I just noticed that 2 messaged, one a request for beta testers and the other discussing the technical feasability of a prop, that may be related to a product were moved to the Product SHOWCASE forum. Neither thread mentioned a product by name but were general in nature. I for one, believe that the Poser forum moderators are being a bit "trigger happy" an I am requesting that they concider the true nature of the post before sending it to waste bandwidth in the Product SHOWCASE forum, which, unless I'm mistaken is for the SHOWCASING of new products not any thread the Poser forum doesn't want. Thank you Mike

IN a rather pleasant discussion via Im with Shoshanna concerning the moving of threads to the Showcase forum she send me the following message, which I quote with her permission... You have a good point there and I will pass on your comment regarding the Product Showcase becoming 'cluttered'. We do have a Developers forum here (Topic forums drop down bar) and that may be a more appropriate place to move such threads to in the future, but it is read by very few people and I assume that this is why merchants seldom use it. "I have previously requested permission to let merchant WIP stay in the Poser Forum but at the time was told they needed to be moved. Perhaps a different forum (such as the developer forum)more suited than Product Showcase could be the answer. Regards, Shoshanna Renderosity Moderator." I would like to ammend my small rant and request that threads not specific to a particular commercial product, but still related in general to developing commercial products be placed in the Developer Forum as a more appropriate venue. Mike

Developer forum?!..thats one place I never go,lol. It is a fine line posting anything remotely commercial here,even if it's just a call for opinions..mention 'commercial' & your out of here! anything product related I just put in showcase,regardless of whether its a 'what should I make next' thread or a full on advertisement.better safe than sorry,I guess people like posting to te Poser forum because its one of the most visted forums here. However,'technical feasability of a prop'..I think that one should have been left here,even though its a commercial product it is a technical question,alot of people might find it as usefull info. Cheers -Stefan

I viewed both those threads and, IMHO, don't think either should have been moved.

The need to move posts to the Product Showcase previously has always been related to posts actively marketing a product either by "showcasing" the product in the thread or by seeking "improvement" ideas or "product opinions" via WIPs.

A call for beta tester's and a request for help with a technical issue seem appropriate topics for the Poser Forum. Both requests were made very discretely by the two Merchants. There was no "hype" or "marketing" being done.

How is a Merchant supposed to find beta tester's for a Poser Product if they can't get to the Poser Users, especially since the majority of Poser Users frequent the Poser Forum?

The Poser Forum has always been the place to go with technical questions. Whatever technical issues a Merchant may be having...non-Merchants may also have and benefit from the discussion as well.

Let's not forget that many of the people that provide us with technical assistance are Merchants, why shouldn't they be allowed the same opportunity for assitance as any other member?

There's a developers forum? Wow. However, since I'm a developer, and just heard about it, I hardly think most of the potential beta tester pool goes there, or really has any reason to go there. The Poser forum is where Poser users look, often to the exclusion of all the other forums. Looking anywhere else cuts the number of potential testers down. Heading to the Developers forum now to see what it's like...

Devlopers forum? How about anamie-magna forum.

Well, I started this and for some of the same reasons you all are stating and also because I LIKE the Showcase forum and hate to see it turned into the "Anything Not Concidered Appropriate for the Poser" Forum. However, I do think that some of these issues could be handeled in the Developer's Forum, if we all start using it. Seems a nice place to go to discuss the technical side of making Commercial items, which I would like to see since I have some questions of my own. I think it's a shame for the resto of the Poser community to loose out on those discussions but... I DO still disagree about the beta testers since this site requires beta testing and there isn't a bigger audience than the Poser forum. Maybe if we populate the Developer's forum the Poser Moderaters will let us post blurbs POINTING to real Posts in that Forum. From what I see this site is dead set against loosening up on the Poser forum rules so, if we want to be here, and we want to discuss the technical side of Comercial items then we need to find a way to do that in the rules. mike

Unfortunately, "developers" are not the people one usually is hoping to sign on as beta-testers, so I don't see how moving the thread there would be much help. I don't go to any forum--except extremely rarely--except this one. It sounds like I'm not the only one. So effectively a request for testers has nowhere to go. A good compromise, I think, when the post is not a blatant attempt to get around the "no advertising" rule, is to leave a link here. If the actual thread is elsewhere, then a link that says "Looking for testers" at least let's me know there something interesting somewhere else. And you know what? Telling me there's something interesting somewhere else in this direct way is a good approach to getting me to look at some of the other forums. Mick

That's a good solution for "looking for testers" mickmca, one that most of us could probably live with. Now if only a Mod or Admin would "pop" into this thread and make let us know their feelings about this.

I am not sure what you all mean by beta tester but if I can help you out please feel free to give me a shout via an IM here I am happy to help any of my fellow artists here any way I can.

Message edited on: 08/04/2004 14:30

We try to leave a link up when we move posts but sometimes we forget as we are only human :O) I think that is a great suggestion and will post it to the coordinators to make sure if they move something to leave a link. SndCastie Poser Forum Moderator

we are only human Oh, that's what you'd like us to think, I'm sure... ;-) bonni

We try :O) SndCastie