status-resolved namepros has been taken over ..

[frank-germany]

 

[wwwweb]

I have to say people are maybe being a bit harsh on Rob, as I don't see to many other CEO's spending their hours here trying to develop, and build products that try to help domainers expand their trade.

The people who use Epik payment services tend to be very satisfied with the speed, and payout options provided, as an option to many other higher commission options.

Epik seems to run a lot of promos offering to purchase domains for their projects exclusively thru the namepros channel.

I see bogus wanted ads, or people selling .company, or robot domains for millions of dollars with constant daily bumps as more of an issue than an experienced ceo opening up topics, helping people close deals, and buying domains... You need people like this pushing the limits otherwise you will see what happens, when companies know you have lower priced options they have to stay in line, otherwise it is open season, and 30% commissions coming your way.

I don't see many companies offering $5.99 unlimited transfers, that is free money, and if they do, these companies don't have the option where you can actively sell/lease your domain for basically nil commission.

Epik is casuing a lot of much needed disruption in this space, this entire category talk is silly, it doesn't matter what category it is posted in, it is quite obvious the threads are creating engagement, questions, and conversation, all healthy for a forum.

 

[Ategy]

I have told @Bob Hawkes to reign it in, but the man does not listen (he does a great job really)
Seriously though, I do think it benefits the community when @Rob Monster contributes.

Well Rob and Bob are both active posters that contribute

lmao .. what are you talking about?

Bob and Rob write such short tiny puny posts! lol
@Bob Hawkes @Rob Monster

Seriously .. I don't always agree with either (nor most people 100% of the time), but the more people who actually participate in online forums while actually fully debating, discussing and exploring possibilities, the better it is for everyone.

Most people just write one or two sentences .. which isn't the end of the world, but the whole point of forums is to dig deep and explore ideas and possibilities that you and/or others haven't considered yet. Often times one person says something that will trigger a similar idea in someone else .. it's called evolution of ideas .. development .. progress.

I know it can be intimidating to jump into conversations at times .. but people still learn even when people post things other people disagree with. In fact .. one could argue we can sometimes learn even more by considering opposing views.

In most cases the community learns more when we explore the "Why", and not the "What".

I honestly don't care how many people started how many discussions .. as long as they all (or mostly .. lol) lead to quality discussions where at least some people (hopefully including myself) learn something new .. even if it's simply to understand and appreciate/respect points-of-views and opinions that are different from our own.

I'd much rather have an in-depth discussion with someone I disagree with, but who has taken the time to research, understand and respect both sides of the debate, rather than just hang out with people who all agree on the same thing but don't explore or dig deeper into a topic.

 

[Silentptnr]

I've been a member of NamePros for 4 years. I don't have to say that I have been relatively active.

Silentptnr - Member Since 2015 / 12,866 Posts / 34,081 Likes
Rob Monster - Member Since 2011 / 2,564 Posts / 8,439 Likes
Frank Germany - Member Since 2015 / 7,287 Posts / 9,068 Likes

I don't see anything in those numbers that suggest Rob is flooding this forum that already has perhaps millions of posts. I don't see anyone "Taking Over" the forum. I appreciate Rob's posts as I do the posts of others.

As for policing, I hold the position that yes, community watch is important, but let the management do the policing. It has been far too obvious that some members are put off by Rob to the detriment of otherwise insightful threads. It shouldn't be so obvious. It's just too easy to look the other way or find something else to read.

As for marketing/advertising, Rob is the owner of Epik along with other assets. That's not a bad thing. It is what it is. He just needs to follow the same rules we all do and NamePros management has made it clear that they are working with Rob to be sure he doesn't accidentally or otherwise, break any rules.

I have come to appreciate Rob's thoughtful, inclusive, open, go-getter, philosophical, rebel, personality. I also respect his accomplishments. We should all, always, try to be respectful.

Namepros is not an easy crowd. I applaud his clear success at starting good conversations. He does that in real life too.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Sorry. I will try my best in future to not write about sexy topics like the statistics of hyphens!
Bob

Show attachment 135975

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Actually if we view it as a serious thread, which I agree it could be, then it seems to me that it is now probably in the right place (did not notice where it was originally).

I think, in general, it is healthy to have a diversity of authors of meaningful threads that have constructive discussion. Yes Rob starts tons of threads and in general they get high up because there is worthwhile points surrounding them, and sometimes multiple highly held opinions. I personally find that almost all of his posts add to our community. That said, I would love to have someone highly placed at some of the other domainer serving companies actively involved too, and also I recognize that there is a thin line between being enthusiastic and offering what you genuinely consider as good advice and promotion.

