poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by James.k.Polk Fri Sep 18, 2015 3:36 pm

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Post n°1

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by James.k.Polk Fri Sep 18, 2015 3:36 pm

Patch wrote:

theIllustriousDrGonzo wrote: I don't know how anyone else feels but at this point I consider you all my friends.

NebulaJack wrote:. I'm glad to know you guys, and even if TR never returns to it's glory days, I'll enjoy hanging out with you guys.

One of us ought to write (and submit for publication) a blog post or essay titled "Ten reasons why longtime readers are unhappy with the changes at Topless Robot that have nothing to do with Misogyny"

I'll start:

The name Topless Robot reflected the kind of humor found on the site. It was naughty. It was subversive. But in the end it was just a name. We were all in on the joke and even if we had to explain to our boss or an IT department that there was no porn to be found here it was all OK. Now the world has changed and we can no longer have the name because we're afraid we'll be called misogynistic? As Penn and Teller would say-- "that is bullsh*t"

Speaking of humor...

Where has it gone? I'm not one of those people who bitch that "the site sucks since Rob left." I Like Luke. I was one of the first people who insisted that we should give him the chance to make the site his own without being compared to the editor who'd gone before. I do wish, however, that Luke would invest in some more humorous articles from his contributors. I miss the bad movie FAQ articles. I'm fully aware that copying that would be a borderline case of intellectual property theft, but I still think a stronger attempt to make with the funny is in order.

Corporate Weenieism

Remember when Luke's corporate weenie bosses invited us all to an open thread where we spitballed ideas to make the site "better"? Remember how they said our community was unique among the Intertubes and they wanted to nurture and encourage that spirit? That all seems pretty patronizing considering how ever since that moment they've done nothing but dismantle the functionality that encouraged our participation.

I get that Livefyre was too expensive. But replacing it with the most generic and glitchy Facebook comments system was the dumbest thing I've ever seen. How can they not see that inviting us to use a platform that mimics the features they deleted only reminds us that we DO NOT NEED their comments sections to communicate with one another. It would be like me telling my customers at Celll Phone Mining Corp, Inc that AT&T also offers some pretty cool iPads and while I'd like to continue being their phone provider, they should probably look for tablet solutions elsewhere.

OK that's three reasons. Someone get me the other seven and we'll submit it it. Hell you can even have the byline and the "paycheck" if the article makes publication

by **Patch** Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:12 am

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Post n°2

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by Patch Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:12 am

theIllustriousDrGonzo wrote: I don't know how anyone else feels but at this point I consider you all my friends.

NebulaJack wrote:. I'm glad to know you guys, and even if TR never returns to it's glory days, I'll enjoy hanging out with you guys.

by NebulaJack Thu Sep 17, 2015 11:45 pm

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Post n°3

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by NebulaJack Thu Sep 17, 2015 11:45 pm

theIllustriousDrGonzo wrote:It is what it is...It sucks but at least we still have this and the facebook group page. I don't think just because the old site is gone means we all should quit talking to each other. I don't know how anyone else feels but at this point I consider you all my friends. The golden age of the site is long dead and gone, but that was to be expected. I don't go there as much as I used to, and I'm starting to get back to the old days when I didn't comment due to other commenters, etc. The name change has opened us up to more traffic, which means the io9 type crowd will start seeping in and that awesome community we all built is practically gone..But yeah..It is what it is.

I can agree with that. The thing that kept me sticking around the site was the comment threads. Even after I stumbled onto becoming a paid contributor to the site (I didn't even realize the people writing the list articles got paid until after my first pitch was approved), the community was more satisfying than the money. I'm glad to know you guys, and even if TR never returns to it's glory days, I'll enjoy hanging out with you guys.

by theIllustriousDrGonzo Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:27 pm

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Post n°4

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by theIllustriousDrGonzo Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:27 pm

It is what it is...It sucks but at least we still have this and the facebook group page. I don't think just because the old site is gone means we all should quit talking to each other. I don't know how anyone else feels but at this point I consider you all my friends. The golden age of the site is long dead and gone, but that was to be expected. I don't go there as much as I used to, and I'm starting to get back to the old days when I didn't comment due to other commenters, etc. The name change has opened us up to more traffic, which means the io9 type crowd will start seeping in and that awesome community we all built is practically gone..But yeah..It is what it is.

by rkwsuperstar Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:08 pm

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Post n°5

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by rkwsuperstar Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:08 pm

James.k.Polk wrote:

kegs wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:

Nope.
I'd have to care to be grumpy. I've stopped caring about TR. and that makes me sad

I'm there with you. They may have a wider readership, but I suspect it's a much shallower one. And letting the loyal base "subscribers" wander off is rarely a good idea.

The new commenters are definitely more mean-spirited. It's one thing to disagree and have a lively discussion and it's another to start calling people names.

by James.k.Polk Thu Sep 17, 2015 11:44 am

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Post n°6

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by James.k.Polk Thu Sep 17, 2015 11:44 am

kegs wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:

Nope.
I'd have to care to be grumpy. I've stopped caring about TR. and that makes me sad

I'm there with you. They may have a wider readership, but I suspect it's a much shallower one. And letting the loyal base "subscribers" wander off is rarely a good idea.

by **kegs** Thu Sep 17, 2015 11:30 am

kegs

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Post n°7

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by kegs Thu Sep 17, 2015 11:30 am

rkwsuperstar wrote:

Nope.
I'd have to care to be grumpy. I've stopped caring about TR. and that makes me sad

poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot Giphy

by **Patch** Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:55 am

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Post n°8

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by Patch Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:55 am

rkwsuperstar wrote:

Per a response post on the FB Haunt (I believe the original post was by Bryce/Stormy), LYT says they are keeping the domain toplessrobot.com so it will re-direct to the new site.

