SpudFiles

As far as the "diminishing" quality goes, I think that spudding, along with most of the worlds economy is in a rut or recession. Only time will tell the progress of this forum but as for now, a few changes would be nice.

My hope would be that the hobby lives on far in to the future, and that it progresses as knowledge and technology progress. In 10 years, I would like to see spudders with access to more advanced materials and equipment, and a greater understanding of the science actually involved in spudding. Not to say that a select few members already have an excellent understanding of it.

I agree with many of the ideas presented here. The "noob section" sounds like a good idea to me. Another idea would be a "getting started" guide on spudding, that new members would have to read completely before they could access the forum. The guide could include the basic theory behind the various types of spudguns, a description of the more common practices, such as the piston valve, and links to some good examples. Of course, that pretty much describes the wiki, but it would be nice to have it as an easy to access all-in-one guide for new members.

IMO, anything less than a safely constructed spray 'n' pray or sprinkler valve pneumatic is not worth posting on the forums.

Nah, i think thats wrong, think of it, a kid and his dad aged, dunno 12/13 goes into home depot to buy fittings for his first combustion gun he's realy excited. He gets home makes the gun looks on spudfiles ready to show everyone his brand new creation then uploads it. "Nice try mate, but it's abit sh!t don't you think? Try making a much better gun that you probably never be able too"

Hows that kid gunna feel when he gets that for a reply? Not posting cannons would lose members fast because they would feel really unapreciated.

Speaking of lack of appreciation, why does a hybrid, which generally takes
some work, get less sensible comments than a "thing" called

"mah megah gunn" which in essence, bears s hocking resemblence to a bucket
of faeces.

Off my soapbox, perhaps a "elite" section could help, not determined by
post count, but by contribution to this site.

Doesn't mean you need to be similar to any of the highly contributing members,
but not talking with TH353 w0rds, and not posting "can u send me plans plez"

I like seeing mistakes in typing, if you can't spell something, that's fine,
using numbers instead of letters and such, is so bloody annoying.

If someone doesn't search, that's ok, point them in the right direction,
if they do it again, repeat the message more strongly, but if they do it yet
again, just ignore them, they won't learn, trying to correct them will
be like bashing your head against a brick wall.

Utterly pointless.

If they can't learn, they won't do much for the community.

When I first joined, I wasn't game to ask a question, flaming was in
vogue it appeared.

I'm sorry for making you read this much, it's all been said before,
but it helps to write all of it down I find.

This community means a lot to me, I don't post much, but I follow it
intently.

If it continues like this, I don't think think I'll keep it up.

qwerty wrote:Nah, i think thats wrong, think of it, a kid and his dad aged, dunno 12/13 goes into home depot to buy fittings for his first combustion gun he's realy excited.

No offense to you, but the majority of 12/13 year old kids have no business playing around with air/fuel mixtures in plumbing pipe.

This is, I assume, why said hypothetical person would require the help of his father in this scenario. The father has extensive life experience, and probably significant DIY experience as well. I'd certainly hope that he is capable of researching and properly assembling a basic combustion launcher. As I previously said, a cannon such as this, which exemplifies beginner safety, would be worthy of posting on SpudFiles.

He gets home makes the gun looks on spudfiles ready to show everyone his brand new creation then uploads it. "Nice try mate, but it's abit sh!t don't you think? Try making a much better gun that you probably never be able too"

If he and/or his father has done the proper research, there's no reason for the cannon to turn out looking like crap. And even if the aesthetics aren't a strong point, even at that age, he should understand that he's posting his creation on a site filled with dozens of advanced and brilliantly constructed launchers, many of which are posted by people who figured it out almost entirely on their own.

IMO, We don't need more 'sh!t' cannons cluttering up the showcase forums; there's enough of that already.

Hows that kid gunna feel when he gets that for a reply? Not posting cannons would lose members fast because they would feel really unapreciated.

If he's truly interested in the hobby, and not simply trying to impress people on an online forum, he'll stick with it, learn, and come back in a few weeks with something better. Our constant hand holding and ill-deserved praise contributes significantly to keeping the problematic members around.

Zeus wrote:Speaking of lack of appreciation, why does a hybrid, which generally takes
some work, get less sensible comments than a "thing" called

"mah megah gunn" which in essence, bears s hocking resemblence to a bucket
of faeces.

This happens most likely because poorly built launchers draw in members of the same quality, who can relate to the construction of the launcher, and are more likely to engage in multiple pages of rambling or stupid discussion.

At the same time, these members see a hybrid or similar, get a chip on their shoulder because know they are incapable of building and/or understanding said launcher, and simply leave the thread.

That's the way it is, and it will continue to follow that trend unless the elite/n00b divisions we've discussed here are somehow implemented.

