Moving Mindstorms back to Technic

[Jim]

Hi,

I am contemplating moving Mindstorms back to the Technic forum. Just like Scale Modelling, Mindstorms doesn't generate enough traffic to warrant a dedicated forum. Besides that; sometimes someone needs help building something, which is actually Technic. For example, I am planning on creating a topic for my upcoming robot project. I was planning on posting this is Technic anyway, since the topic will involve asking you guys for building tips and suggestions. This has nothing to do with Mindstorms.

I know there was a bit of resistance when we moved Scale Modelling back to Technic, but at the end of the day, this was hardly an issue for both forums. Worst thing that can happen is that Mindstorms topic get ignored, but they don't generate a lot of traffic in the Mindstorms forum either.

But as with most of these decisions, I do like to hear your thoughts.

[howitzer]

The mechanical side of things was always practically identical between the two, so in that sense there's no point in dividing these in two forums.

Also, I think the distinction between Mindstorms and Technic has become almost meaningless now that we have tons of Technic sets with PU electronics which are programmable much like the Mindstorms.

So yeah, I'm all for combining them in one.

[Jim]

6 minutes ago, howitzer said:

Also, I think the distinction between Mindstorms and Technic has become almost meaningless now that we have tons of Technic sets with PU electronics which are programmable much like the Mindstorms.

Yeah, that is indeed something I hadn't even considered, but the line between Mindstorms and Technic is very thin these days. The hub is even called "Technic Hub" 

[m2fel]

I support to include Mindstorms in the Technic topic as I think it fits well and deserves more attention.

[1gor]

Why not, look from your side also - one less forum for administration and more people have more experience to share with new PU system...

But it is just my humble opinion

[Erik Leppen]

Ask this question in the Mindstorms forum - it's their topics and subcommunity which are about to be migrating.

I don't really care either way.

[JaBaCaDaBra]

Wouldn't Mindstorms drown in the mass of other subjects?
It would be pity if it suffocates

[Jim]

11 minutes ago, Erik Leppen said:

Ask this question in the Mindstorms forum - it's their topics and subcommunity which are about to be migrating.

I don't really care either way.

It has already been mentioned that there's very little traffic. Hence my suggestion to move it back.

5 minutes ago, JaBaCaDaBra said:

Wouldn't Mindstorms drown in the mass of other subjects?
It would be pity if it suffocates

Topics will move to page 2 quickly, but at least they get some exposure. And if the topic is interesting enough there will be some discussion. Currently, there is hardly any discussion in topics.

[HectorMB]

I agree completely. As you mentioned, PU platform is getting in a direction that approaches basic programming and I think merging them could even favor both sides, Mindstorms and Technic. 

 

So, yeah. ;)

[Jay Psi]

The move seems logical to me. From what I remember before the split, Mindstorms topics didn't generate much discussion; hopefully, with the lines between Mindstorms and Technic becoming more blurred, the move back would see more discussion. 

I don't think the relative lack of activity is to the same extent as the scale model forum was (I'm happy to be corrected), but they would definitely receive more attention in the Technic forum.

If the response from the Mindstorms forum is positive, then go for it.

[Jack Sassy]

19 minutes ago, Jim said:

Topics will move to page 2 quickly, but at least they get some exposure. And if the topic is interesting enough there will be some discussion. Currently, there is hardly any discussion in topics.

Not sure if it would work here (and I am not much of a Technic fan meself), but maybe Mindstorms could be made as a subforum of Technic.

[howitzer]

3 minutes ago, Jack Sassy said:

Not sure if it would work here (and I am not much of a Technic fan meself), but maybe Mindstorms could be made as a subforum of Technic.

I don't think that helps the exposure matter much, the topics would still be hidden in another forum.

I think the real problem with having topics seen in the first page is during contests, when the entry topics swamp the forum and there's also more pinned topics than usual, so less space for other stuff. If a subforum is made, I'd vote putting contests there.

[Jim]

12 minutes ago, Jack Sassy said:

Not sure if it would work here (and I am not much of a Technic fan meself), but maybe Mindstorms could be made as a subforum of Technic.