Bob

 

[biggie]

If @Rob Monster starts or participates a topic about escrow services, then it's perfectly on topic for him to discuss Epik's escrow service ... not only is that OK .. but I think it's great that as domainers we can get a registrar's perspective

Hi

that is not true​

If he starts a thread that is posted n general discussion section to discuss his escrow service, then that is promotion.
it should be in Advertising section
if he replies to a thread, where the OP is asking about another platforms escrow service (uni or sedo) and he talks about his services, fee's etc, in that thread, then that is promotional.

when he starts a thread in general discussion section about being bullish on .org and talks about reg fee pricing at his service for .org, then that is promotional

there are LOTS of impressional, gullible folks on this forum and they are being taken advantage of, to that extent.

if the intent is discussion, enlightenment, helpful, advisory, etc, then why you have to promote who you work for in each of those threads?

who else does this on the forum?

imo...

 

[equity78]

There are a lot of things to unpack in this thread,

First I will say, the mods should be on top of a post and making a reply on whether what's going on in a thread is ok, they can have a rubber stamp, copy and paste, something a long the lines of, "this post is well within the rules of namepros so no need to report it, it's allowed." So after the first report, they will not get repetitive reports taking up their time

Like look I asked a question because all hell was breaking loose off Namepros https://www.namepros.com/threads/wh...e-offthehandle-katebuckley-situation.1163067/

I asked what is the Namepros official position? @NamePros @Mod Team Echo @Mod Team Alfa @Mod Team Bravo Was the post in violation of a Namepros rule?

The next day a friend texted me and said "I see they doxxed offthehandle on Twitter, will Namepros ban those people?" My reply hell if I know, open a thread and ask. Their reply, "Fuck NO!"

Secondly your signature line should be used effectively to market if that is a goal here, so don't put your services in every post, I think Rob is trying to do both in my opinion, he is trying to give advice how he sees it, and he a lot of experience and I think he tries to help. He also wants people to use his company and their products, which makes sense, but a forum does have rules how much promotion in a discussion thread you have, and that can be tweaked.

Thirdly, People are going to go after people they don't like, over 15 years here i have had people dm me asking if I could help, "Can you post against this member? "Dislike this post please"

Here is another tidbit for the new or the old that are uninformed, there are spies here, and there are people here who don't like domainers, yes they belong to a domain forum and they don't like domainers. Some it's about morality others it's jealousy or they love being a troll. But there are members that will email a company letting them know that there is talk about a name that might violate their intellectual property. In a heated back and forth back in like 2009 I was asking someone who told me what they thought of domainers why are they on Namepros? I was like you are a domainer, "No Raymond I am not a domainer, call me anything you like but please never call me a domainer."

There is a lot of petty stuff that goes on, I modded it for 12 years. At least with Rob and Frank here it's open and transparent, I respect someone saying I don't like this. It's the mods job to say if you don't like it you might need to move on or change your viewing habits if it's allowed here.

@Ategy.com is correct that posts that get moved here or reviews do lose steam, except for those that go after Rob.

There were people who used to report incomplete whois on other members back in the day.

Look I spoke to someone on Saturday I haven't seen on here in awhile, they are like a 2006 join date, and I said why are you never on Namepros? I hate they allowed politics. I said I don't care for it either and avoid it, it's easy to avoid, (In 15 years I have spent 15 minutes in all breakroom threads) so just don't go to that section, the mods do a great job of keeping that out. Their reply was that they can see it on the sidebar and the very notion it exists made them leave namepros. Ok what can you do? And I am cool with this person, known them for years, hate political discussion more than they do but I respect it's in a section that I can avoid. Everyone is not going to get everything they want, this is not Twitter, or Facebook where, you are triggering me brah, I am offended brah, I am going to tweet about you and ruin your life brah, now your banned brah, gfy Brah.

That's not what this place is you can't bully someone into silence (the day that happens the boycott should begin), when you get to a point there are too many allowed things you don't like, you have to leave.

 

[NickB]

I have told @Bob Hawkes to reign it in, but the man does not listen (he does a great job really)

Seriously though, I do think it benefits the community when @Rob Monster contributes.

I have personally not submitted any names for the Dojo and only made 1 comment (I think) on the other 2 threads listed above, you can be involved as little or as much as you like.

The whole .org thread is a great read imo....

 

[Rob Monster]

Hello,

Fortunately, we are aware of the promotional issue, and we have been working on it. We do not treat Rob any differently than other enthusiastic members who have come to NamePros over the years and created large influxes of content that sometimes violates the rules.