I saw that. Last night there was a bandwidth exceeded message at TRV as well. I guess they were changing servers.

by rkwsuperstar Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:33 am

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Post n°9

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by rkwsuperstar Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:33 am

NebulaJack wrote:

Patch wrote:I understand the reason it was done. Luke did what he felt he had to do. I'm sure it will evolve a bit as he tries new things.

I'm not a fan of the layout, but I haven't spent much time there. I see lots of old stories and only a couple of the days stories. I didn't bother searching for the ones I missed today. That needs to be fixed, or I'll just skip what I don;t see.

II don't think it will ever be what it used to be, but I don't think creating a hangout for the 8-10 of us to post random crap was Luke's goal. I'm glad we had because I got to meet all of you. I wish we still had the old haunt, but it is what it is.

I did try the site while typing this and it's down. Probably North Korea hacked it because of the name change.

I just went there, and there's a message saying it's been registered by NetNames. Someone may have cyber squatted it. It also occurs to me that the domain coming up for renewal may have played a part in the timing of the site change. At the very least, I would think that Voice Media should want to hold onto the domain for a few months and have it redirect to therobotsvoice.com so that people looking for TR will get to the right spot.

Per a response post on the FB Haunt (I believe the original post was by Bryce/Stormy), LYT says they are keeping the domain toplessrobot.com so it will re-direct to the new site.

by NebulaJack Wed Sep 16, 2015 11:02 pm

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Post n°10

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by NebulaJack Wed Sep 16, 2015 11:02 pm

Patch wrote:I understand the reason it was done. Luke did what he felt he had to do. I'm sure it will evolve a bit as he tries new things.

I'm not a fan of the layout, but I haven't spent much time there. I see lots of old stories and only a couple of the days stories. I didn't bother searching for the ones I missed today. That needs to be fixed, or I'll just skip what I don;t see.

II don't think it will ever be what it used to be, but I don't think creating a hangout for the 8-10 of us to post random crap was Luke's goal. I'm glad we had because I got to meet all of you. I wish we still had the old haunt, but it is what it is.

I did try the site while typing this and it's down. Probably North Korea hacked it because of the name change.

I just went there, and there's a message saying it's been registered by NetNames. Someone may have cyber squatted it. It also occurs to me that the domain coming up for renewal may have played a part in the timing of the site change. At the very least, I would think that Voice Media should want to hold onto the domain for a few months and have it redirect to therobotsvoice.com so that people looking for TR will get to the right spot.

by **Patch** Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:07 pm

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Post n°11

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by Patch Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:07 pm

I understand the reason it was done. Luke did what he felt he had to do. I'm sure it will evolve a bit as he tries new things.

I'm not a fan of the layout, but I haven't spent much time there. I see lots of old stories and only a couple of the days stories. I didn't bother searching for the ones I missed today. That needs to be fixed, or I'll just skip what I don;t see.

II don't think it will ever be what it used to be, but I don't think creating a hangout for the 8-10 of us to post random crap was Luke's goal. I'm glad we had because I got to meet all of you. I wish we still had the old haunt, but it is what it is.

I did try the site while typing this and it's down. Probably North Korea hacked it because of the name change.

by NebulaJack Wed Sep 16, 2015 2:59 pm

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Post n°12

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by NebulaJack Wed Sep 16, 2015 2:59 pm

I find it amusing that one of the things Luke talked up in the explanational post is the ability to search by Authors and find the work of the writers you like best. I find this amusing, because around half of the articles listed under my name weren't written by me.

by James.k.Polk Wed Sep 16, 2015 2:55 pm

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Post n°13

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by James.k.Polk Wed Sep 16, 2015 2:55 pm

It's generic layout bothers me.

It's harder to see/tell when a new post is published. The Glitchy ass comment system half the time doesn't load at all on my mobile devices. The logo looks like a junior jigs art project. The focus of the site seems to be 80%toy collecting and 15% wrestling news. Those are two topics that I'm not remotely interested in. I feel like they're trying for a wider audience but losing all the depth.

by rkwsuperstar Wed Sep 16, 2015 2:50 pm

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Post n°14

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by rkwsuperstar Wed Sep 16, 2015 2:50 pm

by rkwsuperstar Wed Sep 16, 2015 2:47 pm

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Post n°15

Re: poll 9-16-15 Topless-less Robot

by rkwsuperstar Wed Sep 16, 2015 2:47 pm

I don't care for the new name. I sort of get why he wanted to change it, and I don't have a problem with it being changed but I don't like what it was changed to. And while I understand a question about the "topless" part, I don't believe it's that difficult to explain your name, because what is the explanation for io9? Some reference I don't get because I don't read comics?

I hate the new logo. It burns my retinas.

I hate the home page design. I hate the auto drop downs that obscure what you were trying to click on or look at.

I still dislike the new motto.

by NebulaJack Wed Sep 16, 2015 2:32 pm

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Post n°16