Is it just me?

[gwpriester]

Since this conference began several years ago, and before TalkGraphics.com when it was the Xara Conference on the late, great, i-us.com, I have been amazed at how well the members get along with one another. The degree of co-operation between the members and the unselfish help and sharing of information has, from the beginning, been incredible. The Xara conferences have always been marked by a lack of axe-grinding, egoism and friction.

Recently, however, it seems we have had an influx of persons, who post anonymously, provide no identification or means of contact, and seem bent upon stirring up trouble and starting arguments. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed this?

Instead of a conference where people help other people learn how to use Xara, a lot of the recent posts now are aimed at discrediting Xara. Have you noticed that? Or is it just me?

I have noticed that people who post anonymously, that is provide no contact information except a User name, tend as a rule to be more disruptive. And while debate is a good and necessary thing in any conference, in my opinion, a great deal of anonymous posts border on being rude and mean-spirited as opposed to being productive and useful.

It is the same thing when some people get behind the wheel of a automobile. They suddenly become a more aggressive and hostile within the anonymous confines of their automobiles. Face to face they are more docile and less argumentative.

I wonder if it would make sense to require all members of this conference to provide valid e-mail addresses before they can participate? The WELL, (www.well.com) one of the first on-line conferences does this, and it tends to keep the conferences more focused and more honest. People don't just shoot off nasty comments knowing no one will know who really posted them.

I know a lot of people don't want their e-mail addresses on the Internet because of the SPAM that often results. But you can always add NO-SPAM to your e-mail address in your Profile, e.g. gary@NO-SPAMgwpriester.com. Conference visitors can edit out the NO-SPAM and then send private messages, questions, comments, to other members.

What do you think?

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person

<a href="http://www.gwpriester.com">
www.gwpriester.com </a>


The Xara Xone

[gwpriester]

Since this conference began several years ago, and before TalkGraphics.com when it was the Xara Conference on the late, great, i-us.com, I have been amazed at how well the members get along with one another. The degree of co-operation between the members and the unselfish help and sharing of information has, from the beginning, been incredible. The Xara conferences have always been marked by a lack of axe-grinding, egoism and friction.

Recently, however, it seems we have had an influx of persons, who post anonymously, provide no identification or means of contact, and seem bent upon stirring up trouble and starting arguments. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed this?

Instead of a conference where people help other people learn how to use Xara, a lot of the recent posts now are aimed at discrediting Xara. Have you noticed that? Or is it just me?

I have noticed that people who post anonymously, that is provide no contact information except a User name, tend as a rule to be more disruptive. And while debate is a good and necessary thing in any conference, in my opinion, a great deal of anonymous posts border on being rude and mean-spirited as opposed to being productive and useful.

It is the same thing when some people get behind the wheel of a automobile. They suddenly become a more aggressive and hostile within the anonymous confines of their automobiles. Face to face they are more docile and less argumentative.

I wonder if it would make sense to require all members of this conference to provide valid e-mail addresses before they can participate? The WELL, (www.well.com) one of the first on-line conferences does this, and it tends to keep the conferences more focused and more honest. People don't just shoot off nasty comments knowing no one will know who really posted them.

I know a lot of people don't want their e-mail addresses on the Internet because of the SPAM that often results. But you can always add NO-SPAM to your e-mail address in your Profile, e.g. gary@NO-SPAMgwpriester.com. Conference visitors can edit out the NO-SPAM and then send private messages, questions, comments, to other members.

What do you think?

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person

<a href="http://www.gwpriester.com">
www.gwpriester.com </a>


The Xara Xone

[Lone Wolf]

I must admit that I may come off rather blunt, but I believe that the reason for it is that my native tounge is not English, and that I am always to the point.

However, I have not written a single word in this forum, which I don't back 100% (and here's my e-mail if you find that important: tball@NOSPAMtiscali.se).

I also feel alot of people seem overly protective of this very fine, but sadly outdated product.