We are in communication with Rob about this and working with him (just like we do all other members that have done this in the past, including you Frank) to help him learn the rules and post within the expectations of the community. He is making strides to improve. However, please use the Report link on any posts that you see where a rule has been violated, and we will take the appropriate actions. Your reports will help contribute to his learning of what is considered acceptable use at NamePros.

We appreciate your help.

Thanks. It is true.

The software does have some throttling features in place which seem to work like this one:

However, I think the real solution is for more folks to do this:

1. Post useful content. Teach what you know. Share what you discover. Raise the collective intelligence of the community by giving without any expectation of immediate return.

2. Run polls for name selection. These are popular and let naming experts strut their stuff, mention their relevant inventory, while letting others learn techniques for naming. @Ategy.com is prolific among others.

3. Follow people who engage with you. They often follow back. You then get notified about each other's posts. A lot of folks follow me but I followed them back.


And when a lot of people do that, we get explosive traffic growth and the community becomes more vibrant:

And that is a good thing for the industry, so keep that in mind. I have shared what works. Copy it, don't piss on it.

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

And the ranking cannot be manipulated by the thread OP to rise I assume

Everything can be manipulated, but we try to make it more challenging.

For example, we recently changed sorting by replies to exclude all replies from the thread creator. Now, when thread creators post 100 replies in their threads and other members only post 2 replies, their threads will be sorted as having 2 replies (and not 102 replies).

We show that number under View Metrics on each thread if you're curious:

• "Replies, excluding replies from the thread creator"

when I ignore someone
I would expect not to see any of his posts

This may be a bug where the widgets do not always take into consideration the Ignore list; we'll look into it.

where are we on a membership leaderboard based on character count and/or % of database content?

One day.

But, there is little doubt that you're likely #1 in terms of a character count to posts ratio.

this might sound self-serving but if you want to have a better weighting of thread relevance, add the weighting of likes and thanks to get an indication of popularity. At present, you can drive up view count with a bunch of folks just posting their name pitches endlessly in a thread but the content value can be extremely low. This is an indication of activity but not of popularity or utility.

Replies tend to take a lot more effort than any other type of interaction, reaction, or engagement with a thread, so we prefer to use this form of activity as the best metric for popularity.

However, we do show many other sorted lists by metrics such as Likes+Thanks ("Favorites") on our Overview page:

• https://www.namepros.com/content-overview/

or better yet .. turn off likes in all sections that aren't focused specifically on domains.

We've thought about doing that for reactions and post count, but we've decided to create new counters for posts and reactions within domain-specific sections. This way, there will be every-section totals (that's what we have now) and domain-centric totals. We'll then show the domain-centric totals next to members' posts and the every-section totals on member profiles. (This likely won't be finished anytime soon, but one day.)

If you mean this thread:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/if...scrow-you-are-wasting-time-and-money.1119508/

As I recall, that post was part of a sponsorship deal. It was linked from a banner ad on Namepros. The banner campaign finished but the thread still exists. If has some meaty discussion.

Yes, it was part of a paid promotion. When the promotion ended, moderators felt it should be organized under Reviews.

We hope that helps.

 

[frank-germany]

But what harm comes from that which bothers you?

most "information" is not backed by data
"bullish on .org"
leads newbies to register .orgs w/o thinking.
who gains?

"shoot to the moon"
not backed by data
leads to loss of "earthy" sales

read @Michael post

"I can help you sell"
leads to:
let's register

harm?
no harm I can see

 

[Internet.Domains]

Let's not over complicate things. Those that start topics that get attention should be rewarded, not scrutinized and penalized as a result.

Here's a big shout out to:

@Rob Monster for getting the discussion going.

@equity78 for churning out lots of content that gets the thought process and discussions started. Hat's off to a blogger that actually participates here on NP's. Much appreciated!

@Bob Hawkes for all that analytical juice, open mind and civility.

@Ategy.com for showing us that longer can be better and dog walking is good therapy.

Cheers! It's not the same without y'all!!....

Lots of others I would like to shout out to, but I got to walk the dog.......

 

[Rob Monster]

I've been a member of NamePros for 4 years. I don't have to say that I have been relatively active.

Silentptnr - Member Since 2015 / 12,866 Posts / 34,081 Likes
Rob Monster - Member Since 2011 / 2,564 Posts / 8,439 Likes
Frank Germany - Member Since 2015 / 7,287 Posts / 9,068 Likes

I don't see anything in those numbers that suggest Rob is flooding this forum that already has perhaps millions of posts. I don't see anyone "Taking Over" the forum. I appreciate Rob's posts as I do the posts of others.

