I relate very well with what you say,Joe. The heart of Armorama is the members and their builds,and how we all help and contribute to each other and the hobby itself. How Armorama enables us to do this has changed and has evoked opinion.
The bottom line is, if people who made/make Armorama still come here,then Armorama will continue to be the place to come to.
Aye mateys! Back to the work bench........

Hey Jim, someone deleted my message and then I got a canned e-mail response from "kitmaker.net", who is Kitmaker?

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Hello Paul_Owen,
This is a courtesy email to inform you that a recent post of yours on Armorama was removed for the following reason:

Inflamitory/Rant Paul...TL was mentioned in our discussion. What they said is what was said though. Sorry.

Removed Post Text:

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http://www.track-link.net/reviews/k1676

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If you believe this message was removed in error you can contact the Terms of Service Administrator at:

mailto:[email protected]

Some kind of Epiphany?

I think somebody has missed the point here............ They no longer will supply to other websites.......think about it for a while? :-)

Vinnie

:-) :-) :-)

Doh... Paul yes I did that. I don't understand your post. You obviously read my reply. So you got a Char B... What I was told by Tamiya USA still stands. What do you think I am making it up? Or perhaps you think someone else at Tamiya USA is not telling me the truth?

I don't think I would go down this road if I were you.

Cheers,
Jim

Just trying to have a little fun dude I thought you and I were friends Jim, I enjoyed our many MSN chat sessions... speaking of which, haven't seen you on-line for ages.

Paul.

We remember with fondness your idea of 'fun' and impersonation of a staff member here, by misappropriating their password. Oh, how we laughed......................

Vinnie

Wow how things have developed here.........

I've been a member here for a few years and have read some of the "controversial" posting over the last week or so. I actually almost let myself get sucked into it all. I even have went as far as typing posts three different times only to find myself either deleting the post right after I submitted it or I dumped what I typed without posting it. I really had nothing positive or productive to say. I found myself criticizing one change or another or telling person why what they were posting was wrong or inappropriate. After I read what I had typed each time, I found myself pretty embarrassed for what I was about to say and realized how unproductive I was being.

I have to admit, I have a fondness for the "good ol days" before the changes. But you know what, instead of dwelling in the past and being obstacles to progress, we all might as well embrace what is happening here and help the change continue. Productive, respectful criticism is always a good thing. Belly aching and whining needs to be left at the door.

I resisted the "new" site at the beginning because I was being resistant to change. I finally told myself one day that I was going to sit down like I had never been here before and try to look at the site with an open mind. I concluded that the site is truly better than it once was.

The site isn't a place where you find all modelling subjects in one stop anymore. But you know what, that isn't a bad thing. I now understand the necessity of "branching" out. The amount of content for each modelling subject (armor, aircraft, ships, etc.) is absolutely staggering. It's no wonder Jim had to branch out. That may not be his reason however, only my perception.

As for this site not having the sense of "community" anymore, I don't really think that is a fair statement. I look at the early days of armorama as the beginning of a family. As with any family, life leads everyone in different directions. Some people live at home forever, some people move to other states, countries, etc. As the family gets bigger, you unavoidably can't visit with everyone all the time. Sometimes you have to look for that family member that was once there in the same room with you. The evolution of this site has been like the evolution of a family in a way. There were children, who moved away and had grandchildren, who moved away and had great-grand children, etc. Think of each subject branching off as the "children" I just referenced. Eventually the house isn't big enough the others need a place of their own. So, as time has gone on, Jims "family" has grown. As it has gotten bigger it, understandbly, has not necessarily maintained its feeling of being the small family it once was. You know why? Because it isn't a small family anymore. Its huge and will continue to grow. That is life. That doesn't mean that we all can't be close like we used to be. We might just have to work a little harder at it.

There is a saying in military (18 years in the US Army and still going):

"You are either part of the solution or part of the problem". Ask yourself, which are you?

Change is ineviteable guys and gals. Embrace it and help Jim guide it. Don't try to hold back the progress, there is nothing beneficial about that. I think Jims vision is guided, grounded and headed the right way.

Think about it. Don't let yourself get sucked into the negativity like I almost did. Armorama is truly the best modelling community on the web. Help it stay that way. Negativity doesn't benefit anyone.

In the mean time, do some modelling, contribute to the site and encourage others to get involved.

One of my other hobbies is fire performing. One of the best web forums for that is called Home of Poi, and is run by a great guy in New Zealand named Malcolm. I was one of the first 100 members. I moaned and groaned as it grew and I had to get used to the changes in what was familiar and comforting, but it was worthwhile to stick around. I used to greet every new member personally with a private message as well as a note in their intro thread. Now, 6 years later, there are over 36,000 members. It is not the cozy place it used to be, but the resulting ability to network is amazing!

If you take all the discussion about this sort of thing here, replace "Armorama" with "Home of Poi" and "Jim" with "Malcolm", and you pretty much have the same thing word for word, post for post, thread for thread over there.

Forums have to evolve as they grow. If they are successful, they will grow. If they are not successful, they die out. what they don't do is stay the same.

Cheers to Armorama for being successful and to Jim for making it so!

Brent and Vance,
Wow...nice posts. Thanks for your support and reflection on this important topic. I really appriciated that.

And fire performing! Cool... fire and models... bad though.

Cheers,
Jim

I keep the fire outside...

oh - and now that I am on your good side jim, how about letting users link to their own personalized avatars if they want to?

There it is. I got enough stuff going on in my personal life than to pick sides in an online feud.

Criminy! the IPMS Nats are a little over a month away! Look for me at the registration desk the first few days (unless I get moved elsewhere ... I was initially told I'd be on the raffle table ...)

They were gonna raffle you off!!!! How did you get out of that?


Chuck

Oh Jim

Imagine that you could persuade the manufacturers to send you their catalog in an agreed xml format leading to a complete non-commercial kitmaker catalog of all modelling kits around.

One that we could use to link reviews to... or use for wahtever purpose...

I know that you have been thinking about this. Have you not already reserved a url for this?

I loved this site in 2002 and I still love it, i wasnt to happy about the closed forums at first because I thought the community would be lost,but its a bridge i got over it.Jim when you were talking to Tamyia you didnt happen to let slip that we err need a M3 halftrack, nod nod wink wink know what I mean squire.

The changes don't bother me. I like the site. I learn a lot here. Things change, live with it.

Live long and prosper Jim.

Hi,
Is not modelbuilding and the love of history the main reason we are here? We see all kinds of things here and there that are inane. That is not good for the bottom line. I consider anything past to be behind me. Should not we all? Building and the enjoyment of that should be our focus. If someone cannot do this please leave and let me enjoy the good modellers in this site and I will be better as a kitbuilder.
Thanks Jim, for your clear leadership in this site.

Chris

This is truly home for those of us who enjoy the hobby . I enjoy it keep up the good work.

No Struggle No Freedom

People by nature resist change, mainly because it takes us out of our comfort zone and routine. But change is the catalyst for growth. My mantra regarding change goes like this......People won't change until the pain of staying the same exceeds the pain of the change.
I imagine Jim needed to make the changes so the effort of managing such a huge sight was a bit easier to handle and was better positioned for future growth spurts.
Yeah, it is kind of a pain to learn our way around again, but it is worth it, if for no other reason than to keep the sense of community that has always been a trademark of Armorama.

I have to say I'm a bit surprised rather than saddened by the squabbles over the site changes. Jim made his decisions for the changes, they make sense and some people are getting upset over it? I think there are people who may be overlooking the HUGE advantages to this site, new or old, however it may be.

Armorama is (IMO) the best place on the web to not only get model information, news, reviews, tips etc but an awesome community of some of the greatest people on the web. THIS is what the internet was made for, a place where people from all the states around the US can come together and chat with comrades in arms in a hobby they enjoy. To make it even better, we can easily cross oceans and continents and not only enjoy the company of our fellow countrymen but our fellow modellers from the other great countries of the world! It's like a HUGE pub where we can come and go as we please, sit and chat a while, forget about the real world and enjoy some escape time into the world of history and model building. So the bar got remodeled a bit, it's now like a Dragon 3in1 kit. The bathroom (or loo to some) is now around the corner instead of being down the hall, it's still there isn't it? There's even a couple more commode's and sinks, come back out (after washing your hands please) and the bar is a bit bigger allowing for more of us to slide up and grab a brew. It looks a bit different but the 'soul' of the place is the same, the atmosphere is a little different sure, everyone has to adjust to it but it's still the same place at heart.

Not for nothing but I would probably have not gotten back into modelling again if it were not for the Big A and all the great people here. I was surfing for some information a couple years ago about models, wanting to get into building them again and do it right instead of the 'kiddie modelling' I did when I was younger. This place lit the spark, you ALL lit the spark in myself as well as many others that have come through here to get into and enjoy this great hobby. I'm still a struggling rookie model builder but I'm FAR more knowledgeable know thanks to this place and all of your constant input and I ltruly enjoy the hobby and the comraderie this place offers. Complaining over changes that have been made (this IS Jim's house after all, we're just visitors) and walking away from the friendships this place offers is kind of silly when you look at the big scheme of things in life.

Just my opinion...

I've been around for a while and too have grown to love this site. I do not belong to a club, and this is really the only interaction I have with other modelers. Growing pains are always hard for some to accept, but it's better to have growing pains than log on one day and find that your favorite site has closed.

This started as a community and still is a communtiy; it's just a really big city instead of a small village where everybody knows everybody. I am confident that if I, or anyone needed a part, an instruction sheet, or really just about anything, someone would have it and offer it. I've received things as well as sent things.

As long as we continue to look after one another, Jim and the powers that be will keep the site on the course it should be on. Now, back to the scheduled program already in session.

Patrick

I can accept anyone's decision to leave. I can understand the want or need to announce the departure. What makes me say "hmmm" is the insistance to remove all the content you've added to the site. To me that's an 8-year-old's "take my bat and ball and go home" attitude.