- Joined
- May 1, 2013
- Messages
- 844
Lot of smarter folks on this forum, so I'll hold off on providing any recommendation to changing the current process/format.
However, I'd like to point out one observation in hopes of providing some perspective. My humble view is that the issues we've seen this past week (1. non-sanctioned sales by a non-gold member, 2. frustration driven denouncement of FBF upon lost opportunity, and 3. violation of shark rules [though this may be contested by some] and the subsequent discovery of the forum's editing/time stamp issue) is a result of how popular FB knives have gotten during the past year, in which the demand greatly surpassed the availability.
Though I can honestly say FB is my favorite of all knife makers, I got into knives coming from the perspective of a bushcraft student (meaning, I like to try suitable knives for bushcrafting from various knife makers). Hence, my desire to procure FB knives has never reached those of many others, and I was able to observe the phenomenon from a relatively neutral perspective. So let’s look at the history, FBF same time last year was not the same as how it's been for the past several months. Back then, one could post "I'll take xxxx" within 5-10 minutes of the original posting by Andy, and have a pretty good chance of landing the purchase. Nowadays, it's not uncommon to see a handful of posts within a minute of the original post. The "competition" has gotten that much stronger. And it’s natural for this type of environment to further fuel that desire. And when such amp’d up desires aren’t satiated, we’re going to have people getting frustrated and inadvertently offending one another. I myself have recently experienced a spike in that desire, and decided to check myself starting this week. Not telling anyone to do this, but just trying to delineate how I perceive things have gotten a bit testy.
There’s also an upside to this spike in demand though (besides the obvious boost in sales). Just about all the new members have assimilated themselves with existing members, and I believe we created a pretty cool online community (I love reading through people's collections, what they're listening to, what they're cooking, etc.). Let’s face it, we know this passion of ours isn’t normal, and it’s great to share some thoughts with like-minded individuals.
Regardless of whether the format will change or not, my sincere hope is we can continue to respect and be cordial to one another. And for anyone who had any issue with Andy & co. through this debacle, let’s give them a break. They’re hard working artisans who now have to deal with the complications of a growing business, and there’s going to be some growing pains. For us, this is our hobbies and passions, for them, this is also their livelihood.
However, I'd like to point out one observation in hopes of providing some perspective. My humble view is that the issues we've seen this past week (1. non-sanctioned sales by a non-gold member, 2. frustration driven denouncement of FBF upon lost opportunity, and 3. violation of shark rules [though this may be contested by some] and the subsequent discovery of the forum's editing/time stamp issue) is a result of how popular FB knives have gotten during the past year, in which the demand greatly surpassed the availability.
Though I can honestly say FB is my favorite of all knife makers, I got into knives coming from the perspective of a bushcraft student (meaning, I like to try suitable knives for bushcrafting from various knife makers). Hence, my desire to procure FB knives has never reached those of many others, and I was able to observe the phenomenon from a relatively neutral perspective. So let’s look at the history, FBF same time last year was not the same as how it's been for the past several months. Back then, one could post "I'll take xxxx" within 5-10 minutes of the original posting by Andy, and have a pretty good chance of landing the purchase. Nowadays, it's not uncommon to see a handful of posts within a minute of the original post. The "competition" has gotten that much stronger. And it’s natural for this type of environment to further fuel that desire. And when such amp’d up desires aren’t satiated, we’re going to have people getting frustrated and inadvertently offending one another. I myself have recently experienced a spike in that desire, and decided to check myself starting this week. Not telling anyone to do this, but just trying to delineate how I perceive things have gotten a bit testy.
There’s also an upside to this spike in demand though (besides the obvious boost in sales). Just about all the new members have assimilated themselves with existing members, and I believe we created a pretty cool online community (I love reading through people's collections, what they're listening to, what they're cooking, etc.). Let’s face it, we know this passion of ours isn’t normal, and it’s great to share some thoughts with like-minded individuals.
Regardless of whether the format will change or not, my sincere hope is we can continue to respect and be cordial to one another. And for anyone who had any issue with Andy & co. through this debacle, let’s give them a break. They’re hard working artisans who now have to deal with the complications of a growing business, and there’s going to be some growing pains. For us, this is our hobbies and passions, for them, this is also their livelihood.
