Member Rankings

[r0lan6]

simonjgriffithshr just reminded me of your post, and yes, I am in total agreement! You have epitomised what posting is all about, plowing through extremes and actually getting right down to the whole point of the heart of 'forums'. In the paraphrased words of simonjgriffithshr, it is the community social side and general atmosphere, and not just about the focused provision of encyclopaedic information and intellectual arguments.

Right, must get down to aiming for that '500 post'. Got to increase my ranking!

[Pipe Dude]

+1

[TJCoro]

Talk Talk!

Amigos! It's just a simple post count...not your IQ or the size of one's dick.


Now spark up a fat one and have a look...

[Soulmanure]

My problem at route is idealistic and largely pointless with an easy cure. I object to posting a lot because a forum is another thing in the world that can make a person comfortable and feed their desire to post as a way of feeling comfort, another crutch to help you through the day.
It's like gentle conversation with friends in real life, a form of grooming, and giving comfort.
There is NOTHING wrong with that, there is something very very good in that, but I have to try and push these things of comfort away.

Postcounts are similar to getting the kitchen done, they wreak of mortgages.
Let's build a home!

As an artist, or a particular type of artist this sort of thing is damaging to me. No over dramatification there. You have to be constantly alert of the things that are your crutches. The things you form around you to make the place feel like a womb again.

You make a fair observation, and make a personal enough point of it to keep this as a keen insight into your psyche, though I admit to having these thoughts sometimes too, albeit in other arenas. I think, and here I drop what may be a self-satisfying and deluded form of wisdom, that part of the struggle of one's identity is trying to figure out what is not only true or false in others, but within. There are, no doubt, crutches that we use and thereby weaken our metaphorical muscles, and then there are those that are used for healing and relearning, and knowing the difference is perhaps the rub of the human condition.

But just one other observation--in my petulant youth, I used to be more or less obsessed with pairing things down to what is essential and deep (a philosopher's disease, no doubt), and thought everyday drivel to be a waste and a moral outrage. Now I think that pointless talk is the necessary filler that allows for the more interesting stuff to happen. Perhaps, to use yet another bodily metaphor, it's like breathing. One takes, on average, mostly shallow, inconsequential breathes, and only occasionally does a deep, relieving and consciousness-arousing breath come along. The latter are the ones you notice, but the former are the ones that keep you alive, however thoughtless and pedestrian they may be.

I think I'm going to knock off this heavy metaphor crap. It's pretty out today. Good for a nice, long smoke.

[Lionhound]

Great post Soulmanure.

Obviously forums (or fora... I'm never sure) serve many purposes... Providing information for newcomers and experts alike, a site for debates on the hot topics of the day (both cigar and non-cigar related), and a social community.

Personally, I find the social community aspect of this site to be excellent, and vital to its success. I've been lucky enough to meet many members off-line, but also enjoy conversations with those I have not. For me, this aspect has become equally as important as information. And I certainly wouldn't agree to losing a social side to create an encyclopaedia of a site...

Now, I know that's not really what anyone was suggesting. But the drivel can certainly add to the atmosphere. Even the crazy Mexican...



That doesn't necessarily make post-count-watching a desirable attribute, but allows for tripe to be posted. The post-count is a measure of how much has been contributed to the community, not how good the information was...

Don't ya just love lighting the blue touchpaper?

I'm all for tripe Simon (used to think it was offal but like it now).
I think the point is the counting aspect of it all. It's irrelevant, if you are a regular viewer or poster you know the names that crop up regularly and get a feeling of what that person may be like. The amount of posts he or she has made is of no consequence especially after you have reached the required amounts to enable sales pm's etc..
I was maybe a bit harsh on the one worders or one liners, God knows I've posted some myself, and yes it probably does add to the community feel, showing appreciation for a joke or comment but I do agree with Joe's initial "ban the post count" stance.
I've been on a few forums, fora, talky type places, and this is the first one I've made any significant number of postings on. Why? Because of its friendly feel, humour, the fact that the membership come across as normal people and not those anal, pontificating, self righteous, ar**holes that are found on some other similar sites who will comment "with greater knowledge" on anything and everything.
We, and I include myself here cos despite the rant I'm not that bad, seem to be a bunch of folk with a common interest who all realise that we can always learn more from the experiences of others, not just about our cigars, look at the popularity of the "off topic" section, but about everything.
Keep going as we are, just never mind whether the post your replying to is from someone with 4000 posts or 40, it really doesn't matter.

Thanks guys. Rant over and feeling so much better for it.
Time for a small libation and a smoke I feel.

[Simon-JG-hr]

Don't ya just love lighting the blue touchpaper?

Well, what's the blue touchpaper for if not for lighting...

Then you can light a stogie with it...

[Drewmidorn]

yeah morning to early afternoon
im afraid ill be cigar-embargoed but ill make up for it with coffee, first date with a girl who really relaly doesnt like cigar smoke... have to break her in gently to these things

Oh dear... this does not bode well!

"If your wife doesn't like the aroma of your cigar, change your wife." Zino Davidoff

[Paulie]

Nice to see I have started a thread that has generated a good level of participation and different views and opinions.

End of the day guys it's just a post count ranking I was asking about, but I think it's great it has brought out so much discussion.

So Deano, how about it???

[Lascaux]

she'll come around mate

freekin hope so anyway...