OOAK Table Tennis Forum

One practical question about this interesting debate: is it some conclusion appearing from here? Is it somebody writing down the ideas? Is it a way the participants of the forum can help in this process?

Regards.

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My YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@diegox.longpips
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It would appear that the majority of members (that have voted in the poll) seem not unhappy with the website, because the information contained in the forum is much more important than the layout/design. Some of the suggestion in this thread were very helpful, and one (a list of recent topics at the top of the home page) has been implemented, and seem to be very useful.

Since I'm not a programmer, major changes would be problematic for me anyway, as I don't have the skills to implement and test them.

If we did have some programmers here on this forum, that are willing to help, then that might still be an option of course.

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Thanks for answering. Hope it will happen. From my side I don’t have this kind of skills, but if an other thing will be needed I will be happy to help.

Regards.

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My YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@diegox.longpips
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I was thinking about this a bit lately, and since my name is on the list above (somewhat surprising...) - I'll throw in my 0.02

I think lack of interaction is a vicious loop, which leads to some active members drifting away to other platforms. Both NextLevel and Der_Echte mostly post at TableTennisDaily now, and some other folks on the list probably are not that into TT anymore (i.e. I remember Bogeyhunter being really into golf shortly before he faded away).

My own presence here ebbs and flows, mimicking how much time I spend in the club or on TT in general. But even when I come back and post here and there - I do see people reading the posts (mostly unnamed users though), but very few people reply, react/like etc. E.g. I asked a while back if anyone is going to be in Rome for World Masters - zero responses. So, didn't get a chance to meet anyone.

After a while it starts to feel as if you are talking into the void. Still works as a personal TT journal/blog of sorts, but that's a niche use case IMHO.

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USATT: ~1700

As a relatively new member to the forum, I found the information I get here very useful. It is almost always my first choice when want to read about diffenrent equipment (long pips specifically).

I would like to add the idea, that people who do stuff on other social medie plattforms could do small shoutouts for this great forum. I'm not sure if this too much to ask, because some have to keep sponsors and their own viewing rates etc. in mind, but that would probably get some new people to join. I mean you could post a thread for your video (like many other have already done) and people could join the forum to ask for specific tips.

And another small suggestion for the content creators, in my two years transitioning from double inverted two long pips on the backhand (close to the table), I watched a lot of videos and mainly tried to copy the movements. Modern guides for techniques with anti and long pips are rather hard to come by. Something like the long pip guides from Ti Long but in English would be really great. Espicially when it comes to more niche playing styles and techniques.

Personally, I love to read the equipment discussions , even though I didn't post much until now, so I'm definitely staying

It is really nearly impossible to expect the interesting discussions famous forum members had in the past.Reasons? multifactorial : whats App groups - different apps too- ,people getting tired of answering the same questions,some people leaving tt for good, some of them consider this forum has been getting low level players who cannot have interesting enough discussions .....

However, This forum is still very active . We cannot expect the old times any more ..... it gets information on the most recent tt material , video clips , tournament updates ,..... and a wealth of information from many forum members , ....

That last reason seems quite a bit narcissist. How does one expect a new player to know everything or were these "high-level" players born with ultimate knowledge that they know everything and look down on players who do not or what? How they expect the players with less knowledge to high when they just leave them as they are and do not even try to grow the knowledge for others? But true, it is so much easier not to do anything right?
Also, answering the same questions and getting tired of. Throughout the years so much information have been collected here it takes more time to search for that than writing it on the forum and expect a quick answer for that, the players may think.

Of course this is not an offense against you, but if these are the real reasons for people leaving the forum, these are quiet st*pid ones. This forum advertises itself as a forum for everyone, regardless of level or playing style. So I just do not really understand. On the other hand, it is a not a new phenomenon. I experience the same detrimental attitude in my club, as almost no one is willing to play against me or even to warm up with me, as they keep looking for same level players. But then how the worse could become better if the betters do not want to help?

Sorry to say this, but with this attitude, this forum has no future as far as I can see. Some fundamental changes must be executed, but not with the forum, but people's mindsets (impossible task).

I just mentioned several hypotheses......no offense intended ,...those who think they have such a high level of intelligence for TT and do not want to share , it is ok ....

Those who make high tt level whats app groups is ok ..... there will always be 2 kinds of people>> 1 > fountains , you can learn from them 2.hoovers, they suck the energy from you.....

ALL of them in perfect balance in this world, tell you what? I try to stick to fountains

I'm curious if it's possible to see the ratio of members vs. non-members vs. bots in the site traffic. I could be off, but I see mostly 'guests' looking at the posts lately. And they (guests) can't post, like etc.

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USATT: ~1700

I would guess that ratio is at least 100:1, excluding bots. The great majority of visitors still find us via Google when they're just searching for information. Although I have a big banner at the top of the page, encouraging people to join so that they don't see any advertising (members don't see this, but you can see it if you log out), it's likely not enough if they're only looking for a single quick answer.

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Since the growing times off facebook fora like this are dying.
It's not only tabletennis, it's everywhere.
I was a big user of fora in different area/hobbies .... almost none are alive.

People use facebook groups and stay away from fora like this.
And I don't get it at all. On fora like this you can always look at what you want, you can search, you can read in specific parts. Everything is nice and is tructured. On facebook it's one big blob off posts with no structure at all ... and yet all go there.

10 years ago you can search for *subject* forum and you could find a few. If you do the same at facebook you find 100+. It's one big mess.

But somehow people just stay there and not look any further.

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Regards Marc

Setup: Stiga Cybershape Wood / FH:Tibhar Evolution FX-D / BH: S&T Hellfire X 0x

Same as ICQ
Maybe generation who used to use forums got too old or lost interest and new generation don't used to forums

I'm going to throw my 2 cents and a half on this topic. The forum isn't an island on it's own. It's integrated in the broader society. I find that the forum is a good mirror of that society as a whole. I suspect the decline has been happening since the start of the coronacrisis, although I can't backup my hypothesis with data. Not only did people leave the game, never to return, but people changed during those years and not in a good way. I can elaborate on the latter, but I'm not going to, because I suspect the discussion might get heated (it would be good for the forum's traffic, though). What I can say is that it'll get worse before it gets better. That's something you also see in the whole Western world.

Concerning my own situation: I did return to the game two times, but I'm struggling with something that hinders me to complete my comeback. I might make a post about it when I'm ready for it. I don't think the topic has been discussed before on the forum. I never saw it pass by in my 16 years of being a member on this forum.

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There's always stuff to improve!

My blog on being a LP defender beyond 2000 USATT and the pips discrimination that comes along with that

Thank you for changing this. I don't know whether it has been inconvenient from the POV of spam. It has made the forum much more accessible for me. I have no problems accessing via my phone through a browser .

That's great to hear, thank you for letting me know!

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide