Well, I have to agree that there have been occasions where I thought "what has happened to this forum" but not in the last few months.  Donding, are you being being harrassed by PM maybe?

Two years ago when I started I was searching for places where I can get valuable info on microstock and I think this forum did a trick. I guess it's not more hostile than any other internet meeting place.  Go somewhere else and you get comments like "search first before you ask your stupid question". These people have their own issues cause it's obvious that newbies will keep asking same questions over and over again.

This place owns the crown for having the biggest "real info / pure BS" ratio in all microstock boards. A smart newbie can find lots of good info if he or she can spot the ones who don't talk cr@p and start paying attention.

Quote from: Xalanx on February 24, 2010, 22:47
This place owns the crown for having the biggest "real info / pure BS" ratio in all microstock boards. A smart newbie can find lots of good info if he or she can spot the ones who don't talk cr@p and start paying attention.

I agree. Internet is a matter of knowing how to filter information for your own benefit. Everything I know from photography, I have learned it from internet. I have learned a great deal from the SS forum and god knows how much bs you had to filter out from their forum, not so much now. I have learned a lot from this forum too. In addition, where else can you freely compare micro sites and get to know the new emerging ones. Thank you Leaf for all your effort.

Denis

Quote from: XalanAx on February 24, 2010, 22:47
This place owns the crown for having the biggest "real info / pure BS" ratio in all microstock boards. A smart newbie can find lots of good info if he or she can spot the ones who don't talk cr@p and start paying attention.

Totally agree! ^^

And it bears mentioning that a lot of the best info is from some of the folks who may have a more blunt style.  I admit, this is not the ideal place to post snapshots of a cat, flower, etc. and get pats on the back.  But if you want an honest information about the microstock industry I can't think of a better place to get it. 

Guess I missed that one, Donna.... 
      I'm quite happy here.  Occassionally someone will come on and flame someone or everyone... but those people dont tend to stick around...
   All in all, I think the vast majority of the folks here are civil, friendly, helpful and supportive of each other. This is THE ONLY forum I belong to and for just this reason...  nice people here.  =tom

Quote from: a.k.a.-tom on February 25, 2010, 01:10
Guess I missed that one, Donna.... 
      I'm quite happy here.  Occassionally someone will come on and flame someone or everyone... but those people dont tend to stick around...
   All in all, I think the vast majority of the folks here are civil, friendly, helpful and supportive of each other. This is THE ONLY forum I belong to and for just this reason...  nice people here.  =tom

Maybe in a couple of years Donna will feel same. Occassionally I visit other forums but this one is like home.

Well done Leaf, great forum.

Kone

I find this forum the most worthwhile even with an occasional opinion I might not agree with

I still read the posts and contribute but not as much, I only have images now with The3dstudio.com and have been learning php and WordPress, but I still support microstock with images in mind as I use them from istock in my posts, and to show of my themes like here:, but I do not include them with the themes.


Here is a WordPress portfolio theme I am working on, pm me if you want a copy when it is finished, and I am looking at creating a microstock plugin to work with NextGen.

So i am being nice!

David   

I don't post often here but I check in nearly every day and this site is the best place for honest conversation of issues in microstock. As other have said it is often blunt and pointed but that is what makes it useful.

was it a provocative post? the originator never came back to this conversation...

the breath and scope of the discussions here as compared to the in-house ones elsewhere is just incomparable. the freedom of speech is such an invaluable commodity here only enabled with leaf's gentle moderating.

Quote from: lisafx on February 24, 2010, 23:58
...I admit, this is not the ideal place to post snapshots of a cat, flower, etc. and get pats on the back.  But if you want an honest information about the microstock industry I can't think of a better place to get it. 

Agreed. The touchy-feely "please praise my crappy photo of a little dog" threads are usually found at the SS forum. It's refreshing to come here and get into some real discussions. I think we have a good balance here of informative topics, interesting debate, and entertaining commentary.

