Some more 'minor' changes.

[Golden Phoenix]

I think the Lego forum is great. It is more of a reflection that there is a big group of Lego fans here.
And I don't get the big deal. It's not like you are being forced to look at it or it's posts, so it doesn't really effect you.

Plus there is an advantage. Since non-registered users can post, they could find this place, through the Lego forum and join to be part of that, and then get a liking for Transformers and join that fandom too. It has worked pretty much the other way around so far with people stumbling into the Lego topics and getting interested in it

[jacksplatt11]

Hey Griffin, the new, smaller logo is a big improvement. Cheers.

Agreed, much nicer and looking great

[Golden Phoenix]

Hey Griffin, the new, smaller logo is a big improvement. Cheers.

It is, I liked the green and gold at the bottom of it though...

[kup]

Yeah the logo is a massive improvement although the name is a little comboluted

Ozformers Transformers Collectors Australia


Something nice and simpler or just an acronym would be better.

In regards to other toy lines, I have to agree with Gok, it will become somewhat messy to have dedicated sections to cater specifically to other toy lines and may cause this board to loose focus when it comes to Transformers by attracting members who have an exclusive interest in lego or another toy line with no wish in getting involved with Transformer related activities.

The simplest way to cater to other fan interests would be to have a 'one for all others' section like the Misc section previously. That way someone who wishes to share something not related to Transformers can do so without moving the board focus away from Transformers unless the goal of these changes is to expand the board community to become less focused on transformers and more of a 'general toy collector' board.

[GoktimusPrime]

Also, Griffin does all the work and everything and maintains the board etc apart from delegating the moderation, so he can pretty much do whatever he wants haha

Of course. I'm merely voicing my opinions about some of the changes made. Speaking of which...

Hey Griffin, the new, smaller logo is a big improvement. Cheers.

I agree. Still not a big fan of the black background though. Would it be possible to make it "clear" or possibly bring those green and gold stripes back as the background?

People will post regardless of weather there is a lego section or not. The only thing it may 'dilute' is the post counts, slightly i might add. All its doing IMO is bringing a few threads together and placing them in an easier to access place. Considering this is primarily a transformers board, i doubt many if any people will join just to intersect in the lego section, because even though it now has its own 'section' as it were, its essentially no bigger than it was last week.

I would also like to hear how you think this would "lower the integrity" of the board.

As Sam said, it's about maintaining the "TFness" of the board. If OzFormers is meant to be a Transformers community then any threads not related to TFs are irrelevant - quite frankly if people want to discuss non-TF issues they can do it elsewhere. I think griffin has already been very gracious in the past by giving us Unicron's Non-TF discussion section... that was already more than adequate and I know that even some fans argued against having that section there - but I thought a single section was adequate for members to discuss their non-TF thoughts and interests.

But the more non-TF sections we have then the less of a TF board this place feels like.

If, because we now have a lego 'section' we are lowering our integrity, then we've been 'doing' it for as long as my short stay, because there has always been 2 lego threads since i joined.

There's also 2 threads about Doctor Who as well. But those threads were in one non-TF section. My point isn't about the number of non-TF related threads in the non-TF section - there are lots.

I think the Lego forum is great. It is more of a reflection that there is a big group of Lego fans here.
And I don't get the big deal. It's not like you are being forced to look at it or it's posts, so it doesn't really effect you.

It has a passive effect on my board experience as it makes me feel like I'm more on an Australian toy-collectors board rather than a Transformers board.

Plus there is an advantage. Since non-registered users can post, they could find this place, through the Lego forum and join to be part of that, and then get a liking for Transformers and join that fandom too. It has worked pretty much the other way around so far with people stumbling into the Lego topics and getting interested in it

What about people who are Lego fans who are not Transformers fans? I think it could be confusing...

And there are plenty of other non-TF toy lines which seem to be quite popular amongst members here including: Gobots, G.I. Joe, Macross, Robotech, Gundam, TMNT, WWE etc.

To me, having a TF board with a Lego section is like walking into a Japanese restaurant and seeing Laksa on the menu. And before you laugh, there's actually a so-called Japanese restaurant in Blacktown which does have Laksa on their menu. Now that's not to say that it's not a popular dish nor a delicious dish... but it's so not Japanese and when I see people eating Laksa at a Japanese restaurant... yeah. Might as well walk into a Chinese restaurant and order Souvlaki. (-_-)

[Kyle]

To me, having a TF board with a Lego section is like walking into a Japanese restaurant and seeing Laksa on the menu. And before you laugh, there's actually a so-called Japanese restaurant in Blacktown which does have Laksa on their menu. Now that's not to say that it's not a popular dish nor a delicious dish... but it's so not Japanese and when I see people eating Laksa at a Japanese restaurant... yeah. Might as well walk into a Chinese restaurant and order Souvlaki. (-_-)

Not only that. People inside a Japanese restaurant should not be allowed to speak English. They should not be called Japanese restaurants if they employ non-Japanese staff or use any item/utensil/ingredient not directly manufactured in Japan. Actually, non-Japanese should not be allowed to dine inside at all. And Japanese restaurants should not be allowed to exist outside Japan in the first place. How's that for authentic?

Ok seriously. I do agree with Gok that a Japanese restaurant should not really have Laksa on their menu. But Gok's paragraph (not Gok himself) happens to remind me so much of some people I've had the misfortune to meet in the past. Let's get back to the topic.

[kup]

The Japanese restaurant analogy is not the best but I do agree with the sentiment behind it. Naturally Griffin is the owner of the board so whatever he decides to do is his right but this thread was created to give us a voice of oppinion on the changes.

I prefer the old board set up as I thought that it was enough to provide for all our needs including non-TF interests which we often discussed. The new board set up doesn't feel as 'sleek' as the setup before and aesthetically speaking in regards to logos, I do prefer the old board too.

The old board was an improvement from the board before it but I can't say the same for this new set up. Regardless, as mentioned before, board rearrangements and even the graphical aspect is something that we will get used to as time passes despite our oppinion but the Non-TF specific sections could be a little distracting if enough people with no TF interests join in.

[TheDirtyDigger]

Looks all sweet here. I think the minor changes are a major improvement.

[jaydisc]

FWIW Griffin, careful to not succumb to much to public opinions regarding design. Everyone will have a different idea. Too many chiefs, not enough Indians. As long as you've surpassed any issues relating to function (logos occupying 1/2, 2/3 of the page), I'd make sure that you're happy with the design

[Robzy]

Personally, having a Lego Section doesn't bother me... HOWEVER, if we're gonna have one, it'd be great to see a TMNT, MOTU, or Macross area. Of course, I don't think any of these will happen, but I'm more interested in TMNTs than Lego (and I know others are too).

And again, my other "suggestion" is to have a "Non-TF Aquisitions" section instead of just a thread!

Everything else looks great!