What would your ultimate hobby site look like?

[Benno]

(I'm doing some research for a school project and I hope you guys could help me out here! )

There are a lot of websites and forums out there about miniatures. I think most people have a few favorite websites they visit regularly. Each of them has something that makes you come back. What if you combined the best things of these websites.. What would your ultimate hobby site look like then?

Or if you just have a thought of what your ultimate hobby site should look like, please share! I'm very interested!

[Peter]

The best site? Well I give it a try.

1. I always visit PSR for the reviews.
2. I always visit Hät for the ETS page.
3. I'm always here on this forum to see work of others and to discuss them.

A combination of these three should be the best for me.

[santifernandez]

Hello question, to my personally I like interesting Benno a forum where to share my works and to know others of the whole world, to learn and to be able to ask doubts, overcoat if it is to scale 1/72, in spite of the barrier of the language, regards.
Santi.

[Shaun]

The miniatures page or Tabletop gaming news gets a good regular viewing from me. TMP would win out prehaps though soley because there is some industry input mainly news. Another website/forum which i think would get quite close to being ultimate is armorama kitmaker network website, once again it is taken seriously by industry and consumers alike.

My ultimate hobby website would be one where consumer and industry can get together and communicate, whether that be grief or adulation. I think aesthetics and user functionality is only second to content.

I hope i have answered your question

[musketier]

hmmm, the ultimate hobby website? Well, it should have the following:
1)low prices (assuming you mean a commercial site)
2) easily indexed reference material, that is also quite extensive in its coverage of topics
3) an interactive tutorial section as well.

[Paul]

As the Lydgate saying goes..You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.....each Forum has is pros and cons...you will never find the perfect forum, it would have to be either very exclusive or massive.

[Benno]

Cheers for the input so far!

hmmm, the ultimate hobby website? Well, it should have the following:
1)low prices (assuming you mean a commercial site).

He he, I don't mean a webshop.

As the Lydgate saying goes..You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.....each Forum has is pros and cons...you will never find the perfect forum, it would have to be either very exclusive or massive.

I know. I'm just interested in what your ultimate hobby site would look like.

[entrauner]

I know I'm not sounding very innovative, when I propose a combination of forum, shop, reviews, tutural, gallery etc.
I'll try to give you a short answer, here's my thought:
to satisfy all the needs of a world wide modelling community on just one ultimate hobby site would have to cover too many topics and would be way too huge and eventually too confusing.
Each site has its own personal style and atmosphere and I'm actually getting my kicks visiting different sites.

guess, that doesn't really help you, does it?

[Paul]

I know. I'm just interested in what your ultimate hobby site would look like.

I can´t say...it´s a bit like asking how long is a piece of string...I don´t think there would be an answer or way too many answers from which you could take the main themes suggested and end up with a middle way...try tp please all but none in the end.
I suppose , being silly, one where I got paid to post on it...say 50€ a post...100€ for a post with pics, and everytime someone looked at the post..another 10 cents.

[Benno]

I suppose , being silly, one where I got paid to post on it...say 50€ a post...100€ for a post with pics, and everytime someone looked at the post..another 10 cents.

I think we all want that.


Please, keep your thoughts coming people!

[The Observer]

Hej Benno,
well i suppose a site wich pleases all the users wishes is really hard to find and if it would do this-wouldn´t it be a bit boring?
So for me the ultimate site is a site where the user can at least see his own thoughts and pleasures be fulfilled concerning the special interest.
One of these sites is for me-beside this wonderful forum of yours (Yeah BENNO Rocks!) and of course the PSR Site this one
http://www.airfixtoysoldiers.com/
Why? Well, it is full of information,has been styled in it´s own unique design and leaves nearly no question unanswered......sadly i think this is one of these near perfect sites for the special interest user, wich means this is near perfect and cannot be made better imho! -But maybe i´m wrong-so if anybody have something in mind to make this better i would be pleased to know what

[Paul]

Ok..I´ve had a think;

If you mean forums then like this and not just a "lets sell product shop related force it down your throat big bucks" thing

Front of site; a list of scales from 2mm to the biggest, in mm and the 1/72nd , 1/32nd etc next to it

so for instance;

20-25mm (1/72nd)
28mm (1/56) etc
Also a one for busts...there are some amazing bits of work out there which are just heads and shoulders.
Under these, all the usual forums, general, marketplace, forum and help...a bit like here

You click on the scale and it leads you to a forum for that scale divided into bods, planes, vehicles, reviews, tips, dios etc. To do it historically would be the path of madness!!!

