everyone will leave here. LOL. Give me a little credit here.

My only thought about the boob pic nonsense in predator was that there was nothing going on in the form of real facts.. So at least my own participating was trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Once real statements / PBN article was posted that all stopped for the most part. So, its not so bad as people not knowing when to put the nonsense aside in the middle of real discussion. The definition of scam debate was a lot of nonsense, but it wasn't off topic

All the "drama" , trolling and OT derailing,
sound a whole lot like what used to happen on the RGP site years ago,
before pinside became the forum of choice.
Now RPG is almost devoid of the trash
and has become smaller tight-knit group and
a whole lot more enjoyable (for me) to visit and use,
though pinside does have all the bells and whistles,
making it a far more powerful tool.

Nate: keep up the pace and good work,
as soon as you put out another podcast
things will go back to "normal".

FEATURE REQUEST: Off topic posts could be flagged "off-topic" like tilt. Then moderators wouldn't have to keep up with every post as we could do the work of flagging others or our own posts. Those that want to read it can, others can hide it.

A-men, brother. Although, for a podcaster doing his darnedest to keep up on hot topics for the rest of us, I can see how Nate would get a little burnt-out. Part of the reason I listen to his 'cast is so I don't have to wade through the quag that some of these threads have become. But, Nate, I'd still listen even if you decided to stop wading through the quag!

pinside is still awesome and so are most of the people here.
keep up the good work nate.
I enjoy the podcasts and look forward to every one.

Agree with your thoughts on the forums and find it especially frustrating when companies use Pinside as their sole source of communication. It was a godsend when PPS finally opened their own forums and I could actually find information about my MMR order without sifting through all the noise.

Your points are right on - I totally agree!

I don't think Nate was bashing pinside he was just giving a option of a more family kid friendly forum. He only gave some suggestions on how to improve the pinside experience. Like said above it's a pinball podcast not the pinside podcast so why can't he comment about all forums and give the good bad and the ugly about them. Love the show Nate keep it up.

Chris

Wtf I have this saved as favorite to click on quickly and get to the next show.
Don't feel like wading through a bunch of crap. What happened another preditor talk takeover?
Nate maybe ask the moderators to let you have a thread that allows only you to post show updates?
Like LTG.

Direct link to all Coast 2 Coast Pinball episodes, newest on top of page:
http://www.podcastgarden.com/podcast/coast2coastpinball

you guys are talking about the PPS forums right?

Thanks but I liked the saved favorite option better. Faster to see a green indicator and just know that a new episode is up and waiting for my ears. Just like monitoring a real important tech thread that you start and chomping at the bit for some help, or your favorite restore for new pictures of progress.
I saw this today and well like 57 new since last show.
Some people must be to sensitive, if you are, don't post it here please.

I think that was Nate original intent really for new show announcements only.

Sensitive?! I have no problem with Pinside members posting in threads on the Pinside Forums. How's that working for you?

Seriously, I do understand where you're coming from. I think all the posts are just because there's a lot going in pinball at the moment. I've enjoyed listening to Nate's podcasts, but actually prefer the back and forth dialogue on Pinside, even with all the silliness.

BTW, that was your sixth post in this thread and this is my fourth. Just sayin'

Great episode, really enjoyed hearing the news from the show, thanks.

Good show as always

Will there be a 3rd TPF episode?

wrong thread

I dunno...if there's one thing Nate's known for, it's phoning it in.

P.S. Thanks for the updates, Nate!