Audience?

dquarasr

dquarasr

Registered
I'll admit I'm a newbie here. Also a relative newbie to the sport (game?), even though I've played on and off for years, I have only in the last year become a little more serious about learning how to Play Well, and have joined leagues.

I have seen some recent posts lamenting some of the threads covering the same old ground over and over, with reactions to snarky responses. (I've seen the same issue on car-related forums).

So I did some poking around here, including "about us" pages. It's hard to discern what the objective of this site is, and in particular, what the forum objective is. The stated objective seems to be to promote and discuss All Things Pool, so as far as I can see, that runs the gamut from the green beginner all the way up to the professional, even to the top of the pointy end of the Professionals. So, there's an extremely deep and wide audience.

So, yes, some of the posts are inane and cover ground covered ad nauseam. And some are aimed at the top pros which have a limited appeal to me, personally. Is this site really for such a largely diverse audience? And if so, is it that difficult to gear responses to this fact?
 
BC21

BC21

https://www.playpoolbetter.com
Gold Member
Silver Member
I believe it is a great site for all levels of players, from beginner to pro. And it's not difficult to gear or navigate questions/answers/info constructively.

But like with any other forum of any topic/subject, you're always going to get a few smartass replies or bickering comments. With such a diverse group of players here, you're bound to find many different opinions, and often conflicting. Even two pro players will have have a different answer or opinion or advice depending on the question or subject matter. And the reader just has to sort through comments, looking for their own little nuggets, which may or may not be a nugget to someone else.
 
C

Cron

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You're not wrong and I assume you understand that there isn't much teachable information in pool (at least not in text).

This site does have 1 shinning resource though, the "Ask The Cuemaker" section. It of course has its trolls in nearly every thread, but those that do help make it worth it as that information can be referenced in other context, but isn't easily referenced in context to pool sticks.

Here is one I started ~2 weeks ago, the suggestions were very helpful, but of course you can spot the trolls too....
https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=510690
 
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Scrunge19

Scrunge19

Registered
This is an issue that all forums run into. Established members will often lament when new users bring up a topic that was discussed before. Never considering that there may have been several new members between now and when that discussion occurred and they might have additional questions on a topic or their own things to add to the discussion.

At the end of the day, people have to remember that they can always ignore a particular thread, comment, etc. If you don't have anything meaningful to a discussion, better to say nothing than try to derail it (this is another one of the big issues all forums run into). Very rarely does the number of active threads reach the second page so it's not like these rehashed discussions are clogging up the forum and making people miss things.
 
dquarasr

dquarasr

Registered
RickLafayette said:
OP, if you're a newbie to this site and to the sport, why does your join date say 2009?
Click to expand...

Good question.

I joined then but did not participate, or even lurked much since then. I've only participated since I got more serious in the last year. Considering my lack of activity until the last year or so, I do consider myself a newbie here.
 
dquarasr

dquarasr

Registered
dquarasr said:
Good question.

I joined then but did not participate, or even lurked much since then. I've only participated since I got more serious in the last year. Considering my lack of activity until the last year or so, I do consider myself a newbie here.
Click to expand...

P.S. looking at my post history, the first that comes up is from February, 2020. So I was not really involved before then.
 
Z

Z-Nole

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
dquarasr said:
P.S. looking at my post history, the first that comes up is from February, 2020. So I was not really involved before then.
Click to expand...

After lurking that long this is what you came up with? Welcome aboard, you should fit in fine.
 
Ghosst

Ghosst

Broom Handle Mafia
Silver Member
Just ask your questions anyway.

There are all levels of players here but most of the frequent posters are far-above average players, instructors, coaches, and industry professionals. They will drop advice you can learn from.

If we were friendly to everyone we'd get mobbed.
 
G

Geosnooker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Re accounts not used.

Over on Reddit Billiards and Reddit Snooker, lots of posts about this site not activating accounts even after repeated requests. People join then could never post. Happened to me twice. Image of this site is of a bunch of old guys trying to sell the same cues to each other and discussing who died last. Fortunately it’s more than that...good nitty gritty knowledge ...rare...but pops up.

Anyways, basic questions welcomed. I find it more refreshing. It’s 2020 and not 1975.
 
jimmyco

jimmyco

NRA4Life
Silver Member
IMO, the objective of this site is to promote cue sports. It is so much more than the discussion forums. But of those, there are some very good, informative ones if you take the time to enjoy them.