Perhaps the OP was being sarcastic?  It has been very mild around here for a while now, I have only had a problem with 1 person that posts here in 3 years and he has been banned lots of times.  He might be back again but if he is sending poison PM's, I am sure leaf will deal with him again.  I have seen another person make some nasty posts but I think that might of been a one off, it looked like a drunken rant and hasn't happened again.

+1 I don't get it.
If you are getting abuse by PM or anything then I would tell leaf. He's always been excellent at dealing with serious trolls etc.
I don't recall seeing any harsh threads recently.

Quote from: lisafx on February 24, 2010, 23:58

Quote from: XalanAx on February 24, 2010, 22:47
This place owns the crown for having the biggest "real info / pure BS" ratio in all microstock boards. A smart newbie can find lots of good info if he or she can spot the ones who don't talk cr@p and start paying attention.

Totally agree! ^^

And it bears mentioning that a lot of the best info is from some of the folks who may have a more blunt style.  I admit, this is not the ideal place to post snapshots of a cat, flower, etc. and get pats on the back.  But if you want an honest information about the microstock industry I can't think of a better place to get it. 

i agree, this forum is very informative, that's why i joined it.

alamy forum is also good but the activity there is getting very low.

I just want to clarify things that I should have done when I originally posted and I apologize for that. The bashing that was going on, was not directed at me, but some others on the forum. As most of you have pointed out, this is the best forum to partake in and that is very true thanks to Leaf. He has done a great job. I have also been to the other forums and know what it is like there. They are not the friendliest places. That was the point I was trying to make. I just don't want this forum to turn out like those and that is my main concern. The majority of people on here are considerate. Like I said before I'm not going to single out people and point fingers here. That is a lot of the problem that I was referring to. I didn't post to provoke people....even though it seems like that is what I  have done. I just felt these problems need to be addressed and I hope you understand that.

Quote from: sharpshot on February 26, 2010, 07:32
... I have seen another person make some nasty posts but I think that might of been a one off, it looked like a drunken rant and hasn't happened again.

Heh, I remember that, too. Definitely written while a little tipsy - I think he even wrote it on New Year's Eve!

Quote from: donding on February 26, 2010, 15:26
I just want to clarify things that I should have done when I originally posted and I apologize for that. The bashing that was going on, was not directed at me, but some others on the forum. As most of you have pointed out, this is the best forum to partake in and that is very true thanks to Leaf. He has done a great job. I have also been to the other forums and know what it is like there. They are not the friendliest places. That was the point I was trying to make. I just don't want this forum to turn out like those and that is my main concern. The majority of people on here are considerate. Like I said before I'm not going to single out people and point fingers here. That is a lot of the problem that I was referring to. I didn't post to provoke people....even though it seems like that is what I  have done. I just felt these problems need to be addressed and I hope you understand that.

this forum is good because we can see top-sellers in action, we can read their views and sales.

if it wasn't like this no one would write here.

Quote from: donding on February 26, 2010, 15:26
I just felt these problems need to be addressed and I hope you understand that.

So, things are going fine lately here, no issues, but you decided to post this now?  Um, ok.  Or am I still missing something?

Quote from: chellyar on February 24, 2010, 19:27
(And for what it's worth, people who completely hide behind a screen name with no links to blogs/portfolios etc. annoy me a well, but I'm over it...)

I second that!

Quote from: anonymous on February 26, 2010, 22:09

Quote from: chellyar on February 24, 2010, 19:27
(And for what it's worth, people who completely hide behind a screen name with no links to blogs/portfolios etc. annoy me a well, but I'm over it...)

I second that!

well being a public forum maybe someone isn't interested in linking his real name/surname and allow
strangers googling it.

This forum has helped me get accepted at IS,SS and FT, so I have no complaints. Anyway, I found out very quickly that delicate flowers are not going to do very well in this business. Although I admit to sulking for a day or so over some of the critiques/rejects I received at a couple of sites I learned from them and it helped me out a great deal in the long run.

I suspect if we all met up face to face over a few cold ones, the majority of us would quite like each other.

Quoteit looked like a drunken rant

Yeah, I think I've done that once or twice myself.