I came here to discuss techniques, and was basically told "get over it" (and even though I repeated my questions and tried to steer the conversation, it didn't help much).

I see people complain about lack of support, and people respond with something along the lines "well WE can live without it".

I even helped out a guy, and was called "uninventive" by you! I mean, it was a beginner and I provided him with the easiest answer.

[dalel]

There will always be those who like to stir up trouble.

I wish those who were dissatisfied would take a more positive attitude, trying to SOLVE problems or develop workarounds instead of just criticizing, but that's just me.

Xara X is still the fastest, most intuitive and easiest to use vector graphics app in the entire world. It produces the most outstanding anti-aliasing I've ever seen. The jpeg compression/quality could be better, but I can work around that and some of the other Xara shortcomings.

I wouldn't even THINK of using anything else to initially build my graphics, even my beloved Photoshop. Xara X is just so much FASTER to use than anything else, and the output is first class!

I hate being forced to use Illustrator for something Xara cannot do.

If only all software were designed to be as quick and easy to use as Xara X.

I think its a great idea to require a correct name, address, and valid email for registration. That might even screen out some of the spammers!

http://talkgraphics.infopop.net/1/Op...&ul=1101906325
Why, I’m afraid I can’t explain myself, sir, because I’m not myself, you know...
- Lewis Carroll

[Squeaky]

The email idea makes a lot of sense. To be honest I thought that you had to do that anyway.



Home sweet home:
Http://www.squeakypics.co.uk
http://www.xaraxone.com/FeaturedArt/dc3/index.htm
http://www.lostmarble.com/moho/gallery/

[ivan louette]

I think this e-mail idea is the right thing !

kindly,
ivan

[Ross Macintosh]

what sometimes happens is people sometimes post thinking this forum is managed by Xara. It isn't. Although the hosting costs are paid by Xara Ltd., the forums are really just user-managed and Xara has little to no involvement in them.

Because some of those people assume this is some kind of official Xara site, they often post with an attitude that seems to say "prove to me that this is the software I need". I think most would agree that a person can use whatever software they want. Just because we like Xara X doesn't mean we need to prove it is right for people we don't know - we aren't mind readers. That said, many users do go out of their way to help the new participants. Almost as often as not, that generosity is not acknowledged by the new participants.

Because this isn't a official Xara site, posting here to complain about lack of service won't accomplish anything. Regular users know that. I think we also know how frustrating lack of service can be and really feel frustrated by our inability to help. The problem is that such threads focus on service (beyond anyone here's control) and not on the actual problem that might have led to the service issue. Instead of starting a negative bitching thread the poster could have just stated the actual problem and perhaps someone could help with an answer. That result makes everyone feel good: the problem gets resolved, the helper feels helpful, and the rest of us learn something. Nice and positive.

I sympathize with Gary about the observations he raises. Those of us who participate regularly (a couple of dozen of us) seem to do so because of the spirit of helpfulness and the creativity we can encourage in one another. When things stray from that usual course it puts a knot in my gut and I'm sure others feel the same way. I personally have way too much stress in my life to enjoy stress here. I generally participate as a stress reliever.

I know some enjoy the excitement of a good argument but unfortunately forum arguments are rarely resolved and usually degrade. A problem with forum arguments is that nobody can ever get in the "last word". As they try, pleasant debates quickly give way to ugliness. Unfortunately, when things get negative, the bad vibe seems infectious and soon even the most generous and kind among us start displaying a short fuse. Negativity begets greater negativity. At such moments some of us question why we participate and feel rather tired.

At the times I feel like that, I look back over old postings and enjoy the wonderful threads I find. It always gives me the strength to move beyond my own negativity and I feel renewed. I look forward to the next period of the forum and hope the new participants will join us old regulars in having some fun.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[jclements]

I understand the reluctance to give one's email address because of spamming, etc.

