Where Have All The Good Guys Gone?

[Anjani]

Have been reading most of the old threads on Name pros and what struck me hard is the lack of warmth and depth in today's responses compared to the past.

Maybe the fatigue has seeped in answering the same questions over and over.

Let's bring back the camaraderie as it's a marathon not a race

 

[Branko Jovanovic]

Spot on Don
A lot has changed. The business is nowhere as sexy as it once was and it's a lot harder to be successful, selling one name is not success unless it's life changing money, you have to be able to sell year in, year out, spot trends, jump off trends at the right time. Still feel good about that .mobi name? Are you loving qzxk.com at $2,600 bought for a flip?

This business requires a lot of time and in a lot of cases people who like the business of domain names would have been better buying stock in Verisign, GoDaddy and Tucows.

Again IMO

I would agree, and add that companies like GoDaddy have found a mechanism to further their business while hurting small-time domainers. Big fish eats the little fish.

 

[alcy]

word is that back in the day.. way before I came here.. namepro members were very proud people.. and not in a good way.. they'd look down upon every new arrival.. from their high mighty thrones... and not even respond or engage into conversation..

...... thats what I heard... lets call them.. reliable sources

and then it all changed. .for the better. so no.. I do not agree things are bad today

cheers

 

[JayJay]

The fact that only 800 to 1000 members are online out of 1 million members is a testament to something.

I really can't pinpoint what caused it to change over the years though like I said I think biggie did a good job. It would be hard to lay the blame on one specific element of the domaining world, I do not think it helps to hold certain members of the community on a pedestal like they have a magic touch or a special gift that others have no way of possessing when really it could be they a) got started earlier like the 90s or early 2000s or b) started with more capital or c) both. There are definitely more know it alls these days though that don't help things either and want the get rich quick money that simply does not exist, again in my honest opinion lol.

I want to add that I still am happy to be a part of this community, I think there are some great people still active here and alot to learn, I just wish it was a bit more honest overall.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Thanks for starting this thread, with the interesting perspective that perhaps things have gotten less positive over the years. That seems so in society, so probably not surprising here, but still unfortunate.

I would urge us all to even when expressing a view strongly, to do so courteously. Based on a lifetime of experiences outside domaining, I honestly believe that it will have more impact that way. Yes, don't deceive and provide an honest opinion, but express it in an encouraging and supportive way. On the positive side, I see countless cases of this being done by NPs long term members, especially on the thread welcoming new members.

I think we should also recognize that this is not an exact science. Yes, with experience you get far better in predicting what will sell and for roughly how much, but there is still a lot of uncertainty for any particular name. It's easy to find major sales that I suspect almost none of us would have predicted (that would be an interesting thread to have actually), and other names that went for less than most would think.

I am wary of comments like "no value" when not supported by any evidence/argument, or assuming that a simplistic "rule" is an absolute. It's not hard to find cases on NPs where "experts" have boldy stated a name has no value, then it sold for $$$$ or more within months. We all can, and are, frequently wrong. That is just another reason to not be over the top when promoting our opinions and discounting those of others.

frequently wrong,
Bob

 

[Eric Lyon]

I am also sick of many comments I post being deleted.

I think we have improved on this a lot, but also please keep in mind that if you ever feel strongly that we (moderators) are doing something wrong, we hope you will Contact Management to file a report so they can try to assist you. We want NamePros to be a productive environment that fosters sharing and helping one another. We try very hard to not hinder that.

I think there's also the fact that forums are becoming less and less popular. Young(er) people mostly use FB groups

That's what FB and other companies want you to believe, but it's not true. Reddit is basically a customized forum and growing a lot as the 36th most popular website in the world: https://www.similarweb.com/website/reddit.com

That said, there is something to be said about specialization. There aren't any FB groups, subreddits, or any other communities of domainers that are even 1/10th the size of NamePros. Users of all ages go where the value is, and the most value is at NamePros for domaining.

There have been some excellent points made in this thread so I'll just add that we do actively work with members to maintain a professional and friendly environment. If you see someone not upholding those expectations, please report them to us: https://www.namepros.com/threads/expectations-for-respect-and-constructiveness.845259/

Hope that helps,

 

[GeorgeK]

I expected this thread to be about the Bonnie Tyler song.....

Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and I turn
And I dream of what I need

I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
.....

 

[anantj]

ps. you may be surprised by this, but almost nobody have heard of Reddit in France

Not what the stats claim:

https://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/FR
15th Most popular site in France!

 

[Name Trader]

I've been around here a long time. Can you give some examples?

 

[DNWon]

What am I missing?

The wink!

 

[Josh R]

The wink!

Lol maybe.

 

[ivey]

All you can do is be the answer if you see a problem. You be the one who give well thought out and warm answers.

 

[Darbin]

Well put fellas and ladies, You know the next generation is gonna take us out to the pasture and shoot us. I have not been on here for 2 1/2 years have not been active in 4, due to medical reasons, I'm back, I just listed refreshed posts and instantly the admins locked my threads. No biggie to me, I will go list them somewhere else though I do not understand the coldness. I did not break any rules.

