EMPTY PROMISES??????

[scredneck]

I vaguely recall hearing a while back about a member buy-in as well as T-shirts, hats, bumper stickers, etc. that were gonna be given to us here. What has happened to these?
We have heard REPEATEDLY that these WERE actually happening. Yet where are they?

DartByU....Have you got YOUR Tshirt yet from winning the contest for guessing when the 5000th member joined????

And while I'm bitching...what's up with the board always being inoperative lately? Seems like 2-3 nights a week lately, the board is down "for maintenance". This board has always had some of the best Mopar knowledge I have found ANYWHERE. But what good does all that knowledge do me (or you) if we can't get to it?

Search Function.....NEED I SAY MORE...DOWN AGAIN TONIGHT.....

Chat room....weren't we told when it got "upgraded" that it was going to be a "better" room? How is only allowing 10 people in there "better"? And what about security in the room? In the old room, we could grant temporary op status and priviledges to each to protect against unwanted or unruly "visitors". In this new "better" room, we have no defense unless the "boss" just happens to be in the room at the time. And we ALL know THAT doesn't happen often enough. We need help in there, folks! Is anyone listening?

I do sincerely appreciate the wealth of knowledge and spirit of cooperation from all the members here at MoparChat. I just wish that the MANAGEMENT would do what they agreed and help us out by providing the tools and incentives promised so we can keep this the best Mopar site on planet!!!

End of Rant

------------------
Doug

96 1500 SLT 318 reg cab
true duals...no cat...boom tubes
Richmond 4.10's
Auburn diff
Flowtech headers
Throttle body and cold-air intake by Redneck Engineering

[Chris97SST]

One word..... AMEN!

Chris

[evil ram 360]

I agree, especially about the poeple who come into the chatroom, causing problems, but, unless the moderator is in, nobody will know who it is, so it wouldn't get reported.

[Ram Tough]

I agree with what has been brought up in this topic. Where is the better chat room (voice). Also better proctection against those vistors that become unfriendly. The search feature keeps appearing and disappering. Takes too long to find things when it is down, that is a strong point of this board is the search feature. Cant you pick a better time to do your maintenance, instead of when everyone is trying to access it. Now what is tacking so long to keep these promises.

[K Rich]

What kind of problems have there been in the chat room? Everyone is pretty nice when I go there, but I don't make it in often enough.

------------------
1997 Dodge Ram Sport Club Cab 4x4, 318/auto, no mods yet
1973 Dodge Charger SE, original 400/slapstik combo, 80,000 original miles

[BillyBob]

scredneck,

I don't have any answers for you at this time, as most of what you are asking is being worked on by the Administration. Hopefully, given enough time, these issues will be resolved.....

[This message has been edited by BillyBob (edited January 19, 2001).]

[2001Ram4x4]

I agree it is annoying when the site is slow/down and the search feature is not working. However, I'm not gonna complain too much, because this board is free to post here and free to be a member. It doesn't bother me as much knowing that I'm not paying for a service that isn't always there. If I did have to pay a fee I'd prolly be pretty frustrated. I would like to thank the mods for devoting their time to this site. I haven't been into the chat in a while, but from the times I have been there, it's mostly been a friendly environment. I hope there's something that can be done for those who are in the chat area when the bad apples show up.
Anyhow, to end this babbling post: I wish the search feature would get back soon, however I can live with the site being slow.

------------------
2001 CC 4x4 318 Flowmaster 50 Series DOR,Westin Bars, Sport Masters Tonneau, 8" SS rear bumper.

[CapnDean]

I would like to see the board quicker in some regards...but I'd really rather see RAM MAN and BillyBob get new Dodge trucks for their work.

The board is super and I would even pay to be a member! The benefit of many heads outweighs the frustration.

Just my 2 cents again!




------------------
1999 SLT QC 5.2 2WD AT 3.55 WP (with ping)

[K Rich]

It doesn't really matter to me if I have to scroll up or down, either way, you have to scroll past the posts you've already read.

------------------
1997 Dodge Ram Sport Club Cab 4x4, 318/auto, no mods yet
1973 Dodge Charger SE, original 400/slapstik combo, 80,000 original miles

[bretzky81]

I have to agree with 20014x4, all these problems are annoying but it's FREE, our moderators are working for this in their spare time and did I mention that it's FREE?

When your not paying for something don't worry be happy

[ehostler]

For free take... For MONEY ask questions.

The only problem that I've had recently, is the search feature.

Sometimes the board is a little sluggish from home (probably NetZero), however, it's always fast at work.

I would like to know the latest on the group buying. I do know that we can signup as a club, at The Paddock and take advantage of their group buying discounts.



------------------
Ed - MoPower

'96 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT CC 360 4X4
'68 Charger 383-4
'69 Coronet 500 Convertible 440-4

[abalto]

OK guys...let me address your questions and concerns. Remember this site is privately funded (by me!) and I try to delegate all the tasks and other things to my employees and other helpful moderators.

Where do we start...

Bumper Stickers, Decals, T-Shirts, etc. Yes, we would love to do that but we are not ready. Keep in mind to get these things rolling and do it CORRECTLY may take $6k-8k! I do owe DartByU a T-Shirt and another member. They will get the shirt…I apologize for the delay.

Board up and down? Yes! The problem has been that we have had some clown playing around with flooding the server here. We are tracking the person that is responsible and it is under investigation by a number of authorities. Keep in mind that activities that down web servers are now considered to be a Federal offense. We will conclude that issue

Search Feature - Yes...when we are low on resources...we disable the search feature. We are working on the problem. I have a team of three people here now on a Friday night working on a server/software platform migration for this site. I wish I could be just surfing around or going out too this evening

Chat Room...be patient. We are doing what we can. I have invested thousands and thousands of dollars in support, software, hardware and hosting services for this site...and I will continue to do so, but you guys have got to be a little patient and compassionate. Believe me, I know you guys do not see me much and I may not post much, but I am in here every day.