However, I do feel that if one wants to take advangtage of using public forums then they have the responsibility to give their email addresses in order to Post.

That SAID, I wonder if a valid email address could be a requirement of REGISTRATION but it would be an OPTION to have it shown in your profile. That way the moderators could always contact the initiator of a post (or forward messages to them) if necessary, but the initiator could have a reasonable amount of protection from spammers.

[roman]

Gary, Ross, you have writthen some very good points here. Especially the fact that some of the threads started doesn't solve anything and aren't productive. I usually check this forum more than once a day but I don't know since when I didn't see anything really special. We are wasting too much time discussing with people who missed a lot of great tricks we all have learned during the months/years of using the Xara products. If they did spend more time digging back in the forumes they could discover many great things. Maybe they would post their own tricks too ;-).

In this unproductive and demotivating atmosphere I don't feel like posting and showing off my Xara-made stuff. Like first ever print work I've done in Xara (printed out to .ps file without any flaws http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif Or one quite cool pop-art trick which I have in my pockets since ages.

At least I have one good news from my side. I found I girl I fell in love with. Thanx for supporting words I received from you Ross sometimes in deep past ;-).

Over to LoneWolf ;-)

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lone Wolf:
I must admit that I may come off rather blunt, but I believe that the reason for it is that my native tounge is not English, and that I am always to the point.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's okay. You've already proven that you at least runned Xara couple of times already. I'm sure when you will get used to it you will love it as much as other fanboys here ;-))

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I also feel alot of people seem overly protective of this very fine, but sadly outdated product.

I see people complain about lack of support, and people respond with something along the lines "well WE can live without it".

I even helped out a guy, and was called "uninventive" by you! I mean, it was a beginner and I provided him with the easiest answer.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm afraid I can't explain that very reasonably, but as I'm working with Xara for years already I know how to do most things with xara-tools where other software packages have separate tools for them. And it's the main reason why I use Xara in all my design work. For me working with Xara is the same feeling as sketching on the paper with pencil. It's the fastest way to put my ideas on screen. Combined work with bitmap editor is often necessary, but the main work is from 90% processed in Xara. I suppose most users here who don't complain about Xara and don't request updates are people who feel similar like me, they are used to this tool and can get along with it even in the hardest situations. That's why you often get that weird answer that "we can live without it" ;-)

Roman

[RAMWolff44]

and enforced in order to join the forum but and there is a BUT, there must be an option to have it NOT be displayed so as the awful web bots will come and take it and begin to put you on a list to receive emails to enlarge ones penis and make it with the bored married housewife. I can't stand the idea of allowing that sort openness. Sharing your private information between members that you have a connection with is one thing but sort of openness often provides the previously mentioned results and I for one do not feel like traveling down that road again, took me a long time and a change of email address to get it 'fixed'.

As for Lone Wolf, I find your questions valid but a bit biting (like a Wolf http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif ) at times. Maybe it IS that the English language is just not your native language and that is the reason and/or you simply are VERY direct and forward? It is my understanding that the members at TalkGraphics have been as helpful as they know how to be while maintaining a modicum of patience and kindness towards you. We are not with holding information from you and if we knew how you would know too. I don't recall anyone telling you to "get over it and just live with it". We are ALL waiting for a newer version of XaraX to be released. While some are happy enough with the way it is there are those of us that wish for some bug fixes and some new features, and there is nothing wrong with that, all valid. Relax Wolf, we do not bite and are genuine and friendly towards those that return this attitude in kind. For those spammers and $hit disturbers that come in here to stir the pot, watch out this Wolff bites and barks and the whole 9 yards!! http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

And true enough Roman, there are those that have not been all that positive about XaraX over the last few months but hey, at least we got Xara Ltd. to take notice and realize there is a strong user base and now that Kate has spoken I for one will shut my trap and be patient. Sorry if the heavy discussions have deterred you from attending. http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Richard http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

---Wolff On The Prowl---