Many google searches land here. One time I was looking for tournament results from more than a decade ago. Figured it had to be hopeless. Google brought me here and here is where they were.

Amazing vault of information, this AZB.
 
Bavafongoul

Bavafongoul

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
A starting point to this discussion would be to agree there is the Az website and it’s mission
as contrasted with the many different forums contained within and the respective missions of
those forums. Absent that, all you have is a potpourri of threads and posts that otherwise
appear to be a bunch of folks communicating views that often express little of which they know.

There are also forums that are more focused like ask the cue makers or talk to a mechanic,
etc., in addition to the side shows like non-pool related. So responding to your original post
invites open ended replies that are about as much to do about nothing as this thread’s theme.
 
dquarasr

dquarasr

Registered
Thanks for the responses.

Thus far I have mined the site and these forums, and have received very good info. I have also posted in the Ask the Instructor area, and again, have received very good info.

My consternation was about, um, terse sets of responses to seemingly innocent (naive?) questions, which prompted me to ask about the site itself. As I mentioned, I have seen very naive posts and comments, and also extremely "insider" posts, which make it somewhat hard to discern where a particular user (myself included) fits in, if at all.

If this thread is as useless as has been said, then please, feel free to ignore it and let it die with this last response from me.

I'll slink off and stick with lurking and posting and commenting on areas of the forums more suited to my experience.
 
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Ghosst

Ghosst

Broom Handle Mafia
Silver Member
dquarasr said:
...which make it somewhat hard to discern where a particular user (myself included) fits in, if at all.

I'll slink off and stick with lurking and posting and commenting on areas of the forums more suited to my experience.
Click to expand...

You have to post a little more so we can reliably pigeon-hole you against your wishes. :D
 
pt109

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
dquarasr said:
I'll admit I'm a newbie here. Also a relative newbie to the sport (game?), even though I've played on and off for years, I have only in the last year become a little more serious about learning how to Play Well, and have joined leagues.

I have seen some recent posts lamenting some of the threads covering the same old ground over and over, with reactions to snarky responses. (I've seen the same issue on car-related forums).

So I did some poking around here, including "about us" pages. It's hard to discern what the objective of this site is, and in particular, what the forum objective is. The stated objective seems to be to promote and discuss All Things Pool, so as far as I can see, that runs the gamut from the green beginner all the way up to the professional, even to the top of the pointy end of the Professionals. So, there's an extremely deep and wide audience.

So, yes, some of the posts are inane and cover ground covered ad nauseam. And some are aimed at the top pros which have a limited appeal to me, personally. Is this site really for such a largely diverse audience? And if so, is it that difficult to gear responses to this fact?
Click to expand...

BC21 said:
I believe it is a great site for all levels of players, from beginner to pro. And it's not difficult to gear or navigate questions/answers/info constructively.

But like with any other forum of any topic/subject, you're always going to get a few smartass replies or bickering comments. With such a diverse group of players here, you're bound to find many different opinions, and often conflicting. Even two pro players will have have a different answer or opinion or advice depending on the question or subject matter. And the reader just has to sort through comments, looking for their own little nuggets, which may or may not be a nugget to someone else.
Click to expand...

Two good posts...in my opinion
There is nothing wrong with asking questions that have been asked before....
...assuming everybody knows what you know is a slightly autistic reaction.

Life goes on and evolves...sometimes those old questioned produce a unique response.
There’s a lot of info on here.....but it is like a library...
..all the crap you don’t need to read is in a library...
...but all the good stuff is there also...
..so anybody reading nothing but crap should reappraise their reading habits.

And welcome to the forum, DQ
 
book collector

book collector

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Read what you like , ignore what you don't avoid the trolls and imbeciles unless you enjoy playing with them and try to have a good time, that's what 99% of us are trying to do.
 
measureman

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jimmyco said:
IMO, the objective of this site is to promote cue sports. It is so much more than the discussion forums. But of those, there are some very good, informative ones if you take the time to enjoy them.

Many google searches land here. One time I was looking for tournament results from more than a decade ago. Figured it had to be hopeless. Google brought me here and here is where they were.

Amazing vault of information, this AZB.
Click to expand...

Thank you glad I could help.
 
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