Craig Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 a minor revolt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest maby66 Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 Without wishingto appear too alarmist, I am guessing that things in PCA land are not all sweetness and light. Computing magazines as a market segment is horribly overdone - take a look at a shelf in WH Smiths to see how many there are. Recently a very respected magazine around since the dawn of the home computing age went to electronic publishing only - it simply couldnt afford to publish in a crowded marketplace.It wouldnt surprise me to see one or more PC magazines cease publishing in the next 6 months, and PCA is obviously tightening its belt - the loss of the Gamesroom and search facility are indicators that "nice to have functionality" that costs is going to go. More interesting is the thread where someone was recounting that the subscription sales team are now selling 3 year subs to PCA for I think £45. Thats a massive reduction on the cover price for one, and is indicative to me that PCA is burning cash and needs to maximise cash inflow to the business. Its not a great business strategy though because in effect you are eating your future revenue base (ie what you might get in the door in a year or twos time) for a quick cash injection. After all, the people who have bought that subscription wont be buying any more mags for a year or two so you will need to get more subscribers/shop sales to make up for the readers who have paid the much discounted rate!Another interesting indicator of the fortunes of any magazine is the ratio of content to advertising - after all, its the advertising that makes the big bucks and if a magazine as a whole is getting thinner then they cant be selling the ads to keep the revenue streams high.All of the above is conjecture and opinion obviously - I have no inside info and am happy to be shot down in flames..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ellas Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 sad thing for me was when northamuk deceided to quit pca there was no please reconsider off the FE,that was it taking off the members list and goodbye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark2 Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 Similar to working for a big company you are only a number - not a person but I did note the FE said he would be welcome to return any time, and the regular members are sorry to see him go, our gain I think. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter e Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 I'm very sorry that you decided to leave the PCA forum, northamuk, but I quite understand why. I was surprised at the non-response from PCA to the problems in the re-vamped search facility. And then even more surprised at the wording of the response which finally came. The "old guard" deserve to be treated with more respect. That said, I echo spikeychris's sentiments. The forum will be less helpful and less friendly for your leaving.RegardsPeter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankus Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 I think that this is going to be a difficult year right across the board....and not just in PC magazine publishing.........The housing market (which has fuelled home owners feeling of well being) is going to pop.......Brown's beloved tax rises hit the pocket in April..........We are going to war (oil prices up......cost of living going up !) And it turns out to be a lot dirtier than Bushes Dads previous efforts..............! Retail sales down year on year................!Strikes (The summer of discontent?.....firemen ,Teachers ,Nurses, Trains)................Tony Blair resigns after the 3 month parliamentary summer holidays because he realises that the game is up,and that he has no answers to "education ,education,education"-----"Tough on crime , tough on the causes of crime",----- "A government that is whiter than white"--- "The national Health is the keystone on which the society of this great country is built""--- We are the government to sort out the mess that the conservatives made of our railways,"---and the "hand of history on his shoulder" that actually slaps him across the face for his incompetence over Northern Ireland......!His wife gets slated in the press again when the con mans book comes out..........Alister (spin) Campbell is putting the final touches to his last paragraph in his book (probably called the Dairy 's of a professional bullsh*tter aged 42 and a half ) Which will be the final nail and show people what he really is !And he also realises that he can earn £1,00,000 pa on the lecture/after evening dinner rounds with his old reprobate Bill Clinton..(Who needs Morcombe and Wise?......HHhhherrreeees Bill and Blair........!) Money matters to NEW Labour...honest Guv...especially if its in me own trousers....Ahmen ! Leaving us with our inaccurate (Its the world downturn..not my inaccurate forecast and lack of understanding of global politics,but if things are going well -IT IS down to me ) pension stealer of a dour Scotsman....(if the Scots have their own Parliament why cannot we deport him to there ?)....in charge......!We will live in an interesting year , this year ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvw Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 Yes, it's been downhill recently and I believe it's due to the Gamesroom closing. Whilst PCA ,no doubt, have some problem with the sheer size of the site and the number of postings made each day, which in turn has caused the "search" problem, the way in which the Gamesroom was suddenly closed with no warning was heartless. I give respect to the FE for doing all he could to help the lads retrieve their postings, assisted by pilch (well done) as I guess he didn't have much choice in the matter.I felt annoyed and betrayed at the way in which the lads were treated and it's left a bad taste in my mouth. Perhaps many of us feel the same.With this and all the other problems recently I guess the FE has had a rather torrid time of it and has to take all the flak from everyone, the constant complaining (rightly so) must take its toll.northamuk, you put a request in writing on public display and he had to do what you requested, he had no other choice. The door is open for your welcome return and the forum is poorer for your absence, I hope you will reconsider.Lets hope things settle down over the following weeks, we are lucky to have a second home here as well. Well done to craig, he deserves a round of applause for an excellent forum which must be a lot of hard work.Well done craig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PC Eejit Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 I think it's a tad harsh BVW to call this Forum "a second home". To me, that insinuates that everyone here will bugger off back to PCA when/if they sort themselves out. Craig has obviously put in a lot of hard work here and doesn't have the backing of a publisher so it can't be nice for him to think he's in charge of just a temporary place.There's a lot more than a manky search engine causing people to leave PCA.... :ph34r: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankus Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 PCA went very "dry "after the Lounge was shut down in a similar fashion....altough the reason for that was the threat of potential law suits.....A national magazine must have had its competition logged on ..may hoping for a bit of mischief ?But the games room made it a bit friendlier...even if it did waver of topic ..I wont be deleting like northamuk as its helped me out of a few problems Ive inflicted on my self.............be there a lot less often though.....which is a pity................I rather like China ........... even if he does remind me of my gran-dad ! (I'm 42 ).... It must be becoming a bit of a chore for him editing all these negative posts over the last 2 weeks....Ah well .....the milk is spilt ......lets have a beer.......! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankus Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 Got to agree with PC EejitThis is a well professionally done forum......Nice one Craig...........even if your are a bit to tidy................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Damo Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 Agree with the others about this forum......this is now the first forum i goto and pca has been relegated way down to bottom of the league!!! They seen to be having a tough time at the mo as this thread would suggest http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/index.cfm?go=di...71735&forumid=1 the FE is taking a bit of a battering from Jazzypop! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djohn Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 I too am sorry that northamuk has left the PCA forum, I contacted him and asked him to reconsider, I hope he does. :( If you read the same post you will see that jazzypop has also had a rough ride this evening, and does not deserve the response he received. It's all getting very sad. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Damo Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 agree djohn...........PCA have spat thier dummies out recently......Just hope FE doesnt lash out in jazzypops direction....he's one of the long standing members who is always first in line to help someone with a prob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ellas Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 too many hits,seems like they want to get rid of people,few cutting remarks off FE like" If anyone feels they have to leave the forum simply because a search engine isn't to their liking, well.............words fail me. Time to get out a bit more I would say"not nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PC Eejit Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 There's a lot more than a manky search engine causing people to leave PCA.... :ph34r:Ahem... :ph34r: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest northamuk Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 ellas, I did not leave because the Search facility is lousy, but just for the attitude you just quoted. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark2 Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 I seem to remember the FE as China being a lot more helpful than he is as the FE, maybe he's under a lot of pressure at the moment to try to control the apparent discontent without getting any feedback or assistance from higher up. perhaps he feels everyone is getting on his back ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djohn Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 ellas, that is the post I was refering to, as i said it is all very sad! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ellas Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 of course not northamuk,the search not working does not bother me its like you say attitude,lets face it as in all forums theres a hardcore who go back day after day and for that they should be given a bit more respect and allow to say if they feel things are not right,how many of the members at pca ever even go back again after they have registered,look at the posts and its the same members answering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LB Posted January 19, 2003 Report Share Posted January 19, 2003 mmmm, i must wake up. I seem to have missed all of the fuss re the search issue. I must say that the attitude displayed by the powers that be at PCA seems a little silly and i think that alot of the long standing members may not be so long standing in the near future. If they are really having financial issues, surely that way around it is not to drive your loyal members away by virtually removing facilities from your website and then ignoring their simple and polite requests for help. Personally, my visits have become a lot less frequent, simply because the content seems to have deteriorated in an alarmingly fast manner with alot of regulars posting less and less and a certain wizard making silly and sarcastic remarks at every turn.Still, Craig has done a cracking job here and for that he has my thanks (for what its worth). Lets hope that this forum goes from strength to strength............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarthy © ® ™ Posted January 19, 2003 Report Share Posted January 19, 2003 Have they removed the thread you mentioned at first northamuk? I can't seem to get hold of it??? :blink: I agree. I have only been with PCA for about a year and I have noticed a definate downhill trend/attitude problem there. The gamesroom has gone now, the search function is messed up, and there have been numerous problems with site access over the last few months also, not to mention the attitudes of certain people there...I have posted before about the rather rash reactions of Peter Thomas. He seems to take his job a bit too serious for me. We all appreciate that he has to moderate and conduct the forums carefully, but there are better ways to speak to people. Guy seemed alot more easy going and without a chip on his shoulder to me. He seemed an altogether nicer bloke.I too have backed off entering the forum there. They are empty now that the gamesroom is gone. I check back now and again to see if I can help/ advice anyone. I remember an incident with valdestana back in May. He had a heart bypass if I remember rightly. Shortly after this there was an incident and he publically "sacked" the site. Does anyone know what went on there as I tried to find out but couldn't? There was an email link for information but I think PCA removed it???I too would like to thank Craig "and the gang" for a sterling job with this site....Great work Guys :D Keep it up ! ! ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djohn Posted January 19, 2003 Report Share Posted January 19, 2003 I do! :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent Smith Posted January 19, 2003 Report Share Posted January 19, 2003 Djohn, if you mean you know what happened to valdestana, please, please, please fill us in :huh: :unsure: Mr. M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pilch....... Posted January 19, 2003 Report Share Posted January 19, 2003 PCAI think is toooooo boring now aday's....we had fun in gamesroom, we had laughter, we had tear's, we had Piggeh on the run,but the fun didnt last once FE ran and got his gun :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djohn Posted January 19, 2003 Report Share Posted January 19, 2003 Er! putting me in a bit of a difficult position there. It was one all mighty row, several members were involved and I could see right from the start it was going to be ugly.All I can say is it was not all PCA's fault, and maybe in the future I will be able to tell the story, but first I would need the permission of the people involved, because e-mails sent to me were confidential.It's a good story and a lot of the people involved changed their names to stay in the forum, some left, never to return, some did come back, and some may even have had Mr. plod knocking on their doors! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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