Be careful on trying to place all new members in the noob section for a period of time. Many great cannons arrived when they had something worthy and finally joined. I was building for over a decade before I joined SF. If I was stuck in basic spray and pray super mega blaster duct tape creations, I would not have lasted long here.

I had my fair share of failures. I joined when I had something worthwhile to contribute to the community.

Speaking of spray and pray, I do need to do a combustion cannon some day..

No offense to you, but the majority of 12/13 year old kids have no business playing around with air/fuel mixtures in plumbing pipe.

Trust me thats heaven to most 13 year old boys. they would think "Ahh it's like a real version of cod or whatever they play (i don't realy do xbox's and things like that)

If he and/or his father has done the proper research, there's no reason for the cannon to turn out looking like crap.

Even if it looks great and is neatly done it's a "Simple combustion" so with your contribution a relalitvly nice post would be "Unfortunatly that quality of gun is not appreciated on this forums because it clutters them up. Come back in a couple of weeks and spend another $20 or $30 on a brand new gun, maybe that time we'll like it"

If he's truly interested in the hobby, and not simply trying to impress people on an online forum, he'll stick with it, learn, and come back in a few weeks with something better. Our constant hand holding and ill-deserved praise contributes significantly to keeping the problematic members around.

Who says he just wants to impress people? he might just want feedback on how he can improve it or dosen't care about any of those and just wants to show us what he has made.

qwerty wrote:Trust me thats heaven to most 13 year old boys. they would think "Ahh it's like a real version of cod or whatever they play (i don't realy do xbox's and things like that)

Luckily, most of the idiots of their caliber stick to sites such as YouTube an Instructables, never gracing us with their wonderful presence.

Even if it looks great and is neatly done it's a "Simple combustion" so with your contribution a relalitvly nice post would be "Unfortunatly that quality of gun is not appreciated on this forums because it clutters them up. Come back in a couple of weeks and spend another $20 or $30 on a brand new gun, maybe that time we'll like it"

Huh? Didn't I just say that I have no problem with well constructed basic launchers being posted on this site?

It's only the true garbage from individuals who clearly have no idea what they're doing that warrants harsh criticism. In the past, lots of people have been horribly flamed for posting crap in the showcase sections. Yes, we've probably driven plenty of members away, but such tactics have also helped provide the motivating kick in the rear to builders who have potential, but haven't yet realized the extent of it.

Who says he just wants to impress people? he might just want feedback on how he can improve it or dosen't care about any of those and just wants to show us what he has made.

In that case, he can ask for advice on the forums, UTFSE, or take a look around the rest of the showcase section and realize that his creation is sub-par and won't warrant a net positive response. That's what a rational individual would do, at least.

SpudBlaster15 wrote:Luckily, most of the idiots of their caliber stick to sites such as YouTube an Instructables, never gracing us with their wonderful presence.

I direct all "how do you build that?" youtube queries to this forum

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:

SpudBlaster15 wrote:Luckily, most of the idiots of their caliber stick to sites such as YouTube an Instructables, never gracing us with their wonderful presence.

I direct all "how do you build that?" youtube queries to this forum

Spud, your maybe being a little harsh. Would this pass as an acceptable cannon for a newb to present:

Nice cannon. Do you have plans for it?

ducks quckly..

It should work, better than my attempts.

How hard can it be to epoxy a schrader to hold 400+ psi!!!!

I'm not happy.

Now I've had a whine, I'll add that directing newbs to the site isn't a good idea, send them to the wiki instead.

Let them see what is involved in making a launcher, then let them spam the forum.

Or contribute.

Zeus wrote: How hard can it be to epoxy a schrader to hold 400+ psi!!!!
.

meh jsr does that in his sleep

Well, I read all the posts, and I agree. I realize that I am probably a culprit, and still am a noob. What if, we had all new members take a quiz before they could post. It would consist of questions about the rules of the forum, and stuff from the wiki. Yes, I realize that there would be ways to get around it, but the idea of working, yes, actually putting forth effort to join this site, would deter a lot of people who would in turn pollute the forum.

caspar97 wrote:Well, I read all the posts, and I agree. I realize that I am probably a culprit, and still am a noob. What if, we had all new members take a quiz before they could post. It would consist of questions about the rules of the forum, and stuff from the wiki. Yes, I realize that there would be ways to get around it, but the idea of working, yes, actually putting forth effort to join this site, would deter a lot of people who would in turn pollute the forum.

I had considered that as well, I was thinking basic questions about different types of guns, as well as rules. The community as a whole could submit the questions and we could choose ones that are simple enough for a average 15 year old to understand but complicated enough for them to have needed to read wiki.

Yes, just the thought of work would deter a lot of people, and if they failed the quiz, they would have to wait a certain time period to retry.