 

[vwblubug]

They keep their mouth shut because they are clueless.

...Or to not offend. We think twice before insulting others intentionally. That might be the difference.

 

[centreurope]

Not what the stats claim:

https://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/FR
15th Most popular site in France!

Very interesting!
I don't have any explanation... In the general public in France, nobody knows reddit, that's for sure. And even among the geeks, it's very little known. I use Alexa for my webmarketing classes and my students are astonished to see high rankings for websites such as reddit, taobao or qq, which they have never heard of.

I'm asking my colleagues in a Skype Group if somebody has an explanation

 

[Josh R]

What the hell are you talking about!!

What am I missing?

 

[namerav]

I think Domaining is same over the years.

 

[ImpressionStream]

Thanks tonyk2000 for excellent observation. True to the core.

 

[Darbin]

Though to be honest and speak of the giant elephant in the room, NamePros did not start to go south for winter until it was hacked multiple times. hackers gave the previous owner a hard time during that timeframe.

 

[centreurope]

I've got a different feeling.
In my mind, NP has always been mostly a low-quality forum for newbies interested in investing in speculative names such as LLLL.com, or blockchain domains for example now.
Until about 3 years ago, I much preferred another site, but when it started to go down, I stopped participating into forums. I discovered again recently NP and saw i was wrong, NP is a quality forum. About the little warmth, I guess it's because it's international, with many different cultures and ways of living. Our small French forum is of incredible quality, with excellent relationships between us, but unfortunately it's almost dead now, as the market has never grown enough so that we could dedicate fully to domaining.

 

[centreurope]

I am not senile yet

I confirm you are not. I started to be (relatively) successful at domaining the day I stopped to believe all the bullshit we read here and there and rather follow your advice.
I've done it for more than 10 years I guess, and you never made a mistake. I've discussed about domain names with thousands of professionnals, some very rich and/or very famous, but I don't remember any that would have half of your expertise. So for sure you are not senile yet

 

[Anjani]

Thanks for starting this thread, with the interesting perspective that perhaps things have gotten less positive over the years. That seems so in society, so probably not surprising here, but still unfortunate.

I would urge us all to even when expressing a view strongly, to do so courteously. Based on a lifetime of experiences outside domaining, I honestly believe that it will have more impact that way. Yes, don't deceive and provide an honest opinion, but express it in an encouraging and supportive way. On the positive side, I see countless cases of this being done by NPs long term members, especially on the thread welcoming new members.

I think we should also recognize that this is not an exact science. Yes, with experience you get far better in predicting what will sell and for roughly how much, but there is still a lot of uncertainty for any particular name. It's easy to find major sales that I suspect almost none of us would have predicted (that would be an interesting thread to have actually), and other names that went for less than most would think.

I am wary of comments like "no value" when not supported by any evidence/argument, or assuming that a simplistic "rule" is an absolute. It's not hard to find cases on NPs where "experts" have boldy stated a name has no value, then it sold for $$$$ or more within months. We all can, and are, frequently wrong. That is just another reason to not be over the top when promoting our opinions and discounting those of others.

frequently wrong,
Bob

@MetBob is a paragon of virtue...always courteous and professional...one of my role models in the domaining business.

 

[namemarket]

IMHO this isn't true, and I'm kind of annoyed that someone gave you what I would consider misinformation though of course they are entitled to their beliefs. This community was literally incredible back in the day, it was a blast to be here we used to log so many hours in the chat room and there were always "events" going on. If anyone had a problem becoming part of the community then it may have been because they weren't able to accept they were new to the game and/or they didn't have a friendly demeanor. I made some awesome friends here in 2007-2008 even though I was new, some of which I actually got to meet in person and still talk to this day. NP was so much fun to be a part of that most of the people I knew here had left another prominent webdev/domainer forum to join us.
I hope someone backs me on this lol.

Yes i back you up, the old days 10-15 yrs ago were amazing but sadly long gone. I recall going on both afternic and great-domains chat rooms every day and the activity in chat was incredible where you could not keep track of all the conversations taking place at same time. I recall somewhere from 50 to 100 active participants online in the evening hours every day at each site. And the posting activity was also extremely heavy with surprisingly few percentage of for sale posts. I recall most posts covered other stuff such as knowledge and information. Today its the reverse with most posts being for sale ones and little if any activity in chat.

 

[SEOjohn]

After reading a thread about buying stolen domains and the legal specifics of current escrow/sale agreements, I think maybe the good times are coming back...maybe domaining is complicated/interesting again and forums are once again needed to learn(?)

Since the old days, ICANN issues are different now, stolen domains more common, "advancing" of the UDRP system to where clueless companies have unwarranted influence (and still no penalties), consolidation of the trillions of registrars/registries originally created for reasons, now for different reasons, etc.

I'm hoping one of these online forums will become more significant (again), although I am 100% unsure I would pay to belong to it, lol.

 

[Name Trader]

I think there's also the fact that forums are becoming less and less popular. Young(er) people mostly use FB groups

I'm a oldie How to find the facebook groups related to domaining?

 

[Weber]

Last one out, please turn out the lights.