As for policing, I hold the position that yes, community watch is important, but let the management do the policing. It has been far too obvious that some members are put off by Rob to the detriment of otherwise insightful threads. It shouldn't be so obvious. It's just too easy to look the other way or find something else to read.

As for marketing/advertising, Rob is the owner of Epik along with other assets. That's not a bad thing. It is what it is. He just needs to follow the same rules we all do and NamePros management has made it clear that they are working with Rob to be sure he doesn't accidentally or otherwise, break any rules.

I have come to appreciate Rob's thoughtful, inclusive, open, go-getter, philosophical, rebel, personality. I also respect his accomplishments. We should all, always, try to be respectful.

Namepros is not an easy crowd. I applaud his clear success at starting good conversations. He does that in real life too.

Thanks for that.

We have a lot going on. That's true. I believe we can help the industry re-ignite some growth engines that are dearly needed.

The recent exchange with NameBio here shows that we can have some healthy banter and people bring their experiences and some folks bring their data. The tone is mostly civil.

The linking to products or example is done in the context. We'll see if we can dial that back. Like I said elsewhere, some busy weeks ahead so will defer to others to keep NP exciting.

Good luck! Will try to answer PMs asap.

 

[frank-germany]

Secondly your signature line should be used effectively to market if that is a goal here, so don't put your services in every post, I think Rob is trying to do both in my opinion, he is trying to give advice how he sees it, and he a lot of experience and I think he tries to help. He also wants people to use his company and their products, which makes sense, but a forum does have rules how much promotion in a discussion thread you have, and that can be tweaked.

I don't have a problem with people explaining solutions to a problem
and in case they offer a product to solve that issue
I have no problem with them explaining it.

For me, it's starting to become controversial
when a problem is invented in order to gain new customers
who didn't know they had that problem

It's not an uncommon strategy.

But when I come across, I feel the urge to interfere.

For example:
I may be uninformed, but for me, Cloudflare is a great company
offering a fantastic service
and when I follow them on twitter
I think those are great people.

Now somebody is coming here promoting an alternative service
and talking about Cloudflare like they are sons of the evil
and implying that somebody is uninformed and naive
when he doesn't recognize it.



For example:
I know nothing about the escrow industry.

But nowadays I get the feeling that I must have been lucky.

I have always finalized my deals at escrow . com
Maybe they had been better in the past.
Maybe they grew and don't have the capacity to please everybody by now.

I hear in this forum, that it is a bad idea to use them
and I hear in this forum that epik has a greater escrow
than anybody, though they are no escrow company in the first place.

I was always fine with DANs escrow and with Sedos escrow too.

Basically I don't have an escrow issue.


For example:

I didn't know I had not enough .orgs in my portfolio

Luckily somebody informed me
how to get them cheaply.


and so on

 

[Reddstagg]

Namepros Bingo. I just need two more Robs for five in a line.

Dont-shout-house-shout-Epic.com

 

[Rob Monster]

By the way, I do think those posts were all pretty decent reads with some great comments from thoughtful people.

These other recent posts did not get as much attention but are also good reads:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/yall-wanna-shoot-the-moon.1162085/

https://www.namepros.com/threads/wh...upper-that-is-held-via-privacy-proxy.1163437/

https://www.namepros.com/threads/teach-a-man-to-fish-co-creating-abundance.1162792

https://www.namepros.com/threads/hi...ct-managers-and-executive-leadership.1162639/

https://www.namepros.com/threads/namepros-alexa-rank-predictions-for-year-end.1152491/


The over-arching themes:

1. Make the pie bigger -- overcome the scarcity mindset.

2. Digital empowerment - share what you know.

3. NamePros - make NamePros a high impact community.

4. Transition from PPC to Landers and SHOOT THE MOON!

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

Hello,

Fortunately, we are aware of the promotional issue, and we have been working on it. We do not treat Rob any differently than other enthusiastic members who have come to NamePros over the years and created large influxes of content that sometimes violates the rules.

We are in communication with Rob about this and working with him (just like we do all other members that have done this in the past, including you Frank) to help him learn the rules and post within the expectations of the community. He is making strides to improve. However, please use the Report link on any posts that you see where a rule has been violated, and we will take the appropriate actions. Your reports will help contribute to his learning of what is considered acceptable use at NamePros.

We appreciate your help.

 

[Rob Monster]

A few things, that's where blog posts go in domain industry news, number 2 I got nothing to sell you, 3 the mods can close my account or delete posts anytime they like, I could care less.

And for today popular I see

Show attachment 136232

Raymond - you have nothing to worry about. It is a slow news day for new thread and it is possible to rank your thread with just a few people engaging. People need to stop complaining, and start thanking you for not turning NP into a:

Keep up the good work, and thanks for keeping your finger on the news pulse.

