Serious discussion and Ivory Tower

[Jet Cash]

Please can we support these boards. I've always thought that they have great potential for sensible discussions, but they still don't seem to get a lot of activity. Are people really influenced by the lack of signatures and post count increases? Bitcoin Talk has a wealth of intelligent  and knowledgeable members - lets try to recreate the interaction that was one of the strengths of the forum.

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[cryptoaddictchie]

Please can we support these boards. I've always thought that they have great potential for sensible discussions, but they still don't seem to get a lot of activity.

I think its one of the good hub for people who wanted to discuss something valuable. I tend to find useful and relevant posts there to post on LoyceV unmerited to give prioritize to users impart quality discussion and topics.

My next sections plan to check for good posts are Serious Discussion, Development and Technical Discussion boards and of course on our Local Section.

Hope I got many quality topics to note. (as well as reported if there are garbage/off topic too)

Are people really influenced by the lack of signatures and post count increases?

Sadly, this is a hard fact. Since serious discussion doesn't count on signature campaigns, some feels they are wasting time to lurk there. But of course users with sense of responsibility will consider it as not big deal its same with WO, as long users have engage on interesting topics they will surely post and join the fun.

[Vod]

BPIP says this forum has 93,736 active users.   That number was closer to 400,000 when I started the site.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

BPIP says this forum has 93,736 active users.   That number was closer to 400,000 when I started the site.

Wow, that's quite a drop.  I wonder what caused that--are there fewer campaigns/bounties now compared to when you started BPIP?  I tend to think that's the main reason why members are active here.  

Ivory Tower and Serious Discussion have had some good threads I've posted in, but I found a lot of the topics I wasn't interested in or were above my head in terms of technical knowledge, which is the same reason I don't post in the Development & Technical Discussion section (or Mining or Gambling sections for that matter).  I put all of those on ignore, but perhaps I might un-ignore SD and IT just to see if there's anything interesting there these days.

Sadly, this is a hard fact. Since serious discussion doesn't count on signature campaigns, some feels they are wasting time to lurk there.

Yep, but we pretty much knew that was going to be the case when those sections were created.

[Sutters Mill]

Please can we support these boards. I've always thought that they have great potential for sensible discussions, but they still don't seem to get a lot of activity. Are people really influenced by the lack of signatures and post count increases? Bitcoin Talk has a wealth of intelligent  and knowledgeable members - lets try to recreate the interaction that was one of the strengths of the forum.

But do you want them to get popular??? If they did then maybe the level of discussion would also drop so be careful what you wish for  . . As you said however, I think that because people can't monetize their posts in there that will be a big factor in why they're not as popular, but there are also a lot of people who post elsewhere that don't have a paid signature. I think the fact that they're out of the way down at the bottom of the 'other' section of the board also makes them harder to find and less likely to be posted in. All the sub boards in the 'other' section are probably the least popular and the further down you go they get even more so like Off Topic and then obviously below that is Serious Discussion and then Ivory Tower within that.

[Upgrade00]

I don't think the fact that posts there don't count to post and activity is the main reason for the lack of discussion in those boards. The lack of a unique topic style guide also has an effect.
There's a board for almost every thread of discussion and as such users would be unsure what post would fit there, as it technically could fit somewhere else on the forum. There's a lot of spam, but there are still some boards with useful discussions and users can post important or serious threads in some other (specific) boards and get useful replies.

SD and IV boards could function as a haven if the forum gets overridden with spam. I would assume it was more active during the peak of the last bull run where the forum had lots of active members and new users who were mostly financially motivated.

[hugeblack]

The main reason for creating (Serious discussion and Ivory Tower) is to experiment with solutions if signature removed from the forum.
The Merit system has succeeded in greatly reducing spam, so I don't think we need to continue those boards, especially since there is no clear formula for the nature of the discussions.

Generally, it does not make a difference. You get responses from people trying to help you for free, which is great, even if the number is small.

[Jet Cash]

Well I hope they aren't removed.  I tend to think of them as off topic for the intelligent

[pugman]

BPIP says this forum has 93,736 active users.   That number was closer to 400,000 when I started the site.

Wow, that's quite a drop.  I wonder what caused that--are there fewer campaigns/bounties now compared to when you started BPIP?  I tend to think that's the main reason why members are active here.  

I can't speak for bounties but campaigns have definitely dried off. I wanna say sig camps hit their peak in between May 2017-March 2019. And is it just me, or have the interactions on this forum started to significantly decrease? Or have I just gotten too busy to look at threads with *actual* conversations.

Ivory Tower and Serious Discussion have had some good threads I've posted in, but I found a lot of the topics I wasn't interested in or were above my head in terms of technical knowledge, which is the same reason I don't post in the Development & Technical Discussion section (or Mining or Gambling sections for that matter).  I put all of those on ignore, but perhaps I might un-ignore SD and IT just to see if there's anything interesting there these days.

I agree with this, fully. I somewhat feel overwhelmed by the posts there and in the technical boards, and often decide to not get into such threads. I just lurk around in the shadows and come back to meta :/

Would love for my pea-brain to learn things so I can come to those boards, and have nice conversations :/. Alas.

[LTU_btc]

BPIP says this forum has 93,736 active users.   That number was closer to 400,000 when I started the site.

And it really feels that forum become less active, and it applies to all boards, not just Serious discussion and Ivory Tower.

I tend to think of them as off topic for the intelligent

I also think same. It's something like Serious off-topic and you can discuss about everything there, starting with crypto, economics and end with politics.

