h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Guilty by ignorance

h2g2 has had a bad search engine for 5 years, perhaps if it got a decent one it would suddenly because 1000% more useful a site?

as for the community being ignored, i've got nothing against the staff, but the staff team is certainly smaller then it once was, and the website a loss let busy. the fact that i'm a compulsive forum poster and h2g2 doesn't draw me as even a semi-regular posting destination shows there are problems.

Look if me and spook are agreeing then there must be something seriously wrong

Seriously though I have no idea what the itallics/management are up to, but I think their first priority is to the other sites like 606 before h2g2...

Fair dos, I just can't be doing with people making potentially controversial statements without using evidence... It's the Historian in me.

"Look if me and spook are agreeing then there must be something seriously wrong"

true, we haven't agreed on anything in 2 years, either something is wrong or we're both grumpy old men now!


and as for evidence, me and terran not making 100 posts a day is all the evidence needed!!!

Well I think 4 years on h2g2 officially makes me a h2g2 wrinkly ...

4 years? you're still a boy, with a U2 number! 5 years like me, then you can start talking about the young whipper-snappers with their caps and hoodies!

I've lost count on how long I've been on, but the point remains: I used to get to the top 10 posters EASILY just answering backlog. And now? I have 'a' convo to reply to!

As for my statement on wiki: I have long ago given up on using edited entries. I am a molecular scientist, I don't have much practical use for, to name something that popped up recently, an edited entry on sign language in Belgian pubs. Say I need to know the molecular weight of methane. I search hootoo: I get an entry on farts. I use the SMEGGING BROWSER SEACH PLUGIN FOR WIKI!!! I get a huge page with all I'll ever need to know about methane.

The point is, hootoo is quaint. Let's face it, out entries are great fun to read, but have little practical purpose.

That's a pretty apt description of h2g2 and it's purpose there Ralph, this is going to make a few people sick but a lot of the info I got for my last EGE on Jan Ullrich came from Wiki

Right there are three things keeping me on h2g2 ATM, Master B's excellent Phantasy Phootball, Story Time III, and the Post. I did want to do another project but the return has not come to fruition yet...

Anyway, a thought occurs... given that none of these things seem to be of primary importance to the people either in charge, or edited guide type people.... I wonder whether we should take our concerns to Jimster.

I don't mean a petition, I mean just taking our concerns to him, and basically that the situation is getting fairly serious on this side of h2g2... and see what he says... I don't mind taking the concerns, but I'd be interested in hearing what people are genuinely concerned about on h2g2... what do you think?

Well if you see it as a problem, maybe you should, especially if there's an undercurrent of dissatisfaction...

Also, what's an "Edited Guide type person"? I don't really understand the distinction...

Are you sure it's all over hootoo, and not just us old fogies?

*De-lurks so as to be included under the terms of post # 23 )*

I think even by Spook's standards I'm the oldest here.
"Eh? Wassat? Where's me teeth? Weniworralad this were nowt bu' fields." etc.

h2g2 owes it's existence to the bbc - never forget that.
As a commerical enterprise it failed. Ever since then though what h2g2 is, what it stands for, what it is foscussed on and how it ois run and managed has been changing. And I think by universal agreement not all for the better. Things have improved other things have got worse. It amuses me, I'll be honest, when (as far as I'm concerned) new recruits are complaining thigns aren't what they used to be! on those days I *know* I've earnt my smiley.

Loss of enthusiasm for the site is I think common, and we've lost a few researcher to be true, but I think I'll always keep coming back. It'll take something for me to leave h2g2 forever.

Over the past few months whenever people have gone to Jimster with concerns and questions they seem to have been ignored. When there was all the problems with the Profanity Filter people were crying out for a plain english explaination of the hows, where's and why's, Jimster was nowhere to be found and when he did appear all we got was 'The Party Manifesto' aka BBC Doublespeak, In the end I went to Natalie for information, which I got in plain understandable english.

If you want a sensible conversation with an Italic, Ask Natalie

There's very little she'll be able to do about it, after all, this is all very subjective, there's nothing 'wrong' that you can put your finger on.

That's true Ralph but I've noticed that there has been a definate shift towards putting emphesis on the EG and there's a definate animosity towards people who don't contribute to the guide IMO anyway. When I was an ACE we were told by Jimster we HAD to put a piece in our welcome message about writing for the guide,

Well that is the reason for the site to exist...

Yes but it is not the be all and end all of the site, it was once a community it's that community that is dissappearing because it feels like it's not wanted anymore.

Places like Ask and MiscChat are still going strong.

Yeah but have you tried to have a serious debate lately, you either get told it's not an appropriate subject or someone has a fainting fit over some post, goes weeping and wailing to Jimster and the thread gets closed