Regarding the posts be reversed…this is a common complaint by people that have not been here very long. When this board started (as a simple single threaded board) we did not have an option…but when we switched to this format we did. We took a poll about a year ago and people preferred this format, so we decided to do it this way. It seems to make the most sense. If you follow a thread, you do not have to scroll through the entire thread to read the most recent post. Either way we would do it, people would complain anyway.

Group buys…yes. Can’t really comment on that, just be patient! We have domains locked down and are ready to do that anytime. We have a mailing list of about 20,000 people that have SUBSCRIBED to our site. We will have very strong group buy power

Just relax guys! This is a free site...I do not remember receiving any membership dues from anybody here. We are doing the best job that we can and appreciate your membership and involvement, but things take time...

This is truly the fast growing Mopar based web site on the web. Our traffic has been growing exponentially, and with popularity and growth you will have growing pains, etc….

(Off my soap box now

Andrew Balto - MoparCha

[J D]

Bravo and thank you! We just need to hear what is going on from time to time to sooth our souls.Thanks for a wonderful place you have provided for us Ram enthusiasts.

[scredneck]

abalto:
Let me say Thank you for responding and setting the record straight. I only have a couple more questions arising from your response. It seems that the root cause of all the "problems, inconveniences" on the board here is a lack of capital. I hope I'm reading this wrong, but I sense the attitude that since it's free, screw 'em they better accept it. I HOPE that is not accurate. If the real problem really is as simple as a lack of capital, I wonder how many of us would be willing to pony up with a nominal membership dues fee, since YOU DID bring that up? I would be willing to pay a fair subscription fee to be able to access such a wealth of helpful information as we have here and have said so to moderators on several occassions. Speaking of the moderators, my hat is off to those guys. They not only do an outstanding job of helping this board operate, but they also stand on the front line and take the fire from guys like me.

OK...I'll step down from my soapbox again.

------------------
Doug

96 1500 SLT 318 reg cab
true duals...no cat...boom tubes
Richmond 4.10's
Auburn diff
Flowtech headers
Throttle body and cold-air intake by Redneck Engineering

[abalto]

Doug:

Well, capital is always a consideration. That really has not been the main issue here on this board. Is has been more of a growing pains issue and moving to better equipment, migrations, upgrades, etc.

The point of my post was really just to say..."Hey guys, relax. This is a free board, we are all voluteering". I brought that up because this is ALL free. There are no fees involved with this.

My attitude is not "it's free, screw 'em they better accept it"...I am not that kind of person. I would not say that regardless.

Yes, There have been vast investments of time and resources in this board (by many people)...and we just need to keep working the plan here. Look at what we have done in this short of time!

[ehostler]

abalto -

First let me say that I do enjoy the board and I think that you have done a great job with it.

About the reverse posting. I was one of the first people to complain about, after it first happened. I have seen many other complaints as well. I honestly don't remember seeing a poll as to which way everybody would prefer the postings.

I will say that I have gotten used to it being this way, however, I would prefer that it be the other way.

Keep up the good work. It's always getting better.

------------------
Ed - MoPower

'96 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT CC 360 4X4
'68 Charger 383-4
'69 Coronet 500 Convertible 440-4

[scredneck]

abalto:
Let me back up for a second. If I offended you with what I sd I apologize. My point there is simply this. It seems that the main "problem" here is that this site has become more successful than you imagined it could when you started it. Therefore, you are playing "catch up" trying to update hardware/software that is overloaded and unable to consistently handle the traffic here. Having some geek screwing with us doesn't help. But if money is the limiting concern, and if my money (in the form of a nominal membership fee) will help make this site better, faster, more secure, more reliable, I'll go along.

------------------
Doug

96 1500 SLT 318 reg cab
true duals...no cat...boom tubes
Richmond 4.10's
Auburn diff
Flowtech headers
Throttle body and cold-air intake by Redneck Engineering

[98ramss/t]

I look at this site as a research tool, But its better then any library...this is in real time. You can talk to someone about something here, that they just delt with or know about first hand. I think some have taken this site for granted.

Paying to be a memember here could be worth it for the amount of useful info that this site contains but I wouldn't be a memember here if I had to pay. I doubt many of you would be here if you had to pay before hand. The information in the internet is free and I believe it should stay that way.

When you talk to a buddy about something do you charge them to be your friend? When you ask someone a question should you pay for the answer?

You have to remember why we are all here. The passion we have for our cars/trucks is what fuels this site and other like it. I am sure thats why Andrew Balto started this site, for the passion of sharing information with others with the same interest.

I hope I don't offend anyone here I just wanted to give everyone a moment of pause.

[This message has been edited by 98ramss/t (edited January 19, 2001).]

[Mopargirl]

My .02...

This thread doesn't really belong in the RAM forum.

[woolie]

ramman and billybob do a great job with this site. the wealth of information contained here is worth any problems we may encounter, and it's FREE! you can't find that anywhere.

my .02 as well

[abalto]

A simple request (from me this time!)

Please post off-topic posts, in the off topic forum from now on. We are trying to build the premier Mopar informational web site...well, let me re-word that, we HAVE built the premier Mopar informational web site and we want to keep thing organized and balanced...and this just makes more work for our Admin and moderator staff

We are going to move this now...

Thanks

Andy