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Greetings!

Here's an issue that some of the guys and I have been discussing: We're wondering if the VPC comes across as being too serious, and are worried that we might scaring away people.

I believe that once the flight rooms are open people will see that although we're realism junkies at heart, we also love to fly just for fun like everyone else (in fact I'd estimate that 70%+ of my online flying is just fooling around). However, we're so close to this stuff that we're probably missing the "big picture" from an outsider's point of view.

So I guess my questions are:

1. Does the VPC appear to be too serious/unfriendly?

2. If so, do you have any suggestions that may help us reduce this problem?

Thanks for any comments and input you might have.

Ben

• RE: VPC appears too serious?,The Jim, 18:24z, 05-17-01
  • RE: VPC appears too serious?,Ben Chiu, 22:38z, 05-17-01
    • RE: VPC appears too serious?,Hodgo, 04:12z, 05-18-01
• RE: VPC appears too serious?,andor, 23:15z, 05-18-01
  • RE: VPC appears too serious?,Tom Hayward, 12:03z, 05-26-01

IMHO, any site that dedicates itsself to a single subject is going to be more intimidating to a newbie. Of course, most average people will go to a "computer games" board before getting shot down by haughty know-it-all flight sim gurus (not that nay of us are). Just take a look at a message board for, say, the internet. If you asked "does anybody know any good search engines?" you'd probably be laughed out, much like the ever present "how do I make fs2k run better?" on the old board. Of course, I'm generalizing, but I'm sure you se my point.

I'm not sure how you could possibly "tone down" any of the content without losing it entirely. There's only so far you can go before your vision starts to blur, and a beautiful concept is lost. I guess that's all I have to say...

-The Jim
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"Those daring young men and
their flying machines..."
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Excellent point, TJ. I agree, we need to hold the line, but I also think that there are things we can do to help visitors understand that we welcome pilots of all skill levels, and although we've bridged the gap between sims and real flight, we all remember what it's like to be a newbie and we're all here to help them transition.

One such idea we've been kicking around are to hold "newbie events." Another idea is to have flight rooms just dedicated to Free Flight. I have a feeling that a lot of people may be intimidated by ATC only flights if they've never made any before. The idea here is although we have the ability to run realistic flights, everyone is more than welcome to use our flight rooms for buzzing around.

Perhaps we need to have a mission statement posted somewhere or something like that...

Ben

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A mission statement would be good as long as it's not too formal, adding to the "scare-factor". I think a brief and to-the-point mission statement, or similiar, could be beneficial.

-Stephen.

Re. Question 1. Ben.. Being a true "newbie" I do not feel the VPC at all too "serious & unfriendly". I feel when looking for a site I tend to shun anything appearing frivolous and I don,t think a little bit of "professionalism" will detract in any way.
Also the sense of achievment when (in my case) you fumble around and by your own efforts gain access or whatever, tends to add a bit of spice to things.
Anything worth while is always gained with a bit of effort.
Just keep us working and thinking Ben.
MY TWO BOB,S WORTH
AndyC

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Thank you Andy. We definitly appreciate everyone's input, and want to make this a friendly site!

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Thomas S. Hayward