Or how about Patrick Ware...(gonna use you for an example for a second here). He's an accomplished career airline pilot. I would be willing to bet he and other pilots like him have a place (maybe a forum) where they hang out and talk shop. Would it seem right for someone who is a flying enthusiast, who maybe has flown a few hundred hours in Microsoft Flight Simulator to join their forums and participate? He's a great guy and probably willing to give pointers to any up and coming pilots, but you can bet they like a place to talk serious shop away from that as well.
Just trying to present some alternative ways of looking at it.
David, this is very interesting. These analogies very much parallel the motivations to create the separate Core list in the first place... to either A) figure out a way to completely restructure the ST Forum to increase S/N ratio for the more veteran, seasoned chaser generation... or B) Keep the Core and the x1 version of the forum in place, with perhaps a more stringent moderation.
The "Core" group was created for a myriad of reasons; one major reason was a growing disconnect with the influx of new "storm chasers" being admitted to post in the Forum; thus an increase in "noise" as seen in the eyes of the more veteran/experienced/educated group of the Forum. It may not be that much "noise" to others. Since I fall in this group, it has been a problem for me, personally. I have a low post count as it is, not really because of professional reasons, but I find a very low percentage of stimulating threads in which to partake in. Most of the threads in the former W&C as well as in TA are fluff to me. Especially the former "TALK" in TA. What Mike P mentioned earlier, using the analogy of different "classes" in high school is fairly accurate. There is a fairly large group of storm chasers that emerged when the internet first took off in the mid 90s... that are becoming more disconnected with the newer generation of storm chasers... several of which that also happen to be avid internet forum posters.
There are so many storm chasers these days in this "new generation", many of which don't even post on the internet, that it is extremely tough to get to know on a somewhat personal/intimate level. This earlier "class" of storm chasers, if you will, were the ones that initiated the push to create a more stringent forum with much more signal and stimulating, thought-provoking posts... even for the veteran chaser of 8+ years like myself who have historically posted accounts/photos on a routine basis to peers since the mid-late 90s.
There *is* a growing disconnect, and this must be recognized as happening, and it will take a little more than
x2 to really remedy the issue. There needs to be at least 2 levels of membership (The hardcore *chasers*) and the other newbies/non-chasers/very occasional, new chasers.
x2 does not support this, at least at this point. The only thing I see changed is membership rules for only one "level" of membership, which are fairly vague at best. This still allows storm enthusiasts who are not chasers, trolls, etc. to get in and post at free will, increasing the noise.... as seen in the eyes of the more hardcore, veteran, seasoned chasers. Increased noise in their eyes = less interaction, posts, and ultimately visits until being completely turned off due to a lack of interest. This is a *big* reason why more veteran, seasoned, well-known chasers either stop interacting on this forum or never have in the first place. It may be a "privately run" forum, but it is open to public membership, therefore a public forum.
x2 is a start in the right direction, but it's not complete, in my eyes. Thanks,
Mike U