I have to agree with BH-FLASH about cencership on this forum

[KoalaBear33]

Moving a thread or closing a thread is a form of censorship as well. If I'm not mistaken, this forum is independent of the Matrox corporation. So, I don't see why the admins would keep locking any thread that says anything bad about Matrox and its cards. Also telling people to go and look in the Soap Box forum is ludicrous! Accurate information is better spread on general forums (in case you didn't know). Suppressing negative information about Matrox's cards is a lot worse than you think. As far as I know, the site admins don't get paid by Matrox (I can be wrong). If that is so, why are they being zealots?

On a different note, I agree with BH-FLASH about Matrox's FALSE ADVERTISING with its AGP 4x support issue. I was definitely misled by this. If a post such as BH-FLASH's was left on this forum, I would have known (don't tell me that 4x is meaningless because what is more important to me is the fact that I was misled). If a card says it supports AGP 4x, I as well as the vast majority of the people take that to mean that the card will USE 4x--not just work in a system with 4x. As an example consider a game saying that it supports Direct3D. This means that the game will WORK USING D3D; it does not mean that the game can never support D3D but still works in D3D systems. This is just an example and I hope you see the point. I'm not saying that Matrox is the only one that does it but Matrox seemed to have made a mistake by taking the advertising to the hardware level (most graphics card companies just hype up concepts eg. nvidia with T&L; 3dfx with motion blur, etc).

By the way, why does this board even have a Soap Box forum? Are there that many negative views about Matrox or its cards? I think not. So why even have that forum?



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See Ya Later!(tm)
KoalaBear33

[Compton]

You people just don't get it do you?? KoalaBear33, what the hell does this have to do with gaming? NOTHING! That's why this kind of b.s. belongs in the soapbox.

[cjolley]

Part of the reason for having a Soap Box forum is to give people a place for interesting or entertaining comments.
Another reason is so that your whinin ass can be put out of the way of people who have real questions or comments that are on topic.
chuck

[billko]

Sheesh...

Pertaining to this forum (as an example):

Anything NOT about games, like your stupid post here, goes to the appropriate forum. (This thread will go to the soapbox, probably.)

IF you noticed, this particular forum is for people who want help with problems with a Matrox product and any games they might have.

IF you mentioned that you were having problems with a certain game or games, AND you posted this crapola, the thread would probably stay here.

Now... it's time to stop chewing the eucalyptus leaves, huh, KoalaBear33?

Bill

[Compton]

| Now... it's time to stop chewing the eucalyptus leaves, huh, KoalaBear33? |

LOL, I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard when I read that.

[KoalaBear33]

The problem is that I consider this forum (matrox gaming) to be the equivalent of a general discussion forum. In fact, my post fits either in this forum or the matrox hardware forum but NOT in the Soap Box forum. Soap Box forums are for people who have nothing important to say. And don't interpret criticism of a product as unimportant--in fact, it can be the most important thing.

I would like to see Q&A threads being given higher priority as well. But very few threads are Q&A (most seem to be just statements eg. beta driver was released). The admins should seriously rename the Soap Box forum or create a new general discussion forum. I just don't like this iron-fisted enforcement when 90% of the people who post here are probably Matrox card owners. If this board was generic board where video card battles are common, then it is understandable. But when very few people post and the user base is small, I can't see a reason for cracking down on threads that flame Matrox.

I am not really active on this site so the problems with this board really don't bother me too much. I only visit this board when I need some answers or when I am just bored/looking for new G400 info. But the thing is that I want to see the truth about the G400, which can include negative things. Just knowing the good stuff is pointless because most people already have the card.

All of you haven't really given any decent answers. All you have said is that this post doesn't belong in this forum--which is what the admins have been endorsing all along! The problem is not with the post but rather the board. I hope you realize what I am saying........There are arguments against what I am saying (eg. psychological: I have a G400 so I don't want to hear anything bad about it; everybody does it so why shouldn't Matrox mislead; etc) but none of you have said anything valid so far ......

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I'm short on eucylyptus leaves ...pesky humans always cutting down trees... hehe

BTW, the euculyptus (sp??) joke was very funny...good job...hehe

[Ant]

There is only one admin and that is me. I have a couple of the regular forum users to act as moderators, they act on my guidelines as to how I want these forums run. We have distinct forums for distinct topics. The Soap Box forum is exactly for threads such as complaints about Matrox, the Soap Box is for general discussions that do not specifically relate to a given forum such as this one, i.e. gaming so there is no need to setup yet another general discussion forum. This is done for a reason and that is to stop the trouble that is caused by off topic postings. If you had been around these forums since the start you would know what I mean and appreciate the reasons for the way these forums are run the way they are. The forums being run this way has proved extremely successful as can be judged by their popularity and the fact that they are a relatively flame free zone. I have no objections whatsover to anyone posting complaints about Matrox just please do it in the right place, the Soap Box forum that is what it is there for.

[andrei]

4X AGP, the most desired feature in the video card industry

[The Rock]

4x AGP, the most USELESS feature in the video card industry.

The Rock

[Kruzin]

Well, the MAN has spoken. Ant is the admin...I am but a lowly moderator. Hopefully you understand his points, and we can just put this crap behind us. A year ago, these forums where in chaos, with any post landing in any forum, and big time flaming happening in every other thread.
Now, the forums are kept on topic, and flaming is held to a minimum.

I think it's better this way. At least now, when you go into the games forum, you can expect to see threads about gaming issues (without the flames). If someone wanted to know about the 2x/4x issue, they could go to the Matrox Hardware forum, and find plenty of threads on the subject. If BH-Flash had (a)placed his thread in the right forum (MH in this case), and (b)worded it civily, it would have been left alone. Instead, he chose the gaming forum (what does AGP mode have to do with games?), and chose to phrase it in flaming rant format. Flaming rants always get closed or sent to The Soap Box (like this thread would have, if Ant had not stepped in with his $0.02).

Just keep it on topic, and keep it civil, and there is no problem...

[DuRaNgO]

now maybe we can get some sleep around here

[paulcs]

You know, we would have flamed him. We just can't help ourselves. Maybe it's the stress of messing with hardware. Maybe the coffee's a bit too strong. But we would have flamed him.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[This message has been edited by paulcs (edited 11 February 2000).]

[KoalaBear33]

I suppose if you guys have had problems before then what you are doing now is all right. I just don't see why there isn't a general forum. Soap Box does not equal a general forum. Soap Box to me is something that I would avoid at all costs. A newbie (such as myself) who comes to this board is not going to go to the Soap Box. We will either go to general discussions or something like game discussions.

Anyway, I'll stop saying anything more....

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See Ya Later!(tm)
KoalaBear33

[Ant]

Well what's in a name? One forum calls it general discussion this forum calls it the Soap Box, it's just a name does it really matter that much?

[paulcs]

KoalaBear33, I hope you're not too upset about the AGP 4x thing. This is old news to the regulars. Someone from Matrox Tech Support posted about the issue last summer, and I guess we got it out of our collective system then.

It is my understanding that Matrox intended to make the board fully support the AGP 4x spec, but as they got closer to the board's release date, it became apparent that there wasn't a 4x board around to test it on. I believe they played it safe by making sure it would run in a 4x slot, but they had to make sure it would work in a standard slot as well.

Please rest assured, this is currently the most useless feature ever implemented on a videoboard, and that's saying a lot! I've seen quite a few reviews, and the jury is in. It doesn't make a difference with games. It doesn't make a difference with *apps.* And 3D applications can be more demanding than Quake3.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net