Subforums are like a separate forum, so that won’t help.

5 minutes ago, howitzer said:

I don't think that helps the exposure matter much, the topics would still be hidden in another forum.

I think the real problem with having topics seen in the first page is during contests, when the entry topics swamp the forum and there's also more pinned topics than usual, so less space for other stuff. If a subforum is made, I'd vote putting contests there.

True that. Having a subforum per contest is indeed an interesting experiment. I could try that for this contest.

On the other hand; we would get a ton of subforums. Or simply merge them after the contest.

[Jack Sassy]

7 minutes ago, howitzer said:

I don't think that helps the exposure matter much, the topics would still be hidden in another forum.

 

2 minutes ago, Jim said:

Subforums are like a separate forum, so that won’t help.

Right, didn't think of it that way.

[Mr Jos]

35 minutes ago, Jim said:

It has already been mentioned that there's very little traffic. Hence my suggestion to move it back.

Topics will move to page 2 quickly, but at least they get some exposure. And if the topic is interesting enough there will be some discussion. Currently, there is hardly any discussion in topics.

I'm big in favor to move mindstorms here. In the past I have posted some of my mindstorms projects here (illegal) and got some response. Now my last project in the mindstorms subforum has been like a monologue. I think it would have got more activity if I did post it in Technic, even if it got put to page 2 fast. My update would've put it back on 1 after a few days anyway.

[MinusAndy]

I’d like to learn more about mindstorms so I reckon it’s a solid move.

[HectorMB]

3 minutes ago, MinusAndy said:

I’d like to learn more about mindstorms so I reckon it’s a solid move.

I'm exactly at that point as well.

19 minutes ago, howitzer said:

I think the real problem with having topics seen in the first page is during contests, when the entry topics swamp the forum and there's also more pinned topics than usual, so less space for other stuff. If a subforum is made, I'd vote putting contests there.

I think it's a fantastic idea. Having a subforum during contests themselves and, then, maybe, merging them into a single one might me good indeed.

[howitzer]

1 hour ago, Jim said:

Subforums are like a separate forum, so that won’t help.

True that. Having a subforum per contest is indeed an interesting experiment. I could try that for this contest.

On the other hand; we would get a ton of subforums. Or simply merge them after the contest.

Yep, I was thinking of single subforum for contests, where all the contest-related stuff is posted and which is reused every time there's a new contest. Also a contest-announcement topic in the main forum with links to entry- and voting topics which would be in the subforum.

[Gray Gear]

I think this is a good idea. I never understood why Mindstorms was seperated in the first place. Most Mindstorms builds are basically technic builds with different electronics. I think this will be a good change. 

[GerritvdG]

Seems like a good idea, as a programmer I’m really interested in those creations!

[Lok24]

6 minutes ago, Gray Gear said:

I think this is a good idea. I never understood why Mindstorms was seperated in the first place. Most Mindstorms builds are basically technic builds with different electronics. I think this will be a good change. 

It's not Mindstorms but "Mindstorms and Robotics", and this thas changed with Powered Up, which does not require much technic parts.

Many of the topics related to Powered Up and programming are found in "Train" i.e, perhaps  thats the "mistake"

[Paul B Technic]

To me, this sounds like a great idea.

[Glaysche]

As someone who has posted to both, I’m in favor. The distinction I drew when choosing the topic was mechanical things in Technis (even if it has a Mindstorms hub) and things about the software in Mindstorms.  That distinction does feel arbitrary these days.

[Nazgarot]

Move it over. The more the merrier! 

[Erik Leppen]

I'm not so sure about subforums for the contest. The contest is very much one of the core aspects of the Technic forum. I mean, what's the forum about? Mocs and sets. hat's the contest about? Mocs and building techniques. It fits perfectly. If anything, it's more of what we want than the non-contest stuff. That's why there are contests at all. If contest entry topics swamp the rest, isn't that only good? I mean, finally it's MOC topics swamping the endless discussions about sets we don't like anyway, and finally most of the energy revolves about people actually building stuff :)