Modern Crossbows splitting into a separate forum?

Hey crossbow builders!

I talked to Ivo last night about how modern and medieval crossbow info is getting all mixed up. So I threw an idea at him that left him thinking.

While he's doing that I'll ask you the same questions.

How do you see this forum? - Should it be dedicated to Medieval Crossbows only and we'll create a new Crossbow Building forum that will cover all the Modern stuffs?

or do you like how it is right now - Modern and Medieval side by side? (even if sometimes there is no clear line between)

Antho

I don't have any plans on building another forum, but I can see it happening and if there are people rooting for a change like this - you can only expect support from me (...anyone want to start a forum? ).

Interested to hear what the gang thinks.

Ivo

I rather like the idea of one stop idea shopping, which this forum affords, so I say keep it all here, modern, medieval, and everything between.

Dane

I don't really care a thing about modern crossbows, and seldom read the posts about them. On the other hand, I don't think there are enough people interested in early bows to support a forum.

I fear that without the modern-bow-guys, the forum would wither and die.

Mac

ps. if you vote before you "send" your post, it vanishes.....

I think the issue is not having too much content on this forum... it's about having too much unstructured content on the forum. If you want to have a look at structured content please look here:

• http://crossbow.wikia.com/wiki/Category_hierarchy
  

Forums are not meant to be used as information repositories; in fact, they're really bad at that job. Wikis are much better in that.

Now, if the idea of using Wiki terrifies you, but you'd still like to see good content from these forums end up there, please edit the text into a simple article and post it here (or PM me). I can take care of moving the article into the Wiki. Of course, make sure that all the people who've contributed to that content are fine with that.

Basileus.

Basileus,

Please feel free to move anything I have written on this forum over to your Wiki. I will not do it. I am too old and low tech for that sort of of thing.

Mac

Geezer here, concerning splitting into two forums.
While I'm not particularly interested in building modern crossbows, still I enjoy taking a look at what's happening on that side of the divide occasionally.
Like Mac, I'm not entirely sure there's enough stuff happening here to build two really active forums. I'd rather have one slightly over-cluttered and mixed-up forum discussing crossbow building than two that dry up and die from insufficient input.
If the group consensus comes down for splitting, I won't have a cow over it, but personally, I kinda like the wonderful-weird mix of stuff: medieval crossbows, catapultas, slingshots, modern-crossbows. Just keep those cards and letters coming. Geezer

Me too, *between the lines* is where I spend most of my time and actually this is my profile info wherever I go:

Real name: Ivan
Born in: Kiev, Ukrain.


Currently residing in United States and running a family operated Dental
laboratory specializing in full mouth cosmetic restorations.
In my spare time I host a forum known as "The Arbalist Guild" focusing
on bringing crossbow enthusiasts together and sharing our knowledge of
crossbow history, design and fabrication, and aid in the research and
development of the crossbow, both as a hunting and recreational tool.

So my Philosophy of Crossbow Community resides along the lines of "there is no equality without diversity". This template serves as a basis for our community. It keeps the elitists in check (in fact they can't survive under these conditions), and kids get the raw truth about the subject which in turn sets the stage for them to seek out the "facts" and only then judge things based on that - learning that "there is beauty in all things - you just need to find it".

All in all, I think communities dealing with creation of something with one's own hands and mind immensely surpass any other and when built to welcome all, they truly begin to serve a greater purpose. So, I take every opportunity to thank you all for being who you are and doing what you do, no matter if it's Modern, Medieval, Hunting, Target shooting, Larp, Functional / Non-Functional Art, or anything in between - I believe in you all and welcome all your efforts to be the best you can be.

---

We kind of went off topic here... the original conversation we had that led to this question was actually about something I wanted to do for our community and not about splitting the forum.

~ I'll edit this post and add a link to a new topic in a bit. See you all then.

Thanks for participating though, it was great to hear that you guys like the place the way it is -





Ivo

PS: Thanks for the effort little browski, truly a great sight - you taking this thing as seriously as I do.

Spoiler:

I know this is history by now ,but I'd like to say the reason I like this place so much is. A stop here is like giving you time to make some choices. You can taste the old and the new. It can be much like a trip to a university. You even can voice an opinion,good or bad. Maybe you'll get frowned at ,but most likely not.You can exchange ideas with newbies and ,at the same time seek advise from experts. You can't even begin to achieve this type of get together any other place,period. And most of all ,"It's free".Long live the guild.

I'm comparatively new to this site but I have to say that IMO it is great for people learning about crossbows - all aspects of them, which includes hearing about others' experiences regardless if it is modern or medieval. 

I had an idea - not thought out very well - is if a subject (thread) needs to be shown as Modern or Medieval the initiator put Mod. or Med. at the beginning.  For myself it doesn't matter as I read almost all posts. 

So, if put to a vote I would certainly vote for keeping it together.

When you create a NEW topic, the option is already there as to which category you want it under -- Medieval, Modern and many more...

The purpose of this forum,as I see it,is to discuss crossbows,and the building of them.Many of the techniques and much of the data is applicable to both medieval and modern crossbows.The engineering techniques for people building on a low budget,without a comprehensive collection of tools are also the same.The gene pool of enthusiastic crossbow builders is not that large,therefore splitting a crossbow forum into 2 separate forums can only result in both forums losing
                                                   Hermit.

Hermit I agree: We are all enriched by the diversity of the group.  Geezer

I think it is covered pretty well. I like how this forum is organized currently. If I am looking on information on a particular type of crossbow, then I can easily narrow the focus using the sub categories or search function. However, I feel it would get pretty dull if the entire forum was limited to one kind or another. 

Alan

I like the forum the way it is. I am interested in reading about all types of crossbows. If we split out the Modern crossbows, then the compund guys will want their own forum to separate themselves from the non mechanical bows. I feel like it would just be chasing a rabbit down the rabbit hole.