 

[Ategy]

These repeated accusations are getting really annoying. @frank-germany .. you're more than entitled to your opinion .. but you yourself flood every single post @Rob Monster starts taking them all off-topic.

I've said it many times .. as long as the prime focus in on the topic and discussion, then I don't even mind people mentioning their domain related company. Particularly WHEN IT BRINGS A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE TO A TOPIC specifically because it's from a registrar point of view.

On top of that Frank .. while I do appreciate some of your points sometimes, the way you post as well often is incomprehensible. I'm not really sure you're in the best place to be complaining about others.

I've mentioned it a couple of times when you post 4-5 posts in a row, each with little focus and incomplete sentences strung out over multiple lines.

But I've never once complained to others, nor to NamePros.

This is a public forum .. we aren't always going to agree with what others say nor how they say it. If someone is flagrantly breaking the rules or being abusive to others, then that's one thing .. but that isn't the case here.

By your logic, everybody who wholesales to other domainers should not be allowed to say anything positive about domains!?

Anyhow .. complain about Rob and Bob and anyone else as much as you want .. but I do ask that from this point forward you keep your continuous unconstructive and off-topic complaints here in the comments and feedback forum

If you feel strongly against something you're allowed to speak up about it .. but stop taking every single post Rob starts off-topic .. for the last few months you're actually breaking more rules than he is!

 

[frank-germany]

Sounds good in theory .. but the problem is that there are also self-inflating "like groups" as well .. go into the Meet and Greet section .. there are some who give "Likes" to the same people even if they post just one or two words .. but at the same time those same people don't give likes to people who actually engage or help the newcomer. It's pretty funny how obvious it is actually! lol

I spend hours behind my daily auction lists that I share here at NamePros .. yet only get 0-2 likes per post on average out of well over 100 views, yet people get 6-7 likes for literally posting one word ... "welcome"! I'd say I don't care .. but the truth is that some people, particularly new members, could certainly see "likes" as credibility .. which is why I feel @NamePros should set a minimum character count in some sections before a post can be "liked" .. or better yet .. turn off likes in all sections that aren't focused specifically on domains.

Can't say too much about that as I'm now on the Like leader board myself! lol .. Although I still want to see a character count leader board! Make it happen @NamePros !!!


That's what she... ummm .. never mind! lol

a LIKE to me is worth
NOTHING

a THANKS
is what I appreciate

 

[BaileyUK]

a LIKE to me is worth
NOTHING

a THANKS
is what I appreciate

For me
A 'Like' means agreement or appreciation
Whereas
A 'Thanks' is where I feel I've actually learnt something (or it's a personal thank you)

So Not many thanks given out be me. I do agree about the Rob profile getting a bit out of hand, blimey wasn't it Religion that started to take over.(or was that Nigerians) I don't know because I stopped reading any of them. Still moving my names to Epik though, I can separate the two

PS. I do wish Bob would add that occasional rider he uses "PS I know nothing about domains" to the top of his comments on domain investments though instead of at the bottom However I have learnt to appreciate his rejigging of other peoples work and stats to create a more compressed analysis. Carry-on as always Bob We can always disagree with your conclusions later

Yeah that dot BEST BEAST has long gone, thank goodness - See we do gang-up for the good of the Board

 

[Rob Monster]

I do agree about the Rob profile getting a bit out of hand, blimey wasn't it Religion that started to take over.(or was that Nigerians) I don't know because I stopped reading any of them. Still moving my names to Epik though, I can separate the two

For the record:

I like Nigerians -- we are hiring about 2 per month currently.

The religious stuff I will tone down.

And if the content bores you, sorry about that. I did post some stuff and they get some engagement. It is what it is. I will have less time for NP in the coming weeks so others will need to keep this place hopping!

 

[Silentptnr]

Thanks for that.

We have a lot going on. That's true. I believe we can help the industry re-ignite some growth engines that are dearly needed.

The recent exchange with NameBio here shows that we can have some healthy banter and people bring their experiences and some folks bring their data. The tone is mostly civil.

The linking to products or example is done in the context. We'll see if we can dial that back. Like I said elsewhere, some busy weeks ahead so will defer to others to keep NP exciting.

Good luck! Will try to answer PMs asap.

I hope you can find a way to manage your busy weeks ahead and continue contributing as you have been.

Best of luck friend

 

[lock]

Well Rob and Bob are both active posters that contribute Almarri needs to come to senses and realise he is basing his prices on scam offers not on sales histories.