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Old Forum Archives as a PC+ Draw

mindsongmindsong Posts: 1,755
in The Commons

Throwing a noodle on the wall here, maybe others have some thoughts.

As my PC+ nears/passes expiration without my planning to renew (for now), there is one PC+ feature idea that could draw me back without hesitation: Real and viable access to the old DAZ and likely-to-be-shuttered RDNA forums.

Obviously, the practical reality for DAZ3D is that those old archive resources take $$ (servers/power/backups/IT-energy/bandwidth) to manage and maintain - even if read-only, so free perpetual support of them is probably a lossy activity for DAZ, and losses don't work in the business world. (although I could argue that being 'the' comprehensive center of old and new information is actually a great draw to this site - more-so to me than any freebies.)

So, given that the PC+ is a pay-for subscription, I assert that having the PC+ subscriptions help fund the re-activation, (and possible migration) of the old forums, wikis, and tutorials that are so absolutely rich with information - most of which is thematically timeless, even if version-wise dated - would be a win-win for both parties involved in this community. Such access would be a $ub$cription draw for some of us who would otherwise not subscribe currently having not-much-reason to do so, and DAZ wouldn't have to bear the entire $$ brunt of managing this service. Access would be limited to PC+ members - but the access would need to be 'done right',l in that the content and images would have to be displayed correctly, etc., so it would take some effort to revive it.

Sure, the grumblers would say it needs to be revived and always free, but unless they pay for the service (and everything else PC+ gives them), let 'em grumble!

I, for one, value my time, good-understanding, and progress in my projects much more than freebies and $1.99 V4 outfits these days, so information is a real draw for me as I go through the same learning problems that zillions of DAZ-ers have already gone through and discussed (in the new and old forums) at length before. I'd pay to save time, increase understanding, and have more success in my projects.

I'll stick a 'jab' in here about the complete and dismal failure of DAZ to really document their software's abilities and subtlties. The number of how-tos and tricks that are ONLY available in the old and current forums bears out this assertion... The 'community documentation' model that DAZ has adopted was severely damaged when all of that priceless knowledge on the old forum-server was removed from our worlds, yet good and willing folks continue to help others and share their knowledge in the these forums on a daily basis. Thank heavens for that.

In summary, to bring the old forums back (read-only) as a PC+ perk might also be a real win for DAZ as PC+ membership additions and retention may increase ($$$), and the older information would again be available, Perhaps user complaints and re-asking of repeated classsic questions may actually go down. Add to this, the users (both Poser and DS) would be HERE at daz3d.com, soaking up good information, making better renders, and buying lots-and-lots more content from DAZ3D.

 

yes/no/maybe?

--ms

Comments

  • ChuckdozerChuckdozer Posts: 453

    I'd come back if they still had the "Pay Monthly" option... but I'm not holding my breath.

  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,711
    Chuckdozer said:

    I'd come back if they still had the "Pay Monthly" option... but I'm not holding my breath.

    They do have a monthly option, only the initial signup is 3-month minimum (since there's no sign-up fee anymore).  After the first 3 months you can go to monthly.

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 10,307

    Well there's software out there that can grab a whole site or whatever parts of it you want, you could try that if all else fails.

  • mindsongmindsong Posts: 1,755

    I manually do that for the products I buy, as they sometimes 'go away', but this is more a suggestion to recover/save howto information I don't yet realize I need 'til I get there, so 'saving the internet' for future reference would be the best answer, but even with today's cheap storage, where to start?... heh.

    Also, sites like 'forumarchive.daz3d.com' aren't there to grab anymore, so for the current newbees grabbing the site is no longer plausible, and they're the ones that would probably benefir the most. (even after tis many years, I'm still a newbee... sigh.)

    FWIW @taozen, your tools solve part of this problem nicely.

     

    cheers,

    --ms

     

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 10,307
    mindsong said:

    I manually do that for the products I buy, as they sometimes 'go away', but this is more a suggestion to recover/save howto information I don't yet realize I need 'til I get there, so 'saving the internet' for future reference would be the best answer, but even with today's cheap storage, where to start?... heh.

    Also, sites like 'forumarchive.daz3d.com' aren't there to grab anymore, so for the current newbees grabbing the site is no longer plausible, and they're the ones that would probably benefir the most. (even after tis many years, I'm still a newbee... sigh.)

    Who knows, maybe DAZ might reopen it if there are enough requests.

    mindsong said:

    FWIW @taozen, your tools solve part of this problem nicely.

    Thanks!

  • cherpenbeckcherpenbeck Posts: 1,417

    I would definitely appreciate access to the old forum.

  • mindsongmindsong Posts: 1,755

    I suppose finding out how many of us would 'pay' for that service is the question, and keeping PC+ members subscribing is the only way I can see that they could do it in a practical manner. Like I said, my current use of the club is diminishing over time, but I' d be all in if I had access to that old but useful info.

    Not much traction here... but we can hope.

    --ms

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