[NavI_027]

Are people really influenced by the lack of signatures and post count increases?

in my case, yes. I'm not hypocrite to deny that posting on such threads will not affect my campaign. Don't get me wrong, I really like Serious Discussion. Actually I actively lurk and engage with some discussions there before because the discussions there really poke my interests especially when it comes to conspiracies and anything about engineering. However, I became a lot busier person now and my campaign is the only thing I can insert to my hectic sched. It's a sort of "responsibility first before leisure" thing .

[pooya87]

well the topics in those boards aren't usually about bitcoin and most of them, if posted elsewhere, would move immediately to off-topic board since that's what they are. this may be one of the main reasons why there isn't that much discussion participation in that board.

[PrimeNumber7]

BPIP says this forum has 93,736 active users.   That number was closer to 400,000 when I started the site.

Wow, that's quite a drop.  I wonder what caused that--are there fewer campaigns/bounties now compared to when you started BPIP?  I tend to think that's the main reason why members are active here. 

I suspect the merit system has played a role in the reduction of active accounts, as spammers are less able to join bounty/signature campaigns because the merit system is a quick way to quickly filter out spammers, and also prevents users from being able to rank up if they post nonsense. I would also point out the metric is actually active accounts, not active users; I suspect the merit system, less numerous, and less profitable bounty/signature campaigns have made multi-account spammers less likely to try to spam the forum.

Most people who frequently post in this forum receive payment to do so via a signature advertisement. Signatures are not displayed in both Serious discussion and Ivory Tower, which removes incentives for those with a paid signature to post in these sections. This leads to others not posting there that don't have incentives to only post where signatures are displayed. I have visited these sections in the past to find little interesting content that I can respond to.

I might suggest a 'sister' section to Ivory Tower that has rank and merit requirements (and maybe recent merit requirements) for people to post in. This new section could allow signatures but be strictly moderated.

[Vod]

I would also point out the metric is actually active accounts, not active users...

There were so many terms - users, accounts, profiles, members, userids, - I made it a point in BPIP to standardize on profile.  

I would guess it would impossible for even Theymos to count the active unique users.

[Welsh]

Well I hope they aren't removed.  I tend to think of them as off topic for the intelligent

I doubt they will, unless the forum took the extreme action of converting all the forum to something like serious discussion which I equally don't see happening. I think both serious discussion, and Ivory tower have proven useful, and a sort of "safe haven" for those trying to escape the usual replies from those looking to build up their accounts and/or earning from signature campaigns.

[Charles-Tim]

The ivory tower is a board not related to bitcoin and altcoins, it rather belong to off topics, but that does not mean we should leave it and not post there. There are many useful threads there. I will like to encourage us to at least visit the board and make posts.

All boards on this forum are created for thread making purposes, so, creating threads on the board will be very good and makes it more active.

[minairia3]

well the topics in those boards aren't usually about bitcoin and most of them, if posted elsewhere, would move immediately to off-topic board since that's what they are. this may be one of the main reasons why there isn't that much discussion participation in that board.

How do they classify some off-topic there if non bitcoin topic also considered there as quality post? I think it will be hard for moderator to act on those reported thread there since there is no specific rule on what particular subject is allowed.

- When you post, you must have a clear point. If you ramble on about nothing, then your post will be deleted.
 - You must stay fairly close to the topic being discussed in each thread.
 - While some amount of error is difficult to avoid, if your English is so broken that you sound stupid, then your post will be deleted.
 - No advertising of any kind.
 - Signatures are not displayed.
 - You must be at least a Jr Member to post in Serious Discussion, and a Full Member to post in Ivory Tower.
 - Posts in Serious Discussion only activate a potential-activity period. They do not increase your post count.
 - Posts in Ivory Tower neither activate a potential-activity period nor increase your post count.

Not mentioned here from the rules so I wonder if there are topics got reported as off topic, maybe those low quality post only. For me its like an extension of off topic section where post are maintained based by its quality.

[Jet Cash]

Well I didn't know where to start my Android PC thread, and, as it is intended for use in controlling a wild life camera do link my hardware wallet to it, then obviously I can comment on that on the wallet board., it obviously has nothing to do with Bitcoin. Serious discussion seemed to be the beat place, and I  have received some useful replies and discussion. If I

[pooya87]

well the topics in those boards aren't usually about bitcoin and most of them, if posted elsewhere, would move immediately to off-topic board since that's what they are. this may be one of the main reasons why there isn't that much discussion participation in that board.

How do they classify some off-topic there if non bitcoin topic also considered there as quality post? I think it will be hard for moderator to act on those reported thread there since there is no specific rule on what particular subject is allowed.

being off-topic isn't equal to being low quality topic. it just happens that many of the topics in off-topic section are low quality, otherwise off-topic simply means it doesn't fit in any of the other categories that already exist.
these two boards don't seem to have any fixed subject so you can post about anything from bitcoin to altcoins and to anything else. it just happens that most topics aren't cryptocurrency related hence i called them "off-topic".

[UserU]

being off-topic isn't equal to being low quality topic. it just happens that many of the topics in off-topic section are low quality, otherwise off-topic simply means it doesn't fit in any of the other categories that already exist.
these two boards don't seem to have any fixed subject so you can post about anything from bitcoin to altcoins and to anything else. it just happens that most topics aren't cryptocurrency related hence i called them "off-topic".

I think the OT section is less moderated than anywhere else because I still see spambots/ advertisements there from time to time. A haven somewhat.