The general chat sections cross threaded in every forum...they would be available in each scale section. This would maintain the community feeling without people having to jump out of thier prefered scale section (s) to go into the general community based ones.

Also... a "front of page" button so that if you are interested in more than one scale you wouldn´t have to back tab to get back to the front page.


A dealers section could also be added which would be cross threaded but if the dealer was only selling 28mm it would only be visible in the 28mm forum, if they sold a range of scales, they would be visible across those scale forums. This would save a lot of searching among sellers...


No bloody adverts....they distract like nothing else. They are only there to provide income for forums and to be honest if the dealer is paying for the add...then they should pay to be on the forum..it´s advertising in its self.


Most of all...keep it plain looking...no flashy lights colours...most of us are out of our teens and don´t need visual stimulation and the headaches that go with it. (no insult intended to any of our younger members...I´m sure that your all sensible otherwise you wouldn´t be doing an honourable hobby such as this one)


Basicall, a web page that looks a bit like this except with the addition of a list of scale forums..., click on the scale and you come to a list of forums that look a bit like this for each scale..only some of the more general forums are cross threaded across each scale forum. easy or??


and no flashy lights

[ColeF]

Ditto to Paul's idea.

[poky]

not to much advertisement do mind a couple armorama and cybermodels are a good ones of to much advertisement.
like Pauls idea about forum splits
lots of info and tutorials
manufactures news the more the better sorted by scale
also like tags

[Francesco Giova]

1. A place which makes you feel part of a big, living and working 1/72 community. It's so sad when you feel that you are the only one doing your hobby, that there's no one over there sharing your passion, no one else you can confront with. That is how I was feeling in the 70s, when there was no internet around. Which sends me to point 2 ...
2. Other's people works. I can say that 99% of the progresses I have made over the last 5 years derived from looking at other people's work. Most people tend to think that 1/72 is too small to paint very small details, so it's important to have people who show them how far the limits of 1/72 can go. Which send me to point 3 ...
3. Sharing experience. Which means tutorials.
4. Reviews. PSR is the bible, but PSR's reviews are far from perfect. Users with a particular knowledge on a subjects could post alternative reviews.
5. News. 'nuff said.
6. Reationships with the firms. It's not important. After all, those who care to have a feedback from the users have their own website, those who do not care, well, do not care.
7. Organization. It's not only about the contents, but also about the way you show and give them to the users. Simple, straight, effective, no false roads & closed lanes. PSR is a masterpiece, in my opinion. It looks simple and bare, but it brings you where you want to go in a matter of seconds.

[Benno]

Thank you all for your replies! They're very helpfull. The more ideas the better!

guess, that doesn't really help you, does it?

It does!

@Paul and Francesco:
Thank you for writing such an extensive description. Much appreciated!

[Paul]

@Paul and Francesco:
Thank you for writing such an extensive description. Much appreciated!

If you want more, then ask...I didn´t write about my indepth cross referencing ideas or the possible library idea or the .......................

[Paul]

Not too sure about the new thing where quoted message gets tidied up...look what happened to the above...it turned into nonsense...to make it into sense I would still have to manually delete and copy like before.

[Benno]

If you want more, then ask...I didn´t write about my indepth cross referencing ideas or the possible library idea or the .......................

He he, let your mind go wild. The quote remover removes the quotes within a quote and not the replies. But it works great for your post I'm now quoting.

[Paul]

He he, let your mind go wild. The quote remover removes the quotes within a quote and not the replies. But it works great for your post I'm now quoting.

The quote remover that removes the quotes that were quoted by th quoter??, or is it the quoted persons quotes that get quoted but the quoties quotes don´t???

Let my mind go wild???? OH OH!!!! have you seen the floating island?? Wait